Based in Irving, Texas, Inspire Solutions is a service event, creative, and digital production company serving many clients, ranging from local, regional, and even international touring to corporate events and beyond. Inspire Solutions’ National Director of Lighting for Show and Event Services, Dikki Guerra, has spent four decades building his client base. He is also a power user of ETC’s Hog 4 control desks and software.
For a recent corporate gig at Gaylord Opry land for ANTHOLOGY, Guerra used a pair of Hog 4-18’s to run the daily shows held in the facility. He says, “This event was for a client of ours in the Education industry - very much a straight up corporate gig with a smattering of local talent for daily walk-in entertainment. I utilized a moving light rig consisting of approximately 132 movers with some static LED strips and Pixelite LED edging. With multiple cameras at different angles, I needed to make sure that I had all my bases covered. One Hog 4-18 was the primary console, with the second for backup. I had them networked together and running fiber back to Dimmer/Distro Beach, where I had my nodes. This gig required 15 total universes of DMX.”
“I’ve been a Hog guy for decades. Back in the early 1990’s, I was using the old Flying Pig console, the Hog 500, Hog 1000, etc. To me, it just makes sense, and I am totally at home behind the console. I was fortunate enough to have Vickie Claiborne instructing at one of her classes in Austin way back when, as well as Brad Schiller. I understand the syntax and how the console functions. If I had to put it in one phrase, it would simply be 'ease of function'.”
Guerra adds he likes to set up his console the same way for each show. ”I have my color pallet and color picker next to each other on the left just above my chosen master. On the right, I have my Scene page so that I can grab what I need quickly. On my right screen I will have my Position, Group, and List pages. Since 99.9% of what I do is corporate work, I don’t have a punt page per se, as everything we do is basically a one off, with different stage sizes, scenic elements, etc. I just come in fresh with an idea, get notes from the client and TD and go from there. I’ve worked that way for so long that I can typically bang out several looks, sweeps, ballyhoos, etc. rather quickly.”
In closing, he gives top marks to ETC’s customer care. “ETC customer service is top notch; every time I’ve needed them!