UDC Software Hits the Road with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

High Resolution Systems' popular Universal Device Controller (UDC) software proved a rewarding solution for Chaos Visual Productions on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' spring/summer tour of the US, Canada, and Europe. The tour included Petty's first major performances in the UK and Europe in two decades.

The specialty lighting, LED special effects, video projection, show programming, and effects lighting company, Chaos Visual Productions had previously relied on expensive custom programming solutions to enable control of a Vista Spyder video processor from the grandMA2 lighting console.

"With our UDC software, Chaos was able to set up an ArtNet translation table and do the programming themselves," says High Resolution's Drew Taylor. "UDC's ArtNet feature makes it easy to set up and use an interface that allows you to build your own translation table. It's a well-tested feature that's used in live environments all the time, so we knew Chaos would be really happy with it for [the tour.]"

Taylor notes that the killer app delivered for Chaos at the front end of the tour and for its duration. "It simplified set up and execution before the tour began, and it provided a cost savings during the tour. With this UDC feature you don't need an additional person switching video on the tour -- the lighting director or console operator can handle it."