Show Networks & Control Systems

The new book from Professor John Huntington, "Show Networks & Control Systems" reminds me of my iPhone—each version is even better than the last. This one builds on the first three versions of "Control Systems for Live Entertainment," except this one is self-published, which means he had complete control over content, layout, size, and everything else.

I just returned from a seven-week run on the road to find a fresh copy in the mail. I was going to spend 20 minutes flipping through it and I ended up reading it for an hour. It seems to be even better organized than the first three of his books. It starts with a broad overview of control systems and then it hones in on the finer details of entertainment control systems from the very basic (binary and hexadecimal numbers) to the nitty gritty of networking.

Huntington's writing reflects his mastery of the subject and his years of experience in the field. I particularly like the chapter on System Design Principles with the seven principles including: ensure safety, the show must go on (redundancy, reliability, data backup, etc.), simpler is always better, strive for elegance, complexity if inevitable but convolution is not, make it scaleable and lear room for unanticipated changes, and ensure security. I also like his troubleshooting steps which include: verify the tester, quantify the problem, check the obvious, determine "verified," "unverified," and "suspect" devices, go through the systems until you have verified every device, if your stuck, clear your head, and consult others.

I live by the last step, and having Huntington's email addresses is the best lifeline. The second best lifeline is to own the book. If you are in the entertainment industry, then you need to know about show networks, and he covers the topics very well. In addition to covering big topics like Ethernet and Wi-Fi, the book goes into depth about networking protocols, IP addressing, subnets, troubleshooting networks, and more. The middle chapters go into depth about DMX512-A, RDM, ACN, MIDI, MIDI show control, SMPTE, open sound control, and more.

There are only a handful of books that I refer to over and over, and this is one of them. There are even fewer that cover these topics and of the one or two that do, this is by far the most current and up-to-date. It's easy to read, very well illustrated, and the explanations are very clear.

I would love to see an electronic version of it so that I can read it and access it where ever I am. Plus, I like having the ability to electronically search without having to thumb through pages. For now, there is only the hard copy. But I wouldn't think of not having it.

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