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Show control is the use of automation technology to link together and operate multiple entertainment control systems in a coordinated manner. It is distinguished from entertainment control (a term much less common than its specific forms, e.g. lighting control), which coordinates elements within a single entertainment discipline such as lighting, sound, video, rigging or pyrotechnics. An example of show control would be linking a video segment with a number of lighting cues, or having a sound track trigger animatronic movements -- or all of these combined. Shows with or without live actors almost invariably incorporate entertainment control technology and usually benefit from show control to operate these subsystems simultaneously or independently. Shows which are performed once or only a few times are often not considered candidates for show control since considerable preplanning and programming is usually required, but this may change as the technology, ease of operation and programming of show control software and systems matures.
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MIDI Show Control
The MIDI Show Control (MSC) standard is an open, industry wide international communications protocol through which all types of show devices may easily communicate. To create the MSC spec, Charlie Richmond headed the USITT MIDI Forum on their Callboard Network in 1990, which included developers and designers from the theatre sound and lighting industry from around the world. This Forum created the MSC standard between January and September, 1990. it was ratified by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) in January, 1991, and the Japan MIDI Standards Committee (JMSC) later that year, becoming a part of the standard MIDI specification in August, 1991. The first show to fully utilize the MSC specification was the Magic Kingdom Parade at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in September, 1991.
Systems
Generally, there are two kinds of show control systems, PC based and embedded systems. Manufacturers of embedded show control systems use their own micro controller designs. They have to develop the software and hardware. PC based show control systems use standard PC's, enhanced by standard interfaces (RS232/422 ports, Ethernet, USB etc...).