Eos Apex takes control at the La Monnaie / De Munt Theatre in Belgium

The prestigious Royal Theatre of La Monnaie / De Munt in Brussels has selected ETC’s Eos Apex consoles to upgrade the control of the lighting in its iconic 1,150 seated space.

ETC dealer, Controllux specified the lighting for the Muntschouwburg venue which showcases a variety of performances from opera and classical music concerts to dance shows and more. Following positive reviews and feedback from international lighting designers, the lighting team at the theatre wanted to see which console would best meet their needs and invited – amongst others – Controllux’s Kris Noerens to demo ETC’s Eos Apex.

Lighting Operator Julien Bier – who brings decades of experience in the industry – describes why Apex was the preferred choice (so much so that they selected two Apex 10 consoles): “Eos software is extremely flexible, making it particularly well-suited to the type of venue that we are in. We were able to quickly create groups, presets, and palettes to build a familiar programming interface which ensured minimal changes or disruption to our workflow.”

“The philosophy behind Eos is that you can start programming quickly and intuitively, without the need for a complex setup and configuration. The structure and workflow can also be tailored to suit specific production requirements, offering a granularity and ease of access to detailed control parameters, particularly when it comes to color control. Eos Apex is very flexible and can be customized to your needs but still operates in a very structured way. Therefore, a show programmed on Eos remains visible for other operators of the team at all times – so if there is an unexpected change in the team, it's fairly easy to adapt the console layout from another operator."

Head of Lighting Koen Raes adds that “The overall capacity of the console is very extensive; all of the lighting systems at the Muntschouwburg, including the house lights, are controlled on Eos Apex.”

Julien also appreciates the wealth of product information, tutorials, and training material, which is available online from ETC: "It gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the console in advance and in great detail. Finding the information and examining the show file is very straightforward. I really like that the console’s display provides a level of clarity to both programmer and designer. It streamlines the programming process and facilitates more efficient communication between the operator and the lighting designer.”

ETC Field Project Coordinator Robbi Nassi comments: “It was an absolute pleasure to see the venue, meet the team and give them the overview of the powerful hardware features and award-winning Eos software that Apex offers. Seeing the potential that this console would bring to the programming of their future shows was greatly received by the team who were very excited and enthusiastic to get going. I thank Koen Raes, Hadrien Lefaure, Julien Bier, Nicolas Rivière and the whole team for their time, learning efforts and for being all round amazing throughout this project."

The lighting team at La Monnaie / De Munt continue to explore the powerful tools of Eos Apex and are currently enjoying discovering the power of ETC’s Augment3d software. The 3D programming environment allows users to program moving fixtures with unprecedented speed and ease, and now with ETC’s new Augment3d Scanner app – users can also import ready-to-use room models from a phone or tablet directly into Eos family consoles.

Kris Noerens says: “The Munt Theatre chose a solution that is considered the standard worldwide in major operas: Eos Apex.”