Spikemark
Creative Conners' control software for stage machinery. Regional, off-Broadway and university work, and the most approachable end of the market.
What it is
Spikemark is the control software in Creative Conners' stage automation ecosystem, driving winches and stage machinery from a computer with cues, profiled moves and feedback from encoded axes. It sits at the accessible end of the market -- regional theatres, off-Broadway, universities and smaller commercial work -- where the automation package is usually bought or rented by the production and run by the production's own crew rather than by a travelling vendor department. The consequence for integration is that the people who own the data are usually the people you are already working with, and decisions get made in the room rather than through a change process. Capability still varies by release, so confirm what the installed version exposes rather than trusting documentation written for a different one.
How we work with it
The advantage in this tier is access, so use it. Establish with the automation operator what the installed version can emit and what triggering already exists, because a great deal of useful integration here is cue-level -- a move starting, a move completing -- rather than continuous position, and cue-level data is often enough to drive a lighting state change. Where continuous position is available, treat it as anywhere else: agree the coordinate frame and units, convert axis values to stage coordinates, publish read-only onto a control network, and define consumer behaviour on loss. Budget weighs more heavily here than in any other tier, so the honest answer is sometimes that a well-programmed timed cue is cheaper and sufficient.
The production owns the automation and the crew, so integration does not wait on a vendor approval cycle
Cue-level triggering is often enough; continuous position is not always the requirement people assume
Confirm what the installed release exposes rather than relying on documentation for another version
In this tier the integration cost is measured against a timed cue, and sometimes the timed cue wins
Right when
- The show already runs automation cues and you want lighting to follow the machine rather than a stopwatch
- The automation operator is in the building during tech, so the work fits inside the existing schedule
- Budget rules out adding a tracking system, and the scenic moves are the thing that needs following
Look elsewhere when
- The real requirement is free performer movement, which no scenery automation can supply
- The moves are few and repeatable enough that a well-programmed timed cue is genuinely sufficient
Can Spikemark talk to a lighting console?
Some form of show-control integration is normal at this end of the market, but what the installed version supports, and in which direction, should be checked against that version rather than assumed. Ask the automation operator to demonstrate what their software already sends and receives on the machine running the show. That takes minutes and settles the question far more reliably than a second-hand account of a release.
Is continuous position worth it on a smaller show?
Often not. If the aim is a lighting change when a wagon arrives, a cue-level trigger delivers that with a fraction of the effort and far fewer failure modes. Continuous position earns its cost when a beam has to stay on a moving target throughout the move, or when media has to track a surface. Decide which of those you actually need before committing anyone's tech time.