TAIT LightStrike
The translation layer between automation and lighting — scenery position in, console-ready coordinates out.
What it is
LightStrike takes position data from moving scenery — encoder counts from TAIT Navigator or other automation systems — and converts it into X/Y/Z stage coordinates a lighting console can consume. It can also ingest data from performer tracking systems like Robert Juliat SpotMe or Zactrack, which makes it the hub where a show's position sources meet. It doesn't sense anything itself; its job is translation.
How we work with it
We design and program LightStrike integrations end to end: deriving the formulas that convert native track positions into stage coordinates, building the console integration with full unit conversion, test verification, and live adjustment capability, and documenting the result so the run crew can maintain it. Our LightStrike work spans Broadway productions where automation-driven scenery and flying performers had to stay lit through every cue.
Encoder ingest + coordinate transform formulas
Multi-source merges: automation + performer tracking on one hub
Console handoff via PSN, sACN, or OSC with verified unit conversion
Run-crew documentation and maintainable show files
Right when
- Scenery or performers move on automation and lighting has to follow on the same math, without operator latency.
- The show has multiple position sources — automation, trackers, followspots — that need one authoritative hub.
- The console needs clean stage coordinates, not raw encoder counts.
Look elsewhere when
- Nothing on the rig is automated and the only thing to track is bodies in open space — a sensor-based system feeding the desk directly may be all the show needs.
- The need is a single operator-driven pickup — an assisted followspot alone can carry that without a translation layer.
Is LightStrike a tracking system?
No — and that's the most common misconception. It doesn't put sensors on performers or cameras in the rig. It reads position data that already exists (from automation, or from tracking systems that do use sensors) and translates it into lighting data. Its job is translation, not detection.
Does LightStrike replace Zactrack or BlackTrax?
No, it complements them. Sensor-based systems generate position data; LightStrike can take that data alongside automation data and route all of it to the console as one coherent source set.
What does it output?
Console-ready position data over PSN, sACN, or OSC/UDP, after applying the coordinate formulas configured for the show.