Guys, forgive me for asking perhaps naive questions....but if I went with emulation software do I still need a separate board to run the light or can I set up and operate the lights from the computer through the software? Secondly the idea of having some preset scenes, washes, chases is very appealing to help us get started; does emulation come with any of that. I am leaning to the software from what I am seeing particularly given the cost to get something like showdesigner 1 which is probably not big enough for us to grow with and the huge cost jump in showdesigner 3 which is beyond our budget...unless there is something in between I am missing with respect to intelligent controllers? Again thankyou gentlemen for your help with all this!!! michael