Electronic Theatre Controls

What does this picture mean to you?

sclausen — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:17:00 GMT

For those of you who work in the theatre or production, you probably don't run into software like SAP very often, if ever. We on the manufacturing side of things have a lot of data to manage- sales data, the daily management of stuff coming into the factory so that manufactured stuff goes out of the factory in working condition... There are a few companies out there who make software similar to SAP, but suffice it to say it becomes the hub of all information at a company like ETC.

Why am I telling you this? Mainly because I'm going through SAP training today, and I'm a lighting designer by training and a marketing person by trade. This kind of software makes my eyes bleed (so, I am appreciative of the training, because it makes my forays into software like this easier.) Experiences like these inform my decisions about the lighting software we develop - I would like you to have an easier time using our software than I have using SAP, for example. And this is why I'd like you to look at the icon below:

What does this picture mean to you?

If you are of a certain age, or have a certain history with technology, you might see one thing. If you're not that old, or have less of a history with technology, you probably will see something else. This classic icon, found on software all over the world, means "SAVE". The picture is a "floppy disk". If you have an Express console, you know floppies well. If you have a newer control system from us, you may also have never seen a floppy disk. Ever. This became clear in an earlier session of this training, where younger employees at ETC asked "why does the SAVE icon look like a Honda logo?"

#Facepalm

Thanks to Erin Gee, Trisha Traut and Bill Belleveau for the excellent SAP training and for sharing this heartwarming story of the impermanent nature of iconography.

Stuck in Technical Support Mode

mmeskill — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:38:00 GMT

Technical Service Manager David North is clearly 100% focused on ETC Support at all times. He is always ready and willing to provide information at a moment's notice to employees and customers alike. He is always ready to jump in and get his hands dirty in order to get the job done.

His most recent activity was to answer a most daunting question that I had emailed out to the department: "I'm looking for any info on a Smartbar that appeared in my office yesterday???" Thank you, Mike

Mr. North got back to the entire email list right away with an answer: "It has 4 dimmers, receives DMX and plugs into a wall outlet. Let me know if you need a more in depth technical explanation." - David

Our Quotes Manager Trisha Traut let me know "It's Black" and Field Service engineer Lin Wheeler, all the way from Atlanta, responded that "it's black might be too technical (for me)"

We will all be in a good mood today thanks to the bit of humor David got going. Of course it is important to note that maintaining little bits of humor within a support department is critical. Support departments, ETC or otherwise, sit around all day and deal with whatever comes at them. The good, the bad and the ugly so we need to be able to smile about them all :-)

The Salon / Manicure Market Segment.

mmeskill — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:20:00 GMT

So let the record reflect that ETC has yet to release a Smartbar 2 designed for the salon / manicure market segment.

ETC Technical Support (Betsy Lynch) took a call from a salon owner wanting to repair the Smartbar II attached to a manicure station. Unfortunately it was not one that ETC made.

Look closely at the label in the upper left side of the photo. Hard to see but it does say Smartbar II

When reached for comment ETC Product Manager Tom Littrell responded "It better have RDM. This market is crying out for RDM. I get 20-30 calls every day from irate hairdressers who are demanding RDM. At least I think that's why I'm getting all those calls from hairdressers..."

Lighting cycs with Selador luminaires

allisonsuchon — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:59:00 GMT

Selador cofounder Rob Gerlach discusses how to light cycs with ETC Selador LED luminaires:

It's difficult to prescribe the best approach for using Selador to light a cyc without knowing parameters like height, distance between the cyc and the fixtures, and available budget. The application note on ETC's website gives some good starting points.

Selador Vivid^TM strip fixtures can easily light cycs that are 40' tall or even taller. They have plenty of brightness, and their saturated color 'pops' more than the light from other fixtures. When the available distance between a tall cyc and the fixtures is relatively small (24" or less), it works best to place Selador units end-to-end in a solid line. For better results, use this formula: For every 10' of vertical height to be illuminated, the fixtures should be spaced 1' away from the cyc. Focus the fixtures so that the center of the beam hits the far half of the cyc; then use silk diffusion (like Rosco 104) oriented with the "grain" parallel to the length of the fixtures to fill in the near-half of the cyc with very uniform light.

If there is more available distance between the Selador luminaires and the cyc, the fixtures can be stacked vertically in groups of twos or threes - each cluster spaced farther apart. For example, one cluster of three 11" fixtures can light 4-6 linear feet of a 30-40' tall cyc when mounted 4-5' away from the cyc. In each group of three, one fixture is focused on the nearest third of the cyc, another on the middle, and another on the far third. Use wide-angle horizontal and vertical lenses on the near-focused fixtures (60-80 degrees), medium spreads on the mid-focus (30-40 degrees), and narrow spreads on the far-focused units (20 degrees or no secondary lenses). Silk diffusion helps to blend the edges of the three sections together. When the cyc is lit this way, brightness is extremely uniform, even when fixtures are hung on only one side of the cyc. Breaking the cyc into three verticals also facilitates beautiful effects (sunsets, rainbows, etc.).

Selador fixtures hold their own against PAR 64s with scrollers if the output is saturated color - particularly in the greens, blues, and purples. For softer colors and white light, tungsten fixtures may be brighter. The new Selador Desire^TM series is 20-40% brighter than the Selador Classic^TM line, depending on the color mix of the array, so they are even more capable of competing against tungsten. If the desired output is limited to certain ranges in the red/amber/pink family or cyan/blue/purple family, ETC's Selador Fire^TM and Ice^TM fixtures provide even more brightness and can definitely compete against even the most powerful PAR fixtures with gel. Users are universally surprised by how bright Selador fixtures are, even more so with Desire units. Because we're dealing with colored light, it is very difficult to communicate the impact of these units on paper. It is essential that any user considering them as a replacement for tungsten gets an on-site demo to see the Selador line's capabilities firsthand.

It's a holly jolly holiday at ETC

allisonsuchon — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:44:00 GMT

Santa's workshop isn't the only bustling factory this time of year. ETC offices across the globe are busy filling end-of-the year orders and gearing up for a new year with a lot of new surprises. Even with all that work going on, you'd have a tough time finding a Grinch or a scrooge at ETC.

We started getting into the holiday spirit right after Thanksgiving, when Town Square at the Middleton headquarters was transformed overnight by some hardworking elves. The 1930s New York streetscape was turned into a living snow globe, with candy canes, ornaments, wreaths and garland adorning every inch of the space. Our faux storefronts can compete with any department-store holiday window display. And because we're a company full of engineers and techies, we have an automated, life-sized Santa bobbing up and down in a chimney near the marketing department. Even King Kong, perched atop the Empire State Building, has donned a santa hat (seen here in a grainy photo shot by a local news helicopter).

Being the arts-minded company we are, we couldn't have the holidays without celebrating the arts - or the art of a good flash mob. Twice we've had impromptu groups come wassailing. A couple weeks ago, members of the Madison Ballet twirled around Town Square, dancing to holiday classics and songs from musicals like Kiss Me Kate. And then last week, the Middleton High School chamber singers filled Town Square with carols for ETC employees needing a bit of a break.

And each office has had their version of a holiday party. The first was the New York office's annual open house, where they showed off our latest and greatest products. Industry professionals, including award-winning Broadway lighting designers, packed the office to mingle with ETC staff and get product demos. True to the moniker "the city that never sleeps," the New York event was supposed to run from 3:00-8:00pm, but the party was still going on at the office until 9:30 and then continued until much later at a local bar.

Our London office teamed up with ABTT (the Association of British Theatre Technicians) to hold a Christmas party at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Close to 250 people dined at the Grand Saloon and recognized the newest fellows and honorary members of ABTT.

The picturesque Monona Terrace in Madison, WI, played host to the American offices' party. Although Jack Frost tried to ruin the festivities by dumping nine inches of blowing and drifting snow on the city, hundreds of ETC employees and our guests enjoyed a Tuscan-themed evening full of food, games and great company. The backdrop for the event was a handcrafted stage that resembled a Tuscan villa, built by ETC CEO Fred Foster and his wife Susan for the wedding of two ETC employees this summer. The whole event was lit by ETC Selador® and Source Four Revolution® fixtures. Thanks to the blizzard outside, we couldn't take the no-sleeping title from New York. The party was cut short, so guests could leave before the roads got too hazardous to navigate in the snow.

Almost everybody who works for ETC's Holzkirchen office attended the German holiday celebration, with a tasty lunch at the Gasthof Oberbräu restaurant. And ETC Asia combined their holiday merriment with customer service training. ETC VP of Professional Services Sarah Danke brought her companywide training course to Hong Kong, and employees there celebrated acing the class at their holiday luncheon.

From all of us here at ETC, we wish you happy holidays and all the best in 2011!

The best can always get better

allisonsuchon — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 16:05:00 GMT

ETC has earned a reputation in our industry for offering unmatched customer service. One reason for this is that we're always trying to adapt and improve our service model to make sure we're providing the best support for the people we work with every day.

Last year, ETC kicked off a new, companywide program to help ensure we're still providing the acclaimed support we're known for. The Customer Service Awareness Training Series is an eight-week training program - led by ETC's Vice President of Professional Services Sarah Danke - that focuses on reevaluating and improving how we interact with others. The classes are attended by a mix of employees from different departments, who work together and encourage each other throughout the training. Eventually, every ETC employee across the globe will attend one of the Training Series sessions.

"No matter what job an employee holds, he or she provides some form of customer service, whether to the outside world or to coworkers inside ETC," explains Sarah. "These classes help all of us realize what role we play in our customer-service chain and how to keep our customer-service standards high."

The very last assignment for the Customer Service Awareness Training Series is a team presentation that demonstrates the lessons learned from the course. While those of us who haven't yet taken the class don't fully understand why, it's become commonplace to see our coworkers playing games with jello in Town Square, dressing like game show hosts or reciting Shakespeare.

The first rule of the Customer Service Awareness Training Series? Don't talk about the Customer Service Awareness Training Series. The content of the classes is a closely guarded secret, so each employee can experience the training in his or her own way.

Suksa Thao, a team lead in ETC's Fixtures division of the Manufacturing department, participated in the training earlier this year and like all other employees, enjoyed the experience. "I learned that you have to treat everyone inside and outside of ETC as your customers," he said. "I have been using all the tricks from the training in my job. I know that this class will change a little or a lot in everyone who has been through the training, and will definitely have a big impact on customer service at ETC."

The Wizard of Oz and SmartModule 2

allisonsuchon — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:51:00 GMT

ETC Field Service Coordinator David Hilton explains why there's no place like ETC when it comes to dimming:

Most people don’t know that I grew up in Kansas. This means that I refer to Coke as “pop”, I call the Arkansas River the “R-Kansas” River, and I spend a great portion of my day thinking about things like The Wizard of Oz (this movie will henceforth be referred to as WO! in this blog). Given this last strange personal phenomenon, I’ve used WO! as a means to help me make sense of the vast world of entertainment lighting. First off, we are in a very colorful industry, not only in the literal sense referring to gels, dichroics, and LEDs, but also in a verbal sense in terms of the language often used backstage. Water is incredibly harmful to most things we use, and I have witnessed a few professionals get lost in the poppy fields on their way to Emerald City.

It just so happens that the other day I had one of my WO! moments of clarity when I was using one of our SmartModule 2s. For some reason, when I started setting the levels of some Source Fours I had plugged into it, the Scarecrow’s song “If I Only Had a Brain,” popped into my head. There are many small dimmer packs that plug directly into the wall, but the SmartModule 2 also has a brain, making it dance circles around all of the other dumb scarecrows.

How many parties, bar-mitzvahs, and weddings have we all set up? How many times have you uplit a tree or placed gel on a PAR and shot straight up the side of a tent? These applications aren’t rocket science. Heck, they’re not even basic science. All you want to do is plug them in, dim them to 80%, and walk away. That’s not an option on most of these small dimmer packs. They’re too dumb to do things on their own. All they have is a DMX port and a dipswitch, meaning they have to be told what to do from a console.

Enter the brain on the SmartModule 2. It allows you to set a level and walk away without the use of a console. It has an LCD screen that intelligently displays its levels and starting address so you don’t have to remember how dipswitches work. Heck, the darn thing is so smart you can change dimmer curves, minimum and maximum levels, and even have it run one of twenty built-in effects!

So what else does a brain get you? Well, each dimmer on the SmartModule 2 has its own 10-amp breaker, so there’s no replacing a fuse or tripping one breaker for half of your circuits. There’s even a convenient outlet built in for a console, fog machine, or foot massager. In fact, when you just hold a SmartModule 2 in your hands, you can tell somebody used their brain when they designed it. It’s rugged. It’s quiet. It’s easy to program; easy to troubleshoot problems. The handles feel great, and there are options for attaching a C-clamp or bolting it to the wall. The DMX ports even speak RDM, meaning you can readdress the little guy remotely from Eos, Ion, and Element consoles. It really is the best designed small dimmer pack this side of the rainbow!

So the next time you look for a solution for those gigs that need a small dimmer pack to plug into the wall, I urge you to take a lesson from WO! and look at the SmartModule 2. It’s competitively priced with less-intelligent dimmer packs, but its brain gives you so much more. I guarantee you’ll never want to use another scarecrow again. Just don’t give it to a flying monkey or pour water on it.

Wilkommen in Holzkirchen!

sclausen — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 09:47:00 GMT

So, earlier in October we held Fokus 2010. We had a great time here in Holzkirchen with about 160 of our dealers and customers from all over the ETC, GmbH region including folks from Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Russia (to name a few of the various countries represented.) It was two days full of presentations, product demos and workshops covering all the ETC products and how they can be used. We had Eos, Ion, Element, NT-X, SmartFade, Congo jr and Congo consoles. We had Unison Paradigm and Mosaic control on display. We had a sample of every type of dimmer rack we make including Sensor, Matrix MkII and AlexM. We had Source Four ellipsoidals and PARs. We had Selador including Lustr, Vivid-R and the new Pearl. And we had colleagues from Robe, Coolux, Schnick Schnak Systems and Lighting Innovation with us to help show off how ETC gear can be combined with gear from others to make systems that fit a customer's needs exactly.

(Apologies for the photos being a little fuzzy, I took them all with my iPhone.)

Fred presents the history of ETC

A musical interlude for the crowd at the Eos session

On Monday we had presentations during the day with a keynote address on the history of ETC from Fred Foster, followed by a session on Selador LED technology, then a session on using moving lights in theatre and finally a session on media servers from Coolux. To highlight how we use Selador and Eos in action, those sessions both ended with a short musical performance by a professional harpist/pianist. In the evening we had our own version of Oktoberfest in the Festsaal of the venue - Kultur im Oberbräu here in Holzkirchen. We had music from the "ETC Hotline" band with our own software developer Hans Leiter on keyboards and a special appearance by our own Mark Tobler from Sales to sing a few songs for us. After that, we heard traditional beer hall music from the Valley Brass Band with our own Andreas Weindl on bass drum. The evening's catering was handled by the Pabst Café - one of our usual lunch spots. There was no better way to let our visitors know what it is to be ETC here in Germany! And a good time was had by all.

Mark Tobler sings with the ETC Hotline Band, Hans Leiter on keyboards

The Valley Brass Band enters with style, Andreas Weindl on bass drum

On Tuesday we held smaller workshops around the building with topics such as RDM/ACN, use of Media Servers in theatre, use of Selador LED technology in theatre and television, the differences in our dimmer technologies, use of Congo in theatre and live events and a preview of Congo v6.1 software, and more on the use of moving lights in theatre with the Eos system and a preview of Eos v1.9.5 software. Many questions were asked, many solutions were offered, and in general everyone was pleased with the event.

The Eos crew during the party - Mike Adam, Heiko Steuernagel and Matthias Strobel share board op duties while Philipp Schaeffer (General Manager, GmbH) and Ludwig Krauss (Sales) look on.

From the US contingent: Fred, Jake Dunnum (Marketing) and Greg Thomas (R&D) look on

It's always great to get a chance to talk with our dealers and customers. In Europe one only gets these opportunities so often, and usually at a trade show. To invite everyone "over to our house" for a couple of days made for a far more relaxed atmosphere than you get at a trade show and so you can get into longer conversations with people, do some show file trouble shooting, and get early input on software development all at the same time. What more can a product manager ask for?

One of the things I equate with the "ETC Experience" is feeling part of the family. I have felt this way for almost 17 years since my first time at an ETC training workshop where we learned about Sensor Dimmer Doubling and the Response Network Controller (how many of you remember that one?). This event brought that feeling to our newest markets and welcomed 160 more people into our ever-growing family. We welcome you all!

ETC celebrates Halloween

allisonsuchon — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:10:00 GMT

ETC employees got a jump-start on Halloween by showing up to work on Friday, October 29^th, in costume. Here are some of our favorites:

You just might get Cleopatra (Administrative Assistant Krystal Moran) on the phone when you call ETC’s front desk.

“Have some more sloppy joes! I made them extra sloppy for youse!” Flo, Gertie, Ilene and ‘Deli’ Daphne (aka: Marjorie Olsen, Kao Her, Mary Kading and ‘Deli’ Dave Hesterly) donned their best hairnets and horn-rimmed glasses to give a great Lunch Lady impression to ETC’s Broadway Deli customers.

“That’s one, one SmartStand! Two, two SmartStands! Wha-ha-ha-ha!” Inventory Specialist Moua Lee channels his inner Count.

Assembler Tyler Freund answers one of life’s deepest mysteries: where’s Waldo? (Hint: check by the installation racks in the ETC factory.)

Administrative Assistant Tori Mizerak proves that working in Tech Services is just ‘Child’s Play.’

Acceptance Test Specialist Greg Thomas greets visitors to the Tech Services department with a tail wag.

Project Manager Rachel Frederick shows off her flower power.

This is what happened after the credits rolled in the movie Carrie. (Actually, it’s Regional Assistants Erin Flack and Heather Hatley goofing around in Systems.)

“Just a spoonful of Unison helps the lighting costs go down...” Architectural Basics Project Specialist Alison Daughters makes a great Mary Poppins.

If the Godfather sprouted wings, he’d be Systems Estimator and Project Manager Ned Keitt-Pride.

Administrative Assistant Elly Burian says: “I can has cheezburger?”

Electrical Engineer Kevin McCann celebrates Casual Friday in R&D.

And apparently the 80s are back in style at ETC. It seems a lot of us are missing the days of big hair, big jewelry and big shoulder pads...

Customer Service Representative Tina Lippiatt could step in for Meg Ryan in her next film.

Project Managers Doug Tuttrup and Katie O’Connell put their rubix cubes and Aquanet aside for a picture.

Systems Engineer Natalia Lupacheva could be an extra on the set of Dynasty.

Systems Engineer Shawn ‘Gumby’ Blystone is waiting for Devo to make a comeback.

The Promotions and Advertising Group in the Marketing department (Web Designer Lincoln Theiler, Communications Writer Allison Suchon, Administrative Assistant Shani Dorner, Senior Graphic Designer Shannon Forcier, Graphic Design Specialist Stephanie Billmeyer, and Promotions and Advertising Manager John Kuehl) pay homage to Working Girl and Miami Vice.

Subscribe to email updates from ETC

john.kuehl — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 15:00:00 GMT

You belong to our forums.

You subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.

You even read this blog.

But do you subscribe* to email updates from ETC?

Just a few weeks ago, we finally introduced a way for anyone to subscribe directly to a variety of email communications that can update you specifically on new product releases, training opportunities, and software updates for your particular console (or consoles).

And here's the best part: we really don't send a lot of these emails. We send them when we need to --- when there's actually something worth knowing. So go ahead and sign up with no fear of a suddenly-cluttered inbox. All you need is an email address and a MyETC account, which takes about 40 seconds to create if you don't have one already (we timed the trained monkey that updates our website and it only took him 74 seconds).

Hope you'll subscribe, and in the meantime, we'll see you online!

* - We've automatically subscribed some customers who had previously received email communications from ETC - including our now-and-then newsletter, The State of the Art, and software updates for Eos- and Congo-family consoles - so they don't have to take action to receive a service that they already were enjoying. If you're one of those people and you see that you're already opted-in and you're not thrilled by that, please know that you can unsubscribe at any time, and that we did this with best intentions. If you have questions about this, please email me.

ETC at Music Moscow 2010

allisonsuchon — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:58:00 GMT

For the last several years, ETC has participated in the Music Moscow tradeshow, an exhibition for stage, theater and concert equipment. People from all over the world flock to Moscow to check out everything from guitar picks to speakers, lasers to microphones and LEDs to balalaikas. It’s one of the biggest tradeshows in Russia for lighting equipment, and ETC was well-represented at this year’s show (September 23^rd-26^th), with three of our official Russian dealers – Doka, Sistema and Imlight – showing our products on their stands. Attendees got hands-on demos of ETC Eos, Element, Congo, Congo jr and SmartFade ML lighting control consoles; Source Four ellipsoidals, PARs and PARNels; and ETC’s Selador Series of LED fixtures.

I was lucky enough to attend the show again this year, and got to see ETC’s Selador LED Series’ newest member, Pearl, take Russia by storm. Doka had a prototype occupying a prominent position on their stand, and it drew in a lot of tradeshow-goers who were amazed by Pearl’s beautiful, pure white light.

I was also mesmerized by the Comandor Selador motorized yoke. Our dealer, Sistema, developed the yoke to make any Selador fixture automated, and I spent a lot of time on their stand watching the dazzling, dancing Selador colors as the Comandor did its work. (Note: not available in all areas, so don’t flood ETC’s Customer Service department with calls!)

My German colleagues – Armin Kloss, Florian Maier, Hans Klass and Klaus Althoff – who made the trip to Music Moscow during the Oktoberfest celebration back home, got over their homesickness when they saw the pretzels and mini-keg of beer on Sistema’s stand. (I’m sure they’re kicking themselves for not having packed their lederhosen.) And it was the perfect way to celebrate the end of the show day.

Overall, it was a great show with heavy traffic in our dealers’ booths. We had great meetings with some heavy-hitters in Russia’s lighting world, and were really impressed by the great demos that our dealers gave. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Music Moscow.

Oh, and here’s my tip for any of you who might attend Music Moscow in the future. When you walk into the “loud pavilions,” and the tradeshow version of a Walmart greeter hands you a pair of earplugs, take them! I don’t think my ears will ever recover after spending less than two minutes in the stage-speaker hall!

Oktoberfest

sclausen — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 14:27:00 GMT

ETC Controls Product Manager Sarah Clausen writes from far afield:

"You moved to GERMANY?"

Yes, yes I did. Last March. And at the moment I'm supposed to be writing a blog post on that move. However, we're in the process of getting ready for a big open-house event here in Holzkirchen and that will be far more interesting to write about, I think. So, you all have to wait.

In the meantime, however, I offer the following link to a story on CNN that I read today. It's about Oktoberfest. You know - beer, pretzels, beer, traditional outfits, beer, singing, beer, dancing on tables, beer... You get the idea. This article is written by one of Munich's famous Eisbach surfers, who happens to be the director of the recent documentary on those surfers called "Keep Surfing." Yes, we have surfers here, just north of the Alps in central Munich. Anyway, read up on Oktoberfest, perhaps while enjoying a nice Hacker-Pschorr or Spaten beverage, and I'll get back to you with photos from Fokus 2010 in a couple of weeks.

Movie director's 10 tips for a perfect Oktoberfest (Links to CNN.com)

Surfing on the Eisbach - Keep Surfing Film site

Bis dann!

The Last Day

john.kuehl — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:41:00 GMT

"On the last day of a tradeshow, people get weary. You begin to look at your coworkers and they all start to look the same. PLASA, Day 4..." - David Lincecum, ETC Marketing Manager

A Wisconsin-based rigging accident

allisonsuchon — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:44:00 GMT

From the desk of ETC Technical Service Manager David North:

A Wisconsin-based rigging accident

Okay, so now I have your attention.

Last winter, a nearby ski hill [we have no mountains in WI], suffered a frightening accident that rigging-equipment designers, rigging specifiers and rigging operators should all take note of, as it applies directly to what we do every day. Harvey Sweet, senior technical product manager, one of several resident rigging specialists and a key member of the ESTA Standards Committee on Rigging had the following comments on the situation:

AN ACCIDENT IN WISCONSIN

The good news is that the accident did not involve theatrical rigging equipment. The bad news is that at least 14 people were injured.

A ski lift was in use during the Christmas holiday in 2009, when suddenly the lift stopped moving forward and quickly reversed, gaining speed. People on the lift were rapidly dragged downhill and eventually fell off of the lift or were bruised and injured by lift chairs slamming into them as the chairs stacked up at the bottom of the ski lift system.

What happened and why is this important to stage rigging?

The gear box on the lift motor sheared its teeth and could no longer move the load. The load brake that should have stopped the hoist was on the power input side of the motor/gear box and could not control the load because the brake was dependent upon a functional gear box to transmit power to the moving load.

This is a cautionary tale for power hoist rigging for the theater.

When a load is suspended above the stage and the machinery fails, the equipment should be designed to prevent the kind of accident that occurred with this ski lift.

How?

Placing a load brake on the hoist so that it directly controls the motor output side of the machine (and its load) will prevent a failure in the gear box or motor from causing scenery or any other lifted load from falling uncontrolled out of the stage loft. Short form: machines with load brakes on the output shaft of a stage power hoist system are safer than machines that control the load through the motor or gearbox.

There are several lessons to be learned here.

1. The lift had an inadequately designed and maintained load-side brake, independent of the viability of the gearbox. Lesson: Hoist products should have a load brake mounted to the output shaft of the gearbox.

2. The lift was to have had a daily and weekly inspection of safety devices, which that day had only partially been completed and had rarely been performed previously. Also, no training records were available to verify who was trained on what procedures. Lesson: Have established procedures for operating stage machinery, have qualified people following those procedures, and have documentation of training on file.

3. Additional safety equipment had been suggested on a yearly inspection and had not been installed. Lesson: Get yearly inspections and follow the recommendations or shut down the equipment until such time as they can be followed.

Imagine the sinking and horrific feeling that dozens of people had as the machinery they relied upon reversed direction without warning.

Harvey has some other tasty tidbits of advice, standards and policy on rigging that we'll get to in the coming months. Also look over the Prodigy webpages to see how we've taken care of that fear factor. http://www.etcrigging.com/

Be safe,

David

A Wisconsin-based Rigging Accident

dnorth — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 13:26:00 GMT

Ok, so now I have your attention.

Last winter, a nearby ski hill [we have no mountains in WI], suffered a frightening accident that rigging equipment designers, rigging specifiers and rigging operators should all take note of as it applies directly to what we do every day. Harvey Sweet, Senior Technical Product Manager, one of several resident Rigging Specialists and a key member of the ESTA Standards Committee on Rigging had the following comments on the situation.

AN ACCIDENT IN WISCONSIN

The good news is that the accident did not involve theatrical rigging equipment. The bad news is that at least 14 people were injured.

A ski lift was in use during the Christmas holiday in 2009 when suddenly the lift stopped moving forward and quickly reversed, gaining speed as the people on the lift were rapidly dragged downhill and eventually fell off of the lift or were bruised and injured by lift chairs slamming into them as the chairs stacked up at the bottom of the ski lift system.

What happened and why is this important to stage rigging?

This is a cautionary tale for power hoist rigging for the theatre.

When a load is suspended above the stage and the machinery fails, the equipment should be designed to prevent the kind of accident that occurred with this ski lift.

How?

There are several lessons to be learned here.

2. The lift was to have had a daily and weekly inspection of safety devices which that day had only partially been completed and had rarely been performed previously. Also, no training records were available to verify who was trained on which procedures. Lesson: Have established procedures for operating stage machinery, have qualified people following those procedures, and have documentation of training on file.

3. Additional safety equipment had been suggested per a yearly inspection and had not been installed. Lesson: Get yearly inspections and follow the recommendations or shut down the equipment until such time as they can be followed.

Imagine the sinking and horrific feeling dozens of people had as the machinery they relied upon reversed direction without warning.

Be safe,

David

Is ETC a "corporate" environment?

dlincecum — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:09:00 GMT

It is amazing how much the culture of ETC has changed over time - and how much has stayed the same. When I joined ETC in 1994 the place was a mish-mash of offices, office furniture, copiers - everything had been gathered over the years as the company grew. We had all different types of PCs, cell phones, often based on personal preferences and lax controls around buying.

Of course time makes changes. Now we have standard PCs and phones, unified office equipment - and yes - Dilbertesque cube farms. But personalization still reigns!

Novella Smiths office door, above - and the sign she had made for herself inside the office - below.

Project manager Keith Stephens shuns too much light.

Tibetan Prayer flags and waterfalls decorate the office of Chris Mizerack, software engineer for Eos. I got that peaceful, easy feeling.

Heather Hatley embraces ergonomic furniture - and notice just behind Heather? The cubes have windows in them.

Rachel Frederick and Heather demonstrate the highly functional windows! Sometimes windows present challenges, and the Quotes department has risen to meet them.

Good curtains make for good neighbors as demonstrated in the Quotes department by Curt Nummerdor and Heather Robbins.

Don't ask why the drapes are suspended in mid-air -- it has something to do with separating the boys and the girls. (It's a Quotes department thing.)

Doug Tuttrup and Alison Daughters - good neighbors. Hey Doug - is all that stuff written on the whiteboard about Alison?

Just like in Hawaii - you may run into the occasional chicken.

Doug Tuttrup pays homage to his favorite customer - the Walt Disney company with his Disney styrofoam ball collection decorating his cube top. Even Bobblehead Fred celebrates the mouse.

If you don't like sitting at a desk - you can adjust your Desk to "Bar Height" (Bryan Palmer prefers the bar) or as Jake Dunnum shows below - A "standing desk."

Jake has a lot of height to deal with - and an expansive back to nurture.

Often misunderstood - ever present - Grover flies through the office of Steve Traut. Steve's office is also where old Macs go to retire.

So yes - we have standard PC's, standard furniture, cube farms and purchasing restrictions. We have have become corporate -- at least a little. We also try to keep things clean. Fred Foster -- beloved CEO --holds twice yearly "white glove inspections" designed to keep down the accumulated trash and clutter -- but he never attacks the individual personalities available at every desk. He does ask people to keep the windows clean. At least we think it's Fred Foster making those inspections, wearing white gloves . . .

The ETC product catalog is dead.

john.kuehl — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:57:00 GMT

Or is it? We hear a lot of conflicting opinions on how our product catalog is used - if it's used at all - from our dealers.

We hear the catalog referred to as a "gift" that sales people feel compelled to leave behind when they visit a customer.

We hear the catalog is the first place someone goes when they want to know about an ETC product.

We hear the catalog is the last place someone goes when they want to know about an ETC product.

But we're feeling like we need to get some opinions from the people who are buying and using lighting products every day. We don't want to do a survey, we just want to have a little dialogue.

So here's the deal: post a comment (or multiple) that addresses one of the following questions. On September 10, I'll pick five random commenters to receive some ETC SWAG (a t-shirt and something extra). Your comments need not be "positive" or "pro-ETC" to be eligible for SWAG, but they should be on-topic.

Q: If you've seen an ETC product catalog over the last few years, how did you use it?

Q: If you've found the ETC product catalog to serve a particular purpose for you, what is that purpose?

Q: What is it about the ETC product catalog that makes it useful, or useless, to you?

Q: If you could change one thing about the ETC product catalog, what would it be?

Get on board with the Pecha Kucha craze!

allisonsuchon — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:50:00 GMT

ETC Architectural Market Manager Joe Bokelman explains what a Pecha Kucha is:

A what? What is a Pecha Kucha, you ask? An easy answer might be to refer you to pecha-kucha.org, and leave it at that. But, if you haven’t already clicked away, allow me to make an analogy: if Karaoke is a way for drunken businesspeople to embarrass themselves after work, Pecha Kucha is a similar pastime while you might actually be working. It is like ‘open mic night’ for creative people.

The words mean ‘chit-chat’ in Japanese; more specifically, our dealer in Japan said it means ‘five women gossiping, at the same time.’ In 2004, two architects in Tokyo created an event style to help rejuvenate the gallery/bar/performance space they owned. They felt that creative types (architects, artists, etc.) had no outlet to explain and showcase their work to peers, but they also felt that ‘giving the mic’ to those same creative types was dangerous; they might never shut up! So, the pair devised a format to contain the presentation of a creative work (or idea) – one that also forced the presenter to really narrow their focus.

The Pecha Kucha format is very specific – 20 slides presented at a pace of 20 seconds per slide. In practice, the slides should automatically advance, making the entire presentation six minutes and 40 seconds long, exactly. This concept isn’t hard to understand, but just try it once for yourself; you will be forced to consider exactly what you are going to say, and you will have to work hard to avoid all of those little ‘filler words’ and verbal tangents we all have! In addition, you will have to find the right subject to present – you may find it very hard to express a broad concept at 20 seconds per slide.

Why do it? Because the format benefits the viewer. In a traditional format, the audience would have to sit the entire time listening to one person drone on about this project or that concept. If they don’t like the topic, or the presenter, that’s a good deal of time wasted. In a typical ‘Pecha Kucha Night’ or PKN, there may be 10-20 presenters, or about one to two hours of presentations. Some have said the best part about Pecha Kucha is that each topic (or presenter) is only up for 00:06:40. If you don’t like it, it will be over soon enough! Also, there is always some time in-between presenters, usually enough time to get a fresh drink from the bar (remember, the inventors owned a performance space/bar!) and the event usually gets more and more raucous as the night goes on!

Now six years later, the Pecha Kucha craze has grown worldwide: there are more than 335 cities with sanctioned Pecha Kucha nights, and more than 1000 presentations online on their main site. Thousands of people have experienced Pecha Kucha – and if you were at our Workshop this summer, you did too! The format has been used to present topics of all kinds (one of my favorites was given by a zoologist on a rare species of very large, flightless birds!).

Words don’t do the format justice. You have to check one out for yourself, either online, or better yet – go to a PKN near you!

ETC Live!

allisonsuchon — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:51:00 GMT

ETC lights venues all around the world – theaters, museums, tradeshows, amusement parks, concerts and more. One of the main reasons our equipment is so popular is because we understand what lighting professionals need for their varied applications, since we’ve been in their shoes. Employees have come to ETC from all kinds of backgrounds and have their own experience in those industries. And every year, we get the opportunity to showcase our skills at an annual company picnic, art exhibit and talent show – called ETC Live! – held at our factory.

This year’s event, with a ‘Fire and Ice’ theme, took place on Saturday, August 7^th. The deluge of rain that Wisconsin’s gotten this year took a day off, so we lucked out with beautiful – albeit humid – weather. Nearly 1,000 people – ETC employees, our families and guests – joined a swarm of Wisconsin state birds (read: mosquitoes) to enjoy the food and fun. ETC CEO Fred Foster provided some relief from the humidity, peddling around the event on his ice cream cart and handing out frozen treats. And kids got to experience a fantasy land, with a bounce house, massive inflatable slide, magic show, games and crafts.

ETC’s Town Square was turned into an art gallery for the event. Artists and photographers throughout the company displayed their beautiful paintings, photography, sculptures and woodworking in the pseudo shop-windows. And the parking lot was temporarily turned into a car show, as ETC gearheads showed off their classic and restored cars.

Then the ETC Live! show started. ETC’s outdoor amphitheater was bathed in deep blues and reds, thanks to the Selador® Series LED fixtures in the lighting rig. Manufacturing’s Dan Woodson kicked off the entertainment with a rendition of “Sweet Caroline.” He was followed up by ‘Madtown Ballroom,’ a local Latin-dance troupe made up of ETC R&D’s Matt Garrison and friends, dancing Salsa Rueda. Alternative-rock group ‘Crew Member Mike’ – all teenagers, including a son of R&D’s Dennis Varian – performed song covers and an original tune. Next up was musical-comedy group ‘Ironsides.’ John Ironside from ETC’s IT department, along with his wife and others, took on hits by the Carpenters, interspersed with witty observations on the neurotic nature of the famed lyrics. Rob Raff from the Sales department of ETC’s Southeast office – fresh off his smashing opening act at ETC’s Rep and Dealer Workshop – serenaded the crowd with smooth coffee-house covers of favorite rock and pop ballads. He was backed up by Scott Aumann from ETC Repairs, and Curt Schreiner and Rob Bloch from Shipping.

The main event of ETC Live! opened with teenage band ‘The Last Minute,’ which included sons of ETC’s John Masino (Manufacturing Engineering) and Lisa Patzka (Administration). The group handled clean covers of hits by Jane’s Addiction and Stone Temple Pilots and performed an original piece. ‘The John Masino Band’ took the stage to close out the show. Fronted by vocalist and guitar-wizard Masino – who was backed up by Aumann and Schreiner among others – the group wowed the crowd with incredible music, including classics by Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Jimmy Hendrix, David Bowie, The Foo Fighters and AC/DC, as well as the band’s own original hits.

At the end of the night, everyone packed up their lawnchairs and picnic blankets to head home. On Monday, we came back to the office to display our other talents – making award-winning products and providing outstanding customer service.

Workshop 2010 – coming to a computer near you

allisonsuchon — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:00:00 GMT

This week, from We dnesday, July 14^th through Saturday, July 17^th, reps and dealers will flock to Middleton for ETC’s annual Workshop. Nearly 150 people are signed up to partake in this year’s event, which offers hands-on training on all of ETC’s products. Classes include everything from Systems Design to Theory of Operation to Retrofitting Systems, as well as sales training, demo tips, and a full-day basic product overview for new reps and dealers – all taught by ETC employees and a few guest instructors.

Workshop also offers several special events. ETC CEO Fred Foster will make a keynote address Thursday morning, telling stories about the history of the company, and on Friday, distinguished Workshop guest and TV-lighting guru Bill Klages will deliver another keynote speech, detailing his 50+ years in the industry. On Thursday night, reps and dealers will attend a welcome event at the ETC factory, which this year will feature the sounds of The Sons of Sunset – a band made up of ETC employees who moonlight as musicians. Then on Friday night, Workshop attendees are invited to a banquet at Madison’s beautiful, Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace. Classes conclude Saturday morning and are followed up that night with a picnic, which wouldn’t be complete without Wisconsin’s ico nic food staples: bratwurst, sauerkraut and beer. Saturday will also include the much-anticipated, annual East vs. West softball game, which pits reps and dealers – and some very competitive ETC employees – against one another depending on their geographic region. Attendees can also participate in other games like volleyball, croquet, go-carting and bowling to complete their Workshop experience.

Are you feeling left out? Want to get in on some of the Workshop action? We’ll be chronicling the week on www.etcconnect.com/works ho p, with daily videos put together by ETC’s own comedic filmmakers. Their first, pre-Workshop video is currently available for viewing. You can also get the story behind the story by reading daily Workshop newsletters, compiled by ETC’s crafty paparazzi!

Fun with ETC Swag

dnorth — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:21:00 GMT

Ok, so sometimes we need to get into a little fun around here and not all be tied up in product releases and website stats [sorry Marketing guys]. And yes, I will write about something more serious soon....perhaps on rigging.....

ETC takes care of its employees quite nicely with the periodic swag drops and I try to make use of them as often as possible. Holiday parties, Fred's 50th birthday, summer picnics, safety fairs and more all bring goodies our way. I have a closet full of shirts, pullovers and jackets [it gets cold here].

Many years ago I found what I consider to be a much better use for the ETC gym bag than carrying sweat-laden clothing back from the weight room. The gym bag folds up nicely in my roller bag and when I return from family and fun trips to North Carolina, I bring 14 pounds of Eastern NC BBQ with 2 quarts of slaw. Now, this does take a little work as I have to tightly jam a small cardboard box into the bag that my NC buddy Mark has a stack of and line it with two kitchen sized trash bags. I get the BBQ cold packed [frozen] in one pound containers and transfer the slaw to a couple of one quart ziplock screw-top containers. This allows it to survive the baggage handlers as checked baggage. I used to carry it on but the TSA gave me strange looks when x-raying 14 containers wrapped in foil.

I have been told that if at any point in time I do not come back from NC with BBQ, it will affect my employment status. You see, the BBQ is for all my cohorts back here at the factory and we indeed have a great time with a potluck meal the day I get back. Several of the execs keep me honest on my record....

For those of you with questions about, or just questioning, Eastern NC BBQ, here's a little ditty that will explain all about the different Southern BBQs and of course why NC is best.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

[Note the Emerald Isle T-Shirt....the beach we went to on the weekends growing up] Each time I return from NC, all of Technical Services, and a few others, get sent an email with this video as a warning that BBQ is nigh. You may wish to start a BBQ fight below as I'm sure everyone has distinct opinions about why their region of the country is best. Yes, I said opinions. Facts prove out otherwise.

Now here's another great item from ETC that I repurposed...

A couple years ago we received some nice travel bags as part of a Holiday Party gift and I immediately put to use the toiletry kit bag for a Christmas gift I gave myself. What really is the right term; toiletry kit, shaving kit, essentials bag.... The ETC bag now became a camera bag for a new Holga camera. It works out perfectly as the bottom area is a film holder and the top cradles the camera fairly well. Since Holgas have a tendency to have light leaks, this was far better than leaving on the passenger seat and ruining more film than planned.

The Holga is quite cool but does have some rather odd flaws. To start with it runs 120 film which really can't be processed in the one hour section of Walgreens [does anyone do one hour processing anymore?]. The edges of pics are vingetted, there's really no film tensioning device [I use a piece of folded over film box lid jammed under the reel], there's no film speed setting, no shutter setting, only two aperture settings and then there's the famous light leaks. The basic Holga kit even comes with a roll of electrical tape to help you block out light if you wish.

The Holga comes in a variety of models, including the 120CFN which is a multicolored unit with a flash that has selectable color gels. To me, 120FCN stands for Camera FuN. Check these out for yourself at http://microsites.lomography.com/holga/. I'll post some pics when I can grab a better scanner. No memory sticks or USB ports for the fine plastic Holga.

So let me know what kind of fun you've had with your ETC swag. Maybe you've got a great shot of a shirt or case on tour, a Bobblehead Fred on holiday or similar repurposed swag.

Have fun!

David

Selador Vivid Fire and Ice: a designer turned from skeptic to fan

allisonsuchon — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 17:23:00 GMT

Lighting Designer and Guest Blogger Chris Rynne talks about his first experience using the newest members of the Selador Series of LED fixtures, Fire and Ice:

Last year, I was in a conversation with David Lincecum, marketing manager for ETC, and in that conversation I mentioned that I’d be in Madison, Wisconsin, (home of ETC) this April to design lighting for the Madison Opera’s production of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman at the Overture Center for the Arts. When I mentioned the show, he offered me an opportunity that some would not refuse, but that I had to think about. He offered me the use of 30 brand new Selador Ice and Fire fixtures to use in my plot. The caveat was that I’d need to use them as real full-stage lighting, not for lighting sky drops or set pieces. For those of you that aren’t familiar with ETC’s Selador line of fixtures, they are a family of high-quality color-mixing LED units (using red, green, blue, indigo, red-orange, cyan, and amber for much richer color-palette capabilities than are available through an RGB fixture) for stage use, and the Fire and Ice units are a new sub-line that each use only five colors and are tuned toward the red and blue ranges.

Getting back to my reluctance to immediately take David up on his offer…. I just wasn’t sure that these fixtures would do the job that I’d been using 750W PARs to do for the last 15 years of my design career. So, ETC sent me a couple of samples to play with and I put them up against my beloved PARs with color filters. It took me a couple hours of reviewing literature, specs, photometrics, and feedback, as well as going back into my garage a few different nights and blasting my neighbor’s garage door across the street with my testing (thanks, James) to convince myself that I was ready to take the leap of faith. But then I jumped in.

I just returned to San Diego on Sunday after spending almost two weeks with the Fire and Ice fixtures on my show and I have to say I’m really impressed. They not only replaced the blue PAR backlight wash and red PAR sidelight wash that I was originally planning, but did so with a vengeance. Not until the other day when someone had asked me how it went with the Seladors did I realize that the smoothness of dimming was indistinguishable from that of its tungsten-based buddies, even with long crossfades or completely fading the fixtures out. Having instant access to a large color palette from a single fixture without worrying about mechanically moving glass filters or plastic-sheet color media was wonderful. I was able to run through a gamut of moods over the span of the opera with these dynamic paint brushes….and feel good about the green-ness of it. I took a rig that would’ve been done with about 35,000 watts of tungsten-sourced lights and did it with under 7,500 watts (they’d only consume that much if I’d run all the colors at full on all the units, which I never did). And, as I noticed after programming, I only ever went as high as 40% of the output potential on the Ice units, as putting them up to full power would’ve been just too bright for the show. All that firepower from a lighting tool that can fit nine 21” fixtures into one 20A circuit.

I have to say that, after my recent experience, I’m a believer. ETC has created an awesome pair of flexible LED fixtures in the Fire and Ice that deliver much more than I would’ve gotten from even 1000W PAR64 fixtures fitted with color changers to meet my blue and red lighting needs. I believe that their color flexibility, smooth dimming curve, long lamp life, low heat, low maintenance, and energy savings will help the Selador line find homes in schools, theaters, music halls, churches, television studios, and architainment projects as an important part of the lighting design toolbox.

Source Fours in their (un)natural habitat

dlincecum — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:35:00 GMT

When I first saw the Source Four at LDI in 1992 I knew that it was going to change a lot of things. I wonder what the number would be if we could add up the kilowatt hours that the Source Four has saved the world in electrical generation. And yet the lighting world has pretty much forgotten that our entertainment industry shaved roughly 40% off our average electrical usage beginning in 1993 as the Source Fours made their way in to the market.

I am occasionally struck by the depth that the Source Four has reached. You see them in places where they were never meant to be. I took this photo at Union Station in Washington DC while on spring break a few weeks back. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the Source Fours against a tri-level backdrop of food court and retail. Thousands of people pass through here every day and couldn’t care less, but I am sure that someone like me or you also passes through weekly and notices these fixtures oddly out of place with their retail surroundings.

Seeing how these products have seeped out deeply into the market makes a comment on how lighting worlds have merged so heavily in the past 15 years. The two worlds of commercial lighting and the stage have been slowly, magnetically drawn toward each other over time. It's like a big luminary mash-up. What’s to blame? Several areas I can think of have contributed.

Technology is one – stage technologies that are just really useful beg for adoption elsewhere. I don’t really see this the other way around – are stage designers adopting commercial technologies?

Designers – the masses of MFA trained lighting designers that hit the street each year looking for work add to the mash-up. As they seek work, commercial design firms seek imaginative, tech savvy assistants.

A flair for the dramatic – retail, hospitality and even commercial facilities are all looking for a gimmick. (I have to say gimmick because that is so often what it ends up looking like.) From my perspective there have been a few nice things done here and also buckets of money flushed down the drain. Nonetheless, it adds to the cross pollination of lighting.

Sales networks – when I look at the highly skilled, creative sales force at ETC, both our internal and our rep network, I see how creative salespeople are solving commercial lighting problems with non-traditional products – and getting orders from it. I have seen some extraordinary solutions and some extraordinary sales of equipment for unusual reasons.

There are probably many more observations on lighting cultures and mash-ups. What’s yours?

New on etcconnect.com: white papers and application notes

john.kuehl — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:08:00 GMT

A nubbin post today to point out that we've introduced a new feature in our also-new Support section: the Reference Library. That's a label that could mean a lot of things, but in this case, that's what we're calling the area of our site where you can find white papers, application notes and other kinds of guides and documentation on the science and art of lighting and lighting control. It's a small-but-growing library, and a variety of topics are covered already.

Curious about factors that can impact lamp life? David North covers that in one document, and shares tips for selecting the right dimmer in another. Looking for a guide to indicator lights on your new Paradigm system? You're covered. Immersing yourself in research for new LEDs? We've got a few great entries on that subject, too.

ETC experts have been asking for a public forum for sharing these documents for some time, and now that we've made it happen, let's not bruise their egos by letting this stuff go unused! The more you use it, the more they'll produce. And, while you're there, if you have a suggestion on topics you'd like us to address in the future, leave a comment and we'll look into it!

People for the ethical demonstration of Selador

allisonsuchon — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:19:00 GMT

ETC Field Project Coordinator David Hilton discusses an important issue facing lighting designers:

There’s a tragedy occurring every day in this country – a tragedy that affects lighting designers and technicians alike. This tragedy is unfolding right in our backyards. I’ve personally seen it firsthand, and I struggle to mitigate its aftereffects. You may have been witness to these horrid events and didn’t even know it. The tragedy is simple: seeing a lighting demonstration of a product outside of its natural environment. The most egregious example of this, for the purposes of this blog, is Selador.

Lighting products, especially of the entertainment variety, are sensitive creatures. They are conscious of their surroundings and react very differently when taken from their natural environment. I have traveled the country far and wide and have seen time and time again people placing a Selador on trunnions four feet in front of a wall, and it sickens me. ‘Don’t they understand they aren’t even giving it a chance?’ I often think to myself. ‘Don’t they know how beautiful that light wants to look? How much it yearns to be back in a theater, hung in the air, lighting someone?’ The only thing that calms my spirit is the fact that these tragic demonstrations of the Selador product are indeed innocent. For years, people have taken other LED products and have shined them on a wall, which is what those fixtures were built to do. How could they know that Selador is so different?

As a man trying to perpetuate the ethical demonstrations of lighting products, I ask this: do you remember the first time you saw a Source Four? Was it on a floorplate pointed at a wall three feet in front of it? Sadly, some of you will say yes, but that is a tragedy of a different magnitude. For most people, the first time they saw a Source Four it was hung on a pipe in the air, and it was there, in all its natural beauty, that people first saw the beautiful, sculpted light pour out of the front of the fixture and hit the waiting stage below. It was there that someone placed a set piece or an actor and you saw in front of you the sheer quality of light at which it illuminated those objects. And it was there that the Source Four felt at home.

Selador and Source Four are similar in this way: they feel at home in the theater. Selador feels comfortable lighting people and objects on a stage. Placing them on the ground and shining them on a wall give them a hollow existence. And why would anybody want to hurt a Selador? All they want to do is play with you. Selador yearns to give designers the options of changing their top wash from rich ambers to subtle lavenders to brilliant magentas. It yearns to light an actor in a light that looks as natural as a tungsten source, then grins when it suddenly changes to moonlight blue. It knows the lighting designers in the audience are scratching their heads, wondering if there is some sort of a color changing device on a Fresnel. What’s even sadder about the tragedy of mis-demonstrating Selador is that the designers suffer as much as the Seladors... and they don’t even know it!

I’ve begun a campaign in the Western United States. This campaign is aimed at one thing: to save Seladors across the country from unnatural demonstrations. If Seladors want to show themselves off as a top wash, I say let them. If they want to show off their color-mixing and lensing capabilities by lighting an entire cyc, I say it’s their right to do so. If they want to light a human being in 3200k, then in 5600k, I say, go for it!

And ETC is behind me on this. We are increasing the opportunities to save Seladors and lighting designers alike from horrible demonstrations. Come check us out at tradeshows where different types of Seladors will be playing with each other. Make an effort to see a Selador demonstration by one of our qualified ETC Field Project Coordinators (FPCs). FPCs are located and travel throughout the country, and they’ve been specially trained on how to take care of Seladors, to make them shine their best. Or see us at the Selador Roadshow, a marketing event headed to a local college or university near you. You will not only see how Seladors behave in their natural environment, but you’ll get an opportunity to play with them and see which one you want to take home!

Help my efforts to end these psychotic wall demonstrations! Let us come together and finally put Seladors where they want and deserve to be!