Electronic Theatre Controls

It takes a village to raise a website

john.kuehl — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:49:00 GMT

I'm overdue to say "thank you" to some people.

Specifically, "those people" being all the ETC staff, customers, end users that have ever stopped to say, "hey, this thing on your website isn't, or at least doesn't seem, quite right. can you fix it?" Some of those commenters have been bashful about raising these questions, but I can assure you that your feedback is invaluable and that we appreciate it.

Our website contains tens of thousands of unique pages and documents (since January 1, there have been over 119,000 unique pages served up about 3.7 million times on etcconnect.com - an admittedly inflated number that includes any unique keyword search, which isn't really a page, but still, it's a big site)...and there are just two people here at ETC who are full-time responsible for web-related work. Without the handful of people in the company that have at least part-time web responsibilities - from backend development to download posting - and the many other good Samaritans who call or email when they spot some newly-out-of-date or maybe-it's-always-been-a-little-inaccurate content, we'd labor to see and fix everything that needs fixing.

So, again, thank you for your help and diligence and shared interest in making etcconnect.com as accurate and reliable as can be!

Congo v6 Software now available!

sclausen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:40:00 GMT

A new software version – v6 – for Congo® and Congo jr consoles is now available! The v6 software contains a host of new features and changes to the internal structure of Congo, making it even more flexible for both traditional theatre-style and on-the-fly applications.

New Image Effects
ETC has added another powerful effect type to Congo: Image Effects. Image Effects use the Effect Playback concept from Congo v5 software to associate a layout of channels (which creates a graphical or positional relationship among included channels) with a source image or text. Parameters of the Effect Playback include positioning of the image on the layout, scale and aspect of that image/text, rotation, and effects like constant rotation, scaling or scrolling. Multiple effect playbacks allow for layered image effects.

Jam Mode
ETC has done a lot of work on Jam mode, making it easier for users to determine what data gets generated and where that data ends up in a play file. Users can also regenerate data quickly using the new Jam Mode Wizard. For those who like to experiment, we’ve added in Two Scene Masters where users can create a look “blind” using the top row of masters, then fade into that look in time using the Master Controls. The scene created on the top row of masters becomes “live” on the bottom row of masters, where additional adjustments can be made on the fly. This powerful feature of Congo v6 makes busking a breeze.

Masters
ETC has increased the number of Master Playbacks to 80 and made a lot of changes to the Masters, allowing once-global settings to be applied per master – including rubberbanding and exclude-from-record. And, there are new settings, such as the ability to choose what look a rubberbanding master returns to – this can be the previous state, or back to the main playback, or to a designated preset. Also improved is the Masters display and dock, allowing users to see a lot more information about the masters, including more steps of a sequence on a master.

Learn Profile
ETC has improved playback by incorporating the ability to learn a fade profile for crossfades in the Main Playback. Simply enable “Learn Profile” on a soft key and then move the faders in the manner you want the crossfade to happen. Also new is an indication of the current playback location (what’s in A and B) within the Sequence List editor.

Channel Views
The channel views have changed, giving users more options for the amount of information that is displayed within a channel box. There is also a new set of symbols in the Channel Layouts supporting more TV/film fixtures and adding special-purpose symbols as well. Now users can even draw circles!

Blind Editing
ETC also changed the way that blind editing is done, allowing for live moving-light controls to be used within blind views. This means that instead of using spreadsheet-style editing, users can view blind data and move encoders, use direct selects and other keyboard commands to select channels and enter data directly, as in Live.

New Docks
A number of new docks have been added, including the Designer Summary dock that collects important data about the main playback and/or selected channels and puts it in one compact location on-screen. A Timecode dock displaying a large clock for internal or external time code has been included. It enhances Congo’s functionality with support of the Net3™ Show Control Gateway for interaction with MIDI and SMPTE on the network, as well as adding an internal backup clock within Congo itself. There is also a new Selected – Live dock that shows the channels and effect playbacks users select in the Live tab.

Structural Changes
Congo has undergone some major structural changes including more Preset numbers – from 0.001 to 9999.999 – making it easier to organize shows that use multiple sequences. Also, finer timing resolution under ten seconds is now possible – 0.01 to 9.99 seconds. Lastly, 16-Bit intensity is now supported, providing improved control of automated fixtures and accessories that utilize high-resolution motor control and improved mastering of LED fixtures that use 16-bit color parameters.

View the Congo v6 movie at www.etcconnect.com/Congov6 .

Congo v6 software is available as a free download at www.etcconnect.com .

Wiki breakthrough…what we wanted in 1995

mmeskill — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:50:00 GMT

During my entire stint at ETC my good friend David North and I have always done a good bit of complaining about how we record and store information about our products. At first it was more about how to get info out of his BIG, semi-photographic, Electrical Engineer brain and into my tiny, dyslexic, barely graduated from high school, BFA in Production brain but then it was about how to record information for new ETC Service employees who were being hired at an alarming rate throughout the late 1990’s. What is an SD dimmer? How do I do an I3M upgrade and what is an I3M? DAS…I don’t know anything about DAS…what do you mean you cannot field program the system. I bought a Q119 from you guys and put it into my Colortran D192 rack but only 1 of the 2 dimmers is working…Um….. and the racks are pre-production Beta. Okay this last one was me calling David North in 1992 while I was at NSCA and he was the repair tech at Stageworks Lighting in Raleigh, NC but the fact remained that it was very difficult for someone who never even worked with an LMI dimming rack to provide ‘expert’ support to ETC customers calling for help.

The first way that the ETC Service Department dealt with ‘knowledge issue’ was to build massive product binders for each phone support tech. When someone new started they were given about 10 3-ring binders with manuals and drawings. Slowly each individual would add things to their binders so that they could reference them when needed. Of course this did not help with the sharing of information between service employees. It did not do anyone else good that I had an excellent mark-up sheet of the I3M upgrade process in my binder…at my desk…which got moved every 3 months or so.

The next step was to invest in ‘Knowledge Base’ software program. Tony Romain and David North settled on a nice product and now everyone in the department was being told to start putting info into the database. This would be great. Not only could we share info internally, but we could publish info for our Service Providers and End-Users. Well…it was great…kind of. In the beginning we found the most challenging thing was to edit the info for accuracy and ensure that ‘internal use info’ was kept separate from ‘public use info’. This task fell to me for many years and was quite time consuming. In the end we did manage to get a version onto the Service Technician Pages of etcconnect.com….the 2^nd generation of which is still in use today and is now also available to all users of the site.

Mike does Wiki….The whole reason I decided to spend my working time today writing about all of this is because I spent my working time yesterday playing with the ETC Wiki Page (I’m sure to get mail form Fred Foster, Dick Titus or the always lovely Sarah Danke about why I’m not spending more time working during my working time). But let me tell them why, THE ETC WIKI IS THE GREATEST THING to hit the Technical Service Department since the I3M pin extraction tool. I know that a number of people have had a hand in making this happen but the largest leap has come over this summer as Technical Service employee a summer intern to do nothing else but add Wiki pages based on our knowledgebase and other miscellaneous technical information that was floating around the company. I was so inspired that I had to spend the better part of a day play with the Wiki and trying to learn how to add stuff by myself…a little bit of success but I will need some tutoring during my next trip to Middleton.

So…Check it out:

http://www.etcconnect.com/Community/wikis/products/etc-product-wiki-table-of-contents.aspx

And add your own stuff as well….

Have a good show!

Mike

NY Times covers impact of state finances on college arts programs

john.kuehl — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:12:00 GMT

Arts Programs in Academia Forced to Nip Here, Adjust There - New York Times, August 9, 2009

"There are no nationwide statistics to reveal whether one discipline is suffering more cuts than others. But administrators at more than a dozen state and private campuses who were interviewed say that the way that arts programs are structured and operated may amplify the effect of reductions."

ETC's home again sits near top of "Best Places to Live" list

john.kuehl — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:05:00 GMT

I've lived in and around Middleton all my life (that's about 30 years as of this week, if you're curious), so it's with some deal of interest to me when the town shows up on various "Best Places to Live" lists. My personal and professional planets aligned this morning when reading coverage of Middleton's latest ranking in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which featured ETC Test Technician Craig Burfield and his family. Cool.

"Middleton is one of the best places to live - again" - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Buds appearing on long-imagined ETC Product Wiki

john.kuehl — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 14:09:00 GMT

I've noticed that David Lincecum, Father of ETC's Online Community, hasn't been his just-on-the-sunny-side-of-giddy self this week. He's been even giddier. While it could be attributed to any number of things - say his recent business trip back to California, or his yoga class with this guy, or Fred's ice cream cart - I'm betting its the recent boom in content on the ETC Product Wiki that really has him smiling. Have you noticed our wiki? Check it out!

We haven't always known precisely where we're headed with the ETC Online Community - and you know, I don't think that's a negative with this kind of initiative. To prove my point, the wiki portion of the Community has been one of those should we/shouldn't we, how about this/how about that, you manage it/no you manage it, maybe today/maybe tomorrow ideas that we've wrestled with for some time. But now, somewhat organically and somewhat opportunistically, the ETC Product Wiki is beginning to find its legs.

Like the forums that have made our Online Community such a huge gathering place for ETC end users, customers, staff and more, I have a feeling we'll soon wonder how we ever got along without our wiki, too.

Good Humor Man

john.kuehl — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:31:00 GMT

Is it the 95-degree heat, or did I just see Fred riding a bike down the hallway? And was the bike rigged with a freezer full of ice cream bars and a string of bells? And, was he dressed like the Good Humor Man?

Another Periodic Table!

john.kuehl — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:53:00 GMT

With our Periodic Table of Element still top of mind around here, a link to this periodic table of video game controllers just lept out at me today on Twitter (via @Rands).

Congo v6 Previews at ABTT (London) and Showtech (Berlin) shows in June

sclausen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:54:00 GMT

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

So, what have the Congo team been up to since the release of v5 you may ask? Simple – we’ve been busy designing a new version of Congo software we hope will please you. This version – v6 – contains some massive, but subtle (and some not so subtle), changes to the internal structure of Congo making it even more flexible. Here are some highlights:

1) More Preset numbers – from 0.001 to 9999.999.

2) Finer timing resolution under 10 seconds – 0.01 to 9.99 seconds now possible.

3) Increased intensity resolution with the support of 16-bit intensity parameters.

Channel Views

We’ve changed up the channel views a bit by redesigning the way channels are displayed and have given you a lot more options for how much information is displayed within a channel box. We’ve also added a set of new symbols in the Channel Layouts supporting more TV/film fixtures and adding special purpose symbols as well. And you can now draw circles!

Blind Editing

We have also changed the way that blind editing is done, allowing for live moving light controls to be used within blind views. This means that instead of using table editing like one would in a spreadsheet, you can view blind data and move encoders, use direct selects and other keyboard commands to select channels and enter data directly, as you would in Live.

New Docks

We have added a number of new docks including the Designer Summary dock which collects important data about the main playback and/or selected channels and puts it in one compact location on-screen. We’ve added a Timecode dock displaying a large clock for internal or external time code, and have enhanced Congo’s functionality with support of the Net3 Show Control Gateway for interaction with MIDI and SMPTE on the network as well as adding an internal backup clock within Congo itself. There’s also the new Selected – Live dock that shows the channels and effect playbacks you’ve selected in the Live tab

Learn Profile

As for playback improvements, we have added the ability to learn a fade profile for crossfades in the Main Playback. Simply enable “Learn Profile” on a soft key and then move the faders in the manner you want the crossfade to happen. We’ve also added in an indication of the current playback location (what’s in A and B) within the Sequence List editor.

These changes are important for the day-to-day programming of Congo shows, but on the fun side, we have made a lot of improvements for those of you who like to “play” the console more like a musical instrument.

Masters, Masters, Masters...

First, we have increased the number of Master Playbacks to 80 and we’ve made a lot of changes to the Masters, allowing once-global settings to be applied per master – including rubberbanding and exclude-from-record. Also, we’ve added new settings including the ability to choose what look a rubberbanding master returns to – this can be the previous state (as it has been from the beginning of Congo), back to the main playback or to a designated preset. We have also improved the Masters display and dock so that you can see a lot more information about your masters, including more steps of a sequence on a master.

Jam Mode

We have done a lot of work on Jam mode, making it easier for you to determine what data gets generated and where that data ends up in your play. You can also regenerate data quickly using the new Jam Mode Wizard. For those who really like to play their console, we’ve added in Two Scene Masters where you can create a look “blind” using the top row of masters, then fade into that look in time using the Master Controls. The scene you created on the top row of masters becomes “live” on the bottom row of masters where you can make additional adjustments on the fly. This powerful feature of Congo v6 makes busking a breeze.

New Image Effects

Lastly, we’ve added another powerful effect to the Congo – Image Effects. Image Effects use the Effect Playback concept from v5 to associate a layout of channels (which create a graphical or positional relationship among included channels) with a source image or text. Parameters of the Effect Playback include positioning of the image on the layout, scale and aspect of that image/text, rotation, and effects like constant rotation, scaling or scrolling of that image or text.

Where can I see it???

Come and see Congo v6 in action at the ABTT show in London 10-11.June, or at the Showtech show in Berlin 16-18.June. Congo v6 software should be released later this summer.

A new approach, design for Controls on etcconnect.com

john.kuehl — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:40:00 GMT

We recently made several notable changes to the section of our website dedicated to presenting our Controls products (both Entertainment and Architectural). I wanted to share some of the thought process and strategic planning that went into this project to bring a little extra attention to it and to invite any comments on the changes.

Problems

The project to redesign this section of our website was intended to address several problems. Mainly:

We had recognized the existence and importance of our product families as a company, and had started to advertise around the idea, but we had not actively promoted these product relationships online.
On etcconnect.com, all consoles from all families were treated just about equally, diluting efforts to brand and position our products among one another and against the competition.
Our established method of segmenting entertainment and architectural control products just wasn't working.

Approach

You could say that we sought out to address these problems with nothing more than some basic marketing principles - defining our target more precisely and addressing the needs of that target more directly - and you'd be right to an extent. Especially when it comes to our three lines of architectural control systems under the Unison brand, which are well-articulated in their purpose and ideal applications. However, since our two flagship lines of entertainment controls are each functionally appropriate for a wide variety of lighting situations - a fact that the product managers for our controls products are very proud of - it was going to take a broader, more integrated approach to communicate the philosophical differences that could help users decide if they're a better fit for an Eos or Ion or for a Congo or Congo jr. So from a web marketing perspective, we aimed to solve our problems with the following strategies:

Raise the visibility of our product families, and let their unique personalities shine through.
Make product pages a true hub of relevant and related content.
Offer more decision-making resources.

Results

New Entertainment Controls "Product Category" page

New version of this page uses a fast-loading interactive Flash module to allow buyers to explore a little bit about all our product families without having to click through to a new page. Graphics are meant to convey a sense of each families style and personality - the Congo family as being dynamic, fun, and effects-driven, for instance. Brief positioning copy gives newbies a hint at the strengths of the different products, and subtle visual accents help to distinguish them further. What was the single laundry list of product links is now multiple, short lists grouped by family, making individual products easy to find for repeat visitors. The links have rollover descriptions to help buyers get a little bit of information on consoles before deciding which one to check out. Cross-promotional bits below the product links call out other important news and and product features. An Architectural Control Systems version of this page was launched, too, with a separate navigation item under "Products", which resolves nicely one of three main problems outlined at the start of this post.

New Entertainment Controls "Product Family" page

Improvements to this page included, from the top down, the addition of a breadcrumb navigation; a rotating series of images highlighting the consoles that make up the selected family; a slick new series of tabs that instantly reveal more new content - a useful pop-up intra-family comparison chart, testimonials from actual product owners and users, and links to installation stories that previously had no linked connection whatsoever to the products they featured. Family consoles are obviously featured in a vertical list, with focused, meaningful and easily-digestible descriptions. All content is geared toward helping a buyer figure out if a family feels right, and if so, which of the offerings feels most right for them. Architectural version of this page is currently available for our new Mosaic Show Control family of products.

New Entertainment Controls Product page

With this template, many of the same elements are carried over from the old design, with some usability improvements made along the way. From the top down, again, you see the breadcrumb navigation to allow for easy browsing back to the family - or all the way back to the category page should a user decide to explore a different family; the new product photo gallery auto-rotates, and also offers more obvious buttons to manually do the same thing; a repeat of the positioning headline is followed by small icons that detail some of the core operational concepts associated with each console (we have more in store for these); a row of new links below the hero image links a user for the first time from a product page to the forum for that product on our Online Community; new tab design makes the full extent of product-related content much more obvious - and includes a new "Tech Specs" tab to give buyers a quick look at key facts and figures from our downloadable datasheets; and the potential is now there for really enhancing the description of each console's features.

Reactions?

Of course we're already monitoring our web traffic reports to see how and how often the new pages are being used, and will be continuing to fill in and enhance content (web projects seem to rarely reach a point of being totally "complete", especially when our products are always evolving). For instance, the new Tech Specs and Testimonials pages have been utilized by hundreds of site visitors already, and we expect that we'll be helping more current and potential ETC console operators than ever find our user forums - which would be a huge benefit for everyone.

Quantitative results aside, what are your reactions to these changes?

A rejection letter from Apple . . . more iPhone app fun

dlincecum — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:45:00 GMT

Actually it was just a simple red dot followed by the word Rejected. The image below is a screenshot from our account on the app store.

It seems that Apple does not allow any use of a charity as an enticement to buy an App. No references to charity website or logos may exist.We can still offer the two versions and we will tell you about the charities on our own website. The charities will not be named on the App store. Either way, they are both great causes to support.

On a secondary note Apple says we must prove that the app works with our product! (The Irony is that is does not actually work with many of our products!! See previous post!) We must submit a video of the App working with the product.

First I am struck by the Apple organization. They are really organized around this App business. Walk in to the Apple store and see App logos everywhere. They are really controlling the content on the phones and the quality of the content. I guess I should say "Kudos to Apple!" But I am somehow left feeling resentful. Like Apple is the front running lemming, leading us all off a cliff!

Ironically this rejection comes on June 4. This morning I noticed this on my Facebook newsfeed. David Neuser (the only person on Facebook still going by Hussein) posted this tribute to the Apple II.

Maybe your asking yourself how the iRFR app developer, Chris Mizerak, took the news?

In his email explaining the situation he pointed out that making a video to prove that the App works only presented the challenge of deciding which finger would be shown setting the levels.

:-)

Life in the fast lane of software . . .

dlincecum — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:06:00 GMT

Subtitle ---- What happens when you throw out all process and just do it

A while back we decided that in order to be a cool company we needed an iPhone app.

It was obvious what the app should do - remotely control our consoles of course. But how would we do it? While many may look at ETC from the outside and say "You guys can get that done. Look at all the people you have. Come on - just knock it out quickly and move on," Experience at ETC has shown that these things are much harder to fit in than they appear. Our company president has a saying; "The farther you are from the actual problem, the easier the solution looks." It is very true.

Anyway - a software developer at ETC emerged who would author this little app in his "spare time." He was and is still a hero in his valiant work at "keeping us cool."

It was decided that we would set this up so all the money gets diverted to lighting charities - so it it goes for the good of all our industry. Another great idea and great cool factor.

Next steps - We began to see prototypes and "kind of working" models and then next thing you know us folks in marketing (the root of all public mistakes!) decide to demo the thing at USITT and then we write about it in a newsletter and then a few salespeople with iPhones begin to show it to others and then a banner ad appears. And then customers want this thing. I mean they really want it. And we don't have it.

Then we start saying things like:

"When is this iPhone app thing done?"

"Well - there have been some delays and complications."

"But, I heard it was almost done. And what about those complications? What are they?"

"Well it does not work on Eos unless you have this software version which is not released."

"Wow, bummer. I guess a lot of people are going to download and then be really confused and ultimately PO'd. What else?"

"Well on Congo these things work now - but these things don't and won't until this summer with V6."

"OK - more confusion. We are accustomed to that. Anything else?"

"A few things: We need some written documentation on how to use this thing. Who is doing that?"

"Have we set up our account with the App store?"

"Has our attorney reviewed the Apple contract?"

"How does the money get to the charities?"

"When is this thing finished again?"

"I heard it was almost done"

Well, in the meantime we are getting hammered to produce this thing. If you browse our forums you see a number of threads - some with very unhappy customers because they don't have this app. (It's amazing how indispensable this little app has become prior to its release) There are some complaints because we delayed the release due to [all above mentioned issues.] Complaints because we are charging $49 for the software (which is a giant sum of money in App store dollars.) The app-confusion even resulted in one group of customers feeling "less than" another one! Wow! This is going well for our cool factor!

Welcome to the new software world created by Apple. We had no idea what we were getting in to. The iPhone has changed many things - how people get software - how people value software - how many people use the software. There are a host of articles out recently about people making millions of dollars in the iPhone software industry that has sprung up. At ETC we are accustomed to slowly building apps and then testing the hell out of them and then taking a long time to release them and then watching them slowly trickle out into the market over months. Welcome to the fast lane, ETC! one thing for sure about iPhone apps - people want it and they want it now.

I'll quote one of our forum users who said it best "This has been a really poorly handled process by ETC." I'll second that motion. We are learning a lot by doing this and we appreciate everyone bearing with us. I knew we were at critical mass when the product managers who work for me started asking things like "Who is product managing this thing?" Answer: "Nobody - and it is showing!"

One thing I have learned - and many of you can learn too. When you are going to develop an iPhone app, DON'T TELL ANYONE UNTIL IT IS REALLY DONE.

David

PS - Latest update ---- I hear that the iRFR is "almost done"

I need some affirmation.

john.kuehl — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:48:00 GMT

Loyal readers, I - along with others here at ETC - have been working so long on trying to find ways to improve the search capabilities of etcconnect.com, without anything really tangible to show for it. If you've dealt with ETC at all, you know how much we emphasize service, and when we're getting dozens of emails a week from customers and end users who can't find this or that document or piece of software, I feel like we are letting you all down - badly.

I post this today to ask for your continued patience, and if you feel compelled, to also remind me that our search is really as bad as I think and is therefore worth the ongoing setbacks. Or, if you'd rather, point out to me that it's NOT nearly as bad as I think and share your opinion on what other opportunity you see for further improvement of the online ETC experience. You have my attention.

Your second stop at NAB 2009, after ETC

john.kuehl — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:46:00 GMT

ETC is going to have plenty of sweet new gear to show at NAB 2009 (Selador Series, Element to name a few), but after you stop in at our booth, it might be worth checking out the eye candy at the I-MOVIX stand - if jaw-dropping, hihg-definition, 1000fps video of rugby, fire, cheerleaders and Jell-O interests you at all:

http://vimeo.com/4167288?pg=embed&sec=&hd=1

Energy management via Force

dlincecum — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:24:00 GMT

John K sent me this link today that i find really intriguing.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/09/smartswitch-prototype-makes-work-out-of-the-simplest-of-things/

It shows a prototype of a switch or dimmer for household use that becomes harder to turn on when another switch is on. The slider has increased resistance based on power usage.

The concept is that you go to turn on a light in your bedroom and it gently reminds you that you have on lights all over the house. I like the idea. I struggle to get my family to manage electrical use in our home. I have even installed timers on switches that often get left on downstairs in the basement. The kids confound me by overriding the timers!

I like the idea presented of setting energy goals for the home and having the very devices that you deal with all the time remind you of the goals. It's not that you can't turn the lights on - but it is harder to do so. A gentle reminder.

I also would like to request the option of making the TV not come on if the lights in my kids rooms are on! What do you think of these options? The comments from readers on the link above are not too kind. Take a look at a few.

The last guy really takes the cake. "When faced with the choice to save 20 bucks or half a tree ... I'll choose the Jackson everyday." Why is it that we are not willing to invest in saving energy? Always chasing the dollar.

I wonder if his grandkids will feel the same way? If there are any "half trees" left that is.

Which Pizza would you prefer?

dlincecum — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:19:00 GMT

We held a celebration of the Selador integration in to ETC yesterday. Everyone got free Pizza and a chance to look at the new fixtures and understand the technology and what makes them different. Fred had the idea for a pizza display using an RGB fixture and a Selador fixture. Brilliant! Which Pizza looks most appealing to you?

What could the Economic Stimulus Package mean to you?

joebokelman — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:54:00 GMT

While watching President Obama's speech last week, I noticed that most people in the room, including the Vice President and the Speaker of the House, had a small brochure they were reviewing while Obama was speaking. I have my own opinions about keep handouts in the box until the end of the presentation, but seeing those 'guides to the stimulus package' cheat sheets made me realize something: there is a plan. I thought about the scope of the plan, what rumors I've heard in the news, and my thoughts went immediately to 'how could our reps and dealers, and ultimately ETC look for opportunities to based on the projects created by the Obama plan?

Now, this is just my opinion, but I am willing to bet that there are projects in every state that will require our products - we have had a few inquires from different facilities who think they are slated to get money- and they were asking what they should budget for. There are plenty of potential projects that ETC might not make products for, but there could be countless opportunities for other products our reps and dealers offer. There might also be unrealized projects that could drive you to create a new business opportunity later- who knows, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? In these tough times, let's find every piece of new business we can- every little bit drives the economy forward!

I realized quickly that this information must be published somewhere, but I did not know even where to begin, so I asked our resident political watchdog, Joe Kirschling. Not surprisingly, Joe had a backlog of emails he'd been exchanging with other resources about this very subject. Joe was kind enough to not only send me several very interesting website links, including one to the Federal site detailing the plan, but Joe also took a few minutes to summarize several key points, and provide additional information about where people in each state can find out more, and even how you can contact your Senators and Representatives.

In addition to the information Joe wrote, he included Links to several sites that offer independent lists of project by state, that local governments have proposed to make use of the incoming federal money. While most are infrastructure projects like roadways, bridges, etc. - leave no stone unturned.

Here is what Joe had to say (with a few insertions of my own):

“A crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind” - Chinese proverb

As funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act starts to flow to federal projects and state budgets, we can find opportunities for product sales by staying aware of projects and industries that are targeted for funding from the new law.

In President Obama’s address to congress on February 24^th, 2009, he outlined his intentions for increased funding in three major areas: energy, health care, and education. All three of these areas represent opportunities for sales.

Energy – energy efficiency and conservation is a key component of the administration’s energy policy, Paradigm does this well. Capitalize on it. (e.g. energy efficiency initiatives at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration)

(Many of these facilities are in need of new lighting systems, and likely new energy management systems, to qualify for the most budget. There will be many, many facilities built in the 80's and 90's looking to upgrade their electrical lighting systems, install daylight harvesting systems, and more - and Unison Paradigm, SmartSwtich paired with the SmartLink Timeclock, other products you might represent are a very necessary part of this need!)

Health care – funding for health care means increased budgets and profits for hospitals and public health institutions (e.g. National Institutes of Health [NIH], Centers for Disease Control [CDC], and the Public Health Service).

Education – the commitment to increased funding for K-12 instruction as well as the push for all Americans to seek higher education with help from government funding, public and charter schools, community, technical, and junior colleges, and colleges and universities across the nation will see their budgets and building projects increase. Each of these venues includes opportunity for our products to be placed.

The administration has started an unprecedented policy of openness and accountability in conjunction with this law, which translates to increased access to information about how, when, and where all of the money is being spent. You can find information on specific federal government projects by going to www.recovery.gov.

In addition, much of the funding will be sent directly to the individual states intended for general areas of state government use rather than specific projects. For information on what projects within your state will be funded by this money, stay in close contact with the office of your governor, your state’s departments of Education, Energy, and Health Services. While some of this information will be available at www.recovery.gov, your state departments will likely be able to offer more specific details about projects that will benefit from the new funding. Also, contacting your senators and congressperson directly about what money will be available for which projects in your state is another fruitful route, as such officeholders are frequently anxious to boast about project expenditures for their constituencies.

(A list of the projects that have been submitted during the recent national meetings of mayors can be found here. Several states have their own 'recovery tracking site' found here.)

To contact your congressperson, go to www.house.gov and you can find your representative by typing your zip code in the field at the top of the home page. By clicking on the search result, you will be directed to the official’s website.

To contact your senators, go to www.senate.gov and find both of your senators by selecting your state in the “Find Your Senators” field at top right on the home page. The senators’ homepages will be in the search results.

(GET CREATIVE! THERE IS WORK OUT THERE! GOOD LUCK!)

P.S. An interesting list of other projects, which some think are wasteful, but may be of interest to many of us in this business can be found here. Finally, there is an interesting chart attached to this post (from recovery.gov) illustrating 'where the money is going'.

The CUBS and Teamwork in ETC Service

mmeskill — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:35:00 GMT

There is a yearly ritual that takes place in the ETC Service Department. It usually happens in late February and involves a great deal of planning, coordination and teamwork. The event: Trying to buy home game tickets for Chicago Cubs Baseball games. (Yes I know, we live in Middleton, WI)

Lisa Chapiewsky has been the Field Service Coordinator for ETC Inc for about 9 years and she is a rabid Cubs fan. For those of you that do not know, the Field Service Coordinator is the one person behind the scenes in Field Service that holds the fate of all installation and field service work in their hands. If you have a new ETC system and need to get it up and running, Lisa is the one that finds the right person for the job. I had the pleasure of being the one to hire Lisa back in 2000 and have missed the opportunity over the last 4 years to be involved in her quest to obtain Cubs tickets.

So how it works: On the morning of February 20th, Lisa shows up at work in her Cubs sweatshirt and a stack of paperwork. This paperwork details all her preferences for game days and seating areas. At around 9:00 am she solicits everyone in the Service department to log onto the ticket page for the Cubs. You basically log into a ‘waiting room’ and hope that the system randomly selects you to buy tickets. Over my first 3-years of doing this I never got to the screen to buy a ticket but was surprised to be the first person in the department to get in once selection started at 10:00 am CST. (I got in at 10:20). I was in a discussion with Matt Kerr from Phone Support when the window opened. I stopped talking mid-sentence, ran to my door and yelled “Lisa, I’m in!”…At this point Lisa runs over with paperwork and credit card in hand. She goes though the screens and gets tickets. She then logs me back into the waiting room. During the day you randomly hear people yelling “Lisa, I’m in!” followed by Lisa running through the department with her credit card.

This year seemed to be quite good as she got all her tickets by 1:00 pm. I was lucky enough to get into the system a second time and felt happy to be helping a former employee and current friend.

It’s all about the Teamwork!

Jetlagged and in Middleton for the week...Mike Meskill

Welcome Selador to ETC - a new home for the x7 color system

rgerlach — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:00:00 GMT

My name is Rob Gerlach. I am one of the co-founders of Selador. Today we announced that ETC has acquired the Selador LED product line. This is, of course, a really big day for me and fellow co-founder Novella Smith, but I think it’s also a big day for our industry. Things are going to change a lot because of this. That sounds like a PR-approved message, but I truly believe it.

We all know that LEDs are all over the place. Go to any trade show, and you’re bombarded by them, and I get as sick of the hype as anyone else. Yes, they’re a great technology. The power savings and longevity and durability they can achieve are in a whole different league than conventional lighting. But in my mind, these benefits kind of miss the point. For me, the truly wonderful thing about LEDs is that they are absolutely beautiful little light sources that can do things that no other lights in the world can do.

This inherent beauty is what drew me to LEDs in the first place. I wasn’t a lighting person before starting Selador, but when I saw how LED technology was changing about 10 years ago, I became obsessed by it. LED color is spectacular. It’s deep and vibrant and controllable with a level of precision that designers could only ever dream of. To see the difference between LED color and color from a standard source with a saturated gel, look at the following two graphs. If you have a lighting background you will easily recognize the visible spectrum of light within these graphs with Violet at the far left and Red at the far right.

You’ll see that not only does LED color have a much narrower spectral footprint, it is also more cleanly defined. Where many gels will have multiple peaks of color of various widths at various points in the spectrum, LED color always has just a single, narrow peak at its dominant wavelength. On its own, this characteristic is neither inherently good nor bad. The trick is that in order to be really useful, especially when adding multiple LED colors together, this color has to be managed in the right way.

There are shortcuts to color mixing. Red, green, and blue (RGB) can get us kind of close, and this approach is fine for many applications, but it’s a weak substitute for real color control in those situations where the quality of light is critical. Here are some more graphs:

Some marketing materials like to throw around the term “Full Spectrum” when talking about color-mixing LED luminaires. Clearly from the above graphs, it can be seen that color-mixing LED fixtures are not full-spectrum sources, particularly RGB fixtures. Even with the seven colors we use in the x7 color system, there are peaks and valleys. The x7 approach has far more spectral content to work with which is one of the big advantages. I think it is unlikely that a color-mixing LED fixture will ever produce light that exactly matches sunlight’s spectral power distribution (sunlight is a truly full-spectrum source.) However, with the proper management of the various colors in the mix and their brightness relative to one another, the output can be made close enough to full-spectrum to be broadly useful and very beautiful.

Many people have seen these next two diagrams. The first diagram at the right shows the color capabilities of a typical RGB fixture. When you only have three points of color within an additive color-mixing fixture, the range of color that the fixture can produce can be defined by plotting the three colors on a chromaticity diagram and connecting the dots. Everything within the connected dots is that fixture’s color gamut.

The second diagram shows the Selador x7 system color gamut.

With seven points of color, the fixture’s color gamut covers a much larger part of the chromaticity diagram. After years of research, Selador was able to show that the more colors there are in an LED light source, the more saturated and vibrant the color mixes are. We also showed that this multi -color approach produces the most satisfying, natural-looking white light and soft pastels, particularly when illuminating people and objects. In order to make skin tones and colored objects render correctly, you need lots of points of color within the color mix—basically you want to reduce the magnitude of the peaks and valleys in the spectral makeup, smoothing them out somewhat by adding more colors across the spectrum, and match the spectral power distribution of sunlight as much as possible. Without this, LED fixtures don’t work very well in conventional illumination functions. RGB light does very odd things to skin. It always produces pink / ruddy or greenish-gray skin on people, which I imagine is not generally a desirable thing. Colored objects under RGB light look unnaturally red or green or blue—the objects’ colors are hyper-real and difficult to tell apart from one another. Hence Selador’s unique seven-color system. It’s the only way I’ve ever found to get LED-based lighting that is predictable and intuitive, that does natural things to people and objects, and that doesn’t have that obvious, electronic look to it that I despise. It is also very rich and appealing to the human visual system, which over time has evolved to be deeply connected with the full-spectrum light we see each day from the sun.

There are other components of Selador fixtures that are critical for them to look natural to the eye and seamless next to conventional fixtures in a rig. Selador fixtures have newly redesigned circuitry within them that allows for exceptionally smooth, analog-looking dimming. I have to say that this was surprisingly difficult to achieve with a light source as responsive and non-analog as an LED, but I am extremely pleased with the results. Selador is also known for terrific beam-shaping capabilities. No, we don’t yet have a Selador ellipsoidal (it will come) but the fixtures we do have can be shaped very nicely with specialized secondary lenses. We get a lot of compliments about this.

Among a whole list of things, ETC brings to the table a ready-made world of control. I know that seven-color mixing can be daunting. Within an ETC system, it’s all simplified. ETC makes Selador color mixing quick, intuitive, and predictable. In fact the latest software for the Eos and Congo control systems already allow designers to control the Selador fixtures by calling up gel colors. The fixture libraries in these systems are calibrating and I have to admit the color matches are very good. I’ll discuss this in more detail in a later entry. I’m pretty excited about it.

There are many more things we plan to do. With ETC taking over, our combined efforts can now produce new products and introduce enhancements that have been on the drawing boards for a long time. There is exciting stuff in the pipeline, and I’m very happy that I get to be a part of the development team at ETC for new Selador series products. More to come. . .

On originals vs. copies

john.kuehl — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:01:00 GMT

"Shouldn’t copying something be easier than creating it? Someone else already did the work, right? The problem is that the work on the original is invisible. The copier doesn’t know why it looks the way it looks or feels the way it feels or reads the way it reads. The copied interface is a faux finish."

- Why You Shouldn't Copy Us or Anyone Else, Signal vs. Noise blog (yes, I do see some irony to quoting a commentary on not copying)

Relentless

john.kuehl — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:13:00 GMT

The headline "Relentless Innovation in Lighting Control" was once a fixture on our homepage. We've done a bit more cross-promotion of other product launches and news in the past several months that replaced that standard headline and introduction, but as I look down my list of things to do and all the activity going on around the factory these days, I am reminded just how much we mean it when we say "relentless"!

Creating the ETC online experience with inspiration from Trader Joe's

john.kuehl — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:27:00 GMT

Walking out of the grocery store on Sunday morning, I noticed a sign that hadn't caught my eye in previous visits. I liked the message, and I also really liked the simple words that Trader Joe's has used here to describe part of their mission:

ETC has similar mission statements that deal with our business and customer service goals as a company. Unfortunately, I don't know that our web site, etcconnect.com, has always been monitored as closely for its adherence to those standards as other areas of the company. There have definitely been mavens at the company that have understood that the web was a crucial part of doing business these days, and there was a pretty significant financial investment in a new design for the site a few years back.

Still, I think only recently have we begun to understand the role that etcconnect.com plays in the professional (or, perhaps, personal) lives of our customers. And with this understanding has come a whole series of ideas and wishes for how we can make the site work better for you. While we haven't always been able to act on those ideas and wishes as fast as we would like, you could align them under a series of goals that aren't very different from what Trader Joe's is aiming for every time you visit one of their stores.

When you come to etcconnect.com, we want the functionality of the site to help you find what you need with less trouble than you expect. We want the content of our site to help you find and use ETC products to help you do your job better. Just as if you were to call our dedicated tech support staff, or meet with one of our great field service techs, we want you to feel like ETC cares about you, whether you're our largest dealer or just someone toying with the idea of buying one of our products.

We know that there are a lot of reasons why people come to etcconnect.com. Regardless of yours, when you leave, I want you to say to yourself (or someone else), "Sweet, I got just what I needed."

Are we there yet? No, but I can honestly say we're working on it every day!

Impermanence

sclausen — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:21:00 GMT

We should not complain about impermanence,
because without impermanence, nothing is possible.-Thich Nhat Hanh

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about change. Specifically, the human species’ general resistance
to change, and how societies and technologies can advance even though we all generally hate the idea
of change. I’ve lately become a fan of the idea of impermanence – that all things change, even the
most permanent and eternal-looking things will eventually evolve in some way. Ideas, mountains,
weather, language, borders, policies, feelings, everything changes. This is a really disconcerting idea
for lots of people. Take the Express console, for example.

We here at ETC have heard a lot lately about the Express console. About how terrible it is that it’s going
away. About how the industry simply cannot get along without it. Believe me when I say that we
understand the strong feelings about the Express console. We’ve used them ourselves on shows. We
love them, too. There is no doubt that it has become the standard small conventional theatre show
console here in the US. But at the same time, it is showing its age - from the floppy disk to the track
pad. The software itself, designed to control mainly dimmers, cannot really support the equipment
available today in a manner that promotes advancement in the lighting art. Even small venues are
using moving lights, or will be using them in the future. Those venues without movers are using
accessories now that turn their conventional fixtures into composite fixtures – scrollers, gobo rotators,
mirror heads, dichroic color changers – these all turn those conventionals into multi-parameter
fixtures, just like moving lights. We’ve become used to the idea of controlling these devices as just
another intensity channel. Because we’ve always done it that way the idea of combining these things
into a composite channel seems complicated, different and strange, regardless of the benefits that
the composite channel may bring.

Let’s face it – lighting technology changes too. I remember my early days in this business where it was
easy to sell a school on a new-fangled computerized lighting control system because the thing we
were replacing was an old dimmer system with a slider patch panel that sparked and got overheated
and a single-scene (or maybe multi-scene) preset controller. Replacing dangerous electrical equipment
in a school was an easy sell – and because the new system was replacing something dangerous, the “cost
of change” was lower - “We have to update the technology because a student could be electrocuted…”
Nowadays, the cost of change is perceived to be higher because an older computerized system is
being replaced with a newer one. There’s little perceived danger, so we resist the different. But what
is the danger, really? It’s that students of lighting are being taught via workarounds in many cases, not
what the current lighting vocabulary is. Yes, it may be perceived as simpler. It may be perceived as “all
we need”. But is it really what’s best for the student?

Let’s look at some different technologies for comparison. When Express started shipping in 1995
Windows 95 was the state-of-the-art operating system running on a Pentium processor. At the release
of the last Express stand-alone software version, Windows 2000 Professional was in vogue and running
on a Pentium 4. For the Mac users among us, the corresponding Mac versions were System 7 and OS 9.
I had a mobile telephone in 1995 – it was HUGE and it did one thing – it was a phone. It was also
ridiculously expensive and had a plan with about 12 minutes of usage on it (which matched the battery
life, by the way). By 2001 I had a smaller phone that did a bit more, but not much. Compare that with
the smart phones and PDAs that many of us use to manage our lives now. Technology changes. Our
expectations of speed and compatibility change.

What sparks our need for purchasing new technology? Usually it’s when we run headlong into a new
idea and find that our current technology is not capable of dealing with it. For example, I resisted
replacing a perfectly good CRT television with one of those expensive HDTVs for as long as I could. I
didn’t need that new TV. I could live without it - until the Discovery Channel started promoting their
Planet Earth series some time ago. I really wanted to see that series. I really wanted to see it in HD. I
replaced my TV with a day to spare. I wouldn’t go back. I recently replaced that same TV in another
room with an LCD flat-screen TV because of the upcoming switch the country is making to totally digital
TV broadcasting. It seemed the thing to do at the time (and it has freed up a lot of space in that room –
you never think of how BIG those TVs are until you see them next to a flat-screen, or have to carry
them down a flight of stairs…) Anybody who has tried to control movers on an Express knows what I’m
talking about. As soon as a moving light appears in the theatre the cost of changing that Express for
something else drops like a stone. If you are one of those people, please take a look at the Ion or
Congo jr consoles – they are made for you. But what about those who say they will never use a
moving light? What are those people to do? What product does ETC have for them?

So, we come back to Express. Yes, it does most of what you need it to do. Yes, you know it well and
love it. Yes, there are thousands of them out there. Yes, all the other theatres in your city have them
(though, to be fair, at some point in history, some school had to be the first to replace their old preset
console with a computerized desk.) No, we are not abandoning you. We hear you. We will bring you
something in the near future that we believe you will like and will bring you into this new century of
lighting control in comfort and with all the modern conveniences. No, it will not be Express 2. What it
will be is a console that gives you the simplicity, approachability and the features you have asked for
with a few more that we believe will make your lighting-lives easier. In return, though, it will ask of you
to learn some new concepts, adjust the syntax structure just a bit, and get used to some new displays.
To help you through this, we will provide you with clear documentation of these new concepts and the
features you use most, and tutorial movies to help you train yourselves and your students, and we will
continue to provide the support that we have always provided through our Technical Services
department and through online resources like our Community forums. We promise. Stay tuned…

Your Answers to "Eos or Congo?"

john.kuehl — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 21:42:00 GMT

It's probably no surprise to anyone familiar with ETC and our products that one of the more common questions we receive from users and potential customers is, "Eos or Congo?" Alternatively asked as "Ion or Congo jr?", it's a question that can be answered in several different ways (and can be best answered, according to our product managers, by way of an actual demo).

Although certainly a point of discussion on other industry forums since the announcement that Eos would join Congo in the ETC lineup in 2006, the question is so compelling to me a previous outsider to the lighting world that I thought I'd pose it here.

If you were to be asked by a friend or colleague or complete stranger, "Eos or Congo?", what would you say? If you have been asked, what DID you say?

As always, your honestly is welcomed. I can't wait to read your responses.

Planned Maintenance for ETC's Online Community

john.kuehl — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:03:00 GMT

We're going to be doing some maintenance on our online community on Saturday, December 13 from approximately 6am - 12pm CST. During this time, all community features, including our forums, will be unavailable.

We apologize in advance if this throws off some time you had planned to be on our forums, and promise we'll be working hard to get them back up as soon as possible.