November 2007 - Posts

11-17-2007 8:29 PM

LDI a Late report

Dear Readers --

I struggled with community server this weekend and could never manage to post from my connection at the LDI hotel. This is a conglomerate post of the happenings at LDI. Sorry it was late. 

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Well - this is the end of Day 2 of LDI and my first opportunity to file a report. Seriously - We have all worked our butts off the past 2 days and things are great!

I am providing photos as best I can - but mostly of our stuff as I have had little time to wander the floor. We have been slammed with people wanting to see Ion and Eos - as well as all the other products.

We ran out of private demo slots and had to add extra equipment to accommodate more people - only problem is that we have been juggling the people to do the demo's!

Fortunately for us we got another great set of Smart Students who spend their day demoing the SmartFades and ML's. They have been enjoying learning to use the ML and SmartSoft! SmartSoft has been a big hit. People love the look of the app and the reception is very nice. Everyone is eagerly awaiting the Beta release in 2 weeks.

Even the newest ETC employee, only 36 hours fresh on the payroll was hard at work. Welcome to ETC Nick Gonsman!

The design of the booth is working well - about 100 square feet more space than last year - and the crowds fit nicely.  The Pharos display has been busy - despite being on the "other side of the shed." We are previewing the LPCx - a new and lovely box designed to output up to 200 universes of networked DMX to run all sorts of lighting. The AVC - in its final phase of completion,  has also been popular to look at. The folks at Pharos just keep raising the bar on this kind of lighting control.

The highlight of today was the awards ceremony where Fred Foster was awarded the Wally award for lifetime achievement. This is a great honor and well deserved by Fred - who has had an enormous impact on the lighting industry. Richard Pilbrow presented the award and gave a heart-felt speech about the things Fred has done and the experiences he has had with Fred personally.

And then - who should make an appearance but -- Mini Fred! Notice his prominent position at the podium!

 

I have not blogged about mini Fred - but suffice it to say that it is a running joke at ETC. All employees were given a mini statue of Fred honoring his 50th anniversary. It was put together as a roast of sorts. Since the appearance of mini Fred - he has traveled the world!  See him sitting on the edge of the podium as Richard Pilbrow speaks!

And here in Fred's thoughtful acceptance speech - mini Fred respectfully listens (he was not thanked.)

Fred graciously gave credit for his success to his employees - something he never fails to do. It was a beautiful speech - raising laughter and tears from all of us. Congratulations to Fred on this award.

LDI was a great success. I hope everyone had a great time at the show.

David

Posted by dlincecum
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11-02-2007 2:51 PM

LDI Preview Part 2 - Ion

Have you watched our talking heads video? You should. 

Not a well kept secret, we will be introducing the newest meber of the Eos family of products at LDI -- The Ion console.

You can click on many of the images below for larger ones.

Ever since the day we stopped shipping the Microvision FX - people have been complaining. It is remarkable what a strong role size can play in the purchase of a new lighting desk. When people ask me for a Microvision I know what they really mean is something the size of that desk.

Ion answers that call in a desk that any true dedicated ETC user will appreciate. You have probably seen this form factor before - as Congo Jr and Ion share a similar hardware platform with some significant differences - not the least of which is the operating software. Ion runs the Eos software - with some changes to account for hardware differences.

Ion is also designed for a range of universal master wings (that will also be shared with Congo jr.) These include a single 20 fader wing that fits directly on the top of the Ion unit and preserves the small footprint (See above photo -- MVFX style!)

A 2x10 fader wing

and a 2x20 fader wing.

Notice that the latter 2 wings include LCD's to display what content is loaded to them. This is an important need that cannot be overlooked - especially as we add som many features to the traditional submaster. Each wing also has 2 buttons associated for bump and/or go-pause-back operation when used to playback cue stacks. The wings can be rigidly connected to the console to make a single fixed unit you can pick up and carry away -- or connected via USB cables for use "on the side." 

 

You can connect up to 6 of these wings to the desk - resulting in an unlimited number of configurations for your particular use.

The Ion Facepanel (click the above image for a larger view) shows a great deal of functionality in the desk - but a very straightforward layout. Every desk ships with 4 rotary encoders. Yep - we just had to make the investment in physical encoders as we predict even the smallest of venues will be using them inside of 5 years. The encoders and softkeys are labelled via an integral LCD - something at least one manufacturer has left off of their highest end consoles. Again - labelling items on the desk is not a luxury any more - but fundamental. We can't imagine not doing at this level of desk, not to mention on the larger desks!

The Ion screens are beautiful - but maybe I am biased. The show a lot of thought - easy to read and view in a dark location without spoiling your view of the stage. The CIA (central information area) from Eos is really the only major part of the desk that requires the use of a mouse. The CIA appears when it is needed for soft-functions. It is not needed that often and even things like patch have been offloaded to the Desk LCD and encoders (ala Smartfade ML!)

Ion is highly networkable - as you might guess. It runs on the Net 3 Platform, which is our ACN based network - but it also has Net 2 compatibility for existing nodes. Ion can be networked to other Ion's -- Remote Video interaces and PC's running client software -- Net 3 gateways and Net 2 nodes -- and Eos systems. An Ion connected to an Eos system becomes a remote facepanel with the full capability of that system. And Ion uses our channel partitioning setup from Eos - which is very powerful for multi-programmer systems. You can easily rack mount a unit backstage and have electricians working on stage while pre-writing cues elsewhere.

 

Ion offline software has been rolled into the Eos offline package - with the addition of a full on-screen keypad (shown above and clickable.) This makes working on your shows easier and is useful for training as well.

Ion has been asked for by ETC customers for a long time! You will be surprised how much is in there and how easy it is to use.

 

David

 

 

 

 

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