LDI Preview Part 2 - Ion

dlincecum — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 19:51:00 GMT

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

LDI Preview Part 1

dlincecum — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:19:00 GMT

We are getting close to LDI and I thought I would share with you all what we have up our sleeves this year.

First off - a great product, SmartSoft. SmartSoft is a software package companion for SmartFade ML (and soon SmartFade) that allows you to have video display (and much more) with your SmartFade ML. You're going to like this!

SmartSoft was designed by Adam Benette - creator of the ML console. The Software was done by Lars Wernlund - also knwon for his great product Capture. Anders Ekvall is the software developer for Congo, SmartFade and SmartFade ML.

SmartSoft boots fast and looks good. Cleanly designed screens make it easy to see your data and it runs on fairly weak PC's. Only real requirement is windows (for now) and a 1280x1064 display. Connect SmartFade to your ML console via USB and your off to the races.

You can click all the images below to get full size screens.

The display above will be best for working in offline mode. You get the controls you need most often and a cue list for the stack. A series of tabs across the top allow you to navigate to different screens. You also get labelling of the device and channel names. The faders at the bottom work live and interact with the connected desk.

The above image is of the Palettes tab. You can view and edit palette data in this screen. When you view the full image notice that you get a pan/tilt position indicator. Color palettes also show the approximate CMY mixture. Change the values in this screen by clicking on them - the Color will change too!

The patch tab is another cool one. You can see the 2 DMX ports in a field and channel and device indicators above. You can drag intensity channels to any address - or any DMX address can be dragged to a channel. Best of all you can drag a device to any DMX address and get the pop up as shown below to select your device. The entire Carallon library, over 1,000 devices, is included and you create your own devices as well.

This is a great feature for setting up shows in advance. SmartSoft also has a main output display that shows intensity and parameter values.

This display would most likely be used for running and programming live.

The pages tab is used to see and label content on the various memory pages. You get labelling here to see what the actual content is. This is a great way to keep track of a lot of memories.

There are dedicated screens for editting memories and sequences. It is really easy to insert and delete steps and you can see exactly what is going to happen next. The image below shows a sequence ready to be editted.

SmartSoft is a great addition to the SmartFade line. It will initially work with SmartFade ML only, but regular SmartFade users will get the benefits in early 2008.

Best of all - IT IS FREE. SmartSoft will be on display at LDI. We will be starting a public beta of SmartSoft in November open to all ETC Forum registered users. If you own an ML - look for the beta soon. If you don't own an ML - look for the beta - download - you'll want to buy an ML.

Any questions? Post them here as comments.

What am I thinking? What are you thinking? : LDI2007

LDI Preview Part 2 - Ion

LDI Preview Part 1