USITT New Product Showcase

dlincecum — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 17:52:00 GMT

As ususal - we participated in te new product showcase - a great fun event for all. Tom Littrell wrote the script - performed by himslef and Sarah Clausen. A parody of the Mac - PC commercial - it worked. The video was taken on two digital cameras - both of which were experiencing trouble. It is a little choppy - but you can get the idea.

See it here.

Not much else to report from the show. It feels a little weak this year. Don't know exactly why - we have good crowds on the ETC Booth. Smartfade ML and the Complete Control concept are going well.

I'll offer any added comments this evening.

David

USITT This week

dlincecum — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 01:20:00 GMT

I'll be traveling to Phoenix Az this week for USITT. I will begin providing trade show coverage by Thursday - so stay tuned to see how the crowds in the desert like the SmartFade ML, Eos and the whole Complete Control concept. Should be a good time.

It will be 92 degrees when I step off the plane! Oh yeah! We are ready for spring here in Wisconsin, seeing 55 this past weekend, but 92 means short sleeves.

I am looking forward to seeing old friends and watching the folks on the stand have fun. Always a favorite show for me. I love to watch the students interacting and learning. Also making time for a little golf!

Stop by to see us - and check back here for daily show updates.

David

Get Smart, Get Moving!

dlincecum — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 01:08:00 GMT

I alluded to this last week. We have another new desk to discuss.

Building on the acceptance of Smartfade, we have tailored ML to run moving lights. A few items - right off the bat, because you are wondering - it handles 24 moving lights and 48 dimmers channels over 2 DMX ports. It allows you to run your show "hands on" using faders, or using a cue stack. It handles moving lights in powerful - yet very accessible ways - in the same desk.

I believe a college student running their first show and a "weekend warrior" earning a living on corporate gigs, fashion shows or tent events will be able to enjoy the desk equally. We packed a lot into this small form factor and that is what I mean by VALUE. This desk smacks of it!

What have we done for beginners? For starters - patching lights is very simple and the included library is immense - the same library you'll find in our larger consoles. One patched the moving fixtures will immediately move to home positions- ready for the lamp to come on.

The 24 buttons in the upper left of the desk are "direct selects." In the default mode you use them to select fixtures. Later they can be re-purposed to select color/beam and position palettes, effects and more. They are RGB backlit and will always indicate the color of their associated fixtures(!)

Next - you'll find the faders on the desk are also "multi-purposed." In their default mode they will map to the first 24 parameters for the ML's. Yes - this means you can control pan/tilt and other parameters for selected fixtures using encoders. It works really well and you have 24 parameters at your fingertips. Now if this sounds disgusting to you - 1. Give it a look, you may be surprised, 2. you can use the encoders to do the parameter control just as well - so don't snub the desk yet.

For the advanced and beginner users alike we offer Hue/Saturation color mixing. Set the Hue to red, adjust the saturation down to get pink! Great for those who are not CMY savvy as well as those who are. (Of course CMY and RGB are available via the encoders!)

Built in effects are available - both shape effects for pan/tilt as well as single parameter chase effects. The effects can be applied over static looks and get recorded to the cue stack or the fader based memories. They are easy to use.

SmartFade ML does not require a monitor -- but, for those who wish to see their data on screen as well as onstage - we will be releasing a software package that will allow for data viewing AND much more. Look for more on that later.

You can see SmartFade ML at the USITT trade show, March 15-17 or at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt Germany, March 28 - 31. Look for more information online here. We plan to ship the product by June 1.

Smartfade ML represents value. More value to come in 2007!

David

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

USITT New Product Showcase

USITT This week

Get Smart, Get Moving!