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

LDI a Late report

dlincecum — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:29:00 GMT

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

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

Eos Wins!

dlincecum — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 21:47:00 GMT

It has been a grand slam for Eos on product awards this year as she wins the award for innovation at PLASA!

Do these guys look happy?

Representing ETC and holding the trophy-- Anne Valentino, Dennis Varian and Fred Foster. This is agreat day for all ETC employees as we have all worked hard to make this a reality. Congratulations!

Celebrate! We are!

PLASA - DAY 1

dlincecum — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 22:57:00 GMT

I say DAY 1 because it is a 4 day show. That is not an easy thing. As someone who believes all trade shows should be 2 days, I must object.

Oh well. The ETC stand was as busy as ever - although many of us commented that it was not as busy as usual. Sunday is known as a day for tire kickers. The professional crowd comes during the week - when they are on payroll.

The demos went non-stop though as people paraded in to see Eos, Congo and Smartfade ML. I will feature more on our new products tomorrow.

Ofcourse today I was cruising the competition stands and really enjoying watching them work on their products. I also visited good friends of the family.

Lars and Lasse at the Capture stand.

Yngve continues the long debut of the E.go system!

Fred Foster and Lennart Knauf discuss the future of the E.go system.

Sarah Clausen and Oskar Krogell at the end of a long day of demos.

Dennis Varian converts Congo developer Bullen Lagerbielke to an Eos man. Bullen points out a small detail.

No need for alarm Dennis - remember, he likes things backwards.

Erik Larsen keeps the Sensor rack from falling onto Mike Wood.

Quite frankly there was very little noise today. Nothing really big to report on. Happy crowds, lots of food served and tired feet. I'll try to report more on the new innovations of the show tomorrow.

David

Who is Eos?

dlincecum — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:57:00 GMT

Who is Eos?

Well hopefully you have read the two posts that relate to this one.(The new faces of control) (Who is Congo)

Now meet the newest face of ETC controls, Eos.

At first glance Eos appears to boldly go where ETC has not gone before. Its hardware looks different - two touchscreens built in, no grandmaster or blackout button, only ten "submasters." Its software interface has a new appearance, built fresh from the first lines of code. After sitting at the desk for a few minutes an ETC-familiar user will find that the experience of using an ETC desk, an Obsession or Expression, is clearly present - but in new ways. Eos is quintessential ETC at its best. It encompasses all that we knew, learned, and have been told about lighting control for the 21^st century.

Is Eos Obsession 3? No – it’s much more than that. Eos rethinks modern lighting controls and our older established concepts - an old fade philosophy newly applied, a familiar syntax extended and strengthened, a brand new user interface, new hardware concepts that make the most of modern innovation - while retaining the ease of previous systems.

Eos feels new and fresh and young. It's DNA is rooted in theatre concepts and philosophies that are native to demanding lighting designers. It is a "tracking - move fade - LTP" desk (look for more on this in a later post!) Its syntax is familiar from ETC relatives, Obsession and Expression, now extended to encompass a rich world of moving lights and media servers. This powerful programming language allows multiple actions to occur in one command. It also allows a lighting designer to speak to the desk and the operator in a simple manner with little interpretation required by the operator.

As cliché as it sounds, I think Eos truly offers the “best of both worlds” in several ways. For instance;

Eos combines a familiar command line style of programming with direct select functions and integrates the two seamlessly
Eos brings the flexibility of touch sensitive LCD displays for instant access to show content and adds hard keys over them for tactile feedback.
Eos introduces a new way to record the data you want, where you want it, combining the two unique concepts of a “state machine,” (capturing everything on stage) with the selectivity of a "programmer" (isolating what you want to record)
Eos playback style is also a combination – providing a “true tracking experience” with the capability to change that to a state machine – capturing complete states and fading from state to state

Now back to my car analogies for a moment. If Eos were a car?

Let's see . . .

Eos is a modern luxury sedan, designed for power and comfort and dripping with amenities. I found this older BMW ad that speaks to my image of Eos.

Do you get my drift? Think about this - familiar command line syntax provides a smooth ride. Full integration with direct selection tools gives you the speed and power of a stick shift -- but with an automatic transmission! Another BMW ad makes the point for me.

But with all that power comes luxury. The Eos Desk is beautiful and has all the best new features to make things just right. These include a new way of working with touchscreen LCD's that allows tactile feedback (a click you can feel) and multi-touch features - allowing range selection on an LCD! It includes a motorized fader bank that level matches as you page and special rotary encoders that use Haptics technology to run smooth when controlling a continuous parameter like Pan - or to click from stop to stop when controlling a frame based parameter like a Gobo wheel.

All that power -- AND you will look good sitting behind the wheel!

Eos will appeal to virtually everyone who has ever used an ETC desk in the past and it will bring a whole new group of customers to ETC – users of MA, Hog 3 and Virtuoso will find a new desk to consider. Right now Eos is saying "Hello World! Anybody been looking for a change?"

Have you met Eos yet? You can take the online tour - but - go ahead and contact your ETC dealer or sales rep - because you WILL want to test drive Eos soon. I guarantee it!

David

The new faces of ETC

dlincecum — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 04:37:00 GMT

This is the first in a three part series about our controls product line at ETC.

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ETC’s past is firmly anchored in controls. Starting its life as an idea and a single product – ETC became known as a console boutique, creating such “category definers” as the Vision, the Microvision FX and the Expression. Times have changed and ETC has changed as well.

What has changed?

A little or a lot? Most lighting desks are still used primarily for plotting intensities. But going one step above basics, the function of the desk begins to expand exponentially. Figuring most prominently of course, are automated lights. Nipping at their heels are LED’s and Media servers. What does it mean? To the average lighting tech or designer; more work – more possibilities; to ETC – new ideas, changes in philosophy, a need to move in new directions.

Remapping

ETC’s founder, Fred Foster, knew many years ago that we needed to do a rollup of all we knew and had learned and produce new control products that were tied to our legacy, but not bound by it. Several years after his call to action we have now introduced two major control platforms, which represent our heritage and pave the way to the future for ourselves and our customers. Eos and Congo: A tale of two consoles.

Why two?

The most hotly debated issue at ETC for a while, the answer came from our past. We had two platforms in the past – and the result was good. If there were any chinks in our Obsession/Expression armor it may have been that they shared too much common ground. The logic of ‘two’ goes much further; it’s about choice; “Will you be having Red or White this evening?” We believe that products are no longer defined by the number of cues, macros and channels, but by their relevancy, personality, depth of character and principle of operation. (It’s much more like people are defined)

I think an automobile analogy plays well here. Lighting desk selection is very personal - like a car. Think about the car you drive; or would drive; or wish you could drive. Why did you - or would you - choose it? Style? Color? Power? Economy? Size? Chances are you liked it. It felt right. It WAS right. Lighting desks are the same way.

Ask yourself this; why does General Motors own Saab and Hummer? They are as different as, well as different as Eos and Congo in fact.

The recognition is here is that the “maker or producer” is not the ultimate deciding factor in the purchase. The real factors are style based. The same is true for lighting desks. We offer choice - Eos, Congo – they are as different as Porsche and Volkswagen – and as similar too. Which will you drive?

ETC Heritage – More than you may think and not what may expect

Beware. ETC heritage may not be exactly what you think it is any more. Over the past 30 years we have grown from a garage shop to a 150 million dollar worldwide company and our culture has been growing as steadily as our revenue. The addition of several European brands to our product line has allowed us to open our minds and hearts to new ways (sometimes old ways!) of thinking. As many customers around the world have tried our Congo and SmartFade products they have seen familiar and unfamiliar elements – but the response has been overwhelmingly positive. We are growing, our ideas are growing, our products are growing.

You can grow with us!

To be continued … Next Week - Get to know the players.

King Congo and EosZilla -- Is that you in the middle?

David

LDI Preshow - Day 2

dlincecum — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 05:37:00 GMT

The show floor is still a huge mess at 8pm Thursday night. It is amazing that it will look very complete by 8am Friday morning - but it usually happens that way.

Let me first report that my friends at Barbizon were able to resolve their union troubles - and once again put up a nice stand.

Their stand even includes a fine blimp! Is that the IATSE or the teamsters filling the blimp?

LDI is an opportunity for peoples real personalities to come out.

Imagine my surprise to encounter Dr. DMX - standing very still in multiple booths.

It seems that Doug Fleenor - AKA Dr. DMX has planted himself all over the show floor this year. I will look for more instances tomorrow.

Coemar with a beautiful display - nicely lit.

And Robe - also a nice display. They have a large stand and seem to be increasing their prescence in the US market.

I have no idea what this is. Looks like a prop from the movie cocoon or something. I'll go back for a better look tomorrow.

We at ETC held a rep meeting this evening. Had a good rep turnout and a great opportunity to get our reps up to speed on what we are doing. Here you will see David North showing off our new Emergency Lighting Transfer Switch (ELTS)

Did I mention that David Smith loves his Congo jr? It's hard not to love a desk so cute!

Anne Valentino showing the latest Eos software release to the demoers.

The latest release has really cleaned up many areas and added the really nice features. The demos tomorrow should go great! There was a lot of energy in our group tonight and I think this is a moment we have all been waiting for.

Does this guy look happy? He should. Dan Duffy is one of the lead software developers on the Eos and he is happy to see it in action on the stand! Good luck tomorrow Dan.

Wish us all good luck! Tomorrow begins a new day. Opening day.

David