ETC News Feed

The Grand Mosque’s lighting design wins two more prominent awards

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:55:26 GMT

Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque (also known as the Grand Mosque) was just awarded two more awards for its lighting design. The ESTA Association named ETC and Martin Professional winners of their prestigious “Rock Our World Awards,” which recognize outstanding, innovative achievements by ESTA members in new products, product applications and projects. The Germany-based Professional Lighting Designers’ Association also presented the Grand Mosque with a Recognition Award for Best New Project. Other awards bestowed on the Grand Mosque in the past have included the IALD Award of Merit, IES Award of Excellence and two Middle East Lighting Design Awards for Project of the Year and Best Public Building Lighting Project.

With lighting designed by Speirs and Major Associates (SaMA), over 1,200 fixtures – including ETC Source Four® luminaires – are controlled by 21 ETC Congo® Light Servers and 15 ETC Unison® processors supplied by Oasis Enterprises. Seventeen custom-built equipment racks and 52 customized dimming racks contain almost 2,300 circuits – Relays, SCR- and ETC Matrix Mk II SineWave dimming – that are controlled via 276 ETCNet3™ DMX/RDM Gateways.

Says ETC Controls Product Manager Sarah Clausen, who was also the lead programmer of the Congo systems on site: “The Grand Mosque project spanned seven years of work across multiple departments and international offices within ETC and in cooperation with Martin Professional, with whom we are honored to share the Rock Our World Award, to achieve the design ideal of Speirs and Major Associates. The end result is a magnificent but subtle effect that stretches the boundaries and technologies of lighting design and is wholly deserving of these awards.”

A five-member panel of judges named the recipients of the ESTA awards at their annual dinner, on Thursday, November 19th, on the eve of the LDI tradeshow. Said panel chair Mike Wood: “The winner might be a product that could change the industry, it could be a remarkable way that someone has used a product, or it could be an entire project which brings together the expertise of many in a single enterprise. It could be anything anyone in this room devises, creates, designs, constructs, installs, or uses. No rules, other than we are proud to be part of the industry that produced it.”

The Professional Lighting Designers’ Association award, which was presented at the conclusion of the Professional Lighting Design Convention in Berlin, recognizes those who have contributed most to the advancement of the field of architectural lighting design. The judges said: “This project incorporates supreme lighting insight and skills. While it respects the building's inherent cultural and religious aspects, it can be celebrated as the best of its kind in aesthetic, meaningful and spiritually overwhelming architectural lighting.”

The lighting for the Grand Mosque has been designed to mimic the phases of the moon, so at a full moon, the building is white, and for the new moon it is blue; every day there is a change. In addition to the color change sequence, ‘clouds’ glide across the building as though they were moving from west to east, clearing from Mecca. This was achieved using a series of building-mounted and totem-mounted rigs 65 feet off the face of the building, from which light is projected.

ETC enters rigging market: Unveils new automated hoist system at LDI 2009

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:56:04 GMT

LDI 2009 will be another history-making moment for ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.) as the company officially announces its entry into a new product market: rigging.
Already leaders in the entertainment-technology industry with their respected lighting fixtures and control systems, ETC will unveil a line of innovative motorized hoists and hoist-control systems for theatrical and architectural use. The product family is called ETC Rigging™, and its first offerings -- on view at LDI -- will be the fixed-speed ETC Prodigy™ hoist systems and ETC QuickTouch™ controls. (More specific information on the benefits and features of ETC Rigging can be found on the new Web site www.etcrigging.com , which offers detailed video and animated illustrations of the products.)

ETC Chief Executive Officer Fred Foster explains this major corporate move: “ETC has always been driven by the pursuit of a better way to do things – to create products that represent real progress in entertainment technology. We have developed this new range of rigging systems with the same spirit of pioneering technological innovation that brought the industry our Source Four spotlights. Our ETC Rigging systems literally and figuratively raise the bar – engineered to set new standards for safety and smart design, while being affordable.”

Experts for almost 35 years in the stage world, with thousands of lighting installations worldwide, ETC has closely scrutinized the state of the art of rigging. “We found significant opportunities for improvement,” says ETC Vice President of Business Development Bill Gallinghouse. Sophisticated technical features such as slack-line detection, status feedback, load cells, and absolute position encoders, are standard -- not options -- in ETC’s rigging product range. “We have rethought the fundamentals so that more kinds of venues have access to cutting-edge automated rigging,” says Gallinghouse. “The range of applications for this first series of ETC Rigging will go from grade schools to high schools, colleges and universities, to houses of worship, community theaters, and TV.”

ETC Rigging includes unprecedented innovation in technology -- a smaller powerhead, unique cable management system, an innovative compression tube backbone. Prodigy hoists retract compactly into 30 inches of plenum space, fitting into low-ceilinged venues while preserving sightlines and aesthetics. Venues whose architecture could not support other hoist systems can now access motorized rigging: ETC compression-tube technology imposes no additional lateral-load stress on buildings. And new buildings with limited budgets can choose affordable ETC Rigging instead of having to specify expensive catwalks or other structures to gain easy, safe access to their truss and stage equipment.

Known for their award-winning control systems in the lighting world, ETC has taken this expertise into the rethinking of better controls for hoist automation, with the result being the powerful, scalable, yet simple to operate ETC QuickTouch series.

Gallinghouse emphasizes, however, that technological innovation is just one part of ETC’s overall plan to serve this market: “ETC is partnering with the most experienced and qualified rigging installers and supporting them with our unmatched project management, customer and technical service, and manufacturing to provide complete, safe and economical rigging solutions.”

ETC says that orders are already being taken for ETC Rigging systems, and the company plans to begin shipping the products in January.

Traveling light: Brazil’s Grupo Corpo dance company tours with ETC Selador Series™ LEDs

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:12:14 GMT

The bold choreography of Grupo Corpo’s acclaimed dance piece “Ímã” lingers over the pure shapes and the sheer object strength of the human form – true to the Brazilian company’s name ‘Body Group.’ The intensely muscular, sculptural, and sensual dance movements are encased in a dramatic surrounding of pure color. GC lighting designer and artistic director Paulo Pederneiras would not be satisfied until he had achieved a stage saturated in color. Unlike painted backdrops with static lighting, this color would have to change dynamically as the choreography itself morphed. And Paulo wanted everything in color – cyc, floors, legs. He and his tech staff researched the source for such a painterly palette of light – and found it in ETC’s new Selador Series™ Paletta™ LED fixtures.

Known for innovation not only in choreography but also in scenic and lighting design, Grupo Corpo was the first dance company to employ the new Selador Series x7 Color System™ LEDs within their greater lighting rig. They have now used them in their fall season and have ordered more units for their touring arsenal.

When Grupo Corpo first sought out the Palettas, at the beginning of the summer, the fixtures were in intense early production demand. GC needed them for their August 5th premiere. Uncertain about meeting their show deadline, GC shifted to a Plan B, testing out several brands of RBG fixtures as alternatives. But as GC’s Technical Coordinator Gabriel Pederneiras explains, “In trial after trial, the regular RBG simply could not provide us with the color we wanted.” With no time to spare to test the Palettas in the actual GC dance environment, the group purchased the fixtures on what they had seen in demos and on established trust -- already longtime end-users and owners of a full rig of other ETC fixtures -- Source Four® ellipsoidals and PARs -- as well as ETC SmartPack® touring dimming, and an ETC control console.
The risk proved a good one. “Using the seven-color Selador LEDs,” states Grupo Corpo’s Web site, “Paulo Pederneiras creates a new scenic spatiality where volume and texture acquire an ‘ethereal materiality’ because they are made of pure light.”

Grupo Corpo was also particularly pleased with how the Selador LEDs blended with their conventional fixtures, such as their numerous Source Fours. “For people who work with professional lighting, the color mixing that can be achieved with the Seladors is great,” says Gabriel, who also considers the green benefit of LEDs essential: “Energy saving should be important to any production or venue. And ETC has been involved in energy conservation since they made it possible [with the Source Four ellipsoidal spotlight] to substitute a 575-watt lamp for a 1000-watt one -- with the same or better quality of light. Selador continues that commitment.”
One of the company’s mainstay dance pieces since 1996, an experimental fusion of classical and avant-garde dance and music, “Bach,” had always employed Fresnels with L195 as a backlight. “But once we hung the Selador Paletta LED fixtures on the same pipe,” says Gabriel, “we were so pleased with the light, that we eliminated the Fresnels all together and now use the LEDs instead.”
Grupo Corpo will be finishing up their season with the Selador LED fixtures at the Teatro Solis, in Montevideo, Uruguay, December 11-13th. But in 2010, they will resume their international touring schedule, taking their Seladors with them to use in their ten-ballet repertoire. Tour stops will include Canada in March, Spain in May, Germany and France in November, as well as the company’s regular Brazilian tour in August.

View YouTube videos of Grupo Corpo’s production of “Ímã” using Selador lighting fixtures:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoq7YkbS6-I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_53b0BBvGE

For Grupo Corpo future touring dates as well as more in-depth information and photos: www.grupocorpo.com.br/site/
For more information on ETC and its entertainment-technology products: www.etcconnect.com

Valley Family Church meets energy, safety and control requirements with ETC

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:31:17 GMT

When Senior Pastors Jeff and Beth Jones led Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Valley Family Church (VFC) into a $12 million building campaign to ease their facility’s overcrowding, they had no idea they’d be building during the worst economic decline since the Great Depression. Despite the challenging circumstances, VFC celebrated the grand opening of their new building on November 7-8th, 2009, with facility-wide integration of their lighting systems through ETC’s Unison® Paradigm® architectural product line, Sensor®+ dimming, and control consoles.

“We are a non-denominational charismatic family church using technology to help reach a sight-and-sound generation,” states Senior Pastor Jeff Jones. So when it came time to plan the technological aspects of the new facility, how the lighting would be controlled mattered very much. Lighting Designer Todd Kenter of TheatArch Design Solutions, LLC in Fruitport, Michigan, was brought on and conceptualized a fully-integrated lighting system in order to meet Michigan’s energy code.

“By integrating the systems, the church achieves better overall control of the building,” Kenter states. “They have the capability to manually control the system from the security office – override the time clocks, force the building on in the case of an emergency, etc. They can control what lights are on, when they are on, and for how long. When the cleaning crew goes into a space to clean it, the local control station buttons provide them a way to force on the lights in that space, but after a predetermined time, the lights go back to their original levels. After 1 AM, the building is “swept” off and all lights not determined to be essential for building security and general safety are turned off. There is a substantial energy savings in doing that.”

Preventing the waste of power isn’t the only advantage of the new ETC lighting system. “At 6:30 AM a working level of light illuminates the pathways to the office areas throughout the building for the staff so they never walk into a dark space,” adds Kenter.

System-wide integration also pays off for Valley Family’s large events as well. If an event requires turning the youth or children’s ministry spaces into overflow seating, the lighting in those rooms can be controlled from the ETC Ion® console running the adult-sanctuary lighting. And in more typical circumstances, those rooms can also be independently controlled via their ETC Unison Paradigm control panels or the ETC SmartFade® ML consoles.

Kenter says his choice of ETC equipment was influenced by several factors: “ETC is the industry leader -- probably the most commonly used product in the genre of houses of worship. They had the right product to meet all of the form, function, and budget requirements of this project. And their customer technical support is unsurpassed with 24/7/365 coverage.”

And the church couldn’t be more pleased with the results. “The integration of our theatrical and architectural lighting systems is nothing less than amazing,” states John Thompson, director of media/tech for Valley Family Church. “This integration makes what would have been a complex control problem into a system that’s simple to operate. I can train a volunteer how to turn on the entire building from one easy-to-use ETC touchscreen in five minutes. This ease of use greatly helps our ministry.”

ETC Eos: ‘smart’ control for American Idiot

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:44:17 GMT

American Idiot, the GRAMMY®-winning album by rock icons Green Day, is now thrilling audiences as a poignant and high-octane rock-opera at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. In American Idiot, the cast takes show-goers on a journey as tormented youth finding their way in the twenty-first century. The dynamic musical also incorporates aspects from concert- and theatrical-lighting and impressive special effects. To control the high-energy lighting, American Idiot Lighting Designer Kevin Adams uses an ETC Eos® lighting control system.

In choosing a console for American Idiot, Adams relied on his previous experience with Eos, which he’s used on other shows this year, including the Broadway transfer of Next to Normal. He thought it would be a good fit for American Idiot as well. Says Adams: “I wanted a user-friendly board that could program both moving lights and conventionals, and could allow for a single programmer instead of two. I wanted a console that would be easy to work from if this show transferred to another theater.” In the end, he chose Eos. “I love the ease and familiarity of Eos, and enjoy having an intuitive board that is not overly complicated to use both live and in blind. For me, it’s a low-stress board to work on.”

American Idiot’s rig consists of 300 conventional fixtures – including dozens of ETC Source Four® and Source Four PAR fixtures – 32 scrollers, 20 moving lights, 40 LEDs and ten strobe lights. Eos made quick work out of the complex lighting design: “Lighting Programmer Victor Seastone and I easily pre-programmed the entire show – even the curtain call – in about four days,” says Adams. “There are about 500 cues.”

The show’s lighting design is bold: “American Idiot Director Michael Mayer and I wanted to take the opposite path of our work together in Spring Awakening, which was carefully precise and deliberately minimal,” according to Adams. “We wanted to embrace maximalism with American Idiot. We also wanted to make a rock musical that had the impact of a rock show, but used a vocabulary that was unique and theatrical, and not similar to the kind of rock show that one would have expected with a Green Day concert.”

Adams’ approach bombards the audience with dramatic lighting and multimedia effects. “There are many times when the 40-foot-tall set and cast of 25 are brightly illuminated with white light, while several dozen strobe lights and huge moving projections are coming at the audience all at once. The effect is kaleidoscopic, and the big pictures are so busy at times that it’s quite difficult to figure out what to focus on the first time one views it,” explains Adams. The result is a mesmerizing spectacle that instantly draws the audience into the story. And Eos ensures that the lighting stays on cue, show after show.

American Idiot runs through November 15th at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Assistant lighting designers for the show are Stephanie Buchner and Barbara Samuels, Christine Cochrane is a lighting programmer, and Aaron Sporer is a studio assistant lighting designer.

ETC celebrates double award win at WFX

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:59:04 GMT

For the third year in a row, ETC has been honored with a New Product Award at the Worship Facilities Conference and Expo (WFX) tradeshow, and this year ETC came away with two of the coveted awards. ETC’s newest console, Element™, earned the new product title in the category of Moving Light Console Small Format, and Lustr™ – part of the Selador Series™ of LED luminaires by ETC – came home with the award in the LED Fixture category.

Controls Product Manager Sarah Clausen says: “Element is really designed for the novice user and provides professional tools in a very accessible package. We’re honored that WFX once again felt one of our consoles was worthy of this award.”

Element – a member of the Eos® family of control – is geared toward modest rigs and venues with a single programmer or volunteer lighting staff. Worship facilities benefit from Element’s maximum hands-on fader control and ability to control conventional fixtures and their accessories, as well as a small number of LEDs or moving lights. Budget-friendly and easy to use, Element redefines basic lighting control.

Lustr takes LED lighting to a whole new level. Based on the x7 Color System™ that combines an unprecedented seven LED colors onto a single unit, Lustr produces broadcast-quality white and subtly tinted light. People, objects and scenery appear in their natural shades, and Lustr outshines traditional RGB fixtures, while offering the energy efficiency and long life of LED technology.

WFX Award recipients were announced on Thursday, October 29th at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina.

Philadelphia’s Calvary Chapel turns to ETC for HD-video quality lighting overhaul

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:07:28 GMT

As one of the largest churches in the northeastern United States, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia attracts 10,000 people each week to their four services, bringing together a diverse group of people. "We have little old ladies raising their hands next to bikers," describes Audio/Video Director Matt Friedman, "and ex-druggies worshiping next to businessmen in suits. Sometimes it reminds me of the cantina scene from the first Star Wars movie!"

Calvary had been making due with a hodgepodge of disparate lighting systems in their sanctuary, but a recent unique opportunity pushed the church to tackle a long-needed overhaul – and ETC was selected as the primary lighting supplier. "Joel Rosenberg released his documentary film Inside the Revolution at our venue this September 11th," Friedman explains. "We had a television media crew on site, as well as a live webcast to 600 churches worldwide. It was high time to rip out our Home Depot track lighting and PAR 64s and make a clean start."

Through personal recommendations and a track record of success with other Calvary Chapels, Grant Gatlin, owner of Illumination Concepts LLC in Orange County, California (www.illuminationconceptsllc.com), was selected for the design of this new system. "They needed exceptional video-quality lighting," Gatlin describes, "with bullet-proof one-touch system-wide control and a lighting console that handles theatrical fixtures, movers, and LEDs."

To meet these requirements, Gatlin turned to ETC. Source Four® ellipsoidals and PARNels handle Calvary’s basic stage plot, and two 21-inch ETC Selador® Series Vivid™ LED fixtures are utilized as backdrop color wash. Two 11-inch Vivids are on mobile stands to add special looks to the stage. Meanwhile, ETC's Paradigm® system provides architectural lighting control, with button-station panels at doorways and a touchscreen unit at front-of-house (FOH) for ease of use. For the production-lighting control during services and events, Gatlin chose ETC’s latest console – the Element™ -- with dual 19-inch touchscreens.

"Why choose ETC?" Gatlin says, "Paradigm is powerful and simple to operate. Selador Vivid LEDs provide vibrant colors and intense output. Element combines power and value."

One of the challenges the venue presented was a large skylight over the platform, with mirrors placed to spread daylight across the stage. "This gave the stage massive and unpredictable amounts of daylight," Gatlin describes, "but the cameras hated it. However, the mirrors gave the back wall some great looks as the sunlight would shatter and throw beams of light down the rock wall backdrop."

"My solution was to black out the skylight and install the two 21-inch Vivid LED fixtures and two Source Fours with shattered-ray breakups," Gatlin explains. "Now we can mimic every color in the spectrum on the upstage wall, and with the Source Fours we can simulate the sun's rays – under our control."

Friedman is thrilled with the results. "The Source Four ellipsoidals and PARNels have revolutionized my thinking of stage lighting. What used to take numerous inefficient fixtures can now be lit with four 575-watt PARNels. The Element console was easy to jump into even though I had no previous experience with ETC's console style. The ETC Selador Vivids were the biggest surprise of the install – they could instantly fill large areas with any color."

Gatlin adds, "ETC is the world standard for a very good reason. We needed exceptional quality, efficiency, longevity, and ease of use. ETC always exceeds expectations."

Photo credit, Grant Gatlin

ETC Sensor dimming for London Palladium Theatre

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:00:43 GMT

Following two years of planning, the Palladium in London’s West End has installed and commissioned new ETC Sensor® dimmer racks – some 670 ways – and a Unison® system for the house and worklights as well as the “independent” circuits.

“We knew we needed to replace our previous dimmers, which were installed in 1964 and were definitely at the end of their working life,” explains the Really Useful Group (RUG)’s Operations and Technical Manager, Julian Rees. “When we looked around for alternatives, ETC’s dimmers were the clear winner. They’ve been proven to be reliable, with a lot of installations within London. We also felt that we were going to get good support and backup when we needed it. I have no doubt we made the right decision.”

As the theater was in use at the time, Julian and his colleague, Palladium Chief Electrician David Draude, needed to find a space for a new dimmer room, and install all the equipment while the existing dimmers remained in use. And because of the length of time the stage was in use for rehearsals each day, the electrical installers, Raytell Electrical Co Ltd, only had a few hours each morning to fix all the necessary cabling.

“We finally got to commission the new dimmers during a chance dark period between shows,” says Draude. “ETC’s Luke Delwiche came from their technical services department to help check the system – and two days later, we were up and running. Everything went really smoothly. All the cabling was installed in conduits, nooks and crannies so that the audience would never have known any work went on, and we also installed a new, second, gallery above the first in both wings to accommodate the additional power outlets.”

Over at the Adelphi Theatre, which is part owned by the Nederlander Organization, ETC’s relationship with the Really Useful Group is continuing with the installation of Sensor dimming there. “The eventual aim,” continues Rees, “is to have all our theaters using the same dimming equipment – but that’s a very long term goal.”

Mark White, ETC’s Regional Manager for the UK & Ireland, says: “I was very pleased to be asked to help design the dimming and control system at the Palladium Theatre. The installation, with help from Ray Dolby of Control Lighting, went well and does everything it’s supposed to. Every night.”

ETC consoles headline lighting control on Bye Bye Birdie and other Broadway shows

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:29:14 GMT

A state-of-the-art venue needs state-of-the-art equipment, and the newly rebuilt Henry Miller's Theater, sustainably designed and constructed to LEED standards and billed as the first "carbon-neutral theater," is chock full of efficient features, including an ETC lighting package. For the premiere show in this 1,016-seat, 50,000-square-foot house, artistic director Todd Haimes chose the musical Bye Bye Birdie, opening October 15 with lighting design by the celebrated Ken Billington. Billington's design for Birdie was programmed on the theater's new ETC Eos and ETC Ion® lighting control consoles.

"Moving into a new theater for the first time is always a challenge, but the crew here, with Josh Weitzman as production electrician, has done a phenomenal job getting ready for the first show," says Billington's associate lighting designer Paul Toben. "It is a traditional Broadway house in every way imaginable, except that it is four floors underground."

The production uses about 60 moving lights in addition to an array of spotlights and washes and a full complement of ETC fixtures and dimmers. The moving lights are programmed on the Eos console, and the conventional lighting on Ion, with the Eos triggering cue lists from both. "The set presented a bit of a challenge because all of the lights need to shoot through 'windows' in the walls, and most of the scenery is built from various colors of plexiglass," remarks Toben, "so we were constantly watching for reflections. With a new product like Eos on a large show like ours, there are bound to be some issues, but ETC has been both supportive and responsive. Eos product manager Anne Valentino was here for a full day, ETC field service engineer Josh Selander came out from Las Vegas to help us get our initial setup working, and Victor Seastone (ETC Senior Field Service Engineer, NYC) did some remarkable triage when we ran into some questions using MIDI control and multiple cue lists across multiple desks."

Timothy Rogers, who programmed the moving lights, recently started using the Eos and praised its user-friendliness and consistency. "We have accomplished on it everything we wanted to," he reports. "ETC put a lot of thought into its design – having everything work the same and be consistent throughout – and that has helped in learning and using it on a daily basis. The tech support has been great. As an independent, I have to work with whatever equipment is in front of me, and the Eos is a very easy console to learn and use." Rogers, who has also done several shows with Ken Billington in past years, always jumps at the chance to work with him. "Ken is a very prepared LD. The process is very relaxed, very on target. He doesn't make the directors wait. He's very versed in ETC as a company and very hands-on when it comes to how the console works."

Henry Miller's Theater operates under the umbrella of Roundabout Theater Company. Virtually all Broadway and off-Broadway theaters use some form of ETC lighting equipment, and notable current shows like South Pacific, Rock of Ages, and Next to Normal employ ETC Eos-family control consoles to realize their ambitious lighting design.

Photo credit: Joan Marcus, 2009

ETC's Selador™ LED fixtures light up historic Fox Theatre

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:14:38 GMT

The historic Oakland Fox Theatre in Oakland, California, has reopened its doors to popular acclaim, painstakingly restored to its former glory after years of neglect and abandonment. Integral to the stunning visual impact of the restoration is the unique architectural-lighting accent solution, designed around ETC's Selador Series LED fixtures.
Built in the late 1920s, the theater is renowned for its Moorish architecture, standing out from the crowd of art deco construction during that period. Originally designed as a movie house, the theater features large ornate and colorful spaces, intricate ceiling and wall details throughout, and two enormous gold statues flanking the proscenium.

With such rare architectural detail to work with, the building owners desired to restore the theater to its original integrity, making it a showcase among venues and the hub of night life again in downtown Oakland. Architectural Lighting Designer Terry Ohm of Ohm Lighting LLC in San Francisco was brought in to create a lighting system that would be consistent with the goals of the restoration, but also show off the exquisite ornamentation and decor.

“The scale of the ceilings and space are very grand,” says Ohm. “In the original design were many locations that incorporated indirect lighting as an architectural detail. All these elements were restored to their rightful glory using new technology and higher-efficiency light sources.”
After considering all the options, from conventional PAR fixtures with static color filters to high-power color-mixing LED fixtures from a variety of manufacturers, ETC's Selador Series LED fixtures were chosen for the task of highlighting the theater’s artistry. Wunder Lighting & Controls, located in Walnut Creek, California, handled the purchase of the fixtures, and they were installed and programmed by Dennis Witte of Holzmueller Productions, San Francisco.

“Selador was the only LED source that approached design and technology from a theatrical mindset,” states Ohm. “Since the fixtures for accenting the ceiling needed to be mounted along the parapet wall on opposite sides of the theater space, it required projecting light 100 feet in both directions for an even cross focus and distribution. It required a fixture punchy enough to make a strong color statement in all color palettes. It also required linear spread lenses to maintain an even, soft color wash with the close proximity to the ceiling from the parapet. We used 18 Selador Series Vivid™ 21-inch fixtures with 40-degree lenses for the ceiling.”

“Flanking the stage in the theater are two large gold statues in front of 50-foot tall ornate lattice,” Ohm adds. “The statues and lattice are back-lit with eight Selador Series Vivid 11-inch fixtures with 50-degree lenses for a very theatrical stage and architectural presence.”

Geoffrey Martin, head electrician for the Fox Theatre, is very pleased with how the Selador fixtures accent the theater's lavish detail. “The ceiling, which is actually all faux-wood, is amazing here,” he states. “To add color to it really enhances it. We have a color roll programmed that uses four colors and fades between them for the walk-in look, and then for the show we set the ceiling and grilles to a deep indigo blue.”

Lit by Selador’s rich color palette, the theater's architecture becomes an entrancing extension of the stage itself, a feast for audience eyes. And the lighting itself is a visual delight. “The Selador Series' seven-color system offered us a broader range of design flexibility for achieving the most complementary colors for our design intent,” states Ohm. “Selador was the perfect fixture for accommodating our challenges and requirements.”

BRIT School students finalize their year with an ETC Eos.

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 20:29:39 GMT

Students at south London’s BRIT School’s technical theater course need to learn on a lighting control desk that will be able to handle the most complex, multimedia-filled rigs, yet simple enough to get to learn as part of their course. And, of course, it needs to be one that they might use when they start working professionally. So, when Andrew Smith, the school’s technical manager, started looking for a replacement desk last September, he didn’t need much persuasion to settle on an ETC Eos® and its smaller sibling, Ion.

For the final assessment show of the year, 18-year-old BTEC National students Ben Couch and Chris Burnage directed and programmed the lighting and AV on the Eos and Ion, working on discrete software partitions. Both have used lighting control consoles before, but found that the additional functionality that ETC’s boards offer has made their projects much easier. Explains Ben: “The partition function enables us to work independently on the lighting and multimedia. I like the fact that I can set up groups on the system, and that when I update a group, it updates the cue list as well – of which there are over 100.”

The BRIT School, Britain’s only free performing arts and technology school, provides education and vocational training for the performing arts, media, art and design and the technologies that make performance possible. The School is funded by both the Department for Education and Employment (DFEE) and the British Record Industry Trust.

Talking on the afternoon of the show, Andrew Smith says: “We’re very grateful to ETC for writing a profile for the Martin video screens, which didn’t exist in the desk until a few weeks ago. Stage Electrics also helped with the design and build of an ETCNet3™ system.”

ETC Selador LED fixtures grab PLASA award

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:36:07 GMT

ETC is celebrating after winning a coveted Innovation Award for the Selador LED range of fixtures at this year’s PLASA in London.

The award judges congratulated the Selador fixtures for “taking a significant step towards the ultimate goal of energy efficient incandescent replacement lighting.”

Selador is the next generation of LED fixture, proving that superior colour rendering and qualities for theatrical lighting can come from an energy efficient source. Featuring the patented x7 Color System, Selador fixtures produce a light and colour quality that conventional LED systems cannot duplicate. This unique system produces bright broad-spectrum whites and intense colours equally well, rendering light tints and skin tones similar to tungsten sourced fixtures. There are three models in the range, optimised for lush, soft washes of pastel colour; pure white and warm colours for the most natural LED skin tones ever; or strong, saturated colour.

ETC has developed this LED fixture with a colour output that gets close to the spectral curve of traditional incandescent source, making LED technology a step closer to wider use in theatres and similar applications.

ETC’s Unison Mosaic architectural control system, SmartBar 2 portable dimming and Element lighting control console were all also extremely popular at the PLASA stand. Laid out beside Unison Paradigm on one wall of the show stand, Unison was showing a demonstration of a pixellated display – a system custom built by ETC’s CEO Fred Foster in the company’s factory in Wisconsin, USA. Meanwhile, opposite it, SmartBar 2 was on display, showing that great dimming can come in portable packages. SmartBar 2 is the next generation in ETC’s Smart Solutions range, and is fully RDM addressable, so that you know once everything is plugged in, you need never touch it again. Because it has all new electronics, it’s become cheaper to manufacture – so the price has come down too!

Element, which was being demonstrated throughout the show, is ETC’s newest lighting desk and is designed with smaller theatrical venues and schools in mind. This system targets conventional lighting control in smaller venues and is perfect for student and volunteer staff. When conventional accessories, LED fixtures or moving lights are added to the rig, the press of a button accesses the On Demand ML Controls, giving direct control of complex devices via a mouse or touch screen.

Ion® does it all

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:10:23 GMT

This summer, Badnerhalle Cultural Center in Rastatt, Germany, updated its 1,100-seat hall’s lighting system to include an ETC Ion lighting control console, two 2x10 Universal Fader Wings, one 2x20 Fader Wing and an ETC iRFR Remote Focus Unit. Frank Schober, the hall’s chief electrician, describes his experience with the new equipment:

“In venues like ours, where there is a different production every evening, time is always an issue and flexibility a must. You want a console that does everything: professional theater lighting and flexible control for a live production. Ion does it all.”

After attending a training session at ETC’s German office in Holzkirchen, Schober said: “Not only did the training help me progress with the Ion, but the visit to Holzkirchen showed me again that I bet on the right horse. Ion is a young console with the right people working on it. I could feel their dedication to further development and their strong will to help the customer. It was a very positive experience. I am very grateful that ETC Dealer Wolfram Dosch showed me the Ion and put me in contact with ETC.”

ETC ready for its close-up on The Sarah Silverman Program

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:39:00 GMT

The demands of a single-camera television show change all the time. The set is constantly moving, the lighting needs vary for every shot within a scene, time can be limited, and the control console is often placed where the programmer can’t see what’s going on. For the lighting team on Comedy Central’s The Sarah Silverman Program, this process is simplified – yet cutting-edge – thanks to lighting equipment by ETC.

Before this season started, Gaffer Christian Grosselfinger, Best Boy David Kane and Programmer Tom Howard looked for ways to create a mobile lighting control system using a secure wireless network. They found their answer in ETC’s Ion® lighting control console and the iRFR application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. The iRFR acts as a remote control on a wireless network, giving users the ability to set levels, call up record targets, and manipulate any parameter on a moving light. Howard reports: “The iRFR app on the iPhone gives me complete portability, providing me with a control interface that I can keep in my pocket at all times. The app makes it easy to adjust levels and moving light parameters from anywhere on the soundstage.”

While trying out the new lighting system, the crew of The Sarah Silverman Program came up with a unique way of using their Source Four® fixtures. Color temperature is critical in lighting for cameras, as gaffers cannot simply dim a light to make it less bright because tungsten-halogen lamps shift their color temperature as they dim. So to make a scene brighter or dimmer, gaffers add or turn off multiple lights at the same intensity level. Says Grosselfinger: “The Source Four has proven invaluable when grouped together on pipes or on distant stands for filling large 12x6 bounces temporarily hung from the fourth wall. The floor is kept clear, giving the actors and cameras room to breathe freely. I love to sneak soft patterned barrels through tight windows to caress deep backgrounds, dropping a lamp on the floor for ceiling bounces, hiding in corners for quick slivers of light on small bounce cards that in turn act as backlights, or the ever-famous theatrical-special on a painting or prop.”

Another tool that helps the lighting crew streamline their process and save time is ETC’s award-winning moving light, the Source Four Revolution®. Instead of constantly refocusing conventional fixtures between shots, they set focus points for the Revolutions and then instantly and precisely focus the unit from the Ion or iRFR. “We’re a bit short-staffed,” says Kane, “so giving the programmer the ability to focus lighting units frees our other two technicians. It’s also very quiet, which is obviously a must on a film set.”

These tricks and other features of their ETC system have the crew looking toward the future. According to Kane: “I've always been interested in pushing the envelope when it comes to lighting control. On this show, we've accomplished many of the things I've wanted to try for years. The trick now is to take what we've learned and step it up a notch for the next one.”

Photo credit: Rhet Bear

ETC announces new training initiative

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:07:09 GMT

Have questions about your ETC equipment? Want step-by-step instructions? Want to do all this on your schedule? Now you can! ETC’s Education Center has made it even easier for you to get your hands on training materials, by creating a Video Library on YouTube.

Check out www.youtube.com/ETCVideoLibrary to find the latest tutorials and training videos, and even subscribe to the ETC Video Library to get updates on your homepage when new content is added. Currently, you can find streaming Ion® training videos; SmartFade® ML, Congo® v6 and Element™ tutorials; as well as the most recent Bobblehead Fred Productions video.

Says ETC Training and Technical Communications Manager Steve Traut: "We have a rather long list of upcoming projects, including an additional set of Element videos. Our goal is to build a comprehensive library of product sales and training videos that will educate both end-users and sales people."

If you’re looking for a more personal approach, sign up for one of the upcoming Ion training sessions.

ETC is also going to be leading sessions at the LDInstitute during the 2009 LDI tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, November 20-22, 2009. Find the schedule here: http://www.ldishow.com/LDI09/Public/Content.aspx?&ID=13815.