LEDs + Snow = Lighting Goodness

If you didn’t already know, the International headquarters and base of operations for iSquint is in Washington, DC.  Starting Friday night, the Washington DC metro area was under a blizzard snow warning and expecting one of the heaviest snow falls in recent history.  And boy, did we get it!  At 6am Saturday morning, there was about 4-5″ of snow already on the ground and it just kept coming.  By noon, we had an additional 6″ of snow.  By 6pm, at least another 6-8″ of snow for a grand total ranging from 18″ – 24″ depending on your location.

I have always loved snow and the effects that snow covered lights produce.  How about the icicles hanging from the roof line with multi color lights lighting then from behind… OH, the magic of it all!  Well, I wanted to re-produce just a little bit of that magic to share with you.  The other night I stopped by Home Depot to pick something up and noticed they already had Christmas lights 40% – 60% off!  And to top it off, they had some LED strings left! How could I pass up such an offer!

The images below show how simple and easy making some beautiful lighting with some off the shelf string lights.  Then or course there is the snow part that is not as easy to come by.  So what is the point here?  Get out and make some good looking lights with what ever you have laying around or can find on the cheap.  Learning and exploring with lights doesn’t have to be limited to the theatre or even a lab. Just get out and play!

Dr. DMX Develops Green Dimmers

Leave it to the good doctor, Doctor DMX, aka Doug Fleenor Designs, (DFD) to develop a new and interesting product for LDI this year.  We all know that Doug Fleenor Design comes out with some pretty remarkable DMX products like the DMX/RDM Coffee Pot and  the DMX-a-Sketch at past LDI’s.  This year was no let down.

Doug Fleenor Design had a DMX Blender on had to mix up some lovely adult drinks during the show. On a side note, when o when is DFD going to produce these wonderful devices?! I would love to operate my entire kitchen off a lighting console!

What DFD did have on the show floor that we can purchase in the near future is DFD’s entry into the dimmer world with the Green Dimmer. DFD designed the Green Dimmer as low power dimmer to drive 250 watt or less loads for such luminaries like LEDs, CFL and even neon.

The Green Dimmer operates off a 120v, 20amp power input and splits it off into 8, 2amp dimmable outlets.  Would you be surprised to know that this is of course controlled by DMX? All of this fits into a 12″ x 12″ x4″ NEMA 1 enclosure and runs super quite as there are no fans or filters.

I was not able to get a price out of the good doctor and information has not reached the DFD website as of yet. Look for more information about the Green Dimmer from Doug Fleenor Design here on iSquint.  To learn more about the neat DMX products the good doctor produces, visit DFD’d website at www.dfd.com.

Happy Holidays From iSquint

It is that time of the year when we look back and reflect on what a year 2009 has been and all of the wonderful memories we had.  It is also a time to be thankful for the loved ones and friends we have.  So on this, the 2009 Holiday Season, I want to wish each and everyone of you a Happy Holiday Season, A wonderful and prosperous New Year and thank you.  Thank you for all of your support, kind words, and of course for reading iSquint.net.

If you did not receive a copy of the iSquint Holiday Mailer, sign up for the newest feature of iSquint, the monthly newsletter by filling out the simple sign up form below.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FELLOW SQUINTERS!

Friday Flickr Lighting Porn – Boneyard Prayer

This weeks randomly chosen Friday Flickr Lighting Porn comes from Harold on Flickr.  I would love to give Harold a little more credit here, but I just can not find any more information on him!  So if you are out there Harold, drop me a line and I will update the article with your info.

The photo is from Redmoon Theater’s 2008 production of Boneyard Prayer in Chicago Illinois.

Boneyard Prayer explores struggle, sorrow, and salvation, drawing from such varied sources as William Kennedy’s Ironweed, Dante’s Inferno, T.S. Eliot’s The Hollow Men, tramp art, Santos sculpture, and other period literature, music, and art. Boneyard Prayer tells a Depression-era tale of one man’s fractured life and ultimate redemption using various forms of puppetry and shadow images, along with extraordinary music inspired by the songs of the age.

Thanks Harold for adding your design work to the iSquint Friday Flickr Lighting Porn Pool.  Want to see your work featured here on iSquint?  Add your lighting design work to the iSquint Flickr pool, Friday Lighting Porn.  Each Friday, I randomly select a photo from the pool to be featured here.  Please don’t forget to add a few details about your work!

You Pick the Most Innovative Lighting Product for 2009

During 2009, we saw a whole heap of new products introduced into the market place.  Just like Time and the AP innovative people of the year, it is time for the industry to pick the most innovative product for 2009. So I am calling on you to help choose the 2009 Innovative Lighting Product of the year.  While I would love to pick the product, that just is not fair.  Who am I to say what is the most innovative product? That is why I am leaving it to you.

The instructions are easy.  I have picked 10 random products that have come to the market place in no particular order.  All you have to do is chose one.  Think I am missing a product or want to give some insight on your choice?  Leave it in the comment section of this article.

The winner of the 2009 Most Innovative Product chosen by you, will be announced here on iSquint December 31, 2009 at 11:59pm, right as we start the countdown and raise our glasses to 2010.

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Elation Announces Accent LED Strips with Adhesive Backing

Elation Professional just released their latest architectural LED product, the Accent LED strips.  The strips are available in tow models, and RGB and a Cool White version.

The Accent Strip RGB is a very thin, LED-circuit-strip-tape with nine bright RGB (Red, Blue & Green) LEDs. It can be mounted to almost any surface using it’s built-in adhesive tape. The Accent Strip RGB can be used in various indoor applications; at home, in the office, a retail environment or any various compact space. With the use of the easy-to-use control box users can select between 7 colors and 3 operational modes.

What type of control does the Accent Strip use, I am not sure.  Looking over the product sheet, all I can tell is that each kit includes a control box.  No other specifications about control are mentioned. Each Accent Strip Kit includes 4 rolls of the LED strip at 9.75″ long and can all be connected together to run off the power supply and control box included.

At the time of writing, I was not able to locate a retail price on either Accent Strip. For more on the Elation Professional Accent Strip RGB and the Accent Strip Cool White, visit Elations website at www.elationlighting.com.

ConsoleCocktails Releases Cocktail #3 – Squintin’ at the grandMA2

During LDI 2009, I got a chance to visit one of the busiest rooms during the week long conference and show at the Orlando Convention Center, The grandMA2 Demo and Training room. I sat down and did an interview with Joe Joe Cabrera ][ and Brian Dowd from ACT Lighting for a future episode of the iSquint Podcast. While I was recording just the audio, Cat recorded the interview with her video camera and produced the next episode of the ConsoleCocktails.com, Squintin’ at the grandMA2.

This is just a preview of our complete interview that will be available on the next episode of the iSquint Podcast coming out later this month. I want to thank Joe, Brian and Cat for taking time out of the crazy busy schedule at LDI to talk with me and go over the grandMA2.

Cooper Controls Releases LightFactory Version 2.2

Cooper Controls just recently announced the release of their upgrade to the PC based lighting controller, LightFactory, to version 2.2.

LightFactory is a unique PC based lighting control system. Offering a no compromise approach of traditional dimmer control and fully featured moving light support. LightFactory was designed with the idea that every lighting engineer, operator or designer could own their own control desk. One desk they are completely familiar with, one desk that works for every situation and one desk they can rely on every time. Most PC based control systems focus on moving light support but lack the many features that make traditional lighting desks standout.

Some of the Key Features of Version 2.2:

• Up to 64 DMX universes
• Up to 30,000 lighting fixtures
• Unlimited cue lists and millions of cue
• Full tracking console
• 5 different effects engines (including LED/Matrix)
• Built in scheduler, macros, palettes, user security and fixture library
• Audio, MIDI, and Timecode triggering
• 1000s of submasters
• Full multi user support
• Free wireless rigging remote software
• Free off-line use

Want to earn more about LightFactory from Cooper Controls or download a copy to try out, visit their website at www.lifact.com. Current users of LightFactory can upgrade to version 2.2 at special price until December 31, 2009.

Jands Vista Preparing to Release Byron Into the Wild

Back at PLASA 09, Jands Vista introduced their latest software upgrade to their Vista line of consoles, Byron.  Jands had demo’s of Byron running at LDI 09, but alas, I did not get a chance to see Byron running in person.  But since then, I have meet Byron and he is a pretty cool dude, I mean OS.

What impresses me about Byron is that is uses Apple’s proven Bonjour™ networking technology to configure a lighting network, a ‘no IT guy’ solution that makes backup and more advanced networking operations easy. With Byron you’ll never have to enter an IP address or configure a DNS server again.

Another key addition to Byron from Vista’s old operating system is the addition of a command line. The Byron command line is completely synchronized with the interface, showing the clip or step you’re editing at any time. When you type a command you see the equivalent action happen on the fixture icons and control palettes: all pen-driven commands are interpreted into plain language on the command line in real time. Of course, the command line supports all well-known numeric keypad syntax (for example, typing ‘1/26*55’ would set fixtures 1 to 26 at 55% intensity).

If you’re used to selecting lights and setting levels by numbers, you can use the command line in combination with the Vista’s visual interface to give yourself even greater control than before.

Some of the other new features of Byron:

• tracking backup that synchronises a second console or PC to take over seamlessly in the case of a failure
• a second-generation timeline providing visual split fade times, a per-step timing structure that lets you instantly set fade and delay times for some or all the events in a step, and new filters that make it easier to see what’s going on with big rigs
• an extended generic fixture model that doesn’t limit the use of non-standard or overlapping features and adapts to all types of new and unusual fixtures
• a completely overhauled user interface reflecting user feedback, with search functions built in throughout
• a brand new visual method of controlling media servers
• new Matrix layouts and effects for use with LEDs and other fixtures

Byron will be a free download and upgrade for current uses when it is finally released.  A time line for release has not be announced, but should be sometime during the first quarter of 2010.  To learn more about Byron from Jands Vista, visit their website at www.jandsvista.com.

Martin Mac 401 Dual Video

I just saw a great product demo video of Martin Professional’s Mac 401 Dual LED fixture. @MainLight posted the link to the video via their twitter feed and wanted to make sure everyone got a chance to view it. What is so great about the video?  Well, don’t expect to learn much more about the fixture then you already learned about my article that I wrote a couple of months ago about the Mac 401 dual.

What is nice about the video is that is shows the Mac 401 Dual in action.  There are more transitions to very nice marketing photos with some video goodness of the 401 in action, but with the overlaying music you don’t get a good understanding of one of the main selling points of the fixture, the super quite operation. Still, it is a great video in HD to get a feeling of how the fixture operates.

What to learn more about the Martin Mac 401 Dual, visit their website at www.martin.com.

Zinman Software Updates TCP/IP Remote iPhone App to Version 2.0

Over the weekend I received a note from Zinman Software that Michael has just updated his TCP/IP Remote App for the iPhone and iPod Touch to Version 2.0.  I personally love this app not just for the uses in the lighting industry, but also for home “automation”.

Since the app works with any device that is connected to a network, I use the app to mess with my lovely wife by sending log off or sleep commands on my desktop at home via command line.  Is this what the app was developed for, probably not, but none the less, it is still a fun use of the app.

So what is new in version 2.0?

• Better User Customization to the GUI
• Unlimited pages of Macros
• Unlimited pages of Terminal/remote views and buttons
• The ability to edit buttons inside the app

Version 2.0 of TCP/IP Remote is a free download for current owners of the app.  New users to the app can download it from the iTunes App Store for $9.99 USD. Learn more about Zinman Software’s TCP/IP Remote App by visiting their website at www.zinmansoftware.com.

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New iPhone App: Lighting Handbook

I just received a note for an iPhone app developer, Andrew Derrington about his new lighting iPhone app, Lighting Handbook. It is a new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, It provides detailed information about moving lights, LED fixtures, Scrollers and more DMX fixtures.

It also provides access to the manual direct from the internet.

Manufacturers included:

• ChromaQ
• Claypaky
• Coemar
• GLP
• High End
• Martin
• PRG
• Pulsar
• Robe
• SGM
• Studio Due
• Thomas
• Vari-lite

The Lighting Handbook App includes 295 moving lights in this the first version of the app. The app also contains connector pinout information for Socapex, Lectriflex, 3, 4, 5 Pin DMX/XLR (Scroller cable, Comms, AMX etc) and RJ-45 (Ethernet) connectors.

The Lighting Handbook app goes for £2.99 or $4.99 in the iTunes App Store. For more infromation on the Lighting Handbook app from Andrew Derrington, visit his website at www.aderrington.co.uk.