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ETC OFFICIALLY Launches New Console: Gio @5

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Face it, ETC has a strong hold on the Theatre market.  Hell, it’s in their name.  With the launch of the Gio @5 and the latest version of the Eos family software, ETC is looking to expand into other areas of the entertainment industry. At LDI2016, ETC not only introduced a new logo, but also a preview of their latest lighting control console, the Gio @5.

I have to hand it to ETC and their naming of the new Gio @5.  At first, I didn’t get it. The @5 name derives from a common command in the Eos software where @5 gives you 50%. Funny. At just over 15″ wide, the Gio @5 can fit into some tight spaces at FOH.  The software gives you 2,048 “outputs” or parameters with 4 5-pin DMX connections on the backside.  The console can be expanded up to 32,768 “outputs” or a total of 64 universes with networking and nodes.

To learn more about the ETC Gio @5, visit www.etcconnect.com.

More from the Press Release:

Middleton, WI – The Eos family of consoles just got bigger – by going smaller. After a successful preview at LDI, ETC has officially launched the Gio @5™ console, which brings the acclaimed, professional-grade control of the Eos Ti® and Gio® consoles within reach of users with tighter spaces – and tighter budgets.

“With the Gio @5, we’ve given you a little bit of everything,” says product manager Anne Valentino. This portable console packs all the control necessities into its narrow, 25.5-inch (641 mm) footprint, making external monitors and accessories optional. The desk includes an articulating, 17-inch, multi-touch LCD display, four encoders with haptic feedback, five definable and page-able motorized faders, a master fader pair and a retractable tray with backlit alpha-numeric keyboard.

The Gio @5 derives its name from the Eos command that sets a level at fifty percent, but don’t be fooled by its compact size; the desk offers a full programming experience. The console is the perfect step up for Ion® users who want expanded hands-on access to playbacks, award-winning color control, touchscreen Magic Sheets and more. The programming surface matches the full, backlit keyboard layout of its larger sister desks, providing an easy transition for experienced Eos users looking to scale down for touring and smaller productions or venues. The Gio @5 is also a perfect educational desk; skills learned on the console will transfer to the highest end of the programming job market.

The board has everything a programmer needs to rock small, live gigs – right out of the road case. The short-throw motorized faders are designed for efficient busking, but if more hands-on control is needed, the console can serve as a base for a customized, expanded work surface of plug-and-play Motorized Fader Wings, external touchscreen monitors and other accessories. The upcoming v2.5 software – which will release in time to ship with the console – builds on the playbacks and effects work of the v2.4 release, with even more tools suited to busking. Wherever you are, the Gio @5 console has what you need to do the job.

PS: Does this mean that all of ETC’s products with the old logo can now be considered vintage and worth more money?

ETC Release v3.0.0 for SmartFade Line Up of Consoles

ETC recently released a software update for the “entry” level series of desk, the SmartFade family, version 3.0.0.  The update brings some new features for both the SmartFade and the SmartFade ML desk.  As with most software updates, software bugs are sent to the big bug house in the sky as well.  ETC has also made the SmartSoft software compatible with Windows Vista 64-bit and Windows 7 64-bit OS’s for live connection to either SmartFade desk.  I am still waiting for a And YES, SmartSoft DOES have a Mac native solution!

Changes to SmartFade and SmartFade ML:

Stack:
The stack has been completely redesigned. Now you can record Cues in any numerical order that suits you and they will play back in correct numerical sequence. It is no longer necessary to use step numbers, simply the cue number is used. Thus you may record cues 3.7, 3.0, 17, 1, 99.8, 125, 2 in that order and they will play as 1, 2, 3.0, 3.7, 8, 17, 99.8, 125.

Note that cues may be numbered from 1 to 199 and point cues may be inserted anywhere from 0.1 to 199.9. The total number of cues remains fixed at 199.

Stack editing has been simplified. Now there is one type of edit for any step number. Turn the dial slowly to see point cues and faster to move by whole numbers.

MIDI:
Now the consoles are set to default on to General MIDI and interconnect immediately.

Changes to SmartFade ML:

Color control:
Many device types are now supported: RGB, CMY, RGBA, RAGCB (Prism Reveal), ROAGI (Selador® Fire™), RGCBI, (Selador Ice™), ROAGCBI (Selador x7).

User personalities may be made with RGB, RGBA or CMY mixing.

Device personalities:
The SmartFade ML console and SmartSoft contain about 500 standard devices (about 40% of the previous number) . A separate file called PERSLIB.BIN may be placed on an SD card and browsed on the console, or in the simulator in SmartSoft, and this contains over 3000 more personalities, more than double than in previous versions. In the future, new personalities will be distributed in this file allowing SmartFade ML to support an unlimited number of devices. Up to 100 additional personalities may be loaded from the file into the console or SmartSoft. You may also make your own personalities as before.

Displays:
When the stack is on, the displays in SmartFade ML include the step name and the running times. Note that the level bar graphs have been removed to make place for this feature. Level bar graphs are still provided in Preview and Edit modes. The SmartFade display is not changed.

Memory Rubberband:
It is now possible to turn off rubberbanding on memory faders. When on, moving light parameters (non-intensity channels) will follow the fader back and forth. When off, the parameters will move to their new positions as you take up a fader and then remain there when the fader is taken down.

You can download v3.0.0 software update for your SmartFade desk by visiting ETC’s Download section of their website.  You can also view the change and release notes form the same page. Additionally, you can grab the SmartSoft software from the download page as well.

Review: ORB Lighting Desk from Zero 88

Back in April 2009, Zero 88 announced the release of their flag ship lighting desk, the ORB. Ever since then, the ORB desk has been slowly making its way into the U.S. market. It was first shown state-side at LDI in Orlando, Florida last fall. That’s where I was first introduced to the ORB. Since then I’ve been waiting for the ORB to grace my door step to review.

Overview

So what’s the ORB lighting desk? The ORB is a theatrical-style playback console with a twist. Not only can the desk run just as we’d expect in the theatrical world, but also in the live event world where multiple playbacks are a requirement for busking a show. What’s interesting to note is that the ORB desk shares the same operating system as its brother, the Leap Frog console series, also from Zero 88. As a result, crossing between the two desks is simple and easy—other then the differences in the layout of the desks, of course.

Hardware Overview

Looking at the ORB desk, it seems like a monster in comparison to other types of desks with similar capabilities. Measuring in at 201mm X 1000mm, and 462mm deep, don’t let the size of the desk frighten you. The console has a wealth of control and functionality that might not be available on comparable desks. Since the desk is larger then some others, you might think that the desk emits higher decibels of sound since it requires fans to cool the electronics. But, when in operation, the console is actually rather quiet because of a large fan hidden deeper within the desk. Since the fan is larger, it doesn’t need to spin as quick as smaller fans, thus less noise.

A nice feature of the ORB desk is its memory, or hard drive. Rather then using a spinning hard drive, Zero 88 used a solid state hard drive to contain the operating system of the ORB desk. Here’s the crazy, yet amazing thing: the hard drive is only 512 megabytes in size! Since ZerOS, the operating system that the ORB desk uses, is based on Linux, Zero 88 removed all the “bloat,” or unused portions of the Linux OS to give a smaller, more streamlined OS, thus requiring a smaller hard drive (only 30 megabytes in size), much less than Windows-based operating systems and desk.

Since the ORB desk is a computer in the simplest terms, the backside of the console will look very similar to that of almost any desktop PC on the market. The ORB has 2 VGA monitor outs along with 4 USB ports for connecting peripherals such as USB keyboards, mice and storage devices. There is also an ethernet port (RJ45) for connecting the ORB desk to a lighting network that uses Art-Net, Zero Wire DMX, LightConverse, Capture, WYSIWYG, and also for a PDA remote.

The back of the desk also includes ports that we lighting people are accustomed to seeing on the back of a desk: four five-pin DMX ports, a MIDI in/thru ports, and a three-pin littlelite port. Something else that the ORB includes is a DMX input port that you typically don’t find on many consoles.
Looking at the front of the ORB, you’ll quickly find that it is laid out very similar to what we would expect a lighting desk to look like. The encoders and parameter selection buttons, along with the grandmaster and blackout buttons, can be found on the right hand side. Directly below the encoders and the grandmaster, Zero 88 included a trackball on the console that can operate as a mouse, or as pan and tilt parameters of a selected range of moving lights.

In the center of the desk are the selection and programming keys. Off to the left-hand side of the desk are ten sliders that can operate in multiple forms, from playbacks and submasters to individual channels. Since there are only ten physical playbacks, Zero 88 gives you 100 pages of playbacks to run multiple playbacks at once. If you are finding that ten physical sliders are not enough to run off the submasters, the ORB can expand by simply adding any two-scene present console to the ORB via the DMX input and setting up the submasters via the setup menu. If cue stacks are your flavor of choice for the playbacks, you have the ability to place 1,000 cues on one stack. Spread that across ten sliders and 100 pages, the ORB offers 1 million cues. That may seem like overkill, but you never know what you’ll need. The ORB challenges you to write that many cues, rather than limit you at the start. As I stated in the fifth episode of the iSquint Podcast, if you take full advantage of the cue count on the ORB, please be sure to send me the show file, I would love to see that show.

In addition to the standard keys of a lighting desk, Zero 88 added smaller LCD screens on the backboard of the ORB desk to give a heads-up display of what’s going on with the console. This leaves the two attached monitors for the live, programmer, and cue list windows.

Directly beneath the center section of LCDs on the backboard is something quite unique to the ORB, the UDK, or User Defined Keys. These 20 pages of ten buttons, or 200 UDK’s can be almost anything you want.  Anything from screen layouts and channel selections to palettes—anything you can think of. I found that putting screen layouts and some of my heavily used groups of lights there made programming quick and easy.

When you first walk up to the ORB desk, you quickly notice that the desk was designed by programmers, for programmers. The desk has a built-in wrist rest which is made from industrial grade suede. As any programmer will attest, the wrist rest is a wonderful addition and really makes a difference in keeping your hands and wrist supported for long programming sessions.

Programming and Syntax

Patching your rig on the ORB desk is quite simple and easy to understand. While the ORB only allows four universes of DMX or 2048 DMX properties, Zero 88 gives you 2,000 channels to patch those addresses. Since there are four universes of DMX, there is less of a chance you’ll run out of space for patching a medium-sized rig with conventionals, and assortments of movers and color mixers.

What impressed me about the patching section of the ORB is the fixture library. Zero 88 has created their own library of fixtures, and it is very impressive. I had no trouble finding the correct fixture profile I was looking for. That being said, new fixtures are always being developed and need a profile to operate on the desk. Zero 88 mentioned that they are constantly building and adding new fixture profiles for the desk and will make them available for free on their website.

Programming and selecting channels and fixtures on the ORB desk is pretty straightforward. Like most consoles on the market, the ORB desk operates with one channel operating the entire fixture.  That fixture can be anything from a single DMX parameter device like a dimmer, or a multi-parted device, like a moving light. All of the non-intensity parameters are controlled through three encoders on the right-hand side of the desk.

Selecting a channel or range of channels is easy enough as the ORB desk speaks just as I do—plain English. Give me [1] [at] [full]. Simple enough, right? Since the desk is a command line desk, an [enter] key command is required on almost all of the commands on the desk. Another nice feature of the ORB is what is right above the command line. As you start to enter key commands into the desk, the ORB tells you what keys or action commands are available based on what you entered. So if you key in [1] [at], the next available commands are populated above the command line such as the number one through nine and full or out. This is very useful for beginners and novices alike to help learn the key commands.

Overall, I picked up on the ORB relatively quickly—it’s based on programming and syntax and I am already familiar with and use to from other desks that I have worked on. After locating and figuring out specific functions and key commands, I had a show patch, pre-programmed and ready for cueing in no time.

Conclusion

Zero88 designed the ORB desk to fit a specific part of the lighting desk market that has been left vacant after some lighting desk manufacturers retired certain consoles due to various reasons. Strand 520i, ETC Express and even Hog users will find comfort in the ORB as the desk has similar look and feel in certain views, syntax, and operation. Then of course, Zero 88 added their own functions and feel to the desk that will come natural after just a few hours on the desk.

The ORB desk is primed and ready to take on the small to medium-sized rig market prefered by many schools, colleges, universities, places of worship, community theatres and live events. Are those the only markets the ORB can handle? Certainly not. While the desk is limited to only four universes of DMX, the 2048 DMX address is quite a lot and may be enough for most applications the ORB is designed for.

With the launch of the ORB desk back in April 2009, Zero 88 has been listening to users and programmers to improve the desk, as well as its core OS to meet user requirements. They are constantly tracking the industry and adding features to strengthen the desk. In addition, Zero 88 provides support for the ORB via their website, www.zero88.com and on the ORB’s own website, www.orbdesk.com. Both sites feature ways to contact tech support, training videos, quick tips, and a user support forum to ask questions. From the ORB’s website, you can download the free offline editor to pre-program your show and your love affair with the desk. You can even follow the ORB desk on Twitter @ORBdesk for quick tips and lesser-known desk commands to help make programming the ORB quicker and easier.

Overall, the ORB is a great desk with a lot of utility. If you are looking for total control in a complete package, this is a viable option for your space.

Thanks to Zero 88 and Peter Kirkup, the product manager for Zero 88 for providing me with the ORB desk for this review. For more information about the ORB, visit www.zero88.com.

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Up Close and Personal with the grandMA2 with Series 2 Software

We had a chance to get a close up view of the grandMA2 full size running series 2 software the other day.  The grandMA2 consoles have already begun to ship.  But series 2 software is still in the works.  While it is very close to being released, the new software is hoping to be released later this year or early next year.

We had a chance to sit down and take a look at the new desk with a version of the new software. There are some pretty sexy new things on the grandMA2 such as the multi-touch display for mixing and shaping a fixture, the ability to run series 1 or series 2 software and of course, the 30 motorized faders. Our favorite change on the console is the enter button.  While the button still operates as normal, the label has changed from Enter to Please, so the syntax is even closer to English or what what you might hear over the headset, “Give me Channel 1 at 50 Please”. That is German engineering for you!

Here are just a couple of photos and a quick video that we put together on the grandMA2 Full Size with Series 2 software.

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Review: Compulite Dlite Compact Lighting Console

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We are looking at the Dlite Compact Lighting Console from Compulite.  The fellas at Creative Stage Lighting, the US distributors of the Compulite consoles, was kind enough to send us a demo unit to review for our readers.

The Dlite series of consoles is geared towards medium sized venues with limited budgets, but some advanced feature requirements. Medium sizes theatres, TV studios, rental houses, and high schools may find that the Dlite series of consoles is the right match for them.  With both manual and fully programmable playback, the Dlite consoles can conform to your requirements.

There are five models of the Dlite console: the Dlite 96, Dlite 72, Dlite 48, Dlite Compact and the Dlite PC.  Each model offers you the numbers worth of single sliders to control individual channels, while each model has the same core capacities.

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Rumor Mill: Zero 88 Fat Frog EOL

frog_perspectiveWe have heard through the twitter-verse  via @BarbizonChicago that Zero 88 has discontinued the Fat Frog  moving light console.

We have not been able to confirm this rumor via Zero 88’s web site or on the phone.  If you hear anything different or anything more, let us know in comments.

UPDATE: Looks like the Fat Frog was discontinued over a year ago!  It just looks like stock has finally been depleted and thus not longer available.

Thanks Ryan and Carl!

ConsoleTrainer.com PSA #2 – How Not To Call Tech Support

Do you own or operate a lighting console?  Chances are that at some point in your career that you will need to call Tech Support to ask a question or figure out how to recover a console that someone else broke.  Cat and Joe from ConsoleTrainier.com have put together an0ther PSA on How To Call Tech Support.  While it may seem trivial, Cat and Joe make some good points.

ETC Announces New Lighting Console – The Element

Over the past few months we have been hinting numerous times about the long rumored replacement of the ETC Express Console (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)  .  This finally confirms the rumor.

Directly from the Middleton:

Industry professionals have been asking for an ETC lighting control console designed expressly for modest rigs and maximum hands-on fader control. In response, we are introducing the new ETC Element™ consoles. We will unveil them tomorrow at USITT in Cincinnati, Thursday, March 19th, 2009.

ETC defined the basic lighting controller when the Express™ console was introduced in 1995. We’ve seen over time that the basic lighting rig has changed. With Element, we’ve redefined what ‘basic lighting console’ means, without losing the ease of use of Express. Element comes in two hardware versions, based on fader count (the Element 40 or the Element 60). Each supports a full two universes of DMX output and either 250 or 500 channels.

Element is directed at smaller venues like schools and houses of worship who depend on single console operators or volunteer staffers. It is designed to handle rigs outfitted predominantly with conventional fixtures, while also accommodating some LED fixtures and/or a small number of simple moving lights. We based Element on the Eos® control system but with a simplified feature set in a stand-alone console. Integral faders, a single cue list and command prompts echoing those of the Express console make operation of an Element console simple and direct.

Element navigates basic accessory, LED and moving-light control. At the press of a button, the console’s On Demand ML Controls appear on screen with tools designed to control smaller numbers of non-intensity equipment like scrollers, gobo rotators and mirror heads for conventional fixtures. Element’s color and gel-picker tools simplify the process further, applying just the right colors to LEDs and color-mixing accessories and fixtures.

ETC plans to begin shipping the Element this summer.  Pricing has not been released. If you are attending USITT in Cincinnati, make sure to stop by ETC’s booth, 1100 , for the offical release.

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