Breaking News: ETC Enters Rigging Market
WOW, talk about big news! ETC really is raising the bar just as their ad’s have been saying! It was just announced that ETC is entering into the Rigging Market with a new division of the company, ETC Rigging. You can find more about ETC Rigging by visiting their website at www.etcrigging.com.
I am going to let the Offical Press Release tell the rest of the story:
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.
Swisson to Announce New Sine Wave Dimmer
Swisson is preparing to announce a couple of new products at the LDI Show tomorrow. The first being the XSD-D Satellite Sine Wave Dimmer pictured right. The XSD is a pretty flexible device as is can be operated as a dimmer, switch or a fixed stabilized voltage source.
The XSD is extremely quiet, currently used in TV Studios. With the Uplink\Pass-Through option for power, multiple XSD-D’s can be daisy chained to meet your specific power needs.
The Power Manager ensures safe operation when working on the limit of the mains supply, by limiting the total power used as per your requirements and specification.
Swisson is also going to be debut a new line of RDM Splitter which will be available in a variety of enclosures and connection types. The RDM splitter is expected to be ETL listed and certified by the beginning of the new year.
For more information on these products from swisson, visit their website at www.swisson.com or visit their booth, # 836 at the LDI Show.
JR Clancy Introduces Altus, A New Rigging Control
I love the opening line to JR Clancy’s latest Press Release.. What kind of a system do you want controlling the heavy scenery over your students’ heads? Easy, something that won’t fall on them, or me! But seriously.
JR Clancy is introducing a new, powerful rigging control called Altus at the LDI Show. More from the Press Release:
Created with middle and high schools in mind, Altus is based on a PLC computer platform—the same operating system that controls elevators, CNC manufacturing and assembly lines. Clancy put its long history with its popular SceneControl 500 rigging control system to work to create a system that’s as dependable and powerful as its leading controller—while making it affordable for schools.
Altus can control up to 36 hoists, each with individual ramp speeds for each cue. The console is available in wall mount, desktop or pedestal mount models, making the operation of rigging an ADA-compliant, accessible task for students with disabilities.
Students will love the easy-to-use, intuitive Altus touch screen, which allows them to create up to 200 cues with different speeds and trims for each hoist. Operators can name the cues, program each batten’s acceleration and deceleration, choose soft end-of-travel limits, and make adjustments on the fly with the built-in joystick.
“Altus is more suited to the backstage environment than controllers that run on an operating system meant for offices,” noted Tom Young, J. R. Clancy vice president of marketing. “Altus is sealed from outside elements like sawdust, dirt and other contaminants we find in the air backstage. While competitors’ units become clogged with dirt and eventually fail, Altus is unaffected—making it an excellent long-term investment for school use.”
For more information on the Altus, visit JR Clancy’s website at www.jrclancy.com or visit their booth at the LDI Show, # 1702.
The Calm Before the Storm, the #LDI2009 Storm That Is!
This is the big clam before the storm. Almost all of the exhibitors have been in Orlando all week setting up for the Show Floor to open tomorrow. They are finishing up their booths and putting the final touches on all the bright shinny new things we are going to see tomorrow.
We don’t expect to hear much from the front lines about product announcements or any more details on rumors and speculation as the LDI Show Floor opens in just 24 hours from now. If things do pop up, I’ll be sure to get it up on the site.
Today is a travel day for me, I head down to MCO, (Orlando International Airport) with wheels down about 1530 and then it is off to the races with no stopping till Sunday.
While down in Orlando, I’ll be adding new things to not only the site, but the twitter feed, @iSquint, the YouTube Channel and the LDI 2009 Flickr Set. Be sure to follow all of the LDI fun here on iSquint by following the #LDI2009 RSS feed.
Tuesday Twitter Trivia Winner – History of LDI
Since the LDI Show is right around the corner, I dedicated this weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia question to one of the industry best trade shows. This weeks TTT went back in the way back machine and asked:
What year was the first LDI Show and in what city did it take place?
This one required just a little digging on the internet. But if you are an LDI vet, you may have been able to pull this from memory.
This weeks TTT winner is @erosing or better known as Ethan Rosing of Madison Wisconsin… GO BADGERS! Yes, I am a cheese head too.
Ethan came back with the correct answer to both parts of the TTT with the first LDI show being held in 1988 in Dallas Texas at the Infomart. Congrats Ethan and thanks to everyone for playing the Tuesday Twitter Trivia and for reading iSquint!
Tuesday Twitter Trivia – LDI Special
This weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia Question is all about the LDI Show. I want to step back for a moment and look at where the industry has come from and all the great things that LDI has done for us, the lighting industry. If you have been attending LDI for a while, you know that it has grown and become one of the best industry resources for learning, professional development and of course new products.
So this weeks Tuesday Twitter Trivia is Dedicated to the LDI Show, Thanks Live Design!
What year was the first LDI Show and in what city did it take place?
As always with the Tuesday Twitter Trivia, please Direct Message, (DM) your response to @iSquint. First one in with with correct answer receives a special gift from one of our Re-Launch Sponsors.
Live Design Announces #LDI2009 iPhone Web App
We just noticed via our lovely little RSS feed that Live Design, the organizers of the LDI Show have just announced the release of the 2009 LDI Mobile Show App for iPhone users.
LDI and Live Design offer the LDI iPhone app, sponsored by Lee Filters, for the second year. This is a web-based application for mobile hand held devices optimized for the Apple iPhone that features exhibitor listings via the booth location tool and show news right to your mobile device.
This little web app should make finding booths and information about the show pretty simple and easy. My only concern is, will there be cell service in convention center? I would much rather see Live Design come out with a true iPhone app that does not require cell service just in case coverage is limited on the show floor.
Still, much appreciated Live Design and Lee Filters! You can access the mobile web app at livedesignonline.com/iphone.
PixelRange Set to Announce New Family of LEDs
Even more LED goodness is coming to the LDI Show this year with PixelRange set to announce an entirely new family of LEDs.
The first one, pictured to the right is the PixelLinear, a string of Quad color LEDs on a “string” with an IP rating of 66. The PixelLinear features vast color palettes with perfectly homogenized LEDs. The PixelLinear is available in 1ft, 2ft, 4ft and 6ft lengths. There is no mention of how they are controlled, but we can assume via DMX.
Another product PixelRange is set to introduce is the SkyLine Architectural Family of fixtures which feature durable outdoor rated LED floodlights. Capable of high projection, even washes and focused feature lighting – each luminaire can feature one or two robust, stylish housings with a highly flexible variety of LED and circuit formats.
Pixie by PixelRange is a portfolio of IP66 rated decorative lighting effects offering infinite design possibilities for both indoor and outdoor applications. Each Pixie product is fully addressable and offers full color motion effects with dynamic color mixing – it can also be used for video animation. Introductory products include PixiePoint, PixieMini, PixieNode, PixieBall and PixieStar.
If you are attending the LDI Show this week, be sure to stop by PixelRange’s booth, #696 to see these and more LED products that they produce. To learn more about PixelRange, visit their website at www.pixelrange.com.
Elation Prepares to Announce “Revolutionary” Moving Light
The product announcements just keep rolling in, LDI must be right around the corner. Elation Lighting is preparing to announce a “revolutionary” spot/wash moving light this year at the LDI Show. Elation is calling it the Platinum Spot 5R. What you cannot tell from the picture is that the Platinum is the size of a 250w fixture. Here’s the kicker, Elation says that the fixture is comparable to a 575w fixture! Not only that, but the fixture uses 25% less energy and weighs 50% less then a comparable 250w fixture and still measures 2/3 the size.
Not only is the fixture smaller, lighter and brighter, Elation says that the fixture moves much faster on pan and tilt as well as color and gobos changes. So how did they do that? All Elation would mention is that the Platinum Spot 5R utilizes a brand new and advanced light source technology.
Since we cannot find any additional information on the fixture, we’ll just have to visit the Elation Lighting booth, #703 at the LDI Show later this week. The Platinum Spot 5R is just one of 20 new products Elation will be introducing at LDI. To learn more about Elation’s products, visit their website at www.elationlighting.com.
Martin LDI Special
Just in time for LDI, Martin Professional is offering two Brighter Bargin deals on not only fixtures, but also control devices. Lighting and Sound America (LSA) just sent out an email blast with the image below.
Looks like if you buy 4 of any Smart MAC, MAC 250 Entour, Mac 250 Krypton, MAC 250 Wash, MAC 301 Wash, MAC 401 Dual or the MAC 575 Krypton, you get a FREE Martin LightJockey or Maxxyz PC Universal USB/DMX interface, a value of $1600 USD!
The other Brighter Bargain is if you buy any 6 of the previously mentioned fixtures, you get a FREE Maxxyz PC, (MaxModule Submaster), a $3700 value!
How do you take advantage of this Brighter Bargain? Contact your local Martin Sales Rep or Authorized US Martin Dealer. Offer ends 12/23/2009 and is only valid for US customers.
Thanks LSA!
ELC Lighting To Show off DMX-Over-Ethernet Devices For First Time at LDI
ELC Lighting out of Switzerland will be exhibiting at the LDI Show for the first time. ELC Lighting specializes in DMX distribution networks and specialized control products such as the dmXLAN node6x, their latest product. The dmXLAN node6x is and all in one DMX.ethernet solution. It features 6x DMX inputs/output ports and is fully compatible with ELC’s free dmXLAN software with advanced DMX channel merging and patching. The dmXLAN node6x also features a 5-port 10/100mb ethernet switch.
Some of the other products ELC Lighting will have on hand are their DMX Show Recording devices and their focusHAND riggers radio remote. To learn more about ELC Lighting, visit their website at www.elclighting.com or visit their booth, 562 at LDI this week.
Two New Products from Enttec at LDI
Looks like Enttec will be expanding their product line this year at LDI. The boys from down under are preparing to announce a new DMX opto-splitter to go with their DMXis controller. What is nice is that the D-spilter is not limited to just being used with the DMXis. It is a low cost, 4 way optically isolated splitter that can be used in any lighting system when more “branches” of DMX are required.
I haven’t heard about any pricing as of yet or seen it on their website.
The other new product Enttec is preparing to announce is a “new” 3 or 5 pin DMX terminator. Why are we excited to see this? Well, it is a pretty simple device right, take a 5 or 3 pin male DMX connector and solder a 120 ohm resister across pins 2 and 3 right? Well of course! What is neat about Enttec’s terminator is that the back side has a closed off cover rather then using the standard sleeve to a cable on the back side. This is something that is so simple but maybe never thought of before.
The Enttec DMX terminator goes for $11 USD and can be purchased right from their website, www.enttec.com. To see these and other Enttec products, visit their booth, 1181 at the LDI Show.