More on Martin’s Mystery Video and Control Surface

Yesterday I posted a very interesting video from Martin about what they plan on launching at ProLight + Sound at the end of the month. Well, Martin was kind enough to send over a few details and photo of the desk. Here are some of the details that Martin was able to provide about the new desk.

• Fully integrated control solution in smaller a form
• High resolution touchscreen in 16:9 format
• Folding built-in display
• Lightweight and solid construction
• Powerful software with unmatched ease of operation
• High quality components for tactile access
• Multiple playback systems
• Multiple external display
• Up to 46 direct access to playback from surface
• 6144 parameters
• Digital LCD buttons for direct parameter access
• Multiple wing attachment (MaxModules)
• 4x DMX Universe direct from the console
• Up to 12 Universe over Artnet
• Calendar and schedules
• Customizable Graphical User Interface
• Powerful effects engine
• 1000 cuelists with fader control
• 1000 cuelists with playback control buttons
• Parallel execution of multiple cuelists
• Submaster, Groupmaster and Override functionality
• Fanning functionality on Parameter and time
• On-the-fly global timing adjustments
• All this is just 14.4kg or 32 lbs.

A name has still not been released along with any additional photos. But from yesterdays video, what what you can see when the camera is in focus and in between strobes, it looks super sexy. The new Control surface will be on display at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt Germany starting March 24 in the Martin Professional Stand, Hall 9.0 B91.

Rumor Mill: Sneak Peak From Martin @ ProLight + Sound

I received a VERY interesting email yesterday for one of my contacts deep under cover at the Denmark plant of Martin Professional.  They sent me a link to a server that has disappeared as of this morning.  Thank goodness I was I able to snag a copy of the file off the server before that happened!

Looks like Martin is preparing to announce something huge at ProLight + Sound 2010 at the end of the month.  From the looks of the video, Martin is playing this one close to the chest. From what I can tell, it HAS TO BE a new control surface! Take a look at the 52 second video, what do you think?

Rumor Mill: Selecon Prepin’ to Release New Fixture at ProLight + Sound

It looks like the small fortune I invested in a spy mic has finally paid off… well, finally given me something!  Back in early February, I sent a fruit basket to the Kiwi’s at Strand Selecon to celebrate Waitangi Day.  Little did they know a mic was hidden inside! I guess they never found it because it still works. Probably not after today though.

The “fruit Basket” must have been a favorite around the New Zealand office as it was left out during some important talks and picked up some VERY interesting tid bits. From what I was able to decipher from the audio is that Strand Selecon is preparing to announce and show a prototype of a new fixture at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt Germany at the end of the month.

From there, on, things got a little garbled and I could not understand what was being said.  I hope someone didn’t eat the mic! If so, looks like I need to send another “care package” to New Zealand!

So what does this mean? Look for something new and exciting from Strand Selecon this year at ProLight + Sound.  If we are lucky, we might just see something State side sooner then later.  I’ll keep after the US rep and see what other details I can find out.

Elation Focuses on Compact & Energy-Efficient Lights at ProLight + Sound

This year at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt Germany, Elation Professional is focusing their product lineup on energy efficiency.  With the growing trend of LEDs and “Going Green”, Elation is showing off a couple of fixtures that not only are energy-efficient, but also pack a punch with some of the features and light output that we have come to expect in certain fixtures.  Here is a little info on just a couple of the fixtures that Elation will be showing of at Prolight + Sound 2010.

Platinum Spot 5R – This DMX moving head produces an output comparable to a 575-watt fixture, yet is half the size, uses less than half the energy and weighs half as much as a typical 250-watt fixture!.  The secret is its advanced MSD Platinum 5R technology, a revolutionary lamp source from Philips, which rated at 2,000 hours, also burns twice as long as a conventional 575-watt fixture’s lamp.  Additionally, the Platinum Spot 5R moves faster than traditional moving heads on pan and tilt, as well as on color-gobo changes. It offers a full complement of professional design features, including: 8 dichroic colors; 22 gobos (8 rotating/indexing, 14 static); 3-Facet Rotating Prism effect; Variable Frost; Motorized Iris; Motorized Focus; Variable speed Shutter/Strobe; and 0-100% Mechanical Dimmer.

Design Spot LED —   An LED-powered version of Elation’s popular Design Spot 250 Pro DMX moving head, the Design Spot LED weighs less than the original model while offering output equal to a 250-watt discharge lamp plus an extended 50,000-hour LED lamp life.  It offers all the same features as the original, including a Variable Frost Filter, which allows it to function as a hybrid spot/wash effect, and a Motorized Iris and Motorized Focus. Nine dichroic colors, 14 gobos (7 rotating/indexing, 7 static) and a 3-facet Rotating/Indexing Prism are also included.

E Spot LED – A 14-channel DMX spot effect with a 50,000-hour rated  LED light source, the E Spot LED has an output greater than a standard 150-watt discharge fixture, while consuming about half the energy. At a featherweight 25 lbs. and petite 8”L x 11.8”W x 17.2”H, it’s packed with features for its compact size, including 8 dichroic colors, 7 rotating/indexing gobos, 3 rotating/indexing prisms (3-facet, 5-facet and 3D), Motorized Focus, Variable Speed Shutter/Strobe and 0-100% Mechanical Dimmer.

If you find yourself in the land of Hefeweizen, Wiener Schnitzel and Sausage, (Frankfurt Germany), between March 24 and 27, make sure to stop by ProLight + Sound to check out the Elation Fixtures on the Booth D51, Hall 11.

ArKaos Announces New MediaMaster 1.2

ArKaos has just announced the release of their latest update to their popular media server software, MediaMaster 1.2.  This new version of MediaMaster makes use of ArKaos’ latest generation of real time video technology to deliver incredible performance on any MAC or PC on which it is installed, including standard laptops. MediaMaster 1.2 is capable of playing up to eight simultaneous layers of HD video, without dropping frames, when running on an octo-core server.

More from the press release:

A major addition to this new release is the ability to both mix the audio track from movies and to control the global audio volume via DMX. As a result, a DMX control desk can now act as an audio mixer. Also new is MediaMaster 1.2’s support of Quartz Composer. This Mac-only technology allows both the creation of GPU accelerated movies and highly customized effects and music visualizers. The addition of this feature now makes it very easy to create animations that read information from web pages and present it in an attractive way. Flash Animation Player has been enhanced by its support of Actionscript3. This opens new doors to developers who want to create unique animations and music visualizers on Windows or Mac.

These new developments also open MediaMaster 1.2 to an infinite array of new creative possibilities by offering users an easy way to design unique audiovisual shows that combine traditional video and lighting with audio reactive visuals and advanced custom effects.

As a highly professional media server software, MediaMaster also comes with features such as improved Frame Blending Support for extremely smooth video playback even at slow speeds, perfect Soft Edge for seamless blending of multiple projectors, high resolution output at up to 4096 pixels on supporting hardware and advanced media composition due to its support of alpha channels.

The software is fully compatible with Matrox Dual, TripleHead2Go Analog and Digital Editions, allowing several projectors to be connected to a single server.

MediaMaster is the only solution offering decompression engines for almost any video format. This dispenses with the need to recompress video files which, in turn, provides maximum flexibility for the designer who can work with almost any file in a very user-friendly way.

Thanks to the CITP support, Media Server Extensions (MSEX) enable media information to be displayed on many lighting consoles, including those from Avolites, Chamsys, Compulite, ETC, Zero88 and ADB. The software also listen directly to a GrandMA console through the MA-eDMX protocol resulting in a simpler and more efficient setup between these two very popular products.

Finally, the ArKaos Media Server A10 HD already incorporates the new MediaMaster 1.2 software. This super-fast media server is designed for customers who demand a high-performance, turnkey solution which guarantees the best video performance and can run large shows seamlessly.

If you are attending ProLight + Sound 2010 in Frankfurt Germany on March 24 through 27, be sure to stop by ArKaos’s booth, C30/C28 in Hall 11.1.  You can learn more about the MediaMaster 1.2 by visiting Arkaos web site at www.arkaos.net. You can even download a trail version of the software to put it to some test.

Chauvet Set to Introduce 5 New Fixtures at Prolight + Sound

Chauvet Lighting is preparing to show off five of their latest products at Prolight + Sound next month at Prolight + Sound 2010 in Frankfurt Germany. Chauvet will be showing off some of their latest LED products that fall under both their Club/DJ and Professional markets.

From their Professional line up:

COLORado Batten 72 Tour – a linear wash fixture includes 72 1-watt LEDs with RGBWA color mixing to produce richly saturated colors from vivid hues to warm whites. PowerCon™ connectors as well as direct 3-pin and 5-pin DMX in and out. – Read More

COLORado 1 Tour – Features RGBW color mixing from 42 1-watt LEDs. Color temperature presets range from 3,200K to 10,000K. It responds to 3, 4, 5, 6 or 11 channels of DMX control. Five distinct dimming curves provide smooth dimming to closely match conventional sources. PowerCon™ connectors as well as direct DMX in and out. – Read More

COLORado 2 Tour – Powered LEDs (48 2-watt and 3-watt RGBW LEDs with 15° or optional 30° lenses) than the COLORado™ 1 Tour, while offering the same improved dimming capability. PowerCon™ connectors as well as direct DMX in and out. – Read More

Q-Spot 260-LED – (Pictured Above) A high power moving yoke equipped with a 60-watt white LED. It includes a color wheel with eight slots plus white and two gobo wheels, one with seven rotating slot-n-lock gobos plus open and the other with nine fixed gobos plus open. The easy-access hatch provides for tool-free gobo changes. It also includes remote focus and a rotating prism. – Read More

Line Dancer LED – Rotating and crisscrossing lines of red, green and blue light that are individually controllable. It comes with built-in sound activated, automated programs or DMX control. – Read More

If you happen to find yourself in Germany between March 24 and 27, make sure to stop by the Chauvet Lighting booth, B45 in Hall 11.0 of Messe Frankfurt Complex during Prolight + Sound 2010.  You can learn more about Chauvet other lighting products by visiting their web site at www.chauvetlighting.com.