When the rodeo comes to town, everyone is firing up their outdoor grills, and fields of bluebonnets line the highways as far as you can see, you know it’s springtime in Texas. But this year, spring also brought USITT to downtown Houston. And with it came the sweet fragrance of budding new technology, including just a hint of RDM and ACN. Along with the new growth, there was also plenty of ripe Ruby Red Rio Grande Valley grapefruit-like technology to tempt the attendees.
City Theatrical’s SHoW DMX was one of the budding flowers of the show. The wireless DMX transmitter/receiver pair demonstrated how its adjustable output power, limited bandwidth mode, limited burst mode, and its ability to peacefully co-exist with Wi-Fi could help usher in the summer harvest of wireless technology. And the RDM monitor allows you to make adjustments to SHoW DMX remotely, showing just a small sampling of the potential of RDM in full bloom. Some of the things you can do with RDM include remote adjustment of the signal strength and frequency hopping pattern, and you can monitor the battery strength.
Wybron has been working to turn the tumbling tumbleweeds blowing through the RDM landscape, as if it were West Texas, into a more green environment with their Infotrace, Infogate, Infochip, Infostore, Split IT, and many other IT (Infotrace) products. At USITT, they added the DPS 850 single channel dimmer to the list of RDM capable products.
ETC brought a bumper crop of new and somewhat new consoles, including the Ion, Congo Jr., SmartFade ML and the Eos. The new SmartSoft software is a free download that you can put on your computer and link to a SmartFade ML console via USB to view show data and editing tools. It’s also an off-line editor with a virtual console that can save show files to any storage medium. Meanwhile, ETC continues to plant the seeds of ACN in their consoles and gateways. Ion, Eos, Congo and Congo Jr. all have ACN features including discovering ACN devices on the data line, synching with other like consoles and full tracking. Look for ACN implementation in their dimmer line and architectural controls in the near future.
Many other manufacturers and distributors brought their wares to the show, just like a good old-fashioned farmers’ market, except the fruits and vegetables were less edible but more ap-pealing to the senses. Among the many automated lights that we spotted were Vari-Lite VL500s, Martin MAC 700s and SmartMACs, Clay Paky Alpha 300s, Strong Technobeams and ETC Revolu-tions. New versions of automated lighting consoles springing up or about to spring up included the MA Lighting GrandMA2, Jands Vista I3, Martin Maxxyz Compact and LightFactory, the PC-based controller. New versions of lighting design software included VectorWorks 2008, LD Assistant 08 and Stage Research SoftPlot. There were a few less LED fixtures than you might expect, although Selador, Altman Lighting, Martin and A.C. Lighting all brought some to the party.
The first day of the show happened to coincide with the spring equinox, and you could almost feel the temperature rise on the streets of Houston. Okay, it was subtle, just like the ad-vances in RDM and ACN at the show. But as surely as the mercury will rise, the cotton fields will turn white and the watermelons will ripen in the summer heat of Texas, so too will the new protocols ripen and satisfy our demand for new and better technology. In the meanwhile, stay in the shade, drink lots of fluids and enjoy the fruits of this technological age.
Loren Barton answers questions about the latest software release, V3.0.11c, of the Green Hippo Hippotizer on the TMB stand. It includes a direct USB-to-DMX interface (no need for DMX/ArtNet conversion), DMX control of the timeline, and an integrated V3 PixelMapper.
Bob Gordon of A.C.T Lighting announced the pending delivery of the MA Lighting GrandMA2 console. New features will include 65,536 parameters (max. 256 DMX universes), a new 9-inch SXGA “multi-touch” command screen, updated hardware, diagnostic tools, motorized display wing and more.
Mike Garl, president, (L) and Tray Allen, VP of sales, of James Thomas Engineering, ready to discuss truss.
Hunter Totty (L) discusses the new Unique2 Haze Machine (center) and the Power-Tiny Fog Machine (far left) on the Look Solutions stand.
Darrell Mann (L) and Jon Leonard (R) of Applied Electronics with Gary Pritchard of LSC with the latest version of the LSC Maxim lighting console. It features a new USB port for backing up, MIDI in/out/thru and trackball support. LSC is also now offering Capture visualization software as an option.
Strand’s new Lightrack Dimmer Rack with IGBT dimming. The reverse-phase control dimmer modules provide 800 μsecond filtering, status reporting via ShowNet Ethernet and short circuit protection. They are available in four- or eight-module configurations. Also demonstrated on the Strand stand was the new System Builder 2.0 software, a lighting controls design tool that helps you build systems with product specs, photos, descriptions, etc. and outputs bill of materials, load schedules and one-line diagrams.
A student on the ETC stand is ready to demonstrate the new SmartSoft software that extends the capabilities of the SmartFade ML console. Also on the ETC stand were the Eos, the new Ion, Congo and Congo Jr. consoles.
Miles Dudgeon (L) and Dusty Hudgins (2nd from right) talk to customers about Wybron’s product line. New on the Wybron stand was the DPS-850 single-channel dimmer with RDM capability.
Mark McKinney of Lex Products helped introduce the new PowerHouse Quad Box with Neutrik Powercon connector input and output and dual NEMA 5-20 receptacles. Also on display were the 19” Rack Mount Rolling Power Distribution for stage and studio.
Gary Fails of City Theatrical with the new SHoW DMX wireless system.
Martin Professional was on hand to exhibit a variety of products including the LC Series semi-transparent modular LED panels, the MAC 700 Profile and Wash fixtures, the Maxxyz Compact console, the new Martin Magnum 850 fog machine and the new SmartMAC.
Joel Nichols of Apollo Design Technology adjusts a fixture with the new MXR two-string color mixing scroller. The retail price is $985.
Martin Searancke demonstrating the LightFactory PC-based lighting control software on the Stage Research stand. The latest version of the software includes a new Charac-ter View that emulates conventional theatre desks and a Temporary Memory for more efficient programming. Enttec is scheduled to start shipping a new LightFactory Programming Wing soon. Also on the Stage Research stand was SoftPlot Version 9.1 featuring a pictorial mode (shows bitmaps of fixtures instead of symbols), Focus Status View with dimming level informa-tion and a new inventory tree which better organizes the symbol library.
Marnie Styles of Le Maitre Special Effects draws a crowd with the LSG MKII low smoke generator and the new G3000 fog machine.
A performer helps illustrate the new Ocean Optics Sea Changer Studio Dichroics Series featuring more saturated color for deeper hues. The Sea Changer dichroic color engines fit in a standard ETC Source Four Profile or Wash fixture and provide remote color change capabilities.
James Smith of RC4 with the new W-Dim with W-DMX wireless technology. The 4x200W wireless dimmer uses a switching power supply and high-frequency PWM dimming for better efficiency. Also on display were the RC4Magic Series 2 two- and four-channel dimmer-receiver packages. A new feature called “digital persistence” allows LEDs to be dimmed very smoothly and makes them look like incandescent dimming.
Eric Bernstein of Strong Entertainment Lighting behind an array of LDR Fresnel fixtures and Strong followspots.
Fred Mikeska (L) and Keith Lewandowski of AC Lighting with the new DTS Delta B5 LED fixture. Also new on the AC Lighting stand was the Jands Vista I3 console, a more compact, portable and economical version of the T Series. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 20 playbacks, three encoder wheels and up to four DMX outputs.
The Live Production Institute is recruiting students for their new production certification classes which will begin in a few months.
The Selador stand featured the new X7 Lustra and X7 Paletta LED luminaires. The Lustra houses 32 LEDs per 9-inch section, and it is primarily for white light. The Paletta has 40 LEDs per 11-inch section and it is primarily for color wash. Both fixtures will begin shipping soon.
Plenty of attendees were on hand for the live demonstration of VectorWorks 2008. New features include a heads-up data display and new view bar, rotatable 2D views, improved beam geometry, the ability to create shutter cuts and enhancements to collaboration features.
Kelly Brown (L) and Ryan Kilcourse, both seniors at Adelphi University and Lightbox interns, illustrate a lighting scene with a custom Thematics Lightbox scale model. New in the Lightbox Operating System (LBOS) is a timeline, which Charles Kirby of Thematics likens to “sketching in DMX.”
Scott Church (center) holds court on the very busy Selecon stand.
Jeff Brown of Rose Brand shows V2.0 of Panorama Digital Scenery. Version 2 features a newly revamped setup utility panel that allows users to easily adjust the output configuration, the output reso-lutions and to convert and capture video. The Media Engine GUI has been redesigned with the most frequently used items in the open for easier access.
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Don Dimitrov of Columbus McKinnon showing the CM Hoist product line.
