Photoflex debuts Starlite QL
Photoflex has introduced the Starlite QL(tm) as an easy to use, new generation of tungsten-balanced, continuous lighting for use in video and film.
The QL in Starlite QL refers to a new quick-lock feature that permits easier and safer attachment and removal of the lighting head with a softbox connector.
It provides 3200-degrees Kelvin of even, brilliant, and continuous tungsten lighting, with an innovative cooling design ideal for heat-sensitive subjects that would be impacted negatively by traditional hot lights. Tungsten lighting also avoids the distracting flash of strobe, and costs considerably less.
Each Starlite QL system comes with Starlite QL light head, swivel stand-mount, power cord, and Starlite handle that allows one-handed positioning of the light head. It comes in a 220-volt configuration for use outside the United States (Product number FV-BSLE3200), and 120-volt for use within it (FV-BSL3200).
Safety and precision are ensured because the QL lighting head is spring-loaded with a positive locking shaft. A user just pushes and turns the QL clockwise and it clicks securely onto the connector. To detach, a user just pulls back the release lever on top of the head and turns the head counterclockwise. This new spring-loading feature also makes set up and tear down easier and faster than before.
Fixed mounting posts always fit the connector's adapter plate properly, with no adjustment required. The previous generation of Starlites had adjustable mounting posts in front of the head that attached to the connector. If adjusted too tight or too loose, they could wind up fitting improperly.
www.photoflex.com
The Photoflex distributors for Australia are Borge Anderson & Associates,Pt. Melbourne and Lemac Film & Video Pty., Richmond, Victoria.

The big wave: IES sine wave dimming
One of the big waves rolling through PLASA this year is the emerging presence of sine wave dimming. Global lighting manufacturer ETC is leading the industry in this technology, with its newly acquired IES iSine dimming brand. iSine, a groundbreaking core dimming engine, developed by Dutch dimming innovator IES, is believed to be the world’s most advanced, proven sine wave technology. Brought under the ETC banner in June of 2004, IES now has the formidable backing of ETC’s global research, marketing and service resources. ETC’s passionate investment is an indication of the importance of the technology and is providing huge momentum to the acceptance of sine wave across the entertainment lighting market. ETC Chief Executive Officer Fred Foster said: “IES was the pioneer behind sine wave dimming technology in Europe. At the same ETC has been developing sine wave products in the U.S. With the acquisition of IES, we’ve had the unprecedented opportunity to unite the best people and ideas in the field and create sine wave solutions for the worldwide lighting market.”
The big buzz about sine wave dimming, simply put, is that there is no buzz. That is, this ingenious dimming technology eliminates the filament noise (‘lamp singing’ or buzz) associated with other types of dimming. IES iSine dimming technology is not only silent but provides an alternative ‘green’ solution by virtually eliminating harmonic distortion and minimising reactive power, plus benefiting from lower volt drop. Other benefits reported by users include energy savings and reduction in electricity costs, improved lamp-life for savings on maintenance and, thanks to that reduced volt drop, less heat dissipation. iSine also saves on infrastructure costs through the downsizing of cables, switchgear and transformers. Additionally, iSine dimming has proved tolerant of the poorest mains supply conditions and is easily able to accommodate generator supplies as well as controlling all popular light sources, including HMI.
Equally impressive, iSine delivers increased application flexibility, because sine wave dimming can be located wherever it is needed throughout a facility. Dimming is not restricted to a dimmer room. iSine can be equally deployed in conventional rack formats for centralised dimming or in distributed dimming formats on over-stage lighting bars and TV hoists, a technique which has only now become possible due to the benefit of silent operation. iSine is a powerful alternative or a complement to SCR-based, phase-control systems.
Winner of Showtech’s Best Product Award (Berlin 2003), iSine technology is anchored by four years of successful professional installations, with a high-profile European client base that includes venues such as Amsterdam’s Het Muziektheater, Munich’s Residenz Theatre, Spain’s San Sebastian Concert Hall and all three auditoria of London’s National Theatre. TV and film studios such as MTV Europe, Aardman Animations, TVE Spain, ORF TV Vienna and the venerable BBC itself have seized the benefits of iSine sine wave dimming. An invaluable option for dimming systems for many production venues, IES is the (sine) wave to catch for professional lighting control.
www.etcconnect.com
Australian Distributor Jands www.jands.com.au

iSolution Range from ULA

Introducing an exciting new and innovative range of moving heads, scanners, effects and wash lights.
Uniquely all the iSolution products can operate together performing coordinated lighting shows despite their functional variety. This truly makes intelligent lighting shows available for the first time to a whole new group of users.
And with the addition of either a handheld easy controller or the iLead controller, users can access a variety of inbuilt programmes as well as remote blackout. With the iLead controller, full programming is available too. Designed to be intuitive to use, iLead is nonetheless an extremely powerful DMX512 controller specifically for the iSolution range.
iSolution products are not only smart, they look fantastic too - much of the range finished in attractive silver housings.
Launched in August, iSolution is already selling and performing strongly for major resellers nationally.
www.ula.com.au

New from Compulite at PLASA
Compulite will launch a range of new products at PLASA, these will include the first showing of the new Vector Green console, the smallest in the range, but with the same power and flexibility of the larger versions. Vector Green still utilizes two powerful processors to ensure maximum stability and has all the features of the larger consoles with one built-in colour touch screen and one external monitor, 10 playback faders, a separate crossfade playback, four on-board DMX outputs and a further 12 over Ethernet. Vector Green is designed to follow on from the popular SparkTOP system by providing an extremely light and portable, yet powerful control console. It will be supplied complete with a clip-on cover to enable it to be easily carried around.
The Vector iControl is designed around the Compaq iPAQ pocket PC, and utilizes Ethernet to communicate with the Compulite Vector console, either cable or radio via an Access Point. With its backlit colour LCD screen it provides important editing features including channel, spot and memory selection, cue and cue list recall and recording, dimmer testing, fixture highlighting plus access to the five Vector wheels and wheel banks.
To complement the Vector range, PLASA 2004 sees the launch of a whole new range of consoles designed to provide the optimum combination of affordability and flexibility. All consoles in the Dlite range will feature a built in touch screen plus external monitor, 20 playbacks, a dedicated A/B crossfade playback, internal flash disk and interfaces for Ethernet, SMPTE, MIDI, audio and DMX input. Three consoles will be available from launch: the first will be extremely compact and be optimised for fully programmable operation. There will then be two further consoles in the range designed to provide seamless integration between manual and programmable operation, one with 24/48 faders and the second with 36/72.
Also new, CompuSine, available in modules of either 4 x 2.5kW, 4 x 3kW or 2 x 5kW, adds a new dimension of flexibility to the popular Compulite CompuDIM digital dimming range. CompuSine is a pure voltage transformer which has controllable ratio between the input and output voltage. Both input and output are pure sine wave at any load and at any dimming level. The new CompuSINE modules can be fitted into any CompuDIM 2000 dimmer system.
Pictured is the The Compulite Dlite
Australian distributor: Coemar De Sisti Australia Pty Ltd www.cdaust.com.au

DHA introduce Lightbrush at PLASA 2004
DHA Lighting, specialists in entertainment and architectural lighting, will introduce the Derksen Lightbrush colour-mixing architectural washlight system at this year's PLASA Show.
Lightbrush is a modular, colour-mixing system that uses three coloured (red/green/blue), energy-efficient fluorescent tubes to allow the creation of 16.7 million colours. Ideal for providing even washes of light and colour, Lightbrush can be successfully used where the throw available for lighting is less than 500mm.
Available in lengths from 636mm up to 1546mm, they are all housed in lightweight, rugged aluminium cases and designed for indoor or outdoor use. Cube and tower configurations are also available. Lightbrush units are controlled by Lightbrush controller modules, which may be programmed using the Lightbrush hand-held remote unit or controlled via the DMX512 lighting protocol.
Lightbrush will be on show on the DHA Lighting stand, stand H11. It joins the rest of the Derksen range for which DHA Lighting are the exclusive UK distributor. Derksen's products continue to prove popular with lighting designers working in the architectural field, with recent projects including a new lighting scheme for Land Rover.
www.dhalighting.co.uk
Australian distributor: Clearlight Shows www.clearlight.com.au

LSC shows Xtc @ PLASA
LSC Lighting Systems will preview its newest lighting controller – Xtc – at next weeks PLASA 2004 tradeshow in London.
Beneath its futuristic looks lies a powerful beast! The power is generated from the proven maXim engine and advanced intelligent light control from the popular PaTPad touch screen module. In typical LSC tradition, there is a multitude of playback masters- up to 29 simultaneously, 500 memories, 100 fixtures, 100 groups, 100 presets, 100 palettes and 1024 DMX output channels. No faders, just dedicated latching and flashing buttons with a tri-colour status LED for each playback. Eight “specials” can store looks or timed events for strobes, smoke machines or other DMX controlled equipment. The front panel is made from 8mm laser-etched clear acrylic that is side lit with white LED’s.
Also on show will be LSC’s recently released range of installation digital dimmers – EKO. Available in a number of formats, the EKO has been specifically designed to make the installer and operator’s life much easier. Its unique mounting frame allows complete termination of load and data wiring prior to the dimmer being on site. Connection of the dimmer to the frame and output wiring takes less than 5 minutes!
LSC Lighting Systems is located at stand number H79 and will show its extensive range of control desks, touring and installation dimmers, along with its power and data distribution equipment.
www.lsclighting.com.au

Artistic's Jump-Start
Jump-Start - a small hand-held RDM and DMX512 programmer - is the latest product from the Artistic Licence test equipment portfolio. As the new Remote Device Management (RDM) protocol gains acceptance, the DIP-switches on the rear of moving lights will gradually disappear. There is no need for them as RDM allows the lighting console to patch the lights.
But, says Artistic's Wayne Howell: "What do you do when the lighting console is still in the truck? Or when you need to address a light in the workshop? Or if you want to check the temperature sensor? That's where Jump-Start comes in - plug it into the DMX connector and moments later you have a display of all the important information: start address, footprint, personality, sensors, temperature, voltage, lamp hours to mention but a few. A couple of key presses are all it takes to edit the settings, you can even plug into the entire lighting rig and auto-patch all the lights."
Jump-Start also operates as a straightforward DMX tester: users can set individual channels to a level or have them ramp continuously, and even store the channel settings to a memory. Two 'AA' batteries power Jump-Start, giving around 12 hours talk-time and about six months' standby.
Artistic Licence can be found on stand G12 at PLASA.
www.artisticlicence.com
Australian distributors: Bytecraft www.bytecraftentertainment.com and Coemar De Sisti Australia Pty Ltd www.cdaust.com.au

Bar Fly from Le Mark
Winner of the 2004 ABTT Widget of the Year Award, Le Mark's Bar-Fly Tags are a simple but effective way of visually identifying items positioned on flying bars. A collaboration between Le Mark and the Technical and Production Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) in Glasgow, Bar-Fly Tags allow for the information transference of CAD designed hanging plots on to the flying bars themselves.
The Bar-Fly visually replicates the AutoCAD standard, with fixed headings known as the 'Block' and variable information termed 'Attributes'. These Attributes can be extracted to spreadsheet programmes such as MS Excel. Layer information from the CAD drawings of current and forthcoming shows can be used to colour-code sections of the Bar-Fly Tags. This allows the further planning of fit-ups and get-outs, avoiding the process of bars being needlessly flown in and out repeatedly.
The Bar-Fly Tag is built to be extremely durable and utilizes a flame-retardant PVC sheet. Produced with printed information on both sides, it is designed to be written on with permanent marker pen, cleaned and used repeatedly. If a long-term application is required, pre-cut vinyl letters can be used. Bar-Flys are fitted with 8mm diameter steel eyelets which offer a choice of bar fittings, select Velcro straps, steel wires or cable ties.
Bar-Fly Tags can also be customised and printed to operate in a variety of applications. They are available from stock in the standard format shown and have a range of useful accessories including pens and cleaner.
www.lemark.co.uk

Lighting Control at the Touch of a Button
Enttec’s New & Improved DMXPlayBack Remote
Enttec’s new DMXPlayBack Remote makes controlling DMX light shows as simple as pressing a button. You can even change the show with a TV remote!
Long-time Enttec users will be already be familiar with the DMXPlayBack Remote, which as the name suggests, is a Remote controller for Enttec’s DMXPlayBack and DMXStreamer DMX show recorders. The PlayBackRemote gives one-touch control of up to 12 separate light shows, not just lighting states, stored in either the DMXPlayBack or the DMXStreamer.
The simple interface allows unskilled operators to change the light show to suit the occasion, simply by pressing the button that corresponds with the desired show. Buttons 1 – 6 will start light shows 1 - 6, and by holding down the shift key, shows 7 – 12 can be started. Pressing any of the keys will interrupt the currently running show and trigger the new show.
The new and improved version of this popular remote makes this process even simpler. The DMXPlayBack Remote now features a learning mode and an IR port, allowing it to be used with an Infra Red remote control. Simply program the buttons on the DMXPlayBack Remote to correspond with the desired buttons on your TV remote and changing light shows is as simple as changing a channel!
This makes the DMXPlayBack and DMXPlayBack Remote the perfect team for bars, cafes, trade show booths and retail environments, where some lighting control is required but a lighting operator is not justified.
Other features include front panel error/OK indicators, screw terminals on the rear for switch closure triggers of up to 6 light shows, rear mounted DB-9 connector for RS-232 interface to DMXPlayBack and DMXStreamer, and it does not require an external power source.
Enttec products are proudly made in Australia, and distributed by Balanced Technology.
For Availability, Pricing or Further Information, call Balanced Technology on 1300 305 832.
www.balancedtech.com.au

DHA at PLASA 2004
DHA Lighting Services, the leading manufacturer of gobos and optical effects, will again be exhibiting at the PLASA Show this year. DHA will have a 'conversational' stand, focusing on their customers not their products, and ensuring visitors are as up-to-date as possible with the extensive range of products and services that the company offers, including its full-colour glass gobo service which, through improved production processes, will soon be available on a reduced turnaround and at a lower price. Examples of these gobos will be on show on the stand.
The improvement to the full-colour glass gobo service follows on the heels of the price reduction to spot colour glass gobos announced earlier in the year as a result of new production processes, systems and suppliers. Diane Grant, managing director of DHA commented: "Although we are the biggest and most experienced gobo producer in the UK, we continually evaluate what our customers need and make it our mission to meet those needs. We recognized some time ago that colour gobos were perceived as too expensive and have been working towards a more economic production process - that does not compromise our high health & safety standards - for some time. We are delighted to now be offering customers the results of that R&D."
Spot colour gobos - with up to two colours plus black per gobo - offer an enormous range of possibilities for a reasonable price, say DHA: these gobos will also be on show on the stand, as will examples from DHA's enormous and ever-growing library of metal gobos.
DHA also manufactures an extensive range of optical effects including Gobo Rotators, Gobo YoYos and Animation Disks as well as fibre optic effects and the DHA Digital Light Curtain, in addition to a range of architectural lighting products, including its own Gecko image projector and the extensive range from Derksen, for which DHA is the exclusive UK distributor: featured on the stand will be the new Lightbrush colour-mixing lighting system, which uses three fluorescent tubes to create an even coverage of up to 16.7 million colours even at throws of just 300-400mm.
DHA Lighting can be found on stand H11.
www.dhalighting.co.uk
Australian distributor: Clearlight Shows www.clearlight.com.au

New from ShowCAD at PLASA
ShowCAD will again be exhibiting at PLASA, demonstrating new features of its Artist show control system. Artist is now linked with Cast Lighting as a Registered WYSIWYG Developer, enabling users to program/visualize lighting plots virtually using their WYSIWYG software. ShowCAD has also linked up with Pathway Connectivity to utilize the Pathport Ethernet DMX distribution system. This powerful system is also ACN-ready, and gives Artist up to 32,000 DMX channel capability.
Automaton is a new product - ShowCAD's long awaited low-cost stand-alone show controller which can be programmed from a computer on or off-site using a web browser, and will then replay the programmed shows without the need of a host computer. ShowCAD will also be demonstrating how to integrate Artist with IP commands, as well as the standard MIDI, RS232, and digital connections. Also, the company reports, the power of Powerpoint presentations and Macromedia Flash applications can be utilized within the Artist environment.
ShowCAD will be working with iVision UK who have adjacent stand A70. ShowCAD Artist software will be demonstrated controlling iVision's range of intelligent lighting as well as LED fixtures and displays. All the latest developments in Artist will be shown, such as Artist's improved effects and control engines and comprehensive LED matrixing and pattern generation capabilities.
Recent prominent Artist installations include The Hippodrome, London; Limelight, New York City; The Avalon Ballroom, Hollywood; Guru, Valencia; and The Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas. In the UK, the rollout of Artist as the environment controller of choice for some of the main high street bar chains continues. Artist software can be downloaded free of charge, as well as a demo, tutorials and much more information from the ShowCAD website. The PLASA webcam will also be making its return this year, and promises to be even more interactive.
www.showcad.com
Australian distributor: Coemar DeSisti Australia Pty Ltd www.cdaust.com.au

Photowall from Studio Due
Studio Due has announced that its new Photowall projection system is now in full production, offering high quality film-based scenographic projection. Using an 1200W HMI lamp, it reproduces photographs (minimum 10, maximum 90, 6x7 size), exposed on a special film.
There are two available options for film scrolling: by index (feed from image to image with no intermediate position) or in free mode - by moving the corresponding DMX channel. Scrolling is bi-directional and the speed is fully adjustable. The design of the spools, combined with the highly efficient ventilating system, protect the film from heat damage, even during prolonged use, say the company, while shutter and mechanical dimmer are also included. Furthermore, Photowall is designed to automatically adjust the power of the light beam in case of dark images, in order to protect the film from damage.
Furthermore, say Studio Due, the fixture also boasts an LCD display, located on the base, to allow the user to customize the parameters according to different needs, via four control buttons which allow the selection of one of the four programmes already stored in the memory, or the creation of a new programme, without using a DMX remote controller. The display also shows other information such as the operating hours or lamp use, and allows the operator to set and adjust the offset value for the synchronization of multiple fixtures.
The number of the images exposed on the film must be selected and set in the fixture. The Photowall can work with four different optics, two standard and two optional, ranging from 112mm and 230mm to obtain a projected image from 8.4m x 6.4m up to 20m x 15.2m. The fixture comes with a 90-exposure film, varying from black and white, real and abstract, landscapes, nature or pattern. Studio Due also provides a program on CD, through which lighting designers can easily create their own sequence to copy onto the film. Finally, say Studio Due, just 10 DMX channels are used to control the feed speed, strobo effect, dimmer speed, dimmer, free or single image feed, focus and lamp reset.
www.studiodue.com
Australian distributor: Show Technology www.showtech.com.au

Enttec to debut at PLASA
This year, Australian manufacturer Enttec will be exhibiting for the first time at the PLASA Show. On display will be the company's full range of products in a working situation, including the new Datagate, which is a splitter, merger and Ethernet gateway all in one, and will serve as a cornerstone of modern DMX networks, say the company. The PC-based control software, Enttec Light Factory, will also be demonstrated on stand.
Enttec will also be showing the Open DMX USB Widget, which has already received a strong response from lighting professionals and enthusiasts. A special show pack will include a DMX USB widget, USB cable, gender changer and CD with free 16-channel control software and Enttec swag.
Enttec can be found on stand JJ20.
www.enttec.com

ETC at PLASA 2004
Following the pattern of the previous two years, PLASA 2004 will see the introduction of a new member of ETC's family of Smart Solutions products. Although the company is keeping details under wraps until the show itself, they do say that it (whatever it is!) will be extremely smart, functional and versatile . .
Dimming will be a major feature of the ETC stand, following the recent acquisition of IES, a pioneer in sine wave dimming technologies. IES' products provide silent dimming for concert halls and theatres and will become an integral component in ETC's total lighting systems.
ETC's own Sensor dimming now benefits from the new Control Electronics Module (CEM+), adding the functionality of a network and a graphic user interface. Visitors to the show will be able to see how Sensor CEM+ receives and manages Ethernet control signals and two DMX512 inputs, controls dimmer output and communicates status information to compatible lighting control devices and network peripherals. It also incorporates web server technologies for interaction with standard web browsers.
ETC will also be previewing a major new lighting control system from Avab at the show. This is another piece of kit that is being kept under wraps, but ETC say that it will maintain Avab's reputation for fast, easy-to-use and professional lighting consoles.
ETC can be found on stand F40. |
www.etcconnect.com
Australian distributor: Jands www.jands.com.au

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