5 Jul, 2019 | ETC
Modern luminaires and networked controls allow users to take lighting to more places than ever before. ETC’s new Response Mk2 DMX Gateways ensure DMX and RDM get there, too. The Response Mk2 DMX Gateways flawlessly translate DMX/RDM to and from sACN, allowing users to put control exactly where they need it – saving money and time.
Available in 1-, 2-, and 4-port models, Response Mk2 DMX Gateways provide DMX and RDM data distribution, taking advantage of the reliability and interoperability of industry-standard protocols such as ANSI E1.31 (sACN) and ANSI E1.20 (RDM). With wall-mount, portable, and DIN rail form factors, users can always find the perfect fit for your application. And every model – even the 1-port! – now features a crisp OLED screen and four-button interface to clearly display (and modify) configuration and status.
Response Mk2 DMX Gateways make it easy to deal with the headaches of networks, too. With increased processing, each Gateway can support 256 RDM devices. Plus, all Gateways can be monitored and configured from a central location with ETC’s powerful Concert software, letting users change network status and DMX/RDM settings. And when you want to be more hands-on, the easy user interface on each Gateway ensures you can configure it exactly as you want it – right at the Gateway itself.
Response Mk2 DMX Gateways offer powerful integration into ETC’s Paradigm, Echo, or Mosaic architectural lighting control systems and of course they pair perfectly with ETC’s entertainment controls.
4 Jul, 2019 | ApexPro News, ETC, High End Systems
2 Jul, 2019 | ETC
Take one of South Africa’s most dynamic television studios, mix it with a healthy expansion project, and throw in the need for cutting edge lighting infrastructure technology and what do you get? The answer is Urban Brew’s new Studio premises at Ferndale on Republic, formally known as Brightwater Commons.
When Urban Brew made the decision to move from their old home to their bright and shiny new one, they made the commitment to upgrade their Television Studio infrastructure and technology as well, with the explicit intention that it would put them ahead of any other Television studio complex of their kind in the country. Not only this, but the solution needed to be robust enough to serve them properly for at least the next 10 to 15 years.
When it came to the lighting portion of the project the logical solution was a control and networking infrastructure by ETC. Based on similar system architectures that have been employed at the BBC and Sky in the United Kingdom, the ETC system was designed to be able to control any studio from any control room. The initial phase of the installation incorporated Studios 1, 3, 6 and 9 which all came online during last year. Further expansion with new studios is planned throughout this year as well.
But having the right solution is only half of the equation. It still needs to be installed, commissioned and handed over and the tight deadlines on this project made that an even more pressing task. Taking on the challenge was Protea Technology who were awarded the tender for the entire project. To assist Protea with the lighting portion, Prosound was commissioned, the Prosound Projects and Installation Team was headed by David Butcher, David’s task was to oversee the lighting portion of the project which included no less than four studios’ worth of lighting control, networking infrastructure and power distribution.
A particularly interesting feature of the project was the idea that any Studio could be controlled from any Control room at any given time. This meant there was always going to be a heavy reliance on networked IP based systems running through a central switch. Hard-line DMX was not an option for the project and neither was placing bulky external processing units all around the complex. Fortunately, because ETC’s Eos family of consoles do all their processing on board, all that is then required is the distribution of that signal around the facility. For that there are the ETC Gateway Nodes which can be clamped to the overhead grid where they convert sACN signal to DMX before sending the signal along its way to the fixtures. That makes the rig versatile as you can have any port be any universe you choose, at any point in the rig you would like.
But the challenges didn’t stop there. Urban Brew’s fixture inventory represented a mix of LED, Tungsten and Halogen Moving Lights meaning simple dimmers were not going to cut it. The answer, once again, came from ETC in the form of their ColorSource ThruPower units which can switch between dimming, relay and constant current circuits, all via RDM or at the rack itself. Each studio was installed with 4 x ColorSource 24 circuit Wall units except for studio 9 which received 8 x ColorSource 24 circuit Wall units.
That’s a total of 480 circuits, across four studios and control rooms, each with their own console and over fifty gateway nodes to distribute DMX. It’s no wonder that David Butcher’s eyes tear up a little when you say the phrase ‘Urban Brew’ near him.
The Urban Brew Studios project represents a massive leap forward in the South African broadcasting space. It is the biggest installation of its kind outside of the SABC which was built in the 1970s. It is easily the most modern facility of its kind in the country and plays host to productions which range from the National Lottery Draw to YoTV and The Voice South Africa.
Clearly a facility of this calibre deserves nothing but the best. With their new ETC infrastructure, backed up by the potent partnership between Prosound and Protea Technology, they can rest assured that they’ve got exactly that.
24 Jun, 2019 | ETC
As the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building define their home cities, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is arguably the Midwest’s most important icon. While the Arch gets all the visual attention, the national park it occupies is equally impressive. The 91-acre grounds of the Gateway Arch National Park recently underwent an extensive landscape re-design, including the removal of an existing parking garage, the creation of an elevated walkway, and several new walking and biking paths. And as part of this re-design, local company Randy Burkett Lighting Design created a complete new park lighting system, utilizing ETC’s Mosaic family of products.
The scope of the design was as large as the park: everything was to receive new lighting. This included the historic “allées” (tree-lined paths throughout the park), new paths on the park border, accessible walkways connecting the park to the riverfront, and a new section of park named the “North Gateway,” which includes an elevated walkway and the historic Eads Bridge’s south embankment abutment.
“The primary goal for the project lighting design was to support the programmatic nature of the pathway system from day through the evening,” says Richard Fisher of RBLD. “A simple, modern form was selected along the border pathways, while a stylized unit was deployed in a formal arrangement along the historic tree allées.” Other goals included the reduction of glare and uplight (pedestrian-scaled fixtures were cut-off units), and improvement of visual comfort at night for park visitors. Maintaining and enhancing the major views was also a key consideration.
The control system was designed to support a variety of operational needs – from normal days to special events such as stargazing and a large festival over the Independence Day holiday. The system communicates via a DALI network using individually-addressed fixtures with dimmable drivers. Fixtures are balanced to create a unified appearance and rhythm of light. Given the size of the park it was also important that the control system also provide fixture monitoring, notifying park management of fixture operation and hours of operation for long-term maintenance.
The allées and border path lighting utilized pedestrian-scaled poles and fixtures. For the allées, RBLD developed a custom fixture that was derived from a monumental unit designed during the Arch’s construction but never manufactured. Allées and border path fixtures were controlled with a DALI network using the Mosaic controllers.
The Tech Specs
The lighting controls system for the park utilized a number of different ETC components, but at the head of everything is a Mosaic Show Controller. The MSC was chosen because it can handle a number of different protocols and is known for its reliability. Two of the main elements under Mosaic’s control are a pair of ETC DMX-enabled relay cabinets for switching the non-dim fixtures across the park – one for each of the north and south halves. After that, the MSC connects to and controls a DALI network for all pole-based pathway lighting. Due to the park size, cable-run length limitations, and device limitations associated with the DALI protocol, the MSC is connected to a series of distributed control hubs via a fiber optic network. These hubs, located throughout the park, are then connected to another layer of distribution equipment before connecting to the fixtures.
The Challenges
One of the obvious challenges was park size, and how that impacted protocol requirements like cable length and the number of devices on a loop. Another challenge was that DALI is simply not that common within the US. But Fisher made that choice because he felt that the robustness of the protocol – in terms of wire and wiring – would be advantages across such a large site.
The last challenge was that the site-distributed control equipment could not be housed in above-ground cabinets. As a national park, the design direction was that the site should appear as natural as possible with as few support elements as possible visible. Oversized hand holes, drainage, NEMA-rated cabinets, and waterproof connections were specified to try and minimize possible ingress problems.
One final challenge for the install was managing the complexity of working with four separate electrical contractors, each on different times and schedules. “One of the ways we tried to combat this was to specify a lighting integration specialist as part of the control system scope. In this case, Candela Controls was the selected vendor (working as a sub-contractor to one of the ECs) and they helped bring application knowledge as well as becoming the point person for all things control-related with the electrical contractors,” says Fisher. “They were a huge asset and a key to the success of this project”
St. Louis was the gateway to the West, and ETC is now the gateway to a bright new future for its park.
10 Jun, 2019 | ETC, High End Systems
ETC dealer, White Light Ltd
has supplied Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) venues with an LED upgrade using
High End Systems and ETC lighting equipment.
Two theatres – Aylesbury
Waterside and the Grand Opera House York were upgraded with brand new LED
packages consisting of High End Systems’ SolaFrame 1000, SHAPESHIFTER, ETC’s
ColorSource PAR and ColorSource Spot.
High End Systems’ SolaFrame 1000 was selected as the central fixture of the new rig. ATG opted for the High CRI version which offers a more refined quality of light with a CRI of 90+, as well as 16,000-lumen output. It has an extensive feature list including full-curtain framing shutters, rotating and fixed gobo wheels, animation as well as CMY colour mixing; while at the same time remaining extremely quiet and weighing just 32kg.
“Seeing the SolaFrame in-situ, it became clear that this was the perfect fixture for both venues. They are extremely versatile and ultimately will be the workhorse for the rig. They also have a five-year warranty for the LED array, which is obviously a huge bonus”. White Light Business Development Manager, Jonathan Haynes
Implementing an LED upgrade
in both venues ensured that ATG could provide support for its diverse range of
productions while also presenting an environmentally friendly installation.
White Light established an LED upgrade package accordingly which substituted
the tungsten rig with LED and replaced overhead and cyc lighting.
In addition to the SolaFrame 1000s, there were 48 ETC ColorSource PARs, 42 ColorSource Spots (complete with a mix of profile and fresnel lenses) and 8 High End Systems’ SHAPESHIFTERS. The fixtures have now been fitted into both venues and have immediately been used on a host of shows.
“It was important for us to find the right company which could offer us industry-recognised products and the full back-up and support required for such a large-scale transition from tungsten to LED.” Jonathan adds: “ETC and High End offer some of the longest warranty periods on their fixtures and all brands are represented and supported in the UK. It is fantastic to work so closely with an organisation as established as ATG to begin improving and modernising their offerings with the latest lighting technology and make them stand out in what is an increasingly competitive marketplace”. ATG’s Head of Technical Operations, Stuart Graham
7 Jun, 2019 | ETC
ETC
returns to international trade fair and conference, Stage|Set|Scenery
with a host of new and exciting
products for 2019. The exhibition for theatre, film and entertainment
technology will take place at Messe Berlin from June 18-20.
This year, ETC has three stands: Stand 340 and 240 in Hall 20 and Stand 301 in Hall 21.
Showcasing
its extensive range of lighting technology on Stand 340, Hall 20, ETC
will present Augment3d –
its first integrated 3D programming environment. Live demonstrations of
the Eos v3.0 tool will take place during the trade fair, displaying how
users can control and design in a three dimensional space whilst
interacting with their fixtures through augmented
reality. Augment3d will be shown on the leading Eos Ti and Gio @5
consoles during the three day exhibition.
Further
products on Stand 340 include the latest lighting fixtures and
architectural systems. Relevé Spot
is the first member of a new product family for ETC – an automated
fixture specifically designed for the theatre. It boasts a calibrated
four-color additive mixing system and a unique Ani-gobo wheel. Alongside
this, there will be the acclaimed Source Four
LED fixtures, ArcSystem family of LED products and ETC’s EchoTouch
controller.
On
Stand 301, Hall 21, ETC will present its complete package of Upper
Stage Machinery. Live demonstrations
of installing the Prodigy P2 hoist will take place at 11:15 and 15:15
each day during the tradeshow. The P2’s advanced features and compact
size makes installations a quick and easy process. Attendees to the
stand can watch just how fast and simple the setup
of a full hoist system which includes control, distribution and
fixtures, can be.
Visitors will be introduced to ColorSource Raceway, a lightweight power and data distribution system perfect
for small venues and an ideal partner to Prodigy P2.
ETC
will also showcase its intuitive user-friendly controllers on the
stand, including QuickTouch Preset,
QuickTouch+ and Foundation HD. Simple and straightforward to use, the
controllers and the budget-friendly P2 system are suitable for all
venues.
Product specialists will be on all stands, including on Stand 240, Hall 20 where visitors can ask any questions
and find out more about the full product range.
