ETC and High End Systems celebrate successful Prolight + Sound 2019

ETC and High End Systems celebrate successful Prolight + Sound 2019

ETC and High End Systems at Prolight and Sound 2019

Tens of thousands of visitors arrived in Frankfurt last week for Prolight + Sound 2019. Crowds gathered at the ETC and High End Systems stands in Hall 12.1 to get a look at the latest product innovations and the Hog Factor 2019 competition final.

Attendees to the stands were able to catch demonstrations of Augment3d, ETC’s new fully integrated 3D programming environment in Eos v3.0. This innovation lets users control and design in a three dimensional space; as well as interacting with their fixtures through augmented reality. Augment3d made its European debut at Prolight + Sound, alongside High End Systems’ TurboRay.

TurboRay is the newest automated fixture in High End Systems’ FX family. Its distinctive appearance with a classic retro design and radial diffusers attracted many visitors to the High End stand. Used as a narrow-angle wash light or as a powerful hard edge beam, TurboRay produces stunning aerial effects and more.

ETC’s Relevé Spot was another main attraction at this year’s exhibition. The moving light, specifically designed for theatre brings a calibrated four-color additive mixing system and unique Ani-gobo wheel that creates textures like never before. It is an automated light that brings affordable, high quality color mixing to smaller venues.

Visitors explored the innovative Prodigy P2 hoist, with Prodigy Cable Management, and were introduced to ColorSource Raceway a lightweight power and data distribution system perfect for small venues.

High End Systems’ Hog 4-18 console was used for the Hog Factor 2019 final which drew big crowds as three teams went head-to-head in the academic lighting programming contest. Industry lighting professionals Jojo Tillman, Marco Silva and Sander Den Otter judged the teams and awarded first place to ‘Team Vienna Illuminates’. The winning contestants – Andreas Aichholzer and Sebastian Schmid from Austria, performed in front of some of the industry’s most well-known companies and professionals. ‘Team AKA’ from the UK won second place, followed by ‘Team STEX’ from Austria. The teams took home a host of High End products as prizes and lighting design software company Capture, provided software licenses to each team as part of the prizes.

ETC and High End Systems also delivered the annual Student Session in Hall 4.0. Experts from both companies hosted a Q&A discussion for aspiring lighting professionals and a behind-the-scenes look into the daily running of both companies.

This year’s exhibition saw countless visitors eager to explore ETC and High End Systems’ latest products. Both companies plan to continue raising the bar with new, exciting and innovative products at Prolight + Sound 2020.

ETC & High End Systems – Better Together at Prolight + Sound 2019

ETC & High End Systems – Better Together at Prolight + Sound 2019

At Prolight + Sound 2019, ETC and High End Systems will be joining together to showcase the latest line up of product innovations across four stands in Hall 12.1: Stands B40, B41, B46, B47. This includes the debut of a not-to-be-missed new product which will be revealed at the show.

Visitors to the stands will see ETC’s first automated fixture in over a decade, the award-winning Relevé Spot. Specifically designed for theatre, this moving light boasts a calibrated four-color additive mixing system and a unique Ani-gobo wheel which creates textures like never before.

High End Systems’ will showcase a selection of pioneering automated lighting technology, including the SolaFrame 3000, SolaFrame Theatre and the new SolaFrame 1000 and SolaSpot 3000. The recently launched SolaFrame 1000 offers a diverse feature set and is available in Ultra-Bright and High CRI versions. SolaSpot 3000 boasts more than 37,000 lumen output with a Bright White LED engine. The flagship fixture offers an unprecedented amount of effect combinations – three gobo wheels for a total of 21 patterns, two animation wheels, two prisms, aerial effects and more.

The much anticipated TurboRay by High End Systems will also be at the show. This new fixture in the company’s FX range offers a classic retro look with its radial diffusers, and can be used as a narrow-angle wash light or as a powerful hard edge beam that produces beautiful aerial effects and more.

There will be three product lines of control on display at this year’s Prolight + Sound: Hog, Eos and ColorSource. Visitors to the stand should look out for something new and exciting in the world of Eos during the show.

Visitors can talk to product experts about ETC’s Stage Technology solutions including Prodigy P2 hoist, QuickTouch Preset and QuickTouch+ controllers and accessories. The Prodigy P2 is a complete package hoist, suitable to fit any venue’s needs. It is fast and easy to install and with some configurations available off the shelf in Europe for an even quicker project. ColorSource Raceway provides the ideal combination of power and control for modern lighting systems in an economical package, and its lightweight aluminum construction makes it an ideal partner to Prodigy P2. 

Students that are interested in lighting design or a career in lighting are welcome to attend ETC’s Student Session on the 4th April at 4pm (Hall 4, Level C, Room Entente). Lighting industry professionals and product specialists from High End Systems and ETC will be present to talk about the latest developments in lighting technology and design. 

The Hog Factor 2019 final is on a bigger scale than ever before this year. Shortlisted teams will compete against one another with a performance of their lighting show on the High End Systems stands on 3rd April at 5pm. It will be a show not to be missed!

ETC and High End Systems will be in Hall 12.1, Stands B40, B41, B46, B47 from the 2nd to 5th April 2019. View a location map here: http://bit.ly/2XSaipa

Long-awaited Releve Spot is now shipping

Long-awaited Releve Spot is now shipping

ETC’s first automated fixture in over a decade hit the tradeshows late 2018. After winning an award at PLASA in London in September, and getting rave reviews at LDI in October, the Relevé Spot is now shipping.

This all-LED fixture boasts an additive color mixing system that creates colors so bright you’ll be blown away. With deep reds, piercing greens, and whiter whites, you’ll have to see it to believe it. In addition to the impressive color and brightness, Relevé Spot houses a dual pattern system for increased pattern projection options.

The custom Ani-gobo wheel features a seamless pattern that flows from one graphical element to the next. Using this in combination with the customizable, five-position gobo wheel gives you infinite texturing and theatre-ready effects.

In addition, one of the most impressive features is the industry-leading, patented Whisper Home technology. Relevé Spot enables you set the physical movement limits of each fixture, keeping it from ever having to spin a full rotation at startup or re-homing. Because Relevé Spot never has to move more than 1° to find its home position, it can be installed in tight rail positions, narrow box booms, and other space-restricting locations.

Learn more about Relevé Spot, the automated fixture designed for the theatre, at etcconnect.com/ReleveSpot

ApexPro Demonstrates the New SolaFrame 1000

ApexPro Demonstrates the New SolaFrame 1000

High End Systems, an ETC Company, recently launched the latest addition to the SolaFrame family of automated framing fixtures, the SolaFrame 1000. South African distributor of ETC lighting solutions, ApexPro, has demonstration units of the fixtures, just two weeks after its European launch.

Mathew Lewis, ETC product manager at ApexPro, spoke to ETECH at a demonstration of the new fixture, hosted at the University of Johannesburg Arts and Culture Centre on 06 March.

“The High End Systems Solaframe 1000 is the first product that is the result of the combined research and development of the High End Systems and ETC teams, following ETC’s acquisition of High End Systems two years ago,” explains Lewis.

SolaFrame 1000 is designed to be a workhorse automated framing fixture, which is highly versatile and can be used for both installation and rental markets, for medium-sized venues.

The Solaframe 1000 delivers 20,000-lumen output, full framing shutters, rotating and fixed gobo wheels, multiple colour systems, 12°-40° zoom, and animation effects, which is suited for all professional production environments. Lewis concurs, stating that “the fixture offers a good value proposition, as it is a high-end lighting fixture that is well suited for either the rental or installations markets and is competitively priced, especially if you look at its impressive range of features.”

Available in Ultra-Bright and High CRI versions, the SolaFrame 1000 ships with a TM30 Filter that boosts the Ultra-Bright engine to 85+ CRI. Other features include Iris and Light Frost, Rotating Prism and High End Systems’ patented Lens Defogger System.

ApexPro currently has demonstration units available at their Johannesburg offices. If you would like to find out more, or book a demo, kindly contact Mathew Lewis at mathew@apexpro.co.za or call him on 076 057 7571.

Opera Garnier upgrades to ETC Eos

Opera Garnier upgrades to ETC Eos

In 2017, one of the most prestigious venues in France, the Opéra Garnier, updated its lighting consoles to a selection of ETC Eos desks. The Eos consoles were unanimously chosen by Jacques Giovanangeli, the head of the lighting department, and his team of 42 lighting professionals.

The previous console lacked the technological capabilities required for modern moving lights, and needed replacing to keep up with the venue’s demands. Fully aware of this, Jacques and his team began research to identify the best option and narrowed the search down to three potential consoles and conducted demos of each. They compared the different interfaces by paying attention to the ergonomics of programming a show, the ease of use of moving lights, and the precision of color control.

The switch to an ETC Eos system was strongly encouraged by the whole technical team. The design quality, adaptability to the opera, and color tools made the Eos family stand out. ”The reason for this choice was based on more than just the quality of the product,” notes Giovanangeli. ”I frequently travel to operas and theatres in France and abroad. I found Eos consoles in many places, such as the Bolshoi in Moscow, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Staatsoper in Vienna and many other prestigious places like The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. The combination of the technical endorsement from my team and the observations I made on each journey led to us choosing Eos.”

”Co-productions continue to increase between the major opera houses and many lighting engineers work mainly on Eos consoles. With Eos, we can anticipate what’s coming by sharing files,” comments Giovanangeli.

In total, four Eos family consoles joined the Palais Garnier with three Eos Ti desks, two in the control room and one in the workshop. A Gio @5 is also on stage if an engineer would like to operate lighting from the stage. The whole system communicates in ETCNet3 (ACN) and the main console controls all the fixtures over sACN. To complete the installation, 2 RVIs (Remote Video Interface) are also available from the stage.

This RVI system enables remote viewing of the console screens and local programming of the Eos system. This allows the opera house to offer the production manager a tool to view the desk’s displays from the stage making interactions with the lighting technicians easier.

Approved in early 2017, the integration of the consoles in the Opéra had to wait for the summer break. With the renovation of the control room also taking place in late August and early September, the technicians had to work quickly to transition the consoles. Giovanangeli says, “The installation of the consoles was completed in record time and the team managed to release the first show, which was a large production, without any pitfalls.”

Jérôme Denime, one of the two opera lighting team leaders, adds, “We had to learn this new work environment and develop new habits. For example, previously we had to set all the spotlight parameters in each cue. Now, as Eos works with “tracking” logic, the parameters follow from one cue to another. There is no need to edit them entirely since they track from the previous position. It is much easier, but we had to get used to checking the states so that there aren’t any mistakes. The interface is very useful for tracking the state of the fixtures. In the end, the switch has saved us time overall. We are already completely comfortable with the system and we are still discovering new functions, especially as updates come out.”

A training program made the transition smooth for the entire lighting staff. The teams were able to get gradually accustomed to the new interface before putting on the first show and tackle the 860 dimmers with more than 100 moving lights.

In an effort to continuously improve training efforts, ETC France is currently revamping its training program to better serve its end users. The new ETC subsidiary will improve the provision of trainings through its network of partners.

Over the past few months, many French venues have also chosen Eos consoles, such as the Opéra de Bordeaux (Dushow installation) and the Opéra de Versailles. ETC offers consoles appropriate for the theatre market with the Eos system and the touring market with the High End Systems Hog 4 range. With ETC France, these internationally renowned consoles will have even better support throughout France.

ETC returns to CABSAT, Dubai

ETC returns to CABSAT, Dubai

ETC is heading to CABSAT, in collaboration with regional partner Oasis Enterprises, from the 12-14 of March at Dubai World Trade Centre.

Visitors to the tradeshow will have the opportunity to see ETC’s latest lighting and broadcast-friendly product range as well as demonstrations in a studio-style set up in room ‘Hatta-G’. This will include ETC’s award-winning and flagship lighting control desk, Eos Ti, renowned Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr array and ColorSource Pearl lighting fixtures.

The Eos Ti’s operating system hosts powerful magic sheets, easy-to-navigate software and the large-format multi-touch displays with a substantial programming surface. Source Four LED Series 2 Daylight HD and Tungsten HD luminaires will also be on display at the event, bringing visitors high definition lighting with the brightest output.

In Hall 2 (C2-10) alongside Oasis Enterprises, ETC will showcase further products including an EchoTouch controller, Gio @5 console and Irideon FPZ and ColorSource CYC lighting fixtures.

EchoTouch – a compact stand-alone one-universe wall mounted touchscreen controller that can output sACN or DMX and makes recalling or editing preset looks easy. The Irideon family of fixtures have exceptional output for their small size and an attractive design, with a range of color temperatures and 90+ CRI option.

High End Systems’ Road Hog 4 and the SolaFrame 750, will also be on display at CABSAT this year. The SolaFrame 750 is the most compact framing fixture in the Sola Series family of automated tools and offers the widest array of effects currently available in a fixture of its size.

Join ETC at CABSAT 2019 in Hall 2 C2-10 and Hatta-G between 12-14 March to meet with ETC staff and discuss your lighting project or product needs.