ETC SourceFour Revolution

[ETCalltheway]

Has anyone had the wonderful opportunity to use a new S4 Revolution? Are they all that the hype says they are? (After all, it is a Source Four....)
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[The_Guest]

All I know is I'd love to demo one. This light will be great for theater, it's simple and inexpensive compared so other intels. From what I heard it isn't crap, I've read that it will be used as tool rather than an effect by LD particularly in theater. This could be considered as standard as the s4 is decades from now. It's so simple, I love the no flaw design it has, it makes perfect sense for theater and lite applications.

[propmonkey]

we like them. the zooms are so clean.

[The_Guest]

Really? Tell us more...

[propmonkey]

we have i think 4 in the studio theatre i work at. they just have a nice clean focus. rite now we're using 2 one for a preshow light with a snowflake gobo and a spilit gel. it looks really clean. and the other is a spot. over all they work the best we wish we had all s4.

[zac850]

I've never gotten the chance to use one, but when I went to Little Shop of Horrors on Broadway they had 7 or 8 of them mounted over the front of the stage (the theater I work at would call it the DS pit position, but that varies by theater).

Anyway, from what I could see, they looked nice, had good focus, and worked nicely with all the normal S4's there were.

Also, the advantage that I saw cut down on the number of lights that they needed to buy/hang. 4 or 5 fixtures were used instead of 20 or 30 which they would have otherwise needed to hang.

[The_Guest]

Originally Posted by zac850

Also, the advantage that I saw cut down on the number of lights that they needed to buy/hang. 4 or 5 fixtures were used instead of 20 or 30 which they would have otherwise needed to hang.

That's the beauty of intels/movers, you can do such amazing things such a small amount versus billions of conventionals. Just read a lighting magazine these days (like PLSN), read touring profiles and it's amazing some of the things they accomplish with such a little amount of fixtures. Years ago you probably would have seen billions and billions of par cans. This reminds me of my led zeppelin dvd, they're lighting late 60s was a super basic wash and a spot light for each member. I thought it looked great compared to the mess they had in the 70s when I guess their tour was extravagant enough to start geling every fixture. More was better back then, simple because you couldn't control lighting rigs like you can today. Nowadays, it's amazing how extravagant some of these professional "ballyhoo's" done at concerts these days. On top of it all everything is fairly neat it doesn't look cluttered like many designs found back in the day. If you know what you're doing, 18 intels can do the job of 60 conventials. I don't necessarly mean it'll recapture what the conventials do, but it'll put on a show just as nice. Besides the moving effects, these lights can be so useful for quick focusing esepecially when someone steps out of the wash or light.

Just take a look at the production profile of PRO LD Dan "Malibu" Krygowski. He stays well under budget, you really have to see some of the pictures in this issue of PLSN. This was a fourth phase gig...

(12) High End Studio Colors
(10) Studip Colors
(04) Cyberlight Turbos
(01) Avolites Sapphire 2000

"I've worked on Hog and the Martin Maxxyz. But these guys [the band] are so on-the-fly that the Sapphire is the quickest board for me, becuase I grew up on Pearls, through the House of Blues company."

Quality, not quantity. Just look at the pictures. Not on the site but if you have the June 2004 issue of PLSN you'll be quite surprised (pg 28-29).

http://www.plsn.com/cgi/issue/viewis...&id=1086727829

[digitaltec]

Why would you need one of these. I mean all it is is a S4 that moves. It's a huge fixture too. It does not have gobo's and has a color scroller in it. So all you can do is reposition where it's pointed and throw in a color which you probably dont want in the first place. It's slow too.

All I can say it's it's a huge rip off. If I needed a beam to move, I would use an I-Cue. Why go out there and buy this HUGE unit that does absolutly nothing but act as a very nice paper weight. Are you really cutting down of fixtures in the theater? When I use a moving head in a show, I want the CMY and gobo wheels. If I just need the beam to go back and forth and shift position, then I use an I-Cue. Honesly, look at what your getting then decide if it's a practical fixture.

You can't always go " Oh it's high tech, I need one". Look into the fixture, look at what it can do. Am I saying the Rev is a bad fixture, not really, it's just pointless for what it does. now if they turned it into a true moving head and not a search light, then maybe it could be of use.

[The_Guest]

Digi. I don't think you understand what the S4 rev is intended for, it's not a Martin Mac or a swanky Varilite fixture. It's a tool, not a toy.

As most of us all know, ETC primarily targets the theatrical world. Not the concert world. This light is not a Martin Mac, it is a S4. This fixture was not made for ballyhoo's at the top of Aerosmith or Rolling Stones concert. This light makes perfect sense for theater, it's still to be used as a S4 but with moving capabilites it can cut down on the amount of fixtures used and create theatrical effects. Effects such as audience blinders, techno beams, strobes, etc found in high end intels rarely if ever are used or needed in the theater world. This instrument is slow for one main reason...VOLUME. Many of the features that you stated found in most up scale intels simply are way too noisy for the theater world. Theaters don't push 110dB at FOH or have 60 V-dosc line array units to cover up the sound of noisy intels. Noisy fixtures is a useless fixture when it comes to theater apps. No one wants to here a 60,000 rpm motor spinning around above their heads whle enjoying a show in a quiet theater. This light isn't designed for the apps most intels take up, it's designed for what a s4 does. In the future these lights will fill your catwalks and electrics, focusing will take place at the console.

The S4 rev makes perfect sense, how many times have you wished you had some movers just to cut down on the amount of fixtures your using and you just needed some basic motion effects found in the typical theater app. I like the idea of being able to add on and upgrade the unit when I need too, it makes sense for budgets. Think about it this way, it's a S4 not a mac 2k. When you need color scrolling, gobo rotation, etc you add accessories onto your S4. The S4 is a tool, not a toy. It takes care of the meat and the potatoes. The S4 rev is a tool with moving capabilities, not a ballyhoo toy. You gotta cover the basics before you add the toys.

[MikeJM]

Both Digi and The_Guest have good points. Intelligent lighting fixtures such as Mac 2ks are popular in the theater world and are used, and really aren't extremely noisy. ETC just strapped a source four onto a moving yoke. I am not sure on pricing, but if prices compare with other intelligent fixtures, I would pick them over the ETC source four revolution. The nice thing about the revolution is that the it takes a normal 750 watt lamp, like the ones used in the source four. That may be seen as a disadvantage to some people, because it may not be as bright as some other intell. fixtures.

I wouldn't want a source four revolution because it doesn't have as much flexability as other intells. I wouldn't want to be changing the modules often to get different effects that I desire.

As The_Guest stated this would be of more use in a theatrical setting, so as far as theater I would say YES, but when it comes to concert touring NO.