We have a Smartfade 2496 and were beta testing the v2.0 Smartsoft, recently installed the new
release of smartsoft.
It is still amazing, it realy makes programming a
cue stack a lot easier and fun instead of stress. Without the Smartsoft it was no fun but stress with a director next to you. Now you can easily identify steps, change
cue times, move steps, delete steps, insert steps,... and the look and feel of Smartsoft shows that it's a little brother of the powerful
ETC consoles.
Realy nice software, certainly still with some flaws and things that need improvement... but hey, it's only the second version, and the first to incorporate support for all smartfade consoles. I hope that the people of
ETC will put effort in canceling out the minor flaws in Smartsoft, making the Smartfade consoles trustworthy reliable consoles with a lot of possibilities. Software with flaws makes me loose confidence in a
console and that's no good.
The Smartfade ML is very powerful, if you look at its footprint in your booth and your wallet it offers a lot of quality for money.
I used an ML a few weeks ago, for a performance with musicians and dancers, controlling three Varilite 3500Q 's a bunch of
ETC source fours, and a bunch of
par's. And the ML certainly has a lot of
power. It is easy to use, quick to set up, and has a rich set of functions normaly only seen on more expensive desks.
For example patching moving lights is child
play, choose quantity, make and model and up you go.
However, the ML has the same minor points as the regular Smartfade, the external
power supply is of poor quality (get a replacement in your electro shop for the case the original fails on a saturday evening) and Smartsoft is only as strong as it keeps getting updates.
Still, the ML with Smartsoft is more powerfull with moving lights than some $10k or more consoles on the market.
