Rosco I-Cue

Anyone have an opinion on the I-Cue? The idea of freeing up a few lights is appealing.

I like them a lot: quiet and accurate, so usable in small spaces like black box theatres as well as larger spaces.

I have 2 iCue fixtures with color scrollers, have had them for about 10 years. I use them all the time for one-off events/lectures. very handy for the directors who must have acting in the aisles.
In the past i did not use them much during stage productions as the control i had made them hard to write into cues and often gave me inconsistent results. but i have recently upgraded to an ETC Element, that has made programing/cueing them for productions much easier. Very quick to the mark, the only down side is that they do have blind spots, especially with a scroller mounted.
I don't use the scroller to much and could live without it. with the blind spots and the the director who loves to have acting in the aisles i also got two RightArms so i can reach any point in the house.
all are mounted in a quasi permanent fashion, coming down just once a year for service/cleaning.
Love em.

Short answer: LOVE 'EM!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE 'EM! ! !

More detailed answer:
Before my stroke, when I could see and light shows, I pretty much permanently mounted a pair face to face on the horizontal centerline at the rear of the hall and they quickly found MUCH use. They're tying up 14 channels, 7 channels per, as follows: Pan coarse, Pan fine, Tilt course, Tilt fine, Iris, scroller and lamp / dimmer / intensity. Depending upon the production, they may both be set for a sharp, follow-spot like, edge or a soft edge so they more easily blend in wherever necessary or one soft and one hard. I've had a couple of folks ask why spend the dollars (and channels) for a DMX controlled iris sacrificing lumens at times, why not simply choose the "correct" beam angle of fixture. What they were forgetting is the beam diameter changes as a function of throw which, of course, changes as a function of where you're aiming them at any given time.
A few more points for you:
If you plan on repositioning the mirrors while lit, you'll really want to devote two channels to both pan and tilt otherwise you'll readily notice, and be offended by, the steps as it moves. With two channels per motion, the steps, at any reasonable throw distance and cue time, are insignificant. If you're going to go with a scroller, be sure to order the little metal extension that holds the mirror out far enough to accommodate the scroller. Last point; If you really want to keep things quiet, always (whenever you have time) hold the scroller speed down by using a 30 or 40 second cue to change colors.
BONOUS point: Be sure to keep a cut of a really good heat shield in a frame ahead of the scroller to prolong gel life.
Initially I rented a pair, which wasn't cheap, for one production and each and every nay-sayer thought they were magic.
By mounting them face to face, they're as close as possible to both being in exactly the same place. This way, when the director has the sudden inspiration to have an actor enter from the lobby and emote all the way down the centre aisle and up onto the stage, you can not only follow them but you can do it with one in a full-body shot and the other in an upper body shot in different colors AND have them both track beautifully, gently nudging the irises in, as necessary, while they're tracking so wonderfully together.
The rented pair were controlled by a tired old Strand 300. The purchased pair are under the guidance of an ETC Element. Of course, now-a-days with LED profiles in EVERYONE'S inventory, I guess you won't need the scroller or the extension bracket that accommodates it.
Yeah, back to my original short answer: LOVE 'EM!!!
With apologies for droning on but I hope I've fully addressed your concerns.
Need more info, post away.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

I have used 4 of them for many years and they have been so handy ...doing one offs ...SPs and ...where ever they a
are needed

I've got three and they see regular use, both for planned design elements and as a save-your-ass special when the director decides in the moment that he desperately needs light somewhere. You get a LOT of bang for the buck.

I note these units don't come with power supply and the power supplies run about $170 new. My ideal electric for mounting them only has dimmer circuits. Will the PSU-50 power supply work OK on a dimmer circuit?

LesWilson said:

I note these units don't come with power supply and the power supplies run about $170 new. My ideal electric for mounting them only has dimmer circuits. Will the PSU-50 power supply work OK on a dimmer circuit?

Click to expand...

@LesWilson NO! (Real power resplendent with all of it's sine waves intact ONLY)
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

Get Iris's for them as well. Particullary if you think might hang them somewhere were they are hard to get to. As @RonHebbard mentioned the "beam angle will change based on where you position the mirror and you'll want control of the spread of the light for close or far away focus's

Second vote for a DMX Iris to go with it. The small power supplies will run both. Even better if you can mount it on an LED leko that is able to do color.

Lextech said:

Second vote for a DMX Iris to go with it. The small power supplies will run both. Even better if you can mount it on an LED leko that is able to do color.

Click to expand...

@BC Theatre Guy You may want to include the mechanical extension that permits the addition of a scroller with a layer of heat shield in a frame behind the scroller and at least one frame of frost in your scroller's string unless you're mounting your I-Mirror on an LED ellipsoidal.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

One downside I have seen is that you can’t put a wide spread lens in them. Ie the mirror is too small for a 50 degree lens ( worse with a scroller)

JChenault said:

One downside I have seen is that you can’t put a wide spread lens in them. Ie the mirror is too small for a 50 degree lens ( worse with a scroller)

Click to expand...

Hmmm this Leko is about 40' from the proscenium and has a 19 degree lens. I could swap in 26 if needed. Which would you suggest?

LesWilson said:

Hmmm this Leko is about 40' from the proscenium and has a 19 degree lens. I could swap in 26 if needed. Which would you suggest?

Click to expand...

I expect a 19 or 26 degree would work fine ( although if you were putting a scroller on the fixture the 26 degree might be problematic). My point is that for short throw situations, itmay not be a good choice

JChenault said:

I expect a 19 or 26 degree would work fine ( although if you were putting a scroller on the fixture the 26 degree might be problematic). My point is that for short throw situations, itmay not be a good choice

Click to expand...

@LesWilson and @JChenault There are a pair of Rosco I-Mirrors operating in Theatre Burlington / Burlington Little Theatre in Burlington, Ontario on 26 degree Source Fours with scrollers, they occupy 7 channels each: Pan course, pan fine, tilt course, tilt fine, iris, scroller and dimmer. The irises chosen are from Rosco and are programmed such that lower DMX levels open them wider. This was intentional as too many board operators grab all channels and roll them down to zero which could easily result in the irises spending too much of their lives closed and operators wondering whey the lights don't appear to be lit. The pair have been happily operating for more than five years.
From north of Donald's walls.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

RonHebbard said:

@LesWilson NO! (Real power resplendent with all of it's sine waves intact ONLY)
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

Click to expand...

To be safe, don't put them on a dimmer. Mount the power supply near a 120 outlet, then run 18 ga. LV cable too the units.

I have two I-Cues but could stomach paying $170 when I have a closet full of decent generic power supplies.

Indeed both 19 and 26 degree lens tubes are typical with I-Cue use. I also second an DMX Iris, as it greatly increases the usability of the fixture, using LED or scrollers also adds a lot of use to the fixture.

Always recommend running I-Cues in 16-bit mode (4 channels) as opposed to 8-bit (2 channels) mode, ESPECIALLY when used for a throw over 20 feet. The increase in resolution is well worth two more channels eaten out of your universe. Even done this on old school consoles when using faders (mixed submasters, cues, manual) as its a lot easier to use faders than guessing with values when encoders aren't a thing.

I personally own two I-Cues and two DMX Irises (however, unfortunately, the kind that takes 5 pin and have a built-in power supply, so more cables, not just daisy chained off of the I-Cue 4 pin powered DMX). My Irises are also in a mode that sees them widest open when receiving no DMX or DMX of "zero". Some also have optional speed control modes, note that you may want to tweak things as some consoles will default them to speed "zero" and they won't move without the speed enabled.

In two venues I work in there are ETC Source-4 LED series 2 Tungsten HD fixtures dedicated for the I-Cues. As they create better whites than some and also create a decent range of colour expected for the use of an I-Cue (usually a spot, frontlight or special) I find they work great.

A question I would love to ask is what frame do others load their I-cue in on a source 4? The one closest to the fixture, or furthest away?
I only ask this as sometimes I notice a reflection happening off of the gel frame from the mirror when I am tipped up.

Mounting On The Fixture For proper operation, the device must be firmly attached to the light fixture it is mounted on. To achieve this, the mounting plate of the unit has two flat springs at the outer edge. This basic unit is designed to mount in the rear color frame slot of the ETC Source Four, Strand SL, Altman Shakespeare, and Selecon Pacific ellipsoidal fixtures. The units back plate should be inserted in the rear color slot and gently pushed down until the unit is firmly seated in the bottom slot and latched in place. Next, input power and DMX should be brought to the unit by way of 4-pin XLR connector scroller cable. If daisy chaining is desired, scroller cable should be run from the output connector on the device to the next device. When DMX is first applied to the unit, it will go through a homing sequence, which will cause the mirror to momentarily move rapidly in opposite directions, around the home position before following the chase sequence. If the rear slot is not available for mounting of the device because of the use of a gel holder in this slot and it is not convenient to place the gel holder in the front color slot, the front slot can be used for mounting.

Click to expand...

This is what the manual has to say... However, I've done it 3 ways, the front or rear slots... OR I've also put it so that the springs and plate go either side of the division between the two slots on a source-4, and it works really quite well I do say.

Also you are saying a "reflection from the gel frame", are you using steel non-black frames? I'd only use black frames in this orientation to keep the problem away.

I’m using black frames, got up on a ladder tonight and it’s the only one that was put in forward frame. The reflection is coming off of the gel, not the frame.