ETC News of the day...
- Thread starterjmabray
- Start date
The future is already here in the form of Smartfade, Congo Jr, Congo, Ion, and EOS. Unless ETC has a surprise console up their sleeve this day has been obviously coming for several years now as they have slowly added products to their line.
I've got no problem letting two scene preset fade away. But there is a big hole in the product line between Smartfade and Ion/Jr. There are a lot of Schools, small college theaters, community theaters, and churches that want more power than Smartfade but don't need/can't afford Ion. There are a lot of spaces with 96 or less dimmers that never use moving lights. They need a baby Ion, sell it with 200 channels, drop the encoder wheels and add 16 submasters to the console. Price it about halfway between Smartfade and Ion/Jr with a wing panel and you've got a product that will make all the people above happy. (Hey ETC crew you don't have to pay me for the idea, just name it the "Gafftaper" and send me some swag
)ScaredOfHeightsLD
Active Member
This is so sad. While I am a huge fan of the new EOS/ION line, I don't see them as a replacement for the 48/96 in high school settings. As has been said before the Smartfade isn't really an acceptable substitute for the Express and for many schools the ION is almost too much of a console. Even with its low price tag. Schools still want to be able to push up that channel 1 fader and have channel one come up. Hopefully this will either initiate a new line or some sort of software patch for the ION. I am certainly sad to see it go and if I had 7k lying around i might think of picking one up.
I propose we make today a national holiday in remembrance of the express line console.
I propose we make today a national holiday in remembrance of the express line console.
STEVETERRY
Well-Known Member
The future is already here in the form of Smartfade, Congo Jr, Congo, Ion, and EOS. Unless ETC has a surprise console up their sleeve this day has been obviously coming for several years now as they have slowly added products to their line.
I've got no problem letting two scene preset fade away. But there is a big hole in the product line between Smartfade and Ion/Jr. There are a lot of Schools, small college theaters, community theaters, and churches that want more power than Smartfade but don't need/can't afford Ion. There are a lot of spaces with 96 or less dimmers that never use moving lights. They need a baby Ion, sell it with 200 channels, drop the encoder wheels and add 16 submasters to the console. Price it about halfway between Smartfade and Ion/Jr with a wing panel and you've got a product that will make all the people above happy. (Hey ETC crew you don't have to pay me for the idea, just name it the "Gafftaper" and send me some swag
We hear you on the gap and we're working on it really hard!
(are you sure you're not applying for a job in ETC marketing?
ST
ST
I would have to disagree. There are those around a theatre that still need "the push this up and make this area brighter". However it is not now, nor has it ever been the the students that held that back. With the ability to use direct selects and labeling of subs I found it to be more effective with our less than technically inclined Clientele,( i.e. admin) then anything else we have tried in the past.
there are console manufacturers out there who still make 2 scene presets. like these folks:
Leprecon® Lighting for Professionals
I can't speak much to their product support, but I've used tons of these on small gigs. Zero88 makes the functional frog series. both of these mfg's have very reasonable prices.
peace, Tim O
Leprecon® Lighting for Professionals
I can't speak much to their product support, but I've used tons of these on small gigs. Zero88 makes the functional frog series. both of these mfg's have very reasonable prices.
peace, Tim O
highschooltech
Active Member
In ETC's defense it takes about 5 minutes to teach a high school student to run the basic keypad functions on a console. Given 15 minutes they will be faster with the keypad than the sliders. I don't buy the argument at all that it's a big deal to teach someone how to press three or four keys on a console. In reality a bunch of submasters are far more useful and important than individual channels... especially in the current theater world where everyone gets at least 96 dimmers in a new install. Being a former high school teacher I the first thing I did was put my Express in 1 scene + subs mode and teach my students to repatch the single scene channels to run specials, houselights, things that need special treatment. Then record and use all the subs you can. It's not that hard to teach or understand and it starts to tap the full power of your console. So in that sense, there is really very little difference between an Express being used in optimal ways and an Ion with a wing panel or two (except Ion has a TON of other things it can do as well).
To challenge ETC a little more... The problem here is the price and function jump. Strand has the 200 a 2 scene preset with subs. They also have the a whole line of consoles like the Classic Palette with 32 subs and 1000 channels. But at the bottom of that line is a special console. The Basic Palette... 16 subs, 100 channels, the SAME software as their big $40k EOS competitor consoles, priced just a little more than a Smartfade. If down the road you have the need, you can pay to unlock more channels too. That's perfect for many small school, church, and community theater applications. As we have discussed at length in other threads, the beauty of the new generation of ETC and Strand consoles is that function is limited only by the creativity and frequency of software updates. Smartfade is limited in how it can be upgraded. The baby Palette on the other hand will be upgraded along with the rest of the Strand line.
I could move to Middleton if I have to but I would rather telecommute.
To challenge ETC a little more... The problem here is the price and function jump. Strand has the 200 a 2 scene preset with subs. They also have the a whole line of consoles like the Classic Palette with 32 subs and 1000 channels. But at the bottom of that line is a special console. The Basic Palette... 16 subs, 100 channels, the SAME software as their big $40k EOS competitor consoles, priced just a little more than a Smartfade. If down the road you have the need, you can pay to unlock more channels too. That's perfect for many small school, church, and community theater applications. As we have discussed at length in other threads, the beauty of the new generation of ETC and Strand consoles is that function is limited only by the creativity and frequency of software updates. Smartfade is limited in how it can be upgraded. The baby Palette on the other hand will be upgraded along with the rest of the Strand line.
We hear you on the gap and we're working on it really hard! (are you sure you're not applying for a job in ETC marketing?
I could move to Middleton if I have to but I would rather telecommute.
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Leprecon is the Devil. When they say Lighting for Professionals I really want to know what kind of Professional they're talking about.
I disagree. Leprecon would be my first stop for small preset boards.
I'd go with a LP-600 over a SmartFade nearly any day of the week. The one drawback I see is Leprecon's tech support. Now if a Lep employee is stalking this thread, and wants to get in contact with me about a wonky LP-624 board, then we can put the tech support to the test.
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As was brought up in another recent thread. Before you go bashing Lep... Have YOU called Lep and asked for tech support?
well sir - one way of determining if one is a professional or not is if you get paid. I've used the Lep stuff quite a bit for small corporate stuff. Ironically, I get paid the same day rate to put up 8 lekos and run them with a Lep that I do for running a hog and a bunch of movers. they also serve as a nice cheap wing for hogs if you need more subs. (I'm not sure if the Hog 3 software allows this, but the Hog II sure does).
a Lep sure isn't an ETC board - the ability to assign different dimmer profiles by channel, for instance, or to make and manipulate groups -- but is is a solid, inexpensive, easy to use console with a cue stack and some rudimentary effects. they even have an audio trigger which can be fun to mess around wtih.
I can't speak to Lep tech support because I've never had to use it. not bad, eh?
peace, Tim O
Methinks NoStoppin just PWN'D Grog12! You two boys play nice: you both love grandMA; can't we all just get along?
