New Martin Moving Lights

[macsound]

There were a couple other releases, but the size and features of this light is stunning and rarely seen today. Kind of like the world's obsession with giant phones, the same trend with moving lights. Until this!
Something I've always ranted about is how you can't find a small moving light with CMY and shutters. Well thank you Martin! Hoping for some reviews in the near future

Martin ERA 400 Performance CLD

Designed to fulfill the demand for a bright, compact, tour-worthy moving head, the Martin ERA 400...

www.martin.com

Ok ok, it's not small, but same output as a VL1000 but 10" shorter and 20 lbs lighter.

 

[Michael K]

you can't find a small moving light with CMY and shutters

Did the HES Sola Frame 750, Clay Paky Axcor Profile 400, Ayrton Diablo, Elation Fuze Profile (OK, it's RGB-Mint-A, not CW w/ CMY), and Showline SL LEDSpot 300 all manage to come to market without your notice? (OK, yeah, I'm a nerd and keep on top of these things, I don't blame you for missing a few of the bazillion excellent lights that are on the market these days.) The 300w sector has a fairly wide selection now.

I'm definitely interested in having an in-dept discussion with you at some point, you have a more discerning perspective then many I've chatted with. I'm rather curious what drives you're opinions.

 

[rsmentele]

Elation's Fuze Profile CW was released at Infocomm last year... 380w CW LED source with framing and under $4000.......

 

[macsound]

I definitely did miss a couple of those!
But a couple aren't white source (which I prefer) and a couple aren't exactly small so the choices are still few. That shared google doc thats floating around with all the specs, does anyone know if that has been updated with these fixtures?

Also the more I look at all of these specs, I'd still love an even smaller fixture that's effectively a moving ellipsoidal that's like super bare bones. Something really designed for frontlight, really designed for theatre and at a price where you can realistically replace conventionals.
Now that we're looking at almost $2k for color changing source fours, the margin for something that's small and just color and shutters could be even closer in price.

 

[Michael K]

That doc would be mine, and indeed it has! If there's anything missing, feel free to let me know.

With the direction ETC took the Releve, I feel like they're the most likely to fill that niche, the LED VL 1.1K is still a little more feature heavy.

Edit: I'm pretty sure the Fuze Profile is the only non-white source above.

 

[soundlight]

What's not to like about non-white sources? In this application, I think the Fuze Profile - with the additive mixing - would be my choice. Fairly trim albeit a bit tall (though shorter than the VL1100). The RGBMA color mixing was actually pretty fantastic, and color mixing glass is expensive and often a mechanical point of failure, so I was very glad to demo a light without subtractive mixing.

Additionally, the field of additive sources is much flatter color-wise compared to CMY units. In particular, I'm frustrated by how the Ayrton Mistral/Diablo (the mini Ayrton fixtures) and the Clay Paky Scenius (lamp based and huge, but nonetheless something that should have even color) have mixing that isn't flat. Then again, I'm using things in worst-case scenario generally, with the zoom all the way wide and often the prism in for corporate gigs - I've found without the prism in and with the zoom at a more middle ground position the color mixing isn't nearly as bad.

Point being though, I was very very happy in demoing the Elation Fuze Profile, the additive engine was really great to work with, the whole fixture was relatively fast, and it was surprisingly quiet. If I was picking lights for a theater, that would definitely be one of the ones I'd go for.

If you will be mostly using the fixture in white only though, then a white source is the way to go for punch. If you're not going to constantly use it at wide zoom with CMY in the midrange, the Ayrton Diablo is a really compelling option. Super small, the fixture itself is aesthetically clean if you have to mount it out in the house in a theater (which is something to consider given how whacky some movers look), and it's just *small*. They really engineered the size down on it. Really impressive.

 

[macsound]

Theoretical of course, but I was thinking of front light. In a regular musical I design most of the source fours are front light in various shades of white. In my experience, nothing beats a white LED source if you want white light and especially if you're mixing fixtures in a plot. I respect the Releve because they learned from the revolution nightmare but not sure they'll ever be in mass supply at rental companies.

I guess overall I'm thinking of price and "intelligent" solutions of old. Like when we used to put scrollers in front of every light. Or dozens of iCues.
Would people think it would be useful to have a simple, svelte, inexpensive, moving light? That's what I'm envisioning.