BUYERS GUIDE: OVERSEAS GEAR YOU CAN'T GET HERE

That's right. You can't get this gear in the United States for one reason or another…yet. Check out this sampling of toys your overseas counterparts can specify. They may be coming your way in the near future. Do you know what you're missing?

MONSTAVISION

QUIKRIG

New Zealand-based LED screen manufacturer and supplier monsta-Vision offers displays for the LED screen event rental market. Quik-Rig is a lightweight and durable framing solution constructed of high grade, powder-coated aluminum, making each 5.7' panel light enough to be lifted by one person. QuikRig panels are pre-cabled and connect together using industrial strength clamps. Load bars and tie bars at the top and bottom allow a number of mounting systems from freestanding feet (six panels high) to flown or hung applications. A screen 15 panels (31') high can withstand 62m/hr winds with the top and bottom load bars fixed. Two people can assemble a 450-sq. ft. screen in less than two hours.

monstaVision Ltd.
Auckland, New Zealand
www.monstavision.com
Circle 120 on Reader Service Card

WIRELESS SOLUTION

WHAT'S UP! DMX-512 SOFTWARE

What's Up! is a software system for control of a wireless DMX (W-DMX) system, providing an overview of the signal and all systems that are up and running. You can access all units by clicking on them and view the status of the signal quality, DMX address, and unit name. You can also access, view, and control the W-DMX system via the Internet. The software also allows naming all fixtures.

Wireless Solution AB
Uddevalle, Sweden
www.wirelessdmx.com
Circle 112 on Reader Service Card

KRYPTON NEON LLC

HOTFIL

Hotfil has been patented and tested over the past two years in Germany and combines fluorescent and neon lighting, while eliminating many of the limitations of both conventional sources. Energy efficiency is achieved at levels comparable to that of conventional fluorescent lighting, while providing the flexibility and adaptability afforded by neon. Hotfil can be used where fluorescent lighting cannot fit or where dark spots from tombstone connectors are undesirable. The dimmable tubes are not confined to predefined wattages, as are fluorescents. Varied tube lengths can be maintained at the same brightness level. Lower operating voltages are required, and retrofitting to existing fluorescent fixtures is possible through the use of standard T5 connectors. Conventional solid-state fluorescent ballasts can power Hotfil. Conversion for the US is in development. With Hotfil using an operating current of 170mA (equal to a T5 fluorescent), you need only a single row of tubing, whereas with 60mA neon, you'd need three rows to get the same light output.

Krypton Neon LLC
Long Island City, NY
www.neonshop.com
Circle 113 on Reader Service Card

AVOLITES

ART2000I DIMMERS

The Avolites ART2000i fixed installation system is primarily offered as a 24×16A channel unit or a 12×32A channel in a single unit. These channel ratings can also be mixed within a single mainframe unit. Fundamental to the design is expansion capability. A master 24-channel system can control an additional 24 channels of dimming, fitted into a similar sized unit without the associated cost of control electronics. Also integral is a hot patch system, giving 48 outputs to 48 lamp circuits. This often reduces the channel count of dimmers required. Electronic components are easily separable from the main hardware frame, so hardware items can be installed on site and the electronic components added at a later stage when the site is clean. The building circuits can be disconnected, via a single connector, for maintenance testing. All dimmers are fitted with dual DMX inputs as standard, allowing two separate control inputs. The range utilizes high power, protected triacs, and an intelligent thermal management system.

Avolites Limited
Park Royal, London
www.avolites.com
Circle 114 on Reader Service Card

COOLUX

PANDORA'S BOX MEDIA SERVER AND PLAYER

Pandora's Box is a media server combining modern computer technology with traditional lighting control and providing real-time image processing of up to nine image layers. Features include: cross-fading and overlapping separate layers; individual transparency masks for images and video, 2D/3D effects processing images in different shapes; 3D positioning, rotation, and scaling of layers; DV input via firewire or optional capture card; multi-screen and soft-edge. The media player is also available from coolux. It controls slideshows and videos via DMX. The user is provided with two image layers, allowing for mixing image and video files. The software features dimming, cross-fading, gobo selection, gobo rotation, positioning, zooming, and color mixing. A USB/DMX interface allows for triggering the images using any DMX lighting control. In addition to the media server and player, media loops provide users with a selection of animated background images for use with other products. Similar to traditional gobo projections, the media loops can be combined as required, to create new image content.

coolux GmbH
Cologne, Germany
www.coolux.de
Circle 115 on Reader Service Card

LT LIGHT

HYDRA PLUS

The Hydra Plus digital lighting controller offers up to 1,000 channels for conventional lighting, up to 100 channels for scrollers, or 2,048 attribute channels for moving heads. It includes an alphanumeric keyboard, built-in hard disk, and floppy disk, allowing editing and saving of shows as well as continuous updates of software and libraries. The Ethernet function can control up to nine networks in real time and allows interconnection of several consoles or off-line editors. Also included are two SVGA out for TFT monitors, one DMX in, four DMX out, MIDI, SMPTE, external triggers, serial ports (command accepted), and a printer. Compatible with Capture, Show Designer, and WYSIWYG, Hydra Plus is designed for multimedia, TV, theatre, and live applications.

LT Light
Madrid, Spain
www.lt-light.com
Circle 116 on Reader Service Card

ENTTEC

THE DATAGATE

The Datagate is essentially a DMX splitter, a DMX merger, and a DMX-to-Ethernet node in one package. It has an Ethernet port, which acts as an input or output, as well as eight DMX ports, any of which can be configured as an input or output. This allows the Datagate to be configured to distribute up to eight DMX universes from its Ethernet input or, to take a common application, accept four universes via Ethernet and distribute each to two optically isolated DMX outputs. It can also accept standard DMX inputs and merge or copy them to the other 5-pin DMX outputs or the Ethernet port. Merging can be configured as HTP or LTP, and the configuration can vary from port to port. The Datagate is available in three models. Datagate D operates like a standard DMX splitter. For merging, you can purchase a software upgrade to the Datagate DM. For Ethernet capabilities, upgrade to the Datagate DME. Additional features include wireless DMX links (using third party wireless LAN access points) and opto-isolation between DMX ports. The Datagate is also ArtNet-compliant and RDM-ready.

ENTTEC
Victoria, Australia
www.enttec.com
Circle 117 on Reader Service Card

LOOK SOLUTIONS, LTD.

ORKA (TOURING VERSION)

This 9,000W fog generator/700W fan combination is capable of fogging large areas in a very short time. It operates from two channels of a DMX-512 console. The fog and fan can be adjusted separately in increments of 1%. A diverter to set the direction of the airflow and stand-alone controls are also built in. Housed in a touring case, it's still extremely compact and lightweight.

Look Solutions, Ltd.
Ronnenberg, Germany
www.looksolutions.com
Circle 118 on Reader Service Card

XILVER

SPARKLE RANGE

SparkleRGB and SparkleMono LED luminaires are designed to (retro)fit into many QR111 or PAR36 fixtures. Sparkle RGB can create 16 million different colors using the internal Xilver Color Combining System, while Sparkle Mono is available with seven different colors. The units use a maximum of 15W and have an expected lifetime of 100,000 hours. Sparkle RGB contains 12 high power Luxeon LEDs — four red, four green, and four blue — and emits a homogenous beam, instead of visible multi-colored dots of LEDs. Sparkle Mono contains 12 high-power Luxeon LEDs in one color: white, warm white, green, blue, royal blue, red, or amber LEDs. It can be powered by a 0-12VAC or 15VDC supply and is also available is a 110VAC and a 230VAC version. The Sparkle RGB can be controlled and powered by the Sparkle-Controller, which can control and power up to 12 units. Both units have a beam angle of 18°, but optional lenses are available for adjusting the beam angle. Both fixtures are also available in an IP65 version for outdoor use, called Wet Sparkle.

Xilver
Gronsveld, The Netherlands
www.xilver.nl
Circle 119 on Reader Service Card