ETC's ColorSource Consoles Bring Big Control to Small Stages

"The ColorSource console is a simple machine, not a simplistic machine," says Adam Bennette, the R&D technical director involved in the desks' development. Each ColorSource console boasts a sleek design and hands-on control, with an onboard, 7" touchscreen and 20 or 40 pageable faders that can control 40 or 80 channels or devices. The touchscreen interface brings color-selection, record, and other functions to the forefront, while a wealth of deeper features can be accessed using the intuitive menu system. If first-time users get lost, they can quickly find their way again with built-in, multilingual help functions and video tutorials.

ColorSource consoles streamline the patching process by doing most of the work, the company says. The consoles offer comprehensive RDM (remote device management) support. When a console powers on, it immediately identifies any intelligent lights in the rig and populates their profiles in Patch. Within minutes of setup, the fixtures can be assigned to channels using the touchscreen and dragged into position on the onscreen stage map for easy direct-selection and programming.

When it comes to color, the console thinks like a lighting designer. "Fading color with ColorSource consoles works just as if you had two gelled tungsten lights and faded from one to the other," explains Bennette. "It sounds basic, but many LED lighting systems these days can't do a reasonable fade from, say, pink to sky blue without passing by some ghastly shades on the way." Unlike other small lighting consoles that operate in a limited range of colors, ColorSource desks support the color-mixing systems of all mainstream fixtures, including the extended gamut of ETC's seven-color Source Four LED and Desire luminaires. ColorSource consoles' touchscreen interfaces include swatches of preprogrammed, attractive colors and a color wheel for quick, full-spectrum selection, so a tight tech schedule won't get in the way of good lighting.

While all ColorSource desks provide excellent control of effects, cues, moving lights, and LED color, the AV models go where no ETC board has gone before: providing integrated audiovisual playback. "It was important to us to incorporate new artistic tools," says Bennette, explaining that small-scale show control increasingly involves much more than just lighting. "Even scenic projection is entering the mainstream, down to very modest productions." The AV consoles connect directly to monitors, projectors, networks, and sound systems and are able to store and play back still images and sound effects as part of the cue stack or live fader control. The consoles also boast the innovative Video Toy, which allows users to manipulate real-time projection effects through the touchscreen. With the addition of the downloadable Amigo wireless remote app, a ColorSource AV console can provide for all the control needs of a small production -- and free up a lot of space in the control booth.