Silent ETC Source Four Revolution moving light

Successfully launched at Plasa 2003, London, the ETC Source Four Revolution was highlighted at LDI as well. Around ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt ETC should start shipping product. Since it introduced the first Source Four spotlight in 1992, ETC has led the market in conventional theatrical-lighting fixtures. The Source Four has become a mainstay of lighting rigs worldwide, for its light output, optical precision and energy economy. Inevitably, as popularity of Source Four luminaires has grown, so has the demand for a Source Four that moves. At PLASA 2003 ETC launched its anticipated moving light, the Source Four Revolution. ETC CEO Fred Foster remarked: "We decided we were not going to offer a moving light until we could make one with all the qualities of a Source Four." Revolution uses an incandescent lamp and the same optics of the Source Four Zoom. Lighting professionals get the brightness and cosine distribution they expect from Source Four, along with precise imaging and a 16-36 ° zoom capability. ETC designed Revolution with an emphasis on reliability and repeatability, the luminaire returns to the precise position, colour and shutter cut every setting throughout cues. One of the greatest irritants for users of moving lights has been the luminaires' noise - the whirring of fans and automated parts, which conflict with the acoustic demands of theatre, concert and opera settings. ETC was not be satisfied until it made the first truly quiet moving light. "This meant going beyond just eliminating fan noise," says ETC's Tom Littrell (Revolution's Product Manager). "Our engineers knew that we would have to make motors run in a new way." ETC has now developed QuietDrive - an ingenious mechanism for making motors run quietly. "We were also determined to make an affordable moving light that was better than anything comparable and one designed specifically for theatrical needs,"Foster continued. "There's never been a moving light like this - versatile and economical, reliable and quiet. Everyone - professional theatres, school and college auditoriums, touring shows - can have the power of automated lighting with Source Four Revolution." ETC has also honoured the long love affair that lighting designers have had with traditional colour gels. For many purists, there is nothing comparable to the subtle colour achieved by an L201 or R02, regardless of advances in dichroic-colour technology. To maintain this aesthetic advantage of gels, ETC has integrated a quick-change colour scroller into the Source Four Revolution. At the same time, Revolution is designed to accept M-sized dichroic filters when vibrant colours are desired. ETC designED an on-board dimming, so lighting technicians can save their dimmer channels for their other fixtures. Revolution's electronics conveniently permit the use of house circuits set on non-dim for all power needs. Additionally the CE version of Revolution was designed with worldwide compatibility and touring in mind, adapting automatically to all global voltages and frequencies. Revolution was also engineered with an internal media frame (IMF), which allows users to insert a conventional filter into the beam whenever required. The IMF is shipped with a frost filter for soft beam edges. If colour correction or extra colour is needed, the automated frame accepts regular lighting media. ETC has fitted Revolution with a work-saving new Quick eXchange Lamp (QXL), which provides the warm tones and colour rendering of an incandescent source. The QXL incorporates the filament design of the Source Four's HPL with a new, patented lamp base to allow lamp changes without opening the housing on the fixture and without disturbing any lamp settings and optics. he Source Four Revolution's modularity enables customers to decide how they configure their light. The standard base unit provides pan, tilt, beam-edge change, 16-36° zoom range, Internal Media Frame, integrated colour scroller and on-board dimming. Designed into the unit are two module bays that are the key to the Revolution's flexibility. When other features and functionality are needed, users just loosen two thumbscrews and slide in an external module adding indexing gobo wheels, dichroic colour filters, an iris or even shutters.