Electronic Theater Controls
Since its founding by Fred Foster in 1975, ETC (Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.) has become a global leader in award-winning entertainment and architectural lighting equipment. ETC's fixtures, lighting control consoles, dimmers and distribution products are the backbone of lighting systems in venues worldwide - from schools and churches, to community theaters and TV studios, to opera houses and theme parks.
Over the first decade of its history, ETC earned a reputation for sophisticated microprocessor-based lighting control consoles. By 1990, ETC had acquired Lighting Methods, Inc., a Rochester, New York-based manufacturer of entertainment dimming systems. ETC quickly became one of the largest fully-integrated entertainment lighting control manufacturers in North America, with offices in Middleton, WI; Orlando, FL; Rochester, NY; and Hollywood, CA. The next phase of growth began in 1995, when ETC acquired the lighting control division of London-based distributor ARRI GB. That same year, ETC opened an office in Hong Kong, extending its expansion into Asia. In 1997, ETC opened an office in Copenhagen, Denmark, to serve the Northern European market, and a year later opened an office in Rome, allowing greater access to Southern Europe. ETC acquired Transtechnik Lichtsysteme, Holzkirchen, Germany in 2002, widening ETC's market potential in Europe. Continuing its growth, ETC took an equity position in Avab France in 2003. In 2004, ETC acquired Dutch sine wave dimming manufacturer IES and its industrial weighing and measuring division Penko Engineering BV, both located in Veenendaal, the Netherlands. Beginning March 31, 2005, all formerly separate operations of ETC in Europe joined under the common corporate banner of ETC. ETC's new international headquarters, located in Middleton, WI (near the state capital Madison) serve as hub of global administration and manufacturing.
Through the years, ETC has gained an industry-wide reputation for outstanding service and customer support. ETC not only maintains in-house, 24-hour Technical and Customer Service staffs, but an extensive network of factory-trained, authorized field service centers.
Used Moving Lights
Moving lights, or intelligent lighting as they are sometimes called, are basically a type of stage lighting that is able to move due to its integrated mechanical elements, which go beyond the moving parts that are found in more traditional, non-moving lighting.
Automated lighting such as moving lights is highly valued by stage lighting technicians as through them, it is possible to create highly complex special effects that simply cannot be made using standard, non-moveable lights. It should be noted however, that when it comes to intelligent lighting, the real intelligence lies with the programmer of the show, rather than the lighting equipment or any operator.
Moving head lights, also called moving head luminaires, are highly versatile lighting instruments capable of performing multiple lighting functions at once. They have largely superseded the use of multiple non-moving lights to create special effects, which required many lights and a large amount of skill on behalf of the operators.
Moving lights are hooked up to a lighting control console and send data to it in one of three ways ?? through an Ethernet control (a relatively new technology), analogue control (now almost obsolete), or DMX, (which is now the industry standard).
So long as they have been properly programmed, the optics of wiggly lights can be altered in many ways, allowing for the ??personality? of the lights to be adapted almost instantaneously, depending on the requirements of the operator. Typically, moving lights will be pre-programmed before a production and controlled using simple commands, although some more experience operators may prefer to control them ??live?, if they have the experience to do so.
