Elation open days at P.S. Theater

On 15.03.2023 at the headquarters of P.S. Theater there was an open day associated, among other things, with the presentation of new Elation brand equipment. If someone signed up for the training on Obsidian consoles, he or she got a bonus to this event as well. It's worth it - because in addition to the free lunch the day before, the eyes were pleased with the lavishly set table with refreshments. Here they care about the customer.

In general, this type of meeting is an interesting phenomenon. It can be noticed that in many people a professor enters and the conversations even in the corridor look like a debate at a university, but this is probably a positive aspect, because in fact even in the "greatest" one finds a desire to share knowledge and engage in constructive conversation. Perhaps this is the magic of the theater. Before we leave the theater and go back to talking about what super realization recently who hasn't done let's start with the presentation of Elation equipment.

Elation equipment presentation.

Eldar Khashimbaev, who in the company is responsible for sales of equipment for Europe, talked about the equipment. In addition to the company's history itself, the presentation focused on product groups, where it can be seen that the brand places great emphasis on the PROTEUS line whose device names sound like characters from Asterix and Obelix: Proteus Lucius, Proteus Maximus, Proteus Hybrid, Rayzor - easy to remember, so effective.

We will certainly talk about the devices themselves in separate articles, but at first glance, the led washes from the Rayzor series (available in two versions, 1960 and 760) and Rayzor Blade panels are definitely worth attention. As for the aforementioned led washe - under its name is an unadulterated device, the use of which is defined by the name "Led Wash" - an effective zoom range (5° - 55° for the 1960 version and 5° - 77° for the 760 version), 19 led modules of 60W (1960), 7x 60W (760) and an additional proprietary "SparkLED" effect based on 2W white diodes will certainly work well at any type of event.

What deserves praise is the fact of moving libraries in a logical way - Rayzor 1960 and 760 are twins, which on a standard DMX mod we can use interchangeably without cloning, swapping or using another library - big applause because, as we know, some top manufacturers have a hard time figuring out that if we have a "SUPER WASH GREAT" and a "SUPER WASH SMALL" it would be nice if they worked at least on one mod in the same way.

A large part of the presentation was devoted to an innovative color-mixing mode in Elation-branded devices that really stands out from the competition - after all, red is red, but one that even Freddy Krueger didn't have so red in his dreams. In short, it's a proprietary system that enhances the color spectrum of the device with an additional mint-colored module. Importantly, all light sources from the new Elation brand devices are equipped with the same technological solution, which means that when switching from one device to another, we do not have to adjust the values for color mixing.

And as for the "Blade", it's a return to the past fashion of "Bar led", which I mentioned on the occasion of the review of BriteQ Lightstrike by Elation, an item armed with . led eyes of 60W each appearing in S and L versions, which specify the number of pixels (in this case 6 or 12). The device itself is interesting insofar as, in addition to the pixels themselves and the recently popular additional LED bar, the manufacturer has also used here its SparkLED effect, which significantly expands the effect possibilities. The said strip in the L version was physically hanging in the company's showroom, so I eyewitness confirm, interesting design and extreme power. Out of curiosity, the very name "Proteus" in front of the device means that the device has IP65 - if anyone doesn't know what IP65 is, then HERE I tell about the waterproof categories.

Magmatic - the effect brand of Elation

The last of the Elation brand solutions presented was also an effects faction with the proud name Magmatic. This is a separate brand of this manufacturer in whose offer we can find such solutions as smokers, hazers, snow generators or DMX-controlled stage fans.

Surprisingly, these devices do not come standard with the ability to control via RF or with the use of eFly (Elation's DMX wireless protocol), but we have the option to buy modules in the form of special chips - MAGFLY or MAGRF-R, which extend the possibility of communication in the device. And here we have to ask ourselves, cool or not cool? On the one hand, I have a reduced price of the device, because it is natural that inserting another module into the device raises its price, and on the other hand, buying a device from such a shelf rather seems to us that we get a full graze as standard. Whichever way you answer in your mind, the devices look decent, they will certainly do their job, and of course, as is Elation's custom, the latest MAGMA FOG 1500 fume hood is IP65 rated.

The next presentation was led by Marcin Robak, talking about the Elation Obsidian range of controllers. I will not duplicate here what has already been written, so I refer you directly to the ARTICLE about the mentioned consoles. In short, I will only say that what you get in the price Elation wants for Obsidian is a cosmic disproportion, because personally I would value the subject at much more than the manufacturer wants...

Lecture by Marcin Michna.

After the presentations, the icing on the cake is a panel discussion led by Marcin Michna. If there is somewhere in Poland a lighting school where Marcin lectures, please let us know. This gentleman could be listened to for hours so kudos to the Theater for bringing him to its headquarters. The topic of the panel was light in camera lenses. That is, how to adjust the angle of the front light so that the lady on stage does not look like a corpse, or vice versa if the goal is intended. What the person at the event sees, and what we see on the TV screen, and how to adjust the lights so that the viewer in front of the t.v. always sees a nice picture.

An interesting topic was raised by one of the participants of the event - that is, how this relates to the reality of band or theater implementers. It is often the case that awareness of light is simply ignored by musicians, actors. And it's hard to translate that a hat is a bad idea or after exiting behind a given line you disappear. The conclusion is that it all depends on the person. If someone is stubborn, he will remain stubborn, but we encourage, of course, a constructive conversation and spread awareness among artists.

Summary

In conclusion, such meetings are always worthwhile. You can meet familiar faces check what's in the grass on the equipment market and learn interesting things. Organizationally, the event was at a really high level and at every moment you could feel taken care of by the company's employees. The blocks were conducted with the utmost care, prepared in such a way that they completely exhausted the topic.

It is worth noting that the whole event was held under the banner of the Academy of Stage Techniques. As we all know, these types of brands created by distributors are mainly aimed at the presentation of equipment and its sale, but looking at it objectively, it was really substantive, a large dose of interesting knowledge, engaged presenters and a relaxed, casual atmosphere that made you want to spend the whole day there. To make it not too sweet, I missed there a small "light show" in the form of a 2-3 minute activity with music, which would certainly to a greater extent show the capabilities of the devices that were on site. However, as I was assured by Michal Frąckowiak (CEO at P.S. Theater), all implementers, technicians or companies are welcome to come to the headquarters for a quiet day, come and shoot the lights to their heart's content to thoroughly check out the possibilities and convince themselves of the product.

In conclusion, if I leave somewhere with a good mood it means that it was "cool", a rather imprecise term, but we will not conduct a psychological analysis of my feelings here. The Academy of Stage Techniques conducts periodic events, so everyone has a chance to find a term for it themselves, and it's really worth it. P.S. The theater thanks you for the opportunity to participate in this event, and you are cordially invited to take an interest in the subject. You can also read about the idea of the Academy of Scenic Techniques itself HERE.