Speaking at the ELC-Lighting stand, Silvio Cibien said, "Buddy has all the functions required to enable a user to get DMX out of their laptop at an entry level price. We feel that those taking their first tentative steps in the industry need to be able to experiment without the fear of doing something wrong, or losing all their work.
"The Buddy will enable them to program and create with ease, on their own laptop. But it's also an ideal piece of kit for any lighting designer who may suddenly find they need access to DMX and the ability to test a network when they least expect to."
The Buddy boasts the same quality and reliability as all ELC Lighting's products, yet at half the price of the company's professional range. Giving the power of 1024 DMX channels, the Buddy is a 2-port DMX-Ethernet node compatible with Art-Net, sACN and ShowNet and is fully supported by ELC Lighting's dmXLAN software, providing features such as setting up the DMX ports for complete dynamic merging of different DMX sources, control fixture for testing and rig start up and RDM (Remote Device Management) support.
The Buddy's two DMX-512 ports can be programmed as input or output. Programming the device is simple via specific software applications which are available to download from the dedicated website, www.dmxbuddy.com
As with all ELC dmXLAN nodes, the Buddy is compatible with dmXLAN v4 software. An added benefit is the availability of an integrated web page, available on any pc, laptop, tablet or Smartphone, which will convert the device into a simple DMX controller like the ELC focusHAND remote. Smartphone and PC based software developers of DMX software applications such as Freestyler, Luminair, Fil Rouge and LightFactory all recommend Buddy.
Despite being in its infancy, Buddy is already being put through its paces by established lighting designers. Most recently 10 ELC Buddy nodes were used at the renowned electronic music festival Tomorrowland in Belgium where lighting designers Patrick Bellens and David Smeets were keen to have one interface connected to each console on the DMX output at the festival. This guaranteed they would not have any network problems between the stages. Buddy ticked all the boxes, meeting the demands on budget and size.
Silvio concluded, "We aim to give young designers all the support and encouragement we can, with the same tools that professionals of the industry are already successfully using to help them build their career in this wonderful industry of ours, but we are thrilled that it's evolved into a tool for life that they'll hopefully still want to be using when they're industry veterans. I hope Buddy will give all its users the confidence they need to be inspired and creative - a true friend for life."
(Jim Evans)
