Avolites storms Prolight+Sound 2018
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Avolites kicked things off on the eve of the exhibition by hosting its annual distributor summit and awards. The company introduced its latest product developments to the 68 sales partners who attended from around the world, and afterwards presented a number of awards to its highest-performing partners.
"The response from the international team was excellent," says sales director Koy Neminathan. "They were genuinely excited about the Q3 media server and what Synergy offers to their customers. The Avolites Academy was also an area of key importance as we are now rolling out certified Avolites training via our global distribution network."
Following this success, on the opening day of the show, sales manager Stephen Baird-Smith introduced Synergy at the company's packed press event. Key features of the Synergy platform include the ability for users to connect and configure their Ai media server from the Titan interface.
Synergy's Lightmap feature means that users can stream Ai video colour data through any fixture group, including both RGB and CMY fixtures, to instantly integrate them into a larger video canvas - meaning that everything from high-res LED screens to LED fixture groups can be controlled from one intuitive User Interface (UI).
"We were inundated with people asking us for more information about Synergy," says Baird-Smith of the show. "It is great to know that the industry is as excited about lighting and video integration as we are."
Also launching at Prolight+Sound on the Avolites stand was the Q3 media server, a compact server designed for use in shows, installations and corporate events. Though small, the Q3 packs a punch, unlocking 4k playback through a single DisplayPort 1.2 connection with 2 x DVI outputs for HD displays. The server supports EDID for all three outputs, configurable via a dedicated front-end UI. The server allows for visually lossless playback with Avolites' unique AiM codec. Like with Avolites' larger severs, the Q3 has native Notch support as well as a powerful inbuilt effects engine.
Paul Wong, Avolites' new managing director was on stand throughout the show to meet visitors and stakeholders and listen to their feedback on the products. "I am extremely pleased with the feedback that we received on the Q3 and the integration that Synergy provides between Titan and Ai," says Wong. "I'm proud of our team in developing another industry first... the ability to seamlessly integrate lighting and video and to control both from a single console."
Two Avolites software updates also went live at Prolight+Sound this year. Titan v11 updates Avolites' industry standard lighting control software, Titan, and Ai v10.2 brings new features to Avolites' media control software.
Ai also saw a major lift with Ai v10.2, key features of which include NDI output, allowing video to be outputted over Cat 5. Users can now also stream ACN output for modular LED fixtures, allowing for more lines of DMX over the same network. LTC timecode via Line in means that analogue timecode can now be utilised within Ai's licence-key products as well.
Making the programming platform more intuitive for users is the toggle timecode range that tracks on/off so users can switch from locked timecode to free-run for when the artist decides to freestyle during a show! Aspect correction mode enables users to scale after cropping, allowing more flexibility when working with different aspect ratios.
Following the successful launch of Synergy, Q3, Ai v11 and Titan v10.2 at Prolight + Sound, Avolites will be demonstrating all of these developments next month at PLASA Leeds, 1-2 May on stand N-D01.
(Jim Evans)
