USA - The new SeaChanger Colour Engines from Ocean Optics made their theatrical debut in July at the USA's largest community theatre. The CYM colour changers, which install easily into ETC Source Four ellipsoidal spotlights and require no cooling, were used at the Omaha Community Playhouse. John Gibilisco, resident designer and production electrician, said he was "very impressed".

The innovative SeaChanger Colour Engine uses robust dichroic filter technology to create millions of brilliant, rich, reproducible colours that will not fade, degrade or shift colour with time or temperature. "The simple and smooth colour transitions are impressive," said Gibilisco. "I'm using the extreme magenta feature to produce saturated reds that I could never sustain using conventional colour filters."

The SeaChanger colour engines are quiet in operation and eliminate the need for noisy cooling fans. Gibilisco said: "This is a huge bonus in our intimate theatre. Snapping traditional colour scrollers from frame one to thirty is not an option in this space. Also, 30 cooling fans can really increase the ambient noise, ruining quiet moments in a show."

The colour engine can be controlled using a 6-channel DMX for variable timed fades and colour mixing. Its high-tech optics offer 85% transmission efficiency for bright, cool operation. It supports the Remote Device Management (RDM) protocol and can be programmed for stand-alone operation.

(Lee Baldock)


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