Colour-Tramp is an evolution of the original Lamp-Tramp control system that toured with such names as The Rolling Stones' Voodoo Lounge and Pink Floyd's Division Bell tours. It's a lighting control centre for two and three-dimensional colour changing arrays, ideal for architectural applications such as building exteriors and illuminated plazas. Among other applications, it should also find favour in television, where the sophisticated triggering options will vastly simplify game show set control, say Artistic.
The product is a PC-based system that merges the concept of lighting control with a graphic 'paint' package. A geographic representation of the lighting array is entered on screen using a sophisticated editor. The screen layout is then used to paint the lighting cues, which are then built into sequences for playback. The screen layout is also used to provide an accurate preview of the output. An 'off-line' version of the software is available free of charge. The off-line version has been developed to allow designers to use the actual control software for the storyboard and presentation phase. This means that by the time the job has been won, much of the show programming is already complete. The system can even export graphics for incorporation into presentation software.
Colour-Tramp also features full support for the new RDM (Remote Device Management) protocol. RDM is used to retrieve sensor data from the lighting fixtures, such as temperature and voltage. This is displayed graphically with a colour coded display that provides instant feedback of fixture status. These diagnostic functions can be further enhanced by connection to the Artistic Licence IMS (Installation Management Server) which provides real time monitoring of installations and sends emails whenever human intervention is required.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
