Designed by Horizon Control, Marquee software version 3.1 introduces new moving light and intensity effects, independent attribute timing, redundant tracking backup, a new colour picker tool, and astronomical time event control.
Robert Bell, Horizon control product manager, said: "For this release, the most challenging hurdle for the development team was to 'tame' our very powerful effects capabilities into a simple interface. When conducting a demonstration of the final version to one of our more inexperienced beta testers, it was most satisfying to hear him comment that adding an effect to moving lights is as easy as slipping in a gobo."
The new moving light and intensity Effects allow operators to select from a pre-existing list of lighting effects, or by using a list of simple and supplied mathematical equations along with host parameters, they may create an unlimited array of interesting and unique effects specific for their lighting task at hand. Independent attribute timing gives programmers the ability to add unlimited cue dynamics to every attribute of every fixture in every cue, while redundant tracking backup allows a second Marquee console, or processor operating the Marquee PC software, to track the main console and automatically take control in the event of a failure.
By introducing the new colour picker, Marquee says it is giving lighting designers the quickest and most flexible software colour picking system available. Using supplied images, or their own from a digital camera, users simply position the cursor over the image to select the exact colour desired - Marquee will then automatically produce that colour on either RGB or CMY based fixtures.
(Lee Baldock)