The Gel Swatch Library lets users browse, compare, and search nearly 1,000 gel colours made by GAM, Lee, and Rosco, showing similar and complementary colours for each shade. The CXI Color Calculator lets users create nearly 500 different colors for the CXI IT dual-gelstring colour-mixing scroller.
The applications earned rave reviews from customers within hours of being released 13 July through Apple's App Store.
The Gel Swatch Library catalogues hundreds of gel colors, each displaying its Spectral Energy Distribution curve and CMY/RGB percentages. The clean interface gives a side-by-side look at similar and complementary colours for every gel, and the search feature makes it easy to find a particular gel by name.
The Gel Swatch Library condenses the information found in gel swatch books into a simple interface for the Apple devices already in the pockets of many lighting pros. "It allows you to search across all the major manufacturers for a gel name and takes you directly there," says Scott Longberry, Wybron engineer and co-developer of the application. "No more flipping through large swatch books trying to find that specific colour."
The CXI Color Calculator simulates the colour-mixing capabilities of the CXI with two overlapping gelstrings of cyan, magenta, and yellow. As the colours blend, different shades appear at the top of the screen, along with the numerical values to be entered into a control console to replicate the color on stage. The application also displays the values necessary to produce several GAM, Lee, and Rosco gels.
The Color Calculator condenses the information found on the plastic CXI color wheel. "Using the old wheel color calculator at a tech table in a dark theatre didn't work too well," says Miles Dudgeon, Wybron's marketing director and co-developer of the application. "That's not a problem with the illuminated screens on the iPhone and iPod."
Wybron President Keny Whitright adds, "We don't want to just keep up with new lighting technology - we want to lead the way. These applications took a lot of work and a lot of time to develop. They turned out great, and they're going to help a lot of people."
Wybron was part of a group of programmers chosen to join Apple's developer programme. As of the Apple World Wide Developer Conference last month, only about a sixth of those who applied had been accepted - about 4,000 approved developers out of an estimated 25,000.
(Jim Evans)
