The Avolites Discussion Forum

I was told the otherday by somone I work with that you are releasing a new desk.....is this true??

Aparantly its very simular to the Jands Vista with not a single fader.

This guy doesn't know much about lighting, or sound, or anything for that matter, so I am wondering if he has been hearing wrong or getting confused with the Vista. Or I guess you MAY of actually released such a desk.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

I may be starting a rumor, but look, there was no big update of the operating systems af the avolites consoles since quite a long time, so obviously the programmers at avolites must be working on something else than bug-fixing... may be programming a new desk ?

ps: there is no real fact behind this assertion but... hope makes life

We certainly have no intention of phasing out any of the existing consoles, actually there is continual development on the 2000/2004 and D4 software platforms. Most recently we have been working on the Pearl PC software and there is a major Diamond 4 release due very shortly.

There was a Pearl software release on 11/07/2005 which covered a number of issues arising form the last major update and as a result the software is very stable.

We are working on new features for the 2000/2004 consoles but it’s too early to say just when these will be released, keep watching though.

Actually like many electronics manufacturers we are putting substantial resources into achieving RoHS compliance which is a requirement by July next year. This has necessitated re designing circuit boards because some components will not be available in compliant form, or the component package will not be available.

For those lucky enough not to know anything about RoHS this is a set of legalisation to restrict the use of hazardous substances. This prohibits the use of 60/40 lead solder and requires the use of newer solders which are far more difficult to use. This includes components which have 60/40 tinned leads, so old stock of these will need to be dumped and therefore will contribute prematurely to landfill, with no useful benefit received for the energy used in manufacturing. (However old products can still be serviced using 60/40 solder.)

Anyone still interested, and having dried their eyes from the thought of the incredible logistic challenge of making sure that compliant, and non compliant stock is kept separated (if you use a non compliant part on a flow soldering machine then the solder bath gets contaminated with lead) and used in the right order, then try doing a search for RoHS and Weee on the web.

Finally to keep updated with software releases and other information please register for these at:

http://www.avolites.org.uk/register/register.htm


Richard Salzedo
Avolites

Just as I thought.

We have about 20 Art Dimmers, and a good 15 of your desks, and still our guys talk out of their arse.

Mind you, he was trying to charge up a scissor lift via the 110V AUX socket last week Sat on 'charge' for an hour, and he wondered why nothing has happened.

Oh well, off I go, ready to tell him he talks shit, whilst programming 10 or so Macs on a Pearl. (note to self, must get to desk before he does, otherwise we are disaster struck )

Wow. Tnx Ric. Not often I see you post here, but is very nice to hear such reassuring words from yourself.

I had no doubt, but nevertheless I'm still pleased to hear that you will continue to focus on the Pearl & Diamond. Sure I still here people moan about the Avo desks, but for me the traditional layout and ease of use/familiarity makes all the difference in a world that otherwise seems to be favouring screens over faders. Your posting here also reinforces the friendly, helpful nature of the company. Some people just like to moan!

I have been happy to help with the development of the 2004 soft and it is great to see the end result as a stable and very flexible console. Problems and complaints are noticably very rare now at my end and when I ask (experienced users) opinions they have always been favourable. With the exception of some personality issues recently the vast majority of problems have been 'operator error'.

So, keep up the good work!

The biggest issues I see with the Pearl are the limited program memory and of course the 68340 CPU. Presumably the code-space can be reasonably easily overcome, but a faster processor not so. I am interested to know if there have been any ideas on these for the future.

PS. Remind Olie to reply to my email

Oh yes, that one with a red flag next to it. Thanks for reminding me!

The biggest issues I see with the Pearl are the limited program memory and of course the 68340 CPU. Presumably the code-space can be reasonably easily overcome, but a faster processor not so. I am interested to know if there have been any ideas on these for the future.

One way to solve the limited code-space is to continuously look at ways of optimizing the code. The Pearl software has been developed over many years and so you can imagine over that time some code becomes obsolete or unnecessary. Extra code space can be found by removing this unused code.

Ideally we would have a faster processor that would give us infinite processing speed, but that just is not possible. For the moment the 68340 is capable of running the Pearl at speeds more than adequate for operating a lighting console. The trick is to make sure that new additions to the software do not affect this speed. Whenever something new is added a very important part of that features development is to ensure that the code runs as fast as possible without affecting other functions.

I am programming a show on the Pearl 2004 at the moment with 8 movers and 120 generics, a few hazers, and its going nicely. But the memory tells me its got 60% left after the patch!!

This may be its mistake, but I have wiped the desk and started from scratch, and still it reckons its only 60% after patch.

For me, all the series are fantastic. I can't really say I am a huge fan of the Azure, but with the other desks, I need to set up a few position, gobo and colour presets, and off I go with a quick and easy light show. I was a bit lost when I used the Azure, I couldn't really find anything.

My only suggestion would be to have a few buttons like AT and THRU by the keypad, so when I want to kill the four pages of generics, I can go *@* or something to kill them all. Currently I am going into channel mode, and going 1 THROUGH whatever AT BLACKOUT. Which becomes tedious, as I am used to a very quick *@* with other deks.

Other than that, keep up the good work!!!