Artistic Licence Blog

14/06/2010 Flexi-Strip is launched

The new Flexi-Strip range has been launched

03/05/2010 Rail-DMX-DALI Released

The upgraded version of Rail-DALI has been completed and is now in stock

28/04/2010 The first PLASA Focus for Artistic Licence

Artistic Licence attend a very succesful PLASA Focus

24/03/2010 Rail-DALI-DMX is now in stock

The first 11 Rail-DALI-DMX were shipped

18/02/10 Tim Baarsch appointed R&D Manager

Tim Baarsch takes on the role of R&D Manager

09/02/10 The first group Colour-Tramp training session takes place

Wayne Howell runs a successful Colour-Tramp training session that went through basic to advanced functions of the software

04/02/10 A successful Arc 2010 finishes

Artistic Licence finishes a very successful 6th Arc show.

21/01/2010 Technical Focus Released

The first Technical Focus has been completed. It highlights projects and info about Art-Net, DALI, Colour-Tramp & Interfacing. It can be downloaded from the newsletter section on the web-site.

19/11/2009 evenTech 2009

Louise L'Homme and Simon Hobday attended evenTech 2009 in Dublin

16/09/09 Two-Play awarded a Commendation

Artistic Licence's Two-Play was awarded a Commendation by the PLASA09 judges at this years PLASA show.

14/09/09 Art-Net Seminar

As part of PLASA09 Wayne Howell presents an Art-Net seminar that delves into the details of Art-Net to end users, installers and manufacturers.

Full details can be downloaded from the project part of the web-site.

29/08/09 R&D Expands

As Artistic Licence continues to grow so does the R&D department. Brijesh Kalani joins the team

7/11/09 Art-Net revised

A revision to the Art-Net protocol has been released.

Key features include:
1) Addition of diagnostics packet.
2) Additional status field in ArtPollReply to indicate statically or DHCP assigned IP addresses.
3) Oem codes moved to a seperate .h file

15/08/09 Sign-Control & Two Play Released

Details of two new products released; Sign-Control & Two-Play

Sign-Control is a DIN Rail mount 1U DMX controller

Two-Play is a DIN Rail mount 2U Art-Net & DMX recorder and playback controller

11/11/09 DMX-Workshop revised

A new version of DMX-Workshop (V4.73) and the Art-Net SDK (V73) is available for free of charge download.

Key features include:
1) Reorganisation of menus and toolbar.
2) New viewer for the recently added Art-Net diagnostics packet.
3) Ability to transmit trigger macros.
4) Enhanced network node display with node sorting by binding address and indication of statically or DHCP assigned IP addresses.

25/07/09 Diane Grant as Non-Excutive Director

As part of the internal restructuring Diane Grant joins the AL team as Non-Executive Director

21/07/09 Moving about....

After several months of internal restructuring Simon Hobday takes up the role of Managing Director while Wayne Howell becomes a full-time Creative Director

14/07/09 Art-Pipe & Art-Relay Released

Art-Pipe and Art-Relay have been released;

Art-Pipe is a 24 channel Low Voltage Dimmer that is controlled by Art-Net

Art-Relay is a 12 channel Mains Relay controlled by Art-Net

08/06/09 Artistic Licence Asia Moves

Artistic Licence has moved offices. The new address is:

Room 1903
Fui Fai Commercial Centre
27 Hillier Street
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong

30/04/09 Three new Din-Rail Power Supplies added to the range

As the range of Din-Rail mounted products increases so does the need for Din-Rail mounted Power Supplies.

Artistic Licence has added three new Power Supplies that will power the majority of Din-Rail mounted products:

PSU-24-2.5-DR
PSU-24-5-DR
PSU-24-10-DR

16/02/09 Rack-Split RDM RJ45 Released

The popular RDM Splitter range has been extended to include a Rack-Mounted RJ45 version of Rack-Split RDM.

29/1/09 Video-Stream Released

The first verion of Video-Stream has been released. Video-Stream is an application which plays back full screen video clips and is triggered by Art-Net macro commands.

The initial release of the product is free of charge and installs automatically with Colour-Tramp.

4/1/09 Cata-Lynx Redesigned

Cata-Lynx has been redesigned and is now called Cata-Lynx I/P. There is also a output version, Cata-Lynx O/P

18/12/08 Art-Net Range Extended

A complete Re-Design of the Art-Net range has been completed incoporating several new additions and improvements

04/08/08 Technical Sales Manager Joins Artistic Licence

Louise L'Homme joins Artistic Licence as Technical Sales Manager

01/08/08 Data-Lynx grows in size

Three variants are now available.

Data-Lynx O/P - Art-Net to 12 Universes of DMX / RDM
Data-Lynx I/P - 12 Universes of DMX to Art-Net
Data-Lynx IO/P - A split of the above. Standard is 6 I/P's & 6 O/P's, however custom versions are available

01/07/08 Artistic Licence Asia Opens it's Doors

Artistic Licence Asia opens it's doors in Hong Kong for the first time

01/03/08 Artistic Licence Turns Twenty

Twenty years on and still going strong

12/04/08 Colour-Tramp and Pixi-Stream V2.08 released.

Key changes:
New features include:
1) Cells can now be displayed as circles, ellipses or rectangles.
2) Pixi-Stream can now load Colour-Tramp files.
3) Layout Fixture Attributes improved so it can be used to change single attributes.
4) New Circular array layout wizard.
5) Rectangular array wizard improved allowing results to be added rather than replace existing.
6) Several new example files added including one for a Ferris wheel.

1/04/08 Finger-Trouble V1.02 released

Key feature additions:

1) Hexadecimal now supported on all numeric fields.
2) MIDI output has been added with support for up to 8 MIDI ports
3) Serial machine control support added for the following manufacturers:

Routers:

Grass Valley Triton Audio
Grass Valley Triton Video
Leitch Panacea router

Playback Machines

Sony BVW P2 protocol
DoReMi V1 series hard disk players
Grass Valley Turbo hard disk players
Grass Valley Turbo iDDR (DVR)
Sony BVW-10 (BetaCam)
JVC BR-DV3000U (MiniDV/DVCam)
JVC BR-S822U (S-Video)
Panasonic AG-DV2500 (MiniDV/DVCam)
Sony DSR-40 (DVCam)
JVC BR-D52U (D9)
JVC BR-D85UNS (D9)
JVC BR-D92U (D9)
JVC BR-D95U (D9)
JVC BR-DV6000NET (DV)
JVC BR-DV6000U (DV)
Panasonic AG-DV2000 (MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-D455 (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-HD1700 (DVCPro HD)
Panasonic AJ-HD1200A (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-HD3700B (D-5)
Panasonic AJ-SD93 (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-SD755 (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-SD930B (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-SD965 (DVCPro/DV/MiniDV/DVCam)
Panasonic AJ-SPD850 (DVCPro Solid State)
Pioneer PRV-LX1 (DVD)
Sony DSR-45 (MiniDV)
Sony DSR-1500 (MiniDV/DVCam)
Sony DSR-1600A (MiniDV/DVCam)
Sony DSR-1800A (MiniDV/DVCam)
Sony DSR-DR1000AP (HDD)
Sony HDWD2000 (HDCam/DigiBeta)
Sony HDWM2000 (HDCam/DigiBeta/BetaCam SP/BetaCam SX)
Sony HDWS2000 (HDCam/BetaCam SP/BetaCam SX)
Sony PDW1500 (MPEG IMX)
Sony SRW5500 (HDCam SR/DigiBeta)
Sony VO-9850 (UMatic)
Sony SVO-9650 (S-VHS)
Sony UVW-1800 (BetaCam SP

14/1/08 DMX-Fix

Recent advances in DMX512 and RDM (Remote Device Management) provide a wealth of benefits to the industry. Unfortunately these developments in technology are often accompanied by some products that are not quite compatible. DMX-Fix is the solution from Artistic Licence. It is a combined DMX512 splitter and data filter. The product automatically removes any 'clever' information from the data stream, ensuring compatibility with older or out of specification fixtures and dimmers.

01/11/07 RDM Splitter Upgrade Released

With the release of RDM Standard V1.0 all splitters in Artistic Licence's range have been upgraded.

RDM Upgrade kits are available for older splitters.

23/1/08 The John Murray Archive shortlisted for Award

The John Murray Archive in Edinburgh has been shortlisted for the 2008 Lighting Design Awards (Public Buildings). The lighting design is by Nich Smith Lighting.

Artistic Licence supplied numerous Candle-Power LED dimmers for the showcase lighting. The products were specified by Nich Smith due to the ability to control both 1W and 3W LED fixtures in the same enclosure.

20/12/07 Artistic Licence Trailwalker Team come in 69/960

Simon Fraser of Artistic Licence’s Hong Kong office was part of a four man team that completed the course in 22 hours 54 minutes, just over one hour faster than last year's time. This placed the team 69th out of the 960 non elite teams and 98th out of the total 1050 participating teams.

Thanks to the generosity of Artistic Licence and the individuals and organisations who sponsored the team GBP 4000 was raised for Oxfam.

26/12/07 Pixi-Web at Christmas

Artistic Licence supplied Dr Chris Crockford, an 8 sq meter Pixi-Web for an unusual purpose, for the Royal Institution Christmas lectures. Crockford was approached by Dr Hugh Montgomery, who was presenting this years Christmas lectures. The series of lectures which has been held annually since 1825 is designed to introduce science to Children and to further their appreciation of the subject.

23/10/07 Colour-Tramp & Pixi-Stream

New versions of Colour-Tramp (V2.02) and Pixi-Stream (V2.02) have been released. The release incorporates the new support for both RDM Draft & RDM Standard.

There are also numerous maintenance fixes - see the application Help menu for the revision history.

Download from Support - Software or {(Colour-Tramp 1U)}, {(Pixi-Stream)}.

17/10/07 RDM Support

New versions of DMX-Workshop (V3.51) and the Art-Net SDK (V50) have been released. Support for both RDM Draft & RDM Standard V1.0 is no included.

In addition, Art-Net and RDM packet analysers are now included. This is of key benefit to Art-Net & RDM developers, providing a reference platform for testing of new designs.

Includes:

Art-Route. V1.01. Maintenance release.
BwTest. V1.01. Maintenance release.

Download from Support - Software or {(DMX-Workshop)}.

14/10/07 Deep-Thought

Deep-Thought is a programme for solving Su Doku puzzles. It was written as a challenge between the Maths & Physics departments. Was it quicker to write a programme than solve a (Times Difficult) puzzle by hand?

Inevitably the Maths department won, but only by a few minutes!

The software is free, no warranties etc etc. The only condition is that if you successfully use it to solve a puzzle, win a competition and get rich, you a) buy the author a beer and b) make a donation to our company charity; The RNLI.

Download it in the Support - Software section.

3/10/2007 Oxfam Trailwalker

Artistic Licence sponsers the Oxfam Trailwalker team in Hong Kong.

Oxfam Trailwalker is one of the largest fundraising sports events in Hong Kong. Since 1986, more than 54,000 participants have raised over HK$240 million to support Oxfam's various poverty alleviation and emergency relief projects in Africa and Asia, including Hong Kong and mainland China.

More information here.

3/9/07 Finger-Trouble

The NEW show trigger package.

Finger-Trouble is a Windows application designed for touch screen operation. It provides a customer facing interface for selecting and triggering audio-visual and lighting events.

The product uses a configurable matrix of touch screen buttons to send custom trigger signals to connected equipment using Ethernet, Art-Net, MIDI and RS232. Button pages can also be changed based on received triggers or time clock events.

A built in advertising system allows display of animated slide sequences after a period of inactivity.

Finger-Trouble will find applications in conference, multi-function venues and architectural feature lighting.

3/9/07 Dali-Scope

The NEW hand held test tool for DALI.

Dali-Scope is a hand-held tool for testing, programming and configuring DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) devices. Dali-Scope is the first hand-held tool specifically designed for DALI.

The product can be used to set the fixture address, test the fixture and programme scenes. It is also possible to read back configuration and status information such as lamp hours, curve selection and much more.

A particularly useful feature is the ability to test the DALI bus power supply.

Dali-Scope is powered by two AA batteries and offers over 12 hours continuous operation.

2/9/07 The Gottelier Award

Artistic Licence managing director Wayne Howell has been shortlisted for The Gottelier Award.

2/9/07 Data-Lynx

High density ethernet conversion

Data-Lynx is a 1RU 19" rack mounting Art-Net Ethernet to DMX512 converter. The product is a no frills solution that gives the customer maximum packing density and the lowest cost whilst maintaining the customary Artistic Licence quality.

Data-Lynx provides 12 DMX512 outputs, using front mounted Neutrik XLR 5 pin connectors.

A single front mounted Ethercon RJ45 provides network connectivity with auto-sensing support for both 10BaseT and 100BaseT.

A front panel rotary wheel sets the "Box Address" for the simplest possible configuration. As with all Artistic Licence Art-Net products, DMX-Workshop can be used for detailed configuration such as individual universe addressing.

The product is supplied with an external PSU connecting via a latching XLR4 connector.

Additional details are available from the Artistic Licence web site.

30/8/07 Colour-Tramp II

Version two of Colour-Tramp will be launched at PLASA 2007. This latest release includes a host of new features such as advanced triggering option, macro commands and an increase to 10 playback layers.

28/8/07 Dali Power

The D4 is a four channel DALI Bus Power Supply in a DIN-Rail enclosure.

27/8/07 Art-Pipe

Art-Pipe is an evolution of the Rail-Pipe product. It provides 24 pulse width modulated outputs for driving 'super-bright' LED products such as the Artistic Licence Colour-Pipe. The control input is Art-Net Ethernet.

25/8/07 Art-Switch PoE4

Art-Switch PoE4 is a DIN-Rail mounted Ethernet switch. It provides five 10/100BaseT Ethernet ports, four of which support power over Ethernet (PoE).

10/7/07 Pixi-Power F1 launch

Pixi-Power F1 is a sister product to the best selling Pixi-Power SB12. The F1 provides double the number of outputs; controlling a 320 pixels of Pixi-Flex or Pixi-Web. The product also provides a direct Art-Net Ethernet connection which means there is no need to convert Art-Net to DMX. A 10/100BaseT Ethernet switch is built in, which allows the Ethernet to 'loop through' multiple products.

3/6/07 Rail-Road

Rail-Road is a 19” rack mount adapter that allows Din-Rail products to rack mounted.

25/5/07 Landscape Lighting

By popular demand we have introduced a landscape variant of the ever popular Light-Switch playback product.

20/5/07 Art-Net II launched

Art-Net is an ethernet control protocol that was originally invented by Artistic Licence and has been published into the public domain. Nine years on, Art-Net is now the ethernet control protocol of choice for much of our industry.

When Art-Net was designed, a few thousand channels of control was considered a large installation. With the advent of pixilated LED colour changers, channel counts now regularly reach many thousands. In fact a new term 'Kiloverse' has been coined to describe 524,288 channels (That is 1024 Universe of DMX512).

To address the ever increasing system channel counts, Artistic Licence has developed Art-Net II. Art-Net II is 100% backwards compatible with Art-Net. Art-Net II makes use of Unicast ethernet data in preference to Broadcast data. This small change allows much more efficient use of network bandwidth in large applications.

Art-Net II has also been offered to the public domain. Anyone may use Art-Net or Art-Net II without any royalty cost. Manufacturers who wish to implement Art-Net simply need to apply for an 'OEM Code' which uniquely identifies their product type on the network. Artistic Licence maintains a database of these codes which are regularly published as part of the Art-Net software development kit.

Artistic Licence offers a wide range of tools for Art-Net users and implementers. Many of these are free of charge:

DMX-Workshop: Windows application for generating and monitoring Art-Net. Also provides support for RDM over Art-Net and allows all features of the connected devices to be configured. Don't take your laptop to site without a copy! DMX-Workshop is free to download.

Windows Drivers: DLL Drivers for Art-Net and Art-Net II are available for free download.

SDK: A full Art-Net & Art-Net II Software Development Kit for Borland C++Builder and Delphi is available for free download.

Art-Net View: A windows application for use by software developers is included in the SDK.

Net-View: A data viewer application for Pocket PC is available for free download.

Other vendors are also providing free tools such as Wire Shark (formerly Ethereal) whose network analyser provides Art-Net capture and analysis.

The Art-Net Alliance is a key industry group made up of all manufacturers who support Art-Net. The purpose of the Alliance is to promote the widespread adoption of the Art-Net Ethernet Standard.

The Art-Net Alliance continues to expand and now includes AC Lighting Ltd, ACT Inc, ADB, ArKaos, Avab Transtechnic, Avolites, Barco, Bigfoot, Botex, Cameleon, Celco, Compulite, DES, Design & Drafting, Digital Enlightenment, Doug Fleenor Design, Ecue, ELC Lighting, Electronics Diversified, EDI, Enttec, Flying Pig, Goddard Design Co, Goldstage, Green Hippo, High End Systems, Horizon Controls, IES, I-Light Group, Invisible Rival, Jands Electronics Pty, KissBox, LeHigh Electric Products Co, LewLight, LSC, Luminex, MA Lighting, Martin Professional, Medialon, Mediamation, Nondim Enterprises, Pathway Connectivity, PixelMad, Robe Show Lighting, SandNet, Stage Research, SunLite, Sunset Dynamics, Team Projects, Theatrelight Ltd, Touchlight Systems Ltd, VNR Electronique SA, Zero 88, and Artistic Licence.

“Art-Net is the only public domain Ethernet Standard in the market place. That is the reason the Art-Net Alliance is growing at such a rate. We regularly receive emails congratulating us for the decision to put Art-Net into the public domain.”, comments Wayne Howell of Artistic Licence. “The aspect I find most pleasing is that we see both large and small companies supporting Art-Net. Over the next twelve months, I think we will see a vast expansion in new Art-Net products.”

The Art-Net Standard allows over 250 Universes of DMX512 to be transported by Ethernet cable. This provides a very economical solution for the distribution of lighting data. Issues such as 'merging' are built into the standard and no longer require separate products.

Perhaps most important is the wide range of options offered by Ethernet. Radio Ethernet is now widely available, providing low cost options for 'Radio DMX' solutions.

As the inventor of Art-Net, Artistic Licence continues to provide a wide range of innovative Art-Net products. Included in the range is Down-Lynx, which earned the PLASA 2001 Best Product Award.

Aspire Tower - Doha

The exterior lighting of Aspire Tower in Doha Sports City was inaugurated at the opening of the Asian Games, 1st December 2006. The 300m tower has a skin of some 4000 high power LED pixels. Each pixel is individually controlled allowing video style animations to be played back across the building facade.

The light concept was designed by KSLD who also specified the Artistic Licence Colour-Tramp system for control. A 12,000 channel customised Colour-Tramp was used, making this the largest control installation yet! Data distribution was via Art-Net with a total of 24 Net-Lynx O/P providing DMX512 conversion. Extensive use was made of high bandwidth fibre optic data transmission due to the size of the building.

Artistic Licence also supplied the 12,000 channels of LED dimming required to control the Solar pixels. The dimmers were custom built for the project using our new Candle-Power technology.

O2

Artistic Licence has been commissioned to provide extensive LED lighting and control for The O2 (formerly The Millennium Dome). The project includes multiple synchronised Colour-Tramp control, Art-Net, DMX512 & RDM distribution, custom in-ground LED lighting and an entrance based on the new Pixi-Tube product range.

Artistic win product award

Visual-Patch, developed by Artistic Licence, has won the PLASA 2005 Award for Innovation. Combining video recognition technology and newly developed software, Visual-Patch can map and patch even the most complex lighting arrays.

A digital camera is positioned before the array and detects the size, position and shape of each pixel to be used, in both symmetrical and random patterns. This information is then analysed by Visual-Patch, which generates an automatic lighting plot on screen.

Visual-Patch uses Remote Device Management (RDM) to set the start address of each fixture during the patching process. RDM is a new control protocol that allows lighting fixtures to talk back to the controller.

When Visual-Patch completes you are left with a lighting rig that is fully patched and a lighting controller that knows the position and address of every fixture. All that without entering a single number!

Visual-Patch is relevant to all types of lighting control, not just LED applications. In fact Artistic Licence is already developing the next generation of Visual-Patch which uses multiple camera positions to generate a 3D map of the stage.

Visual-Patch is built into Artistic Licence's Colour Tramp lighting control system and will also be available under licence to other manufacturers. For more information contact Sales@ArtisticLicence.com

Rail-Patch

A simple Din-Rail mounting adapter that allows an XLR connector to attach via screw terminals.

Henry & Henrietta

Two simple converter modules. Henry (the boy) is male XLR5 to RJ45. Henrietta (the girl) is female XLR5 to RJ45. Both are used to simplify the task of wiring building DMX512 distribution using CAT5 cable. Thanks to Theatre Projects Consultants for the idea!

Live8

The signature lighting effect at the year's biggest concert event was created using flagship Artistic Licence product Ether-Lynx.

A key feature of the set for the Live8 concert in Hyde Park was the signature
zigzag of light across the stage, just one of a host of stunning visual effects
created by Lighting Designer Peter Barnes. This iconic image alone was made
up of over 120 PixelLine LED effects.

The PixelLine array was controlled by Radical Lighting's PixelDrive system
running eleven universes of DMX512. The PixelDrive system outputs Art-Net
ethernet, with conversion to DMX512 achieved using three Artistic Licence Ether-Lynx.

Hotel Puerto de America

Artistic Licence has just completed supply of equipment for a stunning new pixel wall in the Hotel Puerto de America.

Candle-Power launch

Candle-Power is a new technology in LED dimming and colour mixing. It is designed to control high power LEDs such as those available from Lumileds and Lamina Ceramics.

CP12 is the first product in the range and is housed in a DIN Rail case for ease of installation. The product comprises a carrier card with positions for 4 power modules. Each power module can drive 3 channels.

The standard module is calibrated for 1W (350mA) LEDs. Modules for other LED types will be available soon. Candle-Power can control up to 144 LEDs using 12 channels of between 1 and 12 LEDs in series. The product operates from 15VDC to 48VDC. The actual power supply voltage is defined by the customer dependent upon application.

Candle-Power is self configuring and automatically nulls out the common problem of voltage drop from variable cable lengths. The LED modulation technique, invented by Artistic Licence, is called AFM or Asymmetric Frequency Modulation. AFM is an evolution of the amplitude and frequency modulation techniques pioneered by Artistic Licence and published to the public domain in 2002.

Candle-Power uses RDM or Remote Device Management to configure items such as the DMX512 start address. This is also the method by which the sensor data is retrieved. Candle-Power provides 4 sensor inputs, designed to be (optionally) connected to thermisters in the LED fixture. This allows Candle-Power to shut down a fixture if the LED temperature exceeds a preset limit. In addition, the temperature sensor information can be remotely monitored using RDM and Art-Net.

Pixi-Stream launch

Pixi-Stream is a media server with a difference. It outputs Art-Net ethernet directly rather than video. This saves an additional conversion process when driving high density LED arrays such as the Artistic Licence Pixi-Web.

Pixi-Stream is supplied as a Windows XP application capable of driving 12,000 channels. The product accepts up to 4 video inputs from any Windows compatible media source. Libraries for well known composite LED products are included. RDM (Remote Device Management) is supported which offers extremely fast patching. An example being approximately three minutes to patch a 1600 pixel wall of Hi-Res Pixi-Web. (We are testing with Vista - check web for details).

Once configuration is complete, all features are controlled from an external lighting board using Art-Net ethernet or DMX512 (using a Net-Lynx I/P). Pixi-Stream is controlled is the same manner as a sophisticated moving lamp.

A total of 8 layers are supported. The content of each layer, the digital effects and the layer to layer mixing are all controlled in real time from the lighting board. Each layer can process live video, graphics or animation files. Digital effects can be applied to each layer independently. There is a large library of effects that include Pan, Tilt, Magnify, Stretch, Rotate in any 3D plane, Colour replacement and Cyclic Hue Adjustment.

New Dealers

Artistic Licence Hong Kong has made the first round of dealer appointments including Desisti Asia in Singapore, Vichai Trading in Thailand and Excel Union in China. See our web site for contact details: www.ArtisticLicence.com

Pixi-Web Hi-Res launch

The new lightweight, flexible and transparent light wall from Artistic Licence. It is constructed from one metre sections of webbing with a pixel at each intersection. Hi-Res has a pixel pitch of 125mm providing 64 pixels per square metre. Each strap of the web attaches via quick connect buckles making Hi-Res a breeze to rig. Hi-Res is powered and controlled by Pixi-Power SB12 or the forthcoming Pixi-Power F1.

Hi-Res Pixi-Web is available directly from Artistic Licence in Asia and exclusively from AC Lighting under the Chroma-Q Color Web 125 brand in the rest of the world. Artistic Licence also provides a hire service.

Hong Kong Office

Artistic Licence has now opened an office in Hong Kong in order to serve the growing Asian Projects market. The office is headed by Simon Fraser who can be contacted on SF@ArtisticLicence.com.

Pixi-Flex launch

Pixi-Flex is an innovative LED colour mixer aimed at pixilated animation and video applications. In the eleven months following full production start, in excess of 150,000 pixels have shipped, making this our fastest selling product ever.

The pixels are moulded onto the combined power and data cable and can be simply installed using either the rear mounting screw or by push fit. Each pixel is individually controlled using 24 bit control and offering in excess of 16 million colours.

Pixi-Power SB12 is a DMX512 controller for Pixi-Flex. It controls up to 160 pixels as 5 circuits of 32. A maximum cable distance of 25m (50m with 16 pixels per circuit) can be achieved. Pixi-Power F1 will be launched soon, which provides Art-Net ethernet control of 320 pixels.

Broadgate FX Awards Highly Commended for Best Office or Public Lighting Scheme 2005

Broadgate wins IEIJ Japan Exterior Lighting Category 2004

Broadgate wins LIF Exterior Lighting Category 2004

Broadgate wins IALD Award of Excellence 2004

Dimmer-Switch launched

Artistic has released a Dimmer-Switch. The product is a wall mount controller similar to Light-Switch but using sliders for control. Up to six independent playback channels are available, each capable of playing a static look or a dynamic sequence. Dimmer-Switch can also act as a DMX master for an external lighting controller, merging the data in real time. Dimmer-Switch is perfect for pubs, clubs and themed environments.

Power over ethernet approved

Artistic Licence Art-Net products have been approved by PowerDsine for their latest range of 'Power over Ethernet' products.

Praise for Finsbury Avenue Square

More praise for the Finsbury Avenue Square project, controlled by Colour-Tramp. Light Magazine writes:

"The last project, the third Award of Excellence winner, is arguably project of the year, having already garnered a UK Lighting Design Award in March. Finsbury Avenue Square, by Maurice Brill Lighting Design, features a 20m square lattice of under lit glass lines housing 100,000 LEDs in 650 DMX-controlled fittings by Artistic Licence. Colours change when pedestrians walk across the square and an infinite variety of kinetic shows can be created for any occasion - minimal energy, minimal maintenance and maximum effect"

Sense-Edit is now XP compatible

Download the latest version of Sense-Edit for Common-Sense. Now Windows 2000 & XP compatible.

Show-Edit expanded with range of new features

A new release of Show-Edit for Show-Control is now available. New features include cut and paste for memories and sequences along with an 'auto-complete' function for sequence programming.

Colour-Tramp can now export to Show-Control

A new release of Colour-Tramp is now available (V1.24). New features include the ability to export Show-Control files from the off-line version of Colour-Tramp. This means that smaller applications (60 channels) can now use the rich feature set of Colour-Tramp whilst benefiting from the low cost of Show-Control. We have also added a comprehensive video library, licensed from Suite Imagery LLC. The video library can be imported into Colour-Tramp and converted to lighting sequences, this greatly speeds programming.

DIN Rail format mains relay

The latest addition to the DIN Rail format product range is Rail-Switch, a six channel mains relay block with DMX / RDM control..

A new book on ethernet

Rock Solid Ethernet is a new book by Artistic Licence managing director, Wayne Howell.

Jump-Start is the tool for Remote Device Management

Artistic Licence continues support of the new Remote Device Management standard with the launch of Jump-Start. Jump-Start is a small handheld DMX512 riggers remote and RDM programmer.

Visual-Patch implemented in Colour-Tramp

Artistic's patent pending 'Visual-Patch' technology has been implemented in Colour-Tramp. This innovative technique combines the power of RDM with a video camera. The result is a control system that can map the spatial coordinates of the lighting rig, automatically generate the screen fixture layout and automatically patch all fixture start addresses. In essence: the days of spread sheets and manual patching are over! (Note: Video rendering and Visual-Patch are available on Colour-Tramp 1024 and higher).

Rail-Demux launched

Announcing more additions to the DIN Rail format product range: Rail-Demux is a 16 channel DMX512 to analogue 0 - 10V converter. Applications include fluorescent ballast control. Rail-Tran is a 6 channel darlington transistor driver. Main applications include contactor racks, solenoid drive and general animatronics.

Pixi-Cloth launched

Artistic Licence is pleased to announce the launch of Pixi-Cloth, a joint venture with starcloth specialist Acre Jean. Pixi-Cloth is a colour mixing starcloth with individual pixel control. This allows it to be used as a flexible video wall. Pixi-Cloth was used for the BBC Scotland Hogmanay show, see the video.

Merge up to 20 universes with Art-Merge

Art-Merge is a software package that allows 20 Universes of DMX512 to be merged or routed on to 4 outputs. More info.

Light-Switch with new features

Artistic has released a new version of Light-Switch. The new design packs even more features into this well priced product. Multiple panels can be connected to a single DMX512 cable allowing remote operation and zone control. Zone control allows lights to be allocated to different zones or rooms and be controlled by any combination of panels. The new version also allows programming by DMX512 record or 'snapshot'.

Colour-Tramp with real time video effects

A new release of Colour-Tramp is now available (V1.36). New features include undo - redo, workspace cut and paste, hue - saturation - luminance editing, auto sequence generation and new live video special effects. It's never been easier to combine lighting control and live video.

AC Lighting appointed as US distributor

AC Lighting Inc has been appointed as USA and Canadian sole distributor for the Artistic Licence range of Art-Net products. As the inventor of Art-Net, Artistic Licence leads the way in ethernet technology. Managing director Wayne Howell comments: "We've had a very successful distribution arrangement with AC Lighting for many years. It is a real pleasure to see this expand into North America with AC Lighting Inc. I know that this new development will offer our customers the very best sales and service that the industry has to offer."

Rail-DALI now shipping

Rail-DALI is now shipping. Convert DMX512 to DALI or DALI to DMX512 in a DIN Rail mounting case. Also supports return information allowing DALI ballasts to be monitored remotely.

Dimmer-Switch released

Artistic has released a Dimmer-Switch. The product is a wall mount controller similar to Light-Switch but using sliders for control. Up to six independent playback channels are available, each capable of playing a static look or a dynamic sequence. Dimmer-Switch can also act as a DMX master for an external lighting controller, merging the data in real time. Dimmer-Switch is perfect for pubs, clubs and themed environments.

Innovation award for Colour-Tramp

Artistic win 'Product Innovation Award' at PLASA 2005 for the Visual-Patch. Visual-Patch uses advanced optical recognition techniques to automatically identify and patch lighting fixtures. Visual-Patch is available in the award winning Colour-Tramp.

On the move

Artistic Licence has moved to new premises. The new headquarters building offers over six times the space with integrated show room, training rooms and an advanced manufacturing centre. The telephone, fax and email contact details have not changed. The new address is:

24 Forward Drive, Christchurch Avenue, Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 8NT, United Kingdom.

More commendations for Artistic Licence

Aristic Licence receives a 'Highly Commended Award' at PLASA 2003 for Colour-Tramp lighting control system.

BAM - Highly Commended

Artistic Licence Highly Commended at PLASA 2002 for the development of Bit Angle Modulation, a drive technique for dimming.

Award for Down-Lynx

Artistic Licence receives the 2001 PLASA Product Award for Down-Lynx Ethernet to DMX512 interface.

EDDY Award

Artistic Licence receives the 2000 EDDY Award for Common-Sense protocol and sensor interface.

Export Achievement

Artistic Licence receives the 1999 UK DTI Certificate of Merit for export achievement.

Honourable Mention

Artistic Licence receives an Honourable Mention in the 1998 ESTA Product awards for Micro-Scope 3, the DMX512 tester.

PLASA Product Award for the DMX-Dongle

Artistic Licence wins the PLASA Product Award for the DMX-Dongle PC to DMX512 interface.