Soundsculpture RC4 Wireless Dimming: Proven at Shaw Festival, Now in Full Production

The Soundsculpture RC4 wireless dimmer system, used by Shaw Festival throughout the 2004 season, provides lighting designers with new freedom to put DMX-controlled lighting anywhere in the house, on or off stage. High reliability and high power handling ensure robust performance show after show. Soundsculpture has been producing radio-control equipment for theatrical and entertainment applications since 1991. Customers include Shaw Festival, Disney Theatrical, Hartford Stage, Cirque du Soleil and many others.

Toronto September 27, 2004 -- The new 4th-generation Soundsculpture RC4 wireless dimmer system is now in full production.

Shaw Festival, declared the best repertory theater on the entire continent by New York Magazine, used two RC4 systems on multiple stages throughout the 2004 season. "The Soundsculpture RC4 wireless dimmer system is an excellent product. Our [two transmitters and ten receivers] have been working great," says Ian Phillips of Shaw. And a host of other early adopters agree, including the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Mesa, CA, and the Minnesota Opera in Minneapolis.

The beauty of this system is its simplicity, explains James Smith, product designer. The transmitter is a DMX device that communicates by radio with multiple remote receivers. Each receiver has four dimmers that can be individually assigned to DMX channels. Hook up a battery and lamps and youre on the air. Use four gelled lamps and you can even mix colors live, in real-time, with no wires!

The wireless link is utilized to maximum advantage. Using the keypad, rotary control, and large LCD on the transmitter, configuring receivers is easy. Multiple DMX channel maps and receiver set-ups are stored in eeprom.

For most applications, the battery and four lamps are wired to a single 10-pin Amp connector, making it effortless to swap units. When higher power is required, an auxiliary input connector is also provided. The HO (high-power) version of the RC4 receiver can deliver over 20A per channel, for a total output of 1000W. Each of the four outputs can be used separately, or ganged together for large loads.

Developing reliable radio dimming for theatre was no simple task. Dimmers can make a lot of electrical noise, explains Smith. And electrical noise upsets radios. The trick is to deliver high-power smooth dimming in the same box as a sensitive digital radio without causing dropouts and data delays. This is my world, my specialty. Ive been doing it successfully for nearly 20 years.

Since 1991, Soundsculpture wireless dimmers have been used by Disney, Cirque Du Soleil, and many others. The new RC4 provides an updated user-interface, vastly improved DMX functionality, outstanding reliability, and lower cost. This is it, declares Smith. I dont see any big changes in the near future this thing really works.
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