[Daphne writes in about Fred Foster's keynote at the ETC Cue event today. The big news? Fred and ETC debuted their upcoming LED Source 4. Here are the rest of her posts: Welcome to Cue, ETC Introduces Gio Lighting Console, ETC Debuts LED Source 4, Daphne Goes on an ETC Factory Tour-Jacob]

Slideshow with more pics of the keynote at the bottom of the post.

"Electronic Theatre Controls is always developing new and exciting products," is something echoed at every trade show, event, and Q&A any time an ETC employee is asked if they are developing an LED version of the Source Four fixture. Except today.

At Fred Foster's keynote this morning, Fred outlined the entire history of ETC, with both hysterical, touching, and unbelievably inspiring stories, images, and anecdotes. When he opened for questions at the end of the session, it was shockingly quiet for having Fred Foster ready and eager to answer almost any question -- but, as our brains were already whirring with so much information, we were hushed. Soon, some interesting questions were raised, and I know I felt, as did most of the audience so much more connected with both Fred and the company because of the presentation beforehand.

The inevitable question was asked, and Fred turned in to a backlit silhouette while a slideshow triggered a series of amusing slides featuring photos of Fred with thought bubbles. Fred discussed that if ETC was to make an LED sourced S4 what features it would have to include. Meanwhile, a clean, pleasant white light filled in Fred, and a crisp, sharp shuttered rectangle began pulsing the saturated colors the product would have if it existed. Along with the shutters, color mixing, and smooth output, he said a "kick-ass daylight white" would be integral, and another fixture appeared, featuring a gobo bearing that same text. Both fixtures were very bright, and handled the sharp edges of the shutters and gobo beautifully.

Of course, the fixtures used throughout this demo were four Source 4 LED fixtures, hung right over the unknowing audience's head as they had been the entire keynote.

From what I saw, both of the fixtures, but also Fred's emphasis (pun unintended) on creating a revolutionary luminaire, this looks to be a really impressive product. The time frame given is about 9 months, and current Source 4 lens tubes are compatible.