Celco products

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The adventure continues.....with the release of the amazing Ventura™ 1000, the all encompassing lighting console from Celco.
Packing a powerful 1000 channels into it's sleek chassis, Ventura 1000 is capable of running up to 100 mixed parameter automated fixtures and 240 channels of dimming.
With both hands on and theatre programming and playback facilities this console offers the high end performance you desire, but at a fraction of the price you would expect to pay.
Ventura 1000 has been designed to offer durable performance in real life situations.
The Ventura 1000 is fully compliant with EMC regulations and is manufactured to ISO9001 standard.
Above all, Ventura 1000 is easy to use.
Be In Touch !

Lamps and Channels

Ventura 1000 has been designed to offer complete ease of use when controlling both automated fixtures and conventional dimming.

The console configuration simply takes care of assigning DMX channels to dimmers and automated fixtures (referred to as 'lamps' in this brochure and on the console) leaving the operator free to concentrate on the important aspects of lighting design and programming. Power users are able to determine the exact DMX assignment made and create a custom patch if required.

Selecting the automated fixture for control is achieved by pressing the appropriate lamp button. Multiple lamps are selected by pressing additional buttons or pre-defined lamp groups. Once selected, lamp attributes can be controlled by the colour, beam or effects pallets and the position quickly set by the position pallet. Custom effects can be created and saved to any pallet by using the four rotary controls for subsequent use. New positions can be created or existing positions modified by adjusting the pan and tilt control with the on-board rotary controls or external trackball. For example, selecting lamps one through five and pressing the home button will cause the lamps to point straight down in open white at 100% intensity. From this useful reference point the operator is able to select the colour from the colour pallet, gobo from the beam pallet and, if required, adjust the intensity via the digital fader. Finally the lamps' 'target' is selected from the position pallet. To create a simple effect, such as make all five lamps track in a circle, the operator selects the effect from the effects pallet. All of the hard mathematical calculation has already been taken care of so there's no need to plot points on the stage or create complex sequence patterns.

Control of conventional dimming, the poor relation on some moving light consoles, is provided by a traditional bank of 24 preset faders and 10 page buttons. In all cases, the on-board displays and external full colour svga monitor(s) keep the operator informed.

To accommodate the sometimes different programming styles of operators from theatre and rock 'n' roll the majority of functions are duplicated in both 'hands on' and theatre 'numeric keypad' formats. Over time, operators from either discipline will discover the quickest method of plotting.

Cue memory and sequences

Having selected the lamps, changed their colours and patterns and applied the odd effect the operator will want to save that 'look' along with the conventional dimming set on the preset.

On Ventura 1000 the memories are provided for replay on 18 sub-masters or via the keypad fader (digital). The 18 sub-masters are, in turn, 'paged' to allow different memories to be accessed.

Storing a look onto a sub-master is easy. The operator selects a page to work on, presses the preview button beneath the desired sub-master and then presses either save lamps, save htp or both. On Ventura 1000 the operator can choose whether to save the automated and conventional lighting at the same time or at a later stage. This is advantageous as it allows different elements of the lighting to be recorded at different times, perhaps before and during the technical rehearsals, or even different elements of the lighting to be recorded by more than one operator - dual programming.

As Ventura 1000 permits multiple fade times to be entered into each memory it is possible to have a different time for both the lamp movement, dimmer fade in and dimmer fade out. Each of these times can be within the range 0.3S to 999S.

Sequence patterns are programmed quickly via the keypad and then assigned to a sub-master for convenient playback. Ventura 1000 can store three sequence patterns in each memory along with the other information.

The operator can program up to 99 sequence patterns in total with up to 99 steps in each. Various programming aids are provided to speed up or automate some of the more tedious tasks but the operator always has full creative control if required. Dual programming, as described above, is possible on a sequence pattern too. So now it's really easy to synchronise the changing steps of a string of par cans with the sweeps of the automated fixtures without having to think of everything at the same time.

As well as the 18 sub-masters, the operator can also playback the recorded memories in a structured list Again, ease of use has been at the forefront of the thinking behind the stack playback facility. Stack's can be run automatically or manually, both with and without fade times. At any point the operator can override the proceedings by manually taking control with the keypad digital fader.

Monitor outputs and displays

Ventura 1000 features the best output displays of any lighting console. As standard, the console is provided with one output, a second output is recommended for power users to permit the display of more than one 'screen' at a time. Both outputs are full colour xvga type and therefore offer a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels for added clarity. The monitors to which the outputs are connected are available from Celco and it's dealers or any reputable computer equipment distributor.

A number of screens have been designed which change depending upon the function selected on the console. For 'general' use the screen displays an overview of stack list, sequence pattern and speed. Additional screens display memory storage information and DMX patch details.

Of key importance are two special screens. The 'preset fader' screen displays graphically the position of the real and virtual preset faders and their outputs. The geographic lamp display provides a plan view of the automated lamps showing clearly the status of each and their relationship to one another.

The geographic display is created from the data entered when the console is configured. No special CAD skills are required to develop the plan.

Ventura makes it simple

Throughout the design phase of the Ventura 1000 the overriding message to the development team was to 'make it simple'. Now, while it is generally recognised that controlling automated fixtures is more difficult than setting the level on a par, we've gone a long way to making it as easy as possible for both the novice and the power user.

Auto tracking

The use of lamp positions has already been described in the creative programming stage. To define a lamp position the operator plots three trigonometric coordinates for all of the automated fixtures used. Then, the operator moves one lamp onto an actual stage position, say centre vocals, using the pan and tilt controls. When the operator is content that the lamp is in the right place the coordinates of the pan and tilt controls are saved as a lamp position. The console then calculates the coordinates of this position relative to three trigonometric points previously defined. From then on, any lamp selected can be targeted on any position saved. The console calculates the mathematics to position any lamp on that spot

Ventura 1000 doesn't force the operator to work in this way but, having set up the positions initially, programming is a breeze. Furthermore, if the stage set is changed the operator need only redefine the centre vocal position with one lamp for all lamps to address that position.

Page wizard

The page wizard is one of the most useful features for operators working in clubs and multipurpose venues.

When faced with a demanding set list that calls for 'moody lighting', 'up beat lighting' or simply 'this one should be red !' the operator is generally tasked with programming a page or two of looks specifically for the artist in question. Experienced operators have long built up a library of different lighting scenes and lamp positions to cater for the variety of different requests from the artist.

Now, with the Ventura 1000, the novice user has access to a library of different 'looks' that cover various moods. These looks can be used 'just as they come' or modified to suit a particular design. There's nothing to stop the experienced operator from utilising the preprogrammed scenes on occasion either !

Auto select

Auto select has been developed in response to user requests for an automated lighting console that can be operated 'on-the-fly' like a manual preset console.

While we certainly could not produce something as simple as that to control automated fixtures we did look very closely at the user requirement. The research indicated that certain users had only enough program time to punch in the lamp positions in open white before the show started and then the colour and effects were added as the show developed.

Celco's answer to this problem is to allow as little or as much of each memory to be recorded before the show - generally the positions are the most important - and deal with the other attributes, such as colour, during the performance.

This is achieved by auto select, a clever system that allows a memory to be played back as recorded while permitting some or all of the attributes to be altered 'live'.

So simple to use in operation, auto select will become a standard operator requirement on all but the most structured shows.

Memory storage

The Ventura 1000 has a very robust memory management system that uses the very latest technology to offer complete protection. All internal data is retained in flash EPROM - it doesn't require a battery to maintain the memory so it will stay there until you change it.

For emergency show backup the operator can store onto an external flash EPROM PC card.

Finally, there's the requirement of archival storage. For this the operator can specify the inexpensive Celco external Floppy Disk Drive which simply is build into the back of the console and allows shows to be recorded onto 3.5" floppy disks for cost effective storage. All storage routines are handled via the keypad and displayed on the xvga monitor for peace of mind.

Sound to light effects

The Ventura 1000 is fitted with a sophisticated sound to light input that can be programmed into cue memories or sequence patterns.

The sound input is connected via the audio jack or xlr input on the rear panel. The cue memory output level can be set to respond to bass hard, bass soft, middle hard, middle soft, treble hard and treble soft. The sound function, if programmed into a cue memory or sequence pattern, operates when the cue is 'in view'. Therefore 18 different sound effects can be played at one time

DMX merge input

Ventura 1000 is fitted with a DMX input to 'merge' the output from another console with the output from Ventura 1000. The DMX merge input works on a highest takes precedent basis for common DMX channels.
This useful accessory negates the use of a second DMX line on most shows.

SMPTE and MSC

SMPTE input is available as an standard on Ventura 1000. With SMPTE running the operator is able to synchronise the running of Ventura 1000 with other equipment for repeat shows.
MSC (MIDI Show Control) is also fitted as standard to enable Ventura 1000 to be synchronised 'live' to other lighting consoles and ancillary equipment fitted with MSC.
All Celco consoles, including Explorer, Pathfinder and Navigator models are fitted with MSC.

Manufacture

The Ventura 1000 is fully compliant with EMC regulations and is manufactured to ISO9001 standard at Electrosonic's factory in Maidstone, England.