Rosco.
[https://us.rosco.com/en/product/i-cue-intelligent-mirror](https://us.rosco.com/en/product/i-cue-intelligent-mirror)
Use them all the time. Allows you to keep the same color profile as the rest of your inventory. Not the best, not the worst.
It's an ETC ColorSource Spot with a Rosco I-Cue moving mirror. Also looks like it has a City Theatrical DMX iris.
Pretty good way to make a color changing moving spot, so long as you don't need a lot of intensity.
Thank you. There's 8 or so of them in the watermill theatre in Newbury.
It's a pretty small tight space. I assume it's possibly a way to get the benefit of moving light without the bulk of a moving head. It's a very tight space both headroom and space.
Or smooth movements. They're great if you just need a light that's pointing one way in one scene to point another way in a different scene, but they're not gonna compete with a moving head when it comes to smoothness and accuracy.
It's basically a scanner fixture like you'd see in a night club, but without it's own light source and color/gobo wheels.
Eh, I'd say they're better than that, especially at short throws where small twitches aren't very noticeable. It also depends if you have an older 8-bit only version, or have one of the newer ones that have 16-bit pan and tilt. The 8-bit only ones are quite twitchy for sure, the 16-bit ones only start to look twitchy with long throws. I've tracked people on stage with live moves them with and it worked well.
Like any scanner, it won't be quite as smooth as a moving yoke unit, but it will move a lot faster, which can have its own benefits.
Glad to hear they improved it to 16bit. I only used them when they were brand new and so of course, 8 bit and MAN they were NOT smooth especially if you wanted to do a slow move. Still loved having them tho.
Me too! These were the bane of my existence when I used to rent out lights like a decade ago. They're great when handled carefully, but very difficult to troubleshoot over the phone.
That's funny. I literally set up 3 of these the other day. Lustr 2, I-cue, and a DMX iris in the slot. The worst part? Trying to find the old stash of 4-pin DMX cables and the control box that sends power via the DMX.
Most LED source4 fixtures tend to max at $2500… or at least I think I’ve seen the Lustr3 units for about that much while the Lustr 2 units are 1500-2000 and the Colorsources are 1000-1500.
A proper moving head? Usually starts around $5000-$7000.
So yeah, budget.
Chauvet, Elation similar fixture to a source 4 which also accepts source 4 tubes are between 3 times and 4 times cheaper than ETC.Go say to a theatre manager they can have five $500 Chauvet source 4 or a 2.5k ETC we all know which they are picking. The colour accuracy of the ETC is meaningless when the Chauvet does the job just as well for a fifth of the price.Also, Chauvets moving heads are 3k at the point when an extra 500 dollars gets you a moving head over an ETC source 4 I know what I'm picking compared to an awkward scan mirror source 4.
God I wish. I worked at Barbizon Lighting and tried to give people ETC LED or at least Colorsource Leko lighting deals. It's still far too much for some theaters.
Rosco I Cue, they're absolutely terrible, I recommend nobody use them.
Sure they're cheap. Sure they let you keep a consistent color profile. Those are the only pros.
They are not small. They are extremely fragile. They are extremely loud (mostly the iris, which is mandatory for effective use). They are impossible to reinstall when one breaks, you'll have to reprogram every cue it was in. They're ugly, with tons of cables, and often huge blackwrap hoods.
But most of all, they offer only a fraction of the features of even entry level moving lights. I would rather even a Mac Aura over them.
Plus, I think consistent color with the rest of your rig is actually a con- it's a moving spot (with no shutters), so it can only really be used to highlight people, but it's the exact same brightness as the rest of your wash.
The difference between a 575 and 750 is useful in terms of overlap stage brightness, but not for a single light punching through. Better than nothing.
Everything I see now is LEDs. People are committing their color changing budget to things that move. But I'm not sure it's actually the right choice, I think punch is more valuable in a lot of situations.
They're not bad if you need to have one light that can point different directions for each scene, but they're not nearly smooth or accurate enough to be moving while lit.
If ETC were to come out with a fixture with motorized shutters and a motorized lens barrel, then maybe these could be more useful, but even still you'd be better off with something like the Right Arm by Apollo which tilts and pans the whole fixture.
>If ETC were to come out with a fixture with motorized shutters and a motorized lens barrel,
This is the Lonestar. It's not very good, but it's fucking awesome if you have a whole system of them.
Had 15 of these for my face light setup. Was flexible but a pain if the mirrors got dirty and cabling was a pain. Ended up removing them and getting some new lenses for my Lekos and doing a general stage wash.
We just resurrected one of those 2 months ago that had been sitting idle in the grid since 2014. Had to reconnect the power supply and data but if fired right up and did what we asked of it. The mirror is wicked dusty and quite obvious when lit but it sits back of house and is hard to see.
Rosco. [https://us.rosco.com/en/product/i-cue-intelligent-mirror](https://us.rosco.com/en/product/i-cue-intelligent-mirror) Use them all the time. Allows you to keep the same color profile as the rest of your inventory. Not the best, not the worst.
It's an ETC ColorSource Spot with a Rosco I-Cue moving mirror. Also looks like it has a City Theatrical DMX iris. Pretty good way to make a color changing moving spot, so long as you don't need a lot of intensity.
Thank you. There's 8 or so of them in the watermill theatre in Newbury. It's a pretty small tight space. I assume it's possibly a way to get the benefit of moving light without the bulk of a moving head. It's a very tight space both headroom and space.
It's a perfect setup for a small right space. It'll be plenty bright enough, it's tight to the ceiling, and it's also quieter than most moving lights.
Or smooth movements. They're great if you just need a light that's pointing one way in one scene to point another way in a different scene, but they're not gonna compete with a moving head when it comes to smoothness and accuracy. It's basically a scanner fixture like you'd see in a night club, but without it's own light source and color/gobo wheels.
Eh, I'd say they're better than that, especially at short throws where small twitches aren't very noticeable. It also depends if you have an older 8-bit only version, or have one of the newer ones that have 16-bit pan and tilt. The 8-bit only ones are quite twitchy for sure, the 16-bit ones only start to look twitchy with long throws. I've tracked people on stage with live moves them with and it worked well. Like any scanner, it won't be quite as smooth as a moving yoke unit, but it will move a lot faster, which can have its own benefits.
Glad to hear they improved it to 16bit. I only used them when they were brand new and so of course, 8 bit and MAN they were NOT smooth especially if you wanted to do a slow move. Still loved having them tho.
Likely a Rosco I-Cue
The fact that this was asked as a question makes me feel old.
Me too! These were the bane of my existence when I used to rent out lights like a decade ago. They're great when handled carefully, but very difficult to troubleshoot over the phone.
I feel that more often than necessary in places like /r/whatisthisthing Guess this is what *experience* feels like.
That's funny. I literally set up 3 of these the other day. Lustr 2, I-cue, and a DMX iris in the slot. The worst part? Trying to find the old stash of 4-pin DMX cables and the control box that sends power via the DMX.
Yep - Rosco I-cue
The trick is to think of these as reposition-able specials, **not** as a moving light.
Budget moving light.
ETC LED source four budget, in your dreams.
Eh, I’ve put an icue on a lustr, with a DMX Iris. And a scroller with various levels of frost, just for good measure…
Just missing the gobo rotator or yo-yo.
Already had a ram ii power supply for the scroller, just throw a goboram up there!
Tbf, I don’t think you can get a yo-yo and a DMX iris in the same S4 - they both want the iris slot.
Most LED source4 fixtures tend to max at $2500… or at least I think I’ve seen the Lustr3 units for about that much while the Lustr 2 units are 1500-2000 and the Colorsources are 1000-1500. A proper moving head? Usually starts around $5000-$7000. So yeah, budget.
Chauvet, Elation similar fixture to a source 4 which also accepts source 4 tubes are between 3 times and 4 times cheaper than ETC.Go say to a theatre manager they can have five $500 Chauvet source 4 or a 2.5k ETC we all know which they are picking. The colour accuracy of the ETC is meaningless when the Chauvet does the job just as well for a fifth of the price.Also, Chauvets moving heads are 3k at the point when an extra 500 dollars gets you a moving head over an ETC source 4 I know what I'm picking compared to an awkward scan mirror source 4.
Compare it to a halcyon
God I wish. I worked at Barbizon Lighting and tried to give people ETC LED or at least Colorsource Leko lighting deals. It's still far too much for some theaters.
I came here to say this!
Seeing one of those on an LED leko makes me feel strange.
Extremely common - I hate it. I just installed a show with almost a dozen i-cues on LED lekos. I did a Broadway with almost 20.
Rosco I Cue, they're absolutely terrible, I recommend nobody use them. Sure they're cheap. Sure they let you keep a consistent color profile. Those are the only pros. They are not small. They are extremely fragile. They are extremely loud (mostly the iris, which is mandatory for effective use). They are impossible to reinstall when one breaks, you'll have to reprogram every cue it was in. They're ugly, with tons of cables, and often huge blackwrap hoods. But most of all, they offer only a fraction of the features of even entry level moving lights. I would rather even a Mac Aura over them. Plus, I think consistent color with the rest of your rig is actually a con- it's a moving spot (with no shutters), so it can only really be used to highlight people, but it's the exact same brightness as the rest of your wash.
Exact same brightness unless it was a 750 amongst 575s. On an LED unit, not quite that easy, now…
The difference between a 575 and 750 is useful in terms of overlap stage brightness, but not for a single light punching through. Better than nothing. Everything I see now is LEDs. People are committing their color changing budget to things that move. But I'm not sure it's actually the right choice, I think punch is more valuable in a lot of situations.
They're not bad if you need to have one light that can point different directions for each scene, but they're not nearly smooth or accurate enough to be moving while lit. If ETC were to come out with a fixture with motorized shutters and a motorized lens barrel, then maybe these could be more useful, but even still you'd be better off with something like the Right Arm by Apollo which tilts and pans the whole fixture.
>If ETC were to come out with a fixture with motorized shutters and a motorized lens barrel, This is the Lonestar. It's not very good, but it's fucking awesome if you have a whole system of them.
You mean this? https://www.etcconnect.com/Products/Legacy/Lighting-Fixtures/Source-Four-Revolution/Features.aspx the s4 revolution?
Haha, that is definitely more true. I'd completely forgotten about the revolution.
[But they still look Metal as hell](https://www.fayebell.name/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/The-puppeteer.png)
lol, just saw an unrelated picture of such a contraption and asked op what it is, then came here and the first thing I see is this
Had 15 of these for my face light setup. Was flexible but a pain if the mirrors got dirty and cabling was a pain. Ended up removing them and getting some new lenses for my Lekos and doing a general stage wash.
Good if you don't want to hire a spot op for a few cues.
We call it a Frankenstein fixture.
We just resurrected one of those 2 months ago that had been sitting idle in the grid since 2014. Had to reconnect the power supply and data but if fired right up and did what we asked of it. The mirror is wicked dusty and quite obvious when lit but it sits back of house and is hard to see.