Wow, what a year this has been! We’ve already broken all previous records, and there are still three months to go. Of course, that means we’re swamped, but swamped is good. To help with the workload, we’ve hired two new interns. Sean is a programmer and web developer, and Gerry is a mechanical draftsman. It’s great to see some new faces around the office, and we sure appreciate the help. Welcome to Alcorn McBride, guys!
Joy Burke’s latest project has been delivered, right on time. His name is Connor Burke, and he weighs 8 lbs 1 oz, slightly less than a V16 Pro. Unlike the V16 Pro, we hear he requires 24/7 support. Congratulations to Joy, husband Rob, and Connor’s big sister Renae!
Loren recently managed the remodeling of our Lobby and offices for our interns. Here she’s posing with some of her tools as she finishes up some picture hanging. The results are beautiful. Thanks, Loren!
One of the hits of InfoComm was our LightingPad application for the iPad and iPhone. LightingPad is the perfect tool for controlling small shows, or for installing and testing lighting systems. It’s also great for programming our LightCue Pro lighting controller. Simply connect any Art-Net compatible DMX device to your wireless network, and you have a complete lighting console in the palm of your hand. Because it’s an iPad / iPhone application, it’s incredibly simple to use.
This youtube video shows you how it works.
LightingPad will be available in the iTunes App Store. For more information, visit http://www.alcorn.com/products/lightingpad/index.html
It’s been a busy first five months of the year, with lots of new products and shows opening. In fact this could just turn out to be our biggest year yet. As we head into the summer we wish everyone a busy time at work and some relaxing time with loved ones. And if you’re in the neighborhood of Hershey Park, be sure to check out their latest show, Rock the Jukebox, in the Music Box Theatre. It uses an HD Binloop. Enjoy!
Wouldn’t it be great if you could control or test your show control, lighting, audio or video without being in the equipment room or at an Operator Control Console? That’s what we thought, too. And since most of us at Alcorn McBride carry the ubiquitous iPhone, we figured, what an ideal portable controller! For this, our first iPhone app, we didn’t want to get carried away, so we kept it simple. There are eight buttons, and you can define whatever UDP message you like for each of them. This lets you talk to all of our Ethernet enabled devices, and other manufacturer’s devices as well. You can also name the buttons and specify the destination IP address and port number. Whether you use it to ease installation, or as a portable OCC, we think UDP Remote will make a great addition to your next project. Enjoy!
If you know an aspiring mechanical engineer who’d like a summer internship, please pass along this interesting opportunity.
Mechanical Design Intern – Summer 2010
Alcorn McBride is looking for a Mechanical Design Intern to work at our headquarters in Orlando for the summer of 2010.
The ideal candidate has a minimum of one year of experience (or equivalent College-level course) in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) applied to electronic and mechanical assemblies. The ability to generate mechanical drawings using AutoCAD and OrCAD (printed circuit board design) software packages is required.
Responsibilities include generating production-ready fabrication drawings based on existing documentation, creating Integrated Circuit footprint drawings, simple cable assembly drawings and other mechanical design tasks.
When I look at the access statistics from our website it’s not surprising some pages get a lot more hits than others.
Where is this mystery attraction?
Of course, the home page is the most frequently visited, and after that the product data pages. But there’s also a lot of interest in the pages about particular installations. I suppose that’s because it’s fun to read about the wide variety of theme park attractions around the world.
However, I notice that only the featured installation pages get the high traffic; there are tons more that most people never see, and among them are some of my favorite installations.
With the success of Avatar and other recent releases, 3D is attracting a lot of attention lately.
Outstanding 3D
Because they incorporate video sync inputs, Alcorn McBride players such as the DVM/HD and Video Binloop HD are two of the best ways to reliably play back images in perfect sync, a requirement for 3D. There are many way to display 3D images, most of which involve tricking the viewer’s eyes into perceiving two different, slightly offset images. This article at Gizmodo does a great job of summarizing the available technologies: http://gizmodo.com/5084121/giz-explains-3d-technologies
Wizarding World of Harry Potter
A list of the “5 Coolest Theme Parks Around The World” has appeared at UPHAA, and I found it surprising, because none of them would have made my list. More troubling, though, is the inclusion of the “Harry Potter Theme Park.”
As with most of the mainstream press, UPHAA has confused what is simply going to be a “land” at Universal’s Islands of Adventure with a complete theme park. While I have no doubt that Harry Potter would have been a great theme for a complete park, that’s not what the public is going to be getting when The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens this spring. Let’s hope the general public doesn’t have overblown expectations, because I think it’s going to be a great addition to IOA. But it’s not a complete theme park.
Alcorn McBride Inc. is the leading manufacturer of show control, audio and video equipment for the themed entertainment industry.