Emphasis: Can I still buy and is it worth it.

tomtpl said:

I have an Expression 3 board and I am looking for better ways to control moving lights. Will Emphasis help me, and does the visualization work well? Can I still buy one? Why did etc stop making it? Really new to the business and would love any input.

Emphasis was discontinued by ETC a few years ago and is no longer available as a new product.  It was a separate PC server that took over the console, which became essentially a button/fader box, or what ETC called a facepanel.  It used a version of Cast Software's WYSIWYG to provide additional visualization and functionality to the Express/ion OS.  It was not specifically designed to control moving lights, but was better then the more basic functions allowed by the basic console OS. 

The agreement ETC had with Cast expired 4 - 5 years ago ?, freezing the ability to run more recent versions of WYSIWYG beyond version 17, I believe.   As such, you would have no ability to update to more recent fixture profiles, which might well be an overwhelming issue. Gearsource has a used Emphasis server system available for $3,300 for an unknown channel version.  Not worth it in my mind

Having gone from an Express with Emphasis system, to an Ion system, I can state that the newer Eos/Ion OS is far, far superior as a control for ML's then Emphasis and would be money better spent.

Steve B.

You'd think that ETC Would have the Emphasis software on a CD Somewhere :) just waiting to be loaded on a PC.....

You'd think that ETC Would have the Emphasis software on a CD Somewhere :) just waiting to be loaded on a PC.....

lightingguy1 said:

You'd think that ETC Would have the Emphasis software on a CD Somewhere :) just waiting to be loaded on a PC.....

Consider that most lighting control systems that operate on Windows machines operate with XP Embeded, the industrial strength version.  The machines are generally locked out of most functions to prevent use of software that might cause conflicts.  As well, when the PC servers left the factory they were certified for use with a facepanel.

Given all that, there is no way I would consider any non-ETC provided PC running any freebie version of Emphasis to be a reliable operating system.  FWIW, ETC never provided the CD's to be loaded onto a users server, it was always a working box.

And for all that effort, there are better and more current solutions that function on a PC - Chamsys ? among others.

SB