April conjures up associations of enchantment, rain, and foolishness for me, just to name the first three things that come to mind. "What better way to explore these themes than an Enttec Newsletter?" I said to myself. I was an idiot. There's really nothing that I can point out about this month's roundup of news which ties into showers, or magic, and as for pranks on the first of the month, after the news I read that day about mergers in our industry, I can't begin to top that. But maybe if I expand my frame of reference to just "seasonal" then I seem to recall that Spring is a time for Birth or Rebirth. (OK, Inner Professor, are you happy now?) Does that offer any help? I think it does: we're talking about one brand new product, and touting the launch of a new not for profit organization we co-founded. And then we'll talk about some other stuff that more loosely connects.

Yes, that's going to be our theme. But first, let's digress for a moment and open some mail from a reader of last month's issue, shall we?

Hello,
I'd like to know if Enttec is considering a VST (virtual software instrument) version of the OpenDMX software. I really need something like that to use in Cakewalk Sonar.
Thank you,
David Smith
Sacramento, CA

I wrote back to David saying look for an announcement in April. Here goes.

We have a new product that is tailor-made to solve this kind of problem, but when you read the article about DMXIS you're not going to say "Wow, Jeremy was right, this is a Springtime article". You're either going to say "This new gimmick they have come out with is not for me, I am happy controlling lights the way I already do it", or you're going to say "Finally someone linked the musician's toolbox with the lighting rig!" Your exact wording may vary, but that's the kind of comment we expect. Whatever your take on this new innovation, we'd love to hear it. Please don't forget to send your feedback to us about this or other topics covered here in the newsletter.

Next, a little housekeeping. We have been talking for a couple of months about LightFactory Version 2 , and it launched just after our last newsletter was sent out, so the pricing wasn't certain at that time. It's up on our website now though. And for those who don't want to shop now, just need to know what we're offering (it's a little different than Version 1 in terms of the various editions available) you can either read this quick article or call your favorite local Enttec Dealer.

Spring Break was a little earlier this month for many of us, but it's not too late to hit the road, is it? If you're thinking of coming to the Live Design Master Classes, we'll be there at Lighting and Projection days. You could just pop over to their website to find out more, but in our article I'm going to drop a major hint to why you should attend that will make your friends even more jealous that they didn't get to go if you choose to make the pilgrimage.

Now back to the other celebration of new life I mentioned. Announcing the Institute for Feedback Excellence . It's a little project we cooked up with Wybron and which Martin Professional Lighting has lent its weight to as well. Hear more about it and how it will make your RDM experience a better one by clicking here.

Finally, we try to keep tabs on what software developers are doing all over the world that involves Enttec product support, and it felt like time to give you a roundup of three new or revised entries in that category, so to hear about some cool Third Party Applications click here.

Jeremy Kumin ,
Editor and Marketing Manager
ENTTEC U.S