In the production world, we tend to overcomplicate things—often in an effort to make them easier. The products we use keep getting more and more feature-packed, sometimes at the expense of what they were originally designed for.
A.C.T Lighting is now distributing a little box that is as simple as it is powerful. It's called the ImageCue, a DMX-controlled content server that won't break the bank, or require a PhD to program. For small events, portable churches, and regular weekend activities at larger churches, this box could raise your service experience another level.
As I mentioned, it's compact. It's about the size of the palm of your hand. The ImageCue comes with a VESA mount kit that allows you to mount it directly to the back of a video monitor, which is nice for geeks like me that enjoy cable management. The ImageCue's I/O consists of a DMX in and out, two USB ports, and an HDMI out. Included in the box is a HDMI to DVI adapter to aid in connectivity.
Notable Specifics
Navigation is simple. There is a five-way button on the front and a two-line text display screen. From there you can assign the DMX address of the server in the 512 universe. You can also adjust the screen brightness and whether the status LEDs are lit or not—which is nice if the server is placed somewhere that could be seen as a distraction to the audience. Finally, the menu allows you to set the display output resolution, including: 1920x1080p 30 Hz, 1280x720p 60 Hz, 1280x800p 60 Hz, 1280x1024p 60 Hz, 800x600p 60 Hz, and 1920x1080p 24 Hz.
For small events, portable churches—even regular weekend activities at some larger churches, the ImageCue could raise your service experience another level.
Once you change the output settings, you do have to remember to reboot the ImageCue by pulling the power cord for them to take effect. I thought this was slightly inconvenient until I realized that rebooting took roughly five seconds.
Content is king these days, so the ImageCue comes loaded with 255 stock images, videos, and overlays to choose from. In addition to that, users can load custom content via USB. Within the DMX controls then, users have the option for quick “bump” transitions or a fade times as long as 109 minutes … for those really slow worship songs, I guess. As far as video, the ImageCue accepts H.264 video from various containers.
These are just a few of the options among the 12 DMX channels needed to operate the server, others include, overlay control, saturation, and opacity.
TD Feedback
I spoke with Andres Rivera, tech director at Raleigh, N.C.-based Hope Community Church's 1,500-seat church with two satellite locations. Rivera has been evaluating the ImageCue for several months, and feels that this is a great concept for small-budget applications requiring playback of still images, graphics and video. He says he had the unit up and running in no time on his Jands Vista console. A.C.T Lighting provides prebuild profiles for GrandMA and Dot2 consoles from MA Lighting, which are also distributed by A.C.T Lighting. However, Rivera wasn't deterred by this, adding, “It's only 12 channels of DMX and the start up guide tells you exactly what each channel is for; a profile isn't that crucial.” The manufacturer says profiles for various other consoles are available, with more under development.
Rivera's biggest complaint for the ImageCue is that there isn't a Preview out port. “Once everything is programmed, you just have to hope it is right. There isn't a way to know what's going to happen next until you make that cue live.” He continues, “I believe it is a small Raspberry Pi computing device in there, as there are features you can't use like the 3.5-mm audio jack. So I understand the limitations of the computing power. But preview would be nice.” The folks at ImageCue tell us it is a Raspberry Pi device, but it's not an off-the-shelf version.
While it does handle video, my big question for Rivera was, how does it handle HD video? He told me at first it tended to hiccup on heavier HD video, especially with overlays. Then he realized the file was not built according to the specs in the ImageCue manual. After realizing the file situation, the unit was quite stable.
As Rivera and I continued to talk, I couldn't help but ask what other options are available for smaller applications require a media server. “Well, ProPresenter now has the ability to be controlled via DMX, but that requires yet another license, and additional connectivity. That isn't bad, but the ImageCue is small, standalone, and as I said earlier, small budget friendly,” he says. My final question for Rivera was, “Would you consider this as a piece you'd trust for your weekend workflow?” He responded with, “It's a pretty neat box, it's built strong, and has been reliable for me. I'd trust it with my weekend.”
If your church needs an inexpensive content server, or if you need a portable server you can throw in your bag of tricks for small events, or keep on the shelf as a backup, the ImageCue should be on your short list.
