Key Articles
InAVate Awards - Last Chance to Vote
 We
are delighted and honored that Stardraw Control 2007 has been selected as a finalist in
the second EMEA InAVation awards, in the category for Most InAVative Control Product for Residential Use.
Finalists for this prestigious award have been selected by a panel of industry experts based
on innovation, product excellence and the delivery of real benefits to system integrators.
If, like the panellists and voters at earlier PLASA, NSCA and InAVate awards, you agree that
Stardraw Control is worthy of recognition, please vote for Stardraw Control 2007
today. Voting closes on January 18th 2008 - don't miss your chance to have your say in deciding the
most InAVative products of 2007.
COMM-TEC GmbH takes on exclusive European distribution for Stardraw.com
 We
are pleased to announce the appointment of German communications
technology distribution specialists, COMM-TEC GmbH as the exclusive distribution
channel for all Stardraw products throughout Europe, including Eastern Europe and
Turkey. The areas not covered by the agreement are the UK, Ireland and Russia which
will remain under the direct jurisdiction of Stardraw.com. The agreement is effective
from January 1st 2008.
Based near Stuttgart, Germany, with offices throughout Europe, COMM-TEC is the
leading pro-AV distribution organization in Europe with an impressive portfolio of
brands including Analog Way, Da-Lite, DNP, Lutron, Medialon, Middle Atlantic Products
and Samsung, to name but a few. They cover all AV market sectors from audio, lighting,
video, presentation technology, signal management and show and event control right down
to racks and bespoke equipment housing.
According to Stardraw.com marketing director Rob Robinson, the move represents an
exciting step forward. "COMM-TEC is a company that specializes in providing solutions,
not just products and, having formerly distributed AMX for more than 15
years, what they don't
know about control systems isn't worth knowing. We are extremely flattered that, after
careful deliberation and extensive product evaluation, COMM-TEC has concluded that
Stardraw Control is the right platform on which to provide the next generation of
control solutions."
Robinson continued, "From our point of view, COMM-TEC has an extremely impressive
track record, a highly complementary portfolio of products and, importantly, a vision of
control systems and next-generation control solutions that matches our own. I am fully
confident that this will be not just a distribution partnership, but an exciting and
forward-thinking partnership that will have significant consequences for the industry
in years to come."
"Stardraw is the ideal addition to the COMM-TEC product portfolio", said Carsten
Steinecker, Director, Business Development, of COMM-TEC. "With Stardraw, we have an
established and reliable software solution which can be integrated on the open IP
platform in control applications. We will break new ground in control technology
with Stardraw by including additional IP based products into our portfolio in the
very near future."
Enhanced Support for EIB & DMX
 The
Stardraw Control product family has recently been updated to provide enhanced support
of two more industry-standard protocols, DMX and KNX/EIB.
The long-established pro lighting control protocol DMX is an ANSI standard that
is commonplace throughout the entertainment sector and is increasingly prevalent
in architectural installations, largely due to the growing popularity of DMX
controlled LED fixtures.
Although the base DMX standard allows for a limit of 512
controllable channels, Stardraw Control overcomes this limitation by supporting the
Ethernet Transport protocols Art-Net, by Artistic License, and PathPort, by Pathway
Connectivity. These protocols support multiple DMX universes, each of 512 channels, and Stardraw Control
now allows for control and monitoring of any device on any channel in any universe,
without having to write any code. The library of Stardraw Control drivers also includes generic
DMX device drivers that can be configiured to represent any real-world DMX-controlled product.
KNX/EIB is an open protocol for applications in home and building control, ranging from
lighting and shutter control to security systems, heating, ventilation, air conditioning,
monitoring, alarms, water control, energy management and more. It is approved
as European, International and Chinese standards.
Support has been added for COMM-TEC's Ethernet-EIB and RS232-EIB gateways and new drivers
have been added to support all types of EIB device from simple switches to dimmers and time, date,
character, signed and unsigned I/O devices.
Full details on the use of these protocols and devices can be seen in online movies, just follow the link below:
New Certified Programmer - Gator International
 We
are delighted to welcome Gator International as the latest additional the the growing community of Stardraw Control
Certified Programmers.
Gator International is headquartered in Belgium with international offices and provides
custom control system programming solutions and services.
Extend Stardraw AV with Simply Reliable Software
 Extend
the power of Stardraw AV 2007 with Simply Reliable Software to really control your business and create
sales today. Now you can have full project management, invoicing, scheduling, work orders, change
orders, and job costs in a system that is fully-integrated with Stardraw
AV 2007. Plus, blow away the
competition with great looking proposals that you can create with drag and drop from your Stardraw
files. To see how this works,
click here for an overview, and then watch
the video of a proposal
being created from scratch to finish in under 15 minutes.
Mark your calendar for ISE, Amsterdam January 29th-31st, 2008, and visit Simply Reliable at Booth O22.
US Training Dates
New dates for the popular Stardraw Audio / Stardraw AV training seminars have been announced. These half day
sessions cost $299 per attendee and offer the fastest way to become a Stardraw Power User, maximizing your software
investment and improving your productivity.
Topics: |
Creating schematics, rack layouts & sales presentations
Modifiers, Fastkeys and Shortcuts Tips and Tricks for Power
Users Creating and managing Symbols Libraries Data Sources
and Reporting |
Dates: |
Feb 22nd 2008, FT. Lauderdale, FL
Mar 4th 2008, Washington, DC
Apr 8th 2008, Denver, CO
|
Time: |
9am - 1pm (Doors open 8am, Breakfast & Lunch
included) |
Cost: |
$299 per person |
|
|
Advanced Training at Computerlinks
A Stardraw Control Advanced training
course will be held on February 12th 2008. This course is ideal
for those Stardraw Control users who want to exploit the full power
of the multi-award-winning universal control platform, and is a
required element in becoming a Stardraw Control Certified Programmer.
Topics: |
Creating Drivers for Devices using RS232, Ethernet, DMX etc
Scripting
Events
Gateway devices
Bi-directional communications & asynchronous I/O
C# programming concepts including the following:
Datatypes, iterations, conditional execution, classes,
external references
Calculating checksums, CRCs, hex, ASCII, binary
Calling legacy code & existing drivers
|
Date: |
February 12th 2008 |
Time: |
10am - 4pm (Lunch included) |
Venue: |
COMPUTERLINKS UK
Suffolk House,
Fordham Road, Newmarket
Suffolk CB8 7AA
t: +44 (0)1638 569 600
Map and Directions |
Cost: |
£349 per person + VAT |
To reserve your seat please register
online. Note that attendees should have previously attended both
Introductory and Intermediate classes. For these and other Stardraw training events please follow the link below:
Upcoming Events
 |
Show: |
ISE |
Venue: |
RAI, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
Dates: |
January 29-31 |
Booth: |
C99 |
|
 |
Show: |
Prolight & Sound |
Venue: |
Messe, Frankfurt, Germany |
Dates: |
March 12-15 |
Booth: |
TBA |
|
Symbols Updates
In December the following libraries were updated
in one or more of Stardraw's design/documentation
applications (Stardraw Audio, Stardraw AV and Stardraw AV Lite). Click
on a manufacturer name to see full details of that library, or click on a
link at the bottom of the page to update your application
with the latest symbols.
|
|
Jan 16th, Online |
Jan 21st, Anaheim, CA, USA |
Jan 23rd, Online |
Feb 6th, Online |
Feb 22nd, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA |
Mar 4th, Washington, DC, USA |
Apr 8th, Denver, CO, USA |
|
