PROJECTS
Sydney’s
latest shopping mecca, Westfields Bondi Junction, cost a staggering $680
million dollars and so it’s no wonder that the centre wanted the building
lit up at night. The façade that faces the busy Syd Einfeld Drive
is decorated with logos of retail shops located within the centre such as
Target, Woolworths and Greater Union. At night this façade is illuminated
by ten Martin Exterior 600 automated colour-changing Fresnel wash lights
that are specifically designed for fixed outdoor installations. Although the Exterior 600 can generate over 1 million possible colour combinations, Westfield’s management are currently opting to use only white. Colour washing is being saved for special occasions to make the most impact.
Electrical contractors Heyday installed the Martin Exterior 600 for its reliability, durability and independence.
“It was recommended to us as the best fixture for the job,” said Paul Slaven of Heyday. “The fact that it has an IP 65 weatherproof rating was important as we needed a fixture that could withstand all weather conditions
The Exterior 600s are controlled via a Martin PC-based LightJockey PCI controller and LightJockey Manager which triggers the Exteriors to come on at sunset and switch off at 10pm.
Beyond AV supplied the fittings, programmed them and set up the scheduling program to trigger these lights at set times of the day.
www.showtech.com.au
ULA
lights up WAAPAThe Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts is one of Australia's premier performing arts schools. With the largest full time technical training facility, this is where Australia's brightest technical artists go to learn the ropes of lighting design and operation.
In September, ULA was proud to support young Australian talent when, with the backing of Robe (Czech Republic), they were able to make a contribution to the school and supply them with 8 Robe ColorSpot 575 AT’s. This allows the lighting students to learn their trade on the Robe product, one of the fastest growing brands in the lighting industry.
Their training incorporates work in theatre, concert, television and other entertainment areas, and they get practical experience on many occasions throughout the year when they are required to work on the productions of their fellow students in the school's own state-of-the-art theatre. The Academy’s performance facilities include a 320-seat proscenium arch theatre, 200-seat music auditorium, two performance studios, an outdoor amphitheatre and a wonderful 190 seat court-style theatre which opened in 2003.
www.ula.com.au
Sydney Town Hall is one of Sydney’s best loved icons. For more than a century it has been the city’s major public and civic building, its clock a popular landmark and the marble steps leading up to the entrance, one of Sydney’s favourite meeting places.
During the second half of the nineteenth century it was customary for the civic halls of England and her colonies to be provided with organs of imposing dimensions; dimensions which in themselves spoke of a city’s pride and aspirations. With Sydney’s own Town Hall itself a structure of lavish proportions, it is no surprise that the original designers of the organ conceived an instrument on the grandest possible scale.
Built in London by William Hill and Son, the Grand Organ was shipped to Australia and installed in 1890. It was then the largest organ in the world and is still the largest ever built with tubular-pneumatic action.
The organ was restored between 1972 and 1982 and is used regularly for performances. The final stage of the organ’s restoration unfolded in 1992 when the Town Hall was restored. At this time the original colour scheme for the case, with its lavish gilding, was reinstated.
The Sydney Town Hall is an impressive centre for civic and cultural events and its state-of-the-art facilities make it one of Sydney’s most exciting venues. However its’ heritage listing means that any technical changes within the building have to be carefully considered; the placement of audio visual equipment is not easy.
So how do you give a venue such as Sydney Town Hall an extra edge with which to attract potential venue hirers?
The solution was to light up the wall behind the organ in changing colour. Initially the lighting department at the venue was solely interested in changing the existing prehistoric lights that lit up the organ as they were becoming a safety risk. Not only were they high maintenance but they were also positioned rather precariously. Whist looking at replacements, the idea of colour changing lights was born and the venue operators soon realised the attraction of such a feature to potential hirers.
Five Studio Due CityColour 400 colour wash units were supplied by BeyondAV and these are situated within the organ on a platform. From there, the unit’s colourwash the back wall behind the organ. The colour can be static or on a continuous change.
One of the first important functions that benefited from the venue’s new feature was the Wallabies Bledisloe Luncheon. The wall was lit in a brilliant shade of green whilst the organ pipes were lit in gold and the client was very pleased with the result.
www.showtech.com.au
A1
Audio solve solution with MiniMACsThe Brewery hotel is situated on Newcastle's beautiful harbour foreshore with absolutely amazing views. The hotel has just finished extensive renovations to the tune of $1.5 million.
The large Waterfront Bar on the first floor has been totally redesigned to create a modern and streamlined venue. The room has to cater for a busy day crowd who like to lunch on the verandah as well as a lively night time crowd. At night the room often hosts live bands such as Killing Heidi as well as DJs.
A small stage area is lit with Kupo par cans whilst the room is brought to life with four Martin MiniMAC moving heads. The seven easy to change patterns combined with the twelve colours gives endless possibilities for decoration and ambient settings. Up to seven presets can be programmed in the on-board memory for full stand-alone operation.
However the low ceiling in the room posed a problem to Brett Coxon of A1 Audio who supplied and installed all of the lighting and audio into the venue. The possibility of slightly tipsy clients reaching up to meddle with the MiniMACs had to be addressed.
So Brett came up with a solution: he recessed the MiniMACs into the ceiling structure encasing the exposed parts in clear plastic domes. Not only did this solve a problem, the domes created their own lighting effect from the MiniMACs, as the light passes through the dome you can see the light moving around the dome itself.
www.showtech.com.au
Westfield
Bondi - an unparalleled Precedent in RetailWestfield Bondi is a shopping centre that has created an unparalleled precedent in the world of shopping. Costing approximately A$680 million, this retail redevelopment in the heart of Bondi Junction consolidates three existing retail sites into one world-class shopping experience.
Spectacular features of the centre are the three large atriums that plunge through the depth of the building. These atriums are the major axis in the public space and thus lend themselves to a unique marketing opportunity. The Marketing Department at Westfields had a strong vision; these spaces could be themed and therefore could be made available for rent.
To put this idea into practice a motorised trussing system was required to provide a high level of flexibility to enable marketing material, theatrical lighting equipment and other display material to be easily and safely suspended.
Jands were contracted to design the staging for all of the three voids. An essential requirement was to not only provide a safe and stable working platform for lighting fixtures and other suspended promotional material, but one that requires the minimum of maintenance.
The largest atrium is named the Entertainment Lifestyle Precinct (ELP) and it plunges twenty-nine metres in depth. Suspended by six one-ton chain motors is a triangular truss, made up from three 8.7 metre lengths of truss, which can be raised and lowered as required. Alternatively, by unlocking the corner pieces, the three individual truss elements can also be operated independently and be positioned in the void at different heights to provide dramatic additional effects.
The high quality, heavy duty aluminium quad 600mm x 400mm truss sections were custom made with each length of truss installed complete with an onboard custom made power distribution and dimmer system. RF DMX distribution is used for reliability and flexibility.
Mounted centrally under each truss assembly is an unwired lighting bar whilst further lighting bars are installed around the perimeter of the atrium.
The other two voids are situated outside the Myers and David Jones stores, with the design of the staging systems for these following the same design principles as used for the ELP void. However the truss shapes differ; Myers has a C-shape truss with a removable cross brace provided to stiffen the structure when required. Meanwhile, the David Jones void has two parallel truss structures of different lengths, both suspended from the underside of the concrete slab above level 10 overhanging the oval voids
Rather than hire the required lighting, it was more cost effective for Westfields to purchase lighting especially as some of the themed areas may remain in situ for several months. The purchased lights can be deployed wherever needed over the three areas.
Chosen were four VL3000 spot fixtures and six VL2000 spot fixtures. Added to that were four VL3000 wash fixtures and six VL2000 wash fixtures to provide dramatic CMY colour washes. All of the Vari-Lite fixtures are controlled by a Jands Event 408 console.
www.jands.com.au
Martin
Architectural's Fashionable Debut in Toorak Road
One
of Italy's finest female fashion stores Marina Rinaldi recently opened
in Melbourne's Toorak Road. The brief from MR's head office in Milan was
to bathe the front of the store in selected coloured light to match the
current season's colours.
Martin Alien 02 colour-changers were specified due to their stylish look
and ability to match virtually any colour, and local Martin Architectural
distributors Lightmoves were called upon to supply, install and program
two Alien 02 fittings in order to provide a ‘beacon of light' behind
the two storey-high frosted windows.
Rather than using a DMX control system to control the lights, Lightmoves
installed the Martin infra-red receiver inside the store window. This
allows the store staff to easily re-program the static colour of the lights
using the simple Martin IR remote control from the footpath, as the colour
and layout of the clothes displayed changes every four weeks.
The result is a simple but effective display that creates a sense of branding
and helps draw attention to Marina Rinaldi's new home in one of Melbourne's
biggest fashion precincts.
2 x Martin Alien 02 Spot, 34° lens
1 x Martin Infra Red IR Remote Control and Receive
Lightmoves www.lightmoves.com
Martin Architectural www.martin-architectural.com
The Mean Fiddler started its life as a halfway house between Parramatta and Windsor more than 170 years ago and it is now one of Sydney's favourite pubs winning countless awards.
Situated on the Corner of Commercial and Windsor Road, Rouse Hill, people come from near and far for a part of its famous Irish hospitality. Designed by one of Ireland's best architects and interior designers, The Mean Fiddler has artifacts from all over the world including a 2.5 tonne chandelier sourced from an 1880 Parisian theatre, an old boat from the Irish shores, and even a true pulpit from a small village church. All of these elements combine together with the paintings, bric-a-bracs, poetry and music to create an atmosphere like no other.
The venue already has many Show Technology imported fixtures throughout its various areas; Martin MAC250 Entours, Martin Pro 400s, stand alone disco effects, mirror balls, motors, pinspots and Kupo par cans.
So when the Martin Mania PR-1 was launched the venue bought one sight unseen such was their faith in Martin lighting products. The Mania PR-1 is a high precision optic luminaire that can project an image, your logo, your decoration or your message onto any wall, floor or ceiling.
With an interchangeable D-Sized gobo you can adjust your message to whatever the occasion – clubs, birthdays, or weddings. Colour filters can also be added and as with all Mania products, there is no duty cycle so it can run all night
The owners of the Mean Fiddler were so confident in the product they even had the gobo made, by Gobotech, ready to go! Once the Mania PR-1 arrived, they were delighted to discover that the gobos were incredibly easy to put in and out of the fixture.
Within a few hours of the Mania PR-1 having been installed the venue owners decided to purchase another half dozen such was the incredible response that the fixture created. Located in the main entrance of the pub, the Mania PR1 projects a slowly rotating Mean Fiddler logo onto the wooden floor. As patrons enter the establishment they gaze upwards in wonder trying to locate the source of the image and it certainly has become a talking point! Despite quite a large amount of the ambient light present, the image still cuts through with incredible intensity. The logo is coloured a soft yellow rather than white but the colour can be changed easily at any time as can the speed and direction.
The client was particularly impressed by the crystal clear and sharp image produced by the Mania PR-1. At the moment they are using an ordinary spot light, with a gobo in the gate, outside to project on to the building and the difference in clarity is like chalk and cheese. There are now plans to install a couple of Mania PR-1 fixtures on to outdoor poles to project on to the building.
“The Mania PR-1 has exceeded my expectations and judging by the feedback from other people, I’m not the only one,” said the installer of the product. “These things will walk out of the door for Show Technology.”
www.showtech.com.au
Geni
for Christian Life Centre, Eastlakes
On the 10th of July, Christian Life Centre Eastlakes, near Newcastle,
opened their new 480 seat church facility. The venue is probably the most
technically advanced of all facilities in the area.
Forefront was engaged to provide turnkey solutions for sound, lighting,
video, stage design, curtains and cycloramas. They also consulted on the
acoustic treatment of the facility, ensuring that it would become a comfortable
space, transforming it from a 'tilt up' concrete structure.
Forefront Productions specialises in the sale & installation of all
kinds of sound, lighting and video equipment for the modern church.
"Eastlakes is truly a 21st century church,” said Nick Burns
of Forefront Productions. "It's a church with a strong creative focus,
and we needed to be sure that the many different styles of presentations
they ustilise could all be catered for in our design"
It was important that the stage and lighting could be easily reset for
various seating modes and creative productions.
The lighting truss system is trolley mounted on two girders, which allow
all of the three trusses to be moved to any position between the rear
stage wall and centre of the auditorium. The trusses are also rigged with
chain blocks to allow them to be raised and lowered on demand.
A custom-built cable system takes care of the pre-wired multicore running
to the lighting trusses as they move.
Effects lighting is supplied by Geni and includes four OBY3 moving heads,
three Shiva moving mirrors and four Colour Blaster colour changers.
“The Geni fixtures offered great value to the customer,” said
Nick. ”For the limited money they had available we were able to
supply seven intelligent lights plus the colour changers.”
A JEM Magnum Hazer provides the atmospherics.
An LSC iPatch72, allows the easy configuring of any of the 72 prewired
outlets on the trusses to the rack of Jands FP12 dimmers. The LSC Maxim
XL takes care of all lighting control and is particularly easy to use
with the combination of Geni fixtures.
With video recording
being a future priority, a full compliment of forty-four Kupo Multipar
HO's were deployed to provide house lighting successfully turning the
venue into a broadcast studio when required. Eight Kupo Studio Multipars
and eight Kupo 1000-watt Cyc lights were also installed.
www.showtech.com.au
Deal
or No Deal’s New Deal - Resolution X and Brown’s at Central
City StudiosOne week’s notice to replicate one of the biggest television lighting rigs in Australia in a completely bare studio? No problem.
That was Resolution X’s Managing Director, Tim Hall’s reaction when Channel 7 threw him the challenge of getting the massive Deal or No Deal rig installed at Dockland’s Central City Studios in Melbourne for a week of special shoots. “Actually, we only got six day’s notice,” points out Tim, “and it wasn’t until we realised we would be replicating Channel 7’s batten pipe grid on a bare RSJ grid that we realized exactly how big this job really was”.
Big is an understatement. Deal or No Deal utilises more than 145 intelligent lights, on top of just over 100 conventional fixtures, run from two MA Lighting grandMA consoles, making it probably the largest lighting rig in use on a daily television show in the country. Intelligent lighting includes: 8 Studio Due CityColor 2500, 30 Martin MAC250 Entour, 38 Martin MAC550, 32 Martin MAC2000 Wash,6 Clay Paky Miniscan HPE, 6 Clay Paky Goldenscan HPE, 6 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200, and 21 Clay Paky Stage Color 300.
The decision to shoot in Central City’s Studio 5 meant creating a detailed truss grid to cover the 8000-foot space. The Studios have only recently opened, and Studio 5 is intended to be a dedicated television studio space with a motorised, programmable batten grid, but unfortunately for Tim, this is yet to be installed.
The six days notice Tim received had to include site surveys, adapting the existing design to suit the space, sourcing the extra equipment and staff required, installation, focus and programming. Channel Seven’s own crew operate the show for the shoots.
Due to the scale of the installation, Showtech Rigging were called in to rig the grid and supply motors and extra truss. Showtech and Resolution X both have large stocks of Brown’s Precision Welding’s trusses, and they combined to supply the close to 500 metres of truss required.
Brown’s new 500mm Alloy Stacking Truss was used to provide a ‘mothergrid’ of sorts, supporting the long spans of 300mm Tri Truss that made up the bulk of the grid. Over the main set, the high concentration of moving lights called for a heavier-duty truss. The high-grade aluminium couplers that Brown’s use for their 400mm Box give it a great strength advantage over standard box trusses, making it ideal for this area.
In all, 320 metres of 300mm Tri Truss, 112 metres of 400mm Box Truss, and 66 metres of 500mm Alloy Stacking Truss was installed, hung from 50 Chain motors and blocks. Almost 3 Kilometres of power and data cables were used, along with 18 power distribution boards, 84 channels of dimmers, 10 data splitters (8 x 8-way, 2 x Matrix splitters), 67m of white cycs, and 2 MSR 1200 followspots.
Resolution X had 12 staff on site for two full days to assist Showtech’s riggers with getting the truss in the air, and to rig and focus the lights. “It was a lot of work, but everyone pulled together really well,” says Tim “and it actually ended up going a lot smoother than we had expected, especially given the timeframe”.
Channel 7 were thrilled with the results, and will be airing the episodes shot at Central City later this year.
Resolution X can be found at www.resolutionx.com.au
Showtech Rigging are at www.showtechaustralia.com.au
Brown’s Precision Welding is online at www.brownswelding.com.au
Brown’s Precision Welding is distributed outside of Victoria by Balanced Technology – www.balancedtech.com.au
Martin
MAC550's on ice
Construction
of the indoor fitness centre and ice rink at Sydney’s Liverpool
Catholic Club has recently been completed.
Focal Point Productions takes care of all the in-house lighting and audio
at the club and hence were contracted to supply specialist lighting for
the new ice rink. Ambitious initial plans to install Pulsar ChromaBanks
directly into the ice were unfortunately discarded due to a lack of budget.
“The architects
still wanted the best and the latest in lighting so we opted for eight
Martin MAC550 fixtures with a Martin LightJockey on a PC for control,”
said Steve Willis, managing director of Focal Point. “The MAC550’s
deliver a nice light output and they give us some really nice patterns.
For example, we use the water gobo to flood the ice and that looks very
nice. As the fixture has a motorised iris we can bring them down to use
them as a spot for featured positions.”
The Martin MAC550s
are discreetly positioned four a side, either side of the rink. Although
they are hung quite high, the MAC550’s can still deliver a great
punch due to their amazing light output.
“It means we
can still wash the ice and project some nice patterns on it but the light
fixtures are not that visible,” said Steve.
During the day the
rink is flooded in daylight and so the MAC550’s are usually projected
on to the ceiling for a general colour wash. As night falls, the lighting
comes alive as it hits the ice rink and surrounding walls.
Steve is also impressed
by the low heat out put from the MAC550’s.
“They’ve
installed par cans into the rink at Penrith but the heat output from those
is a lot for the air conditioner to counteract,” he noted. “Part
of our brief was to find a light that would be weatherproof and handle
any humidity in the room. It also had to have a minimum heat output.”Steve
chose Martin LightJockey for control as he liked the ability to set many
programmes that could be accessed quickly by a touchscreen. The operator
can easily access modes such as ‘Friday night disco’ but there
is also the flexibility for more live operation if required.
“We’ve
also programmed in a turn off for the lamps at the end of the night,”
Steve said. “So effectively you don’t need an operator there
the whole time.”
www.showtech.com.au
The nightclub
section of Cooney’s Tavern, a well known Wollongong hotel, has recently
had a major lighting and audio upgrade courtesy of Innovative Lighting &
Sound.Named Bustin’ after the production and promotion company that look after the club, the venue has been given a new lease of life by Innovative using a host of Show Technology products including four Geni Oby 5 moving head fixtures.
“We had a look at a few moving head fixtures and we found that the Geni Oby 5 fixtures just killed everything,” exclaimed Brendan Sadgrove, managing director of Innovative Lighting & Sound. “They were a hell of a lot brighter than anything else in that price range.”
As well as their output, Brendan also liked the size of the fixture and its wide rotation capability.
The club uses the Oby 5’s to deliver projection features onto the venue walls; these include gobos such as the Bustin’ logo for a walk in effect.
“I like the way that the Oby 5’s can morph between two different gobos,” said Brendan. “It provides a really good effect in the place. The Oby 5 is a seriously awesome light.”
One rather plain wall is bought to life by two ADJ Aqua Lights transforming it into a surface of rippling water. A more obvious and dramatic effect is delivered by a Martin Atomic strobe.
Eight Kupo Par 56 cans wash the dance floor and throw light onto the mirrorball. Eight Geni shimmers also shine onto the mirrorball resulting in a weird yet fascinating effect on the dance floor; the broken beam effect produced by the Shimmers is broken further by the mirrorball resulting in thousands of little beams.
Haze is supplied by a Jem Technohaze machine.
A lap top and Martin LightJockey are used to control the lighting making life easy for the operator whop is from a club background not production. Several chases have already been programmed which he can creatively use all night without having to think too much about it!
www.showtech.com.au
The Ranch Hotel in North Ryde Sydney houses several attractions from a popular bistro to a funky lounge-style bar where guests can chill out every night of the week.
The owners of The Ranch were looking to enhance this bar with some subtle, yet colourful lighting, but it was imperative that the lighting was not a nightclub style. Mark McInnes of DMC Lighting was approached to provide a solution.
"They wanted something unique as the rest of the venue is well decorated," he said. "I immediately thought of LED fixtures to suit their needs. I'd seen the Pulsar range used in overseas applications and so I asked Darren McLanders of Show Technology to demonstrate some of the range.
"After a play around with some Pulsar fixtures I decided that they would be the best fixture for the job."
The obvious feature to be highlighted by the lighting was the recessed ceiling and so Mark installed sixteen Pulsar ChromaMR16 Hearts. The ChromaMR16 Heart module transforms MR16 type low cost standard enclosures into LED RGB colour mixing fixtures. Also installed were a Chromazone-12 PSU and an ELC AC612XL Architectural Mini DMX controller.
"The roof space was easily divided into four sections so that we could have four different colours moving at different times, if required, or we could have it working as one large unit," explained Mark.
The slim-line ELC controller is tucked away behind the bar from where it can be easily operated by any of the staff with a touch of a button.
"With just two minutes of training, anyone behind the bar can change the colours of the venue", said Mark.
www.showtech.com.au
Hippotizer
at RiseHippotizer, the versatile digital media server from Scene Change, has found a home in Australia, having been selected by the Rise nightclub in Perth as the centrepiece of a new visuals system, installed to help the venue set the standard for clubbing in Perth with "a massive dancefloor, a world-class sound system and a lighting rig that redefines the phrase full-on."
Simon Barwood, managing director and resident DJ for Rise, explains: "We were ready to launch Rise into the 21st century with the installation of a club visuals system. I first came across Hippotizer in a review in DJ Mag's VJ Scan section. After extensive research of software and hardware products I could find no other comparable system offered as an 'out of the box' solution, which included pre-loaded content and an intuitive interface. The claims in the technical literature were substantial. And, as there were no units in Australia, we took a giant leap of faith and purchased the Hippotizer sight unseen, relying on the reviews and specifications. Our concerns quickly evaporated when, within a few minutes of turning the system on, it was apparent that it would live up to the hype - and then some! The Hippotizer has entirely changed the look and feel of our venue, literally dragging us out of the dark ages and propelling us head first into a bright future full of possibilities!"
Rise's Hippotizer was supplied by Clearlight Shows Pty, the Australian dealer for the Hippotizer range. Hippotizer is available in four versions, covering the full spectrum of show styles and control requirements for video playback and image and effects processing, whether controlled manually or via DMX or other control protocols. Every version of the Hippotizer shares the same compact, rugged rack-mount case and the same comprehensive range of outputs. All four versions also come pre-loaded with digital content from Scene Change.
www.scene-change.com
click image to enlarge
If you've seen the film Strange Bedfellows currently on release around the country, the scene in the gay nightclub is unforgettable not only for it's humour but also for the fantastic lighting. The scene was shot in Melbourne's Zos nightclub a few days after the club installed a new lighting system courtesy of AVL Electronics.
The owners of Zos nightclub are keen to keep up with the latest lighting technology and consequently they were the first to own Martin Entours in Australia and the first to install an MA Lighting grandMA ultra-light console into a nightclub. They also opted for Martin MX10 fixtures that were fairly new to the market.
"The Entours weren't actually on the market at the time and we had to place a special order," explained Jay Mic'A of AVLE. "The four Entours, used on the main dance floor, were chosen for their speed of moving yoke, dual gobo wheel and powerful effects. They're also really bright."
The ten Martin MX10 are scattered around the main dance floor area to add colour, pattern and movement to the room.
Two Geni 3000 watt strobes and a JEM ZR33 smoke machine supply effects.
Serhan Sahin is the clubs lighting and sound manager and he is more than delighted with the current installation especially the MA Lighting grandMA ultra-light Jay recommended for control.
"It's very easy to use as the options are right in front of you on the touch screen," he said.
www.showtech.com.au
click image to enlarge
Situated in Penrith, Panthers World of Entertainment is an entertainment complex featuring several venues. The flagship venue - the Evan Theatre - hosts an amazing array of events, everything from Shakespeare to alternative rock, and this was an important factor in it's recent renovation.
After looking at several available moving head fixtures on the market, the decision was taken to install twelve Martin MAC600, ten MAC500 fixtures and four Geni Oby 5 moving heads.
"We had a budget to work to and we discovered that we could get more for our money with Martin products," explained Wayne Campbell, Panther's Production Coordinator for the past ten years. "It's a good install system that many visiting lighting operators know how to use."
The Martin rig has now been in place for five months and Wayne reports no problems describing the rig as very reliable.
"I like that you can do the morphing with the gobos on the MAC500 and they are so easy to service. With MAC600, I love the CMY colour mixing and they are very easy to maintain being practically bulletproof. The Oby 5 fixtures have also been fantastic I have no complaints.
Also upgraded was the Starlight Room, a venue that hosts DJ's for six nights of the week. Lighting the small stage area and the L-shape room are four Geni Oby 3 controlled by a Martin Freekie.
"The Freekie is ideal for this application," said Wayne. "It's great for playback and the programming is easy once you get used to it."
Penrith Light & Sound supplied the lighting equipment.
www.showtech.com.au
click image to enlarge
Louis Vuitton recently approached Sydney based company The Electric Canvas, to use their image projection technology to transform a huge relocatable structure built specifically for the celebrations of the famous brand's 150th anniversary. The structure was designed and constructed in New Zealand and is a complete transportable high-tech theatre with elaborate stage mechanics, a scenic flying system and decorative fit-out including a giant fibre-optic star ceiling. The structure measures 33m x 75m x 16m high and packs neatly into thirty-two large 40' shipping containers. So far this year, the venue has visited New York, where fifteen hundred fashion-week A-list celebrities attended the one-night party, and Hong Kong where nearly three thousand guests enjoyed the amazing party that included a spectacular multi-media show and live entertainment.
The brief from the client was to produce a scrolling montage of LV imagery depicting the "Romance of Travel" theme. Using powerful PIGI 6kw double-scroller projectors, it was possible to project a slowly moving montage of high quality images as a background that was punctuated regularly by the passage of large foreground silhouettes of planes, ships, trains, airships, and road vehicles moving quickly in the opposite direction. The Electric Canvas also suggested the idea of transforming the venue into a giant antique LV steamer trunk much to the delight of the executives from Paris. A sequence was designed that incorporated the scrolling theme images with two famous Louis Vuitton trunks on a two-minute repeating loop.
The New York party in February was set in a particularly challenging location surrounded by trees that prevented projection on all but the entrance side. The trees on that side, however, were still only 6m from the structure so The Electric Canvas had to devise a way to achieve the desired result, without the benefit of a site visit, by projecting between and over the trees. Using a CAD model and some limited photos of the site, a plan was formulated by dividing the façade up into five projected areas that were tiled together seamlessly to produce the illusion of a single scrolling image. The effect was very well received with many of the famous guests fighting their way past the paparazzi and pausing to take their own photos of the transformed venue entrance.
For the recent Hong Kong show the structure was set up in a giant car-park, known as the Tamar site, bounded by Victoria Harbour and a major traffic route. This vast site allowed The Electric Canvas to extend projections onto three sides of the venue. Scaffold towers were erected in precisely specified positions with four along the long side and two each at the ends. Images from the eight projectors overlapped and met exactly in the corners allowing a seamless scrolling image to move from face to face in perfect registration. Following the success of the New York event, the client extended the brief to include the three nights leading up to the party. For the first two nights, the structure was transformed into the famous Monogram trunk attracting front page coverage in all the local newspapers. On the third night, the venue became a giant billboard displaying the current magazine advertising. This was interspersed with a huge scrolling message - Times Square style - "Louis Vuitton 150ans 1854-2004". On the night of the party, the guests arrived and entered a giant Damier steamer trunk. Once the show inside was underway, the projections reverted to the "Romance of Travel" theme with scrolling imagery on constant loop.
More photos of this job as well as many other exciting projects both here and overseas, can be seen on The Electric Canvas website www.theelectriccanvas.com.au.
Beyond
AV install @Newtown clubThe hottest new venue in Sydney is @Newtown, a club that offers two levels of diverse entertainment. Designed by Paul Kelly and with lighting and audio installed by Beyond AV, the club is the epitome of inner city chic.
Level 1 has a small stage lit by half a dozen Kupo par cans whilst Level 2 has a much larger stage with a MEC rectangular truss configuration. Lighting is provided by eight Geni Oby 3 moving heads, a further twenty-four Kupo Par64 and four Geni Spyro effect lights. Control is by a Martin Freekie controller and an LSC Maxim desk.
Audio on Level 2 is provided by a full Martin Mach sound system including four M129i speakers flown from the ceiling.
www.beyondav.com.au
Late October 2003 saw the arrival of the TT-Line's 3rd Ro-Ro (roll on roll off) passenger vessel - Spirit of Tasmania III - into Hobart Tasmania for refit works prior to entering service. The 1995 German built ship is now sailing between Sydney and Devonport six times a week, a route that has not been serviced for thirty years. The new ship complements Spirit of Tasmania I & II, sailing the Devonport to Melbourne route.
January 2nd 2004 was the departure deadline for a multi million-dollar upgrade and part of this upgrade included a substantial audio visual and architectural lighting installation.
Through Sydney based marine design company 'Spear Green Design', Tasmanian based KWMC worked closely to deliver the customer's audio visual and architectural lighting requirements. Previously, the two companies had successfully worked together fitting out an AMX controlled BGM System and PA on a Tasmanian built luxury high speed commercial catamaran, Lady Jane Franklin II.
On the rear of the Spirit of Tasmania III's deck 8 a large glassed atrium covers the existing open-air pool deck and to make this new relaxation area attractive and appealing, colour changing architectural lights were planned. These would highlight the atrium structure as well as the two large 'barisol' (stretched vinyl membrane over framing) panels located either side of the atrium. This atrium area is classed as 'open air' so the use of IP rated fixtures was a priority. Along with the weather proof rating of the fixtures, the lamp life was also a major factor especially as servicing on the passenger ferries is an issue as they travel six and a half days a week.
Keeping these factors in mind the use of colour changing LED fixtures with IP ratings of a minimum of 65 and lamp life of over 25000 hours was the obvious choice to highlight feature panels and poles.
"Although I did look at other LED products, I found that Pulsar were the best choice especially as we needed the products delivered asap something other manufacturers could not do," said Peter Dawson, KWMC's Audio Visual Consultant on the job. "Pulsar are recognised as the leaders in LED technology and seem to be doing all the right things in that field as well as getting the best performance. Consequently it was easy to recommend Pulsar products for this job with confidence."
The barisols are lit by 48 Pulsar ChromaStrips placed in an alcove from where they reflect off the barisol membrane.
"It gives a nice effect," explains Peter. "If you look across the room it looks like a coloured bottom of a boat protruding about 200mm from the ceiling."
The Southern Cross Bar has a signage wall that is coloured by four Pulsar ChromaFloods.
"They were recommended by Show Technology as I had a situation where I wanted to wash a wall and I was impressed by the ChromaFloods. This area is also used for live performances."
The Atrium is colour washed by eight Studio Due MiniCity 100 fixtures with the centre poles lit by eight Pulsar ChromaScapes that effectively cut through the wash. Originally the floor was going to be glass and the ChromaScapes would have been situated beneath it shining up the poles. When that idea was abandoned, they were placed at the top of the poles from whence they could throw colour downwards.
"I was very impressed by the light output from the Pulsar ChromaRange," added Peter. "This technology is going to be the future. When I bench tested the units prior to installation I was surprised by just how well they performed. They're also very well made and you can see that they'll last for many years in that type of environment."
An AMX controller controls the entire atrium lighting and background music system. The staff has access to a wall plate with presets for moods, muting, volume and system off/on only. The three 'mood preset' buttons instigates styles of music along with a pre programmed colour changing show to suit. An ELC ShowStore DMX real time recorder controls the shows on a loop. Six Pulsar ChromaZone Controllers are on the DMX line and are built into the ceiling space throughout the atrium/deck area. From there they supply low voltage to each of the units.
Peter says that there were several challenges with this project including only having eight weeks to design/proposal/install and commission the project.
"There were also other issues that we don't usually have to deal with in a 'terra-firma' installation. For instance, the power supply of the ship is 220vac 60hz. Fixings of all equipment need to be considered carefully due to vibration and movement and all cabling needed to be low halogen and fire retardant specified. To source a suitable DMX cable, within the time frame, from anywhere worldwide was a real challenge. The final choice was a fire spec'd CAT 7 cable from a marine cable manufacturer, which performs without any data problems."
www.showtech.com.au
Melbourne's
Shrine of Remembrance completes $7.6m Upgrade
click to enlarge
One of Melbourne’s most recognisable landmarks has undergone a major
upgrade with the recent addition of a new Visitor Centre. The contemporary
2000m2 centre includes exhibition spaces, auditorium, offices, courtyards,
and the Gallery of Medals. The main feature of the upgrade was to make
it accessible to visitors without having to climb 50 steps, a feat almost
impossible for some older visitors and veterans.
Lightmoves was commissioned by several different designers to provide
lighting solutions for various areas including exhibition lighting, fibre
optic and L.E.D. lighting, architectural highlights and overall lighting
control.
The Entrance Courtyard is a striking addition to the Shrine and features
narrow red uplighters highlighting the jagged walls, and custom red Digilin
L.E.D. strips that highlight the entry glass panels dotted with red poppy
patterns.
Inside features a 40m wall adorned with various medals. Lightmoves worked
carefully with the Shrine Trustees and contractors to develop a custom
fibre optic solution to effectively highlight both the prized Victoria
Cross medal, and the 22 different types of service medals.
Due to space restraints, Digilin (Qld) were able to develop custom aluminium
lenses to suit the job, and both the Kinetic halogen fibre light drivers
and fluorescent tubes lighting the Medal Walls are dimmable by the newly
installed Dynalite house lighting control system.
Not all work was confined to the new Visitor Centre however. The undercroft’s
original structural brick columns received some lighting treatment, as
did the memorial Crypt right in the heart of the Shrine itself. Two Prolite
metal halide 150W profiles with red dichroic filters provided the designer
with the ability to solemnly highlight the torsos of the Father and Son
statue.
The Shrine is now complete, and Lightmoves was proud to be involved in
the upgrade of this important monument. The contemporary approach to a
solemn subject has enabled both young and old to appreciate what our fellow
Australians fought for many years ago.
All photographs courtesy Peter Casamento Photography.
www.lightmoves.com
Aliens
descend on Barilla Bay
Barilla Bay Oysters are grown and harvested in Australia's premium shellfish
growing environment, the cold clean Southern Ocean waters of South East
Tasmania. The Barilla Bay Oyster Farm is open to the general public almost
every day of the year. In January Barilla Bay Restaurant opened catering
for up to 100 customers.
Initially the client approached Hobart's Production Works to supply an
audio system but once shown the Martin Alien 05 colour changing down lights,
they were sold! Interior designer Danielle Gross could immediately see
their potential in the space that she was designing.
The room has mainly glass walls to capitalise on the stunning view offered
of the bay and the oyster beds. Consequently there were not many surfaces
onto which decorative features could be added. The Alien 05 fixtures add
the decorative element to the restaurant.
Seventeen Alien 05 down lights were installed into the ceiling with an
Oracle controlling them. In a subtle and gentle manner the Alien's change
colour very slowly. They retain colour for about fifteen minutes before
taking a further five minutes to gradually change colour.
www.productionworks.com.au
$15.5
Million Laservision Light Extravaganza for Hong Kong Harbour
Hong Kong's
Victoria Harbour was transformed during Chinese New Year into a scintillating
"River of Fire" with the most spectacular light extravaganza
ever to have been produced for the city. Called A Symphony of Light, the
$15.5 million production was staged by Australia's Laservision for the
Hong Kong Tourism Commission as part of the city's exciting revitalisation
program to create a dramatic "New Look" Hong Kong and increase
tourism to the city.
At countdown to the New Year, the Victoria Harbour foreshores erupted
into a blaze of colour as the night skies were lit by hundreds of thousands
fireworks, lasers, fibre optics and flares. Tall city buildings and glistening
waters of the harbour were washed in a multi coloured symphonies of light
and the tops of buildings exploded with sprays of molten light. Harbour
spectators in their millions stood breathless as they watched and listened
to the shows exhilarating sound simulcast.
The simulcast was broadcast from popular viewing locations including ferries
travelling to and from the city. The simulcast could also be dialled into
via mobile pones. The mobile phone facility enabled onlookers to hear
sound effects by dialling a dedicated number no matter where they were
viewing the show from.
The show technology represents the largest permanent lighting and special
effects show ever attempted. Shows are 15 minutes in duration and are
scheduled to run 1-2 times nightly throughout the year with greater concentration
over national celebrations and public holidays.
Laservision are responsible for the concept design and the production
of the show, supplying their patented control technology to orchestrate
what was one of this century's most spectacular and complex light shows.
Laservision's strategy for the lighting program was critical to the success
of the production. Laservision's Managing Director Paul McCloskey comments:
"We wanted to give the city skyline a memorable and dramatic visibility.
Our Lighting Plan for the light show does this by lighting up the most
spectacular and interesting city buildings in the central Harbour area."
The production
was built around selecting 18 key buildings so as to obtain a balanced
visual distribution for the show. Each was equipped with Laservision Australia's
Digital Data-Pump technology, a hub that allows seamless control of what
are usually seen as incompatible mediums in the macro media industry ie
lasers, architectural lighting, surround sound, large format projection,
pyrotechnics.
As an example of one building technology fitout, The Hong Kong Banking
Corporation incorporated 716 intelligent lights, 45 colour changing florescent
fixtures, 8 search lights and one kilometre of LED lighting.
Mr McCloskey continues: "We created the show by orchestrating the
play of lights on the buildings. This was done using the internet using
a highly sophisticated master control system linked to each of the building's
digital Data- Pump control systems."
Digitally encoded data containing the characteristics of a macro media
show is stored in the Digital Data - Pump and can be used for real time
distribution over fibre fed networks. Fibre fed networks, unlike traditional
cabling are not effected by problems associated with moisture, dry joints,
electrical and magnetic radiation, lighting and electrical spikes.
Laservision were first approached by Hong Kong Tourism in 2002 to do a
small New Years show in 2003 on the walls of the city's Cultural Centre.
Enthused by the success of this, they commissioned Laservision for this
years 2004 New Year's spectacular. Laservision has recently opened its
own offices in Hong Kong.
Laservision was recently awarded the prestigious 'NSW Exporter of the
Year" in the category of "Arts and Entertainment" for this
project. The company also received the award for the "Creative Small
to Medium Sized Enterprise" presented by the Hong Kong Australian
Business Association and an "Innovation Award" presented by
the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
www.laservision.com.au
click to enlarge
Lighting designer Martin Kinnane has used the medium of light and colour to provide a unique way of showcasing the extraordinary variety of Sydney's architectural forms. Kinnane was instructed to show Sydney in a whole new light: go paint it, go colour it, go surprise us. As a result Kinnane used Sydney as his canvas to create City of Light with sixteen of the city's most historic buildings and recognizable structures painted in light and colour between dusk and midnight from New Year's Eve to January 18.
Both Martin and Studio Due lighting fixtures feature prominently in the project in particular thirty-two Martin MAC2000 Wash fixtures used to light up the Harbour Bridge. The MAC2000 Wahes were situated on the two hangers at either end of the Bridge as well as inside of it to light the far side of the structure. From inside they also provided depth and texture also adding more colour and light for those viewing the Bridge from the West
"The Martin MAC2000 Wash has great intensity in fact I was surprised how well they worked once placed on the Bridge, " said Martin. "They were fantastic and have great colour changing."
Lighting the pylons of the Bridge in an array of ever-changing colour were twelve Studio Due City Colors and six City Beams.
More Studio Due CityColors changed the colour of the Hyde Park Barracks façade.
Rising high above the heart of the city's CBD, the Centrepoint tower acted as a platform for a moving "beacon" display whilst at ground level eight Martin MAC2000 fixtures highlighted the towers entrance by lighting up the awning with gobo animation. By looking up at the projected gobos, viewers were also then drawn up to the searchlights in the sky directly above them.
"The MAC2000 is a really robust, bright fixture with a good colour range," added Martin.
Meanwhile the façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art became a large projection surface onto which four Martin MAC2000 projected a series of specially designed gobos. Of particular note is the 'bubble' gobo especially designed to compliment one of the Museum's current exhibitions.
Bytecraft Entertainment supplied the lighting.
www.showtech.com.au
Resolution
X and Enttec Bring X-mas to Melbourne
click
to enlarge
December
saw Resolution X install a record NINE separate Christmas lighting displays
in various locations all over Melbourne.
Resolution X have been designing and installing Christmas lighting displays
since Tim Hall started the company, back in 1998. Over the years their
reputation for delivering innovative displays on-time and on-budget has
seen the number of Christmas clients steadily grow, with many commissioning
multiple installations in separate locations. 2003's bumper crop of 9
installations ranged from the kilometre-long Burke Road, Camberwell display
to a single tree in Victoria Gardens, Prahran.
Many of these shows were run from Enttec's DMXPlayback, a compact DMX
show recorder, which can be configured to either start a particular show
on power-up, and loop through until the power is turned off again, or
up to 26 different shows can be triggered via RS232.
By far the largest installation, the Burke Road, Camberwell show featured
giant custom-built panels depicting various Christmas scenes and characters,
built by Russell Brebner, one of Resolution X's Production Managers, and
painted by Vicky Pratt, a freelance artist Resolution X have relied upon
for many years. The lighting ranged from Clay Paky Golden Scan HPE's in
weatherproof enclosures and Studio Due City Colors, to over 3 Kilometres
of 'Stargazer', a 24 volt decorative festoon. 3 Enttec DMXPlaybacks were
used in various locations to control the enormous display. In all, over
350 hours were spent installing the display, and more than 150 hours were
spent in planning, preparation and manufacture by the Resolution X staff.
One of the simpler installations was the Melbourne City Square Christmas
Tree. By adding 6 Par 64 cans, a dimmer and an Enttec DMXPlayback to the
existing decorative lighting, the tree was brought to life with a simple,
elegant and effective show.
Tim Hall, Managing Director and founder of Resolution X, says "The
DMXPlaybacks are invaluable for this type of work. The ability to pre-program
the shows in our factory saved us hours of on-site work which could only
have been carried out late at night, which saves a lot of overtime payments!
They also free up our consoles, which means they are free to do the corporate
functions that make up our core business".
All up, 8 Enttec DMXPlaybacks were used, along with 6 x Clay Paky Goldenscan
HPE's, 4 x Studio Due City Colors, 93 x Par cans (64's, 56's, 46's, 16's
& Rays), 46 x QI's, 72 channels of dimmers, 85 x strobes, over 3700
metres of low-voltage festoon, more than 5000 metres of 240v cabling and
a multitude of transformers, gobos, weatherproof enclosures and other
accessories were installed across the 9 sites.
www.balancedtech.com.au
Selecon
Provide Northern LightsWhen the Norwegian government decided to amalgamate its 3 official schools catering for the performing arts into a single entity called the 'The Oslo National College of the Arts', it was clear that some heavy-duty lighting would be required.
Enter Selecon's Norwegian dealer AVAB CAC Norway who put in a bid to supply Selecon lights throughout the installation. "We were successful because Selecon came out best on performance and price for this major contract," said Karsten Lyngstad of AVAB. "The total number of luminaires we supplied exceeded 400 units plus various accessories such as iris's, gobo holders and barndoors."
AVAB supplied and installed a wide variety of Selecon products list including 48 Selecon Acclaims; 84 Pacific 14-35s; 72 Pacific 26-50s 1000W; 60 Aurora Cycs and 96 1200 Hi performance Fresnels throughout the new school. The new facility occupies some 16,000 square metres including ballrooms, small and large studios, and no less than 9 stages all equipped with luminaires from Selecon. Swedish company Arteno represented by Torsten Nobling and Peder Lindbom managed the entire project. Technical direction for the project was provided by the school's own Technical Director, Arvid Andresen.
The new school caters for around 100 arts students studying opera, theatre, stage management, classic and modern dance and choreography.
In the land of the Northern Lights, Selecon is clearly a leading player!
Photograph courtesy of AVAB CAC, Oslo
www.seleconlight.com
click to enlarge
Federation Square has become one of Melbourne, Australia's best new landmarks. Built over the old railway yards alongside the banks of the Yarra River, its striking architecture and location makes it a popular tourist attraction. It is also the new home to museums, shops, cafés, offices, and outdoor public meeting spaces.
BMW Edge is a 450 seat indoor amphitheatre situated at the river end of Federation Square, and has been designed for music performances, small to medium scale theatre, comedy, talks and presentations, launches and cabaret. Unlike most venues however, BMW Edge is housed in unique geometric glass panels, enabling external views of the Yarra River, MCG, Alexandra Gardens and the Victorian Arts Centre Spire.
Megafun Pty Ltd was the lighting and rigging consultant for the theatrical lighting fitout, and Lightmoves was the successful tenderer for the supply and installation of the house lighting system. "The brief was to provide a comprehensive house lighting system that was flexible in its use, as the space is designed to be used as a multi-purpose venue", says Joe Casamento who managed the project for Lightmoves.
Whilst the tender was straightforward in its scope, it proved a little challenging to conform to the request for all luminaires to be white to blend in with the architecture. White conventional luminaires were frowned-upon due to heat and discolouration issues, so a compromise was reached between all parties; Selecon fittings were polished chrome to match the metal frames, and all Clay Paky moving lights were custom painted grey to match the Selecon lights. Even the L.S.C iPRO dimmers and DMX splitters were powdercoated grey in the event that they were ever to be hung from the trussing.
Megafun chose the Golden Spots for several reasons. While the budget really only allowed for 575W moving head fixtures, the Golden Spots offered a more powerful HMI1200W lamp, impeccable Clay Paky optics and reliability, and most importantly they cost not much more than traditional 575W fixtures. The 1200W power afforded by the Golden Spot has since proven popular with the in-house technicians who have to deal with high ambient light levels within the space, especially during daylight saving periods.
The L.S.C. maXim has also proven to be a popular choice of console. Made and supported locally in Melbourne, the maXim is both simple to use like its Atom predecessor, but also capable of complex effects engines using the acclaimed and very powerful PatPad moving
light control module.
BMW Edge has become a very popular venue for various functions including live radio broadcasts, fashion launches and musical performances. It is no doubt that this unique space will continue to be booked out, and that the house lighting rig will cater for whatever functions are thrown its way.
Equipment List
8 x Clay Paky Golden Spot 1200, custom silver finish
2 x Clay Paky Golden Scan HPE, custom silver finish
10 x L.S.C. iPro 12 x 10A Dimmers, custom grey finish
1 x L.S.C. maXim MAX/XLP Console with PatPad
32 x Selecon Pacific 12/28 Degree Profiles
24 x Selecon Pacific 23/50 Degree Profiles
16 x Selecon 1.2k Fresnels
16 x Selecon 1.2k PC Spots
24 x Kupo PAR64 Cans
Supplier and Contractor: Lightmoves Pty Ltd www.lightmoves.com
Consultant: Megafun Pty Ltd www.megafun.com.au
Venue: Federation Square www.fedsquare.com.au
Credits: All photographs ©Copyright Lightmoves Pty Ltd except for photos 03200-001 and 03200-010, courtesy Peter Casamento Photography.
In August 2002, The Hong Kong Tourism Commission engaged Laservision to develop the idea of creating a permanent light show based on the illumination of significant buildings in Hong Kong and Kowloon, which overlook Victoria Harbour.
Laservision's objectives included the selection of suitable buildings and key viewing areas. A draft design for each chosen structure was completed, taking account of energy efficiency and light pollution issues. A series of reports was then sent to the Hong Kong Government and Laservision was invited to showcase techniques incorporated into the Harbour Lighting Plan during Chinese New Year of 2003. The demonstration consisted of illumination of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the creation of a multi-media show, attracting a public audience of up to 45,000 per night.
The Hong Kong Government engaged Laservision to prepare a launch event for building owners who had been invited to join the scheme, and 18 buildings have now joined the Harbour Plan, to be launched in January 2004, with Laservision engaged as the creative and technical consultant for its implementation.
This month has seen the first test of three stages for the Harbour Lighting Plan, integrating architectural lighting, laser effects and pyrotechnics. Laservision's Simon McCartney stated: "In 2004, when completed, the Harbour Lighting Plan will represent the largest permanent lighting and special effects show ever attempted."
The 17-minute-long shows will run once or twice nightly, and be accompanied by a sound simulcast, broadcast from viewing locations, including ferries travelling to and from the city. The simulcast can also be dialled into via mobile phone, enabling onlookers to hear the sound effects no matter where they are viewing the show.
In selecting the buildings to take part in the project, McCartney was assisted by lighting designer John Rayment and projection specialist Peter Milne. Of the buildings the three men chose, the Hong Kong Banking Corporation (HSBC) alone has incorporated 716 intelligent lights, including 450 colour-changing fluorescent fixtures in the glass stairwells, Martin Exterior 600 and 200 fixtures on five levels, eight search lights and over 1km of LED lighting around the top of the building.
Control systems used to co-ordinate the Lighting Plan are engineered, manufactured and shipped from Laservision's Sydney studios. 18 Digital Data Pumps - designed to co-ordinate and synchronize the usually incompatible elements such as lasers, architectural lighting, surround sound, fountains, aqua screens, large format projection, pyrotechnics and special FX - have been installed into participating buildings. These modules are easily configured and installed, say Laservision, with individual modules can be connected by fibre optics to a central control. Encoded data signals can be sent up to 4km, maintaining a perfect digital signal at each decoder. The software used to control and update shows, Media-Manager, combines elements of data management, timeline editing, real-time preview, rehearsal and on-demand playback triggering. And the entire network is managed over the Internet.
As a result of this export into Hong Kong, Laservision has recently been awarded the prestigious 'NSW Exporter of the Year' in the category of 'Arts and Entertainment'. The Australian Institute of Export culminated this award.
www.laservision.com.au
Santa
touches down at Crown!Enttec's Wireless DMX spreads Christmas Cheer
Melbourne's Crown Casino Atrium has been transformed into a massive automated Christmas spectacular.
Stage One Promotions, Bytecraft and Lightmoves have worked together to put in place the largest animatronic Christmas display in the world, with Production Manager Sam Redston co-ordinating their efforts.
Using the well-known Atrium at Melbourne's Crown Casino, Crown's Creative Services Manager, Christian Wagner, worked with John Kerr of Stage One Promotions to design the annual display, while Bytecraft's Special Effects department were charged with overseeing the lightshow, which was programmed by Megafun's Keith Tucker.
The centrepiece of this year's display is the giant clock (pictured), which is suspended below the Atrium's crystals, and is lowered and raised during the show. The clock face also tells patrons when the next show is due to start, so it had to attract attention.
Martin's Cyclo colour-changing fluorescent fittings backlight the clock face, with control via DMX from one of Crown's Wholehog consoles. Getting DMX cabling to the centre piece, as well as the stand-alone carousel, would be difficult so George Nejtek, from Bytecraft Special Effects, decided to investigate the possibility of using wireless DMX links to overcome the cabling issues.
Joe Casamento and Andrew Sherar from Lightmoves worked closely with the Bytecraft Special Effects department to determine the best way of achieving the DMX link. 8 of Enttec's DMX Ethergate Mark 2 were chosen, due to their ability to interact with off-the-shelf wireless Ethernet equipment, which keeps the overall cost to a minimum and provides a reliable wireless link. The fact that the units can be re-configured as either inputs or outputs quickly and easily made them even more attractive for Bytecraft, as they could be re-used throughout the Casino for other events during the year.
Sam Redston describes the DMX Ethergates as "wonderful boxes" whose plug-and-play operation made the wireless links very simple to implement. He says the initial concerns held by some of the team, such as interference from existing networks within Crown and the four elevator shafts with data and power risers in the core of the building, have proven unfounded as the DMX Ethergates have worked flawlessly since their installation.
The Christmas Spectacular at Crown runs every fifteen minutes from 9am until Midnight daily, until January 4th, 2004.
www.lightmoves.com
www.balancedtech.com.au
The Rox is Penrith's newest and most versatile venue and entertainment centre situated in the old Roxbury Theatre. There are three different areas, including the foyer bar, nightclub and Theatre Restaurant. Avsound Productions have supplied an impressive sound and lighting rig with plenty of Martin lighting equipment.
The nightclub caters for dance parties as well as live bands. The room has three tiered levels all looking down towards the dance floor and stage area.
"It's certainly the best looking nightclub room that I've seen for a long time," says Justin Lakerink, Avsound's Sales Manager.
Leading nightclub lighting designer and project manager of The Rox installation, Michael Lang of Congo Blue Solutions specified eight Martin MAC250 Kryptons and four Martin MAC300 for their ability to light the stage area as well as the dance floor.
"Even though the Kryptons were new to Australia and I hadn't seen them before, I knew that if they were made by Martin that they'd be good," said Michael confidently. "They have great speed and I love the new gobos. The improvement in light output is exceptional, I chose the MAC300's for contrast - you've got to have some wash with colour mix."
Six Martin Alien 05 colour changing recessed lights were installed in the lounge area, which has low seating, for ambient light control. A further six Alien 05's wash down a large bare wall. Specified for their colour changing ability, the Aliens set the mood in the lounge.
The foyer area is covered well by six Geni colour blasters whilst a Jem ZR 24/7 provides haze.
For the dance floor effects Michael opted for four Martin Acrobats. Michael loves the 'large effect' that is achieved by the Acrobat.
"The Acrobat can be both subtle and punchy. If you want a subtle effect, they do it nicely, and then when you want a big kick out of them they give it to you."
Michael designed the lighting on Martin ShowDesigner.
"These days I always use Martin LightJockey for control and, with the lighting guys that work for me they're not allways that experienced in all the different types of lighting controllers on the market," he explained. "LightJockey is all visual so they can see what light it is where and they can see the macros moving and change colours/gobos with a simple click or push of a button with the pre programmed hotkeys. ShowDesigner just plugs into LightJockey without any dramas. It's all about ease.
"Everyone who works for me knows how to use LightJockey, it's just so easy."
Mr John Duncan proprieter of The Rox Entertainment Complex was very impressed with ShowDesigners ability to show architecturally the changes Michael wanted to make to the venue. Michael explained that with ShowDesigner it was much easier to show the changes that needed to be made rather that just deliver CAD drawings.
"A rendered image beats 1000 line drawings easy," he said.
Michael is currently re-building the ground floor of the complex with the aid of ShowDesigner.
www.showtech.com.au
When
Adelaide's New York Bar and Grill went looking for a new lighting system,
their specification called for a “lateral, cost effective, low and
easy maintenance, long lasting, flexible, safe, reliable, wow factor, applications
deliverable on time, with in budget offering exceptional value for money
will be highly regarded.” ULA dealer Pulse Lighting, with a proposal featuring Robe Scan 575XT fixtures was selected to meet the demanding specification.
Says New York Bar and Grill Manager, Frank Lynch "We are ecstatic with the out come these additions have made to our club operations."
"We have launched two new club nights with the lighting being the back bone of a 'Re Fit', and we are enjoying complements from DJs, other club owners, lighting operators and patrons, that in our wildest dreams we could not have expected", says Frank. "I have no hesitation in recommending these lights to any one who has the same passion we have for their lighting needs. It goes with out saying that John Bakjac through his company Pulse Lighting are the people you should be talking to if you have any plans to be big picture standard in your lighting applications or you are just plain demanding like us."
Pulse proposed the Robe Scan 575XT fixtures based on "best-fit" for the specification, and while Pulse director John Bakjac is intimately familiar with with Robe moving yokes in particular, he was impressed with the high output and lightning speed of these 575 scans. "These rock", says John, "We are so pleased with the installation and, the Robe 575 Scan's more that met our expectations."
www.ula.com.au
click to enlarge
Located in the heart of the city, on the banks of the picturesque River Torrens and surrounded by parklands and magnificent views, the Hyatt Regency Hotel is Adelaide's finest.
Recently the Hotel decided that their magnificent foyer could benefit from some added colour to lend a sense of atmosphere to the entry point for visitors, guests and clientele. Gary Taylor, Hyatt's Director of Engineering, along with Staging Connections, Hyatt's in-house technical and creative service partner, provided the solution for colour changing on four planter boxes as well as the foyer's glass sculpture.
"I showed the Hotel some colour changing technology which suited the brief perfectly," said Ashley Gabriel, Staging Connection's Assistant Event Staging Manager at the Hyatt Regency. "Not only did the technology meet budget requirements, but also lent a dynamic effect as well as the facility to change colours to suit different moods and occasions. With the amount of special events taking place at the hotel, our solution needed to be flexible enough to meet both client needs as well as event themes, and as specialists in this field, we were fortunate enough to have the right technology to offer."
The technology is the Martin Pro400 colour changer, an automated colour-changing profile washlight designed for stage and installation applications. It features two overlapping 6-position colour flags, three beam-shaping irises, and a full range dimmer.
The Hotel's foyer features four large planter boxes filled with white pebbles and, in time, they will also house sculptures. In the centre of the foyer is a large glass sculpture with a floral display situated at the top of the stairway. Six Martin Pro400 fixtures light the boxes, sculpture and floral display with one installed above each feature. A water feature also picks up the lights from the top.
The Pro400's have been installed into the ceiling, out of sight, at a quite a distance from the objects they are required to light, however this has not been a problem.
"The planter boxes are at varying distances up to thirty feet and the Pro400's have had no problem lighting them," Ashley said. "They have different irises and shutters so we're able to custom change the throw distance on each of them to suit the different box. That's a really handy feature to have."
Control is by a Martin LightCorder situated in the lobby. The LightCorder was programmed by one of the Staging Connections lighting desks to supply different options.
"That way even the concierge can easily select a programme and press play," added Ashley. "It's very simple and straightforward. It's also not possible for them to change any of the programmes and accidentally erase information. It works really well."
www.showtech.com.au
Anything
Audio Installs Coemar Moving Yokes in Burwood RSL
Spare a thought for Bill Millard - the tech at Burwood RSL in Sydney's
inner west. Like other successful clubs, this establishment hosts a smorgasbord
of entertainment in its nice 500+ seat auditorium. Clubs like these reflect
their community, so Burwood has multicultural concerts, singles nights,
disco's and cabaret. Bill does all things light and sound there.
He needed some new lights, and ended up buying 16 moving heads - 8 wash,
and 8 profiles. The chosen type were Coemar ProSpot 250's.
"The process started in my mind and ran over three year period, just
looking around and seeing what was happening. The main thing was that
there was choice of lights - and so I avoided suppliers I didn't like
my experience with."
"My criteria was light output mostly - I wanted to be able to colour
mix wash and get plenty of effect for my money out of the spots. I wanted
the spots to be used as profiles, plus as backlights. I really wanted
an indexing gobo."
Some 250 watt moving profiles spin the gobos around and can't remember
where they stop. If you use a repetitious pattern, it's not much good
if they are all out of line next time you call the fixtures up.
"As an end user, the price (of Coemar's Moving Yokes) was more attractive.
I spent a lot of time reading and looking." At the end of the day,
Bill went with the recommendations of a regular supplier, Anything Audio.
"I've got a good history (with them). The guys are always a pleasure
to deal with, I can stuff them around and they don't seem to mind! Walter
is so friendly, and understanding of a customers needs. You expect common
courtesy, if you get it you'll definitely go back."
Walter Gearin at Anything Audio has a history in lighting.
www.cdaust.com.au
Martin
hits The Mark!Brisbane based Audio Visual Installation and Servicing Integrators Technical Response Group Pty Ltd (TRG) have delivered an outstanding installation to Brisbane's latest sensational entertainment venue The Mark Bar located at Centro Shopping Centre, Toombul.
"The concept from a technical aspect was very exiting and challenging," said Andrew Wood, Technical Manager for TRG. "The owners of the venue had spent a lot of time and effort in looking at the audiovisual requirements. In fact, the most interesting part of this job was that they had a concept and a brief for TRG to work with, although they didn't know exactly what kind of lighting they wanted. They left the design totally to TRG, so we got some of the proposed equipment from the suppliers and demonstrated to the client in our showroom. I must say at this point the initial response from some of the local suppliers wasn't great. It was like it was just all to hard for them."
Andrew approached Show Technology about the Martin Architectural lighting range.
"I was always going to suggest using Martin product for the dance bar and nightclub systems, as they are simply the best always reliable and easy to use, but the response from Emmanuel and Vince at Show Technology was outstanding," he added. "They flew our clients along with the TRG Directors to their showroom in Sydney to demonstrate all lighting fixtures proposed."
The client insisted that all lighting fixtures be recessed into the ceiling, as they did not want the interior design cluttered with black fixtures.
"This was a bit of a challenge!" said Andrew. "With the Geni Sparkles we had custom-made brackets constructed so that they could recess into the ceiling. The Martin
Acrobats
were also recessed except for the mirror. Even the Jem Hazer is built in.
The venue is also constructed with curves and circles, there is no flat
line which added to the difficulty."The lighting was split into two packages: architectural, including sixty Martin Alien 05 colour changing down lights, six Geni Sparkles and a Jem 24/7 hazer, and disco, 12 Martin Acrobats, 4 Geni Colour Blasters and 2 mirror balls.
The entry to the venue is high lighted by a Martin MiniMAC Maestro moving head projector that projects the distinctive Mark logo, a pink circle, onto the footpath and up to the entry. The movement is slow and subtle yet inviting.
As you enter the venue, six Geni Sparkles that are recessed into the six metre high ceiling create a fantastic effect. The Jem 24/7 hazer highlights the Sparkle beams whilst the polished concrete floor reflects the beams.
A total of sixty Martin Alien 05 colour changing down lights are installed throughout the venue. The reason there are so many Aliens is that the client wanted to have the ability to easily paint the venue with colour. For example, on Valentine's Day they want to turn the whole venue pink and on St. Patrick's Day green. Thus the Aliens have become a major contributor to the interior design of the venue.
"They're a fantastic fixture," stated Andrew. "Very easy to work with and very easy to programme. On a typical night, they are set to auto-change every thirty seconds. Operation is by Crestron Control Systems (via one 12inch touch screen in the main bar and a smaller touch screen in the function room) and we've set up parameters so that any colour or multiple colours can be chosen for any area. An auto colour scroll, ranging from twenty seconds to four minutes, can also be easily set. So in the evenings when the bar goes into a disco mode, the Aliens pick up pace and start to throw colour around. That way they're not only architectural lighting but also reinforcement for the dance lighting."
Inside the dance area of the club four Geni Colour Blasters are focussed onto the mirror balls to provide scattered colour and an enchanting atmosphere. Twelve Martin Acrobats provide the disco effects required and two Martin 2510 controllers control them separately.
www.showtech.com.au
Victorian
Arts Centre Chooses ETC Source 4
760 ETC Source 4 luminaires have just replaced inventory in all venues
at the Victorian Arts Centre's, including the Melbourne Concert Hall and
the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
The container load of stock was delivered to the Sidney Myer Music Bowl
where a project team unpacked, tested, tagged and lamped all fixtures
prior to handover to Victorian Arts Centre Staff. Victorian Arts Centre
staff took part in two days of operational and maintenance training provided
by Jands to ensure the smoothest possible integration of the new equipment.
The Theatres building is on the banks of the Yarra River south of the
Melbourne CBD and contains three theatres ranging in size from the 450
seat Fairfax studio, through to the massive 2000 seat State Theatre.
Units supplied included:
290 Source 4 Zoom 15-30 Degree Profiles
55 Source 4 Zoom 25-50 Degree Profiles
88 Source 4 19-Degree Profiles
56 Source 4 10-Degree Profiles
20 Source 4 26-Degree Profiles
260 Source 4 PAR EA fixtures.
www.jands.com.au
After many years being used as technical offices, the Exhibition Hall at Sydney Opera House has re-opened.
The new space is 18 metres long and 8 metres wide. It has plain white walls 3 metres high and a white cork compound floor. The original black ceiling grid remains.
A flexible audiovisual system has been installed with audio, phone and data lines running from a central patch position in the exhibition foyer office - to locations in the skirting duct around the walls as well as two locations in the ceiling grid. Speakers are distributed through the ceiling grid and the whole audio system is integrated into the foyer network so it can be accessed from any of the existing input stations. Installation was by P.A. People.
The lighting system is based on the CLIPSAL C-Bus network using a Clipsal 12 way Professional Series dimmer rack with 16amps per dimmer. 3 dimmers feed the ERCO 3-way tracks in the Exhibition Foyer, 6 dimmers feed 2 sets of ERCO 3-way tracks in the Exhibition Hall itself and the last 3 dimmers appear as 3 pin outlets in the ceiling grid for use with other light fittings as required. There are 2 x 40amp 3phase outlets also available if required for additional lighting. Programming of the system was done by Bytecraft Automation.
The C-Bus system gives 5 programmable presets (plus all-out) for the Exhibition Hall and 2 programmable presets (plus all-out) for the Foyer. Programming is done on a Clipsal C-Bus touch screen and the presets are activated by buttons installed in appropriate locations. In the event of a theatrical requirement there is a DMX change-over facility that locks out the C-Bus commands and allows a standard lighting desk to be used.
The first exhibition in the new space is a collection of 60 black & white photographs by world renowned Sydney photographer Max Dupain chronicling the construction of Sydney Opera House. The exhibition, which is part of Sydney Opera House's 30th birthday celebrations, opens to the public on Thursday 16th October and will run until mid December 2003.
Rooty
Hill RSL go KryptonIt is 39 years since the Rooty Hill RSL Club started operating as a fully licensed club. The development from a small social club on the fringe of Sydney's West to one of the largest club's in Australia, has been one of the success stories of the club industry.
The Club's Tivoli Showroom, which opened in 1976, and the quality of the acts appearing soon had the club being called "The Venue of the West" and it has stuck ever since.
Recently the Tivoli Showroom has undergone a major refurbishment including a new audio and lighting system supplied and installed by Michael Orland of TPAC Lighting and Sound.
The client requested that the lighting delivers the 'most bang for the buck' and not surprisingly Michael turned to Martin fixtures.
"The club already had 24 FAL moving mirror fixtures which might have been fine for a disco dance floor but for live work, you need something with a nice, smooth sweep," he said. "However, we have relocated the FAL fixture into adjoining rooms where they have events such as kids discos."
The Tivoli stage is wide and deep, in fact it's one of the largest RSL stages in New South Wales, and it also has a low ceiling. Consequently a 250-watt fixture was best suited and Michael was happy to pay the extra for a Krypton believing it to be the better deal.
"The Kryptons
are definitely faster than previous moving heads," stated Michael.
"They deliver the best of both worlds - the speed of a moving mirror
fixture with the 'wow factor' of a moving head.""For the few weeks the Kryptons have been in the club they have been reliable and have achieved the desired impact. The performers have all said they are great as they are being show cased in the way they want to be. They've been good."
It's interesting to note that the Club have replaced 24 moving mirror fixtures with eight Kryptons and they're getting a bigger look.
www.showtech.com.au
Selecon
at the heart of the Prague QuadrennialOnce every 4 years, the Czech capital Prague hosts an international exhibition of Scenography and Theatre Architecture, aptly named the Prague Quadrennial. Here, designers, performers and visitors from all around the globe confront the current state of theatre culture in five world continents.
Not surprisingly, New Zealand based performance lighting manufacturer, Selecon were at the very heart of this international event
This year's Quadrennial, the 10th since the first in 1967, took place in June with the motto 'The Labyrinth of the World Paradise of the Theatre' and a new experimental event, 'The Heart of the PQ' was introduced. This was a giant interactive set that had been designed over a 2-year period in collaboration by theatre artists around the world. In essence it sought to explore the relationships created between space, architecture and the 5 human senses. Designed by Sceno architect, Dorita Hanna and a team from New Zealand's Massey University, the skeletal structure covered some 50 metres by 30 metres by 10 metres high allowing individual design and performance groups to explore their own senses and relationships with space, sound and light.
For lighting designers the project proved a particular challenge set as it was inside the vast middle hall of Prague's Industrial Palace which is 50% glass and in June is lit by the summer sun from 0430 until 2230 hours.
New Zealand lighting designer, Helen Todd along with Lemi Ponifasio designed the 'Threshold Wall' which was not only an exhibit in its own right, but also the entry point for the Heart of the PQ exhibition. For lighting in daytime Todd used Selecon Pacific MSR fittings to give the illusion of being removed from reality while Selecon Halogen Aureol Fresco Floods added a touch of warmth. "The tiny Frescos were easily mounted and enhanced the appearance of the architecture," said Todd. "They provided more than ample illumination and gave a soft contrast to the sharp accent of the Pacific MSR."
After dark, all the lighting designers were able to transform their exhibits. Todd used the new Selecon Pacific Dowser to give a slow, smooth reveal of the MSR x-ray beam for a performance of 'Haka' by performing artists MAU. "The x-ray beam projected the distinct reflection of a water stage on the ceiling at 25 metres," said Todd "and allowed us to present totally new perspectives from the daytime display."
Experimental theatre it might have been, but clearly its success relied heavily on the tried and tested performance of Selecon luminaires.
www.seleconlight.com
Cato
Club, Melbourne
Cato club is the hottest thing to happen to Prahan, Melbourne. Walking
past gives you no indication of the beautiful venue tucked away behind
the big wooden oak doors.
The venue has its original charm with floor to ceiling windows looking
over Commercial Rd and exposed brickwork with beautiful oak wooden floors
give it a feeling of warmth, complimented by the stunning décor
and furniture this venue is full of style.
A massive booth seating area and a separate area for lounging around gives
you an alternative to jiving away on the packed dance floor.
Pro Light & Sound of Melbourne were contracted to design and install
both the audio and lighting into Cato Club. When designing the lighting
Stav Hatzipantelis, managing director of Pro Light & Sound, had to
take into account that the club opens during the day as a bar transforming
into a nightclub at night.
"We're a solution-based company, we consider the needs of a venue
and what their future needs may require," said Stav. "In this
case, the client wanted to do more than your average nightclub. That's
why we suggested projecting gobos onto the walls and using the lights
to colour the room, not just the dance floor. The client liked the idea
and we decided to use four Geni Oby 3 moving head fixture."
Stav says he chose the Oby 3 because it was very good value for money
offering rotating gobos, great colours and a stylish design. The Oby 3's
can be used on the dance floor when the club is packed or to wash walls
or project logos for corporate functions.
"The client can insert logo gobos into them if required for a corporate
function," Stav continued. "They're also very punchy which is
good for daytime functions. The HSD250 lamp delivers a high impact light."
The client also required a control desk that was fully featured but straightforward
enough for anybody to operate. Stav did not hesitate to recommend the
new Martin Freekie controller. The Freekie is a new DJ controller that
adds instant lighting control to the dancefloor mix. Packed with easy
to use features, Freekie has easy pitch and pan/tilt control for instant
lightshow to music synchronization. Freekie lets you control up to 12
fixtures, each with 12 channels; and there's also a smoke and strobe button
you can customise to control 2 additional DMX units.
"We're very happy with the Freekie and we'll be recommending it for
all of these types of installations from now on," said Stav. "The
client really liked the fact that we put all the programmes into the Freekie,
1 - 12, but instead of being stuck on the one programme all night they
can go 1 - 6 and it'll rotate between those first six programmes. It's
a great feature for these types of venues that don't have lighting operators
every night."
Also installed into the club was a Martin T-Rex effects light that features
a unique quad angled mirror for aggressive mid-air effects and combined
colour/gobo wheel offering multiple colours and a full arsenal of 19 gobo
patterns.
"The client was very happy with the T-Rex," said Stav. "The
colours are dynamic, the movement with sound to light was great with good
coverage, covering the walls as well as the dance floor. If the Oby 3's
were being used to colour wash the walls, you still had the T-Rex to cover
the dance floor along with a Geni strobe."
www.prolightandsound.com.au
Selecon
Lights EurogressEurogress Aachen, a purpose built conference, theatre, exhibition and concert centre in the German town of Aachen, has recently replaced many of its luminaires in 2 of its theatres using stage lighting from New Zealand based performance lighting manufacturer, Selecon. The Eurogress Aachen boasts up to 22 conference rooms, theatres and exhibition areas, the largest able to accommodate 1700 people, the smallest a mere 10, with a variety of different sized rooms to fit most requirements.
Through their dealer Lucifer GmbH, Hagen based Selecon Partner RST Distribution GmbH supplied 34 Selecon Pacific 12-28°'s, 20 Pacific 23-50°'s, 30 Arena High Performance Fresnal GY16's and 20 Arena PC GY16's. "This was a significant order by a major player in the multi purpose conference and corporate hire sector," said Christian Pies of RST Distribution. "I've no doubt that this installation will help to raise Selecon's profile in Europe," he concluded.
Lighting designer and technical director of the Eurogress, Axel Dresbach, installed one set of Pacifics in the 'Brüssel' suite, a room designed to accommodate 350 - 440 people, and the remaining Pacifics and Arenas in the 'Europa' suite one of the largest rooms with a capacity of 1700.
Situated close to the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands, the medieval spa town of Aachen boasts many fine features, not least its famous hot springs which were known in Roman times as well as being the birthplace and burial place of the Emperor Charlemagne. One little known fact about Aachen is its claim to be the centre of the German needle industry.
www.seleconlight.com
Special
School, Special LightingThe wide variety of lighting projects that Martin’s Australian distributor, Show Technology, is involved in is testimony to both the talents of Show Technology and the versatility of the product itself.
Witness Mudgeeraba Special School located on the Gold Coast, Australia, which recently transformed a storage room into a themed interactive multi-sensory room for handicapped children.
The aim of the room serves a number of purposes, it provides both a soothing and calming environment for the children as well as a fun teaching medium, where children are taught to use their senses through the use of lighting and sound effects all controlled by the children.
Robyn Kirkley, principal of Mudgeeraba Special School viewed similar centers and approached Multi-Image Productions to discuss her ideas.
“We met with the teaching staff and got a basic understanding of what the room was to be used for. From our initial concept it was obvious we needed some form of intelligent lighting,” explains Chris King of Multi-Image Productions (Project Coordinator and Designer). “I was after a reliable fixture that I could use for gobo projection as well as color changing. As we already have Martin products in our hire department I was keen to stay with Martin.”
The only fixture that stood out for this application was the Martin CX-2 color and pattern changer. After a brief demonstration with the client, the decision weighed favorably with the CX-2, which provide an uplifting atmosphere to the room, through gobo projection and color washes.
The client was impressed with the gobo designs and the large range of colors. The exterior design of the CX-2 also complimented the space theme. A Jem Sharky smoke machine, combined with sound effects, provides atmosphere to the space mural.
Multi-Image Productions were involved with the project from start to finish and provided all artwork and electronics for the interactive murals.
The interactive murals have been a fantastic learning tool. The children learn that by pressing a button on the mural a pre-recorded song is played. The children and staff have deemed the room a huge success and are extremely happy with the reliability of the Martin product. They are looking forward to adding other Martin products to stage 2 of the installation.
www.multi-image-lighting.com
Project News up to August 2002