Robe Shows Planetshakers The Powa

Posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009

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Powa Productions rocked the Planetshakers Conference, an annual conference aimed at empowering youths and young adults from around the globe.

Planetshakers Conference is a Christian Conference which has emerged as Melbourne’s number one Christian Conference bringing in 25,000 youths to Melbourne each year. Powa Productions were brought in to supply all the stage lighting to house this mammoth event.

The Robe lighting rig was designed by Simon ‘Junior’ Johnson of Powa Productions producing an impressive creative design for this event. Junior used over 80 fixtures from Powa’s Robe inventory consisting of 6 x ColorSpot 2500EAT, 16 x Robe ColorWash 1200AT, 16 x ColorSpot 700EAT, 24 x ColorSpot 575AT and 16 x ColorWash 575AT. In addition 10 iLED Star Drapes were used as a back drop behind the stage.

Over 50 Blinders were used above the stage in between sets in conjunction with the Robe Hazers and iLED Source 36 Par Cans illuminating through the haze on stage, giving a rich glowing ethereal effect. An additional 6 x ColorSpot 250AT and 4 x ColorWash 250AT were used to complete the rig. “Powa Productions has invested in a large quantity of Robe fixtures due to their reliability and performance,” says Junior. “The reliability of the 575 and 250 fixtures are especially great, as these lamps are just work horses and they just seem to keep going and going what ever environment you put them through”.

The lights were arranged depending on their lamp power – with the ColorWash 1200’s out front and in the roof, the ColorSpot 700EATs on rear truss and ColorSpot and Wash 575’s coming down the legs and on the floor. A few ColorWash 1200’s were positioned along the back of the stage for some movement, when Junior needed the sheer light power to cut through the rig with colour. Two Hog 3’s were used to drive the fixtures. One running all the lighting fixtures and the other running Arkaos outputting to 100 LED Panels arranged over the back wall.

“Everyone was over the moon with the rig and the way the Robe’s worked together, says Junior. “I’ve been very happy with the fixtures. The ColorSpot 2500EAT worked really well on the front truss allowing me to wash the stage in gobo’s then zooming right in for specials at certain times. The Zoom on the 1200 Wash’s is unbelievable as I can wash the entire audience with only 6 fixtures! The gobo selection in the 700’s and the matching of colour temps between them and the 575’s made it very hard to depict the difference in fixtures as you moved down the rig. I’m always keen to spec Robe movers whenever possible – they are such great lights.” concludes Junior.

www.ulagroup.com

CLSA deploy their Tri-Colour PAR64 LED cans to the max!

Posted on Thursday, June 11th, 2009

CLSA in Melbourne purchased sixteen Tri-Colour PAR64 LED cans a few months ago and they couldn’t be happier with their performance.

”Quality wise, they’re fantastic and we haven’t had any failures,” said Trevor Lloyd, CLSA’s managing director. “

Trevor comments that every job that the Tri-Colour PAR64’s have been used on has resulted in positive comments from the client.

“Everyone is impressed by their brightness and their punch,” he said. “”Being Tri-Colour the colour is discreet and there’s no chromatic shadowing that you get with standard RGB units. They’re fantastic to use because they’re very quick to set up.”

The Tri-Colour PAR64’s have been used on a variety of events from dance parties to fashion parades. Recently they were used for the Melbourne Trance dance party where CLS designed, supplied and operated lighting and rigging for Stage 3, 4 and 5.

CLSA took the opportunity to deliver a few new items from their rental stock like five DJ tables built from Curved Tri Truss sections in 2 metre, 3 metre and 4 metre diameter which looked amazing with the Tri-Colour LED used as truss toners.

CLSA’s grandMA console produced stunning matrixed pixel effects through 24 x Pro Shop Honeycomb LED fixtures on Curved Upright Tri Truss capped off with a Martin MAC700 perched on top of each. The giant white big top tent housing Stage 3 was also an ideal location to try out their 6 metre Tee-Pee Tri Truss Towers which all had a MAC2000 on top, a 24in mirror ball inside the apex and a 42inch Plasma on each face. Once again Tri Colour LED cans were used to highlight each leg.

www.showtech.com.au

JLX Productions take to the Catwalk

Posted on Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

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April saw the return of the Australian Fashion & Design Awards to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. JLX Productions, with Iceworks Design again provided technical and artistic direction for the nationally televised live event through the Nine Network. Apart from the fashion segments the event included performances by Jessica Mauboy and also Wes “Whoa” Carr.

With an entirely new artistic concept brought together by Gavin Hampstead (Iceworks Design), Jason Raft and Jason Organ (JLX Productions) plus an even tighter schedule meant for new challenges along the way.

An entirely neutral set in contrast to the previous years gloss black allowed lighting designers Jason Raft and Jason Organ an almost endless variety of surfaces to light and as Jason Raft says ‘make the magic.’ Along with lighting JLX Productions also provided production management this year with newly appointed Productions Co-ordinator Marcel Micola and Jason Organ sharing site manager duties.

Lighting Plots where drawn up in WYSIWYG perform allowing for 3D rendering of the set and pre-programming for client presentations prior to the event. With a tight 24 hour bump-in schedule including set build the load in was split over two crews working 12 hour shifts starting at 0200.

Lighting crew were JLX with additional labour supplied by Stealth Crewing and Yianni’s Entertainment Services again provided riggers for the event.

The Jasons’ this year opted for a selection of VariLite and Martin Fixtures. The over stage truss held most of the twenty Mac 700 Profiles and twelve VariLite 1000 providing the different set looks. Twelve 700 washes provided the colour for stage and the catwalk. Forty two VL2000 Washes filled out the catwalk wash and provided colour treatments for the room. Forty six Strand 2k Castors provided the main wash on stage and the catwalk with a handful of Source 4 Profiles for the Lectern. Twenty Honeycomb 72’s located under the stairs lit the perspex inserts and another twelve lit a string curtain upstage. The string curtain was used as a diffuser for Soft LED panels. Twenty four Source 4 Pars and more Honeycombs were built into the set to enhance different sections. Two Unique Hazers and three DF50’s provided the haze & two RJ Aramis Follow Spots were used for Award winner pick-ups.

TDC supplied the two Soft LED curtains which hung upstage centre and also two 20’x11’ Screens and Barco R12 projectors for in room vision. Alex Loh from JLX Productions operated the in room AV which included sponsor loops and a feed from the OB truck.

Jason Raft used a Whole Hog 3 console with a second running backup. This controlled all fixtures and the JLX .Productions Arkaos Media Server which fed content to the Soft LED. He was also heard singing along to Wes Carr during rehearsals and performance.

Chameleon Touring Systems provided the bulk of the lighting rig with much thanks to Rob Eastick and the guys at Chameleon for organising the equipment out of Brisbane and Sydney.

www.jlx.com.au

The Biggest Loser is the biggest winner

Posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009

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For the fourth year running The Biggest Loser series hit our screens yet again. The finale show attracted a peak audience of 2.33 million viewers and was once again one of the most watched shows on Australian television. Lighting Director for the finale show was Ian Anderson who is no stranger to live television.

“The design brief was to make the show elegant,” commented Ian. ” We didn’t want to distract from the contestants nor create television that was hard to watch. The show is about people looking a million bucks so the lighting had to reflect that.”

Ian, as usual, got together a mixture of fixtures that performed their own little tasks perfectly.

“I tend to pick the right light for the right job,” suggested Ian. “I used a mixture of Varilites, Macs and Selecon 80v fixtures. The 80volt units are my new favourite conventional. The level and colour temp work very well on camera. All of my key lights were 80v and most of the backlights were VL500 units also with the 80V source. We also used a special 80volt followspot that was secretly taken from another studio and put back under the cover of darkness.”

The inventory consisted of the following: 48 x VL500, 6 x VL2000 wash, 6 x VL1000, 10 x VL3500 wash, 26 x MAC700 Spots, 16 x MAC700 Wash, 58 x Honeycomb 72, 18 x Martin Stagebar, 48 x LED Tricolour PAR, 6 x Selecon 80volt Fresnels, 16 x Selecon 80volt Profiles, 1 x Selecon 80volt Followspot, 16 x 2k Arri Fresnel, 3 x Unique Hazers, 220m x 18” Box truss, 36 x Chain motors, 2 x grandMA consoles.

Lighting equipment was from Chameleon and rigging by Pollards.

www.mitechdesign.com.au

CCPWA’s lighting has punters in a Trance

Posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009

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The Trance Energy Festival 2009 has just finished touring the country with shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The event is produced by ID&T and the creative team from Sensation and is based on the popular Trance Energy Events held in the Netherlands every year since 1999.

The Trance Energy show that hit Australian shores may have been scaled back but none of the impressive visual power that ID&T and Sensation are renowned for was lost. With headlining DJ’s like Judge Jules, Marco V, BT and Sander van Doorn Perth punters were in for something new in terms of dance festivals in Perth.

Perth’s Concert & Corporate Productions won the contract to design, supply and operate the lighting and vision for the Perth leg of the tour. Held in the Belvoir amphitheatre in the Swan Valley with a capacity of 5000 the event was bound to draw some interest from the industry and punters alike.

The staging for the event utilised a 12m x 12m scaffold tower with a fascia of 3m x 3m box truss grids arranged on the front of the scaff in a 4 x 3 arrangement. Truss and scaffold was supplied by Statewide Staging Perth.

The lighting system was designed by CCPWA’s Sean McKernan and operated on the night by Jason Place and Dean Gratwick. The rig consisted of 14 x Martin MAC2000 Profiles, 16 x MAC700 Profiles, 20 x Atomic Strobes, 22 x Pro Shop LED Honeycomb 72, 4 x Pulsar ChromaBanks, 6 x Studio Due CityColor 2500w, 5 x DWE 8 Lites, 14 x DWE 4 Lites, 30 x DWE 2 Lites, 4 x LED Multi pars and a Catalyst G5 Media server. Control was by 2 x MA Lighting grandMA’s networked with an MA on PC backup.

“The MA’s performed flawlessly and saved us heaps of time by networking the system,” said Jason “Also having the rig in a grid arrangement meant we could set up Bit Map Effects layouts for all fixtures. The Moles and the Atomics looked amazing when controlled by the Bitmap Engine.”

www.ccpwa.com

www.showtech.com.au

WooHah Goes X‐Qlusive

Posted on Monday, May 11th, 2009

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WooHah Productions was called upon for the Dutch DJs SHOWTEK show at festival Hall in Melbourne December 2008, providing the lighting production for the entire event including the side rooms. The original lighting design done by Chromatic was designed for Horden Pavilion in Sydney. “We took the design and changed the rigging to fit into the Festival Hall requirements, but still trying to keep to the original design and quantity.” Stated Arosh Fernando, production manager for the event.

The rig consisted of 36 x Mac 700 profiles, 18 x Mac 2k washes, 16 x Atomic strobes with scrollers, 16 x 2‐way blinders and 8 x Pro LED 64 Tri Colour cans all controlled off full size Grand MA for the main room. Side room included 8 x Mac250 Entours and 8 x Pro LED 64 Tri Colour controlled off Jands Hog 1k.

“Martin gear was chosen for its reliability and value for money and that’s exactly the result we got, we had very happy client at the end of the show.” Confirmed Arosh.

Chad Spencer operated the lights with Andrew Killengray as assistant and system tech. WooHah production technicians Brad Watson and Chris Mantel were part of the team to make this event happen. Resolution X and Phaseshift Productions were also called to upon to fulfill the requirements for this rig.

For a short video of the show go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9JrJ1‐R5Q8

www.woohah.com.au

Cliftons at the Melbourne International Motor Show

Posted on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

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The Melbourne International Motor Show that is the motor vehicles industry high octane madness, ran recently for a fortnight and featured over 23 exhibits, and over 50 Robe moving lights. The Melbourne International Motor Show was attended by 240 000 car enthusiasts, those attending included local celebrities such as model and television personality Jennifer Hawkins.

Clifton Productions was one of the lighting suppliers for the 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show and did a great job setting up each of their specified stands. Each stand they lit had its own very unique design, layout and lighting effects from Lexus’s stunningly massive display with large washing effects to KIA’s Vuepix P10 LED screen presentation. Robe 1200AT and Robe 2500EAT fixtures were out in force illuminating numerous cars including Toyota, Lexus, Kia, Holden, Mazda, Lotus, Honda and Nissan.

With nearly 340 cars on show ranging from the exclusive sports to luxury cars, and those priced from under $15,000 to well over $800,000, there was something to suit the needs and dreams of just about any new car buyer.

Lamborghini’s Gallardo LP560-4 Spyder was the Italian supercar star of the Show, shown beside its coupe running mate and the mighty Murcielago LP640.

CAR magazine in the UK recently declared the LP560-4 coupe its Performance Car of The Year shortly after it won Road & Track magazines Ultimate Track Test in the USA.

System Tech John Stanley programmed and operator the Lexus stand with an Avolites Pearl, the Toyota stand with a Hog PC and the rest of Clifton’s stands with LSC Maxium consoles. Honda and Mazda stands made use of Wireless DMX to provide connectivity to fixtures from the control consoles – no wires for the ultimate clean look.

At Honda the big interest was on the Wheels Car of the Year, the Honda Accord Euro. The stand was popular given it featured the most asked-after car of the Show, the soon-to-be-released new Honda Odyssey seven-seater. Close by was the Toyota stage which featured 12 iLED ColorBank 54 around the bottom of the rotating stage that lit the display. Lighting Operator Ziggi Ziegler from ZZ Creative Services was also brought in for creative design of the Toyota and Lexus stand to add his personal touch.

Aaron Humber, System Tech from Clifton Productions programmed the Nissan and Holden stands. Nissan gave Australian sports car enthusiasts their first look at the new 370Z. The all-new 370Z is the first full redesign of the iconic Nissan Z since the 350Z arrived in 2003, and follows Nissan’s Motor Show reveal last year of the mighty GT-R.

Lighting effects play a huge part when operating a large exhibition at the calibre. Aaron says “The Robe fixtures played a big part in the lighting of most of the stands, while Vuepix also played a big part on the visual impact that was created for the exhibitors. Everybody was extremely happy with the lighting effects and overall outcome. We are happy to come back and be a part of the event again.”

The Melbourne International Motor Show will now be the only major motor show in the country for the year due to a joint venture between Melbourne and Sydney, resulting in the alternation of the country’s major motor show between the two cities each year. Consequently, the 75th Melbourne International Motor Show will be the last to bear this title, the name changing for all proceeding shows to the Australian International Motor Show.

Clifton Productions have in excess of 500 Robe moving lights in their inventory which sees constant and continuous employment around Australia, says Aaron. “Wish we had more – we just can’t get enough of Robe!”

www.ulagroup.com

Vari-Lites Get The Party Started At The 2009 Mardi Gras

Posted on Monday, April 27th, 2009

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In March 2009 Mandylights’ designer Richard Neville was once again charged with the task of designing the entire party site for the infamous Mardi Gras party – the largest gay and lesbian dance party in the world. Working with the “Nations United” theme of the festival, Richard’s designs for the five rooms reflected the international theme of the party and scenic items found around the site.

Richard chose to use a purely Vari*Lite moving light rig for the main venue – Royal Hall of Industries (RHI) – which looked spectacular for all ten hours of the party. The venue took on the theme of “It’s a gay world after all,” complete with elaborate set and giant rotating technicolour globe in the centre of the space. The RHI’s lighting design took a different turn this year, with Richard choosing to lower the trim height of all the trusses to create a less cavernous atmosphere and more intense space.

“I used 24 VL3000’s for the profiles, 24 VL2500 washes and 12 VL5’s on the stage,” explained Richard. “I really like the speed and the output of the VL2500 as well as the fact that they can zoom down to 18.5° so you can get a really strong beam of light out of them. I think they must be one of the fastest wash lights on the market especially when you get the colour bumps out of the colour wheel if you want really, really fast colour changes. The CMY system is also very good.

“With the VL3000, I still don’t think there’s a better spot fixture out there in terms of gobo selection and output. They work in any situation from theatre to dance parties. They have a good stock of gobos that work incredibly well and the irises are very fast.”

The VL5’s were located on the stage where a big, tungsten back light look was required. A dozen were placed at the back of the set which had holes cut into it so that the VL5’s could poke through. This was also made possible by mounting the VL5’s on custom made mounting brackets.

Richard used a further 6 VL3000 profiles in the Byron Kennedy Hall.

Images supplied by Petez Imagez

www.jands.com.au

Leeuwin Concert 2009

Posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009

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Classic rock ‘n’ roll, high powered hillbilly and power ballads brought the house down when Chris Isaak and his band blasted on to stage at Leeuwin Estates Karri Tree amphitheatre to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the prestigious winery concert series.

For over a decade Perth’s Concert & Corporate Productions has provided the production for such a unique event in an equally unique setting and this year was no exception.

CCP’s production manager Sean McKernan designed and programmed the lighting system that was then operated by Isaak’s long time LD Lane Hirsch.

Martin MACs featured prominently in the design with 26 x MAC700 Profile, 6 x MAC700 wash, and 16 x MAC600 as well as 22 x Pro Shop LED Honeycomb 72, 4 x 2500w Studio Due CityColors, 4 x Pulsar Chromabanks and 3 x Look Solutions Unique 2 Hazers.

A MA Lighting grandMA was chosen as the preferred operating system.

“The MAC’s performed fantastically for the three days of shows and rehearsals lighting up the iconic Leeuwin sound shell and Karri Tree backdrop with ease,” commented Sean. “The resulting looks prompted Leeuwin Estates owners to declare it the best looking Leeuwin concert to date.”

www.ccpwa.com

www.showtech.com.au

Sydney Sound Relief

Posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

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Like it’s counterpart in Melbourne, the Sydney Sound Relief concert was a resounding success helping to raise millions of dollars for the bushfire appeal. Held at the Sydney Cricket Ground, highlights of the show included Coldplay teaming up with John Farnham and an amazing set by the Presets.

The event was made possible by the generosity of many people including production companies such as Chameleon Touring Systems, crews and touring personnel. The whole event came together in just two weeks with JPS providing production management.

The lighting for the show was not designed per se but rather it was designed around what was available.

“Every piece of equipment was only made available by the generosity of the production companies involved,” remarked Paul Collison, lighting programmer for the Sydney show. “The Chameleon crew was fantastic.”

The lighting featured an all-encompassing backdrop of fifty-six Martin LC Panels particularly useful as most of the broadcast was during the day and the LC Panels enabled the stage to take on a variety of looks during the entire ten hour broadcast.

“The rig contained some Vari-lites as well as twenty-seven Martin MAC2000 washes which helped fill out the stage during the day whilst at night they wiggled around and changed colour in time to the music!” said Paul. “There were a dozen Pulsar Chromabanks situated to the sides of the stage for those really oblique camera angles and helped to contain the stage. We also had fourteen Martin Atomic Strobes.”

Out front there were two grandMA consoles; one for video and one for lighting. Fortunately all but one of the touring lighting designers was familiar with the grandMA. Content for the LC Panels came from an ArKaos Media Master.

Followspots were two Robert Juliat Cyrano’s and two Aramis’ throwing an amazing 150 metres and still cutting it on stage. Atmospherics came from two Look Solutions Vipers and two Unique Hazers.

www.showtech.com.au

Robe On Tour With Future Music Festival

Posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

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Bringing a bigger and even better line up this year, Future Music Festival toured the nation recently with over 200 Robe moving lights on board with crowds of over 40,000 and 9 themed stages of music and more attractions than ever featured before.

This year featured an impressive line up of local DJs supporting International headlining acts including N*E*R*D, Basement Jaxx, CSS, Paul Oakenfold and Grandmaster Flash. Site wide lighting and rigging for this festival was provided by Clifton Productions with their vast range of Robe inventory, with all stages heavily loaded with Robe moving lights managed by System Techs Matt Downs and Michael Parsons from Clifton Productions.

Melbourne and Sydney events had the largest quantities of different stages and performances, although the major stages and rigs were emulated in all the states the festival ran. Sydney housed some of the largest stages which were set both at the Randwick Racecourse and Hordon Pavilion. The Enmore Theatre was also used for some performances.

The stage at the Hordon Pavilion was designed and operated by Matt Mombario who controlled all lighting fixtures with a Hog 3 and 2 Mini Wings. The stage at the Enmore Theatre was designed and operated by Leggie and the Future Music Stage on site was designed and operated by Andy Mutton and Matt Downs from Clifton Productions.

Lighting rigged consisted of 8 x Robe ColorSpot 700AT and 8 x Robe ColorWash 700AT on the front truss, 4 x Robe ColorWash 1200AT on dollys as side lights down stage, 6 x Robe ColorSpot 1200AT were on dollys upstage across the back of the stage. The rest of the 22 x Robe ColorWash 1200AT, 14 x ColorSpot 1200AT and 48 x 575w Multipars were placed on the front and back truss to provide a 4 colour stage wash. Headline acts performing included N*E*R*D, Basement Jaxx and Paul Oakenfold.

‘Likes of You’ Stage – 6 pole circus tent – All Robe fixtures were rigged as verticals on stage or floor dolly’s all with wheels, to allow for the EDC scaffold CUBE to be moved into place during change over’s. 6 x Robe ColorWash 2500EAT, 6 Robe ColorSpot 1200AT and 14 x Robe ColorSpot 700AT were used. 8 of the Robe 700 Spots were rigged from a 4mt 300mm box circle flown above the DJ console. 30 x Vuepix P25 screens were used on a tab track system to allow for the EDC cube to be rolled through the middle of the screen during changeover, and 8 x Vuepix P25 screens were used on a rolling DJ riser. Morph from Morph visuals was brought in to operate the Vuepix screens, and Andy Mutton to design the lighting to suite DJs Riche Hawtin & EDC’s rig. All fixtures were driven by a GrandMA.

Other stages on the Future Music tour that featured Robe’s included the Sublime Stage with 8 x Robe ColorSpot 2500EAT, 8 x Robe ColorWash 700EAT and an impressive array of 48 x P25 Vuepix screens which were suspended with-in truss shaped like pyramids (P25 x 25 panels each outside V’s plus 6 x Robe 2500EAT on the inside V’s) These were operated by Rob Easton from E Productions. The Grandstand Stage had 12 x Robe ColorSpot 575AT rigged on the front, mid and back truss which was all driven from and Avolites Pearl Tiger. Major lines ups included GrandMaster Flash and CSS.

Matt Downs says, “This years festival was the largest one yet in all. We had all of our Robe inventory out this weekend with festivals in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide over 3 days with identical rigs. Plus other events on at the same time were the Melbourne International Motor Show and Toybox in Sydney. All Robe fixtures work as usual with minimal faults or issues. LD ‘Leggie’ loved using ROBE and didn’t expect to find them here in Australia, as he has been working with them heaps of times overseas. He said he will definitely be using them again next time he is down under.’’

www.ulagroup.com

Andre Rieu debuts the Martin MAC III in Australia

Posted on Thursday, April 9th, 2009

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The numbers are huge: 125 meter wide stage, 4000 square meter palace façade set, 400+ Martin Professional automated lights, 80 containers of transport. What is being called the biggest transportable touring set ever graces Andre Rieu’s latest and greatest tour – “World Stadium Tour: A Romantic Vienna Night” which visited Australia late last year.

The 26 meter high stage – a reconstruction of the Schonbrunn castle in Vienna – includes a ballroom with gilded chandeliers, majestic fountains, and even ice for skating. Lighting the massive set is an equally impressive Martin lighting rig made up of 30 MAC III Profiles, 185 MAC 2000 Washes, 58 MAC 2000 Wash XBs, 114 MAC 250 Washes, 10 MAC 2000 Performances and 14 Exterior 200s.

Lighting design for the tour is in the capable hands of Maurice Verbeek who has been designing lighting for Andr é Rieu for nearly twelve years. Verbeek turned to Martin’s popular 1500 watt MAC III Profile to span the set’s enormous trim heights. “When I started to draw the plots for the World Stadium Tour I realized the size of this stage was enormous!” Verbeek says. “The trim of the main rig needed to be 15 meters and we needed a lot of strong lights.

“At that time, the MAC 2000 Profile/Performance was the strongest spot but I needed something stronger with a bigger zoom range. After finishing the European tour, Rent-All informed me about the new MAC III Profile. After seeing a demo we decided to exchange the VL 3000 with the MAC III.”

Verbeek first used the MAC IIIs on the Australian leg of the tour, programming them to match the gobos and effects of earlier shows. “The MAC III performed very well with few problems. Finally, there is a profile spot that’s strong enough to compete with the power of a MAC 2000 Wash.”

Co-designer and programmer on the tour is Gertjan Houben of Moving Lights Support of Amsterdam. He adds his thoughts about the MAC III units: “When we started designing for André Rieu’s World Stadium Tour we knew we needed something bright, powerful and versatile,” he said. “While looking at all the usual suspects in that segment, Rent-All BV invited us for a demonstration of the then soon to be released MAC III. Having heard some rumors about it being bright and powerful, we didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation. The demo was very impressive and we knew we had found the light we were looking for.”

Luckily, says Houben, the release date of the fixture coincided with the shipping dates to Australia. “When the rig came online in the Telstra Dome in Melbourne and we started programming, the light kept all its promises. The brightness of the output exceeded our expectations and with the impressive zoom we could get the light where we needed it most.”

Besides the versatility of the fixture’s gobo/prism combination, Houben was most impressed with the new colour mixing system. “It’s fast and mixes beautifully,” he comments. “The extended range of colour depth in the magenta and yellow are a huge improvement. Together with Bart van Stiphout the system engineer, I was also very pleased with the relatively small channel footprint of the light. When it comes to universes in these big shows, more is not better.”

Looking back on the shows, Houben says that they definitely made the right choice with the MAC III Profile. “I’m looking forward to the next production I can spec it on,” he concludes.

www.showtech.com.au

Kings of Leon tour with Avolites

Posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

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As one of this decades most popular rock groups, Kings of Leon has recently toured Australia with their “Only By The Night” show. Kings of Leon whipped up a storm with sold out shows nationwide. All lighting equipment was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.

Lighting designer/director Ali Bale had no hesitation in specifying an Avolites Pearl Expert console to control lighting for the world wide Kings of Leon tour. Bale is a big Avolites fan and has used Avolites consoles for the last 15 years.

Bale has worked for Kings of Leon for the last four and a half years since he was originally asked onboard by co-LD and the show’s creative designer Paul Normandale. This latest tour is a co-lighting design between the two of them, on which Bale is also working extremely closely with video director Phil Woodhead and the live visuals director & Catalyst (digital media server) programmer/operator Phil Haynes.

The arena tour design is a creative fusion of video and lighting that illustrates first hand the concept of “convergence” between the two visual mediums. It also sees Bale, Haynes, and Woodhead all operating from the FOH position – to maximize synergy and communication for producing the show.

The lighting rig is based on 3 chevron shaped fixed trusses. Each truss has a cluster of Element Labs using VersaTUBE LED frames which are driven by Hayne’s Catalyst with Barco Matrix screen. Down stage had approximately 80ft of Matrix, 3 Panels Deep, Midstage and Upstage had 4 VersaTUBE LED frames. Lighting fixtures comprise of 20 x Martin MAC 700 Profiles, 14 x MAC 700 Washes, 20 x MAC 2K Washes, 8 x Atomic strobes with Colour Scrollers, 4 x Syncrolites, 22 x 4 Way Molefays – 6 of them were floor mounted and had Colour Scrollers on them – and 7 x ACL Bars. In addition to these were 6 Floor Cans with Colour Scrollers.

All of this is controlled by the Avolites Pearl Expert, on which Bale remarks, “It’s a perfect sized desk for an arena tour of this size – offering plenty of power and options without being at all over-complicated”. The two rollers enable him to split the rig between moving and generic elements which is very convenient.He first started using the Pearl Expert shortly after its launch at the end of 2007, initially on the Kings of Leon, followed by The Rifles.

“Like all Avo desks, it’s great” he says, “quick, easy and intuitive to program and operate”. He also comments that having the additional top row of 30 faders available makes “All the difference”, and it’s also great to be able to work with a small desk and within a tidy footprint. Bale always specifies Avo desks for his tours. The Avolites Pearl Expert was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems. Kings of Leon have been on the road since June 2008, and the tour is currently scheduled to run until September 2009.

www.ulagroup.com

Lectern Rock

Posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009

What is Lectern Rock? Lectern Rock, developed by the Belong Group for Westpac Banking Corporation, is a business presentation with difference; a hybrid of circus, theatre and rock concert. Lighting Designer, Scott Allan developed the production with Designer Andrew Bellchambers, early last year and after several successful presentations in Melbourne (Malthouse Theaters), put the show on the road for the rest of corporate Australia.

The ninety minute event, which includes live rock bands, live video, circus routines, acrobats and the odd light-saber dual, is aimed at delivering the latest Westpac initiatives to staff and clients alike.  

Scott has used 16x VL500, 15x Mac700, 10x TW1, 24x Source Four, 12x MRX/CXI colour scrollers, 12x LED IPix Satellite, ArKaos media server, Barco 10k projector, midi & click-track sequences and Unique Hazers.  

This was also a great opportunity to put GrandPA Lighting (http://www.grand-pa.co.uk/report%20viewer.html) new show file interrogation software to the test. Scott said “I found Report Viewer extremely helpful in tidying up preset focuses and working out what presets and pallets we had used throughout the show and where, and conversely what we had “missed”.”  

Lectern Rock is currently touring Brisbane, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.  

sallanld.com

Robe Headlines Good News Week

Posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009

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With a successful season ‘under the belt’ in 2008 Robe has been chosen again for the key feature intelligent lighting on the Australian satirical news-based comedy quiz show Good News Week (GNW).

Sydney based Production Company Theatricks has been engaged to provide the intelligent lighting for the new season of Good News Week. With over 70 ULA Products comprising Robe, SGM and iLED, Theatricks through principle Roger Hind has certainly brought brand awareness- especially with Robe – to the forefront of the Sydney television market developing a strong following given Robe’s quality, reliability and performance.

Paul McDermott has returned once again to host GNW, one of Australia’s most successful current affairs comedy shows. Recorded in front of a live studio audience at the ABC studios in Ultimo, Sydney, GNW (produced by GNW TV for Channel 10) is bringing a bigger and even better production to the screen with this year’s season.

Experienced Lighting Designer Graham Brumley has been brought in to design the lighting once again. The amount of intelligent lighting equipment changes from week to week, depending on special guest and live performances, however weekly rigged lighting consists of 4 Robe ColorSpot 1200EAT, 9 Robe ColorSpot 700EAT, 3 ColorSpot 575AT and 8 ColorWash 575AT all of which are positioned above the audience and over the performance space.

The set features 14 illuminated perspex towers each with SGM Palco 3’s as feature lighting in the base. There is also a moving light projection on top of each tower. A further two Palco 3’s are used in the base of the ‘soundproof’ perspex booth whenever it is used on the set. The GNW Ceiling Ball above the audience is lit from above with a single iLED Source 36 to provide the colour changing effect.

A new feature which has been added this season is the iLED FlexiLED installed in the desk tops. There are three separately-controlled strips running along the front of each desk. 11 iLED Star Drapes are used behind the stage to give it the classic night time twinkle sky effect. A warm white iLED FlexiLED strip is soon to be installed around the top of the ‘Blow Up Your Pants’ booth to provide additional key facial lighting for the artists inside the booth. All of the intelligent lighting is controlled by a Hog 1000 console and operated by Ruth Lowry of Theratricks.

Roger has been impressed with the Robe fixtures, “They have proven to be reliable again and again, we are really happy with the performance of all the lights used on the show”. The Robe 700 Series has proven itself in television given its flicker free performance, strong CTO colour mixing and very quiet operation. For television shoots moving light fixtures run continuously for hours and the Robe 700 Series have made a big name for themselves, rapidly becoming the moving light choice in television.

Theatricks has provided Robe moving lights on various other TV shows including Sideshow, Channel 7 Sunrise, Strictly Dancing and The Gruen Transfer. Gruen is a co-production between the ABC and Zapruder (with Andrew Denton as Executive Producer). The 2009 season of Gruen is currently in production again using Robe Colorspot 700EATs and iLED Source 36s airing Wednesdays at 9pm on ABC-1.

Roger is certainly a real Robe supporter, confident in back up and support of ULA locally and his first hand experience of Robe’s global support. He loves ‘enthusing’ his wide hands-on knowledge of the Robe products and has certainly put into practice ‘the talk’ with his extensive Robe moving light inventory.

www.ulagroup.com

Damien Cooper relies on MAC TW1’s for Broadway production

Posted on Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

An Australian production of Exit the King is taking Broadway by storm. Directed by Neil Armfield, the play stars Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon.

The all-star Australian design team includes Dale Ferguson (Set & Costume), Damien Cooper (Lighting), and Russell Goldsmith (Sound) with John Rodgers as the Composer.

Whilst the theatre and the country might all be foreign to talented lighting designer Damien Cooper at least he can count on the familiarity of the lighting gear by choosing Martin MAC TW1s! This time Damien has opted for ten Martin MAC TW1 with the narrow lenses as the only moving lights in his rig.

“Martin TW1’s are the perfect theatre moving light,” commented Damien. “The narrow lens tube option gives a pure narrow shaft of incandescence. The colour system captures all the lighter tints that I like to work with. I look forward to future incandescent moving fixtures from Martin, maybe an incandescent MAC2000 performer?”

Damien’s rig also features heaps of theatrical analogue fixtures as well eight Martin Atomic Strobes which are used for the chase sequence in Exit the King.

“Geoffrey Rush’s line just after the chase is what the fuck was that?” said Damien. “It’s a very apt way of describing the power and sudden shock that these strobes bring to the stage!”

www.showtech.com.au

Vuepix Creates a Visual Masterpiece

Posted on Thursday, March 19th, 2009

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The newest commercial office tower – the KPMG Building in Perth’s CBD, showcased one of the country’s finest visual artists during the Perth International Arts Festival. Clifton Productions Perth was contacted to supply and install 160 Vuepix P25 screens as part of the digital art piece designed by renowned artist Daniel von Sturmer.

The Perth International Arts Festival is the oldest annual international multi-arts festival in the southern hemisphere and annually offers some of the world’s best theatre, music, film, visual arts, street arts, literature and free community events. No single art genre, concert, performance or exhibition series can cover the breadth of intellectual and imaginative territory of the Perth Festival, nor reach as broadly into the community.

For two generations of locals, summer in Perth without the Festival is simply unimaginable. For over 50 years the Festival has welcomed to Perth some of the world’s greatest artists. The three-week long Festival, in February of each year, attracts more than 300,000 patrons to events in Perth as well as in the Great Southern region.

In this occasion, it was a special opportunity to see a new commission by one of Australia’s most exciting multimedia contemporary artists, Daniel von Sturmer. Daniel produced a major digital visual piece of art showing his renowned inventive interventions with space, architecture and visual phenomena. This was his first public work in the City of Perth.

Managing Director Ed Matthews said “The reason the KMPG building was chosen is not only because the building is owned by the Hawaiian Group, a major sponsor of the Festival, the building was actually in a perfect position to target Kings Park and Perth’s busiest freeway – the Kwinana/Mitchell Freeway.

The Vuepix screen was installed for 2.5 weeks running from 8am to midnight for those weeks. Ed said “during this whole period we had to swap only two panels. Even after extreme weather conditions from 43 degree days to storms rolling in off the Indian ocean, the screen performed exceptionally well”

The Vuepix P25 screens enable you to redefine the imaging landscape and customized LED video screens and curtains to your specifications. The VuePix range of LED video solutions incorporates indoor and outdoor LED video screens and LED mesh, making this one of the most versatile LED video ranges on the market.

With numerous successful projects to credit, Clifton Productions Perth provide solutions to any size event from exhibitions to concerts using equipment of the highest calibre.

www.ulagroup.com

Coldplay tour with Martin MAC rig

Posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

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One of the most successful alt-rock bands of the past decade, England’s Coldplay, is currently touring Australia with a Martin rig, supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems, that includes the new extra bright MAC 2000 Wash XB™ luminaire.

Touring in support of their new album, “Viva La Vida,” the show uses no LED screens or crowd IMAG at the band’s request. Lighting, set, and production designer Paul Normandale makes sure of that, opting for visual impact from video projection and the Martin MACs. The rig includes 24 x MAC2000 washes, 10 x MAC2000 XBs washes, 32 x MAC700 spots, 20 x MAC250 washes and 27 x Atomic 3000 strobes, ten of which have colour changers. Also in the rig are Unique Hazers and a couple of MA grandMA lites.

“Coldplay are a high impact band that requires dynamic looks with lots of cues,” Paul comments. “The MAC2000 Wash XB is used primarily as a rear wash light and is so bright it means I can use less than I would with other fixtures. Plus we trim at 48ft so I needed a wash that would reach with cover to spare.”

The MAC2000 Wash XB is a new 1500W fresnel that takes the proven optical and effect qualities of Martin’s MAC2000 Wash and adds even greater brightness (over 60,000 lumens of power), new efficient fans, ballast, starter and more.

Specific features of the XB that Paul likes include its “sheer punch. They are very, very bright and compact,” he says. “And reliability has been really good.” Paul has them spread across the top sub-grid for washes and as a rear floor light.

“All the fixtures have been excellent,” he continues. “The MAC250s as cross wash and air shot lights add a scale to the stage. Its 80 ft wide and has two 40 ft plus walkways so I needed a physically small but bright unit.”

The tour has been on the road for nearly ten months and lighting operator Fraser Elisha reports that all of the Martin MACs have proven to be extremely reliable.

“The MACs just do what they’re supposed to do and I’m very happy with them,” he remarked at the band’s Sydney show. “The MAC2000 Wash XB’s are just as reliable as the normal MAC2000 Wash but it’s a lot punchier, you really notice the difference between the two.”

Photos: Steve Jennings

www.showtech.com.au

VuePix Brings The Vibe at Good Vibrations

Posted on Friday, March 13th, 2009

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Good Vibrations, presented by JAM recently toured through Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Perth with great success.

Festival promoter Justin Hemmes summed it all up saying, “Were so excited to announce that for the first time we’ve had a sell out festival in all four states. Its testament to the Festival artists, our beautiful venues, the support of the local authorities and the team behind Good Vibrations Festival. Bring on 2010!”.

While lighting was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems throughout, Clifton Productions lit the featured ‘Smirnoff Experience’ stage.

The major line up included International DJ Fat Boy Slim (AKA Norman Cook) who has established himself as one of the worlds most popular DJ’s and Producers. The event also featured The Presets, Sam Sparrow, The Pot Belleez and Deadmau5 among others.

Clifton Productions was brought in to create the ‘Smirnoff Experience” in the Mr. J tent, which was designed by Rob Easton from E Productions, Sydney. Main acts included The Cuban Brothers, The Pot Belleez, Yelle, Miami Horror and Mike Relm.

8 Robe ColorSpot 1200AT were used with customised Smirnoff Experience Gobos which projected around the stage and scaff towers. 35 x 1 metre iLED Graphic Tubes were rigged hanging from the centre of the room’s truss to give an illuminating rich colour changing effect.

2 metre wide by 4 metre high Vuepix P25 screens were used behind the bar area in conjunction with Smirnoff displays. These featured customised content for effective branding and theming. Visuals were designed by Morph from Morph Visuals who are internationally renowned on the VJ scene.

Morph made custom branding content to suit the bar layout and P25 screens just for the whole tour for Good Vibrations. Morph has used Vuepix on many gigs including Summerfielddayze, Future Music Festival and Global Gathering. 16 iLED Colorbank 54’s were used on risers behind the Vuepix screens, with 8 Colorbanks 54’s to light through the screen and 8 Color Bank 54’s to light the marquee wall and roof.

Morph says “I’ve used Vuepix on a lot of events recently and really like them. They are great, with good clean blacks with no tweaking and really rich colours, especially the reds. The response is fantastic with very little delay from input to screen which is super important in VJing and music focused video. With the highly modular setups we have been able to do some amazing screen configurations and producing custom content for those setups is always a challenge, the Vuepix screens are easily configured to make that side of it a breeze. They deliver on both filmic content and more graphics based material, a key in live work when requirements can change from act to act. They have been a pleasure on my gigs so far and I look forward to having them on future events.”

Lighting was programmed by System Tech Matt Downs from Clifton Productions. Matt says “Smirnoff’s marketing team were extremely impressed with the designs of the event. The really loved the promotional look. There were numerous comments that this was the best looking room on the tour”.

www.ulagroup.com

Green is the only colour for Jackson Browne

Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009

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Jackson Browne is currently touring the country in support of his first album of new material in six years, Time The Conqueror, and what is so unusual about this tour is that the lighting rig comprises totally of LED fixtures.

Lighting designer Dave Davidian is touring a rig that includes twenty GLP Impression LED moving heads and 180 of the new Pro Shop LED Tricolour Pro PAR cans, all supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.

According to Dave, Jackson Browne himself was pivotal in the decision to switch to LEDs as he is a very green-orientated person who cares about his green footprint on the planet.

“The impedance to go ahead and go through with using LEDs definitely came from Jackson but it was something that I had thought about too, knowing his concerns about the environment,” said Dave. “He felt this would be a way to save power and do the right thing as far as his beliefs were concerned. For myself, I was curious about LEDs too.”

The set design for Jackson Browne’s show is relatively simple with Dave aiming to get a variety of different angles of light on Jackson – to get light sources at vertical and horizontal angles and different heights, so that he could make the most of a small physical system and create as many layers and angles of light as he possibly could.

To do this, Dave constructed a rig with two upside down “U” truss configurations, one on each the left and right rear of the stage, with a straight bar of truss in the centre between them. The trussing is lined up and down the sides and across the top with the 180 Pro Shop LED Tricolour Pro PAR cans.

“Using so many cans provides strength in numbers,” said Dave. “The fact that the LED par cans have a low power draw and low heat production, made this design viable.”

The Impressions serve as backlights and sidelights and Dave was particularly impressed by their brightness, describing it as fantastic.

“The colours are stunningly beautiful – better than dichroic – and they do some great colour dissolves,” he added. “Additionally, the movement of the Impressions helps achieve my goal of having as much flexibility with angles and light source points as possible.”

”With their compact size and light weight, the Impressions are easy to transport and setup, and are very reliable” said Davidian, “Jackson thinks the lighting looks great. All the comments from both people and the press have been very positive about how the show looks.”

Asked if Dave would use LED lighting for consequent tours by different acts he replied ‘absolutely!”.

“I think that the Impressions and LED par cans are great instruments. They have so many pluses especially the par cans – you don’t have change bulbs, there are no temperature issues and they offer so many colours. I’m very happy with them and they’re a definite plus for the industry.”

www.showtech.com.au

Pandora wins at Tamworth

Posted on Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

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The Tamworth Country Music Festival has cemented itself as an Australian January institution and is possibly the biggest party in the whole of the country. The population of Tamworth almost doubles in size to 100,000 and the festival generates more than $40 million to the local economy. They come by ute, bus, train, plane – some blokes used to travel each year by camel – to the large inland city on the banks of the Peel River.

With some 120 different venues showing about 4,000 performances, about 590 buskers on the ‘Boulevard of Dreams’ (Peel Street) and so many visitors, it’s a wonder that country hospitality isn’t stretched to breaking point but the smiles on the locals are as wide as ever.

The festival culminates in the Country Music Association of Australia’s night of nights, the Golden Guitar Awards, which was held this year at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment & Convention Centre. Paul Collison was the lighting designer for the event and saw it as a prime opportunity to utilize the Pandora’s Box Media Server.

On the Funniest Home Videos Grand Final production Paul used the Pandora’s Box Media Player which is the software you use with your own hardware but in Tamworth he used the Pandora’s Box Media Server which is the hardware solution.

Last years Golden Guitar Awards featured one large video screen behind the stage which rather dominated the set and so this year Paul wanted to break up the video elements turning it more into part of the set design than just a video screen.

The LED panels were divided into random strips across the stage with the Pandora’s Box Media Server used to map video, using it more as a wallpaper or set design than a straightforward video screen.

“We were really happy with the Media Server,” Paul said. “When I used the Media Player I was very happy with the smooth playback and the efficiency of the software but using the hardware solution from coolux just took it to another level again. I can definitely see in the near future that products such as Pandora’s Box will be a better solution than software like Watchout and start to bridge that gap between video and lighting. It will bring those departments much closer together.”

Along with the Panodora’s Box Media Server, Paul networked a second Media Player running on a 20inch iMac to send graphics on to the LCD panels on stage. “The LCD panels were only patched in on the day of the show, I used the Spread Content feature of the PB system to spread the content I was using on the main server to the media player. This meant I could clone the Media Player to the Media Server on the grandMA and viola, most of my programming was done for me”

The media used was mainly from the comprehensive collection that Paul has amassed over the past couple of years and included softly moving waves of colour and textures. There were no ‘in your face’ graphics used for this production.

“Video graphics can often be overdone, it was nice to see it as much more of a background than a feature,” remarked Paul.

Paul used Martin MACTW1 fixtures as keylights for the show and he only has one word to describe them.

“Awesome, just awesome,” he said. “I don’t know what else I can say about them. They are hands-down my favorite light. I love the colour mixing and the way they look on camera. Instead of having thirty conventional fixtures in my rig I could use just eight TW1’s with no fuss. They’re just perfect for television.”

www.showtech.com.au

Vuepix and Robe Hit Global Gathering

Posted on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

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Vuepix and Robe were in action for the world renowned dance festival, Global Gathering.

The Global Gathering events, produced by Future Entertainment, hit Australia with a bang with shows taking place in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. Australia wide lighting was supplied by Clifton Productions.

Known internationally for their large arenas, huge light shows and state of the art sound systems, each Global Gathering event is a huge event of up to 20,000 dance and electronica enthusiasts watching performances from an impressive line of local and international DJ’s including Sasha, Above & Beyond, Mark Ronson, Kraftwerk, Felix the House Cat and many more.

On the Main Stage, an Avolites D4 console along with 33 Robe ColorSpot 1200AT were used in total, which was all operated by Mark Ronson’s Lighting Designer. The floor had band risers lined with the Vuepix screen. 1 by 8 panels, 1 by 4 panels raised up, 2 by 4 panels and 1 by 4 panels.

The upstage truss had 5 Robe ColorWash 1200AT on dropped bars situated just above each Vuepix P25 screen. While 5 Robe ColorWash 1200AT were on the floor of the stage between each screen to shine through the band riser screens and up light a red curtain along with the full backdrop worth of Thomas Pixellines. A further 6 Robe ColorWash 2500EAT, and 6 Robe ColorSpot 2500EAT were distributed across the audience trusses.

Visuals on this stage included 74 Vuepix P25 panel wall operated by Ben from Pilot Vision UK, who also created customised content – pixel for pixel to suit the layout of Vuepix on the tour. System Tech Matt Downs from Clifton Productions says “The desired show using the customised content was only achievable due to the set up process and mapping of Vuepix – scaling of the signal was not an option in this case so it was just not an option, as all of the screens were controlled off just one output from Ben. Each individual finger of the screen or band risers could play anything required. Once set up, the system allowed the custom content to be played through all the screens or just selected screens, they could even be triggered from the audio signal.”

On the Ministry of Sound Stage, all fixtures were hung on truss above the stage. 14 Robe ColorWash 700AT and 12 Robe ColorSpot 700AT were used as the stage rig plus extra’s spread around as room fillers. This was the rig to suit Gorillaz Sound System & the German forfathers of electronica, Kraftwerk. Control was via a GrandMA and a Hog II PC. The Krafwerk’s show included 5 robotic dj’s for the hit ROBOT which also included the use of a stage wide projection screen as a backdrop and at times even a full stage wide projection screen at the front of the stage. Gorillaz Sound System had their visual spectacular show with 12+ projection & slide projectors spread throughout the entire room.

In Sydney the Royal Hall of Industries formed the home for the God’s Kitchen Stage, housing 9 Robe ColorWash 700AT rigged on the legs of the stage and truss verticals, all controlled by a GrandMA LITE. Not only was this a visual feast with pyramid shaped trusses on stage, but a zigzag truss running down the middle of the entire room – with moving lights, LED toners and strobes throughout. On the stage rig also included iLED star drapes for an effective ‘sky’ backdrop.

The Fan Klub Stage featured 3 Robe ColorSpot 250AT, 6 Robe ColorWash 700AT and 2 Robe LED Blinder 192DT were used. These fixtures were top mounted on truss vertices and some fixtures placed on top of speaker stacks. A Hog 500 was used to control the lights and was pre-programmed by Matt Downs.

Matt said “Both Michael Parsons and myself followed the show up and down the east coast which included running the prep/set up, show transportation etc. The Robe fixtures performed great considering the wet weather we faced. It rained in every state at some point of the show, whether it was during set up, programming or the show day itself. They copped a hiding with the elements! There were some minor causalities, which only required a little air drying and sunlight and they were up and running in no time. All the LD’s were very happy with the performance and reliability of Robe and never expected to find these fixtures in Australia”.

Clifton Productions has the largest inventory of Robe rental stock in Australia. Robe, Vuepix and iLED are distributed in Australasia by ULA.

www.ulagroup.com

Martin goes out with Delta

Posted on Friday, February 20th, 2009

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Australian songstress Delta Goodrem has returned to the stage for her Believe Again national tour performing hits from her career and current album Delta.

Alex Saad was her lighting designer using a rig supplied by Phaseshift Productions including 26 x Martin MAC700 profiles, 24 x MAC700 washes, 8 x MAC2000 and 12 x Martin LC Panels.

“There were no real prerequisites but I did have a long talk with Delta and she gave me some general ideas as to what she wanted,” said Alex. “It was more of a feel for what she wanted not specifics. She is pretty creative and has the big picture in her head. Generally she wanted nothing hard-edged but all soft and that conveyed through to the lighting.”

The truss system comprised of six ‘fingers’ spreading over the stage and each truss piece held MAC700 profiles and washes. These enabled Delta to be clearly seen at all times. The front truss held the MAC2000’s. More MAC700 washes and spots were situated on the floor.

The LC Panels, used to get away from the standard video set up, were arranged behind a white cyc in a five and seven format. The white cyc softened their presence and hard edges whilst also acting as a projection surface for some 12K projectors.

Content run through the LC Panels was generic looks that Alex had created over time. Behind the white cyc and then the LC Panels was a star curtain.

Phaseshift lighting crew included Crew Chief Jeremy Nolan, and Systems Techs Troy Brown and Rob Oswold.

www.showtech.com.au

ETC Eos Inspiring Students At NIDA

Posted on Thursday, February 19th, 2009

The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is recognised internationally as one of the premier schools for technical theatre training. The NIDA production provides the ultimate skill set for students combining formal teaching with practical, hands-on experience. It also pushes students to work outside of the technical square, and none has been more evident than second-year NIDA student, Luke Woolley, who heard about how fabulous the ETC Eos console was and took it upon himself to get access to Eos for a production of Unidentified Human Remains in the Parade Theatres.

The show’s lighting was designed by 2008 NIDA graduate Jack Horton with Luke acting as head electrician. Rob Kelly, NIDA’s Technical Supervisor, supported the venture and invited Jands to come to the NIDA campus and demonstrate the ETC Eos to the entire class. So impressed with the level of enthusiasm, Jands donated the use of the Eos for the production.

“The great thing about the Eos was its familiarity, as we only had a short time to learn it before going into plot. This was a big plus,” commented Luke. “The effects engine was also a good tool to learn in quick time, with its clear layout and premade effects I was able to aid the designer in what they wanted and quickly move onto the next cue.

“What I liked best about the desk was that I was able to make the desk work the way I wanted it to work, setting it up in a way that aided me best. With the different formatting for the different screens it was a great tool in setting up an environment that was

quick to move around within, with all the information at the touch

of a button.”

www.jands.com.au

Pandora’s Box previews at Funniest Home Videos

Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009

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Towards the end of last year Channel 9 produced their popular Funniest Home Videos Grand Final at Brisbane’s Southbank. Stuart Anderson was the Lighting Designer and Lighting Production Manager with Ryan Swan the Lighting Director.

Paul Collison was bought in to operate the moving lights which included Martin MAC2000 spots. LED technology was utilized to the max with 18 x GLP Impressions, 24 x Martin Stage Bars, 54 x Martin LC Panels and some LED tubes. Control was via a MA Lighting grandMA, an MA Lite and three NSP nodes. Three Unique hazers provided atmospherics and there were 108 conventional fixtures in the rig.

Paul also bought with him a brand new secret tool – three coolux Pandora Box software packages to use with both the LC Panels and a centre LED screen (a folsom was used to convert the DVI to SDI and send it to the OB truck from where what went into the main screen was controlled). An ArKaos Media Server ran content to the LED tubes. This was the first time that Pandora’s Box has been used in the country and Paul admits it was used without any official training from coolux!

“It was maybe a bit of a gamble at that stage but we were very happy with how things turned out,” said Paul. “The first time I heard about Pandora’s Box was when I was doing a seminar for MA Lighting in Korea. It wasn’t until I sat down in the room that I realised there was going to be a three hour presentation on the coolux media server and I wasn’t too happy about it. I thought I knew what media servers were and I didn’t need to hear about one for three hours. However by the end of the presentation I wanted to know where to buy one!!”

At that time there was no distributor for coolux products in Australia but once Paul heard that Show Technology had taken it onboard and that there would be quality support for it in the country, he immediately purchased some Pandora’s Box Media Players. Paul’s enthusiasm saw his Pandora’s Box in use at Funniest Home Videos Grand Final.

“It was the perfect show to give it a run on,” he said. “Vince Haddad and I spent a couple of days working it out and I really liked the fact that we could grab the software, install it and make it work. Obviously since I’ve been properly trained to use Pandora’s Box I can do far more with it!”

Paul describes Pandora’s Box as a very smooth product that runs video very, very well.

“In fact that’s the first thing that drew me towards it. Most media servers tend to lack the fundamental ability to play a video clip smoothly from start to finish but Pandora’s Box can.”

A cool feature that Paul discovered with Pandora’s Box is the way that it’s networkable; it’s very similar to the MA Lighting system in that you can control multiple servers and have them all syncronised down to each frame of vision.

“As a result timing is never an issue with your pictures,” Paul commented. You can use the networkable control either via the timeline manager like a video product or you can run it like a traditional media server off the console.”

Paul ran the Pandora’s Box software like a media server from the grandMA console for Funniest Home Videos as the video content was fairly simple.

Lighting gear was supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems.

www.showtech.com.au