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Road Test: Clay Paky Sharpy, page 36 

PROJECTION 

CONNECTION 

Starts on page 37 

Vol. 12.5 

JUNE 

2011 

Richard Anderson 

Nightclubs Nightclubs Nightclubs! 

Penthouse Club in Reno, NV 

John Lyons calls nightclub lighting a “double-edged sword” because “there are no real rules.” Michael 

Meacham agrees that nightclubs let designers be “as creative as you want.” And Stephen Lieberman adds 

that “each project is unique.” Their insights are on PLSN’s Roundtable Interview (page 44). Also turn to page 

20 for a feature on Club Nikki, a 15,000 square foot nightclub that’s part of the new Nikki Beach Club at Tropicana 

Las Vegas. On page 28, read about the lighting and video support for big-name acts at 450-capacity 

Belly Up in Aspen, CO. And the Buyers Guide on page 33 covers club lighting effects fixtures. 

Jim Fackert to Receive Parnelli Visionary Award 

LAS VEGAS — The Parnelli 

Awards Board of Directors 

announced that Jim 

Fackert will receive the Parnelli 

Visionary Award honoring 

his influential career 

in the live entertainment 

Jim Fackert 

industry. 

In the 1970s, serving first as a pro audio engineer 

for bands like Grand Funk Railroad, working with Stefan 

Graf, he went on to create the forerunner of the moving 

light, and his custom lighting boards spurred a company, 

Leprecon. Later he founded Littlite. 

“Jim Fackert is the MacGyver of the entertainment 

business,” states Bob Peterson, owner of Real World 

Lighting, and formerly with Upstaging, Inc., where he 

worked with Fackert for decades. “With an idea, a pile of 

parts, and a tube of RTV, anything could happen. Many 

things did. Cyclops, color changers, parametric EQ for 

audio consoles, bump 

continued on page 6 

PRG Acquires Nocturne, 

Forms PRG Nocturne 

Productions Inc. 

ARMONK, NY — Production 

Resource Group, LLC (PRG) has acquired 

Nocturne Productions, a leading 

touring video provider, through 

its newly-formed subsidiary, PRG 

Nocturne Productions Inc. 

The new PRG subsidiary will be 

led by Nocturne’s Bob Brigham and 

Ron Proesel, both serving as copresident, 

and with Nocturne’s Paul 

Becher as executive vice president. 

PRG chairman & CEO Jeremiah 

“Jere” Harris, PRG CEO Kevin Baxley 

and Nocturne Productions co-CEO 

Bob Brigham jointly made the announcement 

June 2. 

Sharp’s McLaughlin 

Announces Plan to 

Step Down 

M A H WA H , 

NJ — Edward 

M c L a u g h l i n , 

president of 

Sharp Imaging 

and Information 

Company 

Edward McLaughlin 

of America (SIICA) and director of 

Sharp Electronics Corporation (SEC), 

is stepping down. 

McLaughlin will maintain an advisory 

role with SEC, but will pursue 

independent consulting opportunities 

that, under an agreement with 

Sharp, won’t conflict with Sharp’s 

business objectives. He will also assist 

in the search for his successor. 

“Ed has contributed greatly to 

Sharp’s leadership position in the 

document industry,” said SEC chairman 

and CEO Kozo Takahashi, comcontinued 

on page 6 

47 

48 

4Wall Hits 

the Beach 

Club Nikki, the 15,000-squarefoot 

nightclub that accompanies 

Tropicana Las Vegas’ Nikki Beach 

Club, relied upon 4Wall Las Vegas 

for dimming, control integration, 

and, ultimately, the visual design 

for “the sexiest dance floor on the 

Vegas Strip.” By the time the design 

was complete, the lighting and video 

system relied upon nine DMX 

universes for control. 

For more, turn to page 20. 

The Biz 

A sudden storm in Hershey, PA 

gave Chaos Visual Productions a 

dramatic reminder last summer 

on the need for tour insurance. 

Feeding the Machines 

Why automated lighting programmers 

need to grasp the 

dual concepts of tracking and 

state. 

PRO LIGHTING SPACE 

hew burney 

www.ProLightingSpace.com/join

www.plsn.com 

P R O J E C T I O N , L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

JUNE 2011 

C O N T E N T S 

WHAT’S HO T 

Production Profile 

Patrick Woodroffe and Michael Keller created big-show looks 

with a less-than-huge number of moving lights for the latest 

Ozzy Osbourne outing. 

24 

steve jennings 

Features 

20 Installations 

Club Nikki, a 15,000 square foot nightclub 

that’s part of the new four-acre Nikki Beach 

Club at Tropicana Las Vegas, lights up 

with plenty of sexy new LED toys — and 

multiple DMX universes for control. 

22 Inside Theatre 

Hideaki Tsutsui, a professor of lighting 

design at the University of Texas/El Paso, 

kept careful measurements of how much 

energy the school saved by switching 

to an all-LED rig for this year’s musical 

production. 

28 Installations 

The 450-capacity Belly Up in Aspen, CO 

draws arena-scale acts to its 25 by 30 foot 

stage, and gives those lucky enough to 

attend these gigs the kind of lighting, 

video and laser visuals they might expect 

in a much bigger venue. 

Columns 

4 Editor’s Note 

Love or hate it, technology has changed 

the way we live and function. 

42 Video World 

3D has new life in the cinema — and holds 

promise for live event production as well. 

John Wiseman of Chaos Visual Productions 

and Les Goldberg of LMG offer their 

perspectives. 

47 The Biz 

The loss of a $1 million video wall to a 

sudden storm on John Mayer’s Battle 

Studies tour last year underscores the 

importance of adequate tour insurance 

coverage. 

48 Feeding the Machines 

Master the concepts of tracking and state, 

and your value as an automated lighting 

programmer grows tenfold. 

WHAT’S HO T 

Production Profile 

Top Rank Boxing brought the in-arena experience for the 

Pacquiao-Mosley fight at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas to 

a new level with 360° video and spider leg truss. 

30 

JUSTIN LANG 

32 Company 411 

Chauvet has settled into its new 

75,000-square-foot facility, which is 

designed to be as energy-efficient as the 

gear the company makes. 

33 Buyers Guide 

Club lighting effects fixtures run the gamut 

in features and price. Here’s a fresh look at 

an ever-changing category of gear. 

36 Road Test 

Clay Paky’s Sharpy’s 189W MSD Platinum 

5R lamp, with a rated life of 2,000 hours, 

creates a beam as bright and sharp as a 

Star Wars light saber. 

44 PLSN Roundtable 

PLSN interviews John Lyons from the Lyons 

Group, Michael Meacham from iDesign and 

Stephen Lieberman from SJ Lighting about 

designing the visuals at nightclubs. 

49 Designer Watch 

“Mr. Nice Guy” Seth Jackson lights Alice 

Cooper; Bud Horowitz right-sizes Yanni’s 

big tour; LeRoy Bennett’s 80-foot stage 

design for Paul McCartney, and more. 

52 LD-at-Large 

Floundering at sea with a less-thanshipshape 

lighting rig on a music cruise. 

Departments 

6 News 

7 Calendar 

10 International News 

15 On the Move 

16 Product News 

18 Showtime 

37 Projection Connection 

38 Video Product News

ADVERTORIAL 

P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

NEWS 

The Reinvention of PR Lighting 

Bold New Restructuring Leads To New Approaches, Advanced Products 

Steve Tulk 

Providing the leading edge of LED and Plasma 

technology. Creating products featuring 

maximum light output in smaller and 

more efficient bodies. Having all professionallevel 

products come standard with RDM. Wireless 

DMX. Streaming ACN. Expansion into the 

architectural market. 

It’s all part of embarking on an aggressive 

development to expand PR’s current horizons 

and add new ones. 

So if you think you know PR Lighting, 

you need a new introduction, because while 

they’ve always enjoyed an enviable level of 

worldwide success, they realized that they 

could be more. And admirably, the management 

team did not back down at the challenges 

any organization faces when implementing 

serious changes. 

“We knew we needed to adapt quicker to 

the fast-paced changing market, and so we 

made fundamental changes to ensure we attain 

that goal, ” says Ernie Armas, international 

sales director. “We felt that despite operating 

in the same manner for a few years and 

enjoying success, we needed to reassess our 

position in the market and develop new approaches.” 

He adds that while they’ve already 

produced more advanced products of better 

quality featuring the newest technology, 

they’ve still been successful at maintaining 

their price competitiveness. “Our customers 

have voiced their appreciation and satisfaction 

with our new products, and we can’t wait 

until they see what else is coming out.” 

The biggest change has a name, and it 

is Steve Tulk. While Tulk has been an integral 

part of PR’s R&D for the past nine years, he 

was not managing the department. “We felt 

we needed some new leadership in the management 

of our R&D department, and it was 

clear that Steve [Tulk] was the perfect man for 

the job! We promoted him to vice-president 

of R&D, and he brings not only his extensive 

technical knowledge but also his keen understanding 

of the Chinese culture and how to 

implement our goals into the western industry.” 

R&D, PR Style 

“The R&D process at PR has been greatly 

improved,” Tulk says. “Drastic changes have 

been made in our processes, and progress 

can be seen with everything that is coming 

out of our warehouse.” First, he streamlined 

the process and pared down the staff, keeping 

only the very best. Then he added more 

talent and expanded the program from 20 to 

47 people. “This allows us to concentrate on 

a larger quantity of product and also focus 

on the details necessary to make the best 

quality product.” 

Although PR has always had an ISO-9000 

type of system in place, now it’s significantly 

refined. “In the past, R&D and Production Engineering 

have always worked separately. I 

have always thought R&D needed to maintain 

more influence over the product once 

it was in production. This is being addressed 

now and is part of an ongoing process improvement 

effort.” 

PR has spent the last year and a half restructuring 

the company to devise a comprehensive 

strategy that will take them to the 

next level. Tulk says that they will be more 

technology-driven and quality-minded than 

ever before. “We will shift our focus to offer 

something more than the competition has 

to make our product more attractive to the 

lighting professional.” 

The creative and financial foundation 

that PR has achieved is beyond reproach — 

something few other companies can say. 

“The professional can count on the fact 

that PR is a solid company with a solid past,” 

Tulk says. “It has been in business for 25 

years, is privately owned, and is self-funded 

with no bank debt. We are large enough to 

make bold moves, but are still small enough 

to have a personal interest in customer requirements 

and needs. I will personally take 

calls and e-mails any time of the day or night 

within reason to deal with any customer issues.” 

Tulk credits the management team for 

making a bold decision a few years ago to 

look inward and really scrutinize the company’s 

strengths and weaknesses, noting how 

the commitment to continuous improvement 

has led to a stronger, more cohesive 

company. 

Armas earnestly admits another key part 

of this equation that is needed: public relations. 

“We have a real challenge in educating 

our customers about what sets PR far apart 

from other Chinese manufacturers. We’re 

fighting against the stereotype that massproduced, 

high quality products cannot be 

made here, and that is far from our reality. 

We’ve achieved unsurpassed, reliable products 

and backed it up with customer support 

that is beyond reproach.” Armas adds that 

they are glad they revisited the company’s 

longtime goals and plan to achieve new levels 

of success in providing lighting professionals 

with amazing products at great prices. 

“Our vision for the future is reasserted, and 

we have a renewed enthusiasm. 

“Going forward, our emphasis will be on 

designed-in quality so it is repeatable and 

reliable,” Tulk adds. “Proper product testing 

by industry professionals is very high on 

my list. Field serviceability is another strong 

point with me. We will break the mold on 

perceptions of products made in China and 

prove that PR can make the best professional 

lighting products in the world.” 

Q&A with Steve Tulk 

Steve Tulk might be one of the most influential 

people in the industry that you’ve never 

heard of. You’ve likely used technology or seen 

shows using technology which he had a hand 

in designing. If you haven’t, then there’s a good 

chance that you will. He was one of the first 

employees of the company that became High 

End Systems. For much of the 18 years he spent 

working at High End, he was the right hand 

man to the head of research and development, 

Richard Belliveau. Tulk designed much of the 

electronic circuitry in the company’s most successful 

products, including Laser Chorus, Color 

Pro, F-100 smoke generators, Intellabeam and 

more. He was also the main engineering focal 

point between R&D, Manufacturing and Customer 

Service. In 2000, he made a bold decision 

to leave the company and go to work for 

PR Lighting. 

Q Why did you decide to go to work for PR 

Lighting? 

A I had been asked to team up with some 

other people at High End to do an OEM “China 

Project” where we would source finished products 

and parts from China. After a trip or two 

there, I saw a huge potential for doing anything 

China-related. Eventually I met the PR people 

and was really quite impressed. Then one of 

them threw out a “Why don’t you come work 

for us?” and I jumped at it. 

Q Can you give us a sense of how far the 

company has come since you arrived? 

A When I joined PR in 2002, the company was 

already well-established as an OEM and also as 

a distributor and manufacturer selling into the 

Chinese market. They mostly made scanners 

and small disco products then. Every product 

they did, though, had a distinctive innovative 

twist to them. They wanted to break the Chinese 

mold and be the first Chinese company 

to launch their own brand of moving heads. In 

addition to me, they hired Paul Dodd, and we 

worked well as a team to show them the path 

to new, innovative products. 

Q How has the company changed since 

your early days? 

A There were roughly 200 people in the 

company when I joined them. When I first 

visited them in 2000, the operation consisted 

of three buildings. Within a year they 

built two more buildings to house a metal 

fabrication facility and a warehouse. By 

2002, they were in the process of securing 

some land to build a new factory. So at the 

end of 2006, we moved into this new factory, 

which is much bigger than the first 

one, and that’s where we are today. There is 

also room to build one larger factory building 

when it’s needed. Right now the staff is 

between 600 to 700 people but we hope will 

increase those numbers with our new plans. 

Q Are you working on more implementation 

of Remote Device Management 

(RDM) and other new protocols and technology? 

A Currently the entire XL range and XLED 

range of products have RDM. In fact, we have 

had RDM for several years. In the near future 

we’ll introduce Streaming ACN. On LEDs, we 

were among the first and are now poised to 

retake the lead. We now have a firm plan in 

place to produce a range of LED products 

that will equal or beat the competition. 

Q Describe how the process of creating 

new products has changed. 

A In the past, the criteria for product design 

was driven more from asking ourselves 

what part of the market don’t we have that 

others do have, and it was easy to sell on 

those factors because of China’s price advantage. 

But you can’t just keep doing that — 

for one thing, it’s not interesting! [Laughs]. 

So we restructured and devised a bold strategy 

to get to the next level. Looking ahead, 

we’ll be more technology-driven. We now 

question every stage, every procedure and 

ensure that we try different approaches — 

whatever it takes to make our products the 

best. 

PR Lighting LTD. 

1582 Xingye Avenue, Nancun, Panyu, Guangzhou, China 511442 

Tel.:+86 020 39952379 Fax.:+86 020 39952330 Email: info@pr-lighting.net 

www.pr-lighting.com 

2011 MAY PLSN 

3

TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION 

EDITOR’S NOTE 

Is Technology Making 

Us Lackadaisical? 

I’m addicted to technology. I love technology; 

overall it is a wonderful thing, both 

in our personal and professional lives. But 

is technology making us lazy? Not physically 

lazy, though technology could be blamed 


for my extra pounds; I’m talking about being 

lazy with our communication and designing 

habits. 

For instance, the text editing software 

I’m now using shows two misspelled words, 

and one sentence is flagged due to questionable 

use of grammar. Of course, this is 

during my rough draft, and it will be polished 

before you read it. However, I’m relying 

on technology to watch my back before 

this story is proofread back at the office. During 

the draft stage, those squiggly red and 

green lines are catching the mistakes. How 

often is spell check correct? How does it 

not know luminaire is the correct word and 

spelling? It’s easily corrected by adding it to 

We have all been there. You are typing 

the word “shot,” and auto correct suggest 

the same word, only replacing “o” 

with “i.” This is not what we intended to 

text to our mothers! 

my software dictionary — or by ignoring it 

all together. 

Texting on your cell phone is the technology 

du jour. I’m not the best or fastest 

thumb typist in the world, but with small 

screens you’re inevitably going to hit the 

wrong letter. Your mind is already 10 words 

of ahead of what is on the screen. Cell phone 

manufactures recognize this and incorporate 

a neat function into their phone’s operating 

system — auto correct. Problem is, 

By JustinLang 

auto correct is not always correct. We have 

all been there. You are typing the word 

“shot,” and auto correct suggest the same 

word, only replacing “o” with “i.” This is not 

what we intended to text to our mothers! 

Again, we’re relying on technology to help 

us make fewer mistakes and complete tasks 

more quickly. It’s my belief these time-saving 

technologies are not always saving us 

time, but costing us time. 

In our professional world, technology is 

getting more powerful day after day. With 

technological advancements, are we losing 

the core fundamentals of design? Is technology 

making our lives so much easier we put 

less time and effort into our work? 

This subject can be argued both ways. 

Like many designers, I use the Internet day 

in and day out to research, collect images, 

communicate with the design team and, 

from time to time, for Facebook. This is a far 

cry from how I use to do research in college 

— visiting a library, photo-coping images, 

poring over books and magazines. Oh, and 

if I wanted to “Facebook” with someone, I 

called them, or headed over to their dorm. 

Thinking back on it now, it sounds so 

archaic! 

It may sound antiquated to the 

next generation of designers, but I 

still love swatch books. I still use two 

Maglites corrected to 3200K and hold 

a swatch book to them to test and play 

with color selections. Sure, everyone 

knows what R02 is and what color it 

produces on it own, but what if you 

mix it with a little L322? (I know — I just 

tested it and I am not telling, try it out 

for yourself.) 

I love the “old fashioned” way of 

mixing color. With the advancements 

in LEDs, the rainbow is yours to choose 

from in a blink of an eye. This instant 

gratification of color selection gives off 

the appearance of time saving. What 

it does is actually change your design 

process. I have heard designers say, “I 

want a red; I’ll just pick it out once we’re 

in the theatre.” Actually, this mentality is 

a disservice to your design, the design 

team and the overall production. Precious 

time can be spent in tech picking 

out the perfect color instead of perfecting 

other areas of the production. 

Technology may make color selection 

easy, but it can get time consuming, 

just like searching the Internet. Before 

you know it, you have been “tweaking” 

a color for the last 30 minutes, with the 

actors on stage and the technical director 

cursing you out. 

Technology…one minute it 

works, connecting you to the world. 

The next minute, it eats your e-mail and 

you can’t get a signal. Love or hate it, 

technology has changed the way we 

live and function. In a couple of years, 

we’ll be asking ourselves the same 

thing we do today: “How did we ever 

live like that?” 

What are your thoughts? How has 

technology changed your world? Join 

the discussion already happening on 

ProLightingSpace.com. 

When not using a mimeograph machine, 

Justin Lang can be reached at jlang@ 

plsn.com. 

The Publication of Record for the Lighting, 

Staging and Projection Industries 

Publisher 

Terry Lowe 

tlowe@plsn.com 

Editor 

Justin Lang 

jlang@plsn.com 

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Frank Hammel 

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Kevin M. Mitchell 

kmitchell@plsn.com 

Editorial Assistant 

Victoria Laabs 

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Contributing Writers 

Paul Berliner, Vickie Claiborne, Dan Daley, 

Steve Jennings, Lucas Benjaminh Krech 

Debi Moen, Bryan Reesman, 

Brad Schiller, Nook Schoenfeld 

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Steve Jennings 

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Projection, Lights & Staging News (ISSN: 

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ESTA 

ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES &

NEWS 


Jim Fackert to Receive Parnelli Visionary Award 

continued from cover 

buttons, Rainbo Consoles, slider matrix dimmer 

patching, working variable intensity pin 

matrices, control multiplexing, high density 

modular dimming, solid state dimming, Littlites…just 

a few of the many offerings from 

Jim over these years.” 

“Jim is a pretty incredible individual,” says 

longtime friend and associate Graf, principal 

lighting designer at Illuminart and CEO of Fantasee 

Lighting. “He has a brilliant approach to 

things, very creative, but is also very downto-earth 

and connected. He doesn’t talk over 

anybody’s head, and doesn’t have an ego that 

gets in the way.” 

Fackert was born in St. Louis in 1948, 

spending his childhood building models, 

“especially rockets, because I was a space 

nut.” His family would move to Elkhart, IN, 

where he developed a deeper interest in science 

and technology. He bounced between 

his own band (where he built his own amps 

and speakers) and college before finally ending 

up doing sound for some of the biggest 

acts out of Detroit at the time, including Ted 

Nugent, the Stooges, Alice Cooper and MC5. 

He would be hired by the biggest at the time 

— Grand Funk Railroad — and, over the next 

decade, traveled the world with them. 

During his time with GFR, he would move 

over into creating lighting systems with Graf. 

He built the Leprecon LP 1000, a 24-channel 

board with a matrix pin patch that was revolutionary 

at the time. These have been known 

to show up on eBay even today. His Cyklops 

was a light fixture that could be remote-controlled 

via a joystick, a precursor to the moving 

light. Some of his “smallest” ideas have 

had far-reaching influence, too, as a good, 

dependable working light for the board 

launched another company, the Littlite. 

“I think it’s long past time for this award 

for brother Fackert,” declares GFR guitarist 

Mark Farner. “I would have carved him one 

out of a stick from the woods back in the day, 

but I couldn’t remember how to whittle. But 

know this: Jim’s innovations have come from 

his own personal practicality. He’s one of a 

kind, so just stand back and love him.” 

As to receiving the Parnelli Visionary 

Award, “I was totally surprised,” Fackert says. 

“I have always been a behind-the-scenes 

guy, and I’ve had no expectations, nor even 

thought much about, an award. I’m honored 

and I take pride that the Parnelli is a reflection 

of those I’ve worked with through the 

years and bounced ideas off remember me, 

and that we all did something together that 

is memorable and useful… I like to be useful.” 

“In addition to being a true innovator 

still creating great products today, Jim is one 

of the best guys in the business,” says Terry 

Lowe, Parnelli Awards executive producer 

and publisher of live event magazines PLSN 

and FRONT of HOUSE. “We are looking forward 

to giving him his due honor at this year’s Parnellis 

for all he’s done and continues to do.” 

Fackert will receive his Parnelli Award at 

a gala dinner on Saturday, Oct. 29 in Orlando. 

For more information on the Parnellis, go to 

www.parnelliawards.com. 

Sharp’s McLaughlin Announces Plan to Step Down 

continued from cover 

menting on McLaughlin’s nine-plus years with the company. “As a member of SEC’s Board and 

chair of the Board’s Audit Committee, his contributions have reached well beyond the document 

division. We sincerely appreciate his many contributions.” 

As President of SIICA, Mr. McLaughlin has had overall responsibility for U.S. sales and marketing 

of Sharp’s line of multifunctional products and software solutions as well as its line of 

professional display products, point-of-sale (POS) systems and information devices. 

Nortek, Inc. Acquires TV One 

ERLANGER, KY — Nortek, Inc. has acquired TV One and its subsidiaries in the U.S., 

U.K., Taiwan and China. TV One will be part of Nortek’s Technology Products segment and 

closely aligned with Magenta Research Ltd. 

“We recently celebrated our 25th anniversary in the pro AV industry and have established 

a record of consistent growth, profitability and product innovation,” noted David 

K. Barnes, TV One CEO, who will continue with the company under Nortek. “I look forward 

to maximizing the opportunities that will take TV One to the next level.” 

“TV One’s combination of its proprietary Corio scaling technology, unique products 

and solid growth is a perfect fit with Magenta,” added Magenta Research CEO Keith 

Mortensen. “The synergy between the two organizations is remarkable. 

“Magenta plans to leverage TV One’s global sales network in order to enhance the 

market penetration of our products,” Mortensen continued. “The recent introduction of 

Voyager, Magenta’s all-format fiber optic-based signal distribution platform, expands our 

infrastructure product range significantly and is a perfect match with TV One’s soon-tolaunch 

video processing range.” 

Rental and Staging Network Adds New Members 

PRINCETON JUNCTION, NJ — The Rental 

and Staging Network (RSN), a network of regional 

rental and staging companies with 

complete event capabilities, announced the 

addition of two new companies to the organization: 

ProStage Event Technology, representing 

Orlando, FL and Las Vegas, NV, and Stage 

Right, Inc., representing Chicago. 

This brings the total membership of RSN 

to 16 live event staging companies located 

throughout North America, helping to further 

achieve the organization’s mission of providing 

members collaborative business opportunities, 

a forum to define best practices and 

support for their commitment to excellence. 

“These two companies exemplify what 

RSN is all about and have excelled at what 

they do for decades,” said Matt Emerson, executive 

vice president/director of rental and 

staging at CEAVCO and president of RSN. “By 

increasing our membership, we continue to 

expand our network’s reach and increase our 

ability to provide expert, personalized service 

on a nationwide scale.” 

“Having participated in other executive 

support organizations, clearly no other group 

could bring together this level commonality, 

addressing the specific needs and concerns 

of my business,” said Tim Piper, president of 

ProStage, Inc. “We were recently being compared 

by a prospective client to a ‘wholesale’ 

equipment provider with a larger ‘geographic 

footprint.’ I explained that through RSN, we 

are geographically well represented and are 

dedicated to the operational support of one 

another’s businesses—we got the job.” 

“We joined the network to share information 

and best practices with like-minded companies 

in our industry,” said Scott Stedronsky, 

executive vice president of Stage Right, Inc. 

“Since we are in a very unique business, peer 

groups are limited. We want to be among the 

best in the business, and sharing information 

with organizations that have the same goal is 

a perfect fit for Stage Right, Inc. 

Since its inception in 2007, RSN has aimed 

to bring audio/visual rental and staging companies 

together to provide nationwide service 

with the benefit of local contacts. RSN 

members share appropriate business intelligence 

and identify trustworthy partners for 

large-scale projects. PLSN will be focusing on 

the Rental and Staging Network with an indepth 

editorial feature in the July issue. 

Liberty Bell Lit with LED Lighting 

PHILADELPHIA — It may have a crack and has long been silent, but as an icon of American 

freedom and independence, the Liberty Bell resonates far and wide. It draws viewers 24 hours 

a day to the glass and steel Liberty Bell Center, where the 2,000 lb. bell has been housed since 

2003. Recently, the National Park Service opted to update the lighting with more than 2,700 

MSi iPAR 38 LED fixtures. The benefits include energy efficiency and lower maintenance costs. 

Instead of being replaced every two months, the LED fixtures, which stay illuminated around 

the clock, can last for a seven-year span. 

6 PLSN JUNE 2011


NEWS 

CALENDAR 

Guangzhou International 

Lighting Exhibition 

June 9-12, 2011 

Guangzhou, China 

messefrankfurt.com 

InfoComm11 

June 15-17, 2011 

Orlando, FL 

infocommshow.org 

Summer NAMM 

July 21-23, 2011 

Nashville, TN 

namm.org 

Control Protocols Plugfest 

July 22-24, 2011 

Westlake TX 

plasa.org 

The LED Show 

July 26-27, 2011 

Las Vegas 

theledshow.com 

Automation Training 

Aug. 1-3, 2011 

Las Vegas NV 

stagetech.com 

PLASA 2011 

Sept. 11-14, 2011 

London 

plasashow.com 

ProLight + Sound Shanghai 

Oct. 11-14, 2011 

Shanghai, China 

prolightsound-shanghai.com 

LDI 2011 

Oct. 28-30, 2011 

Orlando, FL 

ldishow.com 

Parnelli Awards Dinner 

Oct. 29, 2011 

Orlando, FL 

parnelliawards.com 

GLAAD Media Awards Supported by Scharff Weisberg, VAI 

NEW YORK — WorldStage companies 

Scharff Weisberg and Video Applications Inc. 

(VAI) teamed for the third year to support 

Tencue Productions with audio, lighting and 

video for the 22nd annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance 

Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media 

Awards at New York City’s Marriott Marquis 

Time Square. 

Andy Cohen hosted the awards program, 

which honored Ricky Martin, Russell Simmons, 

Tina Fey and others for their efforts to 

promote broader understanding and acceptance 

of gay and lesbian lifestyles. 

“It was a combined effort between our 

East and West Coast teams,” said Michael T. 

May, senior account executive at VAI’s Nashville 

office. “We provided support in the main 

Broadway Ballroom as well as some ancillary 

rooms including the reception, after party 

and step-and-repeat area. It wouldn’t have 

been possible without good teamwork.” 

“We love partnering with Scharff Weisberg 

and VAI,” said Valentina Fanfani, the 

event producer with Tencue Productions. 

“The event worked out well for everyone.” 

The production overcame space constraints 

within the main ballroom which sat 

1,370 people. As Fanfani noted, the design 

“incorporated the atmosphere of the ballroom 

using two screens that matched the 

angles of the proscenium. The screens were 

almost like a book standing up on a table — 

they formed an extreme angle that everyone 

was worried about. But Scharff Weisberg and 

VAI really rose to the challenge and made 

those angles work.” 

“We supplied two 15-by-20-foot Stumpfl 

rear projection screens, a Barco Encore screen 

controller, a pair of Encore 3ME VP switching 

modules and four Christie S+16K DLP projectors,” 

said Andy Muller, senior project manager 

at Scharff Weisberg. 

“We also furnished a Sony DXC-D50 

three-camera system, Sony DVCAM player/ 

recorders, AJA KiPro digital recorders, an SDI 

Panasonic 400 1ME switcher and support for 

the client’s Mac presentation computer.” The 

companies also provided a Barco R6 prompter 

screen in the back of the room and four 50- 

The 22 nd annual GLAAD Media Awards, hosted by Andy Cohen 

inch plasma monitors for the guests. 

Scharff Weisberg and VAI augmented 

the existing house lighting and audio systems 

in the Broadway Ballroom with Vari*Lite 

VL3500 spots and VL2500 spots and washes, 

Color Kinetics ColorBlaze 72-inch LEDs, ARRI 

1K fresnels, a Yamaha PM5D digital audio 

console and Meyer Sound speakers and subwoofers. 

Paradigm Lights Latin 

Music Awards Show 

MIAMI — Jorge Valdez, LD and owner of 

Paradigm Production Services, lit the 2011 Billboard 

Latin Music Awards ceremony, which was 

telecast on Telemundo from Bank United Center. 

For the event, which featured performances 

by Enrique Iglesias, Maná, Juanes, Pitbull and 

Gloria Trevi, among others, Paradigm provided 

Martin, Robe and Vari*Lite fixtures controlled by 

grandMA consoles. 

Five Points Rigging handled the extensive 

rigging package. Mobius Productions took care 

of the video servers while Orosman Design provided 

video content and XL Video provided LED 

screens and video walls. 

2011 Billboard Latin Music Awards 

2011 JUNE PLSN 

7

NEWS 


Evocative Designs to Represent U.S. at Prague Quadrennial 

MISSOULA, MT — The final brick has been 

placed, and the doors have been closed on 

the container carrying the USITT/USA exhibits 

which will be part of the Prague Quadrennial 

of Performance Design and Space (PQ) 

from June 16 to 26 in Prague, Czech Republic. 

A team of faculty and students at the University 

of Montana in Missoula constructed 

the exhibits which will be part of PQ 2011, 

along with displays from more than 60 other 

countries and regions. Curators selected 

37 productions for the USITT-USA National 

Exhibit. They reflect the social and political 

issues consuming American performancemakers 

today. 

Many of the productions were generated 

by ensemble-based companies in warehouses, 

converted garages, and found spaces, 

so the exhibit , designed by Bill Bloodgood, 

evokes these theatrical homes. Visitors in 

Prague will enter a garage-like structure and 

see production artifacts displayed on sawhorses 

and paint buckets, evoking a production 

meeting. 

Projections from multi-media productions, 

and interviews with the artists involved 

in their creations, are incorporated in the 

design. The exhibit will include live performances 

by puppeteer and object artist Paul 

Zaloom of Adventures of White Man. Costume 

activist, Pat Oleszko, will perform her 

satiric See/Change and GreenPiece: Walking 

Talking Topiaries. 

Technology in this exhibit has been enhanced 

by the support of Barbizon Lighting 

Company, d & b audiotechnik, ETC, GreenHippo, 

PRG, SeaChanger, and Sennheiser, whose 

equipment and technology help create the 

special environment evoked by the exhibit. 

Examples of the works being showcased 

include the issues of identity and race evident 

in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety, a comment 

on unthinking American racial stereotypes 

told humorously through the medium 

of televised wrestling. Obsession with death, 

loss, and healing were explored in 3 Legged 

Dog’s Losing Something, a response to the 

traumatic effects of 9/11; and in Paul Chan’s 

production of Waiting for Godot, staged in 

New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane 

Katrina. Alternate visions of what it 

means to be an American were explored in 

Arias with a Twist, a cross-dressing fantasy developed 

through collaboration between Basil 

Twist and Joey Arias, and Nancy Keystone’s 

Apollo, exploring racism and the space race. 

The National and Student exhibits of PQ 

2011 are showcased in Veletrzini Palace, but 

many other spaces in the city are being utilized 

for workshops and performances. Organizers 

of PQ and Scenofest have arranged for 

a full program of performances, workshops, 

and seminars for the 11-day celebration of 

theatre design. 

The USITT-USA Architecture Exhibit will 

be shown in a different location, Prague 

Crossroads, a deconsecrated church. Susan 

Tsu is Artistic Director of the USITT-USA Exhibits 

Committee, which received major financial 

support from USITT and its Samuel 

Scripps International Fund. 

JR Clancy Provides Rigging System for Arizona High School 

ORO VALLEY, AZ — The Canyon 

del Oro High School upgraded the old 

counterweight rigging system in its 

fine arts complex with a PowerLift automated 

rigging system designed and 

manufactured by J. R. Clancy. The system 

includes a SureTarget 10 rigging 

controller. 

The theatre’s counterweight rigging 

system had fallen into disrepair, said 

Matt Mullen, vice president of Beck Studios, 

the theatrical equipment dealer 

on the project. “It was more about the 

structure than the equipment,” he said. 

“The structure was under-designed for 

the system. It was in pretty bad shape.” 

“The school had a single-purchase 

counterweight system,” said theatre 

consultant B. C. McKinney. “I started 

talking to them about the PowerLift— 

I’d put it into three other schools. They 

were very happy that they could have 

a system that was weight-sensing, so 

they knew there wouldn’t be kids flying 

up 30 feet with the batten.” 

In addition to all these safety features, 

PowerLifts offer students and 

their instructor the ability to create 

scene changes with moving scenery—a 

capability that was impossible with the 

original rigging system. 

McKinney selected six PowerLift 

motorized hoists—three fixed-speed 

hoists for the electrics sets, and three 

variable-speed hoists for raising and 

lowering scenery. “When we started the 

project, the drama instructor was so 

afraid of the students using the damaged 

rigging that she was trying to do it 

all herself,” said McKinney. “Then a new 

instructor came in, and he had to be in 

25 places at once trying to teach theatre 

and technical theatre. Now, this instructor 

has the ability to go over to the 

console and turn everything off with a 

key, so nothing moves. And he has the 

ability to fly in an electrics set and have 

the kids change the hang without worrying 

about the weight. This is an enormous 

weight off his shoulders.” 

McKinney worked with Clancy 

project manager Anthony Seifritz on 

the bid. “This was a Title One project, so 

we had to keep to a very specific budget,” 

McKinney said. “The specification 

assistance that I got was just great. I 

asked for the spec, I got it, I tweaked it 

to fit my project, and I published it. It’s a 

great amount of help. Plus, I’m working 

with a company that’s been around for 

100-plus years. J. R. Clancy invented this 

wheel.” 

There was a six-month window 

between productions, and the 

new rigging system was needed in time 

for students to begin rehearsals for the 

spring musical. With timing tight, there 

was little room for error. Mullen at Beck 

Studios was particularly pleased when 

J. R. Clancy, Inc., won the bid for the rigging. 

“School was in session during 

the build, and our deadline was to have 

the rigging in by the first of the year,” 

said Mullen. “Anthony at Clancy did a 

great job in answering all my questions, 

getting me dimensions, setting ship 

dates, and keeping it moving. Clancy 

met the deadline, and we installed on 

time.” 

Reel Video Systems 

Renting Roll-Up LED 

Video Screens 

INDIANAPOLIS IN — Reel 

Video Systems LLC is a new video 

equipment rental company offering 

roll-up LED screens for video 

I-Mag and graphic imagery. 

The roll-up screens, which 

can be quickly “rolled down” rather 

than built, piece-by-piece at 

venues, are available in 5, 6, and 

8-meter widths, and screens are 

available in 4:3 and 16:9 aspect 

ratios. 

Reel Video incorporates 3-in- 

1 SMD LED technology and integrated 

power and signal routing 

that, while energy-efficient, still 

delivers a visual punch. 

The fully calibrated outdoor 

display setting measures in at 

6500 nits. Reel Video is exhibiting 

at InfoComm 2011, booth #5679. 



NEWS 

USITT Honors Student with Stage Management Award 

Siobhan Ruane receives 

the honor from Clear- 

Com’s Patrick Hamp. 

ALAMEDA, CA — The USITT’s 2011 Young 

Designers & Technicians (YD&T) awards program 

returned this year with support from a 

wide variety of sponsors. 

The awards recognize students and others 

relatively new to such areas as stage management, 

technical production, makeup design, 

lighting design and more. 

This year, University of Delaware senior 

Siobhan Ruane garnered top honors in the 

Stage Management category. Clear-Com has 

been sponsoring the Stage Management 

Award for the past decade. 

Other sponsors and awards categories 

for the 2011 ceremony, held during the USITT 

Stage Expo in Charlotte, NC this year, include: 

KM Fabrics, Inc., Technical Production Award; 

Robert E. Cohen Sound Achievement Award; 

USITT Lighting Design Award, sponsored by 

Barbizon Lighting Company; USITT Scene Design 

Award, sponsored by Rose Brand; USITT 

Costume Design & Technology Award, sponsored 

by Zelma H. Weisfeld; USITT Makeup 

Design Award, sponsored by Kryolan Corporation; 

USITT Frederick A. Buerki Scenic 

Technology Award, sponsored by Bernhard 

R. Works; USITT W. Oren Parker Undergraduate 

Scene Design Award, sponsored by Stage 

Decoration & Supplies, Inc.; and USITT Undergraduate 

Lighting Design Award, sponsored 

by Stage Technology 

“Clear-Com’s success, just as the students 

who are being recognized for this award, has 

grown out of the live sound/theater industry,” 

said Judy Cheng, Clear-Com’s director of 

marketing. “With this said, the USITT Awards 

are an excellent way for us to recognize those 

starting their career in the field. In addition, 

the USITT Awards serve as a significant platform 

that unites members of the industry 

while also honoring the exceptional skills 

of individuals in the field. We are extremely 

proud to participate in such a unique and important 

event.” 

The nomination process for all nine YD&T 

awards for 2012 will open this fall, with a mid- 

October deadline anticipated. Detailed information 

is available at www.usitt.org/Young- 

DesignersTechnicians.aspx. 

Coachella Moves to Double-Weekend Format in 2012 

INDIO, CA — Some 200,000 made the trek 

to the three-day 2011 Coachella Valley Music 

and Arts Festival, and many more would have 

attended if the event wasn’t sold out. 

The good news for the many lighting 

professionals hoping to work at the event 

next year is that, for 2012, the festival will be 

staged as two separate events, held over two 

consecutive weekends. 

Coachella Weekend 1 is set for April 13-15, 

2012. Coachella Weekend 2 is slated for April 

20-22, 2012. Advanced sale passes ($269 plus 

fees) went on sale June 3-10. 

PRO LIGHTING SPACE 

www.ProLightingSpace.com/join 

James Keeley Lights Cupid’s R&B/Hip- 

Hop Act for XtremeFoamParties.com 

REEDSBURG, WI — For 

XtremeFoamParties.com’s 

First Birthday Bash, which 

recently took place at Good 

Times Bar & Grill, American 

DJ and Elation Professional 

consultant James Keeley 

designed and operated the 

lighting for the headlining 

act, R&B and hip-hop performer 

Cupid, best known for 

his “Cupid Shuffle” and “CU- 

Step.” 

Keeley started working 

for American DJ and Elation 

Professional after gaining notice 

from the company when 

he won an Elation Education Experience 

Award for aspiring lighting designers. He 

connected with the Reedsburg gig after 

answering a few questions for American 

DJ customer Matt Bushweiler via Facebook. 

Wisconsin-based acts Motion, Dr. Diction 

and L. U. V. also performed at the 

James Keeley used Elation fixtures to light Cupid’s performance 

event, and XtremeFoamParties.com’s 

own DJ Fusion and Foamalicious owner/ 

DJ Chris Smooth kept the music going all 

night long (XtremeFoamParties.com is a 

division of Foamalicious Inc.). The company 

also sent Interscope Records’ national 

recording artist Nox to the party as a surprise 

for all of those gathered to celebrate 

the foam party company’s 

first birthday. 

Keeley’s design used visuals 

to match the energy 

of the music the DJs, Nox’s 

performance and Cupid’s 

beat-driven dance tunes. 

The Global Truss rig supported 

six Elation Platinum Spot 

5Rs, two Elation Design LED 

Tri Bricks, two Elation E-Spot 

LEDs, one ADJ TriPhase, one 

ADJ UV16, two ADJ Mega Pixels, 

various lengths of 3-pin 

and 5-pin Accu-Cable and 

control via Elation’s Compu 

Show PC software. 

“There were a lot of people that told 

me that the lighting really added to the 

feel and look of the show,” Keeley said. 

“Matt and the owners of the club are in 

the process of planning shows in the near 

future (and) I will proudly be a part of the 

XtremeFoamParties.com lighting crew 

again.” 


9

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 


2,100 Moving Lights Set Record at Eurovision Song Contest 2011 

Jerry Appelt’s design for Lena Meyer-Landrut of Germany 

DUSSELDORF, Germany — The semi-finals 

and finals competition for the 56th annual Eurovision 

Song Contest, broadcast from Düsseldorf 

Arena May 10, 12 and 14, was seen by 200 million 

via TV and Internet. LD Jerry Appelt used 

more than 2,100 moving lights and more than 

five miles of truss. The total fixture count — 5,638 

— also set a record, as did the total load — 280 

tons of gear. 

To light the 2011 competition’s 43 songs, 

plus three interval acts and an opening to the 

Final, which took place before a live audience of 

36,000, Appelt’s rig covered every square meter 

of the arena. Fixtures were hung on a moving 

truss structure that consisting of three graduated 

rings measuring 10, 16 and 30 meters in diameter, 

centered about 20 meters above the stage. 

The rings held 35 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1500s, 16 

Alpha Beam 1500s and eight Alpha Profile 1500 

fixtures. 

The 26 moving truss sections were arranged 

like spokes from the center rings. These truss sections 

held an additional 28 Alpha Wash 1500 and 

36 Alpha Beam 1500s with four shorter truss sections 

holding 24 Alpha Spot 700 HPE fixtures. 

At floor level, both behind the stage and 

on each side, there were 24 Alpha Beam 1500 

fixtures, and 25 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures were 

placed on the floor surrounding the front of the 

stage, specified for only one song — sung by last 

year’s winner, Lena Meyer-Landrut of Germany. “I 

wanted a very special look for Lena,” Appelt said. 

Additional truss spanning the ceiling from 

the rings to the perimeter of the arena held 35 

Alpha Profile 1500 and 42 Alpha Spot 1500 HPE 

fixtures. Finally, the top perimeter of the arena 

was home to an additional 50 Alpha Spot 1500 

HPE fixtures. 

“The design included a variety of Clay Paky 

fixtures that could combine to create so many 

fantastic looks,” said Appelt. “And I know the color 

will match perfectly.” He also credited the brand 

for “brilliant light,” fast movement and reliability, 

noting the versatility of the Alpha Spot 1500 

HPEs and the power of the Alpha Beam 1500s, 

which he positioned on the floor around the 

stage. “The arena was huge, and it was needed.” 

Followspots included six Robert Juliat Aramis 

2500W HMI DMX main spots on the platform, 

five Robert Juliat Victor 1800W HMI as back 

followspots on truss seats and four Robert Juliat 

Lancelot 4000W HMI followspots on the balcony. 

Lighting was supported with 48 ETC 750W 

Source 4 10° fixtures. 

Cape Cross of Cologne, Germany provided 

all lighting and rigging for the show, sending 90 

trailer trucks, each with 40 tons of equipment. 

Thomas Brügge, managing director of Cape 

Cross, and Ola Melzig, concert and stage producer, 

noted positive feedback from artists and crew 

on the rig’s combination of flashy looks and low 

maintenance requirements. 

Lighting control came from four grandMA2 

full size consoles running on timecode, each 

with full backup, and five grandMA2 faderwings 

ran all lighting and video, triggered via timecode. 

Eleven MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) 

devices handled all traffic in one session on the 

MA-Net2. “It’s not even practical to do a show like 

this without timecode and grandMA2 is the best,” 

said Appelt, “Absolutely every millisecond is cued 

and then rehearsed, again and again and again. 

There is no room for an error in a show of this size. 

The MA system delivered a great result.” 

Four operators ran the desks: one for video, 

one for effect light, one for white light and one 

for audience and green room. Pre-programming 

began in Hamburg at NDR from March 21 

through April 8, 2011 with the grandMA 3D running 

on four custom built Cape Cross PCs. The 

team built moving paths for all moving trusses 

in grandMA 3D to show the exact positions of 

the lights in each song. Programming took place 

in Düsseldorf April 11-15 In total there were 70 

patched universes and 2,921 cues. Four custombuilt 

Cape Cross Media PCs ran the grandMA 3D 

system for previsualization. 

Appelt, Melzig and Cape Cross were brought 

in by Brainpool, led by producer Jörg Grabosch. 

Brainpool was hired by host broadcaster NDR to 

handle the creative production of this year’s Eurovision, 

including staging, lighting, pyro, hosts, 

viewing room, technical crew, etc. 

“This was one of the smoothest Eurovision 

productions I’ve experienced,” said Melzig, “and 

it was the biggest. Every aspect of the show was 

chosen and executed to its fullest potential, and 

it showed.” 

After all the votes were tallied, Azerbaijan 

was crowned champion with the song “Running 

Scared,” which means Eurovision will be held in 

Baku, Azerbaijan in 2012. 

Stageline Promobile Stages Customized for Motorcycle Grand Prix de France 

Litestructures customized the double unit for Monster Energy 

LE MANS, France — 

Monster Energy, a sponsor 

of the 2011 Motorcycle 

Grand Prix de France, 

boosted its visibility with a 

customized pair of Stageline’s 

Promobile stages. 

One of the units invited 

the public for product 

tastings and racer autograph 

signing events. The 

second served as a V.I.P. 

guest lounge with food, 

drinks and live shows. 

In addition to the 150 

square meters of space 

available with each Promobile unit, Litestructures, 

a division of the Prolyte Group, customized 

the stages with two 4.4-by-10-meter stage 

extensions and provided roof canopies on the 

Promobile stages’ second levels. These custom 

add-ons helped the units accommodate more 

than 500 people. Along with a bridge linking the 

Promobiles’ second floors, Monster Energy offered 

a spa on the roof, eight meters high. 

Stageline has worked with Monster Energy 

since 2008. That’s when the American division of 

the company acquired two Promobile stages for 

its North American marketing activations. After 

numerous tours in U.S., the company extended 

that strategy to Europe. 

ELS Lights Ancient Ruins on 

Isle of Man with GDS 

LiteWare, Chauvet Fixtures 

ISLE of MAN — Rushen Abbey, a Medieval 

ruin and heritage site on this island in 

the Irish Sea, was recently transformed by 

rental and event specialists Event Lighting 

Services (ELS), which used 12 GDS LiteWare 

UL fixtures and five COLORado 3 outdoorrated 

LED wash fixtures from Chauvet. 

ELS was commissioned to light the 

ruins, which date back to 1134, as a backdrop 

for a private wedding party at the 

site. The fixtures helped ELS comply with 

restrictions on running cable, using generators 

and rigging gear around the site. 

JOIN SHARE ENGAGE 

Where 

Industry 

Professionals 

Meet 

www.prolightingspace.com 

10 PLSN JUNE 2011 

Rushen Abbey on Isle of Man

NEWS FEATURE 


The World Watches ELP Light Royal Wedding 

By Debi Moen 

ELP kept things simple, using PAR cans to light the trees and flowers brought in for the ceremony. 

LONDON — What does it take to light the 

Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton? 

Production meetings five months prior 

to the Big Day and backups for the backups. 

When an event is live and all eyes of the world 

are watching, there’s only one chance to “get it 

right.” 

An estimated two billion people around the 

globe tuned in April 29 to the Royal Wedding 

at London’s Westminster Abbey. U.K.-based Elstree 

Light & Power (ELP) supplied lighting and 

power for the historic event, which was billed as 

the global media extravaganza of all time with 

the biggest audience in television history. 

That’s not counting all the millions who 

watched in real-time on the Internet. No pressure 

there, right? 

Production meetings began back in mid- 

November 2010 when Westminster Abbey was 

chosen as the wedding site. Right away, lighting 

director Bernie Davis knew ELP was the right 

crew for the job. 

“Over the last eight years or so I’ve used ELP 

as the lighting supplier on so many high profile 

broadcasts from the Abbey that by now ELP riggers 

and electricians know every square inch of 

the building,” Davis explained. “They are trusted 

by the facilities staff at the Abbey and virtually 

Final preparations at Westminster Abbey’s Quire 

on first name terms with the church officials, so 

when thinking about risk management, who 

else was I going to use? 

“As a broadcast this was another step up 

from all previous state occasions,” Davis continued. 

That’s quite something, considering that 

Davis has lit many state occasions and high 

profile religious services along with ELP, such as 

Prince Edward’s wedding and the Pope’s recent 

visit. 

Production set-up in the Abbey began two 

weeks prior to the April 29 ceremony. Despite 

so much cutting-edge digital technology on 

display from the world’s broadcast media, high 

definition cameras and satellite communications, 

Davis ironically specified more than 300 

Thomas PAR 64 long-nose black cans from ELP 

as the main light fixtures within the Abbey. 

However, these low-tech, old-school lamps — 

reminiscent of rock ‘n’ roll lighting rigs of the 

1970s and 1980s — were the perfect design 

solution, Davis says. 

“PAR Cans provide maximum light coverage 

for the weight of the lamp, which is a huge 

consideration in such an ancient building. And 

they look tidy with no intrusive barn doors to 

worry about,” Davis noted. “I don’t like to jeopardize 

a show by adding unnecessary technical 

complexity, so for important events like this, 

simple is best. You just have to make sure that 

it’s perfect.” 

The ELP crew, which consisted of Paul Tibbles 

(crew chief), Mark Gardiner, Greg Fitzgerald, 

Justin Denchfield, Colin Jones, Saul Harris 

and John Murray, carefully positioned these 

highly portable lamps exactly where the LD 

required without fear of overloading or damaging 

the Abbey’s interior. The warm white light 

effect they produced gave a balanced illumination 

across every section of the Abbey, bringing 

to life the intricate architecture of the building 

and enhancing the freshness of all the trees and 

flowers brought in for the ceremony. 

ELP also supplied an assortment of ARRI 

Junior Fresnels, Thomas Pixel Pars and Source 

Four profile spots to light “specials” such as the 

fanfare conductor or readings from the pulpit. 

Davis’ design made certain there wasn’t a 

single important space within the Abbey where, 

if any light should fail, it would result in leaving a 

dark patch. Every light had its own purpose, he 

said. “My design allows for the occasional lamp 

failure while not needing to rig spares. But on 

the day nothing failed.” 

Nigel Catmur assisted as the board operator. 

“Nigel is so experienced that he could have 

stepped in as deputy lighting director should 

anything have happened to me,” Davis said. 

“So much about this job involved risk management.” 

Wanting to take no chances with power to 

TV cameras and lights in the Abbey — and with 

a recently-condemned local power supply adding 

to the potential risk — ELP supplied a 200 

KW Twinset Generator to power all lighting controls 

on the north side of the Abbey, plus a 140 

KW Twinset Generator for the south side. 

Four of ELP’s LitePower 150kVA Super Silent 

Generators supplied the power feed for all 

the technical vehicles, broadcast scanners and 

vision trucks in the outside compound. These 

particular compact generators were first used 

for the Pope’s recent visit and were a hit with 

the Outside Broadcast crew. 

“This highly portable generator has the performance 

of much larger systems, and yet it’s 

compact and light enough to be air freighted,” 

said ELP production manager Tony Slee. “The 

units have been customized with an IntelliGen 

operating system, which allows syncing across 

multiple units.” 

Paul Helm and Colin Goodacre babysat the 

ELP generators during the setup week, and on 

the big day. “The Gennys behaved impeccably 

for the Royal Family,” Slee said. 

For the BBC commentary studio, a “belt 

and suspenders” approach to lighting was also 

called for. BBC cameras provided the host feed 

from within Westminster Abbey for the world’s 

media. There were also cameras along the 

route, down Horse Guards Parade from Buckingham 

Palace and several other key locations 

around the U.K. The BBC broadcast their commentary 

from two on-site studios to locations 

across America, Asia, India, Latin America, Europe 

and the Middle East. 

Two identically-designed BBC studios were 

positioned in prime locations: one opposite the 

Abbey and one opposite Buckingham Palace. 

Both featured a large viewing window framed 

with an LED border to make the most of the majestic 

backdrops. 

The BBC Studio opposite the Abbey was 

situated on the roof of the Methodist Central 

Hall. Lighting director Lee Allen was in 

charge, with ELP’s T.C. Thomas as the gaffer. 

LD Dave Gibson lit the Canada Gate studio 

with ELP’s Barry Dennison on gaffer duty. 

Both BBC studios were similarly rigged 

with ELP’s lighting, using Source Four profile 

spots as key lights and 1ks, 2ks and 

650w ARRI Junior Fresnels as fills. Thomas 

Pixel Pars and Chromafloods also augmented 

the set with color changes as needed. 

“Absolutely no chances were being taken, 

and we tripled-up on every lighting position,” 

said ELP gaffer T.C. Thomas. Should 

anything fail, there would be a backup even 

for the backup. “I’ve never seen so much kit 

crammed into such a small studio. It must 

have been the biggest use of cross key and 

back fill lighting ever.” 

There was also untold amounts of lighting 

gear provided to numerous U.S. media 

companies for their temporary roadside 

studios during the royal event. 

“We are all proud to have been chosen 

to light the Royal Wedding,” said managing 

director Dave Keighley, who joined ELP in 

late 2010. “Occasions like these are obviously 

high profile and demanding — exactly 

the kind of event we thrive on. It was 

a great day, and we are so happy to work 

with Bernie on another one of his faultless 

designs. 

“ELP has another company in our group 

called Millennium Studios, which is a fullsize 

live concert production rehearsal facility,” 

Keighley added. “Journey and the Foo 

Fighters are rehearsing here this month. 

We’ve also got an ever-expanding media 

village here, which has become ‘home’ for a 

variety of international companies.” 


Screenworks & Daktronics… 

Leading the Industry Together 

www.screenworksnep.com 

www.daktronics.com

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 


Renegade Lighting Designer Lights Up Fashion Week Event in Africa 

An LED wall was built in 

to the end of a T-shaped 

catwalk 

LAGOS, Nigeria — Nick Gray from U.K.- 

based Renegade Lighting designed lighting 

for the first Arise Magazine Fashion Week, 

which featured 50 runway shows, live performances 

by Tinie Tempah, Estelle, d’banj, 

Keri Hilson and local DJs, and an awards 

show. 

“My brief was to produce a slick, sophisticated, 

fashion-savvy lightshow that worked 

for all cameras and utilized the locally available 

equipment,” said Gray, who was asked 

onboard by show producers Bacchus. 

Two purpose-built temporary structures 

were erected in the hotel grounds 

for the event. Gray completed the design 

and specification, and a small quantity of 

lighting fixtures — primarily ETC Source 

Fours — were brought in from the U.K. 

Gray’s creative challenges included 

having to light the spaces largely with the 

tungsten lightsources available and to accommodate 

all the live performances and 

awards ceremony as well as the runway 

shows. The essence of the design was a 

clean, contemporary look, with wiring 

and other technical infrastructure concealed 

as much as possible. 

The main space featured a long, central 

T-shaped catwalk with a stage at one 

end and a reception area at the other. 

Running down both sides of the tent was 

a series of bars-of 6-PARs, which were 

clamped to the metal substructure of the 

tent with half couplers after the inside of 

the tent had been lined with fabric for a 

super-neat finish. 

An LED wall built in to the end of a 

T-shaped catwalk was an integral part of 

the set design, which the models walked 

up to and around. 

The front lighting arrays at both ends 

of the catwalk comprised 24 Source Four 

profiles, and these were rigged on ground 

support systems. The same positions — 

and some of the lighting fixtures — were 

used to light the stage and the reception 

areas at their respective ends of the tent. 

Additional lighting cover was provided 

with a selection of Martin Professional 

MAC 2000 Wash and Profile moving lights 

and, for Tinie Tempah, Gray added some 

strobes and blinders. 

The smaller space was lit by 24 PAR 

cans rigged on six upright sections of 

12-inch truss. Gray used two Chamsys 

MagicQ PC-based consoles and fader 

wings, working with crew members Paulus 

van Heijkant, who ran the desk for the 

main space, and Chris Fyfe, crew chief and 

console operator for the smaller space. 

Gobos, Other Lighting Effects Part of the Story in U.K. School 

White Light provided the school with eco-friendly gear. 

BRENT, UK — The ability of entertainment 

lighting to create atmosphere and influence 

mood has long been recognized in theatre 

and live events. Now schools are discovering 

how lighting can be used in the same way but 

in a completely different environment. 

At the Roe Green Junior School, the staff 

is using theatrical-style lighting to quickly 

change the look of their new library and children’s 

lounge so that it matches the mood for 

different stories. A particular challenge was 

that the school is committed to sustainability 

as part of the Groundwork London One 

World Schools program. The library was part 

of a building refurbished with sustainable 

materials — even the curtains were sourced 

from Fairtrade-certified suppliers. The lighting 

needed to comply with the school’s ecofriendly 

stance. 

The school contacted White Light for advice 

— the husband of one of the teachers 

had worked with the company 25 years ago 

at White Light’s old Fulham base. White Light’s 

Matt Stridgen then worked with the school 

to provide suitable equipment, ultimately 

supplying an Opti Solar 250 projector with 

various effects wheels and eight Selecon Aureol 

Beamshaper 75W spotlights, “about the 

lowest-energy gobo projectors you can find,” 

Stridgen noted. White Light also supplied a 

wide selection of gobos and effects discs. 

The result has gotten positive feedback 

from children and teachers alike. “They change 

the gobos regularly, to themes like space, or 

jungles, or water, to suit the story they are 

reading, and the children seem to really enjoy 

it,” Stridgen said. “It’s a simple system — no 

dimmers, just turns on — but incredibly effective.” 

“The lighting opportunities have provided 

a backdrop for the interactive curriculum that 

takes place in ‘The Lounge’ in our sustainable 

building.” said Melissa Loosemore, head teacher 

at Roe Green Junior School. “Only discussion 

and debate, drama and dreaming take place 

in this world created by the special effects, designed 

by White Light.” 

Telenorba Lighting Rig 

Energized with Efficient 

Coemar Lighting Gear 

CONVERSANO, Italy — Telenorba, a 

TV, cinema and multimedia production 

company, updated its lighting inventory 

recently with an eye toward energy efficiency, 

and chose Coemar fixtures, including 

some of the company’s LED fixtures. 

Telenorba now can deploy 24 Stage- 

Lite LED SC and 20 StageLite LED Sc 

devices with 50° optics. The latter can 

be used for effects created by the LED 

source, which can be divided into three 

lines, each independently directed for 

symmetric or asymmetric beam effects. 

Ten RazorLite LED devices, each with 

of 36 LEDs, combine RGB color mixing 

and elliptical optics, and newscasters 

are lit with 10 ParLite LED Natural White 

4000K devices, 10 Wash LEDs and five 

PinLite LEDs. 



ON THE MOVE 

A.C.T Lighting 

Chauvet named 

named Bill Groener, 

Stéphane Gressier, 

a 30-year indus- 

a 17-year marketing 

try veteran, vice 

and management 

president of business 

development, 

veteran with companies 

including Skechers 

USA, Pagoda 

a new position. He 

Bill Groener 

will be based in the 

International, Closet- 

New York metropolitan area. Groener most 

recently served as president of Tim Hunter 

Maid Corp. and Clay 

Forever, LLC, global 

Stéphane Gressier 

Design, LCC in Stamford, CT. Prior to THD, he 

served in several roles within PRG, working 

on projects at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, 

The Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas, Radio City Music 

Hall, Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and the 

CNN Studios at Time Warner Center. Groener 

has also held key positions with Color Kinetics, 

Barbizon, Elliptipar and Strand Lighting. 

sales director. Originally from France, Gressier 

moved to the U.S. in 1987 and studied 

international business at Cal State Fullerton. 

Gressier has lived in Vietnam, France, Jordan, 

Venezuela and Brazil and speaks English, 

Portuguese, Spanish and French. While 

living in Venezuela and California, he was a 

part-time DJ for 10 years. 

He has also served as principal and sole 

owner of BGr + A, a sales agency serving the Clearwing Productions 

lighting needs of the theater, television, film 

Arizona 

and architectural markets. 

named Rich Mayne 

Advanced Systems 

Group (ASG) 

named Alan Hirshberg 

a lead technical 

specialist for its 

technical services 

team. Hirshberg 

was president of 

Studio Computer, 

chief engineer for 

Alan Hirshberg 

Mojo and chief technology officer and director 

of systems support for JPR Engineering. 

Atomic Rental 

named Rob Barber 

general manager. 

He will oversee new 

rental products including 

R&D, quality 

control and testing 

and will also supervise 

customer service operations. 

Rob Barber 

project manager. 

Mayne, who will be 

responsible for show 

logistics and planning, 

has 40 years in 

the entertainment 

Rich Mayne 

industry, overseeing 

production and tour logistics for some of 

the largest entertainment events and artists 

worldwide. While at Showco (1978-1992), 

Mayne managed tours for Genesis and The 

Rolling Stones. He has also handled production 

management for Bette Midler (1993-94 

world tour), N’Sync (Pop Odyssey tour; 2001) 

and Tim McGraw. More recently, Mayne has 

worked as a video production manager on 

festivals including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands 

and Lollapalooza. 

Legrand North America’s pending acquisition 

of Middle Atlantic Products is 

set for mid-June. If approved, it will create 

a new, fifth Legrand division led by Mike 

Baker, current president of Middle Atlantic 

Products. 

Lumenpulse Inc. named Gorm Teichert 

executive vice president of international 

sales. Teichert’s two decades of senior-level 

lighting experience includes positions with 

Lighting Science Group, Martin Professional, 

Erco Lighting, Lightmakers and Louis 

Poulsen. Lumenpulse also named Bill Sims 

to its board. 

i-Pix named 

Hannah Eakins 

business development 

manager. She 

will work with the 

in-house i-Pix team 

in Manchester, U.K. 

and also with Martin 

Palmer, who is 

Hannah Eakins 

responsible for i-Pix sales at London-based 

White Light, to identify and develop new 

business opportunities. 

Reggiani Lighting USA, Inc., a subsidiary 

of Reggiani Illuminazione S.p.A., is 

moving from upstate New York to a bigger 

facility in Carlstadt, NJ. The company 

also named Andrew Scamparino, a 25-year 

lighting industry veteran, vice president of 

sales. Scamparino has held key positions 

with Lightolier, Bergenfield Lighting, American 

Lantern, Dinico and, most recently, 

Jesco Lighting. The new address is: Reggiani 

Lighting USA, Inc., 372 Starke Road, Carlstadt, 

N.J. 07072; Phone: 201.372.1717; Fax: 

201.372.1616. 

Wagner Media recently opened a 

10,000-square-foot facility in Orlando, FL to 

support corporate AV needs in the region. 

Based in Houston, TX, Wagner Media also 

has an office in Las Vegas. The new location 

is at 2100 Principal Row, Suite 402, Orlando, 

FL 32837.

PRODUCT NEWS 

Apollo Design Technology iGobo for Android 

Apollo Design Technology’s Android version of iGobo lets users view 

full screen images of the company’s library of standard metal and glass 

patterns. Features include 2000+ metal, SuperResolution glass, 1-Color 

glass, 2-color glass, and ColourScenic gobo designs. Users can also 

search the gobo library by name, number, or keywords; compare up to 

four gobos at a time on the screen; rotate an image at variable speeds, 

either clockwise or counterclockwise; stack two images and rotate the 

bottom image in either direction; maintain a favorites list; e-mail a single 

gobo or their complete favorites list; and view similar gobo patterns to a 

gobo selected on a search. The iGobo is also available for the BlackBerry 

and iPhone. Users can download iGobo from their phone in Android 

Market, BlackBerry App World or iTunes. 

Apollo Design Technology • 260.497.9191 • apollodesign.net 

Elation Platinum Wash LED Zoom 

Elation Professional’s Platinum Wash LED Zoom, an all-inone 

compact, energy-efficient DMX moving head RGBW LED 

color wash with a built-in zoom, uses a 300W Quad Color LED 

system and is built on Elation’s space-saving Platinum base. 

Powered by 30 10W RGBW Cree LEDs, the Platinum Wash LED 

Zoom produces an output comparable to a 575-watt discharge 

moving head, yet draws only 360 watts. Its LED source emits 

1,672 lux/155 foot-candles at 16 feet and has a lamp life expectancy 

of 50,000 hours. The fixture measures 14 by 13.2 by 19 

inches (355.6 x 335.28 x 482.6 mm) and weighs 35.5 lbs. (16.1 

kg.). Features include a built-in motorized 11°-50° zoom and a 

built-in EWDMX Wireless DMX receiver. The fixture has an electronic 

dimmer and strobe and can pan 540° (630° optional) 

and tilt 265°. It can be run in three DMX modes (12, 14 or 15 

channel) with 3- or 5-pin DMX input. Users can scroll through 

DMX settings using the touch screen display on the rear of the base. The unit also offers multivoltage 

operation (120V-240V-50/60Hz). 

Elation Professional • 866.245.6726 • elationlighting.com 

Mega-Lite Enlighten Splitter 

The Enlighten Splitter from Mega-Lite is an 

all-in-one Enlighten interface and four-output 

splitter, with a built-in Enlighten DMX to USB 

interface. The unit has two inputs for when it is 

not being used with the Enlighten software. Each 

output and input has a 3-pin and 5-pin XLR connectors. 

Electronic isolation is used between input 

and output, and output and output. Its dimensions are 19 inches wide by 6 inches long 

by 1.75 inches high. It has removable rack ears for rack mounting (front or back). The unit 

is also wall-mountable. 

Mega Systems Inc. • 210.684.2600 • megasystemsinc.com 

Multiform MultiWall GII 

The MultiWall GII - HP5 light batten, with an 

IP20/65 rating, incorporates 62 1W RGBAW LEDs 

and is fitted with XLR and PowerCon connectors. A 

conversion kit can replace these with PG9 fittings for 

outdoor use. The MultiWall GII - HP5 62W/3150lm 

and has three to seven channel DMX control using 

RGBAW or HSL color mixing, plus 19 preset colors, 23 

crossfades and sound to light. The LCD display also 

allows control of white balance, dimmer curve and 

modulation frequency. A new cooling system uses 

MCU control for extended product life. The luminaire 

is housed in a 1.01m extruded aluminum body with 

gray UV-resistant PE powder coating and lower M10 nut slot. Variable position aluminum 

brackets are provided with hook mounting holes and optional 2xCamlock quarter-turn 

fast-mounting receptacles. 

Multiform Lighting • +852 83 40 61 56 • multiform-lighting.com 

Philips Selecon Wing LED Wall Washer 

The Wing LED Wall Washer from Philips Selecon 

evenly lights walls more than 3 meters in 

height without risking damage to exhibited items 

with UV or infrared radiation. There are two modules. 

The first is a “warm white” (50,000hrs, 69lm/ 

watt) fixture (pictured here), dimmable via local 

touch switch (cycle up/down) control or via DALI 

control, for a high quality white light. The second 

is a RGB/Tuneable White (35,000hrs, 29lm/watt) 

controlled via DMX (RDM address). It lets users 

fine-tune the color temperature and intensity, 

synchronizing it to changing levels of ambient 

light. 

Philips Selecon • seleconlight.com 



PR Lighting PR-5000 Spot, PR-5000 Beam 

PR Lighting’s PR-5000 Beam (pictured here, with 6° beam 

angle) and PR-5000 Spot (wide beam angle; 10°-67° linearly 

adjustable zoom) are based around a 1500W Philips or Osram 

discharge lamp. Both fixtures have fast strobes, rotating and 

fixed gobos, DMX wireless receivers and firmware that can be 

updated via a computer. They also both feature DMX-controlled 

focus, linearly adjustable dimmer and iris, three-facet prism and 

tetragonal prism (bi-directionally, rotatable, indexable), linear 

frost, optional DMX512 wireless signal transmitter, input signal 

isolating protection, ballast with energy saving function, built-in 

analyzer for fault finding and error messages, setup options by 

internal rechargeable battery (without power connection) and 

modular construction. 

PR Lighting • +86-20-3995 2379/210-684-2600 • pr-lighting.com/prlighting.us 

Pulsar Wireless DMX Transmitter and Receiver 

Pulsar’s Wireless DMX Transmitter and Receiver are 

designed to serve as a cost-efficient and flexible way to 

interconnect industry-standard DMX controllers and fixtures. 

Along with the ability to transmit and receive a full 

512-channel universe, the units are compatible with all 

DMX512 equipment, have a 6V to 32V DC low voltage 

supply and can be auto-powered from Pulsar DMX fixtures. 

A100V to 240 V AC power supply is available. The 

units are IP 65-rated for external use, have IP67-rated 

XLR5 connectors, feature W-DMX G4 technology and 

use the global 2.4Ghz ISM band. The typical range is 100 

meters (up to 250 meters with clear line of sight) and long-range antennas are available. Using 

AFHSS (adaptive frequency hopping) technology, transmissions benefit from multi-mode DMX 

packet error correction and DMX packet timing integrity. The units also feature one-button 

setup and pairing. 

Pulsar • +44 1223 403 500 • pulsarlight.com 

Riedel MediorNet Compact 

Riedel Communications’ MediorNet Compact 

provides the flexibility of a real-time media network, 

including integrated signal processing, at a cost 

competitive with simple point-to-point multiplexing 

products. Its network bandwidth of 50 Gbits allows 

for dozens of MADI streams, hundreds of audio 

channels or intercom ports and bi-directional transport 

of a dozen HD-SDI signals, provides connectivity 

for four AES ports, two MADI interfaces and four 

analog audio I/Os with microphone preamps. It also 

has an interface for Riedel RockNet digital audio networks, two DisplayPort outputs, three Gbit 

Ethernet ports and connections for serial data and GPIs. One Sync input and three Sync outputs 

complete the device’s interfaces. MediorNet Compact is also fully compatible with other 

MediorNet systems and supports all network topologies. Fiber connector options include LC 

connectors and Neutrik opticalCONs with integrated WDM multiplexing. It comes in a 3-RU 

chassis and features signal processing tools such as Frame Store Synchronizer, Embedder/De- 

Embedder, Test Pattern Generator, On-Screen Display and Timecode Insertion at every port. 

riedel.net 

Riedel Communications • 818.241.4696 • riedel.net 

SGM X-5 White LED Strobe 

SGM says its X-5 white LED strobe delivers the 

same output as conventional high-wattage strobes 

at one-fifth the power. SGM’s white strobe contains 

3,000 LEDs with a 50,000-hour lamp life. Instead of requiring 

1600 amps to drive 100 conventional strobes, 

the X-5 only requires a 300-amp draw. Along with the 

ability of LED strobes to produce impact comparable 

to a Xenon flash lamp, the X-5 offers compact dimensions, 

an array of additional effects and the ability to 

use larger number of strobes on various shows and 

events. 

SGM • +39 0522 274 411 • sgm.it 

Stageline SL50 Portable Stage 

Stageline’s SL50 ultra portable stage, the first 

in the company’s new Light Series stages, measures 

20 by 16 feet ( 6.1 by 4.9 meters). Features 

include a fiberglass roof, light and sound rigging, 

full banner capability and an option of two roof 

heights. It can be towed by a SUV or pick up truck 

and set up in less than 30 minutes, and since the 

trailer dimensions are smaller, there are more 

parking options. 

Stageline • 450.589.1063 • stageline.com. 


17

SHOWTIME P 

R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

ST 

Beatport Beach Party 

Venue 

Gansevoort Hotel 

Miami Beach, FL 

Crew 

Production Manager: Forrest 

Hunt 

Lighting Designer: Charley Guest 

Lighting Director: Carlos Guillen 

Automated Lighting Operator: 

Kenny Kightlinger 

Lighting Technician: Carlos 

Guillen 

Promoter/Producer: Insomniac 

Set Design: Charley Guest 

Set Construction: Dave 

Broadhead 

Rigger: Dave Broadhead 

Staging Company: Stage-Tech 

Staging Carpenter: Tyler Guest 

Staging Products: Steel-Deck 

Video Director: Ken Sorrell 

Video Company: Stage-Tech 

Gear 

1 High End Systems Hog iPC 

18 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spot fixtures 

18 Elation Platinum Beam (305W) 

24 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes 

24 Elation Opti Tri Par LEDs 

32 Color Kinetics Color Blasts 

12 MS Lighting DMX LED Bar 

30 American DJ Flash Ropes 

6 Thomas 8 Lite audience 

blinder 

2 base hazers 

1 54’x 30’ Truss Roof-Arched 

(Total Structures 20” x 30” Truss) 

16 CM Lodestar 1-ton chain 

motors 

2 12’ Total Structures truss 

circles 

1 20’ Total Structures truss circle 

90 Stage Vision 20mm SMD 

Panels 

2 Stage Vision media servers 

Lighting Co 

Stage-Tech 

Union High School Talent Show 

ST 

Lighting Co 

Union High School 

Venue 

Union High School 

Tulsa, OK 

Crew 

Production Manager/Rigger: 

Bryan Deyo 

Lighting Designer/Director/ 

Programmer: Patrick Warrington 

Automated Lighting Operator: 

Patrick Warrington 

Lighting Technician: Steve Peters 

Gear 

1 ETC Insight console/Emphasis 

6 High End Systems 

Technobeams 

4 Coemar ProWash 575s 

49 ETC Source 4 PARs 

20 ETC Source 4 Parnels 

20 ETC Source 4 19º 



5 Colortran 2000W fresnel 

1 Martin Jem K1 hazer 

1 Martin Jem ZR33 fog machine 

1 Martin Magnum 2000 fogger 

1 Le Maitre G300 fog machine 

4 Xtreme Structures 18.5” x 26” 

single hung (8ft) truss sections 

1 Arkaos MediaMaster media 

server 

2 Sanyo PLC XM150/L projector 

ST 

Swedish House Mafia 

Venue 

Masquerade Motel 

Miami Beach, FL 

Crew 

Account Rep: Terry Crain 

Promoter/Producer: Go Big Events / 

BPM Production 

Production Manager: Adam Murray 

Lighting Designer: Mike Oates 

Lighting Director: Rob Lister 

Programmer/Board Operator: Tim 

Fawkes 

Master Electrician: Olivier De Kegel 

Automated Lighting Operators: 

Olivier De Kegel/Tim Fawkes 

Lighting Technicians: Rob Meyer/Alex 

Flores 

Set Designer: Adam Murray 

Set Construction: Rob Lister 

Pyro/Confetti /Nitro: Sparktacular/ 

BPM SFX/Kryogenifex 

Air EFX Designer: James Waite; Liam 

Haswell 

Video Director: Christian Larsson 

Video Company: MooTV 

Laser Company: Lasernet 

Gear 

Lighting Console: High End Systems 

Road Hog w/2 Wings 

40 Martin Mac III Profiles 

26 Martin MAC 2000 Wash XBs 

6 High End Systems Showguns 

36 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes 

36 Martin Atomic Scrollers 

8 Cl Blinders (4-Cell) 

6 Cl Blinders (8-Cell) 

4 PAR16s 

8 Jem ZR44 smoke machine 

8 Reel EFX DF-50 Diffusion hazers 

1 20mm Stealth Tile LED display 

(1,180 sq.ft.) 

2 Green Hippo HD media server 

1 Barco FLM HD20 projector 

Lighting Co 

Christie Lites 


Photo & Text by Steve Jennings 

ST 

Lil’ Wayne 

Venue 

Various (Tour) 

Crew 

Lighting Designer/Media Designer: 

Daniel K. Boland 

Set Designer: Justin Collie 

Lighting Director/Video Programmer: 

Matt Shimamoto 

Lighting Programmer: Benny Kirkham 

Lighting Crew Chief: Kevin Cassidy 

Lighting Techs: Storm Sollars, Armando Figueroa, 

Desirae Brownlee, Jason Taylor 

Video Director: Ben Johnson 

Tour Manager: Tina Farris 

Production Manager: Curtis Battles 

Production Assistant: Debra Putnam 

Stage Manager: Gary McLean 

Show Stage Manager: Tony Moore 

Staging: All Access Staging & Production 

Video Company: Upstream Multimedia 

Pyro Company: Pyrotek Special Effects 

Strictly FX/Mark Grega 

Rigging: SGPS 

Gear 

2 grandMA 1 consoles 

3 grandMA NSPs 

2 Barco High End Systems Catalyst media servers 



22 Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash fixtures 

15 Martin MAC 2000 Wash XBs w/ beam lens 

7 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures 

12 Elation Impressions 

9 Martin Stagebar 54s 

48 Coemar ParLite Silvers 

25 Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlaze 72s 

37 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes with Atomic Color 

Changers 

2 Lycian M2 Followspot 

10 8-Light Mole PAR 36 

10 Doug Fleenor Design 5-way optos 


2 Martin AF-1 fans 

For more tour photos, go to 

plsn.com/current-issue 

Lighting Co 

Epic Production Technologies 

Queens of the Stone Age 

ST 

Venue 

Various (Tour) 

Crew 

Lighting Designer/Director/Programmer: 

Scott Holthaus 

Lighting Tech: Graham Jelly 

Tour Manager: Dennis Sharp 

Production Manager: Bill Rahmy 

Gear 

1 Avolites Pearl console 

5 Nar Nars pipe base crosses w/4 PAR 64 

NSP each) 

15 PAR 64 floor fixtures 

60 LED Christmas festoon lights 


Lighting Co 

Neg Earth/Delicate Productions 

Photo & Text by Steve Jennings 


19

INSTALLATIONS 


4Wall Hits the Beach 

Nine DMX Universes for Club Nikki at the Tropicana in Las Vegas 

all photos by hew burney 

By Kevin M.Mitchell 

The Nikki Beach organization wanted to 

bring the best of their South Beach, Marbella, 

and St. Tropez-inspired designs to the 

dual attractions at the newly-renovated Tropicana 

Las Vegas. They include Nikki Beach Club, 

occupying four acres of the resort’s pool area, 

and Club Nikki, a 15,000 square foot nightclub. 

For Club Nikki, Tropicana and Nikki Beach execs 

set out to create what they hoped would become 

“the sexiest dance floor on the Vegas Strip.” 

4Wall was originally contracted to handle the 

dimming and control integration. As the project 

progressed, 4Wall’s role expanded — they would 

be designing the lighting for the dance floor as 

well. 

John Fernandez, 4Wall Systems project 

manager, has been with the company since 

it first opened its doors in 1999. 4Wall has 

worked on quite a few clubs in Las Vegas including 

the Chateau, the Marquee, “and quite 

a few others who have since changed names,” 

Fernandez laughs, noting the fluid nature of 

the business. 

Victor Sutter, GM of the club, provided 

4Wall with drawings of the dance floor area, 

and the only instructions were to reinforce 

with the “South Beach” feel that is the organization’s 

theme. The owners were much happier 

with what 4Wall came up with — much 

more so than the original company, and 

awarded them the gig. Shaun Ballew was the 

programmer. 

“The hardest part was getting all these 

parts to talk to each other,” Fernandez says. 

“We ended up using nine universes of DMX to 

make it work. When you’re working with multiple 

fixtures that are all DMX, there are small differences 

between the varieties of brands of product. 

We were able to work through it, though.” 

Work on the project got heavy beginning 

in March with a grand opening on Memorial 

Day weekend looming. The soft opening was 

just a week before, and Fernandez, who has 

been spending pretty much every night at the 

club, says it was going well. 

Lots of Toys 

plsn 

The oval-shaped dance floor occupies a 

good-sized area, about 30 by 50 feet, and, being 

Vegas, it needed a lot toys to coverage. 

Most striking is the center, where the team 

hung three 3D LED chandeliers that came from 

China-based Seekway Technology Ltd. “These 

are basically four-foot by five-foot cubes,” Fernandez 

says, noting the immersive, 3D visual effect 

of the technology, which is only about three 

years old. 

Dance floor-focused B-roll content flies 

across the cubes, adding to the energy level of 

the club. “They do letters, shapes — basically 

any 3D effect you can think of. For example, they 

put a 3D globe on the center one that looks like 

a mirror ball as two other cubes show waves or 

fireworks.” 

Along with the cubes, 4Wall provided 24 

Martin MAC 101s, six MAC 350 Entours, four 

Atomic 3000 Strobes and 20 Elation Opti Tri Par 

30s. “These units are popular for a reason,” Fernandez 

says, of the MAC 101s, crediting their 

compact size and high output. The Elation 

Opti Tri Par 30s, meanwhile, were chosen for 

their color changing abilities, and a pair of JEM 

K1 hazers were thrown in for good measure. 

4Wall also provided the system that controls 

gear provided by other vendors, including 

more than 250 feet of DMX-controlled, color-changing 

Lumenpulse LEDs, more than 50 

DMX-controlled white LED downlight fixtures 

from GVA Lighting, and more than 20 colorchanging, 

DMX-controlled LED fixtures from 

Renaissance Lighting. 

Expanding Universes 

plsn 

The integration was the challenge. “Because 

everything in the venue, down to smallest 

architectural lights, were DMX controlled 

LED fixtures, we had to put an Ethernet system 

in to handle it all.” They opted for an HP 

TouchSmart All In One PC with Maxxyz PC software 

to keep it all under control. “We wanted 

to go with a PC-based system, and we already 

had so many Martin products, we went with 

theirs. It’s nice to stick with one vendor.” 

DMX-wise, it was an evolving process. 

“It started out as a small system comprised 

of only a couple DMX universes, but grew 

more complex every week as we worked out 

new lighting designs, fixtures and methods of 

control with ownership throughout the build 

of the project,” Fernandez says. “Although it 

was challenging, we kept up with the everchanging 

whims and demands of, not only 

lighting design, but also integrating new system 

control methods and coordinating with 

the multiple electrical contractors to ensure 

the infrastructure made it into place where 

needed — all of this on the fly.” 

He adds that the various DMX products 

were hand-picked based on their specific features 

and niches that they fill. The control gear 

includes two DMX merger boxes from Doug 

Fleenor Design, one Martin EtherDMX8 box, 

one Pathport Octo box and one Pathport eDIN 

16-way Demultiplexer. For dimming and architectural 

lighting control there are, from ETC, 

three Paradigm processors, two ETC Sensor+ 

SR24 dimmer racks, two Sensor+ SR12 dimmer 

racks, two ETC Smartpack dimmer packs and 

four Paradigm LCD touchsceens. 

“Pathport makes high quality, reliable devices 

and, as with ETC and Doug Fleenor, the 

factory support for their products is top-notch,” 

Fernandez says. “It’s always good to have that 

kind of insurance policy for system-critical 

components.” He also credits the Pathport 

Octo as a “very flexible device” when it comes 

to managing various Ethernet based DMX protocols. 

“It can easily be configured from the 

front panel to make any last-minute changes 

that happen during these installations. Its role 

in this system is routing the sACN and hard line 

DMX portion of the ETC architectural control 

equipment.” 

Fernandez adds that the Doug Fleenor merger 

boxes are managing two of the DMX universes 

that are in use at this venue. Universes 1 and 2 on 

the A side of the merger boxes are inputs from 

a Lumenpulse Lumentouch controller. This was 

provided and programmed by Trizart Alliance 

out of Canada, which has a Las Vegas office, as a 

secondary user interface for all of the DMX-controlled, 

LED architectural lighting throughout the 

venue. “On Universes 1 and 2 of the B side of the 

mergers are outputs from the Maxxyz PC that allow 

the console operator to grab full control over 

the entire venue by a simple button-push” at the 

ETC Paradigm station,” he adds. 


The number of DMX universes grew as the project expanded. 

Martin and Elation fixtures cover the 30-by-50-foot oval dance floor. 

Club Nikki/Tropicana 

Las Vegas 

Gear 

Dance Floor Equipment: 

24 Martin MAC 101s 

20 Elation Opti Tri Par30s 

6 Martin MAC 350 Entours 

4 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes with 

Atomic Colors 

2 JEM K1 Hazers 

3 Seekway 3D LED Chandeliers. 

Accent lighting is provided by various color-changing LED fixtures. 

Control Equipment: 

1 HP Touchsmart all-in-one PC with 

. Maxxyz PC software 

1 Pathport Octo box 

1 Pathport eDIN 16way Demultiplexer 

1 Martin EtherDMX8 box 

2 Doug Fleenor DMX Merger boxes 

Architectural Equipment: 

3 ETC Paradigm processors 

2 ETC Sensor+ SR12 dimmer racks 

2 ETC Sensor+ SR24 Dimmer racks 

2 ETC Smartpack dimmer packs 

4 Paradigm LCD touch screens 

Other Equipment: 

250’+ Lumenpulse color-changing LEDs 

50+ GVA Lighting white LED 

downlight fixtures 

20+ Renaissance Lighting colorchanging 

LED fixtures 


21

INSIDE THEATRE 


Measuring Up LEDs at 

University of Texas El Paso 

ALL PHOTOS BY RAYMOND AGUIRRE 

The design aesthetic for The Three Musketeers was 

summed up with one word: “synthetic.” 

By JustinLang 

Hideaki Tsutsui 

Incandescent lighting has been crossfading 

with more-efficient Light Emitting 

Diodes (LEDs) for years, with interest 

spurred on by, among other things, government 

regulation. 

The Energy Independence and Security 

Act of 2007, signed into law by then-President 

Bush, will start phasing out the most 

common incandescent light bulbs in 2012. 

100 Percent LED plsn 

The entertainment lighting industry is 

already using a variety of LED alternatives to 

less-efficient light sources. But what would it 

be like to stage a theatrical production using 

nothing but LED fixtures? 

Hideaki Tsutsui, a professor of lighting 

design at the University of Texas/El Paso, 

decided to find out — and to also carefully 

monitor and report on the results, in terms 

of both light quality and energy savings. 

Tsutsui’s experiment, backed by UT El 

Paso and department chair Joel Murray, 

actually started in 2010, when he gathered 

baseline data with the school’s conventionally-lit 

spring 2010 production, Of Mice and 

Men. 

This spring, the school staged The Three 

Musketeers, and while it wasn’t the first production 

to go entirely incandescent-free, it 

was among the first to compare the energy 

savings of conventional and LED lit theatrical 

productions in such detail. 

22 PLSN JUNE 2011 

“I wanted to show that LEDs not only make 

sense on paper, but also in real-world setting 

— I wanted to show hard evidence that 

confirms our assumptions.” 

—Hideaki Tsutsui 

Gauging Energy Usage 

plsn 

Tsutsui worked with the university’s 

building maintenance staff to record and 

meter the total power consumption of the 

theatre’s lighting system over a 24 hour period 

that included a performance of each 

production. (Students from the school’s 

Electrical Engineering Department also developed 

wireless power consumption meter 

to gather data on energy usage.) 

“In 2010, I had high hopes of producing 

an all LED light production in 2011,” Tsutsui 

says. “I wanted to show that LEDs not only 

make sense on paper, but also in real-world 

setting — I wanted to show hard evidence 

that confirms our assumptions.” 

Complementing Tsutsui’s efforts, set 

designer Ross Fleming sought to show that 

set design can also be in tune with the environment, 

and he spent considerable time 

searching for recyclable materials. 

Although the design aesthetic for The 

Three Musketeers lent itself well to LED lighting 

— “the one word that kept popping into 

the design team’s minds is ‘synthetic,’” Tsutsui 

says, referring to director Chuck Gordon’s vision 

of a “cartoonish look and feel” for the 

show — there would be obstacles as well. 

“LED fixtures are a huge investment. Purchasing 

all of the LED fixtures that we needed 

was not an option,” he notes. Pounding 

the carpet at USITT 2010 in Kansas City, he 

sought out industry support, hoping to borrow 

enough LED gear for a production that 

was a year away. 

His quest would continue until USITT 

2011 in Charlotte, NC — shortly before the 

spring productions were staged. “It was a bit 

nerve-wracking,” he admits, because “support 

and fixture availability was less than I 

expected. 

Although he was “nervous that we would 

wouldn’t be able produce The Three Musketeers 

using all LED fixtures,” Tsutsui adds, “I 

am happy to say that after USITT 2011, those 

fears were put to rest.” 

Industry Support 

plsn 

Chauvet, Elation and ETC offered fixtures 

from their demo stock, and Creative Stage 

Lighting offered reduced rates on rental of JB 

Lighting A7 LED fixtures. “The manufacturers 

came through and offered loaner fixtures that 

I would have not normally had been able to 

use.” 

If acquiring an all-LED rig was the first 

big hurdle, it wasn’t the last. “There was a 

huge learning curve,” he says. “I have been 

working with tungsten and arc sources my 

entire career. I had an idea of what I wanted 

the production to look like, but it was based 

on those traditional lamp sources.” 

Along with a “softer and diffused” light 

quality, Tsutsui says, “I found it a challenge 

for me to use 11 different types of LED fixtures. 

Each one had its own unique beam 

spread and characteristics as well as focus 

and lens options.” 

In addition, “since I was not as familiar 

with their properties as I am with traditional 

fixtures, I found I was changing and adjusting 

my design during hang and focus. While 

the hang and focus time seemed to take the 

equivalent amount time as the prior year 

with a tungsten fixture rig, the programming 

and cueing time seemed to double.” 

101 Fixtures in All plsn 

In all, there were 101 LED fixtures used for 

The Three Musketeers, with industry-donated 

gear supplementing the LED fixtures owned by 

UT El Paso, and they gave Tsutsui everything he 

had been seeking, with a palette that ranged 

from deep saturated colors to soft, pale pastels. 

“Since most of the LED fixtures we had were 

color-mixing fixtures, I had a huge selection of 

colors available to me,” Tsutsui mentions. Even 

so, with the variety of LEDs used, accurate color 

reproduction was a challenge. Each of the different 

makes of LED fixtures, programmed for “full 

white,” produced a different representation of 

white. The same was true when trying to mix the 

same shade of other colors. 

“Taking the various fixtures to a gel color on 

the Eos that ETC provided for us said that each of 

the fixtures should look the same,” Tsutsui notes, 

but “on stage, each of the fixtures were off — either 

more or less saturated. I found that I had to 

tweak each of the different types of fixtures using 

my eyes then relying on mathematical equations 

in the console.” 

Then, “after determining that the various 

fixtures looked the same on stage, I simply created 

color palettes on the Eos to quickly recall my 

color choices for a particular scene.” 

Despite the challenges, the payoff in terms of 

energy usage was clear. While the 2010 production, 

Of Mice and Men, consumed 30 kW, 2011’s 

The Three Musketeers used just 5 kW per performance 

— one-sixth the total. Lower heat output 

from the LEDs translated to HVAC savings as well. 

While acknowledging both the learning 

curve and fixture limitations, Tsutsui was ultimately 

encouraged by what an all-LED rig can 

deliver. “They provided the colors and looks I was 

trying to achieve. They offer a great many benefits,” 

and, “over time, they will only get better.” 

Justin Lang can be reached at jlang@plsn. 

com.

In all, there were 101 LED fixtures 

used for the school production. 

Color-coded lighting plot for UT/El Paso’s production of The Three Musketeers. 

The variety of LED beam, focus and lens options 

posed a design challenge. 


23

PRODUCTION PROFILE 


All in the Family 

Patrick Woodroffe, Michael Keller and Upstaging Shape the Looks of Ozzy’s Scream Tour 

Photos & Text by SteveJennings 

Ozzy and Sharon’s family lifestyle 

may differ a bit from the previous 

generation’s Ozzie and Harriet, but 

LD Patrick Woodroffe, lighting director Michael 

Keller and other longtime-supporters 

of Ozzy’s live shows say an extended 

family feeling exists nevertheless. 

“It’s like a family — a truly dysfunctional 

family — who you get to choose,” Keller 

jokes. “This, in conjunction with working 

with some great new people, made this 

tour one for the books,” he says, of the recently-concluded 

Scream arena tour. 

“It’s always enjoyable — always a 

laugh, with Ozzy,” agrees Woodroffe. “He 

tends to not let us take any of this too seriously, 

but his approach is then balanced 

by the professionalism and organization 

that production manager Dale “Opie” 

Skjerseth and Michael and their crew bring 

to the project.” 

Woodroffe, who has also served as LD 

for The Rolling Stones, Genesis, The Police, 

AC/DC, has lit many of Ozzy’s solo tours 

and his Ozzfest events in the past. “I’ve 

known Sharon for 30 years, from when I 

lived in Los Angeles in the late 1970s, so 

when I got the call for this tour, it wasn’t 

unexpected,” he says. 

“I brought in lighting director Michael 

Keller right from the beginning,” Woodroffe 

added. “He’s done most of the Ozzyrelated 

shows I’ve designed, and he is very 

much my co-designer. He programmed 

the show in rehearsal, and then continued 

to develop it once the tour started. We 

spoke right from the beginning and once 

the rig and the stage set were designed he 

very much made the show his own.” 

Previz vs. Reality 

plsn 

The timing wasn’t ideal — Keller was 

on a different tour when he got the call, 

which threatened to put a crimp in the 

pre-production schedule. But he managed 

to work it out. 

“Since the time was limited, I started 

to pre-program on my MacBook Pro using 

grandMA on PC and grandMA 3D Visualizer,” 

Keller says. “On my days off, I programmed 

a song or two a day. I was able 

to preprogram the entire show, so when 

we showed up in San Bernardino, it was a 

matter of cleaning up the cues.” 

Although many of the looks onstage 

could be pre-visualized, there were still 

the inevitable surprises. At one point in 

the show, Ozzy uses a power hose to shoot 

foam into the audience, and gets soaked 

himself, for example. “We did have to cut 

and move some floor fixtures so they 

wouldn’t be power-washed every night.” 

Other surprises are gear-related. “Patrick’s 

design for Ozzfest 2010 incorporated 

a few fixtures I had not worked with before,” 

Keller says. “I had not used the Clay 

Paky Alpha Beam 300 before, and, in the 

visualizer, you really don’t get a real grasp 

of what they actually do. When we were 

in production rehearsals, I was pleasantly 

surprised.” 

An Efficient Rig 

plsn 

Upstaging Inc. is the lighting contractor 

for the tour, Woodroffe notes, and “as 

for fixtures, I try to keep an open mind, but, 

really, all the moving lights nowadays tend 

to be pretty amazing — reliable, bright, 

clever. And so one tries to work with what 

is available in a given situation to get the 

biggest bang for your buck.” 

As a whole, the tour didn’t come close 

to setting any world records for total fixture 

count. But as Keller says, “for being 

a small fixture count system, we got the 

most out of what we had. The Vari*Lite 

3500 Wash FX fixtures were the backbone 

of the system; their ability to ‘beam blast’ 

Patrick Woodroffe and Michael Keller created big-rig looks… 

…with a less-than-huge number of fixtures. 


Jim Fackert Parnelli 

Visionary Award 

Kenton Forsythe 

Parnelli Audio 

Innovator 

Saturday Oct. 29 

Peabody Orlando 

7 pm: Reception 

8 PM: Awards Gala 

Silver Sponsors 

Gold Sponsors 

Ed Wannebo Parnelli 

Lifetime Achievement Award 

Production Partners



Ozzy Osbourne 

Scream Tour 

Crew 

Lighting Company: Upstaging Inc. 

Set Design: Atomic Designs 

Video Company: Screenworks 

Lighting Designer: Patrick Woodroffe 

Lighting Director: Michael Keller 

Lighting Crew Chief: Ron Schilling 

Lighting Techs: Marta Iwan, John Bailey 

Video Crew Chief: Angelo Bartolome 

Production Manager: Dale “Opie” 

Skjerseth 

Tour Manager: Tim Brockman 

Stage Manager/Head Carpenter: Greg 

Santos 

Rigger: Chad Koehler 

Pyrotechnics: Casey Lake, Chris Davis 

Gear 

1 grandMA lighting console 

21 Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash FX fixtures 

17 Martin MAC III Profiles 

(3 in followspot mode) 

6 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures 

24 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300 fixtures 

25 Martin Atomic Strobes 

42 PAR 64s (7 six-lamp bars) 

made them a great choice for this show. 

The Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300s were the 

‘eye candy’ for the show — very much 

like an ACL, but with the ability to control 

them as a moving fixture. 

“We added [Martin] MAC IIIs in the 

show as another texture,” Keller continued. 

“They worked very well with the 

VL3500s, and we also used them in followspot 

mode — all of Ozzy’s spots were 

MAC IIIs. Upstaging’s Ron Schilling designed 

a mount and a handle, so that all 

the operator had to do was point the fixture 

at Ozzy and let the grandMA control 

it.” 

The grandMA 1 console, he adds, “fit 

the needs of the show…The ability to network 

and use the grandMA apps on my 

iPhone to focus helped make this choice. 

In a daylight-type focus situation, it’s so 

much easier to focus on yourself than another 

person.” 

The rig, Keller notes, also included 

25 Martin Atomic strobes. “Did I mention 

strobes? Our sound man, Greg Price, loves 

strobes. I would probably never use them, 

but he insists,” Keller jokes. 

Video Montage 

plsn 

Screenworks provided the video 

gear for the tour. “We like to use video 

in different ways,” Woodroffe notes — “I- 

Mag, special content and generic backgrounds, 

plus, of course, the wonderful 

opening montage that we try to incorporate 

on every tour now.” 

But if the “toys” are now cooler than 

ever, the best part of the Ozzy Osbourne 

touring experience, both Woodroffe and 

Keller agree, is still the human, and not 

technological, side of things. 

“Since Ozzy and Sharon both trust 

and respect Patrick and myself, we pretty 

much are able to produce the lighting to 

what we feel the needs are. I’m lucky to 

be able to work with such great people 

— Opie, Greg Price, Martha Price (who 

has done Ozzy’s dressing rooms for 15 

years) — we have been together for 

quite some time now.” Keller also credits 

Upstaging crew chief “Ron Schilling and 

his crew” for making “each day a breeze.” 

The rig included Vari*Lite, Clay Paky and Martin gear. 


INSTALLATIONS 


Belly Up In Aspen: 

An Evolution of a Club Redesign 

Year Long Process Had Vision, Even if Lacking Time 

By Kevin M.Mitchell 

Patrons of the Belly Up Aspen club were 

saved from one of those over-hyped, 

usually annoying “re-launches” as the 

creatives behind the live music venue decided 

to take the scenic route to their redesign. 

“We spent a year redoing the club,” says club 

LD Adam Skapple, adding that he always 

had a vision for the club, but the day-to-day 

demands on his time made it only possible 

to do it piecemeal. “I’m the only LD here, and 

the amount of shows we do is incredible — 

in the past five months, the club has been 

closed less than seven days!” he laughs. 

It’s an industry case study suggesting 

that, in the high-pressure, high-stakes world 

of nightclub redesigns, perhaps “slow and 

steady wins the race.” The club was opened 

by Michael Goldberg in January 2005, and 

is an all-ages club that holds a modest 450 

people. It is mix-used, with DJs doing the entertaining 

when live bands are playing. But 

there are a lot of great bands that play Belly 

Up, bands that certainly sell out larger clubs. 

Flaming Lips, Citizen Cope, Shpongle, Rufus 

Wainwright and Jane’s Addiction are just of 

a few of the acts that have come through 

lately. 

“I’ve updated pretty much every aspect 

of our venue,” states Skapple, noting that his 

first change was to replace the club’s bigger, 

older fixtures with “a small fixture that 

had CMY and zoom. I went with Elation Spot 

300 Pros.” Then he added a 30-foot wide LED 

screen lining the back of the stage. This is 

run through an ArKaos GrandVJ with a Livid 

Ohm64 controller and touch screen. 

“We have 12 Altman Spectra PARs for 

wash lights, and a ChamSys MagicQ 200.” 

The setup also includes 21.5W RGB lasers 

from Laser Production Network controlled 

with Pangolin QuickShow via another touchscreen. 

28 PLSN june 2011 

From Austin to Aspen 

plsn 

Skapple was hired in October of 2009, 

but hails from another hip town at the 

beginning of the alphabet: Austin. He 

had been doing lights for small clubs and 

bands when he got hired by the Jacob Fred 

Jazz Odyssey quartet to light them. “After 

some more research, they didn’t a have a 

budget for a full lighting system, so they 

asked me if I knew video projection, and 

I said, ‘Sure!’” he laughs, confessing that 

while he had little experience in video at 

that point, it immediately became an educational 

priority. “I learned on the job and 

continued doing shows for them as well as 

some summer festivals. 

With an evident affinity for bands with 

four-worded names, he next went to work 

for Sound Tribe Sector Nine. There they 

were looking for a tech to work with their 

LED screens, and once again he learned on 

the job. 

The opportunity to be LD at the Belly 

Up was intriguing enough for him to accept 

and move his wife to the snowy 

mountains of Aspen. “They were doing 

over 300 shows a year, and the lighting 

rig needed some work,” he says. “They had 

some Mac 550s that I cleaned up and refocused, 

things like that, but about four 

months into the job Michael [Goldberg] 

was like, ‘what do you want to do?’” 

Lighting, Video, Lasers 

plsn 

Skapple had some ideas. First, he opted 

to jettison the old projectors, which he 

never felt looked that good, and to bring 

in some LED screens. Working with Bryan 

Knutson, who owns Brown Note Productions 

out of Louisville, CO, he brought in 

a 34-foot-wide screen that literally wraps 

around the back stage and also the DJ 

From left, LD Adam Skapple, owner Michael Goldberg and production manager Jai Vatuk. 

booth, in a cohesive manner, and gives a 

3D look to that section of the room. Skapple 

credits Knutson for his work in helping 

to set it up and dial it in. 

The next big decision was to bring in 

new spots. Skapple narrowed it down to 

Elation and Clay Paky, but went with the 

former. “We wanted something not too 

overpowering for a 450-person room, but 

had color mixing, zoom, and iris features. 

A lot of smaller lights don’t have those features, 

and we got a great deal on them.” 

Using an upcoming New Year’s Eve 

event as a motivator, he looked to incorporate 

a better media server and went with 

the ChamSys MagicQ 200 Execute. “It’s 

really intuitive and interfaces beautifully 

with our ArKaos media server.” Then, with 

the end-of-year party quickly approaching, 

he moved to get lasers. While others 

said “not enough time,” LaserNet out of Miami 

came in and set him up with a touchscreen 

to activate laser displays. “While 

it was Dec. 12 when we contacted them, 

they came in and did a great job. They set 

up mirrors, helped map out the layout — it 

was a great experience.” 

Also in the mix are eight Martin MAC 

101 LED moving head wash fixtures. “They 

are amazing lights. I’m floored with them 

— the colors are beautiful and, once again, 

since I’m the main guy setting them up, instead 

of moving around 55-pound profiles 

every day, I’m moving these 10-pound fixtures 

around, and that’s way better.” Also, 

since the Belly Up stage is a modest 25 by 

30 feet, he can squeeze them into tight 

spaces and light the band better.

The venue has also hosted Morcheeba 

Jane’s Addiction at the Belly Up in Aspen 

At FOH, Skapple added ChamSys’ MagicQ to the venue’s ArKaos media server. 

Goldberg gets out and comes back 

inspired, Skapple says, pushing him to 

do more. “I think he’s really trying to 

make it have a mini-shed look.” The club, 

he adds, is still evolving. “When I’m not 

doing a show, I still change it up. But it’s 

a great place, because we get amazing 

bands to play here.” Skapple adds that 

he believes the quality of the production 

the house can provide keeps these 

acts coming back rather than going to 

bigger houses. 

A self-made designer, Skapple credits 

PLSN with inspiring and educating 

him. “When I first got into lighting in 

Austin, I was working with a guy who 

always had a stack of PLSN magazines 

right when you walked in. When I first 

saw it, I thought, this is the greatest 

thing ever!” 

Gear 

Lighting, Video, Laser Control 

1 ChamSys MagicQ200 Pro Execute w/ external 17” Elo Touchscreen 

1 Arkaos Grand VJ, 1 Arkaos Media Master Pro 

1 Livid Instruments Ohm64 Controller w/ 15” Elo Touchscreen 

1 Pangolin QuickShow w/ 15” ELO Touchscreen 

Upstage Fixtures: 

8 Elation Design Spot 300 Pro fixtures 

8 Altman SS-PAR-100 Spectra PAR LED fixtures 

3 ACL Bars (4 × 250W) 

4 Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes 

Downstage Fixtures: 


4 Altman SS-PAR-100 Spectra PAR LED fixtures 

4 PixelRange PixelLine Micro W micro-battens 

4 ETC Source Four PAR 64 (575W) 

6 ETC Source Four Ellipsoidal w/iris (575W) 

Floor Support: 


4 PixelRange PixelLine 1044s 

2 Martin Wizard Extremes 

8 Martin MAC 101 fixtures 

Additional Details: 

1 ETC SmartPack 12 x 1.2kW dimmer packs 

2 Le Maitre Radiance Hazers 

2 LED curtains (1- 5.2’ x 28.6’, 2- 2.5’x 10’); 25 mm pitch 

2 LaserNet Full Spectrum RGB 3W lasers 


29


Pacquiao vs. Mosley 

Battling it Out Under the Lights 

Photos & Text by Justin Lang 

Since the dawn of time, human beings 

have had an urge to fight. Throughout 

recorded history — as far back as 

2000 B.C. — men have battled each other 

to determine who is the best. Back then, 

it was bare-fisted. Today’s gloved boxers 

have more rules to follow. But a good fight 

still draws a crowd. 

One thing that has changed — starting 

with the invention of the light bulb 

in 1879, and the motion picture camera 

at about the same time — has been the 

ability of technology to bring the fight 

between two individuals to a much bigger 

crowd. TV brought the viewer count into 

the millions, and boxing was lit for the allimportant 

TV camera’s eye. 

A New Trend in Sports Visuals plsn 

Instead of focusing solely on the two 

people boxing, however, today’s multicamera 

TV extravaganzas do a better job 

of tapping the energy within an effectively-lit 

crowd and transmitting that visual 

excitement to the viewers at home — not 

just for PPV boxing, but for a broad variety 

of sporting and music events. 

The same trend has also transformed 

the in-arena experience for spectators. 

And the fight between Manny Pacquiao 

and Shane Mosley, produced by Top Rank 

Boxing on May 7 at the 17,157-capacity 

MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, was no 

exception. 

Top Rank executive producer Todd 

DuBoef, who is credited for helping boxing 

stay relevant in today’s maelstrom of 

sports entertainment options, started 

making big strides toward transforming 

the in-arena experience with fights in 

2009, at the brand-new Cowboys Stadium 

in Texas and Yankee Stadium in New York. 

Also in 2009, DuBoef hiring Jason Robinson 

of Jason Robinson Design to improve 

upon boxing’s traditional in-arena 

approach to sound, video and lighting. The 

same year, Robinson started collaborating 

with programmer and lighting director Michael 

Nevitt of Crossfade Design LLC. 

Thinking Outside the Ring plsn 

“In the past, boxing matches were 

simple in design. You had a ring, a square 

truss over it with PAR cans lighting the 

ring, that was pretty much it,” says Robinson. 

“We began to look at ways to 

heighten the in arena experience to help 

keep the audiences entertained between 

rounds and between matches.” 

Working with gear supplied by Upstaging, 

Robinson built a rig above the 

ring that was “way beyond something 

you have ever seen at a boxing match 

before” — an assembly of giant spider’s 

legs of truss extending from a circular 

ring, supporting a web of Vari*Lite 

VL3500 Wash FX fixtures, VL2500 Profiles, 

Martin MAC 301s, Coemar Parlite LEDs, 

Par64 LampBars and Atomic Strobes. 

These were synched with an interplay 

of stunning aerials and movement 

adding texture and color throughout 

the night from arrays of VL3500 Wash 

FX, VL2500 Profiles and Clay Paky Sharpy 

fixtures. And the pumped-up visual excitement 

within the arena naturally enhanced 

the visuals seen by PPV audiences 

at home. 

Traditionally, viewers of boxing 

matches at home were the ones who 

benefited from multiple camera angles, 

instant replay of some of the hardest 

hits of the given round and play-by-play 

commentary from sports announcers. 

The audience inside the arena watching 

the fight live, meanwhile, was left with 

minute long pauses between rounds and 

between undercard fights leading up to 

the main event. 

Along with the need to think about 

lighting beyond the fighters in the ring, 

Robinson and Nevitt need a plan in case 

the 12 three-minute rounds were to end 

much more quickly, with a lightning-fast 

knockout punch. 

As it turned out, Pacquiao vs. Mosley 

went the full 12 rounds — and that was 

after five hours of undercard match-ups. 

To keep the crowd pumped and moving 

between fights and rounds — and to 

keep the spectacle going in the event of 

a knockout — Top Rank provided a bigname 

DJ, Justin Hoffman, for the fans. 

Robinson and Nevitt were also ready 

with visual content. 

“At any time, a fight could end early 

and we would be left with time to kill until 

the start of the next fight,” says Robinson. 

The DJ, he adds, was just part of 

the upgrade of the in-arena experience. 

“We also included a much better sound 

system, lighting, rigging, truss and LED 

display package provided by Upstaging.” 

Triple Duty Video Production plsn 

Along with the visuals within the arena, 

Robinson and Nevitt also manage the 

video feeds for the in-arena displays, the 

Showtime Pay-Per-View video feed and 

the Top Rank Promotions international 

video feed. 

“We have triple duty on fight night,” 

Nevitt says, noting the importance of the 

in-arena lighting and video effects for 

From left, Michael Nevitt and Jason Robinson at FOH 

From left, Nocturne Productions’ 

Bryan Venhorst 

and Abe Main 



Top Rank Boxing 

Pacquiao 

vs. 

Mosley 

The spider-leg rig with a 360-degree video display. 

the experience of viewers on Showtime 

PPV and international audiences as well. 

“The lighting has to look good to the audience, 

and at least four separate video 

feeds at once,” Nevitt says. 

Robinson designed a circular video 

wall from Nocturne Video that is made 

from 720 Circular V-Lite 22mm LED video 

panels that are hung above the ring. These 

provide a 360° close-up of the action in the 

ring to the crowd in the arena. And during 

lulls in the action, it displays past fights, 

video packages and other content to entertain 

the crowd. 

In addition, Martin LC video panels 

were placed along the length of the entrance 

way used by the boxers as they entered 

into the arena. Four Catalyst media 

servers provided animation content for 

both the entrance way and the circular 

video panel. 

Tyler Roach of Upstaging was the 

media programmer for the production, 

working off a Martin Maxxyz Plus console. 

“Jason [Robinson] wanted to get the audience 

excited as the boxers entered the 

arena,” Roach says. “Combining animation 

on the video walls, plus sweeping lights 

across the arena and strobes, it increased 

the crowd’s energy and kept them on their 

feet.” 

Visual Communication 

plsn 

When designing a production of this 

size for both a live audience and a live video 

feed, challenges are bound to come up. 

“While a visionary, Todd [DuBoef ] doesn’t 

know the terminology that we use to describe 

looks, or specific types of lights. He 

knows what he wants, but it was a challenge 

from time to time to convey that 

information back,” says Robinson. “I used 

Google’s SketchUp program to not only 

build the MGM Garden Arena in 3D, but 

the ring, truss, and video wall placement. 

From there it was easier to communicate 

and help envision the effects and placement 

of specific pieces.” 

Throughout the night, the excitement 

in the arena was fueled by the atmosphere 

that the production team provided, with 

lights, video and DJ all leading up to the 

main event — and beyond, until Pacquiao 

was named the victor by unanimous decision. 

In much the same way, the in-arena 

visuals for this big night easily trounced 

the televised fights from an earlier era. 

Justin Lang can be tagged at jlang@plsn. 

com 

Crew 

Design and Production: Jason 

Robinson Design/Crossfade Design LLC 

Lighting Designer/Automated 

Programmer: Michael Nevitt 

Lighting Director/Media Programmer: 

Tyler Roach 

Lighting Director Showtime: Jim 

Ferrera 

Live Event Production Manager: Ken 

Rumgay 

Live Event Technical Production 

Manager: Andre Huff 

Upstaging Crew Chief: Eric Eaton 

Upstaging Crew: Josh Wagner, Marta 

Iwan, Brian Reed, Ryan Green 

Upstaging Account Rep: Jerry Swatek 

Nocturne In-Arena Video Director: 

Bryan Venhorst 

Nocturne Video Crew: Abe Main, Josh 

Marrano, Kevin Paul 

Nocturne Account Rep: Todd LePere 

Show Rigger: Donnie Carroll 

Backstage Lighting Gaffer: Scott 

Scholler 

Backstage Lighting Best Boy: Jeff 

Humphery 

Executive Producer/Top Rank Boxing: 

Todd DuBoef, 

Executive Event Producer: Brad Jacobs 

Executive Producer Showtime: David 

Dinkins 

Director Showtime: Bob Dunphy 

International TV Producer: Marty 

Corwin 

Showtime Tech Manager: Colin Deford 

Gear 

4 Martin Maxxyz Plus lighting consoles 

(2 for backup) 

4 Maxxyz Playback dual wing in frame (2 

modules each) 

4 High End Systems Catalyst 

media servers 

1 Green Valley Kayak SDI 

switcher 

720 Circular V-lite 28mm LED 

panels (15 tall x 48 around) 

75 V9 9mm LED Banner (4.5’ tall x 37.5’ 

wide) 

46 Martin LC 2140 video panels (entrance 

way) 

16 Martin LC1140 video panels (entrance 

way) 

12 Par64/6 Lamp Bars - MFL (ring lighting) 

9 Par64/6 Lamp Bars - NSP/MFL (audience 

lighting) 

62 Vari*Lite VL3500 Wash FX 

(audience/spider truss) 

20 Vari*Lite VL2500 Profiles 

(circle/entrance way) 

12 Martin MAC 301 LED fixtures (sponsor 

truss) 

8 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures (far end rails) 

36 Martin MAC 300 LED (spider truss 

toners) 

30 Coemar Parlite LEDs 

(circle/spider/entrance truss) 

24 Martin Atomic Strobes 

(circle truss) 

4 Reel EFX DF-50 Diffusion 

hazers 

2 Additional fog machines for entrance 

way 

In-arena video director Bryan Venhorst, back-of-house. 


31

COMPANY 411 


Chauvet Opens New 

State-Of-The-Art Facility 

Company Expands, 

Looks to the Future 

By Kevin M. Mitchell 

Albert and Berenice Chauvet 

Starting around 2007, Albert Chauvet 

would take time out of his busy day to 

go visit empty warehouses. His lighting 

company had grown exponentially over the 

years and was now bursting at the seams, taking 

up four separate buildings. The success he 

and his wife Berenice had experienced since 

opening their doors in 1990 had reached a 

breaking point. The company was busting at 

the seams with 40,000 square feet and separate 

buildings all adding up to logistical challenges. 

Yet in reviewing property, nothing 

seemed like the right fit, and certainly didn’t 

make sense on paper. “The older buildings 

I saw needed so much retro-fitting it didn’t 

A New Home Base 

plsn 

Today, visitors are impressed. The 

75,000-square-foot facility is built for maximizing 

their workflow, research and development, 

and efficiency. Based in Sunrise, Fla., 

their new home features a warehouse that allows 

for faster shipping, reducing turnaround 

for their customers. And they have room to 

grow, which they are fully intent on doing. 

“We’ve implemented green technology 

in the building,” says Albert Chauvet, the company’s 

CEO. “There are skylights throughout 

the building.” Sensors, adding just the right 

amount of electric light with the sunlight 

monitor the skylights. A solar energy system 

captures energy, and that, too, reduces electricity 

needs. Add to that list paperless accounting 

and HR systems and it all results in 

serious energy savings. 

The company’s R&D department hums 

with nine people and is now 10 times as 

large as before. The new location also features 

a large room for product testing. 

A temperature control room is part 

of a strict quality control process that reviews 

“nearly every shipment from every 

container,” and it all has to meet a standard 

“We’re definitely pushing energy 

efficiency in all our products.” 

—Albert Chauvet 

make financial sense,” he says. So they made 

the commitment to create something from 

the ground up that would fit their unique 

needs. And their imaginations ran wild. 

before leaving the facility. The shipping 

process is software-driven, and robotic 

machines get orders out the door faster 

than ever. Even the aisles are made so they 

are just big enough for the forklifts to get 

through, but not much bigger. 

Chauvet has expanded its marketing 

department as well — in fact, they’ve 

added a total of 27 associates since the 

opening of the facility, bringing the total 

number of people working there to 85. 

“We have wonderful and talented people 

in every division, which allows me to look 

for more business,” Chauvet says, noting 

particular efforts to ramp up efforts to 

serve the professional market. 

The commitment to energy efficiency is evident throughout Chauvet’s 75,000-square-foot facility, including the warehouse. 

New Horizons 

plsn 

Now that the dust has settled, Albert 

Chauvet is pleased with the decision to 

create a custom HQ, where “we have the 

space to organize our business into different 

sections.” The company has a team 

that oversees the club/DJ market, another 

for the professional market, and a separate 

sister company, Iluminarc, focused on architectural 

lighting products. They all have 

one thing in common: “We’re definitely 

pushing energy efficiency in all our products.” 

As for Chauvet himself, “I’m still the 

visionary working on the over-all strategy 

for the company.” Some of that includes 

thinking globally: Their next step will be to 

launch Chauvet Europe later this year. “We 

will continue to grow in professional lighting 

or related market segments that we 

can step in and offer a value proposition, 

and the next big part of our growth will be 

the international market.” 

The move itself was a “back breaker, 

but we got it done!” he laughs. “Now we’re 

stronger than ever, and we’ll keep pushing 

the envelop with green technology and 

attending to our core business.” 

So do the Chauvets get big plushy offices? 

“It’s a little better than before,” he 

laughs. “But here, the bigger we get, the 

more humble we get — that’s a big part of 

our culture.” 



Club Lighting Effect Fixtures 

Club lighting effects fixtures is a broad 

category — much broader than, say, ERS 

fixtures. When you think of a club lighting 

effect fixture, it is typically a device that 

operates with sound activation or simple 

controls in order to provide light movement 

on a dance floor. There are no set 

parameters of what falls into the category 

— opinions vary by whom you ask. 

This month’s Buyers Guide could fill 

the entire magazine with fixtures from 

some of the leading club and DJ effect 

manufacturers. We had to narrow the 

field down to three fixtures per manufacturer. 

The spectrum of fixtures varies from 

less expensive fixtures to moving digital 

By JustinLang 

projectors and everything in between. 

Breaking down and comparing effects 

fixtures is a tough task. You can easily 

compare numbers and features from 

the Buyers Guide, but when it comes to 

truly understanding any lighting fixture, 

seeing is believing. In addition to the 

overview presented here, please be sure 

BUYERS GUIDE 

to visit www.plsn.com/current-issue for a 

links to even more information. 

Also be sure to check out the demonstration 

videos most manufacturers 

offer on their websites. These resources 

will help narrow down the wide array of 

choices before committing your time to a 

live demo. 

American DJ Vizi Spot LED Pro Apollo Multispot HP LS1009 Chauvet Q-Spot 260 LED Chroma-Q Color Force 12 Clay Paky Mini Scan HP3 

Elation E Spot LED Martin MAC 350 Entour Mega-Lite 4355 - Color Ribbon Robe ROBIN 300E Spot Techni-Lux VectorLED 160 Spot 


33

BUYERS GUIDE 

Company Model Lamp Source 

Max Lamp 

Wattage 

Dimensions Weight Power Draw Fixture Type Color Media Available Gobos 

Vizi Spot LED Pro White LED 50W 16.75” x 12” x 10” 23 lbs. 130W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 7 + Open 

American DJ 

americandj.com 

Vizi Beam 5R 

Philips Platinum 

5R discharge 

189W 17.75” x 13.25” x 12.25” 25 lbs. 350W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 14 + Open 

Vizi Scan LED Pro White LED 50W 22.25” x 11.75” x 12” 17 lbs. 130W Scanner Color Wheel 7 + Open 

Apollo Design Technology 

apollodesign.net 

Multispot 1009 LED 27W 10.5” x 10.9” x 2.2” 3.75 lbs. 30W Wash RGB N/A 

Multispot 1018 LED 54W 12.8” x 12.22” x 4.44” 7.5 lbs. 60W Wash RGB N/A 

Q-Spot 260-LED LED 60W 11.4” x 10.9” x 19.1” 29 lbs. 156W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 15 

Chauvet 

chauvetlighting.com 

COLORdash Batten 

Tri 

LED 24W 22.1” x 3.5” x 6.5” 6.8 lbs. 67.2W Wash LED N/A 

SlimPAR Pro RGBA LED 42W 10.1” x 11.4” x 3.4” 6.3 lbs. 85.2W Wash LED N/A 

Chroma-Q 

chroma-q.com 

Color Block 2 LED 100W 2.4” x 9.8” x 4.7” 2.8 lbs. 480W Wash & Effect LED N/A 

Color Force 12 LED 120W 13.5” x 17” x 11” 9 lbs. 120W Wash & Effect LED N/A 

Sharpy Discharge 189W 18.7” x 15.9” x 13.5” 35 lbs. 189W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 17 

Clay Paky 

claypaky.it 

Alpha Spot 300 Discharge 300W 22.6” x 15.1” x 19.4” 42 lbs. 325W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 15 

Mini Scan HP3 Discharge 300W 22.9” x 9.3” x 11.8” 35 lbs. 325W Scanner Color Wheel 6 

E Spot LED CBT-90W 45W 8” x 11.8” x 17” 25 lbs. 180W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 7 

Elation Professional 

elationlighting.com 

Martin Professional 

martinpro.com 

Riva 80 LED 20W 7” x 7” x 7” 5 lbs. 305W LED LED N/A 

Platinum Beam 5R 

Philips MSR 

Platinum 5R 

Discharge 

189W 14” x13” x 18” 32 lbs. 305W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 8 

MAC 101 LED 123W 11.9” x 9.4” x 9.4” 8.1 lbs. 156W Moving Yoke LED N/A 

MAC 350 Entour LED 50W 18.5” x 8.6” x 14.8” 36 lbs. 418W Moving Yoke LED 6 

4355-Color Ribbon LED N/A 16’ 4” x 0.55” x 0.24” 0.75 lbs N/A Ribbon LED N/A 

Mega Systems 

megasystemsinc.com 

1060-AXIS LED Spot LED 110W 20.5” x 16.75” x 16” 39 lbs. 111W Moving Yoke LED 16 

4055-Bright Stripe LED 17W 3.78” x 39.75” x 2.06” 5 lbs. 16W Effect LED N/A 

Robin 300 Spot 

Philips MSD Gold 

300/2 MiniFastFit 

300W 20.3” x 17” x 18.5” 44 lbs. 375W Moving Yoke Color Wheel 7 + open 

Robe Lighting 

robe.cz 

DigitalSpot 3500 DT MX660 230W 24.2” x 21” x 17” 61 lbs. 285W Profile LED Digital content 

Studio Due Nanoled LED 60W 10.8” x 8.7”x 9.7” 9.5 lbs. 120W LED NA N/A 

Techni-Lux 

techni-lux.com 

UltraLED DMX Color 

RGB Bar 

LED 60W 3.5” x 41.5” x 2.5” 4.4 lbs. 120W LED RGB N/A 

VectorLED 160 Spot 

Moving Light 

White LED 120W 15.8” x 12.8” x 9.8” 18.7 lbs. 240W Profile Color Wheel 7 + Open 



Additional Effects 

Built-in Macros 

Max DMX Channels 

Retail Price 

Notes 

UV filter, Frost, Prism Wheel, Gobo 

Shake, Gobo Indexing, Gobo 

Scroll, Strobe 

8 internal programs, plus 16 

rotating prism/gobo macros 

14 $1,799.95 

2 FX in one: hard-edge spot beam, or wash with addition of Frost. Slide Lock gobo change system. Remote 

Focus; Auto X-Y Repositioning; Remote DMX addressing; 4 button DMX menu; stepper motors 

3D Prism, Frost, Strobe, Gobo 

Scroll, Gobo Shake 

UV Filter, Frost, Prism Wheel, Gobo 

Shake, Gobo Indexing, Gobo 

Scroll, Strobe 


3-facet Prism/Gobo macros 


rotating prism/gobo macros 

12 $1,999.95 N/A 

14 $1,599.95 

2 FX in one: hard edge spot beam, or wash with addition of Frost. Slide Lock Gobo Change System. 

Remote DMX addressing; Remote Focus, 4-button DMX Menu; Auto X-Y Repositioning; Stepper Motors 

N/A Yes 4 $340 N/A 

N/A Yes 4 $340 N/A 

Focus, Prism Yes 14 $899.99 N/A 

Individual pixel control Yes 24 $349.99 N/A 

N/A Yes 10 $379.99 N/A 

N/A Yes 512 $845 N/A 

N/A Yes 512 $1,280 N/A 

Gobo shake, rotating prism, frost, 

shutter, strobe 

Yes 20 $7,525 Produces a laser-like beam with an output of 5,552 footcandles at 65 ft. 

Morphing, rotating prism, stop/ 

strobe 

Yes 21 $6,130 N/A 

Prism, light frost, heavy frost, iris, 

stop/strobe 

N/A 13 $5,247 N/A 

3, 5, 3D prism Yes 14 $2,199.95 Sleep mode. All internal components shut off with no activity and power on with a DMX signal input. 

N/A Yes 48 $1,199.95 

Built-in macros and sound active mode; 

control box and cables included. 

Prism Yes 16 $2,799.95 ACL beam effect, 3 phase stepper motors, Colors, Gobos and Prism. 

Color wheel effect, Variable CTC, 

Shutter effect 

N/A 12 POA Color calibration, 2200 lm output. 

Focus, iris, shutter Yes 17 POA 8000 lm output, no color artifacts. 

9 color effects N/A 3 $398 

16 feet of 300 tri-colored SMD LEDs. 3M tape backing, moldable. Control RGB channel options & 9 

pre-stored effects with DMX. 

Prism Yes 14 $1,598 

Rotating prism is fast moving, generating a 3D effect. The fixture’s lamp can be dimmed and yield a 

strobe effect. 

Pixel mapping Yes 48 $250 N/A 

Prism, frost, rotating gobos, 

dichroic filters, iris, electronic 

strobbing, motorized zoom 

Yes 32 POA 

Hot Spot Control zoom 10°- 40° QVGA Robe touch screen display - auto screen operation memory 

service full CMY+CTO 

Strobe, 60.000 videos/images, keystone, 

digital iris, digital strobe, 

effect video synchronisation, 

picture merging, projection onto 

cylindric/spheric surfaces 

Yes N/A POA 

3200 ANSI 5000:1 contast ratio image size 24” to 300” 1x S-video output 1x Composite DMX data in/ 

out USB 2.0 CITP/MSEX protocol 

N/A Yes 12 $1,369 

Instand-alone mode with the build-in microphone. It has 3-pin DMX In/Out connectors, a menu 

screen and four buttons to control settings. 

Controllable as one, two, or eight 

bar segments. 

N/A 12 $229 

Operating modes: DMX, Static Color, Color Changing, Color Fading, Auto Run, Sound Active, Master/ 

Slave 

Rotating prism Yes N/A $1,459 Digital Shutter and Dimming 


35

ROAD TEST 


Clay Paky Sharpy By NookSchoenfeld 

I 

just completed a road test of a new 

moving light from Clay Paky, called the 

Sharpy. Three things were immediately 

noticeable about this fixture. It’s fast, 

tiny and packs a lot of light output for a 

lamp that has a bulb under 200W. 

The light output is extremely white. 

It boasts a color temperature of 8000K. 

When I stand 60 feet away from this fixture, 

I measure a light output of 60,000 

lux. This is amazing for a fixture that 

utilizes an MSD Platinum 5R bulb that 

is only 189W. The light output is comparable 

to a Xenon bulb, but the bulb 

is boasting a 2,000-hour lamp life! The 

light itself is emitted in a tight collimated 

beam. It reminds one of the light 

swords used In the Star Wars movies. It 

is indeed the New Age equivalent of a 

PAR 46 ACL beam on steroids. Clay Paky 

utilizes its patent pending triple lens HQ 

optical system to achieve this brightness 

from its small lamp. While there is a 

zoom on the fixture, it never gets wider 

than 3.8 percent, and it can actually 

maintain a zero zoom. This means that 

the beam will never get wider than the 

light shining directly out of the fixture’s 

opening. 

Quick and Sharp 

The fixture is incredibly compact in 

size, but compacted with functions as 

well. While the fixture is 19 inches tall 

and 16 inches wide, it still weighs in at 

35 lbs. 

Handles on either side make this easy 

enough for my grandmother to hoist it 

up. The self-sensing power supply can 

handle input voltages from 115V to 230V. 

It has an onboard self-charging battery 

as well as cooling system monitoring. 

The bipolar circuit breaker insures thermal 

protection. In fact, this smart fixture 

will automatically disengage the power 

supply to prevent overheating. One can 

hang this fixture at any angle, and it 

comes with Fast Lock Omega clamps that 

attach with ¼-turn thumbscrews. 

I can hook up DMX via the 5 or 3 

pin XLR connections. It is also Ethernetequipped 

to accept commands from a 

lighting console. 

So it’s time to see how this baby 

drives. I notice the pan of the fixture can 

go 540 degrees. To my eye, it can swing 

that distance incredibly fast. I take out 

my stopwatch and hit “Go” as I tell the 

light to pan from zero to full at its fastest 

time. Just under 2 seconds. But let’s see 

how it reacts to an effects engine command 

that makes the light pan a full 360 

degrees and back. It takes 1 full second 

each way, with no noticeable hesitation 

between changing directions. Incredible 

torque on the pan and tilt. I try the same 

thing with the tilt and, I have to admit, 

this fixture is the closest I have ever seen 

a yoke light move to a mirrored fixture. 

I check out the color system. There is 

no color mixing in this fixture, but I am 

okay with that. This is basically an “effects” 

light to me, and not made to actually 

light set pieces or people with slow, 

even fades. The color wheel itself has a 

nice array of 14 various colors in slots as 

well as an open slot for white. The filters 

appear to be interchangeable. One can 

make half colors as well as roll the color 

wheel at variable speeds. The wheel itself 

can virtually click between any two 

colors on the wheel in zero time, and I 

notice just a little flicker of light, but no 

color changes, as it speeds by many other 

color filters to get to my next color. I put 

some fade time on the color wheel, and 

I could physically roll from one color to 

another. Unfortunately, the fixture does 

this in a jerky manner of steps — not a 

continuous, even roll in the 14-channel 

mode I am running it in. 

I check out the zoom. It’s minimal, 

but cool in the way the fixture can move 

from a relatively flat field of light to an 

out-of-focus hilated beam where the 

center of the light beam is much hotter 

than the outside. With the flat field, I 

can get a hard edge on the gobos easily. 

There is a frost flag that can roll into the 

light path. It’s not really a variable frost, 

but I was interested to see what would 

happen to the beam when I placed this 

frost flag in a sine wave pattern from 

zero to full. It made a great effect, and 

I could run this extremely fast. While it 

may not be a strobe, it is quick enough to 

give the user a dazzling soft/sharp chase 

effect. The mechanical dimmer allows for 

This fixture is the closest I have ever seen 

a yoke light move to a mirrored fixture. 

a smooth dimming curve, and the various 

shutter/strobe effects are all there 

for the user. 

The interchangeable gobo wheel 

comes with slots for 17 fixed gobos. The 

first few gobos are various-sized holes 

that can change the diameter of the 

light beam from a pin spot at its smallest 

to several larger pencil-beamed sizes. 

There are another 10 gobos that range 

between nice breakup patterns to thin 

bars to various shapes. The gobos are 

all designed for aerial beam patterns as 

opposed to painting textures. None of 

these gobos spin, but they all shake at 

variable speeds. They do, indeed, shake 

faster than I’ve ever seen any other fixture 

I’ve ever used. Somehow, these 

guys at Clay Paky have managed to fit 

an 8-faceted rotating prism in this tiny 

fixture as well. Used in conjunction with 

the gobos, I saw some nice shimmering 

effects emitted from the fixture. The 

gobo wheel can roll at variable speeds 

and, I must say, the beam looks incredibly 

wicked when the wheel is run fast. 

It’s not a strobe, it’s not a pulse effect, it’s 

just another unique function to this fixture 

that you have to see for yourself to 

understand. 

The fixture appears to be quite 

ruggedly-built and road worthy. It is an 

aluminum structure with the typical diecast 

plastic cover that we’ve come to like 

with many of Clay Paky’s recent Alpha series 

of lighting fixtures. It did not get hot 

enough to burn me after being on for an 

hour of testing. The fixture can run in an 

extended version utilizing 20 DMX channels. 

One can also upgrade its firmware 

from another fixture or without it ever 

being turned on. There are preset macros 

to make programming easier as well. 

The backlit LCD panel display was simple 

to use without viewing a manual. 

At Prolight + Sound 2011, Clay Paky 

introduced a chrome-plated Sharpy. The 

chrome finish helps blend the fixture 

into its setting, becoming less visible by 

reflecting its surroundings. 

Beams from Sharpys positioned upstage at Festhalle Frankfurt. 

Clay Paky Sharpy 

Pros: Fast movement; 

bright, skinny beam for 

200W fixture 

Cons: Less-than-optimum 

color fading between colors 

when using fade times 

How Much: $7,525 (U.S. list 

price) 

36 PLSN june 2011

40 

42 

Inside... 

3D Hologram Sets 

Record 

Video World 

Pete’s Big TVs Adds Visual Boost to CBS Fall 

Season Promos at Carnegie Hall 

Rockefeller Center Attraction Gets 

AV Support from Alcorn McBride 

Matt Ellar 

Walking the beam at the Top of the Rock 

The CBS upfront for Two and a Half Men 

NEW YORK — How do you get to Carnegie Hall? 

Practice, of course. Having already had lots of practice 

doing TV upfronts, which promote the planned lineup 

of fall season network TV shows, Pete’s Big TVs/Performance 

Video made it to Carnegie Hall recently as well. 

For the CBS Upfront May 18 in New York, PBTV/ 

PV provided a video package that included Barco 

10mm LED walls to display all content from CBS, 

including station and show logos plus visual clips 

of the new season previews. Actors were also on 

hand, including Ashton Kutcher’s introduction to 

JOHANNESBURG — Gearhouse South Africa recently 

joined the AV Alliance, which now includes 29 

companies in 25 different countries. 

The AV Alliance first formed after Switzerlandbased 

Habegger AG was asked by a corporate client 

to provide event technology in 17 European countries 

for a series of relatively small, local events. Because 

the projects were too small to be centrally supported, 

Habegger AG decided to set up a European network of 

partners. 

The AV Alliance assesses the quality and reliability 

the media in his new role on Two and a Half Men. 

The PBTV/PV crew, headed by Guy Benjamin, included 

Matt Ellar and Rob Maloney. The crew worked 

with the creative team of production designer Bruce 

Rodgers of Tribe and LD Mike Baldassari. “Pete’s Big TVs 

helped pull off a great show with a difficult schedule 

and technical challenges,” Rodgers noted. 

Among their other purposes, upfronts give advertisers 

the chance to pledge their ad support ahead of 

time while giving the media a preview of what’s premiering 

in the new season. 

Gearhouse South Africa Joins AV Alliance; Group Now Spans 25 Nations 

of each partner company, and all must meet qualitative 

criteria to maintain their membership in the alliance. 

Those standards help assure AV Alliance clients that 

they can rely on consistent quality wherever they are 

implementing their projects. 

Today, the AV Alliance has grown to where member 

companies have close to 2,700 staff members working 

on a total of some 42,000 projects annually. These AVenhanced 

events are supported by gear from 32 facilities 

in the 25 countries, with a total warehouse space of 

approximately 200,000 square meters. 

NEW YORK — Rockefeller Center’s renovated 70-story-high 

Top of the Rock tour for sightseers has been upgraded, with AV 

integrator Technomedia Solutions, LCC using Alcorn McBride 

Digital Binloop HD systems to deliver HD visuals as part of the attraction’s 

Beam Walk, Triple HD Theater presentation and Summit 

Shuttle elevator ride. 

Visitors start the Top of the Rock tour by ascending a winding 

staircase from the building’s lobby to a mezzanine. There, they 

can sit on a metal beam and recreate their own version of the 

1932 photograph, “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper.” The photo, reproduced 

giant-size in the lobby, depicts metalworkers digging into 

their lunchboxes on a beam suspended high above the city during 

Rockefeller Center’s construction. 

Visitors look through a glass panel beneath the beam to see 

footage showing what would have been happening below workers 

perched on the beam on that summer’s day when the photo 

was taken. 

“We needed to update the projection system which we originally 

installed,” said Technomedia owner John Miceli. “We had six 

projectors, edge-blended and mapped in a very tight space that 

played off six synchronized servers. We couldn’t find projectors to 

replace them so we rethought the entire process.” 

Technomedia opted for the Alcorn McBride Digital Binloop 

HD multi-track video player with 6 synchronized channels. The 

Digital Binloop HD video player provides up to 8 channels of HD 

video in a compact package designed for continuous use with no 

maintenance. 

“We thought we’d need to reshoot the Beam Walk video, but 

when we used the existing files in the Alcorn player the results 

were outstanding. The same material on the new player showed an 

amazing difference in quality – it just goes to show the difference 

in the quality of the Alcorn product. 

continued on page 40 


37

NEWS 

Student Center at Clarkson University Equipped with Christie MicroTiles 

POTSDAM, NY — The amphitheater at 

Clarkson University’s Student Center has 

been equipped with a video wall from 

Video Visions made with Christie Micro- 

Tiles. Students voted to increase their own 

activity fees to help fund the center, and 

wanted to make it both welcoming and 

technologically advanced. 

The wall combines an array of 80 Christie 

MicroTiles arranged in a 10 wide by 8 

high configuration, media servers, Crestron 

touch panel and 12 inputs (with expansion 

potential for 15), delivering an AV experience 

that gives students information about 

campus events, sports feeds such as hockey 

games, live music from the campus radio 

station, and four HD television feeds. The 

installation is also used by students for video 

games, and is used to create interesting 

backdrops during live performances such 

as comedy nights or concerts. 

“Our school is very technology-focused, 

so it was important for us to have 

state-of-the-art multimedia,” said Kevin 

Lynch, chief information officer at Clarkson. 

“We’re especially pleased that our design 

students can use the wall as a canvas 

for their own work. It gives them a learning 

experience on the latest in digital display 

technology. It’s also easy enough to program, 

so that anyone with good laptop 

skills can do it.” 

The installation begins 

on the main floor of 

the amphitheater, and 

rises upward. It is easily 

seen throughout the center, 

including from some 

opera-style boxes at the 

side. Students check the 

Christie MicroTiles video 

wall regularly as they walk 

from one class to the next, 

and officials sometimes 

joke that the content is so 

compelling it’s hard to get 

people back to their work 

or studies. 

Clarkson University’s student center amphitheater 

Impact Video 

Provides Displays For 

Nickelodeon’s Kids 

Choice Awards 

2011 Kids Choice Awards 

BURBANK, CA — Impact Video was called 

upon to provide the Nickelodeon TV Network 

with large screen video displays for the 

2011 Kids Choice Awards. This year’s show was 

broadcast live on April 2, 2011 from the Galen 

Center at USC in downtown Los Angeles, 

where talent from across the entertainment 

industry gathered to honor their youngest 

fans. The kids were in control as their voting 

across all categories determined the evening’s 

winners. 

Production designer Steve Bass of Los 

Angeles, CA based Hasbas Entertainment, explained 

that the set design was “inspired by 

Japanese pop consumerism. The bright lights 

and bold colors you might see in Tokyo. Video 

content is such an important element in communicating 

the stylistic frenzy of that market.” 

The primary video elements included 

three 13-by-24-foot double-stacked Barco 

20,000 lumen HD rear projection displays, a 

Panasonic HD Astrovision LED screen (15.76 

by 36.68 feet) and another one measuring 

7.88-by-13.1-feet, and seven columns of 

19.73-by-6.57-foot Martin LC 2140 LED displays. 

Additional video elements included 

elation 1024 SMD LED panels mounted to circular 

trusses and eight Panasonic 42-inch HD 

Plasma displays mounted to podiums on the 

multi-level performance stage. 

All of the video displays integrated a myriad 

of video elements that allowed the Nickelodeon 

Network to make great use of the multiple 

screen elements for presenter packages 

and video playback during live performances. 

All video screens were used to either playback 

awards packages, display video backgrounds 

for changing set looks and show logos or the 

live image magnification of musical performances. 


NEWS 

David Guetta U.K. Tour Gets Assist from XL Video 

David Guetta tours U.K. with XL Video 

LONDON — XL Video supplied 119 panels 

of Pixled F-30 LED screen — totaling 114 

square meters of surface area, plus crew for 

DJ David Guetta’s recent U.K. tour, his first 

carrying a full technical production. 

Ben Brett, Guetta’s show/visuals designer, 

specified the F-30 and developed control 

software, Pilot, to run the screen visuals. For 

this tour, in addition to the screen content, 

Pilot was running a back wall of 60 LED moving 

lights positioned upstage of the rear section 

of F-30 screen. 

The back screen was made from 105 

panels of F-30. In front of the DJ booth, there 

was a smaller screen made up of 14 panels. 

With visuals flowing across both surfaces simultaneously, 

it gave the shows a 3D digital 

effect. 

Pilot was running on a MacBook Pro that 

was connected directly to the Pixled F-30 

processors via DVI fiber. Offering near zero 

latency, virtually no image loss and uninterrupted 

by any scan conversions or other 

devices, the data signal gives a pure pixelby-pixel 

reproduction of the unrendered 

content. 

“This is a new and innovative approach 

to running visuals with a real edge,” said 

Tim Riley, XL Video’s project manager. “It’s a 

very exciting to work with Ben and his team 

at Pilot (also the company name) and see 

them in action as the show unfolds, and the 

audience who start feeding off the sounds, 

visuals and all the positive energies flying 

around the room.” 

Because Guetta’s set is never the same, 

the visuals are all generated on-the-fly. 

Some are sound-triggered as certain textual 

elements of the show need to appear onscreen 

at specific times. 

Brett chose the Pixled F-30 surface for 

the tour because of its transparency — so 

lighting could be blasted through for additional 

dynamics — and also because of the 

neon-like color reproduction of the pixels, 

together with its depth and texture as a 

scenic element when combined with their 

content. 

The Pixled F-30 was designed to be 

portable, easy to rig and rugged enough 

to withstand life on the road. XL Video has 

massive stocks of all the surfaces offered by 

this very versatile brand. 

Matt Doughtly, who worked for XL along 

with screen technician Gareth Manicom, operated 

the Pilot-controlled system on tour. 

Recently, Jonathan (Leggy) Armstrong 

joined the Guetta visuals team as lighting 

designer. Neg Earth provided lighting gear; 

Alan Green was the production manager; 

and Adlib provided sound. 

Seattle’s Experience Music 

Project (EMP) Equipped 

with High-Res LED 

Display for Sky Church 

Music Venue 

SEATTLE — Seattle’s Experience Music 

Project (EMP), housed in a 140,000-squarefoot 

Frank O. Gehry-designed building that 

has the striking appearance of a monumental 

sculpture set amid the backdrop of the Seattle 

Center. And there are plenty of striking 

visuals inside as well. 

A key focal point within the nonprofit 

EMP’s weirdly undulating structure is the music 

venue, Sky Church, and its curved, 60-by- 

33-foot 7mm indoor LED display. 

Spanning the width of Sky Church, the 

Barco C7 black package LED screen, with HD+ 

resolution, was recently unveiled for the Nirvana: 

Taking Punk to the Masses exhibition. 

Although it contains more than six times 

the number of LEDs as the previous LED display, 

Barco’s C7 uses less power, which kept 

the need for additional electrical or HVAC upgrades 

to a minimum. 

Sky Church and its new LED display will 

be used to showcase a wide variety of media, 

including concert footage, short films, live 

feeds of museum events and programs, as 

well as video support for private events, live 

concerts and film screenings. 


39

NEWS 

Tsinghua University Marks 100 

Years with 3D Projection Display 

The projection on the façade of one of Tsinghua University’s 

main buildings. 

SHANGHAI, China — Tsinghua University 

bracketed its 100th anniversary celebration in 

April with 3D animated projection displays at 

the start and conclusion of the festivities. The 

animated graphics were mapped to one of 

the university’s main building’s architectural 

features to create the illusion that the building 

itself was moving and morphing along with the 

imagery. 

Sha Xiaolan, the chief lighting designer of 

the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing 

Olympic Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asia 

Games, led the celebration’s overall lighting design, 

working with Chu Xiaobin, a professor 

at the Academy of Arts & Design, who served 

as the event’s video projection planner. 

The project required four 30,000-lumen 

projectors, which “had to be combined effectively,” 

Sha Xiaolan noted. “Image requirements 

and the building’s structure must be 

aligned precisely,” Chu Xiaobin added. “The 

adjustment process fine-tunes details, aligns 

pixels for parts of the image, and blends the 

image frame.” Barco XLM HD30 projectors 

were chosen for the task. Bright, a local video 

and audio equipment supplier, also played a 

key role. 

“The audience was immediately amazed 

when the projection came onto the main building,” 

said Ms. Zhao Hong, the supervisor of Tsinghua’s 

anniversary party and deputy head of 

the Tsinghua Arts Centre and headmaster’s office. 

“The images were clear, colorful, dynamic 

and creative. Barco’s equipment met the stringent 

requirements of this program beautifully. 

Furthermore, Barco’s service team provided 

support and security to ensure the program ran 

smoothly.” 


AV Concepts Sets New Mark for 3D 

Holographic Projection 

LAS VEGAS — AV Concepts was involved 

in the presentation of the largest 3D holographic 

projection yet. On a surface spanning 

nearly 2,000 square feet at a recent 

corporate event, visitors could experience a 

3D holographic projection without the need 

for 3D glasses. To prepare for this installation, 

AV Concepts constructed a test rig inside the 

San Diego Convention Center, pictured here. 

“The unique nature of this particular rig 

structure required several engineering revisions 

to support the 100-foot-wide-stage,” 

noted Joe Russo, director of 

technology. “Working with truss 

and rigging design engineers, 

the proper system was developed 

to accommodate the massive 

frame needed to support 

the holographic screen.” 

To create the effect, AV Concepts 

produced an on-site highdefinition 

video shoot with VIP 

executives who were filmed and 

converted into holograms for a 

live, on-stage interaction with 

the CEO during his presentation. 

AV Concepts used 14 Christie HD18 projectors 

controlled by four Christie Vista Spyder 

systems. AV Concepts also used its new 

4-camera high definition camera package 

with two additional robotic cameras for specialty 

pick up shots. 

AV Concepts’ San Diego office houses a 

demo theater to support Musion 3D holographic 

consultation, development, and live 

demonstrations, in addition to virtual 3D 

Scenery and projection-mapping applications. 

AV Concepts’ larger-than-life dragon hologram 

London Stock Exchange Atrium Equipped with New Video Wall Display 

Double rows of LED video lead to the main video wall, with 

Christie MicroTiles used throughout the installation. 

LONDON — The London Stock Exchange 

has started staging a new Market Open Ceremony, 

with visual support from 508 Christie 

MicroTiles. CMS consultant Jerry Collins recommended 

their use, and Christie partner Focus 

21 Visual Communications Ltd. won the bid for 

installation. 

The tiles replace The Source, a moving sculpture 

previously installed in the Atrium. Upon entering, 

visitors see dual rows of MicroTiles strips, 

each consisting of 29 and 31 MicroTiles, leading 

to a video wall with 132 MicroTiles in an 11 by 

12 array. The video wall, in unison with the other 

MicroTiles arrays, streams a variety of content 

throughout the day including live news and market 

updates from CNBC. 

Six Christie Spyder X20 processors manage 

the displays with content from a variety of 

sources, including Scala Infochannel. A Crestron 

controller manages lighting, audio and live camera 

feeds, and orchestrates an automated opening 

and closing ceremony of the market. Another 

MicroTiles video wall (an 8 by 6 array) on the balcony 

overlooking the Atrium can mimic the content 

on the main video wall. 

On the ground level, there is a mosaic of 46 

MicroTiles of different depths and heights. Outside 

of the Atrium, visitors are kept updated with 

another set of four columns of MicroTiles (a two 

by four array). 

Adeel Saeed, head of corporate technology 

services at London Stock Exchange Group, credited 

the installation as “innovative and exciting.” 

Rockefeller Center Attraction Gets AV Support from Alcorn McBride 

continued from page 37 

“Now, when people sitting on the 

beam look below them through the glass 

and onto the projection surface they see 

everything in scale and in great resolution. 

The Digital Binloop HD player works great 

and is very solid; the client is very happy 

with it and the attraction has been nominated 

for a national award of technological 

excellence.” 

Alcorn McBride’s products also served 

as the playback system for the Triple HD 

Theater where a trio of HD projection 

screens display four-minute movies about 

John D. Rockefeller and his vision for Rockefeller 

Center, the history of NBC Studios 

and what it’s like to be one of the Rockettes. 

Next, visitors take the Summit Shuttle 

elevator to the Top of the Rock and its 

Observation Deck. During the just-underone-minute 

trip. blue lights illuminate 

each passing floor and historic images 

flash rapidly onto the elevator ceiling, an 

effect that gives the impression that the 

elevator is being hurtled through time. 

Technomedia replaced old hard drive 

units with an Alcorn Digital Binloop HD 

system for the projection show in the elevator. 

“When the ceiling of the elevator 

goes clear we project onto the membrane 

famous moments, including scenes from 

Saturday Night Live,” explains Miceli. “Four 

edge-blended projectors project down 

from above the elevator; when visitors arrive 

at the top the show ends and the door 

opens.” 



NEW PRODUCTS 

Acclaim Interactive Cat Walk Panel LED Screen 

Acclaim’s interactive Cat Walk Panel 40mm pixel 

pitch video panels features 25 full-color 5050 SMD LEDs. 

Each 7.88 by 7.88 inch (200 by 200 mm) panel has 25 

full-color 5050 SMD LEDs that can respond to Touch Interface 

Control. The panels, compatible with DMX-512/ 

DMX-1000K, can be linked in multiples. The panels use 

12-bit color processing, have a 1953 Hz refresh rate and 

offer a 120° viewing angle. The LEDs will last for 50,000 

hours under normal operating conditions. The power 

draw is 12 watts per panel, and each panel weighs 0.5 

lb./ 225g. 

Acclaim Lighting • 323.213.4626 • acclaimlighting.com 

Christie Mirage WU-L WUXGA DLP 3D Projector 

The Christie Mirage WU-L WUXGA DLP 3D 

projector uses a solid-state LED light engine to 

project 2D and 3D visualizations. The 1-chip DLP 

with RGB LED, the first Mirage Series projector 

to use solid-state LED illumination, has an estimated 

60,000-hour life cycle (approximately 6.5 

years). The LED light engine also reduces heat 

and energy consumption. The warping and 

edge-blending capabilities of Christie Twist II are 

standard on the Christie Mirage WU-L. The light 

engine’s embedded Christie ArrayLOC feature is 

designed to reduce the need for recalibrations. 

The WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution Christie Mirage WU-L offers dual input 3D mode for 

passive to active conversion, maintaining 3D video content at 120Hz. The unit also supports 

frame-doubled 3D content from 48-60Hz per eye. Rated at 600 ANSI lumens, the Christie Mirage 

WU-L provides up to 1400:1 contrast ratio full on/full off. 

Christie • 866.880.4462 • christiedigital.com 

Roland VR-5 Conversion Utilities 

Roland Systems Group (RSG) has released a 

Mac image converter utility for its VR-5 AV Mixer, 

which lets users convert still images, video and 

audio into and from the format used by the VR- 

5’s internal SD card-based player and recorder, 

and the company said a VR-5 Image Converter 

for Windows would be available soon. The Roland 

VR-5 is an integrated audio mixer and video 

switcher with built-in recorder/player for live 

production and web streaming. Current formats 

supported in the VR-5 Conversion software include 

.avi, .mpg, .wvm, .mp4, .dv, .mov with resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 pixels. Still image 

conversion support includes .bmp, .jpg, .png with file sizes up to 6400 x 4800 pixels. Audio 

formats supported for conversion include .wav, .aiff, .mp3 with sampling rates of 44.1 kHz, and 

48 kHz. 

Roland Systems Group • 360-746-2650 • rolandsystemsgroup.com 

Vaddio ProductionVIEW HD MV Camera Control 

Console 

Vaddio, makers of the ProductionVIEW HD 

camera control console, have announced the 

new ProductionVIEW HD MV console with new 

processing technology that allows for multiviewer 

capabilities and digital inputs/outputs. 

Combined with the new TeleTouch Multiviewer 

Touch Screens, users can switch all live feeds 

and create up to 12 video thumbnails of preset 

shots by touching the monitor. The “video 

thumbnails” help users identify and recall preset 

camera positions on a per-input basis in the preview window. 

Vaddio • 763.971.4400 • vaddio.com

VIDEO WORLD 


Something New in the Toolkit 

— 3D on Stage 

By PaulBerliner 

There’s no question that 3D projection 

is solidly entrenched in the 

digital cinema world, as 3D films 

continue to spur increased ticket sales 

at the box office. At home, in your living 

room, it’s another story altogether, and 

even though 3D channels are springing 

up like weeds, sales of 3D sets are lessthan-stellar 

(but that’s a rant for a future 

column). 

In our own staging realm, for both 

live and corporate events, the use of 

3D is making inroads, albeit slowly. The 

caveat is that clients need to be budget 

aware, technology aware and content 

aware — beyond their current levels 

with 2D productions. In addition, clients 

need to ensure that they research 

the right “3D savvy” staging companies. 

To gauge the current use of 3D on 

stage, I spoke with two industry professionals 

with core businesses at different 

ends of the staging spectrum — yet 

they each have the chops to speak from 

a foundation of solid 3D experience. I 

asked them about 3D trends and tips, 

and their thoughts on the adoption of 

this new trick in our staging toolkit. 

Savvy Clients, Great Content 

John Wiseman 

is CEO 

of Chaos Visual 

Productions 

(chao 

s v i s u a l . 

com), with 

h e a d q u a r - 

ters in Burbank, 

CA. As 

an industry 

John Wiseman 

pioneer, John’s live event expertise runs 

deep — with groups such The Who, Rolling 

Stones, Metallica, Genesis and many 

more. John’s company was also instrumental 

in a remarkable 3D production 

that almost went live — Michael Jackson’s 

This is It tour. 

“The big 3D production we staged 

for Michael Jackson was the very first 

3D LED wall,” said Wiseman. “It was 90 

feet wide and 30 feet tall, and it was 

absolutely spectacular. We selected a 

WinVision 8mm LED wall, with a special 

3D application developed by Chaos and 

Kerner Labs in Marin, CA. It was a true 

heartbreak that the show didn’t hit the 

road.” 

Since that point, Wiseman notes that 

there’s been a great deal of interest in 

3D, but oftentimes, it’s an afterthought, 

and not properly included in the client’s 

planning. “To do 3D correctly, it’s 

all about content. You need a budget 

to create great 3D content, and both 

the time and budget to convert existing 

2D to 3D. For a big arena event, you 

should also be savvy enough to arrange 

a sponsorship to cover the cost of the 

glasses — those that will be given out 

at the show. In place of sponsorship, a 

small surcharge on the ticket price can 

also cover it, but like any good show, 

planning is everything. That’s not just 

specific to 3D,” emphasized Wiseman, 

“it’s specific to any show — but with 3D, 

your bang for the buck goes a lot farther 

with time, planning and vision.” 

I asked John about the technology, 

and specifically, once staging companies 

and clients get accustomed to the 

complexity, will we see an increase in 

the use of 3D. “Right now, there are 

several artists we’re talking to about 

3D, and they’re very serious about it — 

but I don’t think complexity is the right 

word,” explained Wiseman. “It certainly 

requires sound planning, but there’s 

nothing complex about it. You need the 

forethought and the vision, and the creative 

means to realize a great concept.” 

Active and Passive 

Les Goldberg is CEO of LMG, Inc. (lmg. 

net). Headquartered in Orlando, FL, 

LMG runs several business units that 

offer everything from permanent installs 

to concert touring and corporate 

events. Just prior to my interview with 

“It’s being driven by the younger generation, 

and what they’re used to, and what 

their expectations are.” 

—John Wiseman 

Goldberg, he noted that his company 

had just confirmed another corporate 

show that included “projected” 3D elements, 

rather than LED. 

By way of background, a pair of 3D 

glasses uses one of two technologies 

to visually separate the left and right 

images. “Passive” glasses use special 

polarized lenses, but the left eye’s lens 

is polarized differently than the right. 

“Active” glasses, on the other hand, 

have a built-in electronic shutter that is 

synchronized to the projector. 

“Our first experience with 3D was 

a collaboration with Depalma Productions 

and Discovery Communications, 

for their Discovery Upfront event which 

promoted the launch of the Discovery 

3D channel,” said Goldberg. “The 3D 

portion of the event was unique, because 

they used active glasses. When 

you work with projected stereoscopic 

3D, active glasses can cost $150 a pair 

or more, and most clients don’t have 

the ability to pay that kind of money to 

outfit an audience. So, from my experience, 

the majority of 3D shows opt to 

use passive technology, and this is the 

better solution for the live events industry 

— especially when dealing with 

large audiences.” 

“ A n o t h e r 

driving factor 

for passive 

3D presentations 

is 

that you can 

utilize your 

e x i s t i n g 

projector inv 

e n t o r y 

Les Goldberg 

with only 

the addition of inexpensive polarizing 

filters,” explained Goldberg. “This also 

enables a very simple transition from 2D 

to 3D elements. Many of our clients also 

opt for a passive 3D workflow, due the 

ability to deploy online backup projectors 

as part of their system design.” 

Goldberg went on to explain his 

“big three” for staging a successful 3D 

event — tools, education, and testing. 

“We’ve figured out many ways to 

approach 3D,” said Goldberg, “but as 

a priority, you have to have the tools 

to understand how stereoscopic 3D 

works, and you need an educated staff 

to make it happen. It’s also important 

to work closely with the client — to be 

certain that their video deliverables 

meet the playback requirements. For 

3D shows, test files are not an option, 

they’re a basic requirement.” 

As a staging company tasked with 

taking someone else’s vision and putting 

it on screen, Goldberg also sees a 

slow, steady upturn in the use of 3D. 

“Consumer adoption rates dictate industry 

direction,” he said. “When people 

wanted HD, suddenly, we started 

doing shows in HD. And now, 3D is a 

gag that will be around for quite some 

time, and it will probably hit the corporate 

market in a major way, once the 

full range of gear approaches the quality 

we now enjoy with HD. It’s new, it’s 

different, and it provides an exciting 

way to add pizzazz to an event.” 

The Learning Curve 

Goldberg’s advice mirrors that of 

Wiseman’s — careful planning and a keen 

understanding of the technology is key. 

“We live in the world of what’s new and 

exciting, but there’s always risk,” said Goldberg. 

“With 3D, you’re dealing with viewing 

angles, stereoscopic image separation, 

depth perception, and many ways to 

accomplish the goal. Like any new emerging 

technology, there’s a learning curve. If 

you elect to include 3D, select a company 

with experience and, by all means, invest 

in time and testing to realize the best results 

— because with 3D, there’s no operator’s 

manual.” 

Wiseman also shared a glimpse of 

what the future might hold — perhaps a 

step beyond 3D, and yet another dimension 

to our staging toolbox. With my own 

“When you work with projected stereoscopic 

3D, active glasses can cost $150 

a pair or more…Passive technology is the 

better solution for large audiences.” 

—Les Goldberg 

broadcast background, I have extensive 

experience with virtual sets, an environment 

in which an artist works on a bluescreen 

stage. The set itself lives inside a 

computer, while a video switcher composites 

the actor and virtual set together, thus 

creating a remarkable visual environment. 

Wiseman sees an even better extension 

of this technology. “I think the next 

big thing is going to be virtual 3D sets 

on stage,” said Wiseman. “Imagine set 

pieces that aren’t really there, but ones 

that an artist can interact with, and walk 

through. And it will all be live, rather 

than blue-screen.” 

In a way, Wiseman summed up how 

3D is ramping up — slowly and carefully, 

and based on audience acceptance. “It’s 

like all things,” noted Wiseman. “It’s being 

driven by the younger generation, 

and what they’re used to, and what their 

expectations are. I didn’t think that 

people would download and watch high 

quality video on three-inch screens, but 

it’s being done today, and it’s clearly a 

paradigm shift in the way things are 

done.” 

Paul Berliner is president of Berliner Productions 

in Davis, CA. If he’s not hiding 

behind his 3D glasses, he can be reached 

at pberliner@plsn.com. 


ROUNDTABLE INTERVIEW 

Designing for nightclubs is vastly different 

then designing for a stage. 

Don’t take our word for it, however 

— PLSN sat down and talked with three 

of the leading club lighting designers out 

there. Each designer has multiple nightclub 

designs under their belts and many 

more in the planning stages. PLSN talked 

with John Lyons from the Lyons Group, Michael 

Meacham from iDesign and Stephen 

Lieberman from SJ Lighting. 

PLSN: How did you begin designing 

lights for nightclubs? 

John Lyons: I started early in the business 

as a nightclub manager and then 

owner. Having worked in some of the larger 

clubs of the time, I had an opportunity 

to observe first-hand the effect that lighting 

and sound had on a dance floor. 

Early on, I was in awed by some wellstaged 

Broadway show or a rock concert. 

Seeing the sound, lighting, rigging and visuals 

being used was inspirational to say 

the least. I though that if I could import 

those methods to my dance floor, I would 

be able to give my clientele a truly unique 

experience. 

Michael Meacham: I started out as a 

DJ back in the mid-1980s, but I have always 

been fascinated with lighting. It was 

much easier to find work as a lighting tech, 

so my first real job was running lights at 

night club. After a while, I started to get 

my own ideas about how the rig should 

look and started some basic designs. As 

time went on, I became more confident 

and challenged myself to come up with 

new ideas, and figured out a way how to 

make it work. 

Stephen Lieberman: I’ve been working 

in nightclubs since I was 15 years old. 

I’ve always been intrigued by the club culture. 

Lighting the clubs happened shortly 

after college. I was working in New York 

for a company that did a lot of club work 

and dance events. I always had an eye for 

visual effects…. I was laying out systems 

right away… they weren’t as sophisticated 

as some of today’s system, but I understood 

the dynamics and layering of different 

effects. 

PLSN: What kind of training do you 

have? 

John Lyons: Mostly on-the-job training. 

The club that I first opened with my brother 

when I was 20 mushroomed into 36 venues. 

I was the gizmo of the family, so I took on all 

of the systems-related aspects of the business. 

I enjoy developing first-time concepts 

in lighting, and that involves self-teaching 

as well as a bit of trial and error. 

Michael Meacham: I was 18 when I 

started working with lighting, so my training 

comes from real-world experience. 

Many years later, as I started getting into 

architectural lighting and bigger consoles, 

I’ve taken classes ranging from Lighting 101 

to grandMA. 

Stephen Lieberman: On the job training… 

I have a BA from University of Arizona, 

which has absolutely nothing to do with 

lighting or any sort of “fine arts.” My OCD 

personality has been the driving force in 

developing my skills. The most important 

elements of this field can’t be taught, you 

need to be able to have a vision of what 

works — and then you need to execute it. 

PLSN: What is distinct about lighting 

nightclubs? 

John Lyons: The two-edged sword that 

is nightclub design is that there are no real 

rules. By their very nature, nightclubs and 

their lighting need to be redone on a weekly 

basis. A lighting operator in a nightclub 

needs a basic foundation lighting rig to 

work with, but they also require a sizeable 

toolbox of tricks and effects that they can 

rotate in and out of a show. Thoughtful design 

is one that does not hem the light jock 

in and permits them the freedom to improvise 

on the fly. [When] my partner, Richard 

Worboys, and I approach a design, it is from 

the POV of the operator. 

Michael Meacham: The freedom to be 

as creative as you want. We do not need to 

be as concerned with practical lighting. Instead 

of calculating foot candles for general 

lighting, we can truly think outside of the 

box. Programming plays a major part in our 

designs. When designing a moving light rig 

or a feature installation, we think as programmers, 

“How cool can I make this?” If we 

can keep it interesting to us by pushing our 

creativity, we know that we can make interesting 

to others. 

Stephen Lieberman: Each project is 

unique — no two clubs are the same. When 

I design a system for a nightclub, I am always 

considering the architecture first. 

You never want your system to look like 

an after-thought. You have to have a balance 

in your designs. That balance needs to 

translate internally within the design and 

also externally throughout the rest of the 

project and the other disciplines that are 

involved. 

PLSN: What inspires you when designing a 

nightclub? 

John Lyons: Usually, it is the space itself. 

Whether it’s an empty room or set of blueprints, 

I always seem to gravitate to the thing 

about a space that makes it hard to work with. 

Once I have identified that, I like coming up 

with creative ways to turn it into an unexpected 

asset of the room. I also am inspired when I 

see an opportunity to try something new that 

a particular space is the right canvas for. 

Michael Meacham: Again, when it 

comes to designing clubs, you have the opportunity 

in most cases to be as creative as 

you want. I look at the space, the needs of 

the clients and then start the design process. 

Inspiration sometimes comes easy, and other 

times I need to look beyond my comfort zone. 

I can see something that resonates well with 

me and I’ll make a mental note. That can turn 

into an idea or the base for my next feature 

or design. 

Stephen Lieberman: Working in the club 

and festival world, understanding the music 

is the primary factor when designing a system. 

Whether I am putting together a design 

for a club — or a stage for a festival, my inspiration 

comes from many places. It’s difficult 

to just sit in front of a computer day after day 

and create new and innovative designs. To 

truly be inspired, I find that living life to the 

fullest gives me the widest perspective to be 

creative — whether I’m mountain biking in 

the mountains, driving down the highway, 

reading a book or just spending time with my 

family. I am always looking for the intricacies 

in life that catch people’s attention. 

Justin Lang can be reached at jlang@plsn. 

com. 


Designing for Nightclubs 

PLSN: Tell us about two of your most recent nightclub projects, and what makes 

them unique? 

John Lyons 

By JustinLang 

Encore Beach Club 

Haze Nightclub at Aria 

Encore Beach Club, Encore at Wynn, Las Vegas, NV 

A real chameleon of a space. By day it operates as an enormous pool 

deck replete with cabanas, sunbathers and gaming. Much of the lighting is 

hidden in the architecture of the space. At night, the lighting activates and 

transforms it into a high-energy nightclub. 

Haze Nightclub at Aria, City Center, Las Vegas NV 

Although the space was somewhat irregular, we managed to shoehorn 

a fairly impressive moving rig in. Lots of lighting audio and visual horsepower. 

An incredibly fast and smooth 3D moving truss system. A lighting 

operator’s dream. You could go weeks without repeating the same look 

twice. 


ROUNDTABLE INTERVIEW 


Club 4sixty6 

Marquee 

Beta Nightclub 

Fluxx 


them unique? 

Michael Meacham 


them unique? 

Stephen Lieberman 

4sixty6, West Orange, NJ 

This is another big room club with a lot finesse. I used just about everything in our arsenal 

in the design and implantation. We used [Barco High End Systems] DL.2s to spherical 

map images on a huge mirror ball and created some big wall collage generated images. 

We installed a massive Traxon mirror LED feature wall on the first floor. Hundreds of LEDs 

and other features throughout the interior and exterior are all controlled with e:cue. 

Beta Nightclub, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 

This is a big-box nightclub that we were able to fill with lots of layers of lighting. Having 

the ability to pre visualize the lighting system with grandMA 3D we ensured that all 

the pieces worked within the scale of the club. I designed a figure-eight main truss with 

two moving outer circle trusses, and LED video screens divide on the back wall and front 

of the DJ booth. In between the LED video columns, I used LED battens with individual 

pixel control. 

Marquee Nightclub at The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV 

This club epitomizes everything you would expect to see in a Las Vegas nightclub. From lighting 

effects that fly in and out on variable speed winches, a custom-built 4-foot mirror ball, 30-foottall 

video walls, 3D projection mapping on the curtains, full-color laser system, Kryogenifex LN2 

system, Funktion-One audio. 

Fluxx, San Diego, CA 

Designed by Davis Ink Interior Design, this club really stands out in the San Diego community. 

The lighting system was designed around a pipe structure that we built to complement the shape 

of the dance floor. It looks kind of like a spider web… and what makes it really special is that is 

curved on multiple planes. All of the pipes are lined with 1-foot linear LED — over 500 individual 

pieces are installed to highlight the shape. We also created custom LED infinite mirrors on the 

stage as well as a plethora of moving lights, LED PARs, strobes, fog, DL.2 video projectors, Kryogenifex 

LN2 system, Funktion-One audio. 

Get Your 

FREE 

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Go To: 

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By DanDaley 


THE BIZ 

The New Dynamics of Tour Insurance 

Last year, John Mayer’s Battle Studies 

tour was humming along globally. 

Chaos Visual Productions, 

winner of the 2010 Parnelli Award for 

Video Company of the Year, had assembled 

a complex 50-by-20-foot LED 

video wall composed of 45 Martin LC 

2140 panels with four Barco 20k projectors 

that shot onto a custom screen, as 

well as a four-HD camera system to capture 

and play back the concert to the 

audiences. 

A Fateful Day 

biz 

The Battle Studies tour included 122 

shows in 331 days and traveled through 

the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia 

and New Zealand. But it was a stop at 

30,000-seat concert venue located on 

the grounds of Hershey Park Stadium in 

Hershey, PA on July 25, 2010 that suddenly 

elevated a decision about insurance 

to be the most critical one made 

on the tour. That day, just as the wall 

was up and ready to go, the sky turned 

black and a massive rainstorm and high 

winds literally blew in and destroyed 

the $1-million video wall in a matter of 

seconds. 

The call went to Chaos’ insurance 

carrier, Take1. Adjusters flew in and got 

the show back on the road, literally, replacing 

the damaged equipment. This 

is a scenario that might have seemed 

extreme at the time, but in the wake 

of Mississippi River flooding in May, a 

lethal tornado outbreak in the Southeast 

in April, the March earthquake/ 

tsunami/nuclear reactor disaster in Japan, 

and a devastating earthquake in 

New Zealand last year, natural disasters 

seem to be on the rise, regardless 

of your feelings on global warming. 

And, unfortunately, these catastrophes 

come at a time when the entertainment 

industry remains in a bit of a revenue 

slump, with music touring down 15 percent 

in North America last year, the second 

down year in a row, as per Pollstar. 

A Unique Business 

biz 

I had a chat with Scott Carroll, executive 

vice president and program 

manager at Take1 Insurance, which is 

the entertainment-industry specialist 

division of insurer U.S. Risk. The first 

thing that emerges is that the entertainment 

business is unique enough to 

warrant a highly specialized insurance 

response. In other words, the multi-city 

tour, new club venue or theatrical production 

some are about to embark on 

isn’t the kind of thing you can tack on 

as a rider to your Allstate homeowner’s 

insurance, though that kind of underinsurance 

is rampant when the underwriter 

doesn’t know enough about the 

fine points of those endeavors. Reviewing 

all the sectors that Take1 covers, 

from underwriting film and television 

production, companies, DICE (Documentary, 

Infomercial, Commercial, Educational) 

productions, touring, concert/ 

playhouse venues, concert promotion 

and specialty rental operations focused 

on audio, visual, lighting, sound, grip, 

and production, Carroll makes it clear 

that whoever is insuring these kinds of 

activities and entities needs to know a 

little about what they entail. 

More insurance companies are entering 

specialty markets like these, in 

part because they’re also feeling the 

pinch of the recession and are seeking 

new markets. That has an upside and a 

downside. Those paying the insurance 

premiums are benefiting from added 

competition, but not every insurer is 

necessarily familiar with the ins and 

outs of show biz. “We’re seeing a slowdown 

in insureds across the board, 

in all the entertainment sectors that 

we underwrite,” says Carroll, attributing 

that to businesses closures and to 

other businesses trying to reduce costs 

by self-insuring themselves (essentially 

relying on their own assets to cover any 

damage or liability claims). That might 

actually work for some smaller companies, 

but any service provider that wants 

to work in conventional halls, arenas and 

hotels will generally be required by law 

and regulation (and, in some instances, 

by union contracts) to be able to show 

proof of minimum liability insurance and 

workman’s compensation coverage. 

Keeping Costs Down 

biz 

Carroll says that he and other insurance 

companies have had to become 

more competitive on rates during the 

recession. “In a recession, people still 

want their entertainment, and concerts 

and shows are a big part of that,” he says. 

“There’s more and more competition out 

there to underwrite the bigger shows, 

the ones that are selling tickets, so promoters 

and service providers are benefiting 

from that.” Also helping hold down 

rates is the fact that Live Nation and AEG 

Live have consolidated a larger percentage 

of the concert touring business, and 

they can apply their pricing power to insurance 

as well. 

To differentiate his company from 

the increased competition, Take1 has 

developed a more comprehensive insurance 

package that’s tailored to live 

event production, and he cites the Battle 

Studies incident to back up assertions 

that the servicing of claims is equally 

top-of-the-line. Features of the policies 

include that it automatically applies everywhere 

in the world, without the need 

for additional riders or endorsements; it 

eliminates co-insurance, thus protecting 

100 percent of the insured value of the 

equipment covered; it provides automatic 

replacement cost valuation; it allows 

for separate limits in key individual 

coverage areas like owned equipment, 

equipment rented from others, equipment 

in the insured’s Care Custody and 

Control (CCC), and equipment in transit; 

it offers flood coverage for equipment 

in transit; and offers blanket limits that 

eliminate the need for clients to itemize 

each and every cable and LED panel. 

Insurers have some advantages, 

though, too. For instance, they can track 

the success of various artists and tours 

using a variety of reporting sources, 

including Pollstar and Billboard, targeting 

the most profitable ones. Insurance 

rates and premiums for shows and tours 

are calculated, Carroll explains, based on 

a projected headcount, which itself is 

often based on past performances. The 

laws of supply and demand apply: tours 

and venues that consistently do well at 

the box office get more, and more competitive, 

rate bids while more marginal 

clients may have fewer carrier choices 

and higher insurance premiums. 

Learning from the Past 

biz 

Another factor that’s helped make liability 

coverage more accessible and affordable 

for the entertainment industry 

in general has been better self-policing 

of regulatory compliance and more sophisticated 

risk management by venues. 

“They’ve gotten much better at having 

the proper barricading, better mosh pit 

security, traffic flow, credentialing,” he 

says, singling out Lollapalooza for especially 

improved risk-management skills. 

“The entities that can do well with their 

insurance rates are the ones that engage 

risk management professionals and 

listen to them.” The Station nightclub 

tragedy in 2003 was a wakeup call and 

a turning point for the concert touring 

business and the insurance industry that 

covers it, Carroll agrees. “People have 

become much more vigilant in the wake 

of that,” he says. 

The bottom line is, take advantage 

of some of the pricing dynamics in the 

insurance market at the moment, but 

do it with companies and brokers that 

have an actual understanding of what 

you do for a living. 

E-mail Dan Daley risk-free at ddaley@ 

plsn.com. 


47

FEEDING THE MACHINES 


Do You Know Your State? 

By BradSchiller 

Automated Lighting Programmers must 

be aware of many concepts when programming 

a show. One of the most 

important concepts with any automated 

lighting console is known as tracking. I have 

written many articles and even devoted a 

chapter in my book (The Automated Lighting 

Programmer’s Handbook) to explain this concept, 

as it is essential that programmers completely 

grasp the tracking idea. Once tracking 

is understood, the ability of the programmer 

grows tenfold. However, there is another 

concept that goes hand-in-hand with tracking 

known as state. 

A Little Background Please ftm 

In order to fully understand the idea of 

state, we must first look back at tracking. 

Tracking on an automated lighting console 

simply means that the cues you write only 

store the changes you have made for your fixtures 

and not ALL parameters of all fixtures. 

Data that is not changed from one cue to 

the next will remain the same, since no new 

values are present. This is where the tracking 

comes from. In Figure 1, you can see that fixtures 

3 and 4 have no data recorded within 

Cue 2. So their current value from Cue 1 will 

track into Cue 2. In Cue 3, they each get a 

new value and the previous values are no longer 

tracked. 

So What About the State? ftm 

Lets continue to look at Cue 2. The actual 

cue only contains data for fixtures 1 and 2, so 

this is the cue data. However, Cue 2 on stage 

looks much different than just fixtures 1 and 

2. Due to the result of tracking, Cue 2 also results 

in fixtures 3 and 4 doing something. The 

state of Cue 2 is the data recorded within Cue 

2 plus the results of data tracking into this 

cue. It is vital that programmers understand 

the difference between Cue 2 and the state 

of Cue 2. Have a look at Figure 2. Now you 

can see the difference between the state of 

Cue 2 and the recorded values within Cue 2, 

because I have displayed the tracking values 

in blue-colored text. 

Not On My Console 

ftm 

You might be asking yourself why you 

cannot find a mention of the word “state”  in 

the user manual for your console of choice. 

Well, this is because the terminology is different 

on different consoles, but the concept 

is there; I assure you. Some consoles simply 

refer to state as tracked values, status, or resulting 

values. In addition, most consoles will 

display the tracked values (state) in a specific 

color within the screens. As always, it is important 

to read your user manual to determine 

how your console refers to state. Some 

consoles even let you toggle on and off the 

viewing of the state of a cue. 

I Understand; Now What? ftm 

With an understanding of the concept of 

state, there are many tools that an automated 

lighting programmer can put to use. First 

and foremost, it is because of the state of a 

cue that it appears as it does on stage. So if 

you play a cue and it does not appear as you 

expect, you should ask yourself if this is due 

to the state of the cue. 

For example, imagine you record Cue 5 

with all fixtures in a particular gobo and no 

color. Then you play the cue back and see 

that the gobo looks good, but it is a green color. 

You should be able to understand that this 

is due to the state of Cue 5. You more than 

likely did not record a color, thus the green 

color has tracked in from a previous cue. You 

can quickly solve this by adding in a white 

color value for your fixtures in Cue 5. 

When you are editing cues, you might 

open or load a cue to view it on stage. If you 

simply view Cue 2 from Figure 2, then you will 

only see fixtures 1 and 3. If you view the state 

of Cue 2, then you will see fixtures 1-4. 

Most consoles have a method to view or 

load a cue for editing. Usually there will be 

an option or selection that you can choose to 

either load the cue normally, or load the state 

of the cue. By loading the state of the cue, 

you get what it actually looks like on stage 

instead of only what has changed within that 

particular cue. The decision as to when to 

load the state versus the cue is one that you 

will have to make on a case-by-case basis. 

The Power of Copying State ftm 

One of my favorite uses of state is to copy 

values or cues using state. In Figure 3, I have 

shown the difference of copying Cue 2 to Cue 

4 with and without state. When Cue 2 is simply 

copied to Cue 4 (without state) then Cue 

4 looks nothing like Cue 2. This is because 

values from Cue 3 have tracked into Cue 4. 

However, if Cue 2 is copied to Cue 4 with state, 

then it will look identical on stage to when 

Cue 2 was first played. 

I find copying with state an essential tool 

when working on any production. Often an 

LD will ask for a cue to be repeated later in the 

list. I may or may not remember how I built 

the original cue, but it does not really matter. 

As long as I copy the original cue using state, 

then I know that my copy will appear exactly 

as the original. 

Keeping the Peace with State ftm 

Most tracking consoles also contain a 

function that allows programmers to record 

a change to a cue, insert a cue, or delete a cue 

without affecting the state of the next cue. 

This is often known as “cue only” or “track forwards 

off.” Figure 4 shows the insertion of a 

Cue 2.5 where the values of Cue 3 shown in 

red are the result of tracking before the insertion 

of Cue 2.5. If Cue 2.5 is inserted between 

Cue 2 and 3, then Cue 3 would track the values 

from Cue 2.5 instead of Cue 2 and look 

very different. However, by using “cue only” 

to record Cue 2.5, then the console automatically 

took the results of Cue 1 and 2 tracking 

into Cue 3 and hard-coded this information 

into Cue 3. This way Cue 2.5’s changes only 

affect Cue 2.5 and do not disrupt the tracking 

information that existed before Cue 2.5. 

The state of Cue 3 remains unchanged by the 

insertion of Cue 2.5 

By using the concept of “cue only” or 

“track forwards off” you can safely make 

changes within your cuelist without disrupting 

the previously built cues. For instance, if 

you suddenly were to delete Cue 1, then the 

rest of your cuelist will be different, as certain 

values would have nothing to track from. 

However, if you activate the cue only function 

on your desk as you delete Cue 1, then 

the tracked information will become part of 

Cue 2 and the list will not be affected by the 

deletion. 

Put Your State to Work for You ftm 

The power of state within your cues and 

programming procedures can save you hours 

of work. By understanding the differences 

of a cue with and without state and by using 

the tools of your console, you can easily view, 

record, extract, copy and delete data without 

making huge changes to the look of your 

show. As you learn the state related functions 

of your console, you can apply these tools to 

increase your programming speed and efficiency. 

Make a statement to Brad Schiller at bschiller@ 

plsn.com 

Spot 1 Spot 2 Spot 3 Spot 4 

Cue 1 100% 0% 100% 0% 

Cue 2 50% 100% 

Cue 3 0% 75% 100% 

Figure #1: Four fixtures 


Cue 1 75% 100% 100% 50% 

Cue 2 100% 100% 50% 50% 

Cue 3 100% 100% 50% 100% 

Figure #2: The cue data is black. The state of the fixtures that have no new (black) cue changes is visible in blue. 


Cue 1 Blue Green Blue Red 

Cue 2 Green Green Red Red 

Cue 3 Green Amber Red Blue 

Cue 4 w/o state Green Amber Red Blue 

Cue 4 w/ state Green Green Red Red 

Figure #3: The power of copying state. When Cue 2 is copied with state to Cue 4, the values for Cue 2 and Cue 4 match. 

When Cue 2 is simply copied without state to Cue 4, values from Cue 3 track into the look on stage. 


Cue 1 Blue Green Blue Red 

Cue 2 Green Green Red Red 

Cue 2.5 Orange Orange Orange Orange 

Cue 3 Green Amber Red Blue 

Figure #4: By using “cue only” to record Cue 2.5, the changes from Cue 2.5 don’t track into Cue 3 from Cue 2. 


ByDebiMoen 


DESIGNER WATCH 

Mr. Nice Guy on Alice; Yanni Right-Sizes His Tour; 

McCartney Gets Back; More Quick Cues 

Anyone who knows LD Seth Jackson 

knows he is the original “Mr. 

Nice Guy.” So it came as startling 

to many — including Jackson himself — 

when he was asked to design the production 

for Alice Cooper’s No More Mr. Nice 

Guy tour. “My reaction was, ‘Wait…Huh?” 

Jackson says. But his background in legitimate 

theatre attracted the original shock 

rocker’s team, as they were taking this 

new production in a new direction. 

“When the conversation began with 

manager Shep Gordon, the direction was 

immediately focused on creating a show 

free of the trappings of the standard 

rock concert,” Jackson explains. “There 

would be no bumps to every snare beat. 

No flash and trash. A good portion of 

the show would be done in variations of 

white light, holding back saturated colors 

for specific moments. There would be 

no graphic focuses of beams in the audience; 

everything would remain inside the 

‘fourth wall.’ There would absolutely be 

no video.” 

Jackson specifically watched only the 

original Welcome to My Nightmare to get 

a feel for Alice — but purposely stayed 

away from everything else. “The fresher I 

was with the material, the better.” 

The result created a show more 

unique and exciting than anything he’s 

done before. “We experimented with bold 

ideas, especially for a hard rock show, and 

the result is striking. At one point during 

programming, Brian Jenkins (programmer) 

screamed out, ‘How is this working 

so well? Nobody uses these colors!’ That is 

what we wanted. Success.” 

Others on his lighting team include 

assistant Nathan Scheuer and lighting 

director Andy May, along with the staff 

and facilities of Webster University’s Conservatory 

of Theatre Arts for the “lab projects” 

that led to their finished product. 

Yanni Right-Sizes World Tour dw 

Yanni’s big sound and big orchestra 

usually calls for big productions. But 

things are different on this world tour. 

Wrapping up their U.S. dates, LD Bud 

Horowitz had time to talk about what’s 

different this time around. 

“This time around the show has been 

structured to play 3,000-5,000 theatres 

rather than arenas. For one, we really 

wanted to increase the ‘intimacy’ factor,” 

Horowitz says. “We are also trying to 

structure the show — both in terms of 

the size of the orchestra and the technical 

size of the production — to make it easier 

and more cost effective to tour overseas. 

There is no video touring with the show. 

We are doing I-Mag in certain larger venues. 

We have scaled back the audio and 

the lighting systems to make the overseas 

shows a lot easier. This version really does 

focus more on Yanni and the music than 

the overall scale of the show.” 

Yanni has already performed this year 

in Mexico and South America. More international 

touring in Eastern Europe, Asia 

and Latin America starts in September. 

McCartney Gets Back on Tour dw 

Paul McCartney’s Up and Coming tour 

played Peru, Chile and Brazil in May for 

stadium shows. LD LeRoy Bennett’s 80- 

foot stage design reflected the fact that 

thousands would want to see the former 

Beatle up close — so the show had to be 

larger than life. In fact, behind the stage 

on the 31-truck tour were eight working 

offices and the catering camp, which 

served 480 vegetarian meals daily. Mc- 

Cartney’s camp hired 200 local workers 

per night to help the 170-person crew 

with the shows. The U.S. dates start June 

10 in Las Vegas. 

No Console-ation Needed for STP dw 

Stone Temple Pilots LD Alastair Bramall-Watson 

shares an experience to 

which many LDs can relate. 

“I was doing an STP show the other 

night, and some bozo spilt an entire pint 

of water into the faders of the console. 

The desk stayed on, so rather than disturb 

it, as the show was due to start in two 

minutes, we carried on with the moist 

console,” he says, with fingers crossed. 

“The console lasted through the show and 

didn’t fail at all. After the show, we tipped 

out the water.” And breathed a sigh of relief, 

no doubt. The experience could serve 

as a possible QC test for lighting console 

manufacturers. However, Watson has one 

caveat: “I wouldn’t recommend more than 

a pint, though.” 

The Long and Dusty Road 

dw 

Few lighting designers become salesmen. 

Dusty Hudgins is one of those few 

people. His story is much like many of those 

in the early days of concert touring, being in 

the right place at the right time. It was 1978, 

and Hudgins was bored with his job as a research 

chemist. Reading a story in the Dallas 

paper about a rock ‘n’ roll concert company 

led him to apply for a job — without any 

sound or lighting skills. “The only question I 

was asked was, ‘If I told you to be on a plane 

in four hours and you would be gone for a 

month, could you do it?’ I said ‘Yes,’ and that 

was that.” Two weeks later, he was on the 

Genesis tour. “Career paths” in the industry 

referred to the road you were literally on 

back then... 

No more “flash and trash” for Alice Cooper’s latest tour. 

“I did not know a 6x19 (leko) from 827 

(Roscolene color), but I learned quickly,” Hudgins 

says. A succession of tours followed as Hudgins 

moved up the ranks, adding crew chief, lighting 

tech and then LD to his title: Willie Nelson, P-Funk 

(“my first tour with artistic freedom,” he says), the 

Beach Boys, Ringo & His All Starr Band, Kenny 

Rogers. But it was a chance inquiry into a moving 

Seth Jackson 

mirror fixture in Austin that landed him a sales 

job offer in 1992. He wasn’t looking for it, but it 

was a way to spend more time at home. His sales 

career began, but he also found time to run the 

lights at a local church to keep his chops in the 

art of lighting. 

Fast forward light years later, and his recent 

six-year stint with another lighting manufacturer 

has come to an end. What’s next? As this issue 

went to press, that was an open question. For 

an update, you can email him at dustyhudgins@ 

gmail.com. 

Quick Cues... 

dw 

LD Ryan Murphy is driving the design 

of The Cars’ reunion tour......Britney Spears is 

gearing up for her new world tour, Femme Fatale. 

LD Tom Beck, lighting programmer Dan 

Boland and lighting director Marty Postma 

will take the show through the U.S. and Canada 

starting mid-June through late August. 

Tell Debi Moen about your lighting project, and 

you tell the world. Reach her at dmoen@plsn. 

com. 


49

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ADVERTISER’S INDEX 

COMPANY PG# PH URL COMPANY PG# PH URL 

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Checkers Industrial Prod. 12 800.438.9336 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-112 

City Theatrical, Inc. 17 800.230.9497 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-114 

Clay Paky 5 609.812.1564 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-115 

Creative Stage Lighting Co., Inc. 18 518.251.3302 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-118 

Daktronics 46 800.843.5843 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-217 

Doug Fleenor Design 17 888.436.9512 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-119 

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ETCP 33 212.244.1505 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-123 

Lex Products 29 800.643.4460 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-169 

Light Source, The 4 803.547.4765 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-305 

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Martin Professional 45 954.858.1800 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-135 

Mega-Stage, Inc. 38, 39 888.359.4001 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-218 

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PR Lighting, LTD 3 86.20.3995.2379 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-138 

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Screenworks NEP 13 800.868.2898 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-531 

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Show FX Inc 12 562.903.7285 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-322 

Source One Digital 24 800.898.3022 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-404 

Stage Crew 49 702.682.9514 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-318 

Stage Gear 41 714.632.7170 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-508 

Staging Dimensions 19 866.591.3471 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-145 

Strictly F/X CVR3 847.290.0272 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-320 

Sumner 24 800.999.6910 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-526 

Swisson 47 805.443.7834 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-242 

TMS 7 402.592.5522 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-177 

Techni-Lux CVR2 407.857.8770 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-147 

Tyler Truss 6, 48 317.485.5456 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-148 

Upstage Video 37 610.323.7200 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-356 

Ultratec 2 888.655.6887 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-408 

Weiff Trussing 15 86.20.8479.0012 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-530 

Wire Free Led 9 407.402.7430 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-521 

Yellow Jacket 18 888.357.7051 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-512 

Xtreme Structures & Fabrication 33 903.438.1100 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-159 

MARKETPLACE 

City Theatrical 50 800.230.9497 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-114 

Drape Kings 50 888.372.7363 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-484 

European Dynamic Lighting 50 818.679.6768 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-510 

Event Services 51 203.270.0102 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-529 

Georgia Case 50 888.422.2737 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-480 

Global Special Effects 51 256.229.5551 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-445 

Gobo Man 50 866.391.4626 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-487 

Hybrid Cases/New York Cases 50 800.645.1707 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-298 

InLight Gobos 50 877.589.GOBO http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-488 

Light Parts 50 512.873.7106 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-278 

Light Source Inc. 50 248.685.0102 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-180 

Lightronics 50 757.486.3588 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-132 

Pro Production Services 51 602.437.0221 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-517 

RC4 Wireless Dimming/Theatre Wireless 50 866.258.4577 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-153 

Roadshow 50 800.861.3111 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-154 

TOV Imports DOC 50 718.237.2299 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-509 

Upstaging, Inc. 50 815.899.9888 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-158 

Upstate Case 50 315.732.3226 http://plsn.hotims.com/36253-492 

2011 JUNE PLSN 51

LD-AT-LARGE 


By NookSchoenfeld 

Floundering on a Sea Cruise 

I 

just got back from taking a cruise. I 

didn’t go for a relaxing vacation, mind 

you, I went to work. There’s a new 

trend now where bands are chartering 

these ships and creating a musical ride 

for a few days. This particular ride consisted 

of 2,500 diehard fans who boarded 

the vessel for four days of alcohol 

infused, music blaring, full-on debauchery. 

That is for the people who paid. For 

those of us who get paid to control the 

theatrical lighting on one of these floating 

tubs, it’s quite an exercise in futility. I 

believe the majority of these ships start 

out with some pretty sweet light rigs. 

Somewhere along the way they seem to 

go to hell in a bucket. 

That Queasy Feeling… 

plsn 

The upkeep of these once-divine 

lighting systems is pretty non-existent. 

The bottom line seems to be that once 

the ships are out to sea and a show is 

programmed, nobody wants to dump a 

dime into maintaining fixtures. A typical 

showroom day may have bingo games in 

the morning followed by the afternoon 

magic act, leading up to the evening’s 

performance of some musical act. A ship 

may just have two lone lighting techs, 

but they are never in the same room together. 

Reason being that somebody has 

to work the lights in the lounge while another 

works the showroom. 

The ship does provide food and a 

whopping $2,000-per-month paycheck 

for these techs. This may be a deal for 

an up-and-coming tech to earn while he 

learns. But for the guest LD that I am, I 

gotta laugh just to keep from crying. 

When I advanced the gig, they e- 

mailed me a beautiful light plot showing 

me a well-configured design. The showroom 

had 60 Vari*Lite VL2500 fixtures, 

10 VL3500 spots and some Cyberlights 

from Barco’s High End Systems. A grand- 

MA console was listed on the plot, and I 

COMING NEXT 

MONTH... 

Inside Theatre 

Chris Rock on Broadway: 

The Motherf**ker with 

the Hat 

Buyers Guide 

Lekos, Ellipsoidals and 

ERS fixtures...Oh My! 

Video Digerati 

Anatomy of a Trade 

Show Booth 

A soft plume of haze filters out from stage 

left as the artist walks up to his mic. The 

tech then leaves me to pursue why the F- 

100s are not working. Within seconds, 

they are spewing smoke everywhere, and 

no one on stage can see. And, of course, I 

have no control to extinguish them. 

was thrilled. I was actually thinking that 

I might just be able to clone my whole 

show into the console, then sit back 

and have a four-day easy ride. But then I 

walked into the joint. 

Wanted: More Faders 

plsn 

The first lie I encounter is sitting in 

the control room. I have a grandMA light 

for a console. They work great, but it has 

half the faders that I require for a good 

rock show. Now that I’m out at sea, it’s a 

little late to acquire a good desk. 

What the hell, I figure, I’m on a boat 

with a cold beer. I look my tech in the 

eye and say “Fire up the fixtures, mate, 

let’s take the rig for a ride.” He looks me 

straight in the face and says, “You have 

to do that.” I’m a little confused now, so 

I need to inquire why I should be the 

one that has to find all the breakers and 

switch them all on. He replies that he 

doesn’t really know where the breakers 

for the fixtures are, but there is a dimmer 

room per se, if I’d like to snoop around. 

Now I’m confused. He explains that, 

first, I have to turn on all the fixtures on 

the console, then lamp them all on. So I 

figure “Ahh, they must have some nondim 

relays utilized to turn the power on 

to the moving lights.” So I fire up the console 

and start searching the patch. 

I’ve never seen anything like this. 

There must be 1,000 fixtures patched in 

the show file. Triple the amount hung. 

There are pages full of macros that activate 

channels which trigger pyro cues, 

smoke machines, confetti drops, even 

macros triggering trapezes to fly in. All 

kinds of neat stuff I can use to kill people 

simply by pressing the wrong button 

on my console. And all the palettes are 

locked somehow. 

“Open Sesame” 

plsn 

Every macro, cue list, and preset palette 

is locked with a password so nobody 

can mess with the show file. I finally get 

to the bottom of the patch and find 8 

channels that are labeled, “1st Electric, 

Balcony movers” etc. Yup, these channels 

activate a relay hidden in some dark 

room that will apply the electricity to the 

movers I so desire. I then find macros 

that, when hit with my finger, apply electricity 

to the fixtures. Viola, I’m in. Thirty 

minutes later, I have everything powered 

up. 

Nobody knows the password to unlock 

the palettes. The NSP processors are 

locked in another room somewhere, and 

my tech not only doesn’t know where, 

he’s unsure of what I am even talking 

about. There are no patch sheets anywhere, 

so starting a new blank show is 

impossible for me without taking about 

48 hours to ring out the system. 

The tech is almost in tears as he begs 

me not to wipe his show from the console. 

He’s not sure if it is backed up on 

a floppy disc, and he’s afraid to change 

shows. The USB drive does not work on 

this desk and we have no floppy disks. So 

I copy his show file to a new name since, 

basically, that’s the only way I can turn 

on the lights anyway. 

Not Exactly Ship-Shape plsn 

I turn on the fixtures and start testing 

them out. Out of 86 yoke lights, I have 

an even 60 that have light coming out of 

them. Mostly dim brown light. The VL3500 

bulbs emit a beam the equivalent of a 

Maglite with a color changer on them. Out 

of 20 Cybers, I have 11 that even turn on 

but have broken color flags. I ask the tech 

if he has any new bulbs and more beer. For 

once, he had the right answer. We start 

changing out blown bulbs. 

After swapping six bulbs that were 

bad, I fire up these fixtures. There’s a reason 

these lights had bad bulbs. Each one 

had either a gobo or a color wheel stuck 

in it. Apparently they sometimes run short 

of bulbs, so they simply stole them from 

broken lights and put them in working 

fixtures that needed a lamp. My tech informs 

me that he is a whiz at fixing Martin 

fixtures. But he is lost on the Vari*Lites. He’s 

also a Hog guru, he says. But they swapped 

out his Hog three months ago, and he only 

had a four-hour crash course on this desk. 

I am indeed boned, but I’m not afraid. I 

write a bunch of new color presets and focus 

a few positions. Within an hour, I have 

a punt page written. 

Of course, the console is in a control 

room high above the balcony. There is no 

way to see the fixtures to think about getting 

a nice focus. I deem this not necessary, 

as the sheer volume of alcohol consumption 

by the audience will far exceed any 

need for artistic focuses of my light beams. 

Smoke on the Water 

plsn 

As the band comes on stage for 

sound check, I ask the tech if he’s got any 

hazers. “Sure, all kinds,” he says. He shows 

me the channels on the console and I hit 

‘em. A soft plume of haze filters out from 

stage left as the artist walks up to his mic. 

He then leaves me to pursue why the F- 

100s are not working. Within seconds, 

they are spewing smoke everywhere, 

and nobody onstage can see. And, of 

course, I have no control to extinguish 

them. Minutes later, I am introduced to 

the ship captain and his fire marshal. It’s 

gonna be a long cruise. 

To reach Nook, set your e-mail on a course 

for nshoenfeld@plsn.com.

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