Spectacle of Lights - PLSN.com

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PRODUCTSPOTLIGHT By NookSchoenfeld Last week my editor called to ask if I would take this new dimmer and give it a test drive. I thought to myself, “Why? A dimmer’s a dimmer, isn’t it?” But I said, sure, send it on over, and I’ll take a look at it. It took me less than a minute after plugging it in to realize that Swisson, the international manufacturer of DMX devices, has indeed come up with some serious modifications to the dimmer pack as we know it. I have never seen such a well thought-out way to dim fixtures. First of all, these dimmers are contained in 19-inch rack-mounted modules. This is not a new concept, but one that I wish all manufacturers would follow. Each of the 120-volt “U.S. version” dimmers contains a configuration of either 12 x 1.2kW or 6 x 2.4kW dimmers. The dimmers take 3-phase power input and can operate on anywhere from 85 to 130 volts AC. The dimmer will actually stand up to 240 volts AC without harming it. Each module can handle up to 50 amps per phase. There are three separate 55-amp breakers on the front of the rack as well. On the back of the 1.2kW and 2.4kW rack, there are two Socopex connectors. There is a This dimmer can run a small show or display without any console. three-foot tail to plug into any AC distro you own. It can run efficiently in temperatures up to 35 degrees C (86° Farenheit) while three internal fans run continuously. The dimmers are controlled by DMX512, and the unit is RDM-ready. What distinguishes this dimmer from most of the rest? The XSD Sine Wave keeps the waveform in a perfect sine wave while it controls the amplitude of AC. Most dimmers utilize thyristors, triacs or SCRs to control the voltage applied to the filament of a conventional fixture. It controls the voltage by regulating the duty cycle, switching it on at a certain time during the cycle, resulting in a chopped wave. This uneven wave can cause harmonics that can overload the neutral in a four-wire, three-phase system, and really disturb the audio and video vendors you are sharing power with at a gig. The sine wave technology guarantees that there are no harmonics caused by the dimmer ramping up and down. You will never again hear the ping sound of a PAR filament being slammed to full either. It’s great for TV and symphony lighting. The sine wave technology will increase lamp life as well. Now comes the really cool stuff for the techs. This dimmer can run a small show or display without any console. There are potentiometers on the front of each dimmer, as well as five different user levels that can be set with a pass code. Rather than have a single hot-patch switch on a dimmer, each one can be set to any desirable level. Imagine lighting a trade show display with 16 Lekos and a dozen PARs. Just leave the dimmer backstage and adjust the level on each dimmer by trimming the pot. No need for a console or a control snake for the simple show. You can also use these potentiometers to set a low level on the dimmer, but use a console to bring them up to full if necessary. In other words, if you black out your master fader, these dimmers can still glow the bulbs. It’s great for store fronts who wish to leave their window displays glowing all night, but not at full. Simply put the console on a timer so it shuts off at 9 p.m., and the window display will still glow as people walk by. These potentiometers can run in HTP or LTP mode. Each rack module has an LCD display where the techs can assign different functions to each dimmer in the module. Besides setting the DMX address for the module, you can soft-patch each dimmer accordingly. In the rack, you could tell each dimmer to be controlled by a single DMX channel. There is a fast flash function that is good for banging on moles and PARs. The LCD will also display the voltage coming into the rack. This brain will automatically shut down the dimmer if it is getting over-voltage, but it will not kill all the dimmers if one leg suddenly receives too much. All other failures, such as over-temperature or under-voltage, will only affect that particular phase, allowing the dimmer to continue functioning normally. The LCD will also display how many amps are being used by each particular dimmer. Each individual dimmer channel on a module comes with three LEDs and an on/off button on the front. The green LED will show the output level of the dimmer when it is emitting AC. The yellow LED shows if there is current, meaning there is a load on the circuit being fed by the dimmer. No yellow LED means something is still unplugged or the lamp has failed. There is a red LED as well. When this LED is on, the dimmer is off. If it is blinking, it has turned off due to an overload (too much wattage assigned to one dimmer) or a short circuit in the cabling. The on/off switch can be used to kill a dimmer at any time (e.g. the gel is burning up) or to re-arm the dimmer once the correct load is placed on it. The brain in the rack can limit the output of the dimmer. This can be a tech’s savior if he is short on dimmers. For instance, a 4-light Mole Fay may draw 2600 watts — a tad too much for a 2.5K dimmer. By limiting the output of the dimmer to 105 volts, you can insure that the bulbs will never go to full and blow the breaker by drawing too many amps. On top of this, any load can be dimmed. No dummy loads are necessary just so you can dim down the rope lights on the stage steps. The minimum load on this dimmer is actually zero watts, if you can believe that. The list price for both 120V U.S. versions of these dimmers is $5,300.00 The upside to this dimmer is that it is modular (fast and easy for repairs); it can run in stand-alone mode without a console, and it has all the bells and whistles a tech would want. The only downside is that the modules are heavy. But this is certainly a small disadvantage compared to the fact that they are built sturdily; they have 100% protection against short-circuiting, and they have 100% over-voltage protection. 36 PLSN DECEMBER 2006 www.PLSN.com
INSTALLS • INDUSTRIALS • FILM/TV • THEATRE • CONCERTS P R O J E C T I O N CO N N E C T I O N Blind Guardian Goes Digital CZECH REPUBLIC—German heavymetal band Blind Guardian road tested Robe’s new DigitalSpot 5000 DT fixtures, which were specified by LD and video operator Andreas Fiekers. While preparing for the “A Twist In The Myth” tour, Fiekers became aware of the imminent release of the DigitalSpot 5000DT. German rental company Satis&Fy (suppliers of the European tour) has used Robe moving lights for some time, and Andreas Drees, CEO of Satis&Fy’s touring division, decided that the time was right to purchase some of the brand new fixtures. It was also a logical step for Andreas Fiekers to integrate the DigitalSpot 5000 DT into his design. This first full tour for the DigitalSpot 5000 DT actually featured pre-production units. The DigitalSpots were used for projecting onto the backdrop and set using a diverse selection of content for the different songs, including surreal black and white footage of a man getting crazy, strange landscapes, animated artwork of the band’s album covers, snippets of their videos and graphics, all of which was switched and synchronized to the music. Most of the content was produced by Fiekers, with some animation parts made by Stanimir Lukic and his team at Rock The Nation in Belgrade. Robe’s Ales Grivac was also suitably impressed with the DigitalSpot’s first touring performance. “It was vitally important to us to ensure that these products are completely roadworthy. Having them on a hard rocking heavy metal act where they get plenty of serious use was the ideal scenario and environment for this to happen.” Fiekers was also able to offer invaluable feedback to the Robe R & D team for enhancing and streamlining the DS 5000’s future performance. With the digital world in constant development, the latest software updates for DigitalSpot users will be available on Robe’s Web site. The next software feature will be the “collage” effect — the merging of images from two projectors to create one bigger picture (independently of a media server), which will make the unit more versatile. Mariah Tour Gets XL-ent N. HOLLYWOOD, CA — XL Touring Video recently completed their project as video contractor for Mariah Carey’s “The Adventures of Mimi Tour 2006,“ which kicked off this summer in Miami following two miniconcerts in Tunisia and finished up in Japan at the end of October. XL worked with production manager Harold Jones, production designer Justin Collie of Art Fag LLC, Stewart White of Control Freak and video director Chris Keating to provide four Barco I-10 LED walls, which consisted of two 7x7-foot LED walls stage left and right, a 13x7-foot LED wall upstage center and a 6x6-foot LED wall downstage. A large “M” made of MiPix framed the stage with a MiPix circular surround in the center. VersaTubes were installed in the stairs, band risers and DJ booth. The camera system consisted of four Sony D35 cameras, and projection was two SLM R12s, shooting rear projection onto two 15x20-foot screens. Touring on behalf of XL Touring Video was projectionist/crew chief Jason Lowe; engineer Josh Alberts; LED techs Jason Baker, Matt Ellar and Johnny Jordon; and camera ops Mart Stutsman, Lonnie Stoner and Randy Mizell. Steve Jennings U.S. Air Force Dedicates Memorial At Pentagon GAITHERSBURG, MD — Video RoadshowSM debuted at the U.S. Air Force Memorial Dedication October 14-15, 2006, at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. Each Video RoadshowSM houses a hydraulically raised 9 x 12-foot Barco D7 LED screen plus a control room with switching and playback equipment. The screens rise to a top height of 18 feet and can be rotated 360 degrees for optimal viewing. One technician handles delivery and opcontinued on page 38 39 41 42 Inside... Glam LEDs Low-res LED walls pack punch on Scissor Sisters tour. Video Digerati How to keep it smooth with frame-blending. Art in design Inspiration can come from Monet or graffiti. Ad info:http:// www.plsn.com/instant-info www.PLSN.com PLSN DECEMBER 2006 37
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