Genesis Has Pixels Aplenty

Transcription

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Vol. 8.7
Page 44
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Showgun Shows Off Its Bling,
Aug 2007
PROJECTION, LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
Genesis Has Pixels Aplenty
VC Firm Buys PRG
NEW YORK — PLSN has learned
that Goldman Sachs has provided
close to $400 million in financing to
back the Jordan Cos.’ roughly $600
million purchase of Production Resources Group.
Sources say that the total outstanding debt was $327.4 million
as of March 31, 2007. Proceeds from
the proposed transaction will be
used to fund The Jordan Co.’s acquisition of a 65% interest in PRG.
An unspecified management group
will own a 35% interest in the company. For analysis of this move and
what it might mean, check out the
editor’s note on page 4.
Live Earth Rocks
the Green Globe
Genesis in Concert
A record-breaking nine-million pixels are touring with Genesis on the European leg of their Turn It On
Again tour. A total of 15,089 panels of Barco 510 O-Lite LED display panels are being driven with 270 control
boxes, and 102 panels of Mitsubishi 16:8 high-resolution LED displays are being supplied by XL Video UK via
Blink TV.
The O-Lite makes up a 13-meter-high by 55-meter-wide upstage wall which is backed by seven rib-like
lighting towers reaching heights of up to 28 meters. The towers are rigged with a total of 33 Robe ColorSpot
2500E AT automated lights, and each one has a moving lighting pod with
continued on page 8
Gerry Stickells to Receive 2007 Parnelli
Lifetime Achievement Award
Production and Tour Manager for Jimi Hendrix, Queen, Elton John, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney to receive “Oscar®
of Live Event Industry” at Parnelli Awards in November.
LAS VEGAS — The Parnelli Awards Board of Directors announces that Gerry
Stickells, one of the pioneers of the touring and production industry, will be honored with the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s Parnelli Awards.
The ceremony will be held during the LDI show in Orlando, Fla., at a lavish event
staged on November 16.
“In establishing the award to honor Rick ‘Parnelli’ O’Brian, Gerry L. Stickells was
never very far out of the circle of attention,” says Patrick Stansfield, executive chairman of the Parnelli Advisory Board. “As he
continued on page 7
Gerry Stickells
Lighting
the Moon
The music may have angst,
but the crew called the tour
“Happyville.” After more than
a year and a half on the road
touring five continents, creating enough fog to make San
Francisco jealous, bumping
up the size of the LED wall by
50 percent and building the
most powerful laser effect in
the world, Roger Waters’ Dark
Side of the Moon Tour pulled
into port. For an in-depth look
at made what this tour tick, as
well as a look at some of its
spectacular visuals, check out
page 28.
LAS VEGAS — In a 24-hour,
7-continent concert spree on
07/07/07, Live Earth brought together more than 100 music artists
and 2 billion people in an attempt
to raise environmental awareness
and trigger a global movement to
solve the climate crisis. With collaborative support from the U.S. Green
Building Council, creators of the
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green buildPLSN Interview
ing rating system and The Climate
Group, Live Earth was aimed at de- 22 Patrick Woodroffe sits down
and talks to us about his pre-viz
veloping new “Green Event Guideprocess.
lines” intended to be the sustainable model for future “carbon
neutral” concerts and other live
entertainment events. The guideProduction Profile
lines addressed the key areas of 24 PLSN checks in with John Mayer’s
impact for a large live event — relatest tour.
cycling and composting, food and
beverage, stage design, transportation, energy, lighting and the event
Road Test
site itself — to reduce and “design
The Wybron Outdoor BP-2 Beam
45
out” carbon first before finally offProjector struts its stuff.
continued on page 7
setting it.
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AUGUST 2007
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
Features
Evangel Cathedral saw the DL.2 in action and had to have
them — and fast.
18 Inside Theatre
There’s the audience for the Broadway show Deuce, and then
there’s the projected audience onstage.
46 The Biz
How to make sure you’re protected
from the recent manufacturing
troubles in China.
47 Focus on Fundamentals
24 Production Profile
John Mayer built his latest tour into
a long-running show; too bad his
designers only had five weeks to
develop a new set mid-tour.
26 Vital Stats
Active Production and Design brings
some cool productions to Hotlanta.
One last — and incredibly geeky
— look at Ohm’s law and the ETCP
exam question of doom.
48 Feeding the Machines
If you’re gonna be a lighting programmer, you gotta learn from
somewhere. . .
49 Technopolis
28 Production Profile
20
Video, lights and lasers all have their
part to play on Roger Waters’ Dark
Side of the Moon tour.
33 Product Gallery
PLSN Interview
We clear the air with a Product Gallery on foggers and hazers.
Patrick Woodroffe sits down for a minute and tells us how
he used to pre-viz, before there was pre-viz.
44 Product Spotlight
A ring of bling and power to spare
— HES’ Showgun shows its stuff.
45 Road Test
We take a look at what the Wybron
BP-2 Outdoor Projector’s got to offer.
One protocol to rule them all, and in
the darkness, ACN them.
52 LD-At-Large
Everybody wants to get on the road,
but it’s worth thinking about how
you’ll ever get off it.
Departments
5 News
10 International News
12 On the Move
14 New Products
16 Showtime
Columns
4 Editor’s Note
37 Projection Connection
38 Projection Connection News
Sometimes $600 million is just a few
pieces of paper being passed around.
43 Video World
22
Strap on your video walls and learn
how to be a pixel-packin’ superstar.
W H AT ’ S H O T
W H AT ’ S H O T
Installations
CONTENTS
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EDITOR’S NOTE
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
The
Harris Effect
B y R i c h a r dC a d e n a
The Publication of Record for the Lighting,
Staging and Projection Industries
Publisher
Terry Lowe
[email protected]
I
f a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can
set off a tornado in Texas, can some paper
shuffling in New York set off a whirlwind
through the entire entertainment production
industry? It can when the papers have the
names Jere Harris and PRG on them.
The rumors about the sale of PRG were
confirmed when a press release turned up
stating that The Jordan Company acquired
a 65% interest in the company while PRG
management retained a 35% ownership. It
appears that interest in the company went
from one venture capital company to another,
which amounts to little more than a shuffling
of paper and a fresh infusion of cash.
The scenario is not unlike that which is
played out across the business landscape
every day. As companies grow, they need
cash. When they’re small, they can get cash
from a variety of sources: credit cards, friends
and relatives, business partners and banks,
to name a few. But after a certain point, the
business can outgrow its financing, so it has
to look elsewhere. One of the most common
sources of financing for a growing business
is venture capital. Venture capital is a source
of private equity financing from outside inThe Jordan Company claims it has
vestors. It usually comes without the consid- more than a billion dollars in capital in its
erable burden of reams of documentation JZ Equity Partners PLC fund. The company
faced by companies that are traded on the obviously has enough money to finance
stock exchange. But venture capital does not the purchase of PRG itself. But smart peocome without its own challenges.
ple use other people’s money, so it appears
In this case, the financing is coming from that they bought the company with borThe Jordan Company, a VC firm that special- rowed money, which is a commonly known
izes in buying privately held companies and as a leveraged buyout.
leaving the management in place.
Its Web site offers a laundry list of
reasons a company might need
In what other industry
or want to use Jordan’s financial
can you secure a large
resources:
deal because you used to
- Gain liquidity and diversify
one’s personal assets
ride the same bus as your
- Satisfy estate planning needs
potential customer?
- Enable a new generation of
family members or professional managers to take the
helm (a well-planned transaction can
So what’s in store for PRG? That desucceed in easing generational conflicts)
pends on the management style of The
- Grow the business dramatically by taking Jordan Company.
advantage of a new partner’s risk capital
According to its Web site, Jordan
- Access the knowledge and talent neces- looks for “good operating partners whose
sary to take a business to the next level
knowledge, experience and skill will continue to assure the long-term success of
the companies they run,” implying that
Jordan will leave the existing management in place and let them work their
magic. PRG employees will be reassured
by the verbiage on the Web site that says,
“We do not buy a company to reduce the
number of employees, to sell off key assets or to realize a short-term profit.”
Is this just so much lip service? Perhaps; perhaps not. It’s easy to plop down
in your overstuffed chair in an air-conditioned office and write down platitudes.
It’s a different story if, when the note
comes due, the funds are short and the
sharks are circling in the water. If things
go well and Jordan’s vision is for the long
term, then PRG will benefit from the resources made available. But this is a quirky
industry with unique qualities — in what
other industry can you secure a large deal
because you used to ride the same bus as
your potential customer?
Rumors about this transaction have
started more than a few lips flapping. Jere
Harris does tend to have that effect — call
it the Harris Effect. It’s natural for the industry to be curious about a large production company like PRG — vendors want to
know if they can get more business from
them, customers want to know if they can
get a better deal from them and competitors want to know if they can take market
share from them.
But make no mistake: PRG can be a formidable opponent. If you compete against
them, then you probably should be paying attention — but you should also make
sure your own house is in order. The truth
is that there are a lot of sharks out there
wondering if this little deal means there is
blood in the water. If you’re among them,
just make sure it’s not your own.
Editor
Richard Cadena
[email protected]
Editorial Director
Bill Evans
[email protected]
Managing Editor
Jacob Coakley
[email protected]
Associate Editor
Geri Jeter
[email protected]
Contributing Writers
Vickie Claiborne, Phil Gilbert, Rob Ludwig,
Kevin M. Mitchell, Bryan Reesman, Brad
Schiller, Nook Schoenfeld, Paul J. Duryee
Photographer
Steve Jennings
Art Director
Garret Petrov
[email protected]
Graphic Designers
David Alan
[email protected]
Crystal Franklin
[email protected]
Josh Harris
[email protected]
National
Advertising Director
Gregory Gallardo
[email protected]
Account Manager
James Leasing
[email protected]
Production Manager
Linda Evans
[email protected]
General Manager
William Hamilton Vanyo
[email protected]
Executive Administrative
Assistant
Mindy LeFort
[email protected]
Business and
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Fax: 512.292.0183
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North Hollywood, CA 91615
Projection, Lights & Staging News (ISSN:
1537-0046) Volume 08, Number 07 Published monthly by Timeless Communications Corp. 6000 South Eastern Ave.,
Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV 89119.
It is
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Duplication, transmission by any method of
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permission of Projection, Lights & Staging News.
If you need some VC cash, e-mail your Nigerian
schemes to [email protected].
ESTA
ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES &
TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION
NEWS
VAI and Scharff Weisberg Announce Agreement
NEW YORK and TUSTIN, CA — Video
Applications (VAI) and Scharff Weisberg
(SW ), firms with extensive histories in the
presentation and staging markets, have
announced a co-ownership agreement.
The agreement creates a new holding
company for the existing operations, enabling each to operate independently yet
work together strategically.
Under the new agreement, Gary Standard, CEO of Video Applications, will assume the role of CEO of the new holding
company, while Joshua Weisberg, president of Scharff Weisberg, will become
president of the holding company. Both
will continue their roles and responsibilities in the operating companies. In
addition, Peter Scharff, founder of Scharff
Weisberg, will expand his role as director
of business development for all entities.
Both companies rely on teams with extraordinary lengths of service, and these
teams will continue to operate the companies as distinct brands while developing opportunities to work together.
Video Application, a 25-year-old firm
focusing on the live event industry, is
based in Tustin, Calif. VAI specializes in
technical design and production for a
wide range of corporate and entertain-
ment events and has amassed a list of
Fortune 500 clients.
Over a 28-year history, New Yorkbased Scharff Weisberg has grown to be a
100-person company with a wide range of
services and clients. Technology offerings
include video systems, projection and
LED systems, convergence technologies, a
stand-alone lighting rental business and
an audio department.
Describing the agreement, Gary Standard stated, “There’s been a long-standing mutual admiration between SW and
VAI, and the more we began to collaborate, the more apparent it became that we
Angstrom Lighting
Marks 30 Years
HOLLYWOOD, CA — Angstrom Lighting has hired Steven Schweitzer as the
new managing director as part of its 30th
anniversary expansion strategy.
Schweitzer is a returning Angstrom
Lighting employee: he was operations
manager for the company from 1990 to
1994.
As managing director, Schweitzer will
be responsible for managing the external
and internal sales force and increasing
sales company-wide. He will also participate in facilities management and general
operations for the company.
“The business of lighting has changed
dramatically in the past 30 years, and we’ve
been here throughout all of it,” said Frans
Klinkenberg, president & CEO of Angstrom
Lighting. “Steve is an excellent addition to
our team because he brings extensive industry knowledge and a talent for managing projects and people. ”
Angstrom Lighting is celebrating its
30th anniversary this year with initiatives
designed to expand the company’s market share. In addition to hiring Schweitzer,
Angstrom is investing in new equipment
to help streamline rentals, sales and distribution efforts and expanding its repair
department to handle higher levels of
project work.
Two Die
Dismantling
Stones’ Stage
MADRID, SPAIN — Two workers dismantling a Rolling Stones’ stage at a
stadium in Madrid fell to their deaths
from a metal scaffold on Friday, June 29.
Two other Spanish workers were injured
in the accident at the Vicente Calderon
stadium, one critically. Police said three
of the workers fell about 30 feet from
the scaffold and landed on the fourth
worker. The Rolling Stones, currently on
the European leg of their “A Bigger Bang”
world tour, performed in the Vicente
Calderon soccer stadium in the Spanish
capital Thursday June 28. The dead workers were indentified as Benno Goldewijk,
44, of the Netherlands, and Alfredo Pecina Matias, 38, of Spain, said Javier Ayuso,
a spokesman for Madrid’s emergency
rescue service said.
shared many common philosophies and
goals. On a practical level, this agreement
allows us to leverage the capabilities of
both companies to provide our clients
with not only a broader range of services,
but an even higher degree of service. Our
respective teams will continue to serve
our clients as they have in the past, but
with a more extensive offering and capability.”
Josh Weisberg amplified his new
colleague’s statement saying, “While the
companies share many attributes, there
are numerous areas where we complement each other perfectly.”
NEWS
Major Activity at Nexxus Lighting
CHARLOTTE, NC — Nexxus Lighting Inc.
has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to
acquire LightWild, an Overland Park, Kan.,
manufacturer of software-controlled solidstate LED products for the architectural
lighting market. The transaction is scheduled to close on or before August 30, 2007,
subject to satisfactory completion of a due
diligence review, approval of Nexxus’ board
of directors and other customary closing
conditions.
LightWild’s nationwide distribution network is expected to further expand Nexxus
Lighting’s access to key marketplaces. Light
designers and architects have selected
LightWild’s products for projects ranging
from hospitality, retail and healthcare facilities to large-scale projects such as high-rise
buildings and arenas.
The plan calls for LightWild to remain at
its current location and maintain its brand
identity under the Nexxus Lighting corporate
umbrella. Tom Stafford, current LightWild
president, will continue in his role, reporting
to Mike Bauer, president and CEO of Nexxus
Lighting. He will be working closely with the
Nexxus Lighting executive team and board
of directors on executing the company’s
strategic vision to connect advanced technology with light. Both parties have agreed
that no other details of the proposed transaction will be disclosed at this time.
“LightWild’s ability to deliver complete
LED solutions from controls to fixtures has
been very well received by lighting designers and architects and is expected to be an
exciting addition to the Nexxus Lighting
family,” said Mike Bauer. “Our goal is to provide the team at LightWild with the support
they need to accelerate their expansion into
the architectural lighting market with their
unique LED products and services.”
Nexxus was also recently granted two
new patents for its LED products. Nexxus
was granted U.S. patent number 7,229,027
for a waterfall producing device that incorporates a light chamber to house LED lights
to illuminate the water stream coming from
the waterfall. The second patent, U.S. patent
number 7,244,037, is for a detachable LED
pool light that builds upon prior Nexxus
Lighting patented technology that provides
for an LED lighting fixture to be installed into
the wall of the pool without a niche and features an underwater, watertight connector
that allows the light fixture to be connected
or disconnected while the light is submerged
in water with the power off. This new design
provides an easier method for service and
replacement of the pool light.
EVENT CALENDAR
Martin Training
Austin, TX
Maxxyz Training:
Aug. 16–17
E-mail maxxyz.training@martin
pro.com
Jem Fog and Haze Effect Machine
Technical Class
Aug. 30–31
E-mail [email protected]
Light Jockey Training:
Sept. 27–28
E-mail lightjockey.training@martin
pro.com
Maxedia Media Server Training
Sept. 27–28
E-mail maxedia.training@martin
pro.com
Visit www.martin.com for more info.
High End Systems
Wholehog III Training
Sept. 24–25
DL.2 Training
Sept. 26–27
For more info, visit www.highend.
com/support/training/
PLASA
London
Sept. 9–12
www.plasa.org
ATM Fly-Ware Permanent Install Rigging Seminar with Harry Donovan
New York City
Dale Pro Audio
Oct. 3–4
E-mail [email protected]
LDI
Orlando, FL
Nov. 12–18
www.ldishow.com
6
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
NEWS
Gerry Stickells to Receive 2007 Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award
continued from cover
was Rick’s principal mentor and a great friend
of his, it has always been our intention to
honor Gerry with the Lifetime Achievement
Award. We are pleased and proud that Gerry’s
many profound moments and facets of his
wonderful work will now be honored.”
Stickells was born one of ten children in
the small town of Lydd in Kent, England, in
1942. At the age of 14, he became an apprentice mechanic at a local garage at a
time when cars and event electricity were
scarce commodities. By the early 1960s, he
was driving bands around when he got a
call from local musician Noel Redding, who
said he was going to play with an Ameri-
can guitarist named Jimi Hendrix, and they
needed a roadie. But all their gear was stuck
in customs at Heathrow Airport, and if Stickells could get it out, he could have the gig.
He did, and this launched his long career in the live event business, the low
point of which was when he was called to
a hospital to identify Hendrix’s remains after his tragic death in 1970. Stickells would
run Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios for two
more years, when he left to work for Queen.
With them, he put on some of the most audacious and imaginative tours in rock history. He organized the first Freddy Mercury
Tribute Concert in 1992, and wrote the
book, Queen on the Road: The Authorized
Story, published in 1995.
In 1977, he partnered with Chris Lamb
and formed GLS Productions. Through the
1980s and 1990s, he set the bar for live concert production with GLS’s work with Elton
John, Rod Stewart, Fleetwood Mac, Michael
Jackson, and Madonna, among many others. His love of travel and adventure had him
staging concerts all over the world; he was
particularly fond of South America, where he
staged many great concerts, including “Rock
in Rio” in 1985. Stickells has also worked with
The Pretenders, Eric Clapton, Guns & Roses,
Prince, Paul Simon, David Bowie, Bon Jovi,
among others. Most recently, Stickells worked
with Paul McCartney.
His amazing attention to detail and his refreshingly irreverent attitude has earned him
the respect and admiration of all who work in
the live event industry. Also appreciated is his
sense of humor, which was on display when
he was told of receiving this award: “Since
people who know me are familiar with my
rants on rules, regulations, committees, organizations, and awards, and how they are the
ruination of our business, I’ll just say thank
you!” Stickell said.
For more information on the Parnelli
Awards, go to www.parnelliawards.com.
Live Earth Rocks the Green Globe
Bon Jovi performs at the New York Live Earth concert.
were used for control, while two PRG MBox
media servers were used to feed video content to multiple video displays.
In London, LED sources included Martin
Stagebar 54 LED fixtures, iPix BB LED Washlights and i-Pix Satellite LED fixtures. The BB
Washlights feature a Lamina LED engine. Nigel Catmurand Will Charles controlled the
London rig via a Fly Pig Systems Whole hog
II console. The lighting in both New York
and London was supplied by PRG.
“We wanted to approach the design in
a different way,” explained Dierson, “keeping with the idea that we would use higher
output fixtures and fewer of them.”
In New York, the lighting programmers
were Mike Appel and Kevin Lawson and
Spike Brant was the broadcast lighting
designer.
Live Earth’s “Green Production Mission”
was issued prior to the show. In part, it states
its objectives: “To create a ‘greener’ concert
model that embodies the Live Earth message and leaves the venues and host cities
with a ‘how to’ manual for future low-impact
live events (i.e. sustainable progress).”
Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall,
the worldwide executive producer of Live
8, who formed a partnership with Al Gore
and the Alliance for Climate Protection to
inspire environmental changes. Concerts
were staged at Giants Stadium in New York,
Wembley Stadium in London, Aussie Stadium in Sydney, Copacabana Beach in Rio
de Janeiro, the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg, Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai, and the HSH
Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.5-13.indd 7
To reduce energy consumption, event
organizers either purchased renewable
power (wind or solar) direct from the utilities or they purchased renewable energy
credits (RECs) to offset the greenhouse
gases produced as a byproduct of the energy consumed at the event. For on-site
generation, the shows in London, New York
and Rio de Janeiro used biofuels.
The lighting design emphasized the
use of energy-efficient LEDs, CFLs and a reduced fixture count by using larger, more
efficient fixtures. Patrick Woodroffe was
the lead production designer for the project, and Patrick Dierson of Performance
Environment Design designed the lighting
design for the New York venue.
“We were approached not only out of
trust,” Dierson said, “but also due to our
past efforts in promoting environmental
sustainability within live entertainment
production. The crux of Woodroffe’s vision for Live Earth was to rethink how
shows are designed and to make the
overall rig more energy efficient while
still being entertaining.”
Dierson’s final “rethink” resulted in a
moving light specification that included
High End Systems’ new Showgun, Coemar
Infinity Washlights, Vari*Lite VL5s, VL2416s
and Martin MAC 2000 Washlights. Among
the many LED sources were PixelRange PixelLine 1044 LED battens, PixelPar 90s and
Coemar StripLite four-foot LED fixtures. The
U.S. rig also included clusters of dimmable
compact fluorescent bulbs — affectionately known as the “Eco-Pods.” Six MA Lighting
grandMA consoles and one grandMA Lite
2007AUGUST PLSN
7/31/07 3:06:01 PM
NEWS
Genesis has Pixels
two Zap Technologies 4.5 kW BigLites, four
Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes, and 12 PAR cans.
The light towers are also wired for pyro. Massive cargo nets populated with egg strobes
span the space between the towers. More
than 120 Coemar Infinity Wash XL fixtures are
also being used.
The lighting was designed by Patrick
Woodroffe, and the set was designed by Mark
Fisher of Stufish Design. U.K.-based Neg Earth
supplied the lighting gear, and lighting director Dave Hill is using a MA Lighting grandMA
console to run the show.
Woodroffe and Fisher collaborated closely
to develop the creative concepts. The towers
were a starting point for Woodroffe’s initial
lighting design. The idea was that they would
encompass the stage architecture, and that
lights mounted on special pods would ride up
and down the ribs to change the scale of the
space. Automation specialists Kinesys supplied custom-designed G2 winches to raise
and lower the lighting pods up and down the
ribs. Additionally, they also supplied 16 Liftket
250 kg 30 m/min. chain hoists controlled by
Elevation 1+ variable speed hoist controllers
to lift the cargo nets.
Fisher developed the ribs and tracking
light pods and created sculpted elements
framing the screen’s sweeping curvature.
The O-Lite screen provides a 3D curved
wall and architectural backdrop with interactive video, graphics images and I-Mag. The
O-lite pixels are fitted into custom touring
frames designed by XL Video and fabricated
by Brilliant Stages. The frames are populated
with panels of different pitches to give multiple resolutions across the whole surface. The
screen ends at either side of the stage with
two elliptical Mitsubishi video screens that
seamlessly “flow” into the main screen.
The O-lite screen is the most complicated
ever created in terms of engineering and
processing according to Stufish’s project executive designer Jeremy Lloyd. It presented
a challenge to the video techs, including
Richard Turner, who took care of the processing, mapping and programming of the hard
drives that feed the content.
Blink TV crew chief Stuart Heaney leads a
video team of 14, and the I-Mag video director
is Ruary MacPhie who oversees a five-camera
mix. Custom content was produced by Sam
Pattinson of Onedotzero, which is played back
by Bryan Myles using a Barco Events Manager
driving a Barco Encore system. Four GV Profile
hard drives store the content.
MacPhie is running a Kayak video switch-
er with a separate output for the side screens
coming from its aux bus, with one sub-cut;
and the side screens run individually on the
program bus plus ME1. This allows him to put
any band member onto any screen anytime;
and using the aux bus allows him to take any
source to the main screen from the Kayak.
MacPhie’s mix is also fed into the Encore
system, with some of the I-Mag multi-screen
effects preprogrammed into the Events Manager by Richard Turner.
The show also incorporates a few video
special effects, for example, during the song
“Mama,” for which the band wanted to replicate the image of a head shot from the
track’s original 1980s promotional material.
This is done live by Collins activating a small
redhead light via foot pedal positioned at
his feet while his face is framed with a tight
camera shot — giving a ghostly shimmering
halo of light around his face. A monitor was
set up in the pit so Collins can see the image
and tweak it to his liking by moving his head
in relation to the light.
Stuart Heaney has been involved in the
Genesis project since January, and part of the
overall video brief involved the design of special dollies to house and transport the O-Lite
sections on tour. They were built by Brilliant
Genesis
Stages and allow the video department to be
ready to roll in 3.5 hours each day and out in
two hours and 40 minutes.
The show involves five steel crews, two
systems, 90 trucks and more than 250 crew.
Kinesys is supplying two automation crew,
Iain Macdonald and John Richardson, to look
after the automation.
“Genesis has a long history of putting on
ground-breaking light shows,” said Woodroffe, “and they have set the bar very high in
the past. We hope that our team has risen to
the occasion, and that this year’s offering to
the fans will continue the high standard of
innovation and spectacle to which they have
become accustomed.”
8
PLSN AUGUST 2007
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7/30/07 10:54:59 AM
LETTERS
Compliance: More Than a Pile of Parts
I read with interest your article on portable
power distribution in the July issue Product
Gallery. The article was clearly intended to be
a comparison of the available offerings rather
than a performance review of each product,
which is fine. However, I was disappointed to
see some key specifications omitted from or
obscured in the product comparison table.
These are the two specification items that I
want to know most when selecting a power
distribution:
1. Is the unit listed as an assembly by a nationally recognized testing laboratory (UL, ETL,
or others), and does it comply with UL1640 —
the standard for portable power distribution? If
not, what standard was it listed under? One of
the products in your table stated “UL Components” under Compliance, yet the article failed
to explain the critical difference between a
listed distribution and one that merely uses UL
listed or recognized components. The “UL components” approach is an old technique used by
some manufacturers who have not gone to the
considerable expense and trouble of having a
product listed as an assembly, but want to suggest that is “approved” by UL in some way, or
meets some implied safety standard. Moreover,
on some products, the total absence of an entry
in the Compliance box of the table is merely a
way to whisper “not listed.” Any potential purchaser of an unlisted power distribution would
probably want that fact in bold type! Why would
any properly informed buyer take the risk of
buying and using an unlisted product?
2. Does the unit utilize thermal/magnetic
circuit breakers that are rated for only 80%
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
continuous load (any load over 3 hours, per
the NEC), or does it use fully magnetic breakers
that allow 100% continuous loading of branch
circuits? Has the unit been tested and listed for
that 100% rating?
After those questions are answered, it’s all
about size, weight, connector layout, etc. But
if I’m buying a distribution that needs to be
safe, I first want clear, not obfuscating, answers
to the spec items above. Not to put too fine a
point on it, but PLSN now has an ETCP-certified
editor. I’ll stop there!
Steve Terry
VP Research & Development, ETC
Now you know why I don’t teach classes on
codes, regulations and compliance.
I find this sort of information very valuable,
but very difficult to find. UL 1640 is not something that normally pops up on the radar of
the average production industry professional.
as a cursory search of the Internet turns up
very little information about it. You can buy the
standard from the UL site for a mere $445.
But you’re absolutely right — this is just
the sort of information we try to ferret out in
the Product Galleries. Had any of the 13 manufacturers from whom we solicited information made the suggestion, we certainly would
have added it to the categories. And it will be
added the next time we do another portable
power distro Product Gallery.
Thanks for writing, and please don’t tell
the ETCP — I don’t want to lose my certification! – ed.
SeaChanger Appears in Royal Opera
nately for the Opera House and auditorium
conditions, this was not really possible — but
it left us with a sizeable FOH lighting issue to
solve — we needed a powerful and silent
color-mixing solution for a tungsten unit.”
Subsequent research by the ROH’s Michael Scott and Paul Hornsby led them to
the SeaChanger Color Engine. “White Light
supplied a demo unit which impressed us
all enough for us to order eight SeaChangers
— the first in the U.K.” The ROH’s SeaChangers are used in 26-degree 750W Source Fours,
providing a six-point front wash onto the
frontcloth and downstage portal of the set.
The SeaChanger offers hexachromic
color mixing, achieved by complementing its
cyan, yellow and magenta color filters with
an xG “Extreme Green” dichroic color filter.
The combined RGB properties of the xG filter
are designed to work in accordance with the
SeaChanger’s CYM color wheels to produce
hexachromic values, expanding the total
available color selection.
The SeaChanger Color Engine technology creates a large number of reproducible
colors using patented dichroic filtering. The
SeaChanger is designed for installation into
ETC Source Four Ellipsoidals and for smooth,
quiet color transitions across a wide color
spectrum, as well as white-to-full saturation
color in just one second.
L’Heure Espagnole at the ROH
10
The SeaChangers success has left the ROH
team wanting more:“After using them for one
production, we’re now looking forward to
adding them to our repertoire FOH set-up, as
we develop the flexibility of the rig across new
shows and for other visiting designers.”
CATHERINE ASHMORE
LONDON —White Light has supplied
the first SeaChanger color engines to be
used in the U.K. to the Royal Opera House
in London.
“For our new double production of the
20th-century operas L’Heure Espagnole by
Ravel and Gianni Schicchi by Puccini, the
American lighting designer Mimi Jordan
Sherin asked for a number of scrollers in our
FOH positions,” explains Royal Opera House
Lighting Manager Simon Bennison.“Unfortu-
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.ADS.indd 11
7/30/07 10:55:29 AM
ON THE MOVE
Avolites has appointed San Sebastianbased EES as its new
Spanish distributor. The
company was formed in
2004 by the charismatic Nacho Acha-Orbea
and is also the Spanish
Vari-Lite and Verlinde
distributor. EES has also Nacho Acha-Orbea (left) with
just opened an office in Avolites’ sales director, Steve
Warren
Madrid.
Comm-Tec has officially been named
the exclusive distributor for Medialon show
control products and services for Germany,
Central Europe and the Benelux countries.
Comm-Tec has been a pan-European manufacturer and distribution partner of AV systems for over two decades.
Creative
Stage
Lighting has hired
Chris Gavin for the position of purchasing
manager. Gavin has 12
years of sales experience working with municipalities and various
school districts. He will
Chris Gavin
be responsible for inventory control and stock purchasing needs.
Michelle Ochoa has
joined DaVinci Fusion,
an event production
company, as sales and
rentals manager. Formerly the main lighting
lounge technician for
Carnival Cruise Lines in
Mexico and the Caribbe- Michelle Ochoa
an, she brings extensive
experience in show production to her new post.
Design Partners, Inc. has hired Jenny
Bloom in a newly created position. Bloom will
work in the ShowViz LiteLab pre-viz studio, as
well as assist with production, as a staff board
operator and show electrician. Bloom has a BA
in Theatre from Arizona State University and
an MFA in Lighting Design from UCLA.
Digital Networks Group has appointed
Thomas Noack as the first marketing director
in the company’s 20-year history. Thomas has
over 15 years of experience on the manufacturer and user side in the AV industry and over
10 years as marketing director in a variety of
industries, including the Pro AV industry.
FKI Logistex has opened a new multimillion-dollar Technology & Education Center
(TEC) in Cincinnati, Ohio. The 31,000-square-
foot training and demonstration center offers
FKI Logistex customers access to fully functional, automated sortation, conveying, AS/RS
and order-fulfillment systems for solutions
demonstrations, proof-of-concept testing,
and operator training.
Lighthouse Technologies has opened a
new Singapore office. The 950-square-foot facility at the Pines Industrial Building will house
the general office space, meeting and training
rooms, etc., to provide sales and technical support to meet growing business in the AIMSEA
(Australia, India, Middle East and South East
Asia) region. In charge of the new office will be
Jerome Lim, regional manager – AIMSEA. The
new office contact info is: 240 MacPherson
Road, #07-02A Pines Industrial Building, Singapore 348574. Phone: 65-67828065
Chad Higgins transitioned into the newly
created position of director of operations for
Rental/Production
at
LIVE! Technologies Inc.
in Columbus, Ohio. He
decided to make the
change to the full-service
audio, lighting and video
production
company
after six years as production manager at a local
Chad Higgins
entertainment venue.
Martin Profess i o n a l I t a l y S . p. A .
has hired Michael
Hill as the company’s
new general manager. Hill comes to
Martin Professional’s
I t a l i a n s u b s i d i a r y Michael Hill
from Erco Illuminazione Srl where he has served as managing
director since 1988. Prior to that, Michael
was employed by iGuzzini as Sales Director, giving him nearly 25 years of lighting
industry experience.
12
Martin
Professional, Inc. has named
Bill Sims the western
regional sales director for the company’s
Public Spaces segment. Bill has more
than 25 years of lighting industry experi- Bill Sims
ence, his early years,
he ran his own lighting consultancy firm.
After a 10-year run with Strand Lighting,
where he worked as architectural product manager, he became the regional
specification sales manager for the Juno
Lighting Group.
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
ON THE MOVE
Pacific Coast Entertainment has expanded into a new facility in Huntington
Beach, Calif. The new space is three times
larger than its previous location and provides
more room for the equipment and staging
rental stock. The new address is 18265 Gothard Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648.
Hubert Kostal has joined Radiant Imaging, Inc. as vice president of sales and marketing. In this role, Kostal will manage the company’s direct sales force and distributor network.
He will also direct all technical sales support,
product management, and corporate and
product marketing activities. Prior to joining
Radiant Imaging, he served as vice president
of business development at APIC (Advanced
Photonic Integrated Circuits) Corp.
Scene Ethique Design & Fabrication has
begun construction of their scene shop’s new
17,000-square-foot staging area. In addition to
the existing 23,000 square feet of fabrication
and assembly space, this new area will have a
clear height of 40 feet under the trusses.
Schneider Optics
h a s n a m e d K eva n
Parker as the company’s new European
Sales Manager for Schneider filters and Century lens accessories.
Parker, who is based in
London, brings over 20 Kevan Parker
years of experience in
lenses and optics to the Schneider team. He
has worked with companies such as Technovision and Cine Europe and recently served as
sales manager for IDX/OrtusMedia.
Total Event Production has hired Andrew Munro as project
manager, specializing
in video/graphic production. Andrew will
partner with clients to
coordinate video and
Andrew Munro
provide expertise in
general production design. Andrew has over
ten years of experience in the audio visual/
production industry.
Mike Abdow has joined United Staging
and Rigging in retail sales. Abdow will be based
in the Boston office. Mike brings a wide range of
industry experience in lighting and rigging.
Vari-Lite, a Genlyte company, has
hired Alan Kibbe as regional sales manager for the Northeast region of the United
States. Kibbe will be based out of Norwalk, Conn., and will oversee the Vari-Lite
Authorized Rental and Sales network in
Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington D.C.,
West Virginia, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Kentucky and Ohio. Prior to joining Vari-Lite, Kibbe was the national sales
manager for Rosco Laboratories.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Glastonbury Rocks with Jazzy Lights
The Glastonbury Jazz World arena
The 18 Robe ColorSpot 1200E ATs were
arranged across four trusses fitted to the
arched shape of the roof of the 2.5 bay
18 meter-wide Orbit Stage, which offered
nine meters of headroom.
The units were used as washes, as well
as spots, and for all the traditional gobo and
color effects, shooting out over the audience.
“The optics are excellent” states Watts,
explaining that it’s also important to have
lights that register during the daylight
performances, especially for the TV cameras. He also thinks the good combination
of looks and abundance of variety make
them “perfect” for this stage. He has used
Robes on many previous occasions.
Robe fixtures were also in action on
other stages around Glastonbury’s 600acre Pilton, Somerset, site where 170,000
people enjoyed an action-packed weekend of music, dance, theatre, circus
cabaret and every conceivable type of
performance at one of the U.K.’s highest
profile festivals.
www.PLSN.com
GLASTONBURY, U.K. — Essex-based
DPL made its first appearance as a lighting supplier at the Glastonbury Jazz
World arena, using Robe ColorSpot
1200E ATs.
DPL’s Darren Parker says, “It was a
great honor to win the pitch to supply
Jazz World. We had to design a flexible rig
that would accommodate a wide variety
of top-quality international artists and the
creative requirements of an array of visiting LDs. We chose Robe moving lights.”
He adds that with the notoriously unpredictable nature of the Glastonbury weather,
they also wanted really robust and reliable
lights that would withstand the elements.
Pete Watts and Parker designed the
production lighting rig that was used by
all Jazz World artists, which Watts programmed into an Avo Diamond 4 console that was run for the three day event
by all the DPL crew — Mike Williams and
Mike Pitt, Andy Higgins, Ben Shepherd
and Darren Parker.
2007 AUGUST PLSN
13
NEW PRODUCTS
Mar tin LED Stagebar 54
Martin Professional’s Stagebar 54 is a compact LED
luminaire with a large color range, all-in-one configuration and designed to be sturdy for touring. It functions
as a pixel bar for displaying imagery and video or as a
wash luminaire for floodlighting surfaces and stages. It
features five colored diodes instead of the usual three.
Lens options include a 29° standard lens or opaque diffuser. Each pixel board has been measured and calibrated to standardize brightness and color performance.
The Stagebar offers four pixel control modes for control of pixels individually or in groups of two,
three or six. Industry standard DMX 512-A. RJ-45 connectors and optional XLR adapters control
the unit. On-demand fans monitor and regulate cooling. Each Stagebar unit has direct power and
DMX inputs so there is no need for external power supplies or additional cables and DMX boxes;
units are daisy chain capable. Every fixture has a battery-powered control menu so the user can
configure and address the units off-site. Both the standard Omega bracket and the included
mounting system allow truss and floor mounting and double as carrying handles. The Stagebar
54 weighs 5.5 kg or 7.3 kg (12.1 lbs. or 16.1 lbs.).
Martin Professional • +45 87 40 00 00 • www.martin.com
Elation Design Par 575H and
575D
Elation Professional’s Design Par 575H (Halogen) and Design
Par 575D (Discharge) are 575-watt Opti-Par-style moving heads
that provide remote control of pan and tilt positioning via DMX.
They are fully automated moving heads that can pan up to 630°
and tilt up to 265°. Designed to be extremely bright in output
and silent in operation, they offer an alternative for applications
where remote-controllable wash-type lighting is needed. Both
come with a replaceable front lens system, which includes four
lenses that produce different beam angles — Very Narrow, Narrow, Medium and Wide — plus an easy-to-use lens-removal tool.
The units come fitted with the Medium lens, which generates a
40° beam angle. Both units also include built-in programs for use
without a DMX controller. They can be operated in three modes: DMX, stand-alone or soundactive. Additional features for both include: a gel frame holder, automatic pan/tilt correction,
glass dichroic reflector for even lamp output, and eight user-assignable program presets.
Elation Lighting • 866.245.6726 • www.elationlighting.com.
FiberPlex DMX4 Lighting Control Components
FiberPlex Inc.’s new LightViper DMX4
System lighting control components are
designed to work with the LightViper fiber optic audio “snake” systems and are
made up of two 1U 19-inch rack units: the
DMX4-i input unit and a DMX4-o output
device. Both components will accept four
independent lines of DMX control (512
channels x 4, or a total of 2,048 channels). The DMX4-i has four independent 3-pin and 5-pin
XLR-type DMX inputs; the DMX4-o has independent 3-pin and 5-pin XLR-type DMX outputs.
Each unit features an RJ45 connector on both the front and rear to connect with the RJ45
control circuit connector on the LightViper system. The DMX data being transported through
the “control” connection on the LightViper systems travels along the same fiber as the audio
returns and is designed so no additional fiber is required. The data transport is one-way only,
FOH-to-stage. The DMX4 system is designed to work with the LightViper 1832, 4832 and 1808
systems. Mains power to the DMX4 components is supplied from the LightViper systems via
the same RJ45 connection.
FiberPlex Inc. • 301.604.0100 • www.lightviper.com.
Staging Concepts Portable Folding/Rolling Stage
Staging Concepts Inc.’s EZ
Stage is designed to be mobile, durable and compact, and
able be folded up and rolled
into storage on its wheels by
just one person. When folded,
the portable EZ Stage can be
placed in minimal storage space and retrieved and set up without any special tools. The
platform can be unfolded from storage position to stage configuration through a series
of linkages designed to transfer each half of the stage from casters to steel legs in two
fluid movements. The stage platform is available in dimensions of 4 feet by 8 feet and
6 feet by 8 feet when set up, yet folds up vertically to 2 feet wide. It is available in performance heights of 12, 16 and 24 inches. EZ Stage is constructed of the steel and wood
components, and both stage sizes can withstand a loading of 4,000 pounds.
Staging Concepts • 800.337.5339 • www.stagingconcepts.com
14
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
NEW PRODUCTS
American DJ Emerald Sky, Emerald Scan II
and Mini Emerald Beam
The Emerald Sky, Emerald Scan II and Mini Emerald lasers from American DJ are 4.9 mW DMX-512 green lasers.
Emerald Sky is a twin green laser effect with dual 4.9 mW
lasers, and 16 spinning mirrors that create a variety of “Liquid Sky” effects. It comes with two DMX channels, as well
as built-in stand-alone programs, and can be operated in 4
modes: DMX, auto, sound active and master-slave. Emerald
Scan II combines a 4.9 mW green laser with an X-Y
mirror-moving scanner. It is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, but features the geometric patterns and built-in
selectable light shows of the original model. It is equipped
with five DMX channels that allow users to control pan, tilt,
pattern, laser on/off and manual pattern effects. It can also be operated without a controller in
sound-active or master/slave modes. Mini Emerald Beam has a 4.9 mW laser that uses eight spinning mirrors to create patterns, including the popular Liquid Sky effect. The Mini Emerald Beam
can be operated in sound-active mode or programmed via its two DMX channels.
American DJ • 800.322.6337 • www.americandj.com
Times Square Lighting W150 and W575
TSL’s W150 and W575 are compact, ultra-wide-angle flood/
work lights that feature a removable color frame holder, multiposition yoke and tool-free relamping. Coupled with a tempered glass safety shield, these fixtures are designed for both
stage and architectural applications. The W150 is available in
120 and 277-volt and uses a 150 W T6 metal halide lamp. This
lamp offers high color rendering, long life and the light output
of a 600 W quartz fixture using a fraction of the energy. The
W575 is a dimmable unit available in 120-volts and uses popular medium two-pin tungsten halogen lamps up to 575 watts.
Numerous mounting options and custom colors are available
on both units.
Times Square Lighting • 845.947.3034 • www.tslight.com
Airstar Dome
Airstar’s Dome is an inflatable temporary structure designed
for use by hotels, venues or any event company that requires
additional enclosed space, a unique environment, an alternative
to tenting or all three. The Dome is a 2,800-square-foot inflatable pavilion that stands 60 feet in diameter and 30 feet tall. It
can be used for any event from sit-down dinners to exhibits and
more. And the Dome’s large surface area can be used as a giant
screen for branding, videos and lighting effects.
Airstar • 818.753.0066 • www.airstar-light.us
Color Kinetics eW
Cove Powercore
Color Kinetics’ eW Cove Powercore is a
compact linear fixture that is designed to deliver five times the efficiency of common incandescent click-strip lighting. Color Kinetics
says that in their testing an eW Cove Powercore installation outperformed the incandescent alternative with at least 150 lumens of
output and one-fifth the power consumption. It is designed to deliver uniform light quality and
is controllable from commercially available dimmers. The eW Cove Powercore uses Powercore
technology to directly accept line voltage, which eliminates the need for an external power
supply, reducing installation cost and complexity. It also allows runs of up to 100 linear feet on
a single circuit.
Color Kinetics • 888.385.5742 • www.colorkinetics.com
Chauvet Colorado 1 Indoor/Outdoor LED Wash
The Colorado™ 1 features a sturdy die cast aluminum body with
a total of 36 one-watt red, green and blue LEDs evenly distributed
to create an 11.6° beam angle and a 24° field angle. It has a housing
rated at IP-65 to withstand rigorous outdoor conditions. It ca and a
fading pulse effect among other functions via 9 channels. It is possible to daisy chain up to 15 units, which cuts down on power runs. It
also features Chauvet’s on-board ID addressing system to help with
programming. The unit comes with built-in automatic color-changing and fade programs as well as master/slave capability.
Chauvet Lighting • 800.762.1084 • www.chauvetlighting.com
www.PLSN.com
2007 AUGUST PLSN
15
SHOWTIME
ST
Univision Upfront with Marc Anthony
Venue:
Rose Theatre, New York, NY
Crew
Producer: Alex Hadad/Univision
Lighting Company: 4 Wall
Production Manager: Tony Parodi
Lighting Designer: Carlos Colina
Lighting Director: Ramon Furelos
Automated Lighting Operator: Christian
Choi
Lighting Technicians: Bob Hale, Martin
Postma
Set Design: Jorge Dominguez
Rigger: Tony Pol
Video Company: Scharff Weisberg / Roca
Video
Gear
1
10
12
17
17
8
8
10
24
10
5
11
2
1
1
2
2
Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III w/
wing and backup
Martin MAC 2000 Washlights
Martin MAC 2000 Performance fixtures
Vari*Lite VL3000Qs
Vari*Lite VL2500 Spots
Vari*Lite VL500 Washlights
Vari*Lite VL500 Arc
Coemar Infinity Wash XLs
Color Kinetics ColorBlast 12s
ETC Source Four 750-W 5 degrees
ETC Source Four 10 degrees
Robert Juliat Aramis followspots
16-way Ethernet hub
6-port Ethernet switch (10/100/1000gb/s)
Reel EFX DF-50 haze machines
Real EFX turbo fans
Bling Blineo
Venue:
Shea Stadium, Flushing, NY
Crew
Producer: Univision/Shea
Lighting Company: See Factor Industry
Production Manager: Alban Sardzinski/
Dany Viera
Lighting Designer: Christina See
Lighting Director: Alex Soto/Leo Aguilu
Automated Lighting Operator: John
Goldstein
Lighting Technicians: CC. Eric “Guido” Perry,
Ed Duda, Edgardo Serano, Carlos Martinez,
Doug Sardzinski
Set Design: Abe V Systems
Set Construction: All Access
Rigger: Ed Duda
Staging Company: MSL
Pyrotechnics: Zynith
Video Director: Chip Chiperson
Video Company: MB Video
Gear
5
6
18
6
Altman 3-cell strips
L&E 6’ Strips
Thomas 4-light moles
Maxi Brute 9-lights
16
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
12
1
1
2
3
4
4
30
6
22
15
9
6
32
24
4
2
2
3
4
2
31
16
21
2
12
2
2
ST
Space light 6Ks
ETC Sensor 48-way dimmer
ETC Sensor 96-way dimmer
Strand CD80 6x12K dimmer
MA Lighting grandMA consoles
High End Systems F-100 fog machines
Reel EFX DF-50 haze machines
Color Kinetics Color Blasts
Color Kinetics Color Blaze fixtures
Martin Atomic 3K Strobes
Atomic Color Changers
High End Systems Studio Color 250s
High End Systems Studio Color 575s
Robe 1200AT Spots
Martin MAC 2000 Washlights
Coemar Super Cycs
High End Systems Catalyst media servers
High End Systems DL2 digital luminaires
DeSisti Pantographs
Mirrored Carrots
3’ mirror balls
CM ½-ton chain hoists
CM 1-ton chain hoists
Thomas Super Auto PRT
Thomas Super PRT
Thomas 10’ sections 20” A-type truss
Imperia Vodka Hair Competition
Venue:
Gear
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, NH
1 MA Lighting grandMA console
144 1.2k dimmers
6 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles
6 Clay Paky Stage Zoom 1200s
20 Martin MAC 250s
3 Color Kinetics Color Blaze 72s
2 Thomas 8-Lights
2 Thomas 4-Lights
6 ETC Source Four 19 degrees
120 PAR 64 MFL
14 Double Hung Prerigged Truss
2 Double Hung Prerigged Corner
60’ Tomcat 12” Truss
60’ Tomcat Swing Wing Truss
18 CM 1-ton chain motors
2 Eiki XGA Projectors
1 Cramer Seamless Switcher
1 Sony Camera Package
Crew
Producer/Lighting Supplier: Rainbow
Production Services
Production Manager: Karen Hill
Lighting & Set Design/Lighting Director:
Hans Shoop
Lighting Technicians: Matt Doherty
Rigging: IATSE
Staging Company: Rainbow Production
Services
Video Company: Everett Hall Associates
ST
ST
KFH 1st Annual Benefit Rock Concert
Featuring The Alan Parsons Live Project
Venue:
Mondavi Center, UC Davis, CA
Staging Carpenter: Local
Staging Products: Local
Crew
Gear
Producer: Roni Stroud
Lighting Company: Sacramento Production &
Lighting, Dion Cook
Production Manager: Juan Garza/Lisa M. Parsons
Lighting Designer/Director: Martin Thomas
Lighting Technicians: Dustin Hollingsworth
Set Design: Martin Thomas
Staging/Set Construction: Mondavi Center
Rigger: Local
1 Avolites Pearl 2004 console
8 Martin MAC 2000 profiles
8 Martin MAC 600 washlights
3 sets PAR 64 ACL 250s
5 sets 4-lamp MoleFays
21 ETC Source Four ellipsoidals
108 PAR 64 1Ks
2 Reel EFX DF-50 haze machines
2 Strong Super Troupers
July 4th Celebration with Kansas
ST
Venue:
Gear
Cooper River Park, Pennsauken, NJ
1 Avolites Pearl 2004 console
120 ETC Source Four PARs
12 Martin MAC 2000 Profile IIs
2 High End Systems Color Commands
1 High End Systems Power Colors
5 ACL Bars
4 9-Light Molefays
5 ETC Source Four 26 degree Lekos
2 ETC Sensor 48 dimmer racks
1 Starlite 208V distro
1 Doug Fleenor Designs opto-splitter
10 8’ sections Prerig Truss
40’ Trilite triangle truss
2 10’ sections ladder truss
4 CM 1-ton chain motors
4 CM 1/2-ton manual chain hoists
Crew
Lighting Company: Starlite Productions
Lighting Designer: Marcus Mathews
Lighting Director/Operator: Brandon “BC”
Creel
Lighting Technicians: Pat Pettit, Jason
Danowitz, Ben Adams, IATSE Local 8
Staging Company: MSR, Tri-State Staging,
Starlite Productions
www.PLSN.com
2007 AUGUST PLSN
17
INSIDE THEATRE
By BryanReesman
DIGITIZING
Deuce
Sven Ortel gets projectors to serve up an ace
W
hen he speaks with PLSN, video
designer Sven Ortel is adjusting to
life in Denver, Colorado, home to
his latest gig. “It’s nice and sunny here,” he
reports contentedly. “It’s very high. You don’t
realize it’s a mile high, and you’re sort of
huffing and puffing the first two weeks.” His
ears haven’t popped yet, “but I went jogging
the first morning. I was like an old man. I had
a beer and almost fell over.” Ironically, the
show he is designing there is Disney’s The
Little Mermaid, which is going through a testrun in late August before being tweaked for
its Broadway debut on December 6. One can
imagine how much worse his ears would be
if he literally had to swoop down under the
sea from high in the sky.
Today his thoughts shift from “mermaid
land” to a different area located between
those two extreme points: the tennis court
that is center stage for the Broadway production of Deuce. The five-person show stars
Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes as retired women’s tennis pros who made a stellar doubles team back in the day, and they
are the guests of honor at a modern match
between two new stars. But as their verbal
interplay and the jibes and quips from the
two commentators behind them prove,
the game has become much more about
achieving stardom and nabbing endorsements than the love of the sport.
The 90-minute drama engages
audiences, not only because of its strong
script and stellar leading ladies, but also
because of Paul Charlier’s dynamic sound
design, which creates the illusion of a live
tennis match, and Ortel’s striking video
design, which includes large projections
of digitized audience members that help
to create the illusion of a live stadium
“The set designer Peter Davison came
to me and asked me what would be possible,” Ortel recollects.“I’ve worked with him
before, and I told him anything he wanted,
but somehow we had to get the audience
in the stadium without upstaging the two
actresses. Eventually he came up with the
diagonal gauze idea and splitting the perspective.” (Specifically, the lower seats face
forward, and the upper seats are viewed
from the side.) “I was scratching my head
quite a bit. The Music Box is a lovely theatre,
but in terms of angles for projectors, none
of these buildings were designed with that
in mind. I did a bit of calculating. I looked at
it and knew what had to be done because I
knew I had to project the audience from the
actual audience point of view. There were
people in those seats, and the challenge
was how I was going to be able to project
them there. I thought you could do it with
extra-wide lenses, and later on the guy from
Scharff Weisberg worked out a different solution, which was from a projectionist’s perspective. We put a big, bulky projector on
the circle rail, which I thought no one would
agree to, but they did. So we have one big
projector that covered the entire screen
from the circle front at a right angle to the
screen. It was well sound-proofed, and then
it worked well.”
Forty-Loop
That was only part of the solution. For
the digital spectators to have a regular
presence, except in moments when the
focus was on the sportscasters, they had to
be looped smoothly, especially as the loops
only last 45 seconds or so when there are
no specific reactions shown relating to the
game within the story. “The tricky bit was
“The tricky bit was actually working out
whether it’s possible to place the audience.”
– Sven Ortel
audience. Ortel has worked with video
design and projection for seven years on
such productions as Faith Healer and The
Woman in White at the National Theatre in
London, and he has five years experience
previously as an electrician and gaffer on
music videos and small features films.
Projecting a Full House
The director of Deuce, Michael Blakemore, is a 56-year veteran of the theatre, and
he made it very clear to Ortel from the start
that he wanted an “audience” present in the
play. To accomplish this, Ortel used video
projections in a way that allegedly has never
been done before: two sets of spectators are
projected onto a giant mesh scrim to the
side of and behind the ladies, and another
set is projected in front of the two television
commentators who occasionally make comments about the ladies and the game. The
two sportscasters also have their images
projected elsewhere on the scrim to show
how they appear on television.
18
PLSN AUGUST 2007
actually working out whether it’s possible
to place them correctly and to manipulate
them and crossfade and all these things,
and that was done using media servers,”
explains Ortel. He has worked with High
End Systems Catalyst and Green Hippo
Hippotizer for a few years, so he has close
relationships to both developers. “I’m
aware of the tools that these products offer
and what you can do at what stage of the
process. I was confident that I could move
my audience members around and distort
them accordingly. I needed to make sure
that I could cover the right area and have
the right kind of content. It all ties together
for me. When I did this show, I found out that
most people on Broadway don’t work like
that. They come up with the content and let
someone else sort it out. They’re a bit like
content creators.”
The footage of the audience was shot at
a soundstage in lower Manhattan. Ortel says
that the producers rallied friends and relatives
to the location and cast some of them as digi-
Marian Seldes (left) and Angela Lansbury in Deuce
tal extras for the show. A tennis expert even
came in to offer advice, and director Blakemore largely handled the direction “because
the scenes that we are projecting are actually
described in the script,” explains Ortel. “He
obviously had to take control of that to make
sure it matched what he envisioned the audience would do. So he directed the crowd that
was to be projected in the same way that he
would direct actors. Obviously I directed the
loops. I told them to look very slowly from
left to right in this and that rhythm. From a
technical point of view, the challenge was to
get the head movement synchronized to the
sound design. We had sound clips from the
sound designer to make sure that they were
at the right speed.”
www.PLSN.com
Placing the Projectors
There are four projectors used for
Deuce: a large Digital Projection Highlight 12000SX and three Barco R6s. The
12000SX projects the audience on the
main scrim. Two of the R6s project the
commentators at two different positions
on the main scrim, while the remaining
R6 is rear projected on an RP screen in the
commentator booth. “The large projector
was on the circle rail at a right angle to the
screen, and there are two inserts for the
commentators on the large gauze,” clarifies Ortel. “Again, they are at right angles
to the surface they are projected on. One
is on the circle rail, and one is behind the
proscenium projecting onto to the gauze,
“I had to cheat and do stretching and
squashing and also composite people in seats
where they aren’t actually sitting.”
– Sven Ortel
a person sitting there, suddenly they are
floating in midair when they are sitting too
low or too high. That took a lot of trial and
error and squeezing and pushing to get to
a level where actually it’s not reality we’re
trying to convey here. I think that’s the trick,
to make it look like something theatrical.
The moment you’ve achieved that, people
are not too focused on the fact that it’s absolutely correct. It just needs to convey the
idea so there are more people than there
are actually seats. But it works from every
angle, and you don’t really notice.”
Ortel certainly succeeded in fleshing
out the virtual audience without causing
them to distract from the main characters,
and they helped create the illusion that an
actual game was taking place and being
watched by real people. That comment certainly pleases Ortel. “That was the idea,” he
declares modestly, “and I’m glad to hear it
worked.”
Angela Lansbury in Deuce
and there is another one upstage doing a
back projection on a piece of RP.”
The projectors are triggered and the
console is a MA Lighting grandMA, whichcontrols the Hippotizer media server. “In
some instances, the media server is triggered by the sound stuff, and those are the
instances when the heads of the audience
have to be moving in sync with the sound
of the ball,” states Ortel. “It’s triggered by
MIDI from the sound software. In the same
instances, the grandMA also controls two
cue lights that tell the two actresses on
which side the ball is. It switches on and
off, so they know where to look. It’s quite a
tricky set up, and it took a while to work out
and get in sync.”
The large scrim used for the audience
projections is an Oberon by Gerriets
International, which Ortel notes has been
discontinued. “We did some tests for it to
get the right level of translucency and
have enough reflectivity,” he recalls. “We
didn’t want the commentators upstage
to be too separated. On the other hand,
I needed something that I could project
well on, and we ended up with this
discontinued scrim.”
For Ortel, the biggest challenge of
working on Deuce was mapping the audience members to the scenes. “There
is distance between the seats and the
scrim, so they would look like they’re sitting in different seats depending upon
where you sit in the auditorium,” explains Ortel. “Even though I filmed the
people based on the technical drawings
of how the seats are configured, that actually didn’t work out because of that
distance. I had to cheat and do stretching and squashing and also composite
people in seats where they aren’t actually sitting. If you are sitting in the center
of the auditorium, there would be empty
seats if I hadn’t added extra people. It’s
a very peculiar effect.” Ortel did end up
repeating some audience members by
copying them into other seat locations
in order to fill out the virtual crowd.
“These theatres also have tiers, which
means there is a difference between the
surface you are projecting on and the object behind it,” continues Ortel. “If there is
Sven Ortel
100.0708.18-19.indd 19
7/31/07 2:51:24 PM
INSTALLATIONS
Mammoth Lights
for Evangel Cathedral
Koster Design installs an inspired rig.
The DL.2s strut their stuff.
By KevinM.Mitchell
C
hristmas at the Evangel Cathedral is
one of the growing number of eyepopping spectacular Broadway-style
productions being put on in today’s modern
houses of worship, except the Cathedral has a
history and reputation for doing it better than
most. A cast of hundreds, live animals, the
works — and now they have a digital lighting system worthy of not only their biggest
events, but one they use creatively in their
“regular” services as well. And while it certainly was not their intention, nor are they likely
interested, in the process, they have made
entertainment technology history by having
the world’s largest installation of High End
Systems DL.2 digital luminaires.
And it’s all because of a trade show.
Koster Design’s habit of meeting clients
at LDI and showing them around proved to
be a smart strategy, and in this case it inspired
the lighting designer at Evangel to absolutely
need something he didn’t even know was
available.
has been lighting design, sales and marketing,
while Kelly’s has been lighting design and programming,” Gormley says. “Now all of our skill
sets are put to work for entertainment lighting, design, programming, sales — the whole
works.” The company is based just outside
Branson, Mo., and the team brings 33 years of
combined experience to the business.
Prior to the merger, they worked on projects together, including some for the leader
of Evangel Cathedral, Bishop Don Meares.
(Lighting designer Bryan is his son.) Meares
has worked at the house of worship since
1968 and has expanded the organization
over the years. The bishop personally oversaw
the construction of the new complex, which
opened in 2000. It conducts roughly three
elaborate, show-quality services a week.
Both Koster and Gormley have separately
had a hand in putting together the current
system at Evangel. It included hundreds of
moving lights and a full fly rail system, in addition to projection and video elements. “It has
“Everyone I worked with on this project was
a complete pro. The installation, setup and
programming went great, and we could not
be happier.” — Bryan Meares
“We met lighting designer Bryan Meares
at the High End booth at LDI, and he fell in love
with the DL.2s — so much that they wanted
them by Christmas, just 45 days later!” laughs
Mike Gormley, now part-owner of Koster Designs. He added that the DL.2’s College Generator software feature especially inspired the
lighting designer’s imagination about what
he could do in future productions.
“More than Most Broadway Theatres”
Kelly Koster of Koster Design and Gormley
of Gormley Design merged their companies a
year ago; while they went with just Koster’s
name, the ownership is equally split. “My side
20 PLSN AUGUST 2007
more equipment than most Broadway theatres,” Gormley says. It also boasts one of the
largest stages on the East Coast — one that is
120-feet wide at the proscenium.
Evangel wasn’t necessarily looking to upgrade and add to its already impressive array
of professional lighting, staging and projection
toys, and according to Gormley,“If we wouldn’t
have taken Meares by the High End booth, he
probably wouldn’t have done the upgrade.”
While it is impressive, the original plan
was even more ambitious: 12 DL.2s were
going to be added to the church. But a little
sticker shock followed, and Koster Design
went back to the drawing board, reworked
Kelly Koster (left) and Mike Gormley, owners of Koster Design
some components and adjusted the pricing
and the deadline until all involved were satisfied. Going from 12 to 10 DL.2s meant that
the projection area covered only 95 feet of
the 120-foot-wide screen, but they merely
masked the ends in black.
With the sale pending, Bishop Meares
requested a demo to see what he would be
purchasing. By chance, High End’s Craig Burross was doing a demo and training session
in Washington D.C., and the bishop and the
entire production team from the church were
able to attend. They stayed for hours watching the demonstration and asking questions.
After the demo, Meares was so impressed
that Koster Design was called immediately
and informed the sale was a go.
Wowing the Sunday Service Dancers
Axon media servers are built into the
DL.2s; they chose to use another free-standing Axon to manage the content from the
front of house. But Koster Design had never
worked with them before. In the past, they
had generally preferred another brand of
media server. But the stakes were high, and
the team didn’t want any problems, so they
chose to stick with the Axons: “We didn’t
want something coming up and High End
www.PLSN.com
saying the problem was with the other
company, and the other company saying it
was High End,” Gormley says. The install was
up and running, ready for programming, on
the very first day.
Additionally, they used four wireless
W-DMX transmitters and receivers, a Rose
Brand seamless backdrop and a DP2000
processor. Bryan Meares also rigged three
custom uninterruptible power supplies so
all the DL.2s are backed up.
“We get all our drapery from Rose Brand,”
Gormley says. “This one was a custom-made
bleached white muslin. It was what was in
High End’s booth, what they recommended,
and what we showed the bishop.”
Gormley was pleased with the W-DMX
gear: “This controls the largest permanent install of DL.2 units anywhere on the
planet. During the installation, the W-DMX
gear was installed, trained and operational
within 15 minutes with no interference or
operational issues. I have been specifying
and using Wireless Solution products on
events and installs for almost a year with no
problems. This is by far the most solid wireless option available on the market right
now, and the pricing is affordable for all
venues, including churches and schools.”
GEAR
Added in This Install:
10 High End Systems DL.2 digital lights
1 High End Systems Axon media server
4 Wireless Solutions W-DMX transmitters
4 Wireless Solutions W-DMX receivers
1 Rose Brand Custom 25’10”H x 95’W seamless bleached
white muslin backdrop
1 High End Systems Wholehog 3 DP 2000 DMX processor
Existing Gear Included:
576
1
2
1
17
36
24
44
10
1
ETC Sensor dimmer (six 96-way racks)
High End Systems Wholehog 3
High End Systems Wholehog 3 DP 2000 DMX processor
High End Systems Wholehog 2
Doug Fleenor Designs 1-in/11-out DMX splitter
Morpheus color faders
Vari*Lite VL1000 AS moving lights
High End Systems x.Spot Xtremes
High End Systems Cyberlight CL turbos
Vortek Flyrail System w/ wireless control
Scott Chmielewski, Koster’s DL.2 programmer, sets up the fixtures.
“We didn’t want something coming up and
High End saying the problem was with the
other company, and the other company saying
it was High End.” — Mike Gormley
on the second day and went to work on
upgrading the software in the Hog III,
patching fixtures, and setting up the con-
A look at the DL.2s’ projection
For sales and product support, Koster
Design enlisted the help of Gormley’s former employer George Studnicky III, owner
of Creative Stage Lighting. All the gear was
shipped directly to Creative Stage Lighting, and a staff of four worked exclusively
on setting up the DL.2s, wireless DMX and
Axon media server to make sure the install
went quickly. The final package was cased
and trucked directly to the venue for the
start of installation.
The installation team consisted of Koster
Designs staffer Cory Combow and Creative’s Rich Jackson and Scott Chmielewski.
Chmielewski was also enlisted to work with
the Wholehog III console.
A three-day schedule was slated for
the install, which included the fixture
hang, making all custom DMX jumper
cables, the wireless DMX install and the
Axon integration. “Chmielewski took over
sole’s palettes for programming,” Gormley says. “In no time, a full collage of all
10 units was up, wowing the dancers and
singers who were on stage rehearsing for
the Sunday service.”
“We do many large-scale productions
throughout the year, and the DL.2s are a great
compliment to our existing inventory,” Bryan
Meares says. “Everyone I worked with on this
project was a complete pro. The installation,
setup and programming went great, and we
could not be happier.”
www.PLSN.com
2007 AUGUST PLSN
21
INTERVIEW
Scaling Down
Production
Long before there were software
packages, Patrick Woodroffe kept
it real for pre-viz.
By RobLudwig
A production crew meets around the scale model for a concert.
Patrick Woodroffe on the Police set.
L
ong before WYSIWYG, VectorWorks,
3D Studio Max and ESP Vision, there
was Patrick Woodroffe’s 4-to-1 reallife studio, albeit in miniature. Woodroffe,
who gained notoriety in the industry
chiefly as the lighting designer for the
Rolling Stones, but whose résumé bulges
with superstars and shows dating back to
1972, put together a working scale model
studio for preproduction using PAR 16s
and miniature truss. The London-based
precursor to virtual reality preproduction
software was very successful when he sold
it to a production company. We spoke to
Woodroffe about his venture and how it
came about.
PLSN: You built scale models of your designs before previsualization software
existed.
Patrick Woodroffe: I did. It was around
1990, the time of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck
Tour. It was called 4-to-1, in that the scale
was 1:4, in effect. This was before the days
of previsualization, of course. I had always
thought how great it would be to have a
miniature version of what you were going to put out on tour, because you would
have a really good sense of what it looked
like. You could fix a lot of technical problems, and you could also actually create
the cues. It was always sort of a vague idea
until one day when I saw the Birdie — the
little MR-16 Birdie lights. This was when I
was still using PAR cans, and I thought that
was it. LSD, at the time, made six-lamp bars
of these things with little multiconnectors.
I started to take the thing seriously and I
got little minibeam Trilite trussing, which
was again about ¼ scale, and I found some
little profile lights. I set it all up in a railway arch in England, which is this sort of
utilitarian industrial space, and I put in an
overhead grid using rebar reinforcing steel
and a rigging system like a theatre fly system that came to the side of the stage on a
series of fly lines.
22 PLSN AUGUST 2007
“I had always thought how great it would be to
have a miniature version of what you were going
to put out on tour.”
— Patrick Woodroffe
How did it work?
If you wanted to hang a truss, you’d clip
a couple of carabiners into this overhead
bit on cords, you’d clip on the truss, fire
them off to the side, you’d load the truss up
with little birdie lamp bars and profiles and
you’d haul them up in the air. Then you’d
have a look at the trim — and we had this
stick that was to scale — and if the trim was
20 feet you’d say, ‘Hmm, I think it should be
higher. What do you think?’ And then we’d
pull it up to 24 feet, and that would be it.
We’d move the trusses up a bit, or back a bit,
and do all the things that would be very difficult to do in real life. And then, from that
point, you’d make up your rigging plot and
send it off. We’d get the lighting companies
to come down and have a look, the crew
chiefs would have a look and say, “If we did
it like this, this would be good like this,” et
cetera, et cetera.
We’d get all that technical stuff done,
and then, on the stage, we built the stage set
with little models. We had little art mannequins with little drum kits and keyboards; it
was great. Then, out front, we had a Vari*Lite
board, and we had an Avolite board. It was
sort of like a spaceship console, rather, like
a recording studio with a sound system,
video cameras, comfy chairs and sofa. It had
all that stuff and off we went. It worked. We
held our head above water for two to three
years. Obviously, with the advent of the
moving light, it became difficult. What we
did in the end was we said, “This profile represents a moving light and in this number
they are all going to be red.” So, someone
would run up and put red gels in. We had
little color changer — LSD made little mini
color changers with hand scrollers as well.
Pat Harkes, who worked for a band called
Status Quo, and Nick Sholem, with the Eagles
and Sting, used it a lot, and I used it for all of
my shows, of course. We would rent it out by
the day, and the bands would come down,
too. We had all sorts of people down there
— the Bee Gees, AC/DC, Simply Red — and,
remember, it was in this funny little garage
with a great sound system with a couple
of big full-range speakers. We’d say, “This is
what your show is going to look like.” They
were amazed. For the Freddie Mercury Tribute in London, Queen came down, and more
to the point, David Mallet, the director, came
down with all his cameramen. We had this
little camera with a television monitor and
he would look at it and say, “Rocket, I need
you here. This is a great shot here. We need
to build a platform here. We need a longer
lens on camera five.”
I can tell you it really worked. One of
the reasons we ended up folding, in the
end, was that I was pretty busy doing all the
shows that I do. I was advocating using this
system, but by advocating it, I was adding
another week of preprogramming to every
job I did. It was sort of counterproductive
for me, when I was trying to fit in all this different sort of work: opera, ballet, televisions
shows, rock shows. It became quite complicated to do that, and, what was in effect,
previsualization.
So we sold it to a guy called Wilfried
Schiefer from Showtec. They took it to Germany, and I think they still use it to this day.
They did it a really proper commercial operation, employed three full-time people
and had a really big space. They’d do operas
down there, and they used to do big industrials and build beautiful scaled-model sets.
www.PLSN.com
Their clients would come down and show
their people, so it was pretty interesting.
Funnily enough, just at the time when previs was coming out, I went and looked at a
few systems and I thought about doing a
just-electronic version of this. I think people
have done it.
Of course, people do stuff on WYSIWYG,
but I was never really happy with it. Certainly,
not when I first looked at it because it was
wire-frame, and because a wash light looked
like a profile and a profile looked like a PC
beam light, so it was rather pointless. Now,
from what I understand, it’s pretty good,
and you can even render in real-time or very
close to real-time.
I think somebody should, if they haven’t
already, do a version like we did, with a really
beautiful programming suite. I think someone in England has one. It should have multiple big-screen screens so you can see dif-
“We had all sorts of
people down there —
the Bee Gees, AC/DC,
Simply Red…”
— Patrick Woodroffe
ferent angles, with the board you are going
to take out, and comfy chairs and a sound
system. I think that would be really good. Of
course, I guess we can do that at home now
with computers [laughs].
Aside from the time constraints, I think
there are advantages to the way you did it.
I think the way people do it in their bedrooms in fine, but it’s quite a singular exercise. It’s a private exercise, or a lighting designer will do it with his programmer. But the
times when it was the most useful, when I
think about it now, were not so much taking
a disc out of the board and going to the first
show, sticking the disc in and having a show.
Although that did happen, to a degree, it was
much more trying to illustrate everything to
the groups of people who were required
to know it: the crew, the programmers, the
artists, the management and the television
directors. To have them in the room and
show them what is was going to be happening made a huge difference. Everyone knew
what it was going to look like, and there was
a huge sense of confidence.
What I find, sometimes, is that these computer visualizations tend to look more beautiful than the real thing. It’s quite easy to force a
perspective and to not show half the crap you
need, like the trusses and this and that. Our
thing was pretty real. Everything you saw, you
got — with cable runs and cable picks, which
you can’t pretend don’t exist.
The Police set mockup lit at upstaging
The full-sized mockup of the Police’s 2007 set.
hearsal with the band. The band wasn’t
as involved in the lighting as some other
bands. So, it meant that when Danny Nolan
got to Vancouver, he had a whole show that
he was comfortable and confident with.
And, then, of course, he finessed it, changed
it and bettered it. It was very close to the
real thing, so, in a funny way, that was a real-
time, real-scale previsualization.
How often does that happen?
Very rarely.
Fast-forward to today, in comparison —
How did you handle the preparation for
the Police tour?
For the Police tour, we did exactly that,
but we did it in real scale. We went to Upstaging and basically set the whole rig up
and built a mockup of the stage. The stage
was still being built at Tate so we roughed
it up, and the people at Upstaging did it
really neatly. Danny Nolan and I sat there
for a week — we had a set list — and programmed the show pretty much cue-to-cue,
because we only had a couple of days re-
Wilfried Schiefer adjusts lights on the 4:1 model
www.PLSN.com
2007 AUGUST PLSN 23
PRODUCTION PROFILE
ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY KATIE FRIESEMA
Something BORROWED,
Something BLUES
As John Mayer moves toward
the blues, the show borrows
a warehouse look
By KevinM.Mitchell
Lighting Designer Michael Keller
“We only had five weeks from when I first got the call for a set until we were loading in.”
J
ohn has revitalized my live concert experience,” Michael Keller says. “The last few
years weren’t fun any more.” Lighting designer Keller is talking about how every night
on this tour is new; as he works the show, he
doesn’t know what’s going to happen until it
happens. Not in a “these-guys-are-crazy” way,
but more in the vein of musicians making
music fresh at the moment for the audience,
as opposed to every note, beat, light cue and
song order exactly the same show after show.
It’s not the stuff of tabloids, admittedly, but
good-looking pop star John Mayer is evolving
into a respected musician with a blues edge
that shuns pyro and explosions in favor of an
environment comfortable enough to allow
everyone to focus on the music. It’s leading to
success on the road — so much so that his current tour was extended for a third leg.
“The tour was not supposed to be this
long,” says scenic designer Jim Lenahan. “They
weren’t prepared for it to be this successful.” As
the tour prepared for an extension that would
lead them through many venues they had already played, a new look was needed — and
fast.
— Jim Lenahan
Borrowed Ideas
Keller grew up in the San Francisco Bay
area, where he started working for Bill Graham’s organization when he was 22. “I was do-
ing lighting in college, but didn’t really want to
do theatre lighting,” he says. “I became house
LD for Winterland, and then started with bands
like Jefferson Starship, Santana and others.”
He went to work for Morpheus Lights where
he worked with the likes of lighting designer
Peter Morris. Today he has his own Las Vegasbased company, Amo Lighting.
Keller was hired by production manager
Rich Barr before Mayer changed management
and brought in the current production manager, Chris Adamson. “They have been happy
with the show now; that’s all you can hope for
in this business these days.” Keller laughs.
The show has evolved since it first went
out last year. Originally, Mayer was co-headlining with Sheryl Crow, and his creative team
deferred to Crow’s lighting system. Crow was
using Element Labs VersaTubes, while Mayer
had been using VersaTiles. Once Crow stepped
off the tour, Keller skipped both components
and altered the rig to fit his needs a bit more.
But when he was recently faced with another
extension of the tour, Mayer told his crew he
wanted something different. They turned to
Lenahan.
Lenahan, who has been in the business for
33 years, came out of Florida with Tom Petty,
lighting his early shows. He has a degree from
the University of Florida in set design, and
though he cut his teeth in the industry doing
CREW
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Lighting Supplier: Theatrical Media Services, Inc. (Tim Kohlmeyer, account rep)
Lighting Designer/Director: Michael Keller
Set Designer: Jim Lenahan
Production Manager: Chris Adamson
Stage Manager: Chris “Feeley” Gott
Crew Chief: Scott Wasson
Lighting Crew: Audra Breyer (first electrician), Mario Marchio, Philip Schulte
Tour Rigger: Fred “Fritz” Breitfelder
Tour Carpenter: Doug “Doogie” Eldredge
Video Supplier: XL Video
24 PLSN AUGUST 2007
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Vari*Lite VL500Ds
Vari*Lite VL3000s (1modified for truss
spot)
16 Vari*Lite VL3500 Spots
8 Vari*Lite VL3500 Washlights
9 Vari*Lite VL1000ASs
16 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles
8 Martin MAC 2000 Washlights
6 Syncrolite B52s
18 PixelRange PixelPAR 90
4 Thomas 4-lights
14 L&E Mini Strips
lighting design, he eventually he moved into
designing sets as well.“When you start out, you
do whatever brings in the bucks!” he laughs.
“Bands always need lights — they don’t always
need a set.”
Lenahan put some renderings in front of
Mayer and got the gig, but the clock was already ticking. “We only had five weeks from
when I first got the call for a set until we were
loading in!”
One of Lenahan’s renderings that Mayer
liked was a set of a city alley. But time is a cruel
mistress and didn’t allow for it to be fully realized, so they took some tough, gritty textural
elements of that idea and morphed it into a
warehouse look similar to what Lenahan had
done for a Petty tour years before. “It’s a warehouse with windows in the back, and then
we added some vertical-format video. John
wanted flat screen plasma TVs, but we did turn
it to the portrait setting instead of landscape.”
XL Video provided the gear and helped pull all
the elements together quickly.
“The reason they went with flat panel
screens was because it was literally something
we could grab and go.The creativity really went
into the format of the screen, this vertical format. And because they are ground supported,
they could be moved a bit or changed if they
had to be.” He adds that years ago for Petty he
was able to break up the screens, make them
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Wybron CXI Color Scrollers
TMS 208V Distros
TMS 120V Distro
ETC Sensor 96-way rack
Martin Maxxyz console w/ Wing
MAC Powerbook Pro with Maxxyz PC
MA Lighting ArtNet DMX LAN Node
Data Lynx
Motion Labs 32-channel motor distro
32-ch TMS Data Distro
64-ch TMS Data Distro
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different shapes and sometimes share one image and other times have different images on
each piece. It was an idea that Mayer liked, but
they couldn’t make that happen in time.
Lenahan was impressed with the ability of
video director Phil Nudelman, given the simple
set up.“He’s a real cool director, and right away
he was pushing the envelope in terms of the
visuals he was doing. I thought he’d get into
learning the show for a while before he started
experimenting, but he dove right in.”
The video content was developed by Marc
and Catherine Brickman, and Nicholas Millitello came out to help load the content into
a Martin Maxedia media server; it was all put
together quickly and flawlessly, Keller says.
In addition to the upstage and downstage
trusses, the Tyler Truss system includes four
truss “fingers” that span the depth of the stage.
They have articulating corner blocks that allow
the fingers to arch slightly, creating a 3D look.
The rigging and production services were
provided by TMS Omaha. Crew chief Scott
Wasson, first electrician Audra Breyer, lighting
techs Mario Marchio and Philip Schulte,
plus tour rigger Fred “Fritz” Breitfelder are all
supplied by TMS. And according to Wasson,
“Doogie (a.k.a. Doug Eldredge) is actually our
fifth lighting tech.” In the early days of the tour,
Wasson negotiated a trade whereby Eldredge,
the tour carpenter, would rig some lights in
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Doug Fleenor Designs Opto-Splitter
CM 1-ton chain motor
CM 1\4-ton chain motor
Tyler Truss 12” x 10’ truss
Tyler Truss 20 1\2” x 5’ truss
Tyler Truss 20 1\2” x 8’ truss
Tyler Truss 20 1\2” x 10’
Tyler Truss 20 1\2” 4-way corner
Tyler Truss 20 1\2” articulating hinge
MDG Atmosphere touring haze machines
“All the visual guys are only there to service the music in the first place.”
— Jim Lenahan
addition to his carpenter duties in exchange
for undisclosed favors. It’s obvious from their
banter that all the techs play well together.
ofni-tnatsni/moc.nslp.www //:ptth:ofni dA
New Technology Meets Vaudeville
Though it’s not obvious to the casual
observer, the warehouse backdrop is not an
actual structure. “The backdrop was digitally printed, which I really like,” Lenahan says.
“The printers today can print 16 feet wide
and almost any length, so you only need
one seam to make it 30 feet wide. I do it all
on computer and print it out, so it doesn’t
have to go to a scenic artist and then be ‘interpreted.’”
The drop is backed with heavy lightstopping black cloth everywhere except
for the “windows.” “This allowed Keller to
backlight the windows in a way that is as old as
vaudeville,” Lenahan said. “The end result was
a simple way to provide atmosphere and flesh
out an otherwise two-dimensional backdrop.”
Rigged over the band are five garage
lights, typical of what you might see in a
warehouse, on motors. They are lowered toward the end — a gag also borrowed from a
Petty show. At one point during an intimate
moment, Mayer can reach up and pull the
string, turning one off.
Keller’s lighting tools include 21
Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots, with one extra in
which the motors have been taken out so
it can be used as a follow spot. A variety
of other Vari*Lites are used in addition to
Martin MAC washes and profiles. “I like the
Vari*Lites. That’s what Sheryl Crow had in
the beginning. I brought in the MAC stuff,
but the 3000 is very powerful and very high
in color temperature.” Everything is being
controlled with a Martin Maxxyz console
with a wing, Keller’s board of choice.
Mayer is evolving as an artist and this is
no every-song-is-the-same kind of show. “He’s
always changing the music,” Keller says. “One
night a heavy rocker is suddenly turned into
a ballad, and you never know who is going
to take a solo or for how long.” The show is all
cued, but Keller ends up using live playbacks a
lot, which is just fine by him.“It keeps us on our
toes and makes it interesting.”
But in the end, it’s all about the music.
“With every set for every artist, you’re
starting over,” Lenahan says. “On the one
hand, I’ve done transforming trusses, whistles
and bombs for Toby Keith; for John, you don’t
want that kind of stuff, but you still want to
create an environment that goes with the
music. All the visual guys are only there to
service the music in the first place, and if it’s
a party-down situation, then you want the set
and lights to affect that.
“This stage, though, is the band’s living
room two hours a night. They need to be comfortable there.”
VITAL STATS
Active Production and Design, Inc.
By Kevin M.Mitchell
“I was so young when I started Active that no matter what a 34-yearold me said, the 20-year-old me probably would not have listened!”
Who: Matt Clouser, president/owner
What: Full-service production company specializing in audio/visual installations and live
productions
If I could go back in time and tell my
younger self one thing, it would be: “I
was so young when I started Active that
no matter what a 34-year-old me said,
the 20-year-old me probably would not
have listened!”
After a particularly trying yet successful gig, I treat myself to ... “A two-hour
massage and a sushi dinner. After I’m all
relaxed I plan a fun day with Simon, which
usually requires a two-hour massage and
sushi dinner afterwards!”
People might be surprised to know: “I am
an extreme sport fanatic. If the average person is afraid to try it I’m all about it!”
Motto/Favorite Quote: “You’re only as good
as your last event.”
Where: Atlanta, GA.
Founded: 1993
First gig: “Setting up the lights (PAR cans) for
a local club. I was paid $25 dollars a night.”
Latest gig: “We recently had a successful
show with the Caribbean Diplomatic Community in D.C.”
Current clients include: Clear Channel, Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Personal best?: “Simon, my three-year-old.
He is my biggest achievement in life!”
Degrees of separation: Senior account executive Jason Shadix served as creative services
director for Freeman Decorating Atlanta (division of The Freeman Companies); PR/marketing manager Clydette R. Morton worked
for the CBS affiliate in Atlanta for five years as
studio manager and audio engineer.
Matt Clouser (left), president and owner, with John Fox, vice
president of Active Production
If and when I go on vacation, you’ll find me
… “On a beach showing my son how to ride
his first wave.”
Active Production and Design HQ
I knew I wanted to do this when … “I saw
that chasing my rock star dream meant a lot
of hungry nights!”
Career low point: “I was on show site really
up-selling the company to the client, when
the video screen goes black and all the mics
go out! I was so embarrassed, but the client
was a good sport and gave us another chance
… eventually.”
Career high point: “Being awarded the inhouse contract for the Georgia Aquarium. It is
the largest aquarium in the world, and it was
like being a part of history in the making.”
Warehouse Manager Chad Tripson
The national conference for Clear Channel
Jason Shadix, senior account exec at Active
Current favorite toy: “The High End Systems
Axon and DL.2 are very cool. The more you
‘play’ around with it the more you find out
you can do with it.”
The coolest thing about my job: “It’s like
being a kid in a toy store and getting paid to
play with the coolest toys.”
A corporate event for Clear Channel
Spelman College’s 125th Anniversary at the Georgia Aquarium
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PRODUCTION PROFILE
Mr. SCREEN Evolves into Mr. LED
Roger Waters’ Dark Side of the Moon tour built a wall of light.
By SteveJennings with JacobCoakley
All photography by SteveJennings
W
hen you think of a classic rock concert light show, chances are you’re
thinking of Pink Floyd and Marc
Brickman’s iconic masterpieces of the ‘70s
and ‘80s. “Mr. Screen,” the circular projection
surface ringed by Vari*Lites, the magnificent
arched truss loaded with more automated
lights, large inflatables and the flying, crashing airplane came to define the pinnacle of
theatrical concert production.
Roger Waters, the main songwriter and one
of the lead singers of Pink Floyd, left the band
in 1985 and embarked on a solo career. After a
short-lived reunion with David Gilmour and Pink
Floyd, Waters was again on his own, touring and
performing on the strength of his Floyd hits and
his solo material.The recent leg of his tour, which
was designed by Brickman, recently brought
him through North America where PLSN caught
up with some of the crew, including lighting director Mark “Sparky” Risk, video tech Clarke Anderson, and production manager Chris Kansy.
Lights in the Haze
Risk has been living the Floyd life for a
while now, as he flew directly from his stint on
the David Gilmour tour last year to join Waters.
When we asked how he’d measure up to the
legendary Floyd light shows, Risk was clear
that lights demurred to video on this tour.
28 PLSN AUGUST 2007
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“This is quite a restrained light show in
many respects. It’s all about video,” says Risk.
“It was always going to form the foundation
of the show. The challenge was to light the
show in a manner that very much reflected
what was happening on the video screen; we
spent a lot of time with Roger combining the
two elements. Our main remit was to come
up with a show that was seamlessly integrated, rather than have a bunch of disconnected
elements.”
That integration meant an intense rehearsal and programming period, making
sure all the lights matched up with the video
in terms of colors, moods and intensity.
“The video screen is the biggest light
we have,” continues Risk. “And that’s the
whole point.”
Which is not to say they don’t still have a
lot of lights. From the early days of Brickman’s
Pink Floyd shows, the ring of Vari*Lites on
“Mr. Screen” were one of its trademarks. The
association with Vari-Lite continues to this
day. The tour was largely Vari-Lite-based with
3000 Spots and Washes and some 2000 Washes. Risk gave them all high praise, calling them
“All excellent lights, with superb optics.”
And to make those lights pop, Risk
has turned into an amateur weatherman,
trying to create the perfect clouds of
smoke and haze.
“Smoke is a bit of an obsession, but it’s an
important one,” says Risk.“I don’t want to sound
pretentious, but it’s like a painter not really bothering with the canvases he’s painting on.”
And the gear list bears that out. They
mainly use MDG foggers and hazers, with
some Jem ZF-33s in the truss and some Reel
EFX DF-50s in the audience. The most they’ve
had on tour has been 20; when we saw them,
there were a few less than that.
“Ideally, you’re wanting a really nice haze
that really pops out the lights of the video
screen,” Risk says, but he’s not done.“When you
come to using lasers, you also want some cloud
in so you get that marble effect as you scan. If
you want drama, you sometimes want it very,
very dense, so it’s coming down in clouds and
then dissipates eventually. So it’s all different
layers, but the key is to get the haze.”
Solid-State Effect
And there’s a reason Risk wants to highlight the lasers.
Thanks to Lightwave International and
Excitement Technologies Group, more than
100 watts of custom-built Arctos Lasertechnik lasers are used to recreate the iconic Dark
Side of the Moon album cover. A tetrahedron
“prism” created by two-inch diameter white
beam lasers, sculpted by a precisely aligned
mirror array, spins over the crowd, while a
larger white beam is projected into the prism
and another laser simulates the refracted
beam by projecting a spectrum of colors that
fan out from the other side, scanning over the
crowd. The scanning lasers output over 34
watts each and are some of the most powerful full-color lasers in the world. It’s literally the
show-stopping effect and one that wouldn’t
have been possible until this year.
“This power of white laser didn’t even exist until last year,” says George Dodworth of
Lightwave International. “To get something
close in power you would have had to have
a huge power supply, feeder and water hoses all up in the truss and running through a
continually rotating slip ring. It wouldn’t have
been possible.”
The original concept from Brickman called
for a mechanical device including 12 independently rotating and telescoping triangular
panels that transformed from an abstract effects structure into the recognizable prism.
“That’s how we were initially contacted,”
says Dodworth. “And then Brickman decided
to play with it and asked us, ‘Could you guys
do this entirely with lasers?’ It was one of those
wow moments; you had to have a 10-second
response. It was like, ‘Yeah, I think we could.’”
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7/30/07 6:37:04 PM
things were rushed.
“Eric Pierce did the allocations, and he
was anxious to cut metal because of the quick
deadline,” says Dodworth.“We had rough ideas
of what certain things had to be, but we didn’t
necessarily get to refine them. Pierce called me
one day and said, ‘You know what, I’m cutting
metal right now; you let me know tomorrow if
we haven’t gone too far.’ Luckily, we hadn’t.”
The control system is built around a
Lightwave Laser Server, which is powered by
Pangolin software. Cues are programmed
like any other media server, and live control
is handled by an MA Lighting grandMA console via DMX during show time, giving the
LD control over laser effects. A military-grade
slip ring passes power and data to the 2,500pound structure, allowing for continuous rotation. The overhead rotational housing also
features a climate control system assembled
by ETG. Martin Potoczny of Lightwave International was the laser board programmer/operator and has road managed the new effect
since its insertion in Mexico, through South
America, Europe and the U.S. and Canada.
Since the lasers are solid-state diodes,
there are no optical elements that could get
misaligned. The lasers rode inside the projectors on standard steel carts.
In the end, not only the crowd, but the
crew was blown away by the effect.
“The Dark Side of the Moon cover is a cult
icon,” says Dodworth.“And to be able to bring
it to life — I can’t even comprehend.”
Help Build the LED Wall
But while lasers may have stopped the
show, the LED wall was the show, and everyone
involved knew that, and kept saying again and
again how the mandate was to make everything mesh in with the video. With that much
thought put into the video before it went out,
the pressure was high on freelance video tech
Clarke Anderson, hired by John Wiseman to
look after the XL Video touring rig.
“I look after most aspects of the video — programming, engineering, design,
LED, projection — anything you like really,”
In addition to having a quick response, the
design needed to have a quick turn-around
— everyone was given only three weeks to
take the design from concept to reality. Brickman, ETG’s Kelly Sticksel, and Dodworth finalized the concept, and design was executed by
Chris Nyfield of Hindsight Studios, Brickman,
Sticksel and Dodworth. The base structure
was fabricated by ShowRig, headed by Eric
Pierce. Final assembly was a joint effort between ShowRig, ETG, Lightwave International,
Hindsight Studios, Stack Technical Services,
and GCN Technologies.
The collaboration was tight, with daily
conference calls and collaborating on the design via remote-desktop hookups. Even then,
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PRODUCTION PROFILE
Anderson says.“This started out as a one-man
role, someone who could not only communicate with Roger, but who could also deal with
the art direction and editing team, program
and operate the show and tour the projection
and playback system.”
Of the design, Anderson recognizes the
importance of the video element. He says
Waters helped Brickman shape the interplay
between lighting and video, but that “video
was always a centerpiece.”
“Roger has very firm views about how
lights and video fit with his music,” says Anderson. “Marc was receptive to this, and the
lighting show was built accordingly. Roger
loves his images, and they most definitely
take pride of place.”
But make no mistake; Waters was in full
control of the conceptual aspects of the
show. He took an active role to make sure his
vision was fully realized. “This is Roger’s project,” says Anderson. “He and art director Sean
Evans worked together during rehearsals on
ideas and layouts. Together with editor Andy
Jennison, they worked day and night to produce footage for the tour.”
The bulk of the video content was put
together during preproduction for the European start of the tour in the U.K. in May
2006. Evans and Jennison worked on an Avid
non-linear editing system while the XL UK
graphics team used Final Cut Pro. From there,
the finished clips were placed on Thompson
Grass Valley Turbo media servers for playback. The show was programmed on a Barco
Events Controller with timecode tracking to
play back cues in sync with the music and allowing for manual control.
Once the tour began, Anderson had to
field continual updates and revisions, and
newly updated material was continually sent
to him. “During sound check we would often
go over material, and Roger would correct
mistakes in timings or offer suggestions as
to how he thought it could be improved,” he
says. “I would either fix it then and there, or
the request would be sent back to Andy and
Sean to do in the edit suite.”
As for“Mr. Screen,”the modern-day projection backdrop is a larger, rectangular version
with a twist.“I’m not sure who talked who into
what, but we changed to an LED screen, for
the better in my opinion, as it looks so much
nicer. The biggest hiccup was the LED screen
being too bright, so it’s generally run at near
minimum so not to overpower lighting. In a
couple of instances, the screen is used as a giant lighting instrument,” Anderson adds. Anderson programmed a custom driver for the
Barco Event Controller “in order to control the
LED processors.” The video was rendered and
played back in 1080i.
Brickman incorporated footlights along
the downstage edge for a unique effect. Instead of using conventional lights, he uses a
row of PixelRange PixelLine LED fixtures with
color-changing capability. “He had the idea
to run the show video through them so the
front light would exactly match the colors on
screen,” reveals Anderson. “So we ran a video
feed to his Catalyst system at front of house.”
Of the video backdrop, Anderson reports
a “faux-3D effect” from the video screen.
“With the screen being super matte black, it
has helped by lighting and the liberal use of
smoke to meld into the background. Often
images look like they’re just floating above
Roger’s head.”
Despite all the technology, some of which
was very new, Anderson reports an easy run.
“The Grass Valley Turbos were quite new when
we started, and the units we had performed
flawlessly. Everything else was tried-andtested technology including a Barco Encore
system, Lighthouse R16 LED and a Digital PPU
for I-Mag, all supplied by XL Video.”
Even the creative team worked well.“Overall Brickman was great to work with,” says Anderson. “He was a good communicator who
gave clear ideas about what he wanted. There
was no vague waving of hands with a cry of
‘Make it go whoosh!’ that you get all too often.
“Marc and Sparky are hugely talented, forward-thinking guys with a great style; patient,
understanding, willing to work with others
to reach the intended result and never letting go of the big picture. Chris Kansy, a great
production manager, is always there to listen
and help any way he can. He’s incredibly well
organized and very accessible and friendly.
Chris Mounsor from XL UK and Andrew
Zweck, the tour director, have known each
other forever — that’s pretty much how XL
became involved. Brickman became involved
as we started the U.S. in autumn 2006 after a
six-week run through Europe with a different
design. Brickman was quite happy to have XL
on board and keep the playback system, augmenting it slightly for his own design involving an LED screen.
“The tour has gone incredibly smoothly
with minimal hiccups. XL Video’s kit has been
top notch and on the odd occasion we have
needed something, they’ve been right there
for support. When we enlarged the screen 50
percent this year, they bent over backwards
to supply the extra equipment. Without that
extra effort and sacrifice it was a train wreck
GEORGE DODWORTH
“Brickman decided to play with
it and asked us, ‘Could you guys
do this entirely with lasers?’”
— George Dodworth
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ALL PRODUCTION ALL THE TIME
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PRODUCTION PROFILE
waiting to happen. Icarus Wilson-Wright and
Rob Maloney, our XL LED techs, have absolutely made the tour. With their skills and talents the huge (60-foot-by-30-foot) screen has
been near effortless.”
Happyville Happens
Production Manager Chris Kansy greeted
us backstage with the declaration “Welcome
to Happyville,” and describes the tour as “almost surreal.”
“This crew has spent the last 14 months
loading containers as the sun rises, pushing
cases across fields, dragging surround sound to
the far corners of a venue and sneaking naps on
flights straight into load-in. But there is always
that moment of clarity during the show when
you hear “Us and Them” and the goose bumps
on your arms makes everything easier.”
Kansy and PRG account rep Nick Jackson
have a relationship dating back to the early
day of Lighting and Sound Design when they
were “pushing racks of PAR cans into trucks.”
He savors the chance to work with Brickman
and says that they “have always managed to
do really innovative projects together.” The
nine-truck show in the States loads-in in seven or eight hours, but Kansy says they have
been able to work it down to just under two
hours. “My stage manager Kahuna has a real
handle on things,” Kansy says.
Risk is equally grateful for his crew.“Everyone
on the tour has been great to work with, from
Roger all the way down. Of course working with
Marc is always a great pleasure; he is as much a
friend as he is a work colleague, and that always
makes things more enjoyable. I must draw particular attention to our lighting crew: Jim Fitzpatrick, who calls spots on the show, Barry Branford,
Diane Fleming, and John Lahiffe — all superb
people as well as amazing workers.They are crew
chiefed by Ross Colledge, whose ability to cope
with high work loads, whilst maintaining a keen
sense of humor is most impressive.”
Then again, maintaining your sense of humor comes easier when one of your bosses
wrote Dark Side of the Moon and the other helped
define the modern-day rock concert.
“Roger has very firm views about how lights and
video fit with his music.” — Clarke Anderson
Gear
30 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots
9 Syncrolite MX1000 Xenons
13 PixelRange 4’ PixelLine 1044 LED Strips
25 Martin Atomic 3K Strobes w/ Atomic
Colors color changers
2 Lycian M2 truss spots
1 VLPS Virtuoso console
5 MDG Max 3000 fog machines
4 MDG Double ATM haze generators
3 Jem ZR33 fog machines
3 Jem AFI fans
4 Reel EFX fans
216 Lighthouse R16 LED video display
panels
2 Grass Valley Turbo video drives
1 Barco Encore Presentation System
1 Barco Events Manager software
1 XL Video 4 Camera Digital Production
Unit (DPU)
2 Barco R12+ projectors (I-mag screens)
Crew
Production Designer: Marc Brickman
Lighting Director: Mark “Sparky” Risk
Tour Manager / FOH Engineer: Trip Khalaf
Production Manager: Chris Kansy
Lighting Crew Chief: Ross Colledge
Lighting Techs: Barry Branford, Diane Fleming,
John Lahiffe
Spot Operator: Jim Fitzpatrick
Video Director: Alastair MacDiarmid
Video Tech: Clarke Anderson
Additional Video Techs: Icarus Wilson-Wright,
Rob Maloney
Video Editor: Andy Jennison
Lasers: Martin Potoczny
Art Director: Sean Evans
I-mag Engineer: Robyn Tearle
Head Cameraman: Rob Wick
Camera/LED: John Scruggs
Lighting Company: PRG (Nick Jackson, account rep)
Video Company: XL Touring Video, Inc. (John
Wiseman, CEO, XL Video U.S.)
Managing Director: Chris Mounsor, XL Video
U.K.
Project Manager: Phil Mercer, XL Video U.K.
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PRODUCT GALLERY
FOG and HAZE Machines
I
f fog and haze machines could talk, they would probably
sound like Rodney Dangerfield: “I don’t get no respect.”
It’s easy to take for granted those little machines
that sit in the wings or upstage of the world. They are
meant to be seen and not heard, and once they’re set up,
they could potentially run unattended for hours at a time.
But once the effect fades, or, heaven forbid, the machine
breaks or runs out of fluid, then the lighting changes from
a three-dimensional look with depth and texture to a flat
look with light and color that shows up only on objects.
Fog and haze machines are among the most important tools of the lighting designer. They provide an allimportant interference medium that gives life and depth
to the stage. They transform a plain-looking stage to one
with those highly visible shafts of light and color that define the modern light show.
For all their benefits, fog and haze machines have remained relatively unchanged over the last twenty years.
They still operate on one of two principles: vaporization
or mechanical atomization. Conventional fog machines
use a heat exchanger to raise the temperature of a water
and glycol mix to the point where it vaporizes and creates
a dense cloud. Crackers, on the other hand, use various
mechanical means such as a compressor to “crack” a fluid
and break it into very small particles.
Although the methods have not changed, the machines have evolved. Today’s fog and haze machines are
designed to operate effectively and reliably for very long
By RichardCadena
periods of time, and they offer a range of new features
like wireless remotes, low-fluid detection, sophisticated
directional and speed-controlled blowers and a variety
of control options. But the biggest advances have been
in the quality of the fog and/or haze. Improvements in
the techniques and advances in fluid composition have
contributed to better end results, meaning that you have
more control over where the fog and haze goes and how
long it stays there.
For your convenience, we’ve assembled an array of
fog and haze machines and their specifications. If you are
interested in producing the best light show possible, then
you’ll be interested in this month’s PLSN Product Gallery
on fog and haze machines. Enjoy.
High End Systems F-100 Performance Fog Generator
Look Solutions Viper NT Fog Machine
Swefog Ultimate 2000,
distributed in North
America by Techni-Lux
American DJ Accu Fog 1000
www.PLSN.com
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2007 AUGUST PLSN 33
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PRODUCT GALLERY Manufacturer
Model
Fluid name and type
Method of vaporization
Method of propulsion
Control
American DJ
www.americandj.com
Accu Fog 1000
Glycol
1000-watt heater
10,000 CFM pump
DMX512
1500-watt heater
20,000 CFM Italian-made
piston pump
Z-20 timer remote included; built-in DMX;
optional Z-30 wireless remote
1000-watt heater
piston pump plus
velocity-controllable
dual fans
X-10 timer control module included; built-in
DMX; optional X-2011 DMX control
module; optional X-30 wireless control
module
Z-1200II Fog Machine
1200-watt heater
piston pump
Z-8 timer remote included; built-in DMX;
optional Z-9 wireless remote
Ultimate HZ
400-watt heater
1,500 CFM
Arena Hazer
600-watt “never cool” heater
20,000 CFM
1700-watt heater
20,000 CFM
Multifunction controller in hideaway compartment; optional DMX converter and
wireless remote
piston pump
Multiple control options, including: timer/
interval remote, DMX512 remote and
on-board 0-10 V analog control (requires
remote control to be installed)
Chauvet
www.chauvetlighting.com
X-310 Fazer
Elation X-Fog Pro, a nontoxic, de-ionized
water-based fluid
Water-based
Le Maitre Special Effects
www.lemaitrefx.com
F-100 Performance Fog Generator
Atmospheres Lighting Enhancement Fluid
(glycol-water-based)
1450-watt heat exchanger
Radiance
Glycerol haze fluid
500-watt heater
Power Fog Industrial & 9D Version
DMX512 standard, optional remotes
Piston pump
Glycol fog fluid
Look Solutions
Distributed by Look Solutions USA, Ltd.
in North America
www.looksolutionsusa.com
Martin
www.martinpro.com
DMX512 standard, several optional remotes
available
1400-watt heater
DMX512 standard, timer/duration remote
standard
Stage Fogger
2
2
Multifunction remote and DMX on board
Hurricane 1700
High End Systems Inc.
www.highend.com
3
M-5 Stage Fogger
Antari
Distributed by Elation Professional
in North America
www.elationlighting.com
Tiny F07 Fog Machine
Tiny Fluid (glycol-water based)
Fluid pump
Wired remote, optional DMX 512 or radio
remote
Unique 2 Hazer
Unique Fluid (glycol-water based)
Air pump, fluid pump plus
internal fan
Stand-alone mode, built-in DMX, optional XLR
remote or radio remote
Viper NT Fog Machine
Regular, Slow or Quick Fluid
(glycol-water based)
Fluid pump
Stand-alone mode, built-in DMX, optional XLR
remote or radio remote
Magnum 1200
Pro Smoke Super (ZR Mix), Regular DJ
(DJ Mix)
Magnum 1800
Pro Smoke Super (ZR Mix), Regular DJ
(DJ Mix), Pro Smoke High Density
(SP Mix)
Magnum Hazer
Pro Haze
3
2.
B
S
Co
B
Dedicated remote with optional DMX512
interface
Piston pump
Dedicated remote with on-board DMX512
interface
Onboard analog control panel with on-board
DMX512 and optional digital multifunction remote
B
C
Co
Ou
Cr
MDG Fog Generators Ltd.
Distributed by A.C.T Lighting
in North America
www.actlighting.com
www.mdgfog.com
Atmosphere APS Haze Generator
MDG Neutral Fluid (mineral oil-based)
715-watt heat exhanger
High pressure liquid CO2
or NO2
MDG Low Fog Fluid (glycol-based)
Low pressure refrigerated
liquid CO2
MAX 3000 APS Fog Generator
ICE FOG Q Low Fog Generator
M-180 Fog Machine
OmniFog
1500-watt heater
Internal pump
GFL-1500 Moving Yoke LED Fog Machine
Reel EFX
www.reelefx.com
DF-50 Diffusion Hazer
Delta Hazer
Diffusion Fluid (food-grade mineral
oil-based)
Glycol water-based fluid
Delta 6000
Swefog
Distributed by
Techni-Lux in North America
www.techni-lux.com
34 PLSN AUGUST 2007
100.0708.33-35.indd 34
Ultimate 2000
Cr
DMX512, timing controller, wireless remote
controller
M
DMX512, output volume control
Delta 3000
Rosco Laboratories
www.rosco.com
Cr
DMX512, timing controller, wireless remote
controller, output volume control
M-H1500 Fog/Hazer
Omnisistem
www.omnisistem.com
Onboard removable remote control.
Optional remote control timer and DMX
Interface
Mineral oil
Triple-filtered compression
cracks mineral oil to 1
micron droplet
Compressor
1500-watt heater
Piston pump
1000-watt heater
Piston pump and blower
1500-watt dual path heater
Piston pump
Mechanical cracker
Forced ventilation
On/off, optional timer
Dedicated remote: DMX, volume control,
timers
3
Ai
I
Local, DMX512
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7/31/07 4:43:06 PM
MX;
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trol
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Features
Accessories
Size
Weight
Retail Price
360 degrees of pan, 265 degrees of tilt; thermal cutoff; auto-shutdown for low fluid; built-in timer; RDMX remote
DMX addressing; 4-button menuing; no waiting between blasts of fog; 3 operating modes: 5 DMX channels, 7
DMX channels, or auto programs triggered by sound activation
1 gallon remote fog reservoir
17.5” x 13.75” x 11.75”
29 lbs.
$1,099.95
10-liter tank; automatic pump shut-off for low fluid level; two carrying handles
Optional Z-30 wireless remote, optional FM-5 flight
case
26” L x 12.5” W x 6.7” H
33 lbs.
$799.95
2.5-liter tank; automatic pump shut-off for low fluid level; fluid consumption - less than half liter per hour of
continuous output at 30%; ball bearings in fan reduce noise during operation.
Optional X-2011 DMX control module, optional X-30
wireless control module, optional flight case
25” L x 11” W x 11” H
55 lbs.
$849.99
2.5-liter tank; automatic pump shut-off for low fluid level; Patented Unicore heater technology allows removal for
quick cleaning.
Optional Z-9 wireless remote
18” L x 9.75” W x 7” H
24 lbs.
$499.95
11.2” x 9.1” x 10.6”
16.5 lbs.
$199.99
20.9” x 18.1” x 17”
77 lbs.
$999.99
2 channels of DMX with adjustable output from a low haze to medium haze; low fluid indicators; auto shut-off when
out of fluid
3 channels of DMX; continuous output; 2 fans (one blows out, one adjusts height of haze); road case with easy-refill
system; adjustable fans
mand
er/
and
uires
otes
ote
io
l XLR
l XLR
12
12
oard
unc-
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ote
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Included
Low fluid indicator; auto shut off for low fluid; double bracket floor stand
Multifunction controller, DMX converter, wireless
20.5” x 9.5” x 8”
22 lbs.
$249.99
2.5-gallon removable fluid reservoir for extended use; LED status indicators; fluid level sight gauge; user replaceable
fluid filter; thermocouple over-temperature protection; low-maintenance, corrosion-resistant vaporizing
chamber; dual carrying handles; at highest setting, the unit will put out 15-second long blasts of fog; can be
adjusted to run continuously.
Atmospheres Lighting Enhancement Fluid is available
in two formulations: HQ for a dense white cloud
dispersing into a long-lasting fine mist; and
Stage Formula, a less dense medium creating a
fine mist.
8.25” H x 11.75” W x 27” L
31 lbs.
$854.00 (w/o
remote, fluid)
Built-In DMX controls both haze output and internal fan; onboard variable settings or optional remote; IEC removable power cable and multi-use bracket; 4-port rapid clean vaporizer; uses water based Neutron Haze Fluid.
Radiance Hazer Remote / Radiance Touring System
16.125” L x 10” W x 7” H
28 lbs.
$1,149.00
Stainless steel chassis; rapid change heat exchanger; built-in DMX control; variable fog level; for continuous usage
requiring large volumes of fog; designed for under stage, close and confined spaces; various types of Le Maitre
water-based fog fluid available.
Show Control Remote; Show, Stage, Power Fogger
Remote RJ45
20”Lx10”Wx9”H
29 lbs.
$1.099.00‑$1,650.00
Continuous fog output; rapid change heat exchanger; on-board DMX control; timer remote control; steel chassis with
integrated reservior; includes rapid change replacement kit; uses various types of Le Maitre water-based fog
fluid.
Show Control Remote; Stage Fogger Road Case; Show,
Stage, Power Fogger Remote RJ45
26” L x 10” W x 11” H
30 lbs.
$1,048.00
Battery operated; small enough to be built into props and costumes; 1/2 second heat up time; includes carrying
case, battery, battery charger, wired remote, fluid tank and 250 ml of fluid; programmable fog time; demo unit
available upon request.
Ducting adapter, Y-splitter, timer, radio remote, DMX
4” x 2” x 2”
11 ounces;
16.5 ounces
w/battery
$1,599.00
Built in DMX , timer and haze density control system to program individual profile; 60-second heat up time; pump
and fan can be adjusted separately in steps of 1% to create fine mist or thick haze; haze coverage of 10,000
square feet; 2 liters of fluid provide up to 50 hours of continuous output; no regular maintenance required;
demo unit available upon request; available in 120 or 230 volt.
Diverter, travel case, rigging set, XLR remote, radio
remote
18.5” x 10” x 10”
19 lbs.
$1,560.00
Built-in DMX and timer; pump can be adjusted in increments of 1% to create tiny cloud or thick fog; 7 minute heat
up time; maximum 50 feet fog projection covering 20,000 cubic feet per minute; 5 liters of fluid provides 42
minutes of continuous output; demo unit available upon request; available in 120 or 230 volt.
Ducting adapter, travel case, rigging set, XLR remote,
radio remote
18.5” x 9” x 9.5”
18 lbs.
$1,050.00
Continuous output; 290 CFM output; 8 min. heat-up time; optional flying kit; 2.3 liter fluid capacity; variety of fluid
options for different applications; DMX with optional DMX interface module; internal remote control storage;
timer and output level remote control
DMX interface; rigging bracket
17.7” x 8.1” x 9.6”
22 lbs.
$485.00
Continuous output; 580 m³/min fog output; 9 min heat-up time; optional flying kit; 3.8 liter fluid capacity; variety of
fluid options for different applications; on-board DMX; internal remote control storage; timer and output level
remote control
Rigging bracket
19.7” x 9.1” x 10.5”
33 lbs.
$620.00
Output and density level control; continuous output, 2000 m³/min haze output; integrated fan; less than 3 min heatup time; 2.5 liter fluid capacity; sealed fluid bottle cap; low fluid sensor; on-board DMX; on-board control panel;
optional multifunction remote control
Digital multi-function remote control
16.5” x 9.7” x 11.9”
24.25 lbs.
$995.00
27” x 7” x 12”
42 lbs.
$3,300.00
24” x 7” x 12”
43 lbs.
$3,025.00
68” x 27” x 31”
242 lbs.
$7,625.00
Creates haze droplets 0.5 -0.7 microns in diameter; automatic purging system (APS) cleans output nozzle before and
after every cycle; continuous operation without cycling; 10-year warranty; slow output for natural diffusion;
high output version available
Creates haze droplets 0.5 -0.7 microns in diameter; automatic purging system (APS) cleans output nozzle before and
after every cycle; continuous operation without cycling; 10-year warranty; high fog output; Max 5000 and MAX
5000 High Output versions available
Creates dry, low-lying cold fog continuously at full output without recycling; 2-year warranty; LN2 versions available;
covers 8 m x 15 m in one minute
Self-contained portable kit; remote timer; aluminum
CO2 bottles
Remote timer; longer insulated fog output conduits
Mirror pipe patent technology; 40,000 CFM; electronic temperature control; 3-liter tank capacity
$349.00
Mirror pipe patent technology; 180° manually adjustable direction fog output; 20,000 CFM; electronic temperature
control; 5-liter tank capacity
$398.00
Mirror pipe patent technology; moving yoke LED fog machine; 20,000 CFM; 1.5-liter tank capacity
TBA
3-hour hang time; odorless haze fluid; 1/2 gallon reservior; 35+ hours of runtime; CAL-OSHA tested for safety; Compressor: 5-year parts and labor warranty; other components: 1-year parts and labor
Remote control road case, traveling road case, auto
timer, auto fill
14” H x 15” L x 8” W
35 lbs.
$2,695.00
Air input (for cleaning); low fluid sensor; variable output; Delta Technology; 0-10 VDC input
$995.00
Air input (for cleaning); low fluid sensor; Delta Technology; 0-10 VDC input; utilizes the same Delta Technology as the
Delta 3000 including DMX control as standard equipment.
$1,390.00
Air input (for cleaning); low fluid sensor; Delta Technology; 0-10 VDC input; unique heat exchanger design w/ two
paths; ETS-LDI 2004 Special Effects Product of the Year.
$2,090.00
Instant on; continuous operation; 0.06 liters consumption/hr; auto drain; DMX controllable; aluminum and copper
construction.
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.33-35.indd 35
8” x 15” x 15”
41 lbs.
$2,959.00
2007 AUGUST PLSN 35
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7/30/07 10:57:22 AM
Photo by Robert Hollingworth, courtesy of Martin Professional
Projections Broadcast
Worldwide for Live Earth
A nostalgic Elton John image gazes out over the Garden.
Live Earth London
CYPRESS, CA and LONDON — FOR-A Company
Limited, a leading manufacturer of video and audio
systems for the broadcast and professional video industries, supplied several FRC-7000 HD frame rate converter to organizers of this year’s mega-concert Live
Earth. For the London concert XL Video supplied one
of its new HD PPUs, cameras, screens and 30 crew to
the Live Earth show staged at Wembley Stadium.
Live Earth was a multinational 24-hour concert
that took place July 7, 2007. The event was broadcast
worldwide through television, radio, Internet and wireless channels. Nine official concerts were staged across
seven continents. They were held at Giants Stadium in
New York, Wembley Stadium in London, Aussie Stadium
in Sydney, Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Marapcontinued on page 40
eng at the Coca-Cola
Christie Acquires
Vista Systems
CYPRESS, CA — Christie, a provider of visual
solutions for entertainment, business and industry, has acquired Vista Controls Systems Corp.,
makers of video processing systems, including
the Vista Spyder.
According to the terms of the acquisition, the
Christie and Vista transition plan is designed to
ensure no disruption to employees, customers
or business partners, many of whom are already
shared by both companies. The merger of the
technologies will allow for a professional display
solution for a diverse range of global markets, including fixed installations, rental/staging, broadcast and advanced visualization environments.
“We already share many of the same channel
partners, philosophies and commitment to providing the highest quality, best-in-class solutions
to our customers. We welcome Vista, its staff, and
partners into the Christie family,” remarked Jack
Kline, president and COO, Christie Digital Systems
USA, Inc.
“Joining Christie provides us with an exciting
opportunity to significantly enhance our extensive network of channel partners worldwide, to
create cutting-edge, advanced display solutions
and an unmatched level of service,” said Clark
Williams, president of Vista Controls Systems.
Martin and G-LEC Europe Reach Accord
ting up of a technology cooporation regarding the development of successors to the licensed products.
The agreement allows Martin to apply its market
knowledge and worldwide distribution reach to the
market opportunity for LED video screens. “We are extremely pleased to have entered into this agreement
with G-LEC,” commented Lars Dige, CFO at Martin Professional A/S.
Lars Wolf, Managing Director at G-LEC, stated, “This
continued on page 40
agreement is an
Inside
38
Broadway Boys Get
Stuck On Video Glue
Medialon helps Jersey Boys stay in time.
43
Video World
How to be a pixel-packin’ mama.
ÅRHUS, DENMARK — Martin Professional A/S and GLEC Europe GmbH have entered into a licensing agreement that allows Martin Professional and its affiliated
companies to manufacture, market and sell the Martin
LC Series of LED video screens worldwide.
G-LEC is a manufacturer of transparent LED video
display technology, and the licensing agreement allows
Martin Professional to use G-LEC’s LED patents and utility models covering Martin’s LC 2140 and the LC 1140
LED video screens. The agreement also includes the set-
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.37.indd 37
2007 AUGUST PLSN
37
7/30/07 7:09:46 PM
PC
NEWS
Beaux Arts Gets Big Projections
PARIS — Large-format projection specialists E\T\C Paris collaborated with students
and lecturers from l’ESBAM (Ecole Superieure
des Beaux Arts du Mans) in Paris to realize a
massive public projection of specially created
artworks into an urban space — central Le
Mans, France.
This was part of the 2006/07 “Big Picture”
project. The event saw 10 students selected by
an educational team to work closely with two
of France’s best known video and projection
artists — Yves Trémorin and Tania Mouraud.
— who also loaned pieces of their own work
to be projected for the display evening and
judged the student’s efforts.
The 20-meter-wide by 18-meter-high projections were beamed onto the facade of the
Maine Libre newspaper building via a powerful Christie S20 projector, and the show was
programmed using E\T\C Paris’ proprietary
OnlyView software. The Maine Libre was chosen because of its commanding position near
the school, which allowed the projected art
to be seen clearly from many vantage points
around the city center.
The projector was positioned 100 meters
away inside the school building, and tech’d
by E\T\C’s crew of Eric Dauvin and Christophe
Aubry. The show featured several different
artworks and ran for an hour.
Over 130 ESBAM students and members of the educational team and faculty
were present for this special event, joined
for the evening of art and appreciation by
Le Mans’ Mayor, John
Claude Boulard, plus
other dignitaries.
The show was such
a success that Boulard
now wants to establish
a state-funded contemporary arts program
— for both domestic
and international artists — that incorporates
and encourages monumental projected art.
Christophe Domino,
ESBAM’s artistic direc- The projections on the Maine Libre newspaper building
tor states, “For a city to
Material was submitted to the E\T\C Paris
invest in large-format
projection brings massive visibility and rec- team in assorted formats — including still
ognition to the work created and carried out photographs, video, numerical pictures —
within the school. We are also convinced that programmed into the OnlyView system and
we can offer students greater opportunities adjusted as necessary to fit the space. The
to reach out to wider audiences by displaying OnlyView output to the Christie was done
with absolutely no degradation in quality.
their work in this way.”
The “Big Picture” project featured student
For E\T\C Paris, the biggest challenge was
in programming and presenting a coherent artists Pauline Abaddie, David Ayoun, Samuel
projection show with all the pieces in just a Chène, Mathieu Dufois and Edouard Hennion,
among others.
month.
Pixels and Plasma Get
Polysexual at the Park
SWANSEA, U.K. — Radical Lighting’s new PixelDrive 2 system was used to drive eight plasma
screens and LED lighting in the Polysexual (hard
house) arena at the Escape To The Park Festival in
Singleton Park, Swansea.
This was supplied by Leeds-based Zig Zag
Lighting, which was the lighting contractor for
the whole site, and was working to a production
lighting design created by Simon Barrington and
Andrea Frey of Godskitchen.
The PixelDrive 2 was operated by Radical
Lighting’s Simon Carter via an Avolites Diamond
4 Elite lighting desk, who used the event to demonstrate first-hand the fact that the new Version
2 can simultaneously drive both LED lighting fixtures and video screens.
The plasmas were arranged on a series of
curved truss sections around the stage at different heights and angles. Simon Barrington wanted to control the plasma screens in this area from
a single, central source, rather than having a separate video control. Zig Zag Neil Hunt decided to
use the opportunity to put PixelDrive 2 though
its paces with 12 hours of continuous operation.
PixelDrive 2 offers all PixelDrive’s mapping
power with new functionality. It’s currently available in two versions — Full and Personal — the
latter allowing those working on smaller-scale
shows and events to access the majority of the
features at a reduced cost.PixelDrive 2’s main new
features include: a new control fixture for highresolution 3D-based video playback (RlVideo); a
personality editor allowing the easy creation of
new profiles for color mixers; support for nonrectangular color mixers; a new Cuelist-based
scheduler; selectable grids with a snap function;
an auto-align utility; a DMX auto repatch function; the ability to flip and swap images horizontally or vertically; group color mixers that can be
grouped and treated as a single selection; MIDI
support; an identify function allowing easy location of fixtures; and high-resolution video output
for controlling VersaTUBEs, ColorWeb and other
low-resolution LED fixtures and surfaces.
Broadway Boys Get
Stuck on Video Glue
NEW YORK — Broadway hit Jersey
Boys, the Tony Award-winning Broadway
musical at the August Wilson Theatre, is
using a Medialon to manage its projectors and video playback. Medialon controls the on/off functions of the show’s
four Sanyo XP55 projectors, using serial
over IP and cues a 5-node Dataton Watchout video playback system via a signal from the lighting console.
“Medialon integrates with both the
lighting system and video playback system and acts as ‘digital glue,’” notes Timothy Owen Mazur of Sound Associates.
The project also took advantage of
several of Medialon’s unique features
which include Timeline Synchronization,
where programmers use Medialon’s interface to program synchronized shows using a timeline metaphor for positioning;
Software Control, enabling the system
to control any software application from
38
PLSN AUGUST 2007
100.0708.38-40.indd 38
simple keystroke emulation to complex
IP commands; and IP Control, allowing for
the execution of commands over IP.
The projections for Jersey Boys were
designed by Michael Clark, with Paul Vershbow the main programmer. At Sound
Associates, which provided the projection
gear, Pat Green was the Medialon specialist/programmer and Tim Mazur was the
project director.
The set of Jersey Boys
www.PLSN.com
7/30/07 6:51:25 PM
100.0708.ADS.indd 39
7/30/07 10:57:54 AM
PC
NEWS
Projections Broadcast Worldwide for Live Earth
Dome in Johannesburg, Makuhari Messe in
Tokyo, the Steps of the Oriental Pearl Tower in
Shanghai and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg, as well as an additional free concert
hosted by Smithsonian’s National Museum
of the American Indian Mother Earth Event
for Climate Change in the Spirit of Live Earth
Project in Washington, D.C. Headliners included rock and pop music icons such as The
Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Madonna as well
as recent stars like Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson,
Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson.
The London show was Broadcast live on
BBC One and Two and presented by Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton. Coordinating
all the video elements between XL and the
various event designers, producers and others involved in screen content, was screen
producer Chris Saunders.
Flanking both sides of Stageco’s stage
were two IMAG screens made up from 9 by
7 modules of Lighthouse R16 LED. Onstage,
across the center at the back, XL supplied
a 74 panel wide by 4 panel high strip of
Barco I-12 LED.
Live Earth London’s stage set was designed by Ray Winkler of Stufish (Mark Fisher’s studio) and part of this involved a stack
of hacked and distorted oil drums, inset with
Saco LED fixtures. These were fed video inputs from XL’s playback system.
The playback system consisted of four
HD Doremi hard drives controlled by a Barco
Events Manager that was programmed by
Richard Turner with material supplied by the
Live Earth organization HQ in New York. They
also supplied a machine to beam text messaging, slogans, facts/figures and calls to action across the onstage banner screen that
was hooked into the XL system.
For I-mag, XL supplied five of their GV
LDK 8000 HD cameras. Two were positioned
at FOH with 100:1 lenses, two in the pit with
20:1 lenses and the fifth was a hand-held onstage.
I-mag video director Blue Leach cut the
live screen mix using a GV Kayak HD mixer/
switcher. Feeds of five BBC camera along with
six live satellite feeds from around the world
were also available on the XL mixer. The BBC’s
live broadcast mix was directed by Richard
Valentine.
In true off-beat Blue Leach style, the image manipulation facilities of two of XL’s
Catalyst digital media servers (operated by
Simon Pugsley) were utilized in the slightly
idiosyncratic role of affecting the camera
signals — similar to a DVE. The signal came
out of the PPU and was encoded in HD and
effected within Catalyst, before being output
to the screens from there by Leach.
XL used an HD EVS to record and playback the six incoming international satellite
feeds, which was
also the playback
device for all VTs
in the venue, as
well as being used
to roll the Madonna playback to
time code.
Lighting for
the Live Ear th
London show
was designed by
Patrick Woodroffe Madonna performs at Live Earth London
and Mark Kenyon,
“This was critical because before we
with equipment supplied by PRG.
could send the signal out again, it needed
But to get the London show — along with to conform to one type of format to make
all the others — broadcast in HD worldwide a it a true world feed. In the case of the outframe rate converter was needed to handle going transmission to the United States and
the various global versions of HD transmis- Canada, we used the FRC-7000 in London to
sion frame rates. Transmission manager for send it back the other way. The equipment
Live Earth, Bob Adler decided to use the FRC- handled the multiple conversions with
7000 because he knew it could handle all the ease,” added Adler. There were instances
formats.
where conversion prior to transmission was
The FRC-7000 debuted in 2006 and has not possible, so additional FRC-7000 units
the ability to convert between 1080/59.94i were in place in London to manage those
and 1080/50i, and between 720/59.94p feeds. For example, an FRC-7000 located at
and 720/50p HD frame rates in realtime. At the BBC in London was used to convert the
NAB 2007, FOR-A unveiled new enhanced transmission sent from a second location in
features including advanced scene cut de- Japan at the Toji temple in Kyoto.
tection and roll/crawl text detection. The
FRC-7000 uses vector motion compensation processing to analyze and determine
the pixel movement in each image frame.
This is accomplished by comparing the
movement in the frames before and after
acknowledgement of our patent portfothe ones being converted.
lio for transparent LED graphic displays.
Four of the nine major concert venues,
G-LEC offers a wide range of products to
New York, London, Tokyo and Rio de Janeisuit large-scale LED video displays, and
ro, were equipped with an FRC-7000 on site.
our products department continues to
The units include the enhanced optional
develop custom installations for fixed
feature that allows production crews to
markets. However, the strength of the
make the proper conversions before transMartin brand name, their well-develmitting into the central location, the BBC in
oped distribution network and worldLondon. For example, Tokyo converted its
wide market reach will further develop
30p frame rate for reception to London to
the market for our products and we see
25p, the U.K. standard as well as the stangreat potential in this cooperation.”
dard in many other parts of the world.
Martin and G-LEC
Europe Reach Accord
40
PLSN AUGUST 2007
100.0708.38-40.indd 40
www.PLSN.com
7/30/07 7:04:22 PM
100.0708.ADS.indd 41
7/30/07 10:58:34 AM
NEW PRODUCTS
In-House Production Pro-Screen Clamps
360 Systems Image Server Maxx 6T
In-House Production’s new line of Pro-Screen Clamps
comes in both a 1-inch size for the lightweight A/V
screen frame and a 1¼-inch size for the newer heavyduty screen frames. The Clamps are hinged for ease of
installation and come with an IHP-30-3816-E-V6-S fully
adjustable Pro-Grip for use with a 1/8-inch aircraft cable.
The capacity of the Clamps is 225 pounds per point and
they come in a plain aluminum color or black anodized.
They also accommodate 1-inch and 1¼-inch steel and
aluminum square tubing.
360 Systems’ Image Server MAXX
6T™ is a video server with an internal
RAID-6 array that provides six Terabytes
of storage, translating to more than
700 hours of program time. The array
include Double Fault Tolerant™ RAID6 technology that can accommodate
the loss of two drives with no lost data.
The MAXX 6T functions as a video recorder, 3-channel play-out server and as a graphics store with
key-and-fill. Standard features include composite and SDI video ports, a frame synchronizer and a
complete set of audio formats including AES/EBU digital, +4 balanced analog, and SDI-embedded
audio. A break-out box with XLR connectors helps integrate of the MAXX 6T into existing facilities.
The MAXX 6T features dual power supplies. The Maxx6T shares content over gigabit Ethernet.
In-House Production • 702.631.4748 • www.in-houseproduction.com
360 Systems • 818.991.0360 • www.360systems.com
Atdec Visidec
Atdec’s Visidec Freestanding Double
Horizontal mounts two widescreen LCD
computer monitors ranging from 12 inches
to 24 inches in size and up to 25.3 pounds in
weight. It fits 3-inch by 3-inch and 4-inch by
4-inch mounting hole patterns. The distance
from center of pole to the rear of display is
413/16-inches. The Visidec Freestanding Double Horizontal offers horizontal and vertical adjustments as well as a +/-40° angular
adjustment. It can display monitors in both
portrait and landscape rotation; its footprint
is 15 inches wide and 12 inches deep.
Atdec Visidec • +61 (0)2 9790 5060
www.atdec.com
•
Barco CLM HD8
Barco’s CLM HD8 is a compact 8,000 lumen DLP projector with full HD (1980 x1080)
resolution. The CLM HD8 features an all-metal chassis and comes with its own rigging kit.
It was designed for small and midsize venues and has a compact size, light weight and
low noise levels. Additional features include
DMX512 control of brightness (0–100% intensity control using internal optical dimmer), zoom, focus, lens shift and source selection.
42 PLSN AUGUST 2007
100.0708.42.indd 42
Barco • www.barco.com
www.PLSN.com
7/30/07 7:11:31 PM
VIDEO WORLD
Pixel-Packin’ Mamas
Working with Mixed Media and Mixed Resolutions
S
o, you’ve just returned from a major industry trade show, and the LED exhibits were stunningly beautiful — simply breathtaking in their creativity. So, fresh
with ideas, off you went back to the shop,
slammed together some content, set up
your company’s LED wall, sized up the video
through your scaler — and voila! Thirdgeneration VHS dubs look better than this.
What gives? “Them trade show guys must
know something,” I hear you mutter.
Well, in fact, they do.
tent in this environment? And, what secrets
do those trade show guys know that make
their LEDs look so good?
Mixing Resolutions
Let’s start with a fairly simple “projection only” example. The auditorium (or concert hall, or sanctuary) has two projectors:
one 16:9 and one 4:3. The task is to create
one set of content that plays well in both
aspect ratios and both resolutions. With lots
of time and money, you could produce separate 16:9 and 4:3 clips, configure separate
The Evolving Palette
16:9 and 4:3 playout and video processing
Back before LEDs invaded the rental systems, and then route each output to its
and staging industry, in addition to lighting respective projector.
and sound, there was only one major brush
But, alas, Mr. Time n’ Budget says you
on your media palette — projection. There don’t have this luxury, so the single-playout
were also a limited number of ways that you method is mandated — one set of clips that
could highlight the person behind the mi- plays (and looks good) on both screens. This
crophone, whether it was a singer, the CEO method simplifies the content creation proat a convention or the preacher at the pulpit. cess and eliminates any multideck playout
And back then, the term “video” only meant synchronization problems.
one thing to us television guys — 4:3 NTSC.
To make this work, shoot and edit your
If you wanted video, you put a monitor on content in 16:9, at the resolution of your
a stand and connected it to a tape deck or high-def projector. Throughout the entire
a switcher.
production workflow, ensure that you cenWith a cascade of dramatic changes, ter all interviews, graphics, titles and primary
we now (thankfully) have a mix of brushes actions within an imaginary 4:3 window (or
on the media palette, effectively making safe zone). With your primary content in the
the set designer’s role one of the most cre- zone, let the left and right boundaries fall
ative in the industry. Projectors take many where they may. If you’re creating original
forms, with a variety of aspect ratios, resolu- graphics and animations using PhotoShop,
tions and lumens. LEDs are available in tiles, Illustrator, After Effects, a 3D application,
drapes, tubes, transparent modules and PowerPoint or Keynote, follow the same
guidelines.
For playout, you’ll need
When you squeeze a 1024 x 768 a server
(or a computer to
image into a 400 x 300 pixel LED display your PowerPoint
wall, for example, you’re going to or Keynote presentation). You’ll also need two
lose information.
single-destination video
processors, each capable
misty curtains, with many choices in terms of acquiring, scaling and cropping inputs.
of pitch and nit. And a much broader defini- As an alternative, you can use one of the
tion of video has evolved — if it’s an image industry’s large multidestination presenta(moving or still) that’s displayed on some tion systems.
kind of device (LED, CRT, LCD, projection
Connect the server’s outputs to each
screen, etc.), and if it ain’t lighting or sound, processor (or use a DA if required). Set each
it’s called video.
processor’s output to match the native resoBut let’s say you’ve been a “single media” lution of the target projector. With each proproducer (or A/V company) up to this point, cessor, acquire the input and adjust levels as
with the desire to move into the mixed me- needed. For the 16:9 feed, very little adjustdia realm that combines both LED and pro- ment in terms of sizing and positioning is rejection. To date, your gig has been projection quired because the source and destination
and lighting, period. You’re damn good at it, are both 16:9. For the 4:3 feed, crop off the
but the client’s demand for more creativity source’s left and right sides and you’re ready
on stage is ramping up. How can you handle to roll.
a mix of destination devices with different
This is all well and good, but what do
resolutions? How do you prepare the con- those trade show guys know?
Adding LEDs to the Mix —
Tips for Content Creation
The last concert you attended had multiscreen projection combined with a huge
LED I-mag wall. The last awards show you
saw on TV (e.g., the 2007 CMT Music Awards,
pictured), had I-mag, projection, plus “slivers” of video on stage — essentially, arrays of
LED tiles in very unique aspect ratios. And of
course, the last trade show had every imaginable LED configuration, with stunning clarity.
The common technical thread between
all of these venues is that high-resolution
projection was perfectly mixed with lowresolution LED, and that someone in the production company knows their pixels — and
knows how to build their LED content pixelfor-pixel.
Instead of laying out a step-by-step workflow, I’ll provide some general guidelines
— and let you fill in the steps to suit your specific application. The guidelines are the same,
whether you’re creating content for LED walls
with standard or nonstandard aspect ratios.
If you’re not already a pixel packin’ mama,
here’s the basic problem. When you squeeze
a 1024 x 768 image into a 400 x 300 pixel LED
wall, for example, you’re going to lose information. Scaling technology is excellent, but it
can’t compensate for a high degree of compression in which the source and destination
pixels only match up in certain areas.
However, if you create your content with
prior knowledge of the target LED array,
you’ll get out what you put in — with dramatically improved results. Here are three
important tips:
• Know the exact pitch of the LED tiles (the
distance between the LED elements), and
create your content according to the target
matrix. If you’re using tiles with a tight matrix
(e.g., 4 mm to 8 mm pitch), detailed content
will look great — but not necessarily text
with small fonts. If you’re using wide matrix
tiles (e.g., 12 mm and above), your event
might best be served with less detail and
more abstract content.
• Avoid scaling at all costs. The moment you
scale through your digitizer and video processor, you will distort the image and lose
information. Instead, create your content
at the wall’s exact pixel dimensions. For example, if your target wall is 400 x 300, create
your content at exactly 400 x 300, using the
many “precision” graphics tools available. In
addition, ensure that your digitizer is “pixelperfect” in its ability to map content onto an
LED wall of any shape.
• Understand the intent of the content, and
create your images accordingly. Whether
the display is designed for digital retailing, a concert environment or a house of
worship, build the project with environment and communications in mind. For
example, if you’ve designed a center projection screen that is framed by slivers of
LED tiles, leave the text on the high-res
screen, and let the low-res LEDs enhance
the mood with abstract colors, graphics
and textures.
Tools of the Trade
To close the loop on improved LED content, get yourself a first-class graphic artist
who is downright dangerous with pixels
(or, you could become a highly-skilled pixel-packer yourself ). Ensure that your artist
knows them pixels, and as an absolute prerequisite, is completely familiar with all the
required tools for superb content:
• PhotoShop — for creating and modifying stills and backgrounds
• PowerPoint, Keynote — for creating
presentations, text and bullet copy
• Illustrator — for creating vector-based objects
• Premier, Avid, Final Cut Pro — for editing 16:9 and 4:3 video
• Digital SLR — for capturing stills
• XSI, 3D Max, Maya — for creating 3D animation sequences
• After Effects, Combustion — for
compositing and rotoscoping
And while you’re at it, get yourself a
truck-load of disk storage. When working
with high-resolution formats especially, not
only do the master playout files take up gigs
of room, but the source files and elements
leading up to the master can be extremely
large. If a client is involved, they just might
want to change things, and the wise artist
always archives projects in their entirety.
Pixel Packin’ Secrets
So, what do these trade show guys
know?
• They know their pitch, pixels and content
creation tools.
• They know the intended communication
and how to properly correlate the project
to the size of the LED matrix.
• They know that scaling (in terms of LEDs) is
directly proportional to loss of information.
To become a truly dangerous pixelpackin’ mama, you’ve got to know them
pixels.
Paul Berliner is currently packing his pixels
away in Davis, California. He can be reached
at [email protected].
2007 CMT Award Set — slivers of video
Single content source, dual resolution projection
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.43.indd 43
By Paul Berliner
2007 AUGUST PLSN 43
7/30/07 7:14:51 PM
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
HIGH END SYSTEMS SHOWGUN
H
By RichardCadena
igh End Systems is back in the automated lighting business in a big
way.
To be sure, they never really left it, but
since they introduced Catalyst in 2001 and
DL.1 in 2003, it seemed at times as if they
might leave “conventional” automated lighting behind altogether, were it not for the
debut of the Studio Command automated
wash luminaire in 2006. Their newest offering should leave no doubt that they are
planted squarely in the business.
Ring of Bling
Showgun is a moving yoke, automated
luminaire, but it’s no ordinary moving light.
You only have to see its 25-inch by 23.5-inch
head sitting on its 20.6-inch square base to
realize that it has more in common with a
search light than a task light. It presents a
formidable 37.8-inch tall stature in sexy
black polycarbonate housing. But when you
realize that the light source is a 2000-watt
MSR, it seems amazingly small.
And then there’s the light output, which is
anything but small.
The atypically large diameter exit beam
is one of the most impressive character-
istics of this light. It’s reminiscent of the
long-extinct Telescan and the fat beam
that came off of its large mirror. Except the
Showgun, of course, has no mirror; but it
does have something even more distinctive
— a ring of 36 RGB LED emitters, called the
LED Tracking System. Each of the LEDs has a
homogenizing lens that mixes the individual colors so effectively that you can’t make
out the RGB components. So unique is the
combination of the beam and ring of LEDs
that there is no mistaking the fixture when
you see it turned on.
The field angle varies between a very
narrow nine degrees and a medium-sized
18 degrees, and between the zoom, focus
and soft edge control it can provide wash
that covers quite a large area. It has a fiveposition rotating, indexable gobo wheel for
projecting breakup patterns in the more focused position. The image quality is not such
that you will want to project something as
critical as a corporate logo, but if you want
to project simple patterns and beam projections it’s more than adequate. The stock
Lithopatterns are clearly designed for aerial
projections, and that’s where the projection
feature really shines. The beam control also
features an iris that can squeeze the beam
down very small.
Mixing It Up
It also has dichroic color mixing, which
provides a good range of colors. The color
mixing is smooth, with only a slight amount
of nonuniformity. There is no supplementary color wheel, but you can place a custom
color in any of the gobo slots — just beware
of focusing on the pinholes and imperfections on the dichroic surface.
Other features include 414 degrees
of pan and 200 degrees of tilt, separate
shutter and dimmer, mSpeed (movement
speed control), electronic strobing and
built-in macros. In addition to two standard
breakup patterns in the gobo wheel, it also
comes with a UV filter and a crystal litho
that is something like a liquid sky effect in
a laser. The LED controls include separate
dimming — a very handy feature that helps
speed LED programming — LED “tracking
function,” and RGB control of the LEDs.
Although the fixture weighs 140 pounds,
it is actually not difficult to rig. The custom
road case that comes with the fixture opens
from the top and one side so that each fixture can be wheeled in place, rigged to the
truss in the case, and flown without ever
having to pick it up. It’s very similar to the
DL.2 road case. And considering how big it
is, it pans and tilts relatively fast. It’s faster
than you would expect from a fixture of this
size.
Let’s Make a Deal
44 PLSN AUGUST 2007
This fixture has innovations that you
won’t find elsewhere. The optics include an
“optically accurate” polymer microfresnel
lens, which is market-speak for a custom
lens that shapes the beam to conform to
their specs. It looks somewhat like an overhead projector lens with fine concentric
rings etched into the plastic lens. Another
innovation is the 2000-watt short arc metal
halide lamp that was co-designed by Philips Lighting and High End Systems. High
End has a history of working very closely
with the Philips factory in Belgium and engineering lamp specs to suit their needs.
This one combines all the latest short arc
technology with a fast-fit socket and a huge
amount of power.
High End’s surprising new product release came in the wake of two significant developments: first they announced that they
will no longer distribute Catalyst, and then
they entered into a joint agreement with PRG
to license “lighting and control products.”
Soon after, HES entered in an agreement with
Color Kinetics for licensing LED technology
— which played a role in the development of
Showgun. High End followed up a couple of
months later with a guerrilla marketing campaign that created a stir with a video clip of
a Showgun on the Web site. All of this seems
to be consistent with their relatively recent
strategy of developing innovative new products for which there is little or no competition.
If the recent Live Earth production, which included 18 Showgun fixtures in their worldwide debut, is any indication, it’s a strategy
that is paying dividends.
Showgun is a one-of-a-kind fixture with
a unique design and an unforgettable look.
It won’t be long until you can spot them on a
number of installations and events.
www.PLSN.com
ROAD TEST
Wybron Outdoor BP-2 Beam Projector
The Wybron Outdoor BP-2 Beam Projector
By RichardCadena
E
ntertainment lighting professionBy RichardCadena
als are from Mars and architectural
lighting professionals are from…
well, at times it seems they’re from a different galaxy altogether. If you’ve ever
tried to navigate the maze of manufacturers’ reps, distributors and suppliers trying
to get specifications, samples or information about architectural lighting products,
then you can appreciate the relatively
small network of entertainment lighting
pros, most of whom you probably know
on a first-name basis.
There’s something to be said for an
“architainment” lighting luminaire when
it comes to familiarity and accessibility
This spun aluminum elliptical reflector is a
main optic component.
striping and the power and data cables
are permanently attached with weatherized strain relief connectors. On the CDM
version, a rectangular power supply with a
large heat sink is fixed to the yoke.
The optics consist of a spun aluminum
elliptical reflector, the lamp and a set of
concentric rings to collimate the beam
and prevent halation. The exit glass is tempered and appears to have no antireflective coating.
What the BP-2 does have is punch, and
lots of it. Using a Minolta T-10 Illumination meter, I measured 8000 lux (743 footcandles) with a throw of 19 feet. At that
throw distance, the diameter of the field
was about five feet. With that luminous
flux, you can light a 13.5-foot wide object
to 100 footcandles with a 52-foot throw.
That’s a lot of light.
The Verdict
The fixture is intended for outdoor
use, as indicated by its high ingress protection rating. But the powder-coated
aluminum is certainly not intended for
corrosive atmospheres like salty ocean
control — on/off for the CDM version and dimming for the tungsten version.
Wybron is known primarily for
its color scrollers and, more recently,
for its Nexera dichroic color-changing fixtures, but recent changes in
management seem to indicate that
the company is willing to expand
its product offerings. The Outdoor
BP-2 Beam Projector is a great fixture for outdoor applications requiring a long throw and plenty of
illumination. If this is any indication,
then perhaps the new Wybron is on
the verge of many good things to
come.
What It Is: Exterior beam projector
What It’s For: Lighting outdoor objects with white light using a long throw
Pros: Lots of light, simple and straightforward to use, IP65 for excellent weather protection,
lightweight, sturdy construction
Cons: Boxy, not intended for salt environments, no dimming, no color change
Retail price: Tungsten version — $600; CDM version — $1,000
What the BP-2 does have is punch, and lots of it.
— namely, that it seems that the manufacturers are more responsive, and access
to information is much easier. When lighting designer Howard Brandston wanted
to temporarily light the exterior tower
of the Triskel Arts Centre tower in Cork,
Ireland, his choices were to research the
existing options available to him through
conventional architectural exterior lighting manufacturers or ask someone to
adapt an existing fixture for his purposes.
He approached Wybron about using their
BP-2 Beam Projector, and the Outdoor BP2 was born.
The Gear
The BP-2 is a long-throw wash fixture with a narrow 10 degree field angle.
There’s nothing fancy about it — it’s
simply a brute force fixture designed to
squeeze as much light as possible from
its source. The outdoor version is weather
resistant with an IP rating of 65, and it
is available with an 800-watt tungsten
source or a 150-watt CDM lamp.
The box-like chassis is fabricated with
powder-coated bent aluminum and stainless steel fasteners. The lamp is easily accessible through a hinged cover with two
latches. The cover is sealed with weather
The BP-2 features a powder-coated bent aluminum
chassis with stainlesss steel latches.
Weatherized strain relief connectors permanently
attach the power and data cables.
spray. There is also no facility for dimming
the CDM version of the fixture, and there
is no color-changing capability. But if you
want intense light and a long throw, this
is the fixture for you.
It won’t win any design awards for
its appearance — it’s basically a 12-inch
cube with a yoke — and you won’t spend
much time scratching your head reading
the user manual. It’s basic but very effective. The 19-pound fixture (with the CDM
power supply) uses a single channel for
The CDM
version
comes with
an attached
power supply
and heat sink,
shown here.
www.PLSN.com
2007 AUGUST PLSN 45
THE BIZ
THE CHINA
SYNDROME
T
oys, pet food, tires — the list of products manufactured in China and now
being announced as dangerous has
been growing throughout the year. For
the past five years, the focus of U.S. and
European companies vis-à-vis China has
been on piracy and money; specifically,
the propensity of Chinese manufacturers
to mimic or simply outright steal product
designs of Western companies, and the
fact that Beijing remains coy about letting its currency float freely in the market,
keeping the cost of its goods artificially
even lower than its wage and cost infrastructure already keeps it.
However, in the wake of a spate of
recalls and fatalities, the low prices that
Chinese manufacturers have used as a
lever into Western markets indicates that
the Wal-Martization of Western industry is
coming home to roost.
The details are striking: since April,
2007, almost two million Chinese-manufactured products have been recalled, not
including the pet food that killed scores
of animals in the U.S., or the toxic toothpaste that resulted in human deaths in
Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, and
By DanDaley
Issues surrounding manufacturing quality are
diffuse -- problems occur at the end-user level,
making aggregation of malfunctions harder to
come by, unless some sort of high-profile failure
puts the issue on page one.
tubes of which were recently discovered
in U.S. prisons. Of those two million products, the vast majority were toys, including Thomas the Tank Engine, which allegedly contained toxic materials. In June,
the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration ordered a New Jersey tire
importer to recall 450,000 Chinese-made
light-truck tires because they might come
apart and cause fatal crashes. That was
the second recall in a year and a half involving Hangzhou Zhongce tires. In February 2006, Cooper Tire & Rubber recalled
288,000 passenger-car tires from the Chinese maker because they contained “unauthorized material” in the sidewalls, saying that the tires could have experienced
air leaks and, eventually, tread separation.
Racking up the Frequent Flier Miles
What tires and toys have to do with
lighting doesn’t take much to figure out.
The piracy issues can be addressed on
legal and diplomatic levels, and they are,
thanks to corporate interests that propel
such actions. (That’s not to say that piracy
can be eliminated in China any time soon;
it’s a cultural issue that goes far deeper
than anything legislative.) But the issues
surrounding manufacturing quality are far
more diffuse. Problems occur at the enduser level more often than not, making aggregation of malfunctions harder to come
by, unless some sort of high-profile failure
puts the issue on page one.
he says. But Booth adds that China can
continue to be successful by playing to its
strength. “There are two types of customers out there: those who demand performance and are willing to pay for it, and
those who buy based on price,” he says.
“And there are lots of the latter.”
Scott Humphrey, president of stage
and truss-maker and lighting systems distributor Light Action in Wilmington, Del.,
says it’s often not so cut and dried. The
company does its manufacturing in the
U.S., but imports products such as the Australian-made LSC Maxim lighting console,
which uses Chinese-made circuit boards.
“The electronics I’ve seen used in
this and some other products are very
well done,” says Humphrey. “On the other
hand, I’ve seen some lighting products
from China that I’d call ‘disposable’ — they
look good but you open them up and go,
‘What’s this?’”
Too many individuals, companies and
industries have come to rely on Chinese
manufacturing as essentially a hedge
against inflation and the price pressures
The good news, though, is that China itself is
increasingly dependent upon our markets to
sustain its growth.
The fact is, China can achieve high levels of manufacturing quality. Elektralite
products are manufactured in China and
Jack Kelly, president of Group One Ltd.,
which distributes Elektralite, says those
are competitive with U.S.-made equipment. The key to using China as a manufacturing resource, he says, is choosing a
factory carefully and investing in the necessary quality control and supervision on
site. “The presumption with China is that
you have to be there,” he says. “You have
to check the output regularly — especially in the start-up stages. And there are
a lot of factories over there; you have to
choose among them carefully.”
Pretty on the Outside
Chinese manufacturing tends to emphasize the exterior of a product rather
than its interior workings, contends Rich
Booth, marketing brand manager at VariLite in Dallas, which continues to do all of
its manufacturing in the U.S. “They’re good
at making products that look like those
in the top tier, whereas…the things that
matter, like the optics, tend to fall short,”
associated with global competition,
whether it’s for machinery, electronics or
literally the shirt on their backs. Wal-Mart
truly would not exist without China, but
then neither would most of our wardrobes,
entertainment centers or cuisine. (China
now has a 73 percent share of the U.S. garlic market, according to ABC News.) The
good news, though, is that China itself is
increasingly dependent upon our markets
to sustain its growth. NPR reported in June
that Chinese authorities closed 188 factories that month in the wake of recalls. That
same month, a Chinese court condemned
a local official to death for failing to catch
what turned out to be fatal flaws in food
products. Inclusion in global associations
like the World Trade Organization are helping foster an increased sense of responsibility in the Chinese manufacturing culture.
Lighting and staging products are going
to continue to rely on China as a manufacturing resource for a slew of reasons. But China’s
a big place, and the quality levels range widely. So choose wisely, grasshopper.
Contact Dan at [email protected].
You Gotta Have Heart
I call it “playing well with children.” If you’re nice to people
and play by the rules, people want you back. Two-thirds is based
on personality, and a third is talent. I know nice guys with no talent who get great gigs.
— Nook Schoenfeld
46 PLSN AUGUST 2007
100.0708.46.indd 46
www.PLSN.com
7/31/07 3:25:43 PM
By RichardCadena
FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS
THE LETTER OF THE LAW
“If some day they say of me that with my work I have contributed something to the welfare and the happiness
of my fellow men, I shall be satisfied.” – George Westinghouse
J
ust when you thought you were safe from
the long arm of the law, along comes another letter about Ohm’s law. And this
one challenges the answer to the example
problem we posed.
It all began in the June issue when Focus
on Fundamentals turned to Georg Ohm and
explored Ohm’s law, which relates voltage,
current and resistance. As an example of how
this relationship is fundamental to the nature
of electricity, we cited a question posed in
is not 23 ohms, but 15 to 20 times less (1.15
to 1.53 ohms). And if we get out our trusty
ohmmeter, we find that this is the case. So
instead of having a resistance that is fixed at
23 ohms, we have one that changes value and
increases in resistance as the voltage across
it and the current through it increases. This is
known as a nonlinear or nonohmic resistor. Figure 1 shows the two — ohmic and nonohmic — plotted on a graph against current
(I) and voltage (V).
Remember our old friend “inrush current”?
the ETCP Entertainment Electrician’s Candidate
Handbook. This is the guide to preparing for
the newly established Entertainment Technician’s Certification Program (www.etcp.esta.
org) exam.
We recognize that this may get a little —
OK, very — geeky, and is more in-depth than
usual for a “fundamentals” column, but in the
interest of true completeness we wanted to
follow this issue all the way through.
The question was:
Which of the following currents would
flow in an extension cord connecting a luminaire with a 575 W, 115 V incandescent lamp
to a receptacle providing 120 V?
A.
B.
C.
D.
4.8 A
5.0 A
5.2 A
6.2 A
The question asks you to evaluate the current through a load that is rated at 115 V if it is
connected to a 120 V source. The key to solving
it is to understand that the manufacturer’s rated wattage is based on a 115 V input and that
by changing the applied voltage, the wattage
will change as well. If you figure out the resistance of the filament at 115 V (23 ohms) and
then figure out how much current would flow
at 120 V through a 23-ohm filament, you would
arrive at the answer of 5.2 A.
It makes sense for a load that follows Ohm’s
law, but it didn’t occur to me that a filament
is not a linear resistive load. Luckily, we have
some very alert readers, one of whom wrote us
to point out the fallacy of our solution.
Figure 1
Ohmic load
V
R = slope
Back into Focus
This series of articles about Ohm’s law
began with a single article in June and
was originally intended to illustrate the
relationship between voltage, current,
resistance and power. We ended up spilling into some adjacent areas and straying
as far as discussing the characteristics of
lamp filaments and how they relate to entertainment lighting and lighting design.
But let’s not lose sight of the original intention, which is to understand the fundamental relationship between voltage,
current and resistance. From this solid
foundation, we can venture forth and
gain a deeper understanding of how electricity transfers power and energy and
how we can safely and efficiently harness
it and use it for our benefit.
In the last 20 years, the live event production industry has been through tremendous changes. In 1987, there was no
e-mail, no Internet and desktop comput-
ers were relatively new. Automated lighting was in its infancy, and many lighting
consoles were still analog. LEDs were
used strictly as indicator lights, and a media server was someone who brought you
your newspaper every morning. It was a
different world.
But certain things have and always
will remain the same; light still travels
at 186,282.397 miles per second, energy
and mass are still different manifestations
of the same thing and voltage is still the
product of current and resistance.
No one knows for certain what the future holds for this industry, but one thing
is clear: no matter what form of technology it drops on our doorstep, the key to
understanding it lies in the long-standing
axioms and the principles that guide the
universe. Just watch out for those nonohmic loads.
Speak to me: [email protected].
I
Non-ohmic load
V
R = ∆I/∆V
I
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.47.indd 47
“Now let’s look at the quiz question
and increase the voltage from 115 to 120
V. This will cause the filament to get hotter and cause its resistance to increase
from 23 ohms to some new value. It is
that new value that you would use to
find the final current. We know that the
current would be 5.2 amps if the filament
resistance remained constant at 23 ohms,
but because its resistance does increase,
the current would be less than 5.2 amps.
How do you find this new current? Check
the lamp manufacturer’s datasheet or use
The Wisdom of the Crowd
an ammeter to measure the current flow
“I read your article on Ohm’s law in the through the filament at 120 V.
June 2007 Issue of PLSN and the problem with
“In any event, the incorrect answer
the ETCP Certification
of 5.2 amps errs on
Let’s not lose sight of the side of safety,
exam question,” said
Dennis Carnine, a.k.a.
you a slightly
the original intention, giving
“The Dimmer Doctor”
higher current than
(d-caso.com). “I put which is to understand will actually exist.
together the follow“As a side note,
the fundamental
ing explanation of
most resistors do
relationship between change their value
an additional error in
the calculation that
their temperature
voltage, current and ifchanges,
will result in the acalthough
tual current being less
resistance.
not as much as a
than 5.2 amps.
lamp filament. And
“Remember our old friend ‘inrush cur- some materials have a resistance that actually
rent’? It is a large current flow in an incandes- decreases as the temperature increases.
“How to fix the exam question? Add
cent circuit when a cold lamp is turned on. A
value of 15 to 20 times the normal operating the phrase “Assuming the resistance of
current flows when the switch is closed. This the filament does not change...which of
implies that the ‘cold’ resistance of the lamp the following....”
2007 AUGUST PLSN 47
7/30/07 7:26:39 PM
FEEDING THE MACHINES
Button Pushing 101
0
T
he position of automated lighting programmer is relatively new to the lighting
industry (given the full history), and that
means there are limited resources for learning
the craft. They include manufacturer-sponsored
seminars, colleges, private training, tradeshows,
Web sites and printed materials. If you’re a newbie, you should carefully examine your choices
and decide where to focus your energy for the
best knowledge-gaining experience.
Manufacturer Seminars
Most of the major console manufacturers host training seminars at various
locations around the world. In some cases,
they even take their training on the road
to make it more accessible. Some of these
classes are free, while most have a small fee
to cover training materials and instructor’s
salaries. These classes focus on the functionality of a specific console or line of consoles.
They will generally take two or three days
to cover every button press, all the syntax,
the various procedures and routines and
everything you need to know about working their particular console.
These seminars are beneficial to the student
because you normally leave with a strong understanding of the potential power of the console. You should gain a complete understanding of patching, data entry and recalling data. In
addition, you will enhance you relationship with
manufacturer representatives and support personnel. This alone can be extremely beneficial
the next time support is required.
While these seminars typically teach everything you need to know about a console, they do
not even begin to teach the “art” of automated
lighting programming. Learning to work with
an LD, deciding on creative aspects of a show,
understanding complex musical and production
timing and other critical tasks just can’t be taught
in a manufacturer-organized seminar.
Colleges
Many college-based lighting programs
(and now even some high schools) are teaching automated lighting programming and design as part of the normal curriculum. In these
environments, students generally learn using
the in-house equipment, but they also study
other products. Everything from console theory to exact syntax is taught.
In addition, there is plenty of
focus on relationships with
production staff, creative use
of lighting fixtures, cue timing and much more.
These programs are wonderful and can provide a very
robust set of courses that
are sure to teach anyone the
fundamentals of automated
lighting programming. The
downside is that often they
are locked into a specific set of
consoles and fixtures. Furthermore, the training can take
several years and cost large
amounts of money.
When you’re looking into a college, it’s
imperative that you inquire about their equipment use (in-house and rental), the number of
shows they do and availability of gear for the
students’ use. They last thing you want to do is
to spend several years hanging fixtures without ever getting a chance to touch a desk.
Private Training
Luckily, this industry has many caring individuals who are open to helping others learn
the craft. Many renowned programmers often
make their services available to teach others in
small settings. Often occurring in a small theatre or lighting shop, these classes generally
run from one-on-one training to about 20 students. Usually they will focus on a specific console and explain most of the button pressing
and syntax. However, they will also go deeper
into the core philosophies of automated lighting programming as the instructor shares his/
her own experiences and knowledge. This type
of learning can be very concentrated as it will
adapt to the current students’ needs.
Private training can be arranged by individuals, production companies, theatre
groups, union halls and anyone who has an
interest in learning more about automated
lighting programming. To locate private instructors, perform a quick search on Google
for “automated lighting programmer” and
then e-mail the people with lots of experience to see if they are willing to teach.
This type of training can be very expensive,
but the exchange of ideas and concepts can far
exceed any other methods. A true professional
programmer is typically happy to share his or
her expertise; frequently the toughest part is
finding a slot in his/her busy schedule.
Industry Tradeshows
The lighting industry has a host of tradeshows throughout the year for manufacturers to
exhibit their products. During these events, you
By BradSchiller
can often gain a bit of training directly from the
manufacturers at their booths, but usually this
is nothing more than a cursory overview of a
console’s capabilities. To really learn to program,
you must invest more time. Fortunately, most of
these tradeshows also have seminars that you
can attend. The tradeshows will usually have
manufacturer-sponsored seminars very much
like the ones mentioned at the top of this article.
However, they tend to be reduced to a single day;
therefore, they often lack a lot of information.
Sometimes the tradeshows will arrange
a panel discussion by renowned industry professionals. At these talks, you can learn various techniques and procedures directly from
those who are working on major productions.
While exact keystrokes and syntax are not usually discussed,“secret” procedures and solutions
are well described and talked about. Often the
sheer magnitude of knowledge on these panels
is overwhelming and should not be missed.
Web sites
Many automated lighting programmers
create Web sites to “sell” their services to potential clients. In addition, you can frequently find
tips and tricks they wish to share with other
programmers on these sites. Additionally, most
console manufacturers have detailed Web sites
with forum sections for users to discuss and
debate console usage. Both of these can be
tremendous sources of education for anyone
wanting to learn more about programming.
Our industry also has a few online discussion sites where various topics are brought up
and discussed. If you have a question, you can
openly post it and get myriad responses from
all levels of experienced contacts. However,
you also need to be careful because sometimes these sites turn into large “flame wars”
over which console is best. A simple post asking how to turn a light on to full can lead to
100 posts about which console does it with
the least number of keystrokes.
Printed Materials
One of my favorite resources is the printed word. You are currently reading PLSN, so
you are off to a great start and learning more
about programming right now. Most of the
industry magazines include articles that
provide tips or procedures for programmers.
Furthermore, there are just a few books on
the subject that are highly suggested (yes,
one was written by me and the other by PLSN
editor Richard Cadena). Check out www.plsn
bookshelf.com for these books and others.
Also, I could not let this article go without
mentioning user manuals. The user manual for
any lighting console is a must-read for every
programmer. I guarantee that even if you have
been using a console for years, when you read
the manual you will learn something new!
Start Learning
Our industry is growing at an exciting
pace. It seems like just the other day when
we were all excited by color-mixing fixtures.
Now we have to learn to program digital fixtures, media servers and more LEDs than we
can count. There is always something new for
everyone to discover, so get busy and start
learning something new today.
You can contact Brad Schiller by e-mailing
[email protected].
48 PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
Synchronicity, Part 1:
The Rise of ACN
By PhilGilbert
O
ur industry looked a bit different 20
years ago. Some people might tell
you that things were better in the
‘80s. You might hear them say: “Things were
simpler;”“Young people were more respectful
of hard work;” “All we had were dimmers and
PAR cans, and you didn’t see Eddie Van Halen
complaining.”
But like it or not, things have changed.
For better or worse, the young people in the
industry were raised with a security blanket
in one hand and a keyboard under the other.
You probably can’t find an arena rock tour
that doesn’t have moving lights. And even
our dimmers have computers in them.
Connecting Principle
When DMX-512 was introduced as a standard control protocol in the mid-‘80s, it offered, for the first time, a standardized method
for modern lighting devices to communicate
with each other. Up until then, many people
were still using 0–10 volt analog control for
dimming or proprietary device protocols for
automated fixtures. [Although DMX-512 was
embraced, by the automated lighting manufacturers when it was originally introduced in
1986, it was never intended for the control of
automated lighting. It was strictly intended for
the control of dim channels. – ed.]
With the introduction of DMX-512, manufacturers were able to create products that
communicated with devices from other companies. A control desk could be designed that
would talk with dimmers from Company A
and automated fixtures from Company B. A
moving light could be made that would be
controllable from desks made by Companies
C, D and E.
With 512 channels of control in a single
serial link, the DMX-512 standard probably
did more for the advancement of this industry than has ever been acknowledged, and
not many people could have guessed how
quickly we could outgrow it.
Linked to the Invisible
Every day, more and more manufacturers
are creating new devices that conform to the
DMX-512 control standard. At the same time,
we are seeing cutting-edge technologies
that consume bandwidth faster than we can
find DMX universes to spare.
In 1990, a lighting console with four universes of DMX control was top-of-the-line.
The only people who used more were…
well…Pink Floyd.
But consider this…
At a recent environmental awareness
concert in Germany, nearly 30 universes of
DMX were used, just for the on-stage LEDs.
Because of the increased needs created by
more complex automated lighting, large
quantities of LED fixtures and media servers
with hundreds of control channels, the DMX512 protocol has begun to be cumbersome
in certain settings, while still being far from
obsolete in many others.
Several years ago, the ESTA (Entertainment Services & Technology Association) began to consider the looming problem, eventually forming a working group tasked with
creating a new control protocol that would
make use of the “new technologies which
were gaining dominance and offering cheap
high-speed communications in many areas.”
In the fall of 2006, the working group
published a draft of the ACN standard.
Almost Imperceptible
Formally known as ANSI BSR E1.17, Entertainment Technology — Architecture for
Control Networks, ACN (for short) is unlike
DMX-512 in that it “consists of a number of
separate specifications for protocol formats,
languages, etc.”
Designed to make use of today’s existing
network technologies, along those of, ACN is
effectively a means for controlling lighting
(and other) equipment over a standard computer network.
By adopting the physical network connection equipment present in all modern day
computer equipment (laptops, hubs, wireless
routers, Web servers, etc.), ACN will allow entertainment equipment to communicate using all existing and forthcoming computer
networking devices. Communications could
even occur over wide area networks (WANs),
wireless networks (802.11 / Wi-Fi), or Internet
connections.
Knowing that many users won’t want to
learn about complex computer networks, and
won’t want to purchase expensive networking equipment, the working group also made
it a priority that ACN be easy to implement
for even the most basic systems, and that it
support affordable off-the-shelf networking
components.
row’s entertainment lighting systems are
already available at your local electronics or
big-box store.
Now that the ACN standard has been
approved, we should soon begin to see devices that support the architecture. ACN is
designed to grow with new technology. So,
as new technologies arrive on the entertainment side and on the networking side, ACN
should easily adapt to our growing needs.
Next month we’ll delve a little further into
ACN to discuss some of the specific requirements that the working group set for the
standard and a couple of new drafts in the
pipeline that will add some new functionality
to ACN devices.
TECHNOPOLIS
A connecting principle
Linked to the invisible
Almost imperceptible
Something inexpressible
Science insusceptible
Logic so inflexible
Causally connectable
Yet nothing is invincible
-The Police
For more information on the new standards
discussed in this article, visit the ESTA Web site at
http://www.esta.org/.
Phil Gilbert is a freelance lighting designer
and programmer. You can contact him at
pgilbert@ plsn.com.
Something Inexpressible
So, what does this mean for us?
Well, to start with, many of the devices
and cables that you’ll need to run tomor-
The biggest problem when
you are trying to build light layers is that you can end up with
mud. That’s when you have too
many light beams of different
colors converging on a stage at
once, creating a white-pinkish
mush. It’s crap, and I see it all
the time with young designers.
To stop this is really simple. Look
at your stage and start turning
lights off one group at a time.
The more you turn off, the sexier
the scene looks. There is no rule
that says all lights must be on all
the time. But it works for some
designers.
— Nook Schoenfeld
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.49.indd 49
Less Could Be More
2007 AUGUST PLSN 49
7/30/07 7:25:52 PM
MARKETPLACE
Employment
Call 702.454.8550 for
Marketplace rates or
email [email protected]
YOUR #1 RESOURCE FOR
CONTINUING EDUCATION.
Visit www.plsnbookshelf.com
50
PLSN AUGUST 2007
www.PLSN.com
COMPANY
PG#
PH
ADVERTISER’S INDEX
URL
COMPANY
PG#
PH
URL
4Wall Entertainment
48
702.263.3858
http://plsn.hotims.com/12804-181
Mega Lite
15
210.684.2600
A.C.T Lighting, Inc.
19
818.707.0884
Omnisistems
6
253.395.9500
All Access Staging & Prod.
8
310.784.2464
Orion Software
44
877.755.2012
Applied Electronics
37
800.883.0008
Osram Sylvania
23
888.677.2627
Atlanta Rigging
47
404.355.4370
Penn-Elcom
7
973.378.8700
27
253.395.9494
Baxter Controls
15
512.858.5058
PR Lighting LTD
Branam Enterprises
2
661.295.3300
Precise Corporate Staging LLC
39
480.759.9700
Bulbtronics
49
800.227.2852
Pro-Tapes & Specialties
45
732.346.0900
Chauvet Lighting
5, 25
800.762.1084
Robe America
9
954.615.9100
Checkers Industrial Prod.
14
800.438.9336
Roc-Off
46
877.978.2437
City Theatrical Inc.
40
800.230.9497
Roscoe Labs
21
800.767.8652
Clay Paky
1
609.812.1564
Sew What
21
866.444.2062
CM Rigging Products
38
800.888.0985
Staging Dimensions
17
866.591.3471
Coemar
3
954.578.8881
Techni-Lux
C2, 12
407.857.8770
Cooling & Power Rentals
42
888.871.5503
TMS
40
402.592.5522
Creative Stage Lighting
42
518.251.3302
Tyler Truss Systems
10
903.877.0300
Doug Fleenor Design
14
888.436.9512
Wybron
33
800.624.0146
Elation
31, C4
866.245.6726
Xtreme Structures
8
903.473.1100
Full Sail
12
800.226.7625
GE Specialty Lighting
11
800.435.2677
High End Systems
41
512.836.2242
MARKET PLACE
In-House Productions
10
702.631.4748
4Wall Entertainment
50
702.263.3858
Intelevent Systems
14
800.348.2486
City Theatrical Inc.
50
800.230.9497
Koster Design
15
417.332.1313
DK Capital
50
517.347.7844
Le Maitre
36
519.659.7972
ELS
50
800.357.5444
Leprecon/Cae Inc.
16
810.231.9373
New York Case/Hybrid Case
50
800.346.4638
Light Source
4
803.547.4765
Light Source Inc.
50
248.685.0102
Lightronics
C3
757.486.3588
Lightronics
50
757.486.3588
50
866.258.4577
26
888.548.8548
Look Solutions
15
800.426.4189
Roadshow
51
800.861.3111
Main Light Industries
29
302.998.8017
Special FX Lighting
50
435.635.0239
Martin Professional
C1
954.858.1800
TLS
51
866.254.7803
MDG Fog Generators Limited
13
800.663.3020
Upstaging
50
815.899.9888
100.0708.51_index.indd 51
Littlite
RC4
7/30/07 7:29:52 PM
LD-AT-LARGE
LIFE on the Road
By NookSchoenfeld
Getting in and getting out
I
spend a lot of time traveling, but I’m
home a lot more often than I was when
I toured the world with rock bands. I’m
frequently asked by lots of young folks
how to get into the road business. But
lately, I’ve been asked by older people a
more important question: How do you get
off the road?
Getting a Road Gig
First off, you need to decide which avenue you’d like to go down. You’ve already
decided that you want to see the world
and get paid to do it, but would you like
to pursue a career in audio, lighting, scenic, video or production? Would you rather
work in theatre, film, trade shows or the
music biz? Choose what you want to do.
Should you go to college to get started?
I believe it builds a good base for rounding out a person and learning the basics
of your chosen field. I went, but that and
90 cents will get you a cup of joe. Unfortunately, few people in the entertainment
business get hired because of their college
credits. They get hired because they show
ambition and enthusiasm. The actual skills
you learn on a work site far exceed anything that is learned in a classroom.
If you wish to be a lighting designer, you
should learn from the ground up. Pay your
dues as a tech while you hone your craft.
The best way to learn about lighting is to
work for a lighting vendor or to work summer stock. There are hundreds of lighting
rental companies in the U.S.; there is probably at least one within 100 miles of your
house. These companies are often looking
for young grunts — people who will pull
cable, hoist trusses and set up gear. The
positions don’t always pay well to start, but
you have to view it as getting your foot in
the door and a “learn-as-you-earn” system.
Sending a résumé to a lighting company is
helpful, but nothing beats a face-to-face sit
down with a potential employer. They will
remember meeting you and when they get
in a crunch for manpower, they may look for
your number. I believe in following up these
COMING NEXT
MONTH...
•PRODUCTION
PROFILE
We get in some
time with Fall
Out Boy.
• SCHOOL’S OUT
FOREVER!
Recent grads
tell you what
you can expect
when your final
school year is
done.
Sooner or later, most of us get
tired of living like a gypsy.
visits with periodic e-mails saying that you
are still looking forward to the day when
you can work with their company.
Most of these lighting companies provide techs with their gear, and this gear
ships all over the world for various gigs.
Many of them cover trade shows and corporate events. The money lighting vendors
can make on music tours pales in comparison to the dough they earn on film shoots
and corporate shows. Working for any of
these vendors insures that you will travel,
but you are likely to work long days in one
town for a week or two at a time. However,
there are several major audio and lighting
vendors who also supply gear and techs
for traveling music tours. At any given time,
companies such as Bandit, PRG or Upstaging Lighting will have a dozen tours out on
the road. The turnover of qualified technicians in the music biz means that these
companies are always looking for young
help — people who will grow and stay
within their organization.
Audio and scenic companies follow
the same route. A young audio guy will
have to mic a lot of stages and fly plenty
of speaker boxes before he gets to mix a
show. Bug your local audio leasing company to give you a chance. Offer them
your strong back to load their gear in exchange for a job and the chance to learn
everything you can about audio. Scenic companies build all sizes of sets and
generally need anyone with some basic
construction skills. Once you’ve spent a
summer working for a local theatre, you
would do well to start contacting a shop
in your area to offer your services.
Getting Out
Sooner or later, most of us get tired of
living like a gypsy. But we have been doing
this for so long, making a comfortable living, that we don’t know what else to do. If
that sounds like you, the best advice I can
give is to be a nice person and stay connected with everyone you work with over
the years. Sooner or later, we all get off the
tour bus for good, and we need a gig — and
friends help old friends out.
Teaching is one way to come off the
road. Someone has to school the young
techs in the proper way to do things. Many
of my old touring buddies now work fulltime in various scenic and lighting shops,
but they work behind computers and on
the phones. Many techs go on to become
project or production managers. Some of
them call me and ask for lights and techs
(usually along with a design), and I then
call my old friends and we all work together on the design and logistics of the project. Then we send the young work force
out to do the actual gigs.
Joining a union along the way is a good
idea and can provide an option to getting off
the road for many people. The IATSE stage
hands union (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees – www.iatse-intl.org)
is full of ex-touring guys. The insurance and
pension plans they offer are fantastic, and for
anyone looking for a way off the road, this is
a great opportunity. You don’t have to travel
for work, and if you are in a decent-sized city,
you can keep busy. Getting affiliated with
unions is not always easy, but it’s certainly
worth going down to the local hall and seeing what it takes to get a union card. Maybe
you can sign up part-time for now, do a few
shows in between tours, and later in life turn
it into a permanent job.
Studio work is another option. I work
in various TV studios; sometimes I operate
moving lights, sometimes I’m a gaffer, other times I consult with the permanent LDs
who work certain TV shows. I networked in
with several studio people over the years
and they pass my name off to others. Being
a nice guy for years has paid dividends in
our word-of-mouth industry.
Film work is another option. Grip
trucks are just lighting shops on wheels.
When you get work on a film or TV series,
you can be assured of several months
work in one location, hopefully somewhere near where you live.
Last of all, you can go to work for yourself. While you’re touring all these years,
keep thinking about what you can do to fill
a void in the industry, then start planning
it. My friend Manny Parodi was a touring
set carpenter/stage manager for years. He
realized that after a tour was over, bands
needed a place to stash their old sets and
gear. So he bought some storage space in
L.A. and started keeping old stuff in mothballs until the bands needed it again.
Building a Web site can also help. I became a lighting/scenic designer 20 years
ago, and I have collected pictures of hundreds of gigs. My partner and I built a site
that we send potential clients to. Through
all the networking I’ve done over the years,
it was easy to get my friends to view it and
pass it on. If you have no idea how your site
should look, check out others. Check out
mine at www.visualventuresdesign.com,
just to get an idea.
Sometimes when you’re on the road,
it seems like it never ends. But someday
you’re going to wish it would, and then it’s
up to you to figure out your next gig. Start
thinking now, and the transition will be
easier.
Nook Schoenfeld is a freelance lighting
designer. He can be reached at
[email protected].
www.PLSN.com
100.0708.52.indd 52
7/30/07 7:34:28 PM
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Genesis Has Pixels Aplenty

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