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    On the Road: Tampa’s Agua Luces

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    The bridges of Tampa illuminated by ILUMINARC.

    Mayor Buckhorn in front of the people of Tampa and a press crew for the lighting ceremony.

    The City of Tampa held a lighting ceremony for its latest project of the Lights on Tampa initiative entitled Agua Luces. On August 10, 2012, Mayor Buckhorn was on hand at Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park to “push the red button” which illuminated five bridges in downtown Tampa. Tracey Dear of Chicago-based Dear Productions designed the illumination project, sourcing over 100 LED ILUMINARC exterior lighting solutions. Additionally, the city is gearing up for the Republic National Convention, held this August 27 – 30, 2012.

    “We are going to make Tampa proud and we are going to shine,” said Mayor Buckhorn, addressing the crowd during the lighting ceremony. “Ladies and gentlemen, these lights are going to light the path to Tampa, Florida, for the world. We’re going to shine like we’ve never shined before. We’re going to tell Tampa’s story like it’s never been told before. Tampa, Florida, these lights are for you. Forever.”

    Gear list:
    20 x Ilumipanel 90 IP
    90 x Ilumipanel 40 IP
    6  x Ilumiline 36 IP

     

    Behind-the-scenes at HQ with Zach Matusow

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    We had the pleasure of hosting Zach Matusow, tour lighting designer for Foster the People. While he was at CHAUVET HQ, we did a Take 5 Interview with a Lighting Designer segment with our own John Dunn, business development manager for the west coast, and gave him some one-one-one time with a few select CHAUVET Professional fixtures.

    The interview is coming soon. Stay tuned.

    Zack Matusow behind-the-scenes shot during interview

    Zack Matusow interviewed by John Dunn (l ot r)

    Matusow talking one-one-one with our product team

    Matusow talking with Product Manager Mike Graham

    On the Road: Backstage at Muny’s Dreamgirls

    Written by David on . Posted in Uncategorized.

    The St.Louis-based Muny theatre’s production of Dreamgirls featured battery-powered, 100%  TRUE wirelessly-controlled CHAUVET DJ Freedom Par and CHAUVET Professional WELL wash lights in the truss tower set pieces that freely moved about its 94-foot stage. We have a couple of behind-the-scenes shots below. Enjoy.

    The Muny theater in St. Louis, Missouri

    Truss towers with Freedom Par and WELL fixtures take the stage

    Truss towers with Freedom Par and WELL fixtures take the stage

    Detail of Freedom Par in truss tower

    Lighting Designer Seth Jackson and Asst. Lighting Designer Robert Denton (l to r)

    MVP 18 Rides with Borgore’s Cream Machine

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    Borgore debuted his 2012 tour at Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas, mixing dubstep rhythms from inside an ice cream machine built of MVP 18 video panels from CHAUVET Professional. The Borgore Cream Machine made its big entrance at EDC entertaining enthusiastic crowds, and will go on tour again in the fall in cities throughout the U.S. A concept of Morgan Lavery, the machine was designed to make Borgore look like he was driving inside an ice cream truck, equipped with real 30-inch rims that actually move and spun around on motors.

    LightQuest in the City of Angels

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    Written by Adina Arhire, communication specialist for CHAUVET.

    Yes, I am a woman. And I do love shoes — it’s embedded in our DNA. What do shoes have to do with lighting? A lot actually; in my case, at least. To give you a brief background, I started working for CHAUVET as communications specialist about a year ago and knew nothing of lighting, but a lot about shoes. Since joining I have experienced trade shows, lots of training sessions—learning from the best in the industry who work here at CHAUVET—and hours of researching the industry on my own. I have been a rather geeky person all my life, so learning has been a pleasant experience. I do know what pixel mapping is, how to address a video panel, the definition of a lumen and more.

    Now this is what I call a successful combination: LEDs & shoes …

    Does all of the above give me the right to fancily talk about lighting? Definitely not. Does that give me the right to admire and hunt for them? Yes it does. Because I simply love lighting—in my own primitive way. (And so do you, if you are reading this.) Novices or experts, we all have the virus. In my case, I realized I was irreversibly  ‘infected’ when about six months ago I started looking for CHAUVET lights in venues and at concerts more than I was screening for cute guys. Now I am fully contaminated and I love it. Those Manolo Blahniks might shine a couple of times on my feet, but lighting is forever, in my heart. [Awww, cheesy I know, remember I am still a woman?]

    Disneyland Hotel lit by CHAUVET lights …

    Now that I have hopefully convinced you of my good faith and valid reasons for writing this, you should read about my trip to Los Angeles. Which wasn’t just a trip. As I discovered, it was a true “LightQuest.” I have to confess I was lucky enough to be guided by someone with far more experience than I have in the industry. Just like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in their quest to revive chivalry in the 17th century, I had the guidance of our U.S. Business Development Manager for CHAUVET Professional and ILUMINARC John Dunn (Don Quixote), who walked me (Sancho Panza) through this “LightQuest.”

    On my way to Stage 12 at Universal Studios …

    Our first stop blew me away. I had the opportunity to visit Stage 12 at Universal Studios, which houses the set of a major televised singing competition with franchises in more than 40 countries worldwide. Also, I had the honor to meet and to interview the lighting designer for this amazing show: Oscar Dominguez. I had read about Oscar’s involvement with this show in a very interesting interview done by PLSN magazine, but talking face-to-face was a totally different thing. The rig was overwhelming. I was surprised by its scale, not to mention the hundreds of CHAUVET lights that are part of it. I found out after, movies like “Dracula” and “Frankenstein” were filmed in the same Stage 12 at Universal Studios.

    Hard to miss this poster of “American Ninja Warrior” …

    While walking at Universal Studios a big poster promoting “American Ninja Warrior” sports entertainment competition immediately caught my attention. Why? Because 225 CHAUVET lights were on that show, specified by Lighting Designer Ed Motts. The cherry on the cake was actually meeting Ed and having the opportunity to ask him details in person. Listening to him passionately talking about lights and latest industry news, I realized he is one of the many lighting designers who make lighting their lives, and not just a job.

    DJ Roonie G performs one of his creative blends of audio and video …

    I had another pleasant surprise while checking out City Walk, also at Universal Studios. Known for his mixing of music and video, DJ Roonie G was performing on a stage equipped with 60-plus CHAUVET lights, of which I spotted COLORado 3p IP and COLORado 1 IP lights.

    I spotted more CHAUVET fixtures lighting a store entrance at Disney BoardWalk, and washing the walls of the Disneyland Hotel. Lights from the CHAUVET ILUMINARC brand color the trees in front of the hotel, and more create colorful effects underwater, in a pool at the resort.

    Lots of lights at N-Effect Productions …

    What really added to my timid knowledge of lighting and gave me a better perspective on the industry, were the various dealer visits. I was lucky to meet some of the wonderful people we work with who literally keep the lights on.

    Impressed by the size of the warehouse at Kinetic Lighting, I touched color gels for the first time (after only reading about them). It was interesting to see how these are still in use, when LEDs give an array of color choices without the need of gels. Owner of Kinetic Lighting David Rosen had just organized an open house, and I could still spot CHAUVET lights on the floor.

    Color gels box at Kinetic Lighting …

    In San Diego, Brad Donaldson with Pro Systems Event Solutions told me about some great projects he had just worked on, using CHAUVET fixtures: Sun God Festival 2012, Dayglow show, Steve Aoki performing at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, and more. At N-Effects Productions, Kris Plourde passionately showed me some of his spectacular designs for prom events. I remember the “Orangetopia” project at a high school night that we actually wrote about a little while ago. Kris put together a full production complete with DJ, video walls and a three-minute confetti drop.

    Last but certainly not least, I had the pleasure of meeting the creative team at Blue Haze Entertainment. They were recently involved in a massive project at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, where they specified hundreds of our lights. No books and online research can give the insight one would get just listening to these professionals discussing lighting.

    I was under the impression I accumulated so much information during my year at CHAUVET, but it took this trip to teach me that I had only touched on the tip of the iceberg. While I am not a big fan of cold weather or water, I am ready to dive in and go deeper. Who knows if this iceberg has a limit?

    To seal the LightQuest, on my way to the airport John pointed out a Toyota dealership displaying a car lit by CHAUVET lights. Perhaps not as glamorous as the television studio, but the message was clear: our lights are everywhere …

     

    LD Profile: Benjamin Brown

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    Six questions with Benjamin Brown, lighting designer for Cason Cleveland Productions and theatre design technology student at Gainesville State College.

    1. How did you get into this field?
    About four years ago I was trying to discover what I wanted to do in college. I had started out in electrical engineering, but then I helped a friend set up the lights at Lakewood Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia, and found that I really liked the art and passion provided by the lighting. One of the best and luckiest parts about it was that the current LD left for school and I was left to learn the Jands Vista S3 console by the following Sunday. The next thing I knew I was doing every week concerts, proms and corporate lighting. I would like to eventually get into the lighting field in a bigger way. I am currently lighting designer for Cason Cleveland Productions while studying at Gainesville State College for theatre design technology, so that I can learn the little things I may have missed learning on my own.

    2. What do you think is the next big thing in the lighting industry?
    The next step in lighting is to change all moving lights to LED. It has been done to a certain extent, wash lights and smaller movers. But I feel that the first company to make a light like Martin Mac III Profile run off LED instead of bulbs will have found the future.

    3. Do you have a favorite fixture (and why)?
    My favorite fixture is a tie between the CHAUVET COLORado Batten 72 Tour and the Elation Platinum Beam 5R. I like them for the same reason; they are both extremely powerful and bright for their size. COLORado Batten 72 Tour provides great color over the stage or even when I use them as blinders. I love the color options of COLORado Batten 72 Tour with typical RGB and then the extra white and amber. For me, LED lights only look good when they are actually the color as the beam at the bulbs and the CHAUVET batten provides that. I also love straight lines in a stage design and the batten’s shape provides a natural straight line when looked at head-on.

    4. What has been your favorite design/project?
    My favorite design project is a youth conference that Lakewood hosted for 10 other churches. I was given the chance to fully design and run the show. I wanted to keep it kind of simple with tons of color provided by the 22 CHAUVET SlimPAR Pro Tri fixtures and six LED Rain 64 lights. I used four COLORrail linear wash lights to light the “unshaken” logo. On the moving light end I had four Elation Platinum Beam 5R lights along with 20 other assorted Martin and Robe spot and wash fixtures. One of the coolest effects we did was to place eight CHAUVET COLORado 2 Tour wash lights in the back of the room to bring the entire room into the show. To top it all off, I used 14 CHAUVET PAR 64 and four COLORado Batten 72 Tour lights to create a blinding effect. It was all ran off Jands Vista S3 console for programmed scenes and presets and from Vista M1 for conventional and house.

    5. What was the biggest unforeseen obstacle that you’ve faced in one of your designs, and how did you overcome it?
    At one of the homecomings we put on last year we were not allowed to fly our lights. Having everything ground-supported made that design for a dance with over 1,000 students difficult. We would typically use lifts to get the truss high enough to shoot the lights on the crowd but we noticed with the bleachers pushed in, we could put the truss directly on them to create a cool over-shooting effect.

    6. Complete this thought: A show without light is like …
    … Walt Disney without a dream.

    Tech Talk: Creating Content for Video Walls — Part I

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    Product Engineer Anthony Chiappone proudly stands in front of MVP panels.

    Written by Product Engineer for CHAUVET Professional Anthony Chiappone. 

    Over the course of the last 18 months, LED video wall has become a necessity to large and even medium shows. With this growth, I’ve observed that video editors and video wall specifiers are struggling to keep up with the large variety of video panels in use, mainly due to a lack of communication, education and understanding the application. To give you the necessary basic information and gain confidence working with video, I have prepared a brief two-part guide to why and how you should generate video content.

    Have the right questions—and answers too. As the video wall technician, the video editor will often ask you certain questions in regards to their content creation, such as, “What is the resolution of each section of video wall?” While this is important for a video editor and for you to know, it is equally important to be prepared and have the right answers to these questions.

    • What is the pixel pitch?
    • What are the actual dimensions/ratios of the video wall sections?
    • How much space is between the panels?
    • Should the video be rendered with a mask?
    • Should the video be rendered as a single, large video or as individual video clips for each section of video wall?
    • What is the minimum viewing distance?

    These questions play a key role in content creation. It determines whether the video editor should design live video content, IMAG (image magnification), large or small text, or motion graphics.

    Create according to resolution
    It does no good to have high resolution graphics that look great on the computer screen, only to play it back on very low resolution, 50 mm pixel pitch curtains or LED mesh. And it would be equally wasteful to design very low resolution motion graphics for video wall that is capable of stunning, high resolution video content.

    Understanding LED video walls vs. video projection.
    One of the most deceiving content design obstacles comes when working with lower pixel pitch panels/curtains/mesh that cover a large area (outer dimensions). This means that you may have to design content of 1500×1200 and use a playback software, such as ArKaos MediaMaster Express to shrink it down to 150×120. This is something that is not true when using video projection, which is why you have the learning curve for LED video walls. This requires an understanding of the content creation, panel addressing/mapping software, playback software, and the collaboration of all to implement it successfully.

    Be educated

    What is pixel resolution?
    For the majority of video products, pixel resolution is all you need to know to create the video content, including LCD/plasma screens and projectors. But, LED video walls introduce a new factor: pixel pitch. This is a term that has long been used for computer displays, image scanners, and projectors—aka dot pitch, stripe pitch, or phosphor pitch. The pixel pitch is defined as the space between LEDs on a single panel. So, when you read in the specifications of a video panel that the pixel pitch is 12.5 mm, this means that the center-to-center spacing between LEDs is literally 12.5 mm. In most cases, the vertical and horizontal pixel pitches are the same. But, it may be different.

    Now, why does this matter when creating video content? In the past, the pitches were mostly in micrometers. So, when you have two different displays, with content passing between both of them, the different is difficult to notice. But, when using LED video wall, the pitches are in millimeters, which is much easier to distinguish when building content for a large or small stage event.

    In next month’s second part, I will explain how to create video content for a certain application and will get into streaming process. Until then, digest the knowledge I just shared with you and don’t be afraid to research on your own.

    Off the Hookah is Smokin’ Hot with CHAUVET

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    Located in the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale, Off the Hookah features world-ranked flair bartenders, belly dancers and a hypnotizing light show made up of more than 200 CHAUVET fixtures. To create the one-of-a-kind atmosphere, lighting designers installed 32 Epix Strip pixel-mapping strip light, 28 Q-Wash 260-LED and four Q-Spot 560-LED moving heads, four Impulse 648 strobe lights and more than 100 COLORstrip wash lights. Check out the eye-candy below and stay tuned for the complete installation story and On the Road video story.


    CHAUVET Accompanies A Cappella Group on Stage

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    Ithacappella, the male a cappella group at Ithaca College, recently performed at the State Theater of Ithaca. Andrew Underwood, audio visual production technician at the college, used 16 COLORado 1 Tour fixtures from CHAUVET Professional in a four-by-four matrix mounted on prerig truss. Here is a video from Ithacappella’s interpretation of “Titanium,” originally performed by David Guetta:

    Carly Rae Jepsen Performs at Cedar Point, under CHAUVET

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    Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen performs her hit “Call Me Maybe” as part of the “Luminosity, Powered by Pepsi,” live experience, at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Hundreds of CHAUVET fixtures make up the grandiose design of “Luminosity, Powered by Pepsi,” an interactive show that runs daily through August at Cedar Point, the second-oldest operating amusement park in the United States. This cutting-edge show features mesmerizing displays of lights, music and dance performances, special effects, fireworks, pyrotechnics, live DJ action. Watch Carly Rae on stage and click here for full story and great pics from “Luminosity, Powered by Pepsi.”