Our new Maverick series of moving fixtures has been generating rock star style buzz since its recent debut. Ford Sellers, Senior Product Manager of CHAUVET Professional, explains what all the excitement’s about. Walking us through the new series, Ford shares insights into the thought process behind the development of Maverick, offers an under the hood peek at some of its performance features of Maverick fixtures, and describes how they will help set your imagination free.

We’ve all been hearing a lot of buzz about Maverick; why did Chauvet come out with this new series, when there are already plenty of moving fixtures on the market?
“The short answer is because we believe Maverick fills a very unique and important place in the market that calls for high performance tour level moving fixtures that are available at an affordable price.”

How did you develop Maverick?
“We listened closely to our Customers; Lighting Designers, Production Managers, Stagehands and others…They told us that a new generation of fixtures was really needed – fixtures that are bright, powerful, rugged constructed and fully featured, yet are compact, user-friendly and affordable. They asked for flexible features that could excel in a variety of venues from arenas and concert halls to hotel ballrooms and large churches. The LDs wanted fixtures that could really help them unleash their creativity. From our vantage point as a supplier, we viewed this as an opportunity to focus our efforts on meeting a growing customer demand. We wanted to outperform their expectations.

Can you give us some specifics on which markets you’re aiming at with Maverick?
“The series is designed for the medium to large production/touring, and rental markets. People who need to light a concert in a 30,000 seat stadium one night, and a 600 seat showroom the next. Maverick fixtures are very flexible and they’re engineered for quick set-up, easy integration into any rig, and easy tear-down for transporting to the next gig. They’re also designed to help with quick ROI, and low cost of ownership. Plus they create huge visual impact.”

The CHAUVET Professional Rogue Series has been extraordinarily successful; so how does Maverick differ from it?
“Maverick has taken its solid technical pedigree from Rogue, and pushed the limits of design and technology to the next level for larger scale applications. These fixture offer advanced features designed to maximize output and performance in the most compact fixture designs.”

Do you have any examples?
“Sure, the MK2 Wash is the first moving head to use the new Osram 40W RGBW LEDs, in conjunction with a custom optical system that we designed especially for this source. In this fixture, we are able to achieve output and efficiency unlike anything near its size, making it not just bright, but also extremely fast. Then there’s the MK2 Spot, which uses a custom dichroic CMY color mixing system that we optimized to work flawlessly with its 440 watt LED light source. To address the needs of our customers who use these fixtures for televised events, we added a variable CTO to the CMY, so that they can match the color temperature of their other discharge or even incandescent lighting fixtures. Overall, the entire Maverick line uses the latest innovations in light sources, customized dichroic filters, custom lenses, internal web-servers, full color touch displays, ArtNet and sACN control, and completely upgraded mechanical and electronic components.”

You talked about points of distinction between Maverick and Rogue; can you tell us how Maverick differs from similar products from other manufacturers?
“The Maverick line hits a unique sweet spot in the market, because it uses cutting edge technology to deliver the highest performance, in a compact fixtures, at a price that allows LDs to have more than just a couple on a show. So, the designers get more great tools to unleash their creativity, the production companies can get a reasonable ROI, the stagehands don’t break their backs, and you can fit a lot more of them on the truss, and in the truck.”

You mentioned CMY color mixing – why is this so important?
“CMY color mixing allows for seamless fades between colors, so a designer can build some absolutely beautiful transitions. Aesthetic lighting design is not only about having a bunch of beautiful looks. A great designer is just as concerned about how the fixtures move from one look to another. When you add variable CTO to mix, designers are able to subtly match all of their fixtures to virtually any native color temperature. Also, when the CMY system is properly matched to the light source, as they are in the Maverick series, you’re able to mix great primary colors, in addition to the secondary and tertiary colors that are associated with excellent CMY systems.

Can you tell about the lenses used in the Maverick series and how they help it stand out?
“The optical systems in each of these fixtures are exceptional. We worked with a European lensing company for almost a year developing the lens and light pipe combination in the MK2 Wash. It affords us a highly efficient, wide zoom range, with minimal movement, which results in rapid beam angle changes. It is the attention to detail in aspects like this that really set Maverick apart.”

Going beyond CMY color mixing and customized lenses what other features set Maverick apart?
“A thing that I’m really excited about is that we were able to integrate the layered prism effect that Chauvet pioneered in the Rogue RH1 into our Maverick Mk1 Hybrid. In fact, when developing the Mk1 Hybrid, we also spent several months working directly with the engineering team at Osram to refine and improve the performance of their Sirius SR440 lamp. This allows us to be the first manufacturer to be able to get the maximum output from this lamp, while maintaining a long lamp life. Features like advanced software, sACN integration, and an internal web server are seen across the line. We also designed the pixel control in the Mk2 Wash to be able to easily integrate with media servers, without chewing up DMX channels in your lighting console.”

Will the Maverick line be expanded?
“This series is designed to have a long term impact. We fully expect to see Maverick fixtures in service far into the future. That said, not every production needs a 440Watt LED Spot, or a 480W LED Wash. Some need more power, and some less. I won’t tip our hand too much, but the names say it all. Mk2 leaves space for an Mk1, and possibly an Mk3. I would look forward to a series of fixtures, geared toward all sizes of productions at the top end of the market.”

Watch the ‘Why Maverick’ Video now!