Since it was introduced 18 years ago, the K Series has proven itself to be one of the most reliable and widely used amplifiers on the market, receiving high praise for its lasting audio quality, power density, efficiency, and stable and long-term power.
Les nouveaux Powersoft T902 et T904.
Building on this legacy, Powersoft introduced the T Series in 2019, and in doing so defined the ‘next generation specs’ for amplifiers in live sound applications, as well as setting new long-term benchmarks such as daisy-chained Ethernet connectivity; Dante audio networking; Power sharing; Improved DSP with powerful Advanced EQ groups, and FIR filtering for great sounding presets.
Now, in 2021, the new T902 and T904 have been introduced to extend the applications of the T Series even further, allowing it to cover the requirements for any system deployment, including larger scale live sound applications. The T902 is a 2-channel amplifier specified to deliver 4000W at 2 Ohms, 3200W at 4 Ohms, or 1800W at 8 Ohms, and its high rail voltage and peak current on the outputs make it ideal for driving large 4-Ohm subwoofers (like dual 18’’) or 2- and 3-way line sources.
Le T902, 175 V crête, 8 kW, DSP et Dante.
Thanks to the T902’s onboard DSP featuring Raised Cosine, IRR and FIR filters; and precision delay, the T902 is the perfect product for powering and controlling complex cardioid sub-woofer arrangements and complex 3-way line sources.
The other new addition to the T Series family is the 4-channel T904, which can deliver 1800W at 2 Ohms, 2000W at 4 Ohms, or 1600W at 8 Ohms. This new amplifier platform is designed to power bi-amped systems like stage monitors, 2-way point source speakers, and 2-way line sources, as well as smaller sub woofers.
La face arrière du T904. 4 canaux et 4 entrées, 8 kW au total, DSP et Dante.
Much like the rest of the T Series family, the new T902 and T904 feature onboard DSP, in-built Dante inputs, and live impedance monitoring, as well as Powersoft’s Active DampingControl™ for cable resistance compensation.
Marc Kocks, Powersoft Application Engineering team Manager.
“Most live sound amplifier families will feature lower voltages for smaller and lower cost products,” said Marc Kocks, manager of Powersoft’s Application Engineering team.
“In smaller systems, however, it is quite common to have a single 8 Ohm loudspeaker per channel. This presented an opportunity for our development team to make a very homogenous amplifier range in which all models can deliver the same high output voltage, so that smaller models can also play ‘full SPL’ on 8-Ohm speakers.
“This makes the smaller models more affordable by saving in the power supply and output current capacity, while providing a solid feature set for the entire product family. With the addition of the T902 and T904 to the T-series it will be able to serve as a flexible and reliable workhorse for any live sound system.”
The largest performance space of Brno City Theatre (Městské divadlo Brno), The Music Theatre, is a 680-seat venue that hosts a programme of current musicals and large-scale drama. It was built in 2004 as the best technically equipped theatre in Europe.
To maintain these modern standards, technical manager, David Kachlíř, recently added a Robert Juliat SpotMe tracking device to the venue’s lighting inventory, thereby increasing its existing complement of Robert Juliat products of 3 RJ Ginger followspots, Dalis 864 coloured footlights and a number of RJ 600 and 700 series profiles.
The RJ SpotMe device was supplied by Prague-based Prolight s.r.o., Robert Juliat’s exclusive distributor for the Czech Republic, as part of an improvement initiative to future-proof the Theatre. SpotMe is Robert Juliat’s award-winning server that produces real-time tracking information with no emitters or cameras on stage or performers. It uses feedback from sensors mounted on a tripod and followspot to coordinate moving lights with the movement initiated by a followspot and its operator – a perfect combination of high technology and human control in lighting design and operation.
Kachlíř chose SpotMe after a request from artistic director, Stanislav Moša, who wished to be able to follow actors with backlight from upstage lighting positions.
“Such positions are impossible to access with a human operator due to the number of moving flybars, lights and scenery,” explains Kachlíř, “so we decided to bring in SpotMe which can be controlled remotely by a console operator in conjunction with a followspot operator.” The newly-acquired SpotMe is used with one of the Theatre’s RJ Ginger followspots, and rigged on the front-of-house balcony close to the proscenium arch using a specially customised pan head (now a standard RJ installation product).
From this position, Kachlíř, who is also lighting designer and show operator for most of The Music Theatre shows, can control every parameter within the followspot, and all other moving head fixtures calibrated with SpotMe, directly from the MA2 console. “It is very easy and quick with the MA console – just tap the moving heads I want to use to follow, activate the preset, update the cue and that’s it!” he says.
SpotMe installed on an RJ Ginger chase on the balcony facing the stage of the Municipal Theater in Brno.
Kachlír first used SpotMe in December 2020 on the musical version of Pretty Woman, directed by Stanislav Moša, which sees its Czech premiere and official opening on 11 September 2021. “For this production we use strong colours like concert purples and sharp-edged followspot/moving head looks to follow the main characters,” explains Kachlíř.
“The show is fast paced, and I have a generic lighting set up with 70-80 moving lights calibrated to SpotMe at my disposal. We were able to work with SpotMe’s tracking speed function to handle the rapid changes of pace, using the Fast Standard mode as the optimum setting for smooth movement between normal and faster speeds.”
Kachlíř’s second design with SpotMe shows a very different application – this time for the Czech premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Jane Eyre, directed and translated by Petr Gazdík, which had its non-public opening in April 2021 before the official premiere takes place this October.
“For this historical drama we wanted a dark, atmospheric look in which no sharp-edge spots were used, just softer edged wash and beam lights,” says Kachlíř. “We increased the drama of the solo numbers by using a single moving light, but we had around 50 lights calibrated to SpotMe in readiness so we could dial in whatever we want, whenever we want it.
“We’ve had great remote support from Ludwig Lepage, Robert Juliat’s product manager, which took place entirely online due to the travel restrictions caused by the Covid pandemic. He used Facetime communication to see the stage, and remotely operated the console and SpotMe control directly from his computer in France. He was able to check the whole system and its parameters via remote control, and even turn on the followspot remotely to save me the journey to my own console! We were able to learn and familiarise ourselves with the SpotMe system under his guidance.”
Having become confident in the operation of SpotMe, Kachlíř is keen to explore more of its capabilities going forward: “We have generally been using SpotMe in Standard Mode but there will be a time soon when we want to calibrate it with our Dalis 864 footlights and discover the full potential of the Extended Mode. We’ve used the Dalis in every show since we have purchased them and they have become fundamental to all our designs. The dimming is very smooth and the colour presets created by Ludwig for the MA2 console are extremely useful. We are looking forward to incorporating these features into the SpotMe control and creating even more ambitious designs.
“SpotMe has given us a level of creativity that was just not possible before. We can follow anyone, anywhere, at any time, with any fixture we have linked to it, and utilise all the parameters any of the fixtures have to offer. We are very happy with the level of support we received which brought us up to speed with a new product concept. What initially seemed a dauntingly sophisticated system is now so easy to use. It is working perfectly and I am very glad we made the investment. Our long-term plan is to invest in two more SpotMe units for our remaining Ginger followspots.”
For more information about SpotMe and all Robert Juliat products you can visit www.robertjuliat.fr
Specialist solutions supplier, Creative Technology Group, has increasingly turned to Elation Professional’s KL Panel LED soft light for use in their US-based LED studios and has added a number of the full-color-spectrum fixtures to their rental inventory.
In the United States, Creative Technology (CT) operates virtual event LED studios in Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Nashville. Each is equipped with xR and camera tracking technology that works with powerful graphics engines to create dynamic scenes that put a presenter or product virtually into any environment. The results are truly spectacular. In late spring of 2020, Creative Technology contacted Elation about a high-quality LED soft light for the studios and eventually purchased 75 of the units with snap grids and snap bags.
Flexibility allows for increased use
CT has used the KL Panels on many of their studio projects, including in their Las Vegas and Los Angeles locations. In their newest virtual event studio in Las Vegas, KL Panels and other lighting work with a large curved LED wall, LED floor and LED ceiling to create an ideal virtual event suite for television, film, corporate and automotive work.
“A lot of what we’re hanging these days tends to be a KL Panel and that is because of its flexibility,” stated CT’s Vice President of Digital Production, Reed Erickson. As lead on CT’s studio systems, he has been hands on with the KL Panels since their acquisition. “The fact that the fixtures are smaller and lighter [than comparable units] gives us a lot more flexibility to put them where we need them and to use more of the fixture.
When we put other fixtures in these spaces we’re using them at a lower capacity but with the Kl Panels we’ve found that they are really easy-to-use in these TV studio environments.” That flexibility, he says, has allowed them to incorporate the units in a multitude of areas, sometimes without a console and just using the encoders on the back of the fixture.
Color and color temp to match
Another key characteristic of the KL Panels, according to Erickson, is the fact that they are full color-mixing fixtures. “They’ve been great for these LED volume environments where we want to create a seamless integration between foreground actors and virtual backgrounds.
We create scenes that we have to fill in with appropriate light for the environment being reflected on the LED wall. The fact that the KL Panels are full color means we can tune the whole scene to match using lighting instruments instead of having to stretch it out on video canvasses.”
The KL Panel houses a 295W RGBWLC (Red, Green, Blue, White, Lime, Cyan) LED array and is color temperature-adjustable from 2,000 to 10,000K. CRI is 95 and, importantly for the camera, the KL Panel has a high TLCI value. The units can match the white balance for the camera through a green shift adjustment or virtual gel library with no flickering when used with high-speed cameras.
Working in the CT studio rigs together with LED moving head wash lights, the KL Panels provide all of the front light, backlight and stage space lighting. “In certain cases we’re able to match the KL Panels to the walls so that the entire environment has a matching color temperature,” says Erickson. He adds that they work well with the cinema cameras but also with their 4K or 1080 broadcast cameras. “The walls tend to start colored out rather blue so we can match that with the fixtures. We can use them at a low light output to frontlight people at an appropriate temperature for the actual scene behind them.”
The virtual events that Creative Technology can create using their suite of virtual event solutions, from branded and interactive meetings and conferences to large-scale productions, are truly remarkable, and high-quality, adjustable light from Elation KL Panels is an important part of the package.
For more information about Elation Lighting and their range of products, you can visit www.elationlighting.com
As part of a broad initiative to boost its presence in the high-end residential cinema market, Meyer Sound has signed on as a Platinum Supporter of the Home Technology Association (HTA).
This new commitment to the HTA underscores an accelerating acceptance of Meyer Sound’s leading-edge professional audio products and technologies in upscale residential settings.
“We are excited to support HTA and its mission of providing a no-compromise private cinema experience,” says Miles Rogers, Meyer Sound’s business development manager for cinema and content creation markets.
Miles Rogers
“The quality of a private cinema sound is not defined solely by the loudspeakers, but by the sum of all the components coming together — from the room build through final calibration. When all these pieces fit together perfectly, you have a VIP ticket to sit shotgun with the director in Hollywood and experience the film exactly as it was intended. Today, HTA is a key to making that happen.”
In a largely unregulated marketplace, the Home Technology Association’s rigorous certification program is the first and only industry standard of excellence for home technology design and installation. Each company must meet more than 60 points of evaluation for certification in one of three tiers: Estate, Luxury and Foundation.
Daniel Riviera
Certification gives full assurance to all parties involved — architects, interior designers, builders and homeowners — that the project will be completed on budget and to complete satisfaction.
“The HTA certification program does an outstanding job of vetting and qualifying integrators,” says Daniel Rivera, Meyer Sound US sales manager for the West.
“And they took it one step further by creating a budget calculator that matches the project to a qualified integrator who is up to the task.”
The Bluehorn, the flattest frequency response and phase ever ;0)
In recent years, Meyer Sound monitoring systems have been widely adopted in premier film sound post-production facilities around the world. As more and more film industry creative professionals wished to “take the sound home,” Meyer Sound emerged as a leading provider of systems to many film industry luminaries, and this success has migrated into the wider upscale private cinema market.
The company offers a full line of cinema products and solutions for applications of all scales, from the Bluehorn® System full bandwidth studio monitor, Amie Systems, and Acheron® screen channel loudspeakers to the new Spacemap® Go spatial sound design and live mixing tool and Constellation® acoustic system.
Amie Precision Studio Monitors.
In 2021, Meyer Sound announced a breakthrough for both the post-production and private cinema markets with the introduction of the Ultra Reflex sound solution for direct view displays. For the first time, Ultra Reflex allows viewers to experience the superior image of direct view displays while still enjoying precise localization and full fidelity from the screen channels.
The Ultra Reflex Sound Solution for Direct View Displays. In green the direct radiating low frequency audio.
Following on the Platinum level of support for HTA, Meyer Sound plans additional initiatives, partnerships and associations later in 2021 to further strengthen its position in the private cinema market.
Ayrton presents Eurus, a new generation of profile spotlight that benefits from the technological advances the manufacturer has implemented in its latest luminaires, as well as from a new LED engine and from further research aimed at making it more compact, lighter, brighter and quieter.
Eurus features 650 W of LEDs, which is claimed to be 30% higher than most fixtures in its class. Rather than being a replacement for the Ghibli, it is designed for users who want to benefit from the latest innovations in LED sharp-beam fixtures. SLU conducted a thorough test of the S version. Let’s take a look…
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The Eurus boasts the stylish design of the brand, which is instantly recognizable. Its streamlined and sleek head is marked only by a few lateral air intakes and a few others towards the rear. It is terminated by a posterior heat sink and, at the front, features a large 170 mm lens.
Eurus uses a 650 W white LED engine. Its 170 mm front lens delivers a very crisp and moldable beam. Like Ayrton’s other profile/spot fixtures, the Eurus is available in a powerful “S” (Stage) version (6700 K) with a native CRI of 70, and a “TC” (True Colors) model (6000 K) with a native CRI of 90, at the expense of a small reduction in flux.
Photometric measurements
Derating curve
We bring the unit up to full power and measure the center illuminance every five minutes, in order to plot the derating curve.
The intensity stabilizes in five minutes, with an attenuation of 10%. Eurus is equipped with a new, efficient cooling system.
Tightest sharply-focused beam
20° beam
Widest sharply-focused beam
Our luminous flux measurements confirm what our eyes told us. This baby is powerful, and the light is beautiful! With a 20° beam, the 650 W of LEDs produce a flux of more than 29,500 lumens when cold (26,500 lm after derating), which corresponds to an efficiency of 45 lm/W (41 lumens/W after derating). This is a very good performance, better than the Ghibli (27 lm/W cold and 25 lm/W after derating) and, to date, better than the competitors we’ve seen in this category. The luminous intensity plot shows us an extremely uniform beam. You might say: “like most high-end LED fixtures!”. And this is true.
Now that the days of lamps are over, which involved a lot of work trying to distribute the light from a very small arc while attenuating a hot spot that no one wanted (or didn’t want… Now some people are starting to miss it…), LED technology has allowed manufacturers to focus on other technical challenges, with beam uniformity being a very different issue. In any case, the evenness of the beam from Eurus is remarkable. Voilà!
Dimmer and strobe
The dimmer is remarkably linear, and the “Square Law” mode produces a very nice curve, very similar to that of a dimmer system on a classic tungsten lamp. The strobe is efficient, its highest speed is close to the flicker of an electric arc, and its control channel offers a nice variety of random and pulse effects. There’s not much to say, really… it works, and very well!
Zoom
At the tightest sharply-focused zoom setting, the beam divergence is around 4.7°, a little less when you “tweak” the absolute sharpness a little. Basically, it closes very tightly on the beam. On the other hand, at our distance of 5 m, projecting a crisp gobo is only possible at around 8°/9°. The beam at its widest divergence opens to more than 50°, and here, we can focus even at very short distances. Let’s take a look at it…
Colors
The color mixing or, more precisely, the optics (which have an impact on the color mixing) have been greatly improved in comparison with the Ghibli, because we no longer notice (or only slightly) the insertion of the dichroic flags into the beam for a certain distance beyond the output. The positioning of certain optical elements relative to the position of the color system in the fixture probably has a lot to do with this. The mixtures, even complicated ones (pastels using several hues, like amber, salmon, etc.) are really very beautiful and clear.
The CMY system is effective, delivering deep, rich, saturated colors, subtle pastels, and smooth transitions. No hue is poorly rendered. Even the greens are bright and the red is red. At high velocity the transitions are instantaneous.
White, plus the primaries of the CMY + CTO system.
The CMY system is supplemented by a progressive CTO that produces a very soft amber color, the density of which can become quite substantial. It lowers the color temperature to 2960 K. A color wheel provides a series of six saturated colors that can be positioned either in full color or in half-color for very nice dual-color effects with some gobos. This color wheel can be focused.
Thus, in the dual-color effect, you can choose a sharp beam, with just a small metal bar (also in focus, in fact…) separating the two colors, or a smooth fade between the two colors in the beam. In the seventh position of this wheel, there is a ¼-CTB filter for use with gobos, which we will talk about later. Surpriiiise!
The color wheel with half-colors. Soft and sharp.
A dedicated channel allows you to apply two minus-green filters, each with a different density – thus tending towards pink – to eliminate the green dominance in a video image. These filters can also be used to raise the CRI. The most subtle one of them increases the CRI to 76 and the more intense one increases it to 84, while lowering the color temperature to 6100 K. These two filters, mounted on a sliding plate, can be operated independently of the color systems.
Gobos
Eurus has a wheel with seven indexable rotating gobos, a wheel with 11 fixed gobos, and an animation wheel, the effect of which can be summarized as that of a striped gobo with continuous scrolling.
The rotating gobos.
The static gobos.
The gobo kit includes most of the standards from the existing Ayrton range (Ghibli, Mistral, Diablo, Khamsin, etc.), including the yellow and white cone, the criss-crossing triangles, and the psychedelic multicolor mix reminiscent of the old moving oil effects, without forgetting the essentials: a really nice smooth cone, a dot bar, a starry sky type colander, etc.
The animation wheel.
The striated animation wheel moves vertically through the beam, which is unfortunately the least impressive effect in an aerial beam, whereas in the horizontal direction, you could see the chiseling of the beam of light go by continuously… The focal planes of the gobos are far enough apart to offer nice “morphing” effects from one gobo to another. The same goes for the animation wheel. When superimposed, one of the two is really blurred, but this doesn’t detract from their interplay.
Let’s pause for a moment to consider an important point. LED spot fixtures all have more or less the same problem known as “yellow shift” when a gobo is inserted. This is a slightly yellowish tinge that develops more or less noticeably in the beam when a gobo is inserted. This phenomenon is due to an internal reflection between the optical design of the LED engine and the glass surface of the gobo.
To remedy this, starting with the introduction of the Ghibli, Ayrton has chosen to automatically engage a ¼-CTB filter, located on the color wheel as soon as a gobo is introduced into the beam. And the slight blueness of the corrector neutralizes this pesky yellowish hue. Obviously, this soaks up a little light in the process (though, it’s not really that noticeable), but it guarantees the gobo’s original pretty white color. This feature can be disabled if you don’t want to use it, either via DMX using the “control” channel, or via RDM, or in the “options” menu of the fixture. And it works.
Some gobo effects.
Some gobo effects with prisms.
Prisms
The Eurus has two prisms that can be rotated and inserted simultaneously in the beam. The first is linear four-facet, the second is radial five-facet. When the two prisms are superimposed, we obtain roughly a “20-facet” prism in a big jumble of multiple images that is somewhat confusing. The insertion of the prisms isn’t possible over the entire zoom range (especially the combination of the two) but it can be done over a sufficiently wide range. The prisms allow you to significantly expand the beam, thus avoiding that the images are heavily “crumpled” into one another, and their quality provides excellent projection on all the duplicated images. With a wide beam, it is possible to produce at least 70° of projections! This is a very impressive result and it is one of the areas where this fixture flirts with excellence.
The prisms.
Frosts
Both frosts are progressive. The first light one allows you to blur a gobo or a framing shutter rather heavily. The second, heavy frost is very intense. The linearity of the application of the filters is smooth but the “fade” of the frost is only really progressive on the first one. With the second frost, a halo gradually intensifies in front of the image, which maintains a distinct outline until about 90% of the range, then it disappears. Mixing it is delicate and very nice.
The frosts.
iris
The iris is quite satisfactory and, combined with the zoom, allows you to obtain an extremely tight beam at the narrowest in-focus position, and also provides some nice pulsing and opening/closing effects.
The iris, from closed to open.
Framing
This system of four blades – each of which is fully closing and therefore they are positioned on four different focal planes – does not allow for an absolute sharpness of the whole. Typical, you might say. And it is really in line with most of the high-end fixtures. The compromise that Ayrton has adopted allows the blades to be positioned with as few mechanical limits as possible.
Some framing effects.
The issue of absolute sharpness, sought like the Holy Grail, is actually a fairly insignificant factor when you know that, in most cases, we are going to try to soften the edges of a frame either by slightly defocusing or, more academically, by adding a little frost… The orientation of the framing module is possible over a wide range of ± 60°.
Video presentation
Construction and mechanics
With Eurus, Ayrton introduces certain construction techniques that are intended to reduce the weight and external volume. Everything is optimized in order to avoid reducing the optical elements. In this sense it’s truly a success. Millimeter by millimeter, and gram by gram, the Eurus gains in compactness and lightness while maintaining the strength of its frame and its excellent optical qualities.
The connection panel. Note the battery compartment.
The yoke arms have pan and tilt locks. The base itself is quite slim, with its handles, display and connection panel: DMX input/output in XLR5, dual RJ45 network ports, a USB port for software updates, and PowerCon True 1 for the power supply.
A compartment for the display’s battery allows the machine to be configured off-line. As is the case with most of the Ayrton units, you navigate through the menu of Eurus by means of a jog wheel. Therefore, it confuses me every time, but it works well.
Underneath the base of Eurus.
On the bottom of the base, the tapped mounting holes offer two possibilities of spacing between the omega brackets over the width, to allow for different combinations of positioning and avoid problems with spacers or truss junctions that could interfere with the rigging. Even if it is not as flexible as offset omegas, this can be enough in many cases. You can also fix the omega bracket perpendicularly, along the narrow axis of the base, but on a single plane. Two anchoring lugs for safety cables are provided between the omega attachments.
Eurus with the covers removed.
The cowls of the head can be removed by loosening two ¼-turn captive screws. They are retained by a small safety cable. The covers of the yoke arms are secured by four BTR screws, which are also captive.
To access the inner, central part of the moving head, you will have to remove two more covers (via eight screws), in order to completely expose the mechanics and the access to the cable conduit for the pan axis. In 20 minutes, you can strip it down and replace a pan drive belt. One construction detail: on the yoke arm covers, there are small rubber dampers that prevent vibration or rattling noises when the yoke is in motion. Very clever.
The base plates are fixed with two sets of four BTR screws and provide access above the power supply section of the unit. As a rare, happy surprise, we find excellent visibility of the contents of the base. If any adjustments have to be made, it’s quite easy to access.
A rear view of the fixture showing the cooling vents and the heat sink.
Inside the head, there are no fewer than 17 fans! They are positioned to cover critical areas and their operation is optimized by an electronic system that analyzes data from sensors located in strategic positions throughout the unit. The Eurus offers various ventilation options, even an ultra-silent mode (at the cost of reduced light output, of course!) with almost no ventilation.
In automatic mode, we measure 45 dB at 1 meter during the fixture’s noisiest operations (in motion, with all the internal mechanical functions moving, etc.), compared to the 30 dB of ambient noise in the Studio at Impact Evénement, where we are doing our tests. Well done.
So, let’s start taking it apart: Two modules can be removed. Everything inside that can be removed for routine maintenance requires just a simple Phillips-head screwdriver.
Framing module
The framing module is secured by four screws and a classic DB9 connector. It’s quite similar to the framing modules we know from the rest of the range, except that the rotation of the frame is increased from the usual ±45° to ±60° for more flexibility. This module also contains the iris.
The front of the framing module.
The effects/color module includes the CMY system, the CTO, the color wheel, the gobo wheels, and the animation wheel. It can be removed in the same manner as the framing module, except that loosening four screws unlocks small plates that hold the module in place. The construction is full of clever tricks.
One nice detail is that the fixed gobo wheel (which can be replaced by simply clipping it on) has a small indexing lug that allows the static gobos to always be positioned in the same orientation. So, these will always be indexed in the same way in the event of replacement. Although this may not be very important for a cone, but for a bar or a square grid it is very useful!
The module is very compact and – even if the module can be separated into two parts to access the heart of the CMY system – simply cleaning the color filters will obviously be a delicate operation. Between the color wheel and the three-color section, you can see the small sliding plate with the two minus-green/CRI filters that can be moved into the beam, with the full opening in the center.
The effects module: on the left in the center, you can see one side of the small sliding plate with the minus-green/CRI filters.
The effects module on the CMY side.
The advantage of these latest-generation LED fixtures is that cleaning operations are becoming less and less frequent. We rarely see units where the interior of the head is very dirty, as was the case with lamp-based fixtures whose powerful fans generated air currents in all directions throughout the head. The designs of these very compact units are therefore quite practical in their use.
Finally, the LED module
The removable LED module with its lens.
This one stands out from the systems that are usually found on rival models. First of all, the whole back of the Eurus is not occupied by a big “light box” made of huge heat sinks with heat pipes.
Here, six small fans remove the heat from the top and bottom of a plate on which the LED circuit is mounted. Obviously, there is still a heat sink, but here it is very small: just a few centimeters thick.
A nice thing is that, even though it should be considered a rare necessity, the LED module can be easily removed for replacement in less than ten minutes, including the optics. It can be removed from the front, on the effects side. The source is in the center of the plate, and takes the form of a small square of less than 10 cm on each side, topped by its optical system for collimating the beams (these small “cells” that cover each LED), which is in turn covered by a large condenser lens. Everything is accessible and can be disassembled with a small “tom-thumb” type Phillips-head screwdriver… and presto!
The frosts and prisms are located between the zoom and focus lenses.
In the front section of the head, the two carriages holding the 13 lenses (focus and zoom) run on linear guide rails, such as those found in high-precision industrial electromechanical equipment. Each of the two carriages also includes one of the prisms and one of the frosts, along with the servo systems that insert them into the beam and drive their rotation (in the case of the prisms).
Conclusion
Eurus strikes us as an outstanding fixture, and once again Ayrton has shown its mettle and ability to design very nice moving lights. This one pushes some technical details to the limit to offer an optically and mechanically remarkable luminaire. Its design makes it perfectly compatible with the whole Ayrton range, which despite the evolutions has been able to guarantee to users and customers a certain consistency and continuity when it comes to contemplating an investment. There’s not much to say, really, we just offer our compliments.
Founded in 1991 and based near Lyon, Sidev has been a key player in providing audio-visual solutions in France for over 30 years. In that time, the company has grown to offer the largest sales and pre-sales team in the French market, as well as two showrooms in Paris and Lyon, and a yearly turnover of over €60 million in 2020.
Sidev is, since 2010, part of the Midwich Group a world leader in the audio-visual sector with a presence across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America. More recently, the company developed its market footprint and audio-visual offer on the French market with the purchase in 2019 of Perfect Sound, an audio specialist distributor.
Left to right Lionel Roudil, general manager of Sidev and Fabrizio Bolzoni, Powersoft sales distribution manager.
“Powersoft is a recognised and renowned brand on the AV Market, with a strong line-up to address both the staging and corporate markets,” said Lionel Roudil, general manager of Sidev. “When we looked for a new amplifier brand to develop and expand our audio portfolio, Powersoft was the obvious choice.”
According to Lionel Roudil, Powersoft’s product line-up perfectly complements Sidev’s audio product catalogue, offering innovative, high quality solutions for all the different verticals they address. “The Powersoft amplifiers ranges, and the Mezzo series in particular, perfectly answer the current demand for meeting & conference room solutions, which has seen a real increase with the need for hybrid working spaces,” confirmed Roudil. “In light of our unified communications strategy on the market, along with our historical AV positioning, Powersoft will be a strong proposal to our network of system integrator partners.”
Fabrizio Bolzoni, Powersoft sales distribution manager, commented: “We are very pleased with this new partnership; Sidev has a strong presence in the commercial install side of the business, so it will give us an advantage with verticals such as corporate, retail & education, which are in line with Powersoft’s strategic developments.
The company will act in the French market in synergy with our partner DV2, who is heavily focused on the leisure live & entertainment install side of the market. We believe this perfect mix will offer immense support to the French audio market.”
Rock Lititz is truly a one-stop-shop for all live production needs. The state-of-the-art production campus is located in beautiful Lititz, PA and is renowned for its rehearsal facilities used by some of the world’s biggest acts.
Pod 2 is the collaborative hub of the Rock Lititz Campus, with its recently opened Suite 47 featuring cutting-edge equipment provided by 4Wall Entertainment and created in partnership with Clair Global, Tait, Atomic, and Aurora Films. The high-spec studio space includes a full xR Stage, driven by Brompton 4K Tessera SX40 processors.
“4Wall has been collaborating with the vendors at Rock Lititz Campus since its inception,” says 4Wall’s VP of Live Events, Bob Suchocki. “By creating Suite 47, we aimed to build a space that could showcase all Rock Lititz has to offer in one place.” Apart from its 465m2 xR Stage, Suite 47 boasts a whole range of services and capabilities including a Pre-Viz Suite, Client Lounge, Demo/Presentation space, Audio Mix/Directors Suite, as well as live streaming capabilities to bring extended reality productions to life.
Four Brompton Tessera SX40 LED processors and 12 Tessera XD 10G data distribution units are driving 360 ROE BP2 2.8mm LED panels used as the walls; 164 ROE BM4 LED panels that make up 5.5m deep floor; and the rest of the LED volume which is 5m wide upstage and 15.5m wide downstage. According to Suchocki, Tessera’s On Screen Colour Adjustment (OSCA) is ideal for quickly and easily matching panels regardless of their model or batch difference, with system-wide Genlock and Ultra Low Latency also helping to contribute to the success of the build.
Brompton SX40
Tessera XD 10G
“The reliability of the Brompton platform and the quality of its hardware is head and shoulders above the rest,” explains Suchocki. “The use of XD boxes over fibre significantly reduces the number of home runs back to the engineering suite. Tessera’s GUI makes navigating the software and troubleshooting effortless. The Tessera video engine and professional colour controls, both on the input and the outputs, allow us to fine tune the screens for a perfectly calibrated image.”
Another advantage of using Brompton processing is the company’s 24/7 technical support. “Though we didn’t need it for the xR Stage, Brompton’s technical support is among the finest in the industry, and their technicians’ knowledge on all aspects of the product is reliable and extensive,” Suchocki adds.
The next development at the xR Stage will be calibrating the ROE Visual panels with Brompton’s Hydra advanced measurement system to enable features such as Brompton High Dynamic Range (HDR) and ThermaCal. “We are very much looking forward to the advanced features that Dynamic Calibration will unlock for us as it will bring us significant benefits when it comes to enhanced brightness and colour saturation as well as helping us address thermal patterning right at the start,” continues Suchocki. The recently announced Tessera software v3.2 will also bring the 4Wall team a host of new features that can be used at the cutting-edge studio space.
“The ShutterSync feature is something we are really excited about and cannot wait to test in situ as we believe this will make a big difference to our day-to-day XR production workflow,” Suchocki concludes. “The same goes for the 3D LUT import function, which together with our dynamically calibrated panels and Brompton HDR will once again reinforce our commitment to our clients of providing them with an unparalleled customer service experience.”
After being cancelled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Eurovision Song Contest returned for 2021 (ESC 2021) with a limited live audience of 3,500 at the Rotterdam Ahoy venue in The Netherlands where Lighting Designer Henk-Jan van Beek deployed almost 500 Claypaky Xtylos fixtures.
Photo Ralph Larmann
The 65th edition of the popular competition was held May 18, 20 and 22 with 39 countries participating and Italy’s Maneskin winning for the song, “Zitti e buoni.” The ESC 2021 was produced by The Netherlands’ host broadcasters NPO, NOS and AVROTROS on behalf of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the world’s leading alliance of public service media. OSRAM, the parent company of Claypaky, was the official lighting partner of the ESC 2021 and, as in past years, contributed to the event by illuminating a key building in the host city of Rotterdam. Ampco Flashlight in Utrecht, the official technical supplier for the ESC 2021, provided the Claypaky Xtylos, a compact beam moving light with unique optical and chromatic characteristics, making use of a tailor-made RGB laser source.
Photo Ralph Larmann
This laser source, lasting for 20,000 hours, is the powerful engine of an incredible array of colors: In contrast to the subtractive mixing used with discharge lamps, colored light beams are extremely bright. The beam aperture can be steered in the range of 1°-7°.
Lighting Designer van Beek of Light-H-Art in Ermelo, built on Production Designer Florian Wieder’s set design inspired by the flat Dutch landscape and its low horizons, with long, low parallel lines, a perfect match for Xtylos and the very long parallel lines it can project with its laser engine.
“The first draft of the set design was very open with no visible fixtures,” recalls van Beek. “This was also a design with fewer types of fixtures than in the past. So, a combination of the lines and strong fixtures was the idea for the show’s semi-finals and final.”
Photo Ralph Larmann
Van Beek took the line concept 360° with extra lines on the stage side. The Xtylos were placed on three levels – ground, second bleachers and top – to deliver three layers of creative beams and the horizon in the skies.
“The advantage of using 481 Xtylos was that we could do a lot of different looks,” he says. “There were 39 different set ups, and a range of looks was required depending on the song. Xtylos could be very big and grand and also intimate. The main advantage was the punch of the fixture. And we still had the narrow beam with powerful color loops – perfect for outdoors and big venues.”
“Set design for Eurovision has always been big and bold and perhaps too elaborate and busy at times,” notes Eurovision Head of Production Erwin Rintjema, who is Managing Director of Sightline Productions in Utrecht.
“Florian really understood the open and clean look we were talking about: a stage that appears very simple but when you look closely there is so much more,” including an LED videoscreen with revolving doors and 160 axles of motion.
Van Beek had the night crew do all the fixture positioning, which was crucial to showcasing the beams. “Positioning, positioning, positioning,” he emphasizes. “The Xtylos looked perfect when this was done right. I was impressed with how well they performed. They were very accurate and reliable.”
Photo Ralph Larmann
Rintjema points out that the team was “lucky to get so many Xtylos, which gave us the lines we needed and could be used for so many looks. The lights worked amazingly – such a sharp beam, very strong: a Sharpy on steroids! And the speed of the movements really impressed us. Xtylos really pushed the boundaries.”
“It was very rewarding to do the show after having to wait a year,” reports Dennis van der Haagen, Director of Ampco Flashlight, which has enjoyed a three-decade relationship with Claypaky products. “The Xtylos were key for the show; they really stood out and grabbed everyone’s attention. Xtylos are a brilliant unit, and Claypaky made them happen for us. We were very pleased with Claypaky’s proactive attitude toward this project.”
Photo Ralph Larmann
“I’m extremely proud that one of the most important events in the world used our Xtylos in such a significant way. The Xtylos is one of our latest and most innovative fixtures on the market: it is the first moving head light powered by a laser light source” says Marcus Graser, CEO of Claypaky “and this opens new, surprising prospects for the development of the entire entertainment lighting world.”
For more information about Claypaky and their products line, you can visit : www.claypaky.com
Glamour, glitz, and disco dancing – plus a bit of kick-ass rock ‘n’ roll – ensured that the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) extravaganza was back with a massive bang this year, making up for its absence in 2020 – thwarted by the pandemic like so many other shows! The Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, The Netherlands was the venue for a fantastic production bursting with creative visuality, technical excellence and musical talent – both on and off the stage!
Heading the production lighting department was LD Henk-Jan van Beek from Light-H-Art working closely with associate designers Bas de Vries and Martin Beekhuizen. In addition to creating an overall lighting style for the show, they liaised with all the delegations – many had their own consulting LDs and artists directors – creating 39 individual performances within the overall show design. Henk-Jan specified 740 x Robe moving lights for the event, which made up over a third of the total lighting rig which came in at a count of 1,782 active fixtures.
Ampco Flashlight’s operational & commercial director Dennis van der Haagen explained that the company was chosen following an official European tender process to supply – uniquely – three areas of the production. “To realise everyone’s expectations, we combined our experience as the lighting and rigging supplier in Portugal 2018, with our extensive audio track record for live music and broadcast crossover events.”
The Robe fixture break-down was 396 x Spiiders, 220 x LEDBeam 150s, 92 x BMFL WashBeams, 25 x Tetra2 moving LED bars, with 12x BMFL Spots operated via 12 x Robe’s RoboSpot remote controlled follow spotting systems. Florien Wieder’s impressive modernist set design, with its striking main upstage blow-through LED screen and mercurial looking video floor, was an overall ‘bigger picture’ starting point for Henk-Jan in developing the lighting.
The two men (Henk-Jan and Florian) agreed at the outset of the design and planning process, that the ‘structural integrity’ of the stage should be mirrored and reinforced by the lighting at every juncture, with powerful, definite, clean lines and big dramatic canvases, providing Henk-Jan with a clear aesthetic starting point. The set contained a serious square meterage of LED screen which was a big consideration, together with AR (augmented reality) video content for some interval acts that was complete with its own baked-in lighting effects, all of which needed matching and synchronising with the real lights.
Automation elements like the revolving doors, wash light pods, drop arms and several other moving pieces helped create a plethora of different architectural looks above and around the large, clean stage, ranging from the cosy and intimate to the enormous and epic.
On top of that, Henk-Jan had requests from the assorted consulting delegation creative directors and lighting designers – so when it came to choosing fixtures, he needed to know that he had enough options to create distinctive looks for each of the 39 competing countries (across the three televised shows, two semi-finals and one grand finale). Robe Spiider (photo à récupérer d’un ancien article)
Spiider LED wash beams
The 396 Robe Spiider LED wash beams were divided over 44 pods in the roof, with 9 x Spiiders per ‘flower pod’ flown throughout the venue and used as “big wash lights” – almost like a giant Svoboda effect. Fourteen of these pods were on the automation system and directly above the Main stage.
The 220 x LEDBeam 150s were used around the Main and B-stage screens, and as outward fanning floor lights for both stages.
LEDBeam 15O
Twenty Five Robe Tetra2s were inbuilt into the set floor, just in front of the Main stage video screen and used for whizzy effects that looked great on the sweeping wide shots.
Robe Tetra2
After much deliberation, a covid-tested, socially distanced, limited capacity and hugely enthusiastic audience of 3,500 people were allowed into the three televised events, where they made enough noise for a stadium of 100,000, ramping up the excitement, anticipation, and atmosphere for everyone involved!
The public were located seats in the first tier of side bleacher seating, while the Green Room – which is often in another room or part of the venue completely – was moved to the arena floor, with all artists and delegations also effectively becoming audience. a layout which worked well both visually and practically.
To light this vast area, the initial plans (from 2020) were re-worked and the 92 x BMFL WashBeams plus the BMFL FollowSpots (Long Throws) were added to the overhead trusses to be utilised for front, audience and green room lights for the entire space. This ensured that all the green room close up shots, action and emotional moments as the scores came in … were captured and cleanly lit for camera.
Fourteen Robe RoboSpot remote follow spot controllers were part of the overall remote follow spot system design. Twelve – a mixture of BMFL WashBeams and BMFL FollowSpots were running in multi-device mode with MotionCams and two BMFL FollowSpots, used as front stage key lights. RoboSpot systems were picked for their accuracy, and the BMFL WashBeam and BMFL FollowSpot fixtures for their intensity.
Ampco Flashlight’s Lead Systems tech for remote follow spots (a Follow Me system was also used on the event) was Dennis Berkhout. All these different Robe moving lights were selected by Henk-Jan as “the right fixtures for the job!”
All the show lighting was controlled by 10 x grandMA3 consoles at FOH running in three sessions through Art-Net, connected via a fully redundant network also serving the 26 cameras and the DMX-RDM data. In addition to the 39 competing countries, in total with interval acts, presenter locations and openers / closers for the three live shows, 55 unique vibrant and appropriate environments were created by all the visual departments working together, all helping to keep viewers and ESC fans on the edge of their seats throughout the broadcast. While the ESC production does have a reasonable amount of time on-site at the venue each year to get all of this sorted, the challenges – creative, technical, and diplomatic – and the time needed to make it all happen smoothly cannot be underestimated.
“We had a wonderful time and enjoyed amazing synergy between the different departments like set, video, technical and production crew,” stated Henk-Jan. “It was intense working with all the different delegations, but a great feat of communication due to the lighting liaison we had put in place! It took A LOT of organisation! Our own (lighting) team was also fantastic of course, and we enjoyed a great working atmosphere together!”
Having an audience was a thrill for everyone, as so many artists and live entertainment crews have become accustomed to no-audience events over the last year! Henk-Jan’s highly talented hand-picked team of lighting programmers and operators included Joost Wijgers, key light programmer and assistant lighting designer and main show lighting programmer Micky Dordregter, both from Light-H-Art. Also, on the lighting detail were show lighting programmers Andre Beekmans, Robbert-Jan Vernooij and Erik-Jan Berendsen; nightshift programmer Bas Geersema and previz and DMX camera programmer Emillio Galluzo. Bart van Stiphout was the lighting gaffer.
The intensive pre-vis period for lighting had started at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam five weeks ahead of everyone arriving on-site at the Ahoy a month ahead of the broadcast. Henk-Jan and the lighting department collaborated closely with Falk Rosenthal and Thomas Neese from Gravity for video content both on screen and AR inserts for the broadcast. Ampco Flashlight’s team led by Dennis van der Haagen also included project director Marco de Koff and deputy account director Marc van der Wel. Their lighting project manager was Ruud Werkhoven, the lighting crew chiefs were Tijs Winters and Martin Hoop and the lead lighting systems tech was Roy Aarninkhof.
The Eurovision Song Contest is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and is one of the highest-profile music television shows in the world. This year’s host broadcasters were Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO), Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) and AVROTROS. The 2021 event was directed for the broadcast by Marnix Kaart and Daniel Jelinek. The ESC head of production was Erwin Rintjema, about whom Henk-Jan commented, “Erwin’s passion and commitment to ensuring everyone across all departments had the tools and opportunities they needed to facilitate such a world-class production was truly inspirational. This positive energy from the very top was fantastic!”
Erwin revealed that they have received “a huge amount of compliments and praise” from a broad cross-section of the Eurovision community including veterans and superfans, the EBU themselves, the participating delegations, and last but not least, from viewers … “all relating to the high level of imagination that Henk-Jan and the others creatives achieved”. He concludes, “hearing all this come in REALLY means something!” And let’s not forget the 2021 winners … rockers Måneskin from Italy, who brought the house down and captured the hearts, minds and ears of the judges and voting public with their stonking rendition of “Zitti e Buoni”.
For more info about Robe lighting and their product line, you can check www.robe.cz
The Tree of Hope is an eye-catching temporary icon, which brings life and color to a former grey area of Amsterdam. At a time, when normally the festival season would be in full swing it functions as a symbol of hope. Initiated and created by the unsung heroes of the Dutch festival industry.
Photos: Ben Houdijk & Bart Heemskerk
The Tree of Hope is made up of two intertwined hands of 30 meters high. When opening up, a swarm of birds-of-paradise become visible. Each bird-of-paradise in the tree represents a different organisation or maker, flying around the festival industry. Together they represent the event industry in which the Netherlands plays Champions League on a global level.
Photos: Ben Houdijk & Bart Heemskerk
Lighting designer Robbert-Jan Vernooij chose CLF Odin outdoor zoom fixtures to illuminate the birds-of-paradise. CLF Ares LEDwashes were included to lighten up the Tree itself. Both packed in a reliable IP65 housing, they challenge various weather conditions during the 3 months period of the project. In addition, the RGB + Lime LED engine of the CLF Odin offers a wide variety of colors which was decisive. All fixtures are supplied by Focus Amsterdam.
Photos: Ben Houdijk & Bart Heemskerk
Photos: Ben Houdijk & Bart Heemskerk
Credits: Design – Dennis van Harten (Q-Dance) & Marc Adema Spoken word – Typhoon Soundtrack Tree of Hope – Nootweer Graphic Identity – Machine Technical production – Backbone Decor production – Brok Decor Material & shape search hands of hope – ATM Scaffolding – Coreworks Lighting design – Robbert-Jan Vernooij Light & technology – Focus Amsterdam Concept, overall project management & content – WINK
The San Francisco Opera utilised a complement of Ayrton Perseo-S fixtures when it brought opera back to town in a COVID-safe outdoor production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at Marin Center in San Rafael, California. Ayrton Perseo is the first compact, multi-function luminaire with an IP65 enclosure rating developed for intensive outdoor use.
Photo Stefan Cohen
The Barber of Seville, directed by Matthew Ozawa, ran from April 23 – May 15 at Marin Center, 15 minutes from San Francisco, where the audience pulled up their cars alongside the lagoon with the beautiful hills of Marin in the background. They watched the production, on a custom-built stage with soaring LED videowalls, from their vehicles.
“We have staged concerts before in Golden Gate Park, but nothing to this extent has been produced outside in the three years I have been with the company,” notes Justin Partier, lighting director for the San Francisco Opera. “We considered several venues and found Marin Center to be the best location. So we constructed a stage and used the set from a yet-to-be-produced production of Fidelio in a new configuration.”
Photo Stefan Cohen
Partier says the lighting team was looking for a fixture that offered shuttering, gobos, colour and diffusion, which was small enough to place inside the set. The lights also had to be able to withstand any inclement weather during the opera’s three-week run. Perseo-S ticked all those boxes.
Photo Stefan Cohen
“The fixtures had to be small and bright, they were the only way to get light underneath the set from side light and footlight positions,” he explains. “They also needed to be rated for outdoor use. As it turned out, we had only one really wet day with the rest California sunshine and rainbows.”
Photo Stefan Cohen
Partier says that Aaron Hubbard with ACT Lighting helped steer him to Perseo. “Early on I looked at a bunch of lights with them, and when I said something smaller was required for the production, they led me to Perseo and were very helpful in giving me all the information I needed.” Felix Lighting of Burlingame, California supplied the fixtures.
He notes that Perseo’s gobos were especially in demand for the production. “Any time the four video panel back walls were in the open position we painted gobos onto them with the prism,” he explains. The gobos were particularly effective in the storm and shave sequences.
“The Perseos looked great and were actually much brighter for their size than I thought they would be,” Partier reports.
Photo Stefan Cohen
ACT Lighting, Inc. is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton fixtures in North America. www.actlighting.com
For more information about Ayrton and their LED fixtures you can visit www.ayrton.eu
Global nutrition company Herbalife honoured its top performing sales force and distributors in a spectacular Awards event staged at the Los Angeles Convention Centre in March, a slick and elegant streamed show that was executive & technically produced by Raj Kapoor Productions & Steffan Jones for CG Creative Studios.
Tom Sutherland from DX7 Design designed the lighting and Julio Himede from Yellow Studio was tasked with the scenic design, and Tom’s lighting design featured 1,145 Astera AX5 battery operated wireless LED PARs! This is to date one of the largest Astera installations worldwide!
Tom’s starting point for the lighting was Julio Himede’s production design which featured a 160ft / 49-metre-wide black gloss stage and four massive modernist style moving LED video arches. Tom decided to surround and accentuate this epic look with an enormous four-sided grid of LED PARs covering the roof, back and two sides of the stage.
In addition to the CEO addresses, presentations, speeches and awards action, a series of Herbalife training sessions took place over the seven show days, and there were five “WOW moments” comprising all-singing-all-dancing production numbers, three of which were directed by Emmy Award-winning choreographers Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo (AKA Nappytabs) which added flourishes of glamour and entertainment.
“I really needed to emulate the impressive and large-scale aesthetic of the production design,” explained Tom, “and ensure that the whole area could be flooded with quality lighting really pushing and stretching the boundaries when people say ‘WOW!’”
He was looking for a bright, punchy LED PAR with a lens close to the edge of the lamp so the light sources could clearly be seen from any angle, and that could also become more orb-like, with the easy addition of a frost filter.
Nicole Barnes was the account handler at Felix Lighting, and she recommended the Astera AX5s to Tom, who confirmed the choice after a test. Approximately half of the AX5s came from Felix’s rental stock and Nicole co-ordinated sourcing of the rest, which was a mammoth task, pulling in fixtures from all over the country, “I believe we exhausted all of the then-available inventory in the US rental market,” stated Nicole Barnes.
A massive grid was flown over the stage area and truss tower systems installed along the back wall and around the sides, the 1,150 AX5s – all run wired for this project – were diligently and meticulously aligned and equidistantly spaced. This painstaking job was the biggest challenge for the lighting department completed by the crew working in three 24-hour shifts over four days.
Tom explains that this finessing and attention to detail was essential to get the stunning, clean, high impact look and sheer industrial scale that he and the rest of the creative team wanted to evoke on the wide shots. Apart from the AX5s, other lighting included a remote-controlled follow spot system for key-lighting, with the fixtures deployed on winches that flew in and out at the appropriate moments, maintaining the integrity and uninterrupted lines of the design.
It was conceptually simple, but a physically hugely ambitious look which worked beautifully on camera and helped produce the result everyone wanted.
Tom’s FOH team included associate lighting designer Hunter Selby with lighting directors Brian Jenkins and Mike Berger. They all worked in close collaboration with art director Alana Billingsley in piecing the production together.
Tom concludes, “It was brilliant to be working with such a highly talented team with a great synergy, something of this scale takes many great minds to execute and deliver! “A huge thanks to gaffer Chris Lopez, best boy Chris Roseli, staging supervisor Nick Vincenti, and head rigger TK Woo from Kish Rigging and all the crew involved. The easy part is dreaming up the ideas, it is the skills, knowledge and lateral thinking not to mention the fantastic camaraderie of amazing crews like these who make it come alive.”
Nicole Barnes concludes that the final result was “stunning”, including the production and video design. “The on-site teams were impeccable in their execution of the rig; their work was flawless as seen in the final product. Felix is incredibly grateful to Tom and the Herbalife production team for the opportunity to be a part of this year’s project, and we look forward to supporting future designs created by this incredible team of visionaries!”
Electro-Voice is pleased to introduce PREVIEW, a new platform-independent software application designed to configure Electro-Voice line-array loudspeakers for optimized coverage. The software provides efficient system setup by creating visualizations of coverage, SPL, frequency response and precise mechanical load calculations.
PREVIEW features a full-color 3D interface with user-friendly, flexible tools and a streamlined workflow. This helps specifiers, designers and audio engineers quickly calculate the ideal configurations and positioning of line arrays, as well as the angles between loudspeaker elements, amplifier drive and delay requirements, and other system design parameters. The software also recommends mechanically valid combinations of loudspeakers and rigging hardware. These combined features ensure that the arrays deliver the best possible performance in any venue, whether flown or ground stacked.
PREVIEW provides a three-dimensional environment in which objects may be placed and manipulated anywhere. The user has complete control over rotation, scaling and translation and can also “see through” any surface that is viewed straight on.
Une des vues de preview.
A set of practical tools helps the user achieve the optimal acoustical representation of a real space. Quick Map delivers immediate visualization of the coverage density. The flexible auto dB range option maps the predicted SPL range across the full available color range, maximizing the visual detail simultaneously in all the displays. Virtual microphone positioning allows users to predict frequency response anywhere in the venue.
The unique spectrogram display presents a vertical frequency response plot for each loudspeaker at the point at which its main geometric axis reaches the audience area. These plots are shown side by side, to help the designer assess how evenly the venue is covered in both level and frequency. The software also simplifies the creation of subwoofer arrays.
Un exemple de rapport détaillé.
The application also includes a detailed report generation function and a powerful project file database, providing users with detailed acoustical and mechanical information. This timesaving database allows specifiers, designers and audio engineers to import existing designs and to store new project files, drawings and templates.
The first full public-release version of PREVIEW will support most Electro-Voice touring and install line-array models, including X1(i), X2(i), XLC, XLD and XLE, as well as complementary subwoofers. More models will be added in future versions.
Luxembourg’s Mierscher Kulturhaus marks the recommencement of public entertainment with a complete refit of the sound reinforcement systems in its auditorium. Situated in the centre of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the Mierscher Kulturhaus is a 380-500 capacity theatre.
It now has the first NEXO line array system in Luxembourg, designed and installed by Lemon Event Support, the rental house and system integrator which is now NEXO’s preferred partner in the country.
Lemon Event Support Managing Director Paul Thyes.
The Kulturhaus contacted Paul Thyes at Lemon Event Support after taking the decision to upgrade their ageing point source PA. The theatre wanted to expand its technical capability, and was looking for a system that would allow it to host larger concerts as well as better serve its wide cultural brief of drama, dance, exhibitions, workshops and events.
As soon as coronavirus restrictions permitted, Thyes and his team set up a demo of their proposed solution of a NEXO GEO M Series mid-size line array inside the Kulturhaus auditorium. The venue has a retractable seating system, and a stage which can be lowered, transforming the space. This meant that no audio equipment could be groundstacked – all components had to be flown, including the subbass cabinets.
Winning the installation contract was a system of L/R arrays each of 5x modules of GEO M10, plus 2x MSUB18 subs per side, extremely low profile in the auditorium. NEXO’s new P12 compact point source cabinets are used as front fills for the first rows of the audience.
Lemon Event Support’s Chief Audio Technician Christophe Becker explains that he is putting two set-ups into the NEXO NXAMP4x4Mk2 controller/amplifiers, “which will work with the array EQ to make the upper boxes throw a bit further, and improve coverage when the seating stand is retracted and there are more people in the venue. The system has been networked with Dante, which meant we had less cabling to do, and of course gives the house engineer an excellent way of monitoring the system.”
“This is in fact one of three installations we have executed in Luxembourg in the last year,” continues Paul Thyes.
Ready to fly with the support of Lemon Event.
“Although we have been using NEXO cabinets for 11 years, since Lemon Event Support was founded, more recently we went looking for a brand that could deliver us a really modern line array design, supplied by companies with which we could build a long-term relationship.
We were impressed by the rapport between manufacturer, distributor (Audio Technica Benelux) and ourselves as the customer, and it is clear NEXO has the products that will enable us to be competitive in the installation market.”
One of the largest and most complex live music events in the world relied on Shure to deliver quality sound from the voices of 39 delegations across Europe. Broadcast live from Ahoy in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, the 65th Eurovision Song Contest celebrates diverse musical talent from around the continent. The biggest European music contest handpicked Shure Axient® Digital Wireless System to help ensure impeccable audio quality throughout all performances for singers, musicians, and viewers to enjoy.
With more than 40 artists on stage and an estimated audience of nearly 200 million viewers across Europe, the 2021 Eurovision edition needed a wireless system that could meet every contestant’s demands. Developed with input from top audio professionals, Axient Digital delivers outstanding signal quality that performs in even the most congested RF environments. It is designed to maximize control and scalability while providing stability, range, and clarity for flawless execution to exceed the most demanding wireless needs. Engineered with flexible hardware options and advanced connectivity, Axient Digital brought the most innovative sound technology to power the biggest European music event, which concluded with crowning the Italian rock band, Maneskin, as the winner.
“With Shure’s Axient Digital we found the perfect system to monitor and coordinate the complex audio set up that Eurovision required, in which sound quality and spectrum efficiency are key,” said Aart Heus, Wireless Coordination Technician at Ampco Flashlight. “Shure’s Wireless Workbench was the most qualified software for it. The hardware not only provides control and stability, it is trustable and reliable which is essential for a show of this size.”
The Eurovision setup included:
– 20 Axient Digital AD4Q Four Channel Quad receivers – 20 Axient Digital ADX2FD Handheld Wireless Microphone Transmitters including ShowLink® Remote Control – 70 P10R+ Diversity Bodypack IEM Receivers
The Axient Digital Wireless System was selected to ensure flawless performances not only on the main stage, but also on the rehearsal rooms, and the press centrum. Thanks to it, the performers and fans enjoyed the best professional audio quality possible.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is responsible every year for organizing of the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2021 edition was led by Erwin Rintiema, Head of Production. Together with Host Broadcasters NPO, NOS, AVROTROS and Ampco Flashlight, the official sound supplier for the contest, Shure Axient Digital was their go-to-solution to address the show’s demanding requirements.
“Shure was the perfect solution offered by Ampco Flashlight that matched all our requests,” added Jeroen ten Brinke, Head of Live Sound at ESC. “The fact that channels are duplicated and can change frequency automatically when needed is an amazing feature. It was the best system in which we could trust for this major European event”.
Aart Heus, Wireless Coordination Technician chez Ampco Flashlight devant un rack de récepteurs AD4Q.
Jeroen ten Brinke, Head of Live Sound à l’ESC
As with other high-profile productions, Shure product specialists visited the stage before the performances to ensure that all artists’ and technical producers’ audio needs were met, and to make the return of the Eurovision Song contest the exceptional music experience it was expected to be.
“The ESC is a highly complex event technically and it’s been an honor to work with Aart Heus and the rest of the production team to deliver a successful show,” remarked Tuomo Tolonen, Senior Director of Pro Audio in Western Europe at Shure.
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