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On May 18, 2015, Bastian Villeflose was finally able to recover the proprietary rights to his Elidy fixture, the first LED array capable of projecting images in mid-air.
The manufacture of Elidy has resumed, this time by the company Ereimul Lighting which now also provides service for all Chromlech products. It took six months to get everything in order and rebuild a stock of Elidy. The adventure in Brittany continues, with more projects on their way. Yesss!
A little history
The meeting between the lighting designer Bastian Villeflose and Chromlech dates back to March 2009. Bastian was seeking a practical lighting solution for the scenography of the tour of the group from Rennes “X Makeena” His first idea was to integrate Jarags but that idea was quickly abandoned, due to the weight of the fixture and the heat emitted by its halogen sources.
At the time, Bastian thought that a LED-based solution, defining a matrix of 5 x 5 pixels in a 30 cm x 30 cm square with a pixel pitch of 60 mm, would be the ideal module to have the maximum application possibilities, with sufficient resolution to create a moving image. The price of development was high, but Bastian decided to invest its own funds. He foresaw being able to recover his investment in the project through rental and marketing of this innovative light source with obvious creative possibilities.
He then passed control of six of the nine modules to Chromlech. The product was called PratX (Practicable/Xmakeena). Chromlech, as part of its manufacturing of “Custom made” products, supported the project by agreeing to work with a small margin. This was an opportunity for them to continue their work on LED fixtures.
The specifications for PratX were based on the form-factor defined by Bastian, who also chose the source – warm white – and the projection angle of each lens (8-10°). The PratX was manufactured in 15 days & nights, just in time for the show premiere, on the 25th of September 2009.
In 2010, Bastian established the Ereimul company to invoice the rental of its PratX to the Flow Festival in Helsinki, for the main stage of Transmusicales, a TV studio of France 3…It started off slowly.
In 2011 he decided to update prototype modules to be used in small, 30 x 30 cm, panels. Chromlech handled the redesign of the connections.
In September of the same year, the director of photography Eric Brancherie chose to integrate PratX into the lighting kit for the new season of the weekly program “Des Mots de Minuit” (Midnight Words), broadcast on France 2. This was a real breath of fresh air for Ereimul – a rental that would last two years (until the end of the program). Eric Brancherie confirmed his enthusiasm for the concept by presenting Bastian with an “Etoile du Siel” (“Star of SIEL” Award) in 2013, an award for the most innovative products.
It was not until 2012 that Chromlech asked Bastian for an agreement to start manufacturing PratX 2.0, in exchange for royalties on sales. The product was officially released in 2012 at the Plasa Show, with the name Elidy.
Bastian was then hired to write the specifications, patents, and to supervise the project. The feedback and results from that show were huge and orders were soon pouring in. Over all, the product was widely acclaimed by all the professionals in the industry. But Bastian would never receive his royalties: more than € 200,000. And we all know the reason why…
The return of Elidy
Quite legitimately, Bastian Villeflose has regained his full industrial (patents, model deposits) and sales rights to the Elidy range in the name of his company Ereimul (an anagram of lumière – light).
He begins today a new adventure in Brittany with Mickael Tessier (electronic engineer). Ereimul also provides service for all products from the Chromlech catalog.
SLU : You are reviving Elidy production in France ?
Bastian Villeflose : Yes, almost all of Chromlech’s suppliers have agreed to work with us.
SLU : Is it profitable to produce in France or not ?
Bastian Villeflose : Yes, today it is profitable for the Elidy.So yes, we are keeping all our production in France, because it is in our DNA to manufacture locally. Brittany is a powerful and dynamic technological basin with a strong pool of lighting talent. Secondly, because it is also much easier for us right now. And afterward? My visibility is still too limited to be able to tell you whether it really will be cost-effective to produce newer developments in France.
SLU : So, perhaps, you’re sniffing around in Asia…
Bastian Villeflose : In Europe, perhaps, but in China… I don’t think so. What I have undertaken would then no longer make much sense. In any case, what really makes us keep the production in our region is the belief that, in the end, it is still possible and that relocation offshore is not inevitable.
SLU : You have projects in the works ?
Bastian Villeflose : Today we are working on a small Dimmer Pack.
SLU : What is it ?
Bastian Villeflose : The control electronics of Jarag in a small rack, with an integrated sequencer and 25 outputs of 75 W/220 V on a terminal block. It is a popular accessory. It will be available within one or two months, I think. It is not revolutionary, but it can be very useful. The Jarag electronics are reliable and well known. In fact, there are really no low powered dimmers on the market. They are either very expensive, or they operate at low voltage.
Typically, there is a customer who has purchased some nice vintage lamps but the only way he has to dim them is with 4-circuit blocks, which, in the end, cost a fortune in wiring. Therefore, we custom-made him a small rack of this type . It is really a product that we are able to develop in a short time. Apart from that, we are working on a more sophisticated fixture, but we will talk about that later.
SLU : You have maintained the distribution chain ?
Bastian Villeflose : Partially. There are a dozen Chromlech distributors around the world who want to work with us, including Alterlite in France. And we kept the relationships with lighting designers, who pass us specific requests to give us a little bit of a helping hand. They are doing their best to get us started.
SLU : Do you receive a helping hand from banks, as well ?
Bastian Villeflose : Right now I’m using my own money but, actually, the bank I work with always follows me.To develop the new product I was talking about, it will, indeed, be necessary to raise funds”.
We missed this team of cheerful, gifted and passionate Bretons who were completely involved in this company that, due to Chinese copies, strong competition or management errors – it really doesn’t matter now – closed its doors in 2014. The intelligence of the team is alive and kicking and the desire to develop new projects remains intact. We hope they will receive all the help they need, it is still possible in France. In any case, they’ve got that of SoundLightUp.
Test of Elidy published in SLU : http://www.soundlightup.com/archives/essais/chromlech-elidy-big-limage-en-3d.html
Distributors
- France : Alterlite
- UK: White Light
- Spain: EES
- Canada, USA: MDG
- Japan: PRG KK
- Denmark: Lightpartner
- Sweden: Intersonic
- Finland : Sun Effects
- Russia : SIM
- Switzerland: Swiss light consulting
Rental companies in France
- Régie lumière
- Dushow
- Art Light
- Audioscène
EREIMUL
6 Allée Jean-Philippe Rameau
35 000 RENNES
Bastian Villeflose
[email protected] – +33 (0)6 82 11 93 35
