latest news headlines
Cooking Up a PixelMix at Godskitchen
PixelDrive - Radical Lighting and James Thomas’s innovative software for intuitive control of LED devices – made a giant creative leap forward at Godskitchen Global Gathering last weekend – where it was used for the first time to take control of the colour mix function of 100 moving lights in the Godskitchen arena.
This is hailed as the next step in the ever competitive world of ‘convergence’ the increasingly overlapping worlds of lighting and video visuals.
The system - two PixelDrive computers – was installed and programmed by Simon Carter of Radical Lighting = one was running on a laptop and one on a desktop, with both triggered by the Avolites Diamond 4 lighting console operated by Matt Holden-Jones and Paddy Sollitt.
One PixelDrive was used to run video sources into the moving lights and one to run them into the 34 James Thomas PixelLine fixtures – a mix of the 1044 and the new PixelLine 110 ec - used in the show.
Lighting for seven of the eight Global Gathering arenas plus the Comedy Tent was supplied by Leeds-based Zig Zag Lighting, headed by Neil Hunt. This year for the first time the event was extended to two days.
The Godskitchen arena was the largest tent on site and Hunt wanted the lighting to have a sensational WOW factor. The moving lights were programmed in the normal fashion into the lighting desk. Having the additional PixelDrive computer available with this new function gives the user the option of running lighting fixture parameters via the desk direct or handing them over to the PixelDrive.
Using PixelDrive can extend what any LED fixtures in the house are doing – in this case PixelLines – to the rest of the room - so they can be fully integrated into a synchronous, liquid mix along with moving light fixtures. The fluidity and continuity of the visual elements is particularly conducive to dance music and bands, and for anyone running their shows in VJ (video jockey) style. You simply select the fixtures on the desk and then hand them over to the PixelLine to apply the effects.
At Global Gathering, the Godskitchen Arena lighting team applied PixelDrive to specific sets of moving lights – 14 upstage ColorSpots on the rear truss, 18 ColorSpots on the floor and three sets of FOH units. These were tied in with the four sets of PixelLines which were rigged above the front truss in a crown shape; vertically at the sides framing the outside stage edge; on the stage floor and bordering the front of the DJ riser.
Holden-Jones thinks PixelDrive is great for controlling the colour function while leaving the desk dealing with the other moving light parameters. “You can create complex mixes on the fly that would take hours to do on a desk if indeed they were achievable at all,” he says.
It was the first time he’d used PixelDrive. “The dynamics of the software coupled with the brightness and impact of the PixelLine fixtures is amazing,” he declares. “You can keep overlaying patterns on PixelDrive and the imaginative possibilities are endless.”
He created a lot of firework type animations with the PixelLines which were really impressive and unusual, and reckons it took about 20 minutes learning how to work PixelDrive and getting up and running with it.
Crew Chief Haydn Thomas describes the new PixelLine 110 ec fixtures as “frighteningly bright – it’s the first time I’ve been really stopped in my tracks by an effect,” he admits, adding “It’s really rare to see so many lampies getting enthused about something, but we definitely all were during programming.”
Neil Hunt says: “PixelDrive puts a completely new dimension on programming LED fixtures of all types. It’s a new approach to lighting – we’re definitely buying it!”
Paddy Sollitt follows up with “PixelLines and PixelDrive are the biggest revolution in lighting since the advent of the moving yolk.”
Saturday night at Godskitchen saw the UK’s premier club night revisit its trance roots with a world class DJ line up including Judge Jules, Fergie, Mauro Picotto, Marco V, Eddie Halliwell and many more. Friday night was a blast for the past heydays of rave with DJ’s in action including Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets) and Keith Mullen & Peter Hooton (The Farm) plus a stonking live set by one of the greatest dance bands of all time – Happy Mondays.
3rd August 2005
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
