Vari-Lite Goes Retro with the new VL800 Series

Vari-Lite/Signify have ventured away from their norm and have recently introduced a new series of LED was lights, the VL800 Series.  Yes, the series does include a moving head, but the one fixture that continues VL’s retro styling is the VL800 EventPar. Think Par Can, but modernized.

More from the Press Release:
Vari-Lite, the originators of the modern moving head lighting fixture and a Signify entertainment lighting brand, today announced the VL800 Series of fixed and moving head LED fixtures. These cost-effective event fixtures bring a feature set that is targeted specifically at mid-sized tours, productions, and entertainment lighting installations.

“Our goal with the VL800 Series was to bring event fixtures that have been built with the DNA of Vari-Lite,” says Martin Palmer, Senior Product Manager, Vari-Lite and Strand Luminaires at Signify. “This means introducing fixtures that look, move, and feel the way you would expect from us, but with a cost and feature set that are the right fit for installations and smaller rental applications. Our customers trust the Vari-Lite brand and the pre- and post-sale support behind it, and we take seriously our commitment to delivering on that promise.”

The new VL800 Series includes three exciting new fixtures, all of which have been designed to work together. The fixtures have been color matched so they are visually consistent, and the user experience and DMX mapping are consistent as well. This allows lighting designers and programmers the ability to easily use multiple fixtures together in a single application.

The VL800 Series includes:

• Vari-Lite VL800 PROPAR – An advanced, high output LED event PAR fixture that includes a quiet running motorized zoom. The fixture offers full RGBW color mixing and has gel-matched color presets to deliver the same visual results customers are accustomed to, with multi-mode fan control for use in quiet environments.
• Vari-Lite VL800 EVENTPAR – The VL800 EVENTPAR is an LED retro-style event PAR perfect for a modern replacement of classic tungsten PAR fixtures. Designed to bring back the vintage stylings of the original lamps and PAR cans, the VL800 EVENTPAR will be available in both RGBA and warm white (WW) varieties, with output and color reminiscent of tungsten PAR 64 lamps. With an outdoor rating of IP24 for protection against water spray from any direction, the fixture can withstand rainy conditions at an outdoor event or installation.
• Vari-Lite VL800 EVENTWASH – The VL800 EVENTWASH is mid-sized LED wash moving head fixture that is extremely compact and powerful. This fast-moving wash offers full RGBW color mixing and 7 individually controllable LEDs for easy split colors or pixel mapping applications. With controllable dimming and motorized zoom, this fixture moves and feels like a Vari-Lite, providing valuable features in a cost-effective mid-sized moving head.

Learn more about the VL800 Series by visiting www.vari-lite.com.

Re-Post: 4Wall Lighting Lounge – Three Fixtures I’m Dying to Use In 2016

Have you heard of the Lighting Lounge over on UsedLighting.com?  4Wall Lighting started a blog a while ago that focuses on different aspects of the industry along with some industry news.  They recently asked me to write a blog post about three fixtures I am looking forward to using in 2016.  Here are some excerpts from the original post which you can find here.

Aryton MagicDot-R

Ayrton Lighting has made a huge impact in the entertainment lighting industry.  The company has been around for years. It was just four short years ago that Ayrton made a re-insurgence into the industry with the introduction of the MagicPanel 602, a moving head fixture with 36 individually controllable 15 watt RGBW LED array. The 6 x 6 LED may be impressive, but the continuous and unlimited pan and tilt of the fixture is what made the industry take note.

Robe Lighting VIVA

In the past couple of years Robe Lighting has stepped up their R&D in LEDs and has released some fairly impressive LED based moving heads.  The latest LED based moving head from the Czech company is the VIVA.  It’s a lightweight moving head that uses a 270W white light LED engine.

ETC Source 4WRD

In mid-January, ETC released yet another bombshell on the industry with the introduction of their latest LED product, the Source 4WRD.  Professionals at every level of the business took notice of ETC’s latest offering as it has a large impact on a segment of the market that wants LEDs but maybe cannot afford new technologies.

To read the entire post and my thoughts about these new products and why I look forward to using them, visit the UsedLighting.com Lighting Lounge.  Share your thoughts on these three new devices as well as new products that you are looking forward to using.

ETC Introduced the Source 4WRD – An LED Retrofit Kit

How many Source 4’s do you have in your inventory right now?  Not LED versions, but the industry leading tungsten ellipsoidal? A bunch right? How long have you been wanting to replace those with Source 4 LEDs?  It’s been a cost thing right?  Times-are-a-changing… AGAIN.

ETC just introduced their latest LED product, the Source 4WRD. It is a white-light LED retrofit kit for your beloved Source 4!

If you still think that stepping into the LED world of Source 4’s is cost prohibitive, ETC has a great info-graph about the cost and savings of retrofitting with the Source4WRD.

Pricing has not been announced as of yet. If you are interested to see the cost and how to step into LEDs, contact your local ETC dealer.  While waiting on numbers, check out more about the Source 4WRD by visiting www.etcconnect.com.
UPDATE

Current List Price: $599.00

Ayrton NandoBeam-S9 Demo Show with 41 Units

Who doesn’t love a good light show??? There is something magical and special about a well designed and executed light show to demonstrate a new light. I have always been impressed with the light shows that Ayrton has produced for online viewing as well as in person at trade shows.  They go all out!

Sure, you can do some pretty impressive shows/demonstrations with a handful of the same light. Not for Ayrton, they go for the super-mega WOW factor. Their latest video proves that you go big, or go home.

Ayrton’s latest light show demo video features 41 of their latest LED moving head, the NandoBeam S9.  Yes, 41! The lighting design and concept came from Stéphane Migné. While there is no mention, I assume this is was filmed in Ayrton’s demo room in Longjumeau, France, about 15 miles south of central Paris.

Here are some details about the Ayrton NandoBeam S9:

NANDOBEAM S9 luminaire is the latest development and the most powerful fixture in the NANDOBEAM product line. Equipped with a new-generation power supply offering over 95% total output efficiency, this power feature enables the highly compact luminaire to use its LED sources continuously at full power without any loss of performance.

NANDOBEAM S9 is equipped with fifty-five high-performance Osram 15 Watt RGBW LED emitters arranged in rings around a central LED which is independently controllable to give a multitude of graphic effects possibilities.

For more details, visit www.ayrton.eu.  Contact Morpheus Lights, the Exclusive US Distributor of Ayrton, for demos and sales.

Trinculo’s Attic Introduces the Juliet Candle

The use of candles is a perennial problem for live stage productions.  Trinculo’s Attic’s new electronic candle provides a quality, affordable solution.  By replicating the amplitude and frequency of an actual candle in a programmable miniature electronic module, this new candle precisely mimics the flicker of a real burning candle flame.  In side-by-side comparisons, viewers have been unable distinguish the real from the artificial candle.

The Juliet Candle is a small integrated LED module available in amber, white, red, green and blue.  The module is small, making it easily concealable, and uses only 3V of power, eliminating the need for clumsy and expensive 9V batteries.  Most significantly, the candle is fully programmable.  Through the use of available add-on modules, the way the candle flickers can be changed and it can be made to react to changing circumstances, such as blackouts, or to remote commands.

MSRP is $25, with wholesale pricing available for distributors and quantity orders.  Add-on modules for the candle will be available in the coming months.  These modules, designed to work with the Juliet Candle to allow customized applications, include:

• Remote Controller to turn candles on and off remotely
• Light Sensor that will cause the candle to go dark when the lights black out
• Movement Sensor to detect when the candle is being moved and react accordingly
• Programmer Board for custom programming of candle functions and custom light profiles.

Trinculo’s Attic is a theatrical electronics firm providing support and education resources and customized electronic solutions to the entertainment industry.  Founder Ben Peoples is the author of Embedded Electronics for Theater and has extensive experience in theater consulting, technical production, lighting design and the creation of specialized custom solutions for theaters.  Embedded Electronics for Theater and Ben’s intensive 1-day workshops provide an introduction to the use of the newest innovations in programmable miniature electronics for theater professionals.

The Juliet Candle is the first of an extensive line of electronic modules for theatrical use that Trinculo’s Attic will be introducing over the next several months.  The entire line will be demonstrated at the  USITT Conference in Long Beach, CA the last week in March.  For the convenience of conference attendees, Trinculo’s Attic is also offering an intensive 1-day workshop on embedded programmable electronics for theater at the Hyatt Regency in Long Beach on April 1.

More information is available at the Trinculo’s Attic website: www.trinculosattic.com and http://www.trinculosattic.com/products/candles/

New Product: ilumo Range LED Fixtures From Lumonic

Lumoonic launched a new range of LED lighting fixtures at the PLASA Show, the ilumo range. The product line consist of the ilumo Modular Zoom LED Spot, ilumo Zoom LED Spot, ilumo LED Spot and the ilumo Portable LED Spot.

The company to develop a modular ‘Par’ fixture with high efficiency, full color LED mixing, remote motorized ZOOM and packed with the following market leading functionality and control. Some of the other features include Remote motorized zoom, detachable LED head, color graphic LCD, custom LED head, color calibrated LEDs, intelligent LED PCB, ethernet enabled, RDM enabled, IR remote enabled head, anti-flicker PWM control, enclosed Wi-Fi aerial, IP rated, optional wireless DMX, thermally efficient design.

The management team leading Lumonic includes Dr James A Powell whose reputation in LED Applied Technology is recognized throughout the industry. James’s technology created some of the most innovative lighting products to hit the LED Entertainment market in recent years. It was his electronics, software and LED technology that was behind both the iconic ‘1044’ and Par 90 products.

More recently James’s electronics technology has been behind the LED lighting used for U2’s 360° Tour and Celine Dion in Las Vegas. You can learn more about the ilumo range of products by visiting their website, www.lumonic.com.

Barbizon NY To Hold LED Open House June 14th

On Tuesday, June 14th, 2011, my alma mater, Barbizon Lighting Company will be holding an LED open house in their New York Office for the Film and Video people of the Big Apple. Barbizon is bringing in over 35 lighting manufacturers to show off their latest LED products for the broadcast, film and video world.  Barbizon is offering demo’s on camera testing and manufacturers reps to answer questions and learn more about their products.

When: Tuesday, June 14th 2011 from 9:30am to 4pm

Where: Barbizon Electric, 456 West 55th St (between 9th & 10th ave)

For more information, contact Barbizon Electric at benysales@barbizon.com.

DeSisti Introduces 90w & 120w LED-onardo and 40W LED Magis Fixtures

At the NAB Show in Vegss this year, DeSisti introduced their three newest products, the LED Leonardo 40W, 90w and the 120W Fresnel fixtures. DeSisti is stating that the fixtures are equivalent to a 500W, 650W and 1200W tungsten fixtures out put, respectively.

LED retrofit kits are also available for the Tungsten Leonardo 1kW and 2kW Fresnels to convert to 90W and 120W high efficiency LED systems. The above products are available with a Color Temperature of either 3200K or 5600K, in all the versions the lighting intensity can be controlled via a built-in DMX card. The fixtures have the ultimate control with spot to flood focus and excellent barn door cutting. Optically the LED fresnels are equivalent in performance to a tungsten fresnel.

The new LED Fresnel fixtures are expected to hit the market some time this summer.  Pricing has yet to be released.

New From NAB – LED Replacement Lamps for Kino Flos, LED Flo

I have been hearing from friends that attended the NAB Show this year that the hidden jewel of the show was shown at the Film Gear booth. Film Gear was showing off a new LED replacement lamp for Kino Flo fixtures.

Kino Flo is well known in the TV and Film industry for their fluorescent fixtures. More over, people love the fluorescent lamps that Kino Flo makes because of the output and color rendering. A new line up of lamps are available not just for Kino Flo fixtures, but any fluorescent fixture that uses T12 lamps.

The new LED replacement lamps are call LED Flo and available from filmgear.net.  The new LED lamps are available in 2 foot and 4 foot lengths and in 110v or 220v as well as 5500k and 3200k.  All of the LED lamps have a CRI of 90+ and are able to dim from 0 – 100%.

Pricing and availability have not yet been announced.  You can learn more about the new lamps by visiting www.filmgear.net.

Times Square Lighting Introduces New LED Fixtures

Times Square Lighting has been hard at work this winter designing and producing a number of new Theatrical LED Par fixtures. The new line primarily features RGB and RGBW borderlights and PAR cans suitable for use in clubs, tours, and exhibits. Most products are fully DMX-controllable and also include built-in programs for stand-alone usage. Of course, master/slave and audio-activated modes are also supported.

Head over to Times Square website at www.tslight.com to learn about all of the new theatrical LED fixtures.

Martin Releases New P3-200 System Controller for LED Screens

The P3-200 System Controller is a new addition to Martin Professional’s P3 System Controller family for LED screens. It combines all the celebrated features of Martin’s advanced P3-100 video signal controller yet adds SD-SDI, HD-SDI and 3G-SDI input capability for optimized use in TV/broadcast environments.

The P3-200 retains all the advantages of the P3-100 System Controller like built-in scaling and de-interlacing, multiple video protocol and resolution support, built-in graphical user interface, and direct DMX control of brightness, color, pixel mapping and more. It works with all Martin LED display systems (LC Series with P3 Upgrade Kit, LC Plus Series and EC Series) and is software and show file compatible with the P3-100 System Controller.

Martin P3 controllers allow full integration with lighting control via DMX512. Users can finally treat LED screens like lighting instruments with direct cue-by-cue control of brightness, image rotation and position, color temperature – and more. P3 System Controllers give full control over the video signal before the image is displayed on screen, and all at 16-bit color depth per color for perfect image quality without artifacts.

P3 System Controllers cover a wide variety of video input, enabling all possible video sources to be fed into Martin LED screens including composite video, S-Video, component video, DVI-D, SD-SDI, HD-SDI, 3G-SDI and even video straight off your desktop.

For more information, visit www.martin.com.

Review: Wybron Cygnus VN100 LED Fixture

I knew Wybron was launching a new light- some articles can be found here, here, and (of course) here. I remember seeing it at LDI last year, but to my fault I passed it over. I was not prepared for the light that I pulled out of the box that UPS handed me.

Spec wise it’s got it goin’ on. At full on it pulls 105w with 12 RGBW LEDs pumping 2205 lumens. The built in color correction has a beautiful range from 7000k all the way down to 2800k. The optics have a set beam angle of 13° and a field angle 25° and 4 lenses to choose from (narrow, medium and wide floods, plus an elongated lens) to modify the beam. Data connects through 5 pin DMX, is daisy chain-able and RDM compatible.

Four profiles give you a range of usability from 8 and 16 bit color mixing to the option of a white LED or an intensity master. The built in strobe functions are impressive and could very well rival actual strobe fixtures out there. Probably one of the coolest features on this light is the high speed mode which is optimal for HD recording (see below).

The first thing I noticed about the light was its construction. It was a bit bigger than I expected at 10″ long and 6.5″ wide- about the same size as a Source4 PAR with a clamp. The housing is constructed from aluminum and at just over 9 pounds I didn’t feel like it was going to break in my hands like a lot of new LED fixtures I’ve used. The tilt knob was also large and sturdy feeling allowing me to crank down on it without the fear of cross threading. I was very happy to see a dedicated loop for a safety cable attached right to the fixture.

The next thing that caught my eye were the LEDs. All 12 of them. All integrated RGBW units. All very blinding (I may or may not have peaked down the barrel while it was on). The dimming on the fixture has  3000:1 ratio and is comparable to an incandescent light.  The next obvious thing to do is to test the throw of those very blinding LEDs. Since I didn’t really have a stage at my disposal, I used the next best thing: The apartment building across the street.

The distance of the garage to the third floor windows is close to 75 feet, if not more. And it punched. The color and intensity were bright and crisp. After putting the lenses in I was impressed with how little they cut the output and still flooded out the light. Shadows, both multiple and rainbow, were minimal at most.

For the quick and dirty there are a couple of cool stand alone features like 8 recordable scenes and a master / slave configuration.

The only downside for me is it’s rated at IP20 so that means dry indoor locations only. This is a bit of a bummer for me since I do a lot of outdoor work.

What I thought I was going to review was a small fixture meant for display installations. I was mistaken. Big time. I was given a light that I’m sure will give  a lot of conventional wash fixtures a run for their money. From the smooth Dimming of the LEDs all the way to 0 and a strobe that would make any rave the place to be this light packs some serious heat in a small package.

The Cygnus VN100 has an MSRP of $1,547. The Cygnus family also comes in a VN200 and MF200 model at 200 watts and very narrow and medium flood respectively.

Do I really have to give this thing back?

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