Originally posted on MEGASYSTEMS
After a tough year for the Trade-Show industry following the pandemic, it was beginning to become a question if any shows would ever reopen their doors. With high hopes that more attendees would be eager to once again attend a show, Church Facilities Conference & Expo (CFX) opened their doors at the Dallas Convention Center for the first time. As a family owned business with a desire to help support the worship community and one of the first shows since the pandemic, MEGA-LITE and MEGAVIEW not only exhibited but helped sponsor the main Keynote and Nights of Worship room.
With the intention to use the room for multiple events, CFX turned to MEGA-LITE, MEGAVIEW, AE Global Media and Di Tech AV to design a rig that would highlight the speakers, band and ongoing booth setups that were also placed in the room.
To create a dimensional illusion that complimented the two projector screens that were placed on the left and right side of the stage, 24 MEGAVIEW Clearview Panels were provided to create four separate 1 X 6 displays that were hung at different heights to add depth and height to the stage. The Clearview Panel is a uniquely designed modern panel that can be used to create different presentations. Whether used in indoor or outdoor applications, this panel creates an artistic dimension effect to the content played. Featuring an ultra 54% transparency, each panel weighs no more than 14Lb, making it ideal for quick setups.
Many lights were added in addition to the panels to illuminate the stage and crowd. Rigged above the stage to provide color were 14 Colorlite Q120. With an IP65 rugged housing, this unit is the ideal lighting solution for indoor and outdoor applications. Featuring a 120W RGBW COB LED, it can create rich saturated colors that add a fascinating attribute to any utilization. Between the RGBW and WW 90+ High CRI, this innovative unit allows users to create true warm white, amber and bold color combinations, eliminating the need for gel replacements. The Colorlite Q120 provided the designers with smooth transitional hues and the ability to seamlessly alter any setting including theater, architecture, house of worship and even house lighting.
“What I liked about the colorlites was being able to give a nice back warm to the band and keynote speakers,” said Di Tech AV Lighting Designer, Nash Best. “This fixture was not only able to provide me with a nice warm white but it also gave me very accurate colors and smooth dimming capability, I was blown away with how good this fixture was!”
In addition to the Colorlites, the design included the use of four Tiltbot Trios and 12 XS LED Strobe W that were used to create a strobe and wash effect onto the stage and crowd.
The Tiltbot Trio is an IP rated, versatile LED fixture that can be used as a blinder, strobe and wash. It is equipped with 572 1W RGB LEDs and 144 white 8W LEDs it has a 190° tilt rotation. This highly creative design can create a variety of powerful color combinations and with a 90 CRI on white it also produces a bright white output. The unit’s hybrid design and features makes it ideal for a variety of applications.
The Tiltbots were enhanced with the XS LED Strobes, a smaller yet immensely bright, versatile fixture. It is equipped with a total of 324 White SMD LEDs. The LEDs have a wide 140º LED angle and the unit can operate as a wash, strobe or blinder light. The XS LED Strobe W has 3 and 9 segments of control. Line up multiple units together in a matrix to create chases and other eye-catching effects. The blinder effect boosts the power of the LED for 4 seconds to give an enormous burst of likeness worthy of any stage or venue. The unit has dimmer, blinder, duration, strobe, macro, 3 segment macros, 9 segment macro channels and 8 modes of operation.
With several bright lights included already, only four MB1 moving heads were added and placed between the colorlites to add some sharp beam effects from the stage onto the center of the room and walls. The MB1 is a powerful compact beam moving head. It houses an 80W LED and the capability of projecting a strong output and long throw. It is equipped with an 8-facet circular and 6 facet linear prism that can create a unique aerial effect. The unit features a frost filter, remote focus, fixed gobo wheel and color wheel that can be used to generate a variety of color and visual combinations.
To add to the sharp beam and wash effects, several Linebot Q480 units were rigged vertically onto multiple poles that were placed at different heights and distances above the stage. Powered by 12 40-Watt RGBW LEDs, this unit can be used to create desired effects for a variety of applications. Featuring a broad spectrum of colors, it can produce pastel to saturated color combinations. Combined with the 12 individual pixel mapping control, the Linebot Q480 was designed to spread creativity in linear lighting. The high output LEDs can be used to produce aerial effects or highlight performers and objects on or off stage. With a 3º to 54º zoom range, the unit offers two zoom sections for greater control. It gives the incredible ability to create piercing narrow angles that can form a harmonious curtain of light effect or wide angle wash. The motorized 210º tilt is further enhanced with the 16 bit movement, for a seamless tilt rotation.
“The Linebot is one of my favorite fixtures in the market, I love how I’m able to get a very punchy linear look and be able to move the light to get great linear patterns,” said Nash. “Any time I get to use this light on a show I get excited and take every opportunity I can to use it. I like the brightness in each pixel and how the glass optics on each pixel creates such a punchy beam that offers many patterns and looks. I also love that it can give me a nice wash effect, allowing me to really enhance the glowing look from the back of the stage.”
In addition to the rigging on the stage a separate rig was added above the center of the room with fixtures that highlighted the stage and what would be the audience below. One of the main units that MEGA-LITE was excited to see being used was the Paramount Pendant Q350. Five units were clamped onto poles that stuck out of the truss to give a chandelier illusion. This over 3ft fixture is equipped with a 200W RGBWW parnel down light and 150W RGBWW radiating cylinder light. It is a powerful pendant that was designed to illuminate mid to large applications. With a total of 16 segments of control the unit features 15 segments on the cylinder and 1 element on the down light. This 360º function creates multidimensional radiating color changing effects that can be used for very traditional or captivating applications. The optional 18º an 28º beam angle lenses give the ability to customize the beam based on the size of any room. The Paramount Pendant Q350 was created with an integrated wireless solution and innovative design that allows it to be hardwired for permanent installation or quick disconnect, ideal for touring. It can be accessorized with a decorative cover for a more elegant finish.
“I liked being able to use the Paramounts not just as a house light, but for Icandy and wash effects onto the crowd,” said Best. “Being able to blend in some of my favorite colors with not just the side LED’s but also the bottom LED to really make the colors pop was a really cool feature.”
In the same rig were six of the recently released Framebot 600 and four Drama Profile LED Q2W. The Drama Profile Q2W was chosen due to its bright outputs and colors. This High-CRI, professional theatrical fixture has a 250W quad red, green, blue & warm white LED, that allows it to create colorful, cool and warm white projections within one fixture. It has the option of a 19º, 26º, and 36º lens barrel that can create versatile, flat, soft and diffused edges, making it perfect for this setup.
The Framebots were set up on the front truss to be able to hit the booths and speakers that were flown over the booths for the loudspeaker shootout. This unit is a full-featured automated luminaire with robust features packed into a medium-sized housing. This theatrical and production-grade unit is equipped with a 600W 7000K LED that produces an output of over 20,500 lumens (@ approximately 45ft). Featuring CMYK color mixing, the unit produces a broad range of pastel shades to rich saturated hues. The Colormation™ combines the effect of an animation wheel with vibrant colors that can be used to create an abstract motion effect. With an advanced 4-blade framing system that features a 2pt pivot per blade and 180º framing rotation, the Framebot 600 allows for precise beam shaping. The impressive 3º-54º zoom range, 540º pan and 260º tilt, enhance versatility and efficiency. The rotating 4-facet prism can be used to intensify the 6 removable rotating gobos and 7 static gobos. This fully-loaded fixture is remarkably light for its class, weighing only 56 lbs., making it easy for transportation. Designed to be used in diverse settings, it features intelligent cooling with 3 fan noise settings that can be set from quiet (52 dB) to performance (56 dB).
“I liked how smooth and quiet they were to transition between the speakers and being able to frame without hitting the other speakers or booths. For the live stage events I liked how it gave me a good stage wash while also being able to frame the light output to prevent it from spilling over the stage. The zoom light was able to give me some environmental effects around the room,” said LD Nash.
An Enlighten 2 Console was used to control all the lights and video content. The console is a Fully Embedded lighting console with 21″ touch screen, 18 assignable faders, 16 assignable hotkeys, backlit buttons, 11 Encoder wheels, Audio In and Out, HD video out via HDMI, built-in trackball mouse, 4 DMX outputs on board, and up to 24 additional universes via Artnet.
“I liked how easy it was for me to be able to go in and update a cue on the fly on the console,” said Nash. “I was able to lay out my fixtures in my palette to look like how they were laid out on the stage while also being able to switch which fixture I wanted with ease. I thought it was super easy to be able to create a look I wanted and I think this console is overall easy to use and is great for doing things on the fly, especially when I only had a few hours to record my show.”
The companies involved built a rig that came together to fulfill a successful two day event that left both attendees and show management satisfied.
“Mega has always provided amazing fixtures and the highest production level,” said CFX General Manager Ron Procopio. “We were thrilled to have their equipment involved in our Nights of Worship and Keynote events, showcasing the best of what production managers can strive for in their own churches. The equipment and team created a unique experience for the CFX attendees, with an impression that will not soon be forgotten!”