I-Pix
Satellites for Audi
 |
| Photo:
courtesy of I-Pix. |
Lighting
Product Stories Published: 25 January
2007
Forty of the new i-Pix Satellite LED fixtures were used by lighting
designer Nick Gray for shows in Manchester (G-MEX) and London
(The East Winter Gardens at Canary Wharf) launching the Audi
R8 super-coupe performance car.
Gray and his company Renegade Productions were
asked to design and supply lighting for the show by event producers
GSP.
He specified the i-Pix Satellites to light a shroud
surrounding the car. The gauze was rigged onto a circular truss
above a raised rotating platform in the middle of the room.
Illuminating the gauze in red, the Satellites effectively hid
the R8 from view until it was time for the theatrical style
reveal.
The lights were attached to the same circular
truss as the gauze. The latter was on the inner cord, and the
Satellites around the outer cord – down-lighting the cloth.
“A simple but effective theatrical trick” explains
Gray. The front of the gauze was projected onto by moving lights
with Audi gobos.
Guests entered and settled in with their champagne
and refreshments, and then at the start of the reveal sequence,
the Satellites commenced in on a slow chase – still in
red. This accelerated in time to a prodigy track, and then a
bunch of strobes kicked in and lights were racing all around
the room, building to a frantic crescendo culminating in the
gauze being hoisted up from the bottom. All the Satellites were
extinguished and the streamlined body of the car revealed, bathed
in spotlights.
It was the first time Gray had used i-Pix Satellites,
which were supplied, along with the other lighting equipment
by west London based Entec.
“They were absolutely perfect for the job”
he enthuses, “Together with the different filter options
for the front, they are a hugely dynamic and versatile fixture”.
The i-Pix Satellite comes with a selection of
robust snap-on beam shaping accessories that fit neatly on the
front of the unit, complete with holographic film that reflects
the beam to the desired level. There’s three standard
beam angles, with the option to become as adventurous as you
like with them as the design develops!
Gray used the narrowest one on this occasion as
they needed a tight beam with maximum intensity. He adds “I
was amazed at their brightness, and they were most definitely
the best fixture for the job”.
As with all the other lights on this show, they
were operated by Andy Emmerson running a WholeHog Ii console
and a Wing.
Since then Gray has used Satellites on several
other designs including a Samsonite product launch, when they
internally lit some chandeliers, when the Stand-Alone setting
came in very handy. When activated, the LCD display allows a
‘quick store’ function which takes a snapshot of
the colour being used, and can store up to 20 memories for easy
recalled when run in manual mode.