With the opening of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) new Visitor Center and gateway, visitors can now orient themselves to the garden, learn about its current blooms and plantings, and browse the event schedule via a series of interactives supported by Electrosonic for exhibit fabricator Hadley Exhibits.

Founded in 1910, BBG is an independent, non-profit institution committed to education, science and horticultural display. BBG has served communities in New York City and around the world through its extraordinary gardens and living collections, and by pioneering educational and community programs. Situated on 52 acres in the heart of Brooklyn and originally laid out by the Olmstead Brothers landscape design firm, BBG is home to more than 12,000 types of plants and hosts more than 725,000 visitors annually.

The unique design of the new Visitor Center – a grass and tree-covered berm tucked into the natural setting – seamlessly melds architecture and landscape. The energy-efficient structure from the firm of Weiss/Manfredi features a glass wall, which stretches from the entryway to enclose the pavilion and house exhibition space where visitors access an array of interactive exhibits to get a feel for how to visit the BBG. Thinc Design was the exhibition designer for the new space.

Electrosonic faced numerous challenges in the Visitor Center. Working on a very tight schedule, the project required extensive coordination with Hadley Exhibits to ensure that all equipment fit smoothly and tightly inside wall-mounted and table-style interactives. Since the exhibits were designed to feature content that’s easily modified and updated, the AV components were selected to be flexible and easily maintained by BBG staff. For proper viewing of the content, Electrosonic also specified monitors offering optimum performance in the bright ambient light emitted by the new structure’s glass wall.

“The interior space is actually a window onto the gardens, so there’s a lot of ambient light streaming in and a lot of glare,” says Electrosonic account manager Bryan Abelowitz. “We revised our monitor selection to Samsung DX series high-brightness monitors, which have sensors that automatically adjust to light levels.”

Planning the Visit with Interactive Maps

Visitors are welcomed by a three-screen interactive garden map depicting a graphical aerial layout of BBG, which will help them plan their visit. Electrosonic provided three ultra-narrow mullion Samsung UD55A displays to create one continuous map image. On a shelf beneath the wall-mounted map, a Dell interactive PC offering Links & Information resides alongside colorful printed info panels.

Adjacent to the map is a portrait-mode 46-inch Samsung LCD monitor displaying Today’s Events, an ever-changing roster of BBG happenings. A graphical Bloom Calendar is mounted perpendicular to the events schedule with another Dell interactive PC on the shelf below.

Two similarly-configured exhibits, one explaining BBG’s mission statement and the other tailored to update the frequent visitor, feature angled 40-inch Samsung LCD displays fed by Adtec signEdje HD MPEG media players triggered by motion sensors as visitors approach.

A portrait-mode 27-inch Samsung LED display with mount, which appears to float against the glass wall, features a video of BBG employees challenging visitors to a plant identification quiz. The display is fed by another Adtec signEdje HD MPEG player.

Sensing the Garden with Interactive Exhibits

Perhaps the most innovative interactives are three peek-a-boo tables detailing different areas of the garden and how visitors can explore by using their senses. Hinged, three-dimensional photos of trees, plants and birds can be lifted by small knobs to reveal 6-inch LCD screens; short films about the image in the photograph begin to play when the hatches are lifted.

“Small, solid-state Technovision MPEG players in the tables are triggered by a magnetic switch built into the hinge,” says Abelowitz. Additional push buttons on the tables enable visitors to hear the sounds of the garden and sniff the fragrances of the blooms.

Electrosonic also provided a custom AMX control system to streamline operations and allow non-professionals to maintain efficient control of the system. BBG purchased a small back up roster of equipment, which Abelowitz calls “a very smart thing to do,” as the Visitor Center’s interactives experience daily wear and tear.

The control room is housed in the basement under the exhibit area. Two equipment racks are outfitted with source, control and monitoring equipment; centralized control allows for remote monitoring. Electrosonic furnished systems training for BBG staff and will be providing onsite maintenance and technical support for the first year of the Visitor Center’s operation.

“Electrosonic was wonderful — very attentive, very knowledgeable and willing to help. Everyone was great,” commented Sonal Bhatt, director of interpretation and exhibitions at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Richard Lewis Media Group designed the interactive content for the Visitor Center.

At Electrosonic, Ellen Simich was the project manager and Ed O’Connor project engineer.

About Electrosonic
Electrosonic is an international audio-visual company that creates tailored, state-of-the-art solutions for a wide range of markets including theme parks, museums, video conferencing and control rooms. Since its founding in 1964, Electrosonic has built a strong reputation for working on complex projects, both large and small, and has developed lasting partnerships with customers and suppliers. Beyond complete integrated systems, Electrosonic provides a comprehensive scope of services including technical design, projector lamp sales, maintenance and operational support.

Learn more about Electrosonic. Visit http://www.electrosonic.com

The Dave Matthews Band is back on the road this summer with a North American tour preceding the release of their album, “Away From The World,” due out in September. Accompanying the band is a complement of equipment distributed by A.C.T Lighting, Inc., including two full-size grandMA2 consoles, a grandMA2 Light, two MDG 5000 high-output foggers, two MDG 3000 high-output foggers and 16 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures.

All of the equipment was specified by the band’s longtime lighting designer Fenton Williams and supplied by Theatrical Media Services Inc. (TMS) of Omaha, Nebraska.

Williams, who’s also the overall visual designer for the tour, acts as co-lighting operator for the shows running one grandMA console while Aaron Stinebrink from TMS runs the second desk. “Fenton is very active and likes to augment on the fly during the show,” says TMS’s Pete Franks who serves as system crew chief on the road. “That’s why there are two consoles always operating front of house – and there’s a grandMA Light on hand for back up. All are networked together and can control lighting and the Green Hippo Hippotizer.”

Franks notes that Williams transitioned to the grandMA2s after almost a decade of using grandMA1 consoles. “We never considered using another brand when looking for a new console,” he says. “The new units are great with much more functionality. We’ve had no failure with the new units since we started using them.”

Among the lights controlled by the grandMAs are 16 Sharpys, which were purchased new by TMS for the tour and are delivering “rock solid” performance. Williams has mounted them vertically on the video screen surrounds upstage of the band where they replace ACL-type lights he had used in the past. The lighting designer likes “the unique look of the fixture,” says Franks as well as the Sharpys’ “narrow beam angle.”

The MDG foggers are also a hit with the show. “We really like the 100 percent duty cycle capabilities of the MDG,” says Franks, whose company also boasts an inventory of MDG hazers. “They all use the same fluid. And they all do a great job.”

Alternative rock band 311 is playing 40 amphitheater shows on its Unity Tour with Slightly Stoopid this summer, and Clay Paky Alpha Beam 1500 automated fixtures are along for the ride.

Lighting designer Joe Paradise has 14 Alpha Beam 1500s on the show, which he spreads out 60 feet wide. Eight are placed in a line on the floor and three are suspended on each side on double-hung trusses, which trim at about 14 feet. “They can go up and get really big stuff on the audience as well as deliver some cross-stage throws,� he says.

Paradise notes that the look of the show changes with the eclectic array of tunes in the band’s set list. “There are lots of saturated colors with the Alpha Beams cutting through in complimentary colors. Kind of an old-school ACL look but with a lot more punch from the Clay Pakys.�

The Alpha Beam 1500 is the most powerful luminaire belonging to the special category of fully-automated ACL fixtures. They generate a solid, super-concentrated parallel beam for very long-throw projections, which built-in devices shape and animate with colours and movement for fantastic mid-air effects. With the new 1500W lamp, the Alpha Beam 1500 can also become a spotlight for long-distance focused projections and perform as a good narrow-angle washlight.

“The lights are incredibly bright and the beam is really great,� says Paradise. “The color and beam angle and shape are consistent light to light. You can focus them in full daylight, too. And for their size, the Alpha Beams have very fast pan and tilt.�

Steven “Creech� Anderson of Premiere Global Production provided the Alpha Beam 1500s. “There was not a substitution comparable to the Clay Paky Fixture and we were amazed with the output and intensity of the beam. There is not a fixture in the system that has the power this fixture has,� he says.

“The Alpha Beams are awesome,� Paradise concludes. “I love them. I turn them on every day, and they work – I haven’t had to have a spare. They really are amazing and so bright. That’s why I got them.�

A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, adds, “Joe has been a long time supporter of ours and we’re proud that he’s using our lights for this tour. I can see that they contribute greatly to the overall look of the shows.�

Electrosonic has helped the twin Hindhead Tunnels in Southern England deliver on their promise of roadway efficiency by installing a large overview videowall display and operator consoles in the control room at the tunnels’ northern end.

Before the tunnels were opened in July 2011, the main A3 London-to-Portsmouth road in the south of England had suffered from delays as drivers passed through the Hindhead area, which includes a site of special scientific interest and the Devil’s Punchbowl beauty spot. Now a four-mile bypass, of which 1.14 miles comprise the twin-bore tunnels, makes the route safer and more efficient.

Working with main contractor Balfour Beatty Engineering Services for the Highways Agency, Electrosonic engineered and installed the videowall plus a series of operator consoles. In the control room, operators can monitor images from 104 cameras and review data supplied by the SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system, which supervises the lighting, ventilation, incident detection and other support systems.

The Highways Agency wanted the control room to operate in a similar fashion to other traffic control rooms on the major road network, but with the additional stipulation that data relating to non-traffic aspects of the tunnel – such as live CCTV images – be accessible at the same time. Electrosonic devised a solution based on ergonomic operator consoles and a videowall display. Electrosonic produced graphic visualizations to help the client see how the control system would fit in the available space. The finished result corresponds almost exactly to the visualizations.

The videowall features six, 50-inch Planar Clarity Margay II DLP projection cubes arranged in a 3×2 array. The format, along with the cubes’ 16:9 aspect ratio, ensures that the maximum amount of information can be displayed in a space with relatively low ceiling height. The cubes give a pixel perfect, near seamless image surface with a total resolution of 5760×2160 pixels while requiring just 18 inches in depth.

An Extron VN-Quantum image processor feeds the display. It is configured to receive 36 video inputs and four computer graphics images. The processor can display any required combination of images, each of which can be any size and positioned anywhere on the display. Multiple pre-sets optimize the display for different situations or monitoring requirements; operators select them at the click of a mouse on the display control computer.

Graphics reach the processor via a standard Ethernet network, but the video inputs are derived from a switching matrix, which is part of the CCTV system.

Electrosonic supplied the mounting frame for the videowall cubes complete with cladding and a base unit outfitted with storage space.

The company also provided electronically-operated “sit-stand” type operator consoles, which allow operators to choose the most comfortable operating height. The SBFI Equinox consoles are equipped with Axiom universal screen mounts.

To ensure many years of reliable service, Electrosonic is providing support service for the next five years through the facility managers, Enterprise Mouchel. The fixed-price support covers lamp replacement, 24/7 emergency call out with a four-hour response time, and routine preventative maintenance.

About Electrosonic
Electrosonic is an international AV company with a strong reputation for working on complex projects, both large and small, and has through its 47 year history developed lasting partnerships with customers and suppliers. Electrosonic brings a unique breadth of experience to each project; backed by solid engineering skills, project management and quality production facilities. Beyond complete integrated systems, Electrosonic can provide a wide range of services including technical design, maintenance and operational support.

Learn more about Electrosonic. Visit http://www.electrosonic.com

When Oracle held The Experience Revolution, a special event at New York City’s Gotham Hall, event producers InVision Communications turned to WorldStage to deliver four different video and interactive elements supporting Oracle’s chosen theme.

The evening of exploration, inspiration and networking with customer experience executives featured Oracle president Mark Hurd introducing the Oracle Customer Experience, a suite of products that includes the new Oracle RightNow CX Cloud Service. The event was staged as an interactive gallery of customer experience interactions with videos, touchscreens and near field communication technology taking attendees through an individualized event experience.

“The mood and environment was different from the kind of event Oracle usually does,” notes Corey Burton, a producer with InVision Communications, which is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. “Instead of standard presentations delivered in a static environment, Oracle stepped out of the box for a casual evening of people roaming around trying demos and watching two brief presentations. The feedback I got onsite was that Oracle was over the moon about how it went, and I hope we’ll see more flexible presentation styles like this in the future.”

WorldStage, which has worked on numerous Oracle conferences and product launches, was represented throughout Gotham Hall. The company supplied 46-inch ELO touchscreens and Brown Innovation sound domes housed for eight interactive, custom exhibit kiosks, which were designed by Design Contact and built by Global Scenic Services.

“Attendees could go up to a kiosk, scan their RF ID card and the computer would recognize them and present their interactive experience,” explains WorldStage V.P. of Production Services, Richard Bevan.

The space was branded on its sidewalls by a pair of 18.5×60-foot projection screens displaying Oracle graphics. During the presentations the display switched to PIP video playback. WorldStage provided a pair of Christie Roadster HD18K image-blended projectors for each screen; content was fed via Encore.

Bevan says that WorldStage also furnished a 4×4 NEC monitor wall, measuring 7.7×14.5 feet overall, as a backdrop and display for the Oracle presentations. The configuration featured 16 thin-bezel monitors.

Finally, WorldStage provided two Panasonic P2 cameras, one of them in a Steadicam rig. During the presentations an RF feed to the cameras documented the event. At other times, the cameras captured ENG-style man-on-the-street interviews with attendees. All footage was flown back to Oracle headquarters for postproduction.w

Corey Burton has enjoyed a 10-year relationship with Video Applications Inc., now part of the WorldStage brand with Scharff Weisberg. “I’ve always received the highest level of service from them, and their equipment has always been top notch,” he reports.

“Probably the greatest value I get from working with WorldStage is their assistance in engineering and their ability to look at the goal and result instead of just taking orders,” says Burton. “They’re always looking to make the event more interesting and exciting. WorldStage is right there on our team helping make sure the client is always thrilled. That’s a huge value add for us.”

Burton produced The Experience Revolution with Kerry Job. Katherine Eckert, from InVision Communications’ New York City office, was production assistant; Jennifer Smart was account manager.

At WorldStage, John Ackerman was technical director and Tobi Martz project manager.

WorldStage Inc., the company created by the merger of Scharff Weisberg Inc and Video Applications Inc, continues a thirty-year legacy of providing clients the widest variety of entertainment technology coupled with conscientious and imaginative engineering services. WorldStage provides audio, video and lighting equipment and services to the event, theatrical, broadcast and brand experience markets nationally and internationally.

In its second consecutive year broadcasting in HD on primetime television, the Miss Florida USA 2013 pageant again featured grandMA lighting consoles behind the scenes. This time lighting director Stefan DeWilde also selected a complement of Clay Paky Sharpys for the event boosting the impact of the lighting rig. A.C.T Lighting in the exclusive distributor of both grandMA and Clay Paky fixtures in North America.

Staged in Davie’s Bailey Concert Hall on the campus of Broward University, the pageant featured more contestants than ever before and was televised live to fans across the Sunshine State. Michelle Aguirre was crowned Miss Florida and moves on to the national Miss USA competition.

“We had twice as many moving fixtures as last year,” reports DeWilde. “I used Sharpys around the floor for aerial beam effects. They were a prominent part of the program – every scene was tightened by Sharpy. Although we only had six of them, they cut through 85 other automated fixtures.”

DeWilde also deployed an expanded grandMA system, which featured an NSP and eight universes. “It was very important to have the NSP,” he says. “It was essential to have everything networked on the show.”

The Orlando office of stage lighting rental and production company Christie Lites furnished the grandMA and Sharpy fixtures. “CEO Huntly Christie really came through to pull together this equipment,” says DeWilde. “The partnership between Christie and A.C.T is just great.”

“This pageant was the first time I’d used the Sharpys, and they were so phenomenal that I’m going to use them in the New World Center,” he says. DeWilde is director of lighting for the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. “The Sharpys are small and lightweight, and their output and speed is amazing.”

He also gives kudos to the grandMAs. “The consoles were fast with no lag in network communication. Shows like this always come down to flexibility, speed and consoles. We have a ton of equipment and very little time to put things together.”

After taking last summer off, the Dave Matthews Band is back on the road with a North American tour previewing their upcoming album, “Away From The World,” due for release in September. The tour features 16 Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures specified by the band’s longtime lighting designer Fenton Williams and supplied by Theatrical Media Services Inc. of Omaha, Nebraska.

“Sharpys are new to the market so the units we have were all purchased brand new for this tour,” says Pete Franks of Theatrical Media Services, who serves as system crew chief on the road. “Everybody really likes the unique look of the Sharpys. They are evenly distributed and mounted vertically on the video screen surrounds upstage of the band – part of the scenic elements instead of hung on a conventional horizontal truss. They replaced all of the ACL-type lights we used in the past.”

Franks says the complement of Sharpys is holding up well on the busy tour schedule. “They are rock solid and working great,” he reports. “The guys really like the narrow beam angle the Sharpys produce.”

A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, adds, “Yet another summer rock and roll tour that our Sharpys have helped define the look for. It’s gratifying to see so many great lighting designers and lighting professionals as excited as they are about our little light.”

High Tech met Old World when top game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) staged its press event during the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) at LA’s century-old Orpheum Theatre with AV support from WorldStage. “The Download: EA 2012 Preview” provided guests with a first look at EA’s upcoming titles with live demos, world premiere trailers and breaking news.

“Electronic Arts is one of the world’s leading game publishers, and we at WorldStage were proud to be the chosen provider of innovative, state-of-the-art technical solutions for their press event,” says WorldStage project manager Jack Dussault.

EA’s Press Conference was broadcast live on MTV2, Spike and G4 television. The event was part of Spike TV’s “E3 All Access Live” coverage, which featured more than 17 hours of multi-platform coverage from the convention. The press event premiered such highly-anticipated games as SimCity, Crysis 3, Battlefield 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Madden NFL 13 (with a live appearance by NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin), FIFA 13 and other projects currently in development.

“Besides a live invitation-only presentation, this year 1080i, 720P, 480i and composite feeds went out worldwide to -over three million viewers,” Dussault notes. “It was streamed live from 11 sites, including IGN, Boxdownstairs, Stuff We Like, EA.com, JeuxVideo, GameSpot, EuroGamer (France), Game Informer and Gamers Bliss. After the event, the footage was posted to sites such as GameSpot and G4, eventually reaching an estimated virtual audience of over six million viewers.”

“This was the fifth year Debra Robins, owner and Executive Producer of Plumbago Productions brought our firm in to support the audio and video requirements of the EA press event,” says Senior Account Executive Michael May. “Each year Debra and Plumbago Productions’ Creative Director, Jeffrey Hornaday create a unique, “boundary pushing” technical stage design. We were extremely honored to once again be part of the production team.”

WorldStage provided an array of display surfaces for the Orpheum stage. A custom 50′ x 30′ voile scrim that hung across the front edge of the proscenium served as the display surface for a trio of Christie HD18K projectors mounted on the front of the balcony.

Three LED screens were positioned upstage behind the scrim: a 15×26-foot center screen, which was stationary, and 6.5×10-foot screens on either side, which flew in and out depending on the segment and the look desired. The LEDs were composed of approximately 200 PIXLED F-6 LED tiles.

“During certain segments of the presentation, the LEDs went black so you couldn’t see them behind the scrim,” recalls May. “Then we’d fire them up and you’d get an awesome three-dimensional visual experience.” The LEDs gave a lot of depth to the stage. There was only 1 presenter that appeared between the main led screen and the scrim. This was the CEO – during his introduction,

Rounding out the video gear were five HD cameras: three Hitachi SK-HD1000s, one of them on a 30-foot jib, and two Sony BRC-H700s robotic cameras, WorldStage’s Digital MediaHub players and a Spyder screen switching system.

On the audio side, “We retrofitted the client’s demo game sources and video sources with state-of-the-art HDMI to 5.1 analog audio decoders to feed center, subs, left/ right side and rear true 5.1 surround sound with over a half-million watts of amplification for a truly amazing surround audio application,” says Dussault.

The WorldStage team for the EA press event included Shane Zinke as EIC, Jason Spencer Spyder operator, Rob Ricci media hub playback, Ken Stanford video director, Justin “MC This” Hammond robocams, Terry Nakamura and Bryan Dominick projectionists, Ken “soundmantofthestars” Newman A1, Geoff Gibson A2 systems and Will Herold A2 RF.

WorldStage Inc., the company created by the merger of Scharff Weisberg Inc and Video Applications Inc, continues a thirty-year legacy of providing clients the widest variety of entertainment technology coupled with conscientious and imaginative engineering services. WorldStage provides audio, video and lighting equipment and services to the event, theatrical, broadcast and brand experience markets nationally and internationally.

Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures made their debut on the Miss Florida USA 2013 pageant, which was televised from Davie’s Bailey Concert Hall on the campus of Broward University. Lighting director Stefan DeWilde chose a complement of Sharpys for the event boosting the impact of the lighting rig for the show.

The pageant was aired live in HD in primetime to fans across the Sunshine State. Michelle Aguirre was crowned the winner and moves on to the national Miss USA competition.

“We had twice as many moving fixtures as last year,” reports DeWilde. “I used Sharpys around the floor for aerial beam effects. They were a prominent part of the program – every scene was tightened by Sharpy. Although we only had six of them, they cut through 85 other automated fixtures.”

The Miss Florida USA pageant marked the first usage of Sharpys by DeWilde, who is also director of lighting for the New World Symphony in Miami Beach. “They were so phenomenal that I’m going to use them in the New World Center,” he says. “They are small and lightweight, and their output and speed is amazing.”

The Orlando office of stage lighting rental and production company Christie Lites provided the Sharpy fixtures.

A.C.T Lighting is the distributor for Clay Paky in North America.

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, adds, “What could be more beautiful than Florida’s most attractive women combined with a compliment of Sharpy lights. We’re glad that Stefan is so pleased with them and we look forward to seeing him deploy them in the future.”

About Clay Paky
Headquartered in Seriate (Bergamo), Italy, Clay Paky SPA has a history of designing and manufacturing innovative professional show lighting. The company was founded in 1976 by entrepreneur Pasquale Quadri who anticipated the enormous impact the evolution of technology would have on the show and entertainment worlds.

For more information on Clay Paky products, please contact:
Francesco Romagnoli francesco@claypaky.it
Davide Barbetta webmaster@claypaky.it

grandMA2 and Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures have gone country playing key roles on the ‘Brothers of the Sun’ Tour, with Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, and at the fan-favorite CMA Music Festival, which held concerts at Nashville’s LP Field. A.C.T Lighting is the distributor of both grandMA2 and Clay Paky lighting in North America.

“I’ve been one of the beta testers for the grandMA2, and this year marks the first time that I felt I could exclusively spec the grandMA2,” reports Mark Butts who serves as programmer for the ‘Brothers of the Sun’ Tour, with Chesney and McGraw, and programmer and lighting director for the CMA Music Festival. “I’m now specifying them for all my new projects.”

The ‘Brothers of the Sun’ Tour, with Chesney and McGraw, is the tenth that Butts has done with Chesney. The all-stadium tour features “simple straight trusses but a lot of stuff. I decided to go with four grandMA2s just to manage the complexity of the show,” says Butts.

The consoles need to manage large amounts of data. “Kenny has 400 lights and lots of video – 24 layers of HD video and four servers with a custom Control Freak DMX bridge. We did a whole multiuser network. The features on the grandMA2 are really great when you have multiple programmers working on the same file and the same network.”

In addition, “the new effects are really cool, and the macros and interface are a lot faster and better. The hardware is also bigger, and you can see everything right in front of you,” he says.

Among the lights controlled by the grandMA2s are 16 Sharpys, which lighting designer Mike Swinford configured in four groups of four mounted atop giant Marshall amp replicas.

The four-night shoot for the CMA Music Festival featured 380 lights controlled by five grandMA2s on two separate control systems and one pre-vis suite. “It was more of a modern design,” Butts says. “It seemed like a really good time to upgrade. We had all these Jarags, and the grandMA2s were great at managing all that stuff.”

Swinford used 55 Sharpys on the CMA Music Festival spreading them out on low circular trusses “so almost every camera would get them in frame,” he explains.

Swinford was one of the first Sharpy users in the U.S. deploying the fixtures for TV and on tour. “I really like how small and fast they are,” he says. “If course, their main attribute is the tight beam that cuts through any other light in the design. I think of them as the new ACL.”

Butts agrees with Swinford about the power of the compact Sharpys. “They hold their own against 35 1200-watt lights in the stadiums on the tour, and they are very unique for TV.”

“The Sharpys are one of the most reliable lights we have,” Swinford concludes. “We seldom have issues with them.”

Butts reports that the grandMA2 consoles “worked great and really made my life easy on these gigs.” He also gives kudos to “the MA Lighting team and A.C.T Lighting for doing such a fantastic job supporting the systems.”

About A.C.T Lighting

A leading importer and distributor of lighting products, A.C.T Lighting, Inc. strives to identify future trends and cutting-edge products, and stock, sell and support their inventory. The company provides superior customer service and value for money to all of its clients.

For more information call 818-707-0884.