One Sapphire is used to operate the 4-way Radlite PC-based video system, designed and operated by video director Nick Whitehouse. The RADLite footage is fed from seven black and white cameras onstage and played back onto four upstage screens. Above that is another level of video, projected onto a stunning 48ft (14.6m) wide by 10ft (3m) high semi-circular screen. This shows IMAG footage supplied by a 4-colour camera/Barco G5 system, provided to the tour by XL Video. The second Sapphire is operated by Leitch himself and runs all Coldplay's lighting.
With the expected longevity of the Coldplay tour and Siyan's hectic schedule of other on-going projects, Leitch decided to purchase the new Avo control equipment. This boosts Siyan's current stock of Avo consoles to seven Pearls, three Sapphires and three Azures. Lighting fixtures controlled by the Pearl include 22 SGM Giotto 400 spots, 12 Futurelight MH640s, 14 Movietech and Robe 575 washlights and eight Martin MAC 600s, plus conventionals.
The ART dimmers consist of four modules of power racks and four of dimming - which can all be patched as desired in this highly flexible system, plus three rack-mounting Avo DMX splitters. They are taking full advantage of Avo's DMX Merge facility to enable the Source Fours to run on both desks, allowing them to be used for the RADLite cameras as and when needed, independently of Leitch using them in the lightshow. This is achieved via an Ethernet multicore in addition to the DMX lines.
Brian Mandeville, responsible for dimmers, said that the fewer connections and the more reliable the dimmer, the easier it is to break the rig down into B and C options for smaller gigs, allowing them to compress the show without losing any of the aesthetic essence. "We couldn't do this so easily using any other type of dimmer" he states. "The ART has revolutionized this specific element of touring with a large moving light rig."
(Lee Baldock)
