The Coldplay tour was instrumental in boosting general interest in the technology: Whitehouse wanted to use RADlite again on Feeder, and was brimming with ideas about what could be achieved by running the video in this configuration. The Feeder show was heavily video-based - a medium they have always enthusiastically embraced. Whitehouse operated the RADlite servers using a Avolites Diamond 4 Elite, allowing video clips and camera feeds to be run in a similar fashion to moving lights. All other lighting onstage is run by Leitch using an Avolites Sapphire.
One RADlite, running PixelDrive software, was dedicated to controlling 18 James Thomas Pixelline 1044 battens. The Pixellines were used for the overhead stage washes - another touring first. The stage featured three different visual projection surfaces - an upstage 50ft by 10ft widescreen; a front gauze that was 'in' for the first song, and a large rear projection surface, created by opening and closing curtains. The whole stage aesthetic was 'draped and theatrical', concealing rather than revealing the equipment, and therefore heightening the element of surprise for the audience.
All pre-recorded video sources were stored on the RADlite hard drives. The bright Pixellines beamed straight down onto the stage from the trusses above; being run through the RADlite, meant the Pixellines could mimic the patterns created onscreen with the video inputs - on the stage floor.
PixelDrive is an innovation developed by RADlite's creators IRAD and the James Thomas Pixelrange R&D team. It pixel-maps a video source and outputs the pattern via DMX to the fixtures. Each Pixelline batten has 18 RGB pixels, and when combined, these effectively form a super low res surface or can be used as a wash-light effect - as on Feeder.
Whitehouse thinks RADlite's many advantages include cost and truck-space economy, enabling a host of smaller and medium sized productions to create a highly effective, completely original, multi-layered show from a few boxes. Then there's the obvious control and aesthetic advantages of having a show operated from a single user interface.
(Lee Baldock)
