The 1044s were chosen for their output and pixilation. Used for effects lighting focused directly at the crowd, they create a large array of colour and can be viewed from all angles without losing any density. The tight LED configuration of the 1044s ensures that the colour output is true to the colour source - where white is white and not a mixture of red, green and blue dots.
PixelLine 110s are the only front lights in the design and are mounted vertically to the backside of the downstage towers producing saturated colour washes across the stage. Giddens preferred to use the 110s for this part of the design, so he could utilise the four-colour feature RGBA (red, green, blue, amber). The amber is actually the most used front wash in the show. And as a last minute addition to the rig, four PixelPar 90s were added as truss toners.
The PixelRange fixtures were programmed and controlled via a PixelDrive system and Giddens is very complimentary: "Neither of us has been happier with a fixture of any kind after the first use - as we have with the PixelLines and PixelDrive. They have done everything we wanted and much more. We will probably use them in all our future designs in some form or another. They are also amazingly durable, which we realised after a mishap with a bottle of water! After standing the unit on end over night to let it drain and dry out - it fired up and ran like new the next day!"
Neg Earth supplied all the lighting and fabricated the final design. From the trussing to the custom PixelLine brackets - the end result is exactly how Giddens had visualised it. LDs Giddens and Ragan have their own design company, Intelligent Production Solutions Creative Group, and have lit many different bands ranging from rock to hip hop.
(Lee Baldock)
