The work has been carried out by Edinburgh-based black light, who installed the new technical facilities within the six performance and presentation spaces. Paul McGreal, the company’s project manager, took on the planning and management of the £650,000 project, whilst Jock Wallace, as the company’s site manager, spent most of last summer on site, supervising the practical elements of the installation.
The key elements of the project included the installation of new lighting control and dimming equipment, audio and PA systems, cinema projection and sound equipment, communication and stage management equipment and AV systems. black light also used its in-house resources (or collaborated with others) to custom-design numerous elements of the installation, including facilities panels, lighting grids and masking systems. In addition, the company load-tested the existing stage and engineering systems.
The main auditorium, the largest of the spaces, features an extensive array of technology. black light installed over 100 ETC Source Fours (a combination of PARs, PARnels and Zooms), complemented by 24 Selecon Acclaim Fresnels and a pair of Selecon Performer MSR followspots. Dimming is provided by ETC Sensor and Unison dimmers, whilst control comes from an ETC Expression 3.
d&b audiotechnik 602s and 1801s provide the front-end of the audio system, with an Allen&Heath ML4000 at the helm and BSS’s 9088ii Soundweb providing signal processing. Other elements of the installation included a custom-built stage manager’s desk (by Howard Eaton Lighting), complete with a 12-way programmable Soft-Cue Q-Light System, AMX control system and video monitoring. Whilst this is the most extensive system installed, similar systems have been rolled out throughout the other spaces.
One of the essential roles undertaken by black light was the development of turnkey tailored solutions to a number of challenges within the tender specification. Central to this was the company’s design of an Ethernet/DMX network for use in all the performance spaces - which they believe to be a first.
An Ethernet-based system, rather than straightforward DMX distribution, was spec’d to give the MacRobert as much flexibility as possible. The company chose the ETC Net2 system to complement the other ETC kit installed, and used a number of 4- and 2-port DMX nodes - the first European use of the 2-port Net2 Node.
Rather than install Ethernet cable between fixed nodes, black light constructed an extensive, but relatively inexpensive, Ethernet system across the venue, terminating at hubs in the two dimmer rooms. The company then made the 2-port nodes portable by housing them, along with a power supply, in custom-built boxes. These nodes can then be connected anywhere in the system to send/receive DMX as required. The system thus is now highly flexible for future expansion.
black light has seen steady growth since its foundation in 1983. From facilities in Granton, Edinburgh, it has built a highly successful sales, hire and installation business. It carries a wide portfolio of products, and was recently appointed the Scottish and North of England distributor for Italian manufacturer SGM. In a move designed to serve its customers in the West of Scotland, it has recently opened an office in Glasgow. The company celebrates 21 years in the industry next year and we’ll be running a special feature to coincide with that anniversary.
