The tour required a lighting and set design rig flexible enough to fit a variety of venues, said Preworks' Andreas Reinbacher. Lighting operator Michael Mayler jumped in to help in the design - "to make the messages of the songs visible to the audience," Reinbacher said. Both artists are Austrian. Nik P. and his band perform what's known as Schlager, or easy listening pop music. Andreas Gabalier is a folksinger. Mayler used 10 Technospots, two DL.3 digital lights, two Showpix and two StudioPix LED graphic display fixtures and 10 Studio Beam automated luminaires. All were controlled with a Road Hog Full Boar with a Wing specified by LD Florian Schreiter.
"The output of the Technospot is incredible," Mayler said. "In most situations I used only 30 percent of its intensity. The colour mixing system is superb and the sharpness looks like spot lights in a much higher price range." In most of the show - about 80 percent of the songs - Mayler used custom content which he produced for the show. The DL.3 digital lights - an automated luminaire with an on-board media server - projected the content onto three 4x3m screens.
The three projection screens were placed in different positions behind the band, allowing Mayler to play with "more planes" with this configuration. He also used the DL.3's Collage mode to combine the images from the three units into one large panoramic image at times during the show. For extra effect, Mayler deployed the Pixilation LED graphic display luminaires - the Showpix and the smaller unit in the family, the StudioPix. Mayer used solid colours on the LED displays to serve as wash lights when nothing was being projected on the video screens. For highlights, he used the units as "eye-catching blinding effects".
Mayler controlled the show with the Road Hog Full Boar with Road Full Boar Wing. "With this system I am always happy," he said. "The latest version of software, v3.2.2 is working fine and with support from Preworks all the customers are happy with the current Wholehog product line."
(Jim Evans)
