GRONINGEN, The Netherlands — Four of Robe’s new DigitalSpot 7000DTs have been added to Dutch singer Jan Smit’s ongoing tour by Utrecht-based lighting and set designer Marchel Daalhuizen. The DigitalSpots are being supplied by Dutch rental house Triple Showtechniek who bought them via Robe’s Benelux distributor, Controllux. The four DT7000s are rigged on a downstage truss and soft-edged together to make one large image covering an upstage projection screen that measures 18 meters by four meters. During the show, the cyc is masked by sets of drapes that fly in and out, creating different pillar effects. For those, Daalhuizen applies masks programmed onto different layers of the DT7000s, fitting the content to the variously shaped surfaces.
Daalhuizen has not used Robe products before, and when the tour started earlier in the year, the new DT Series was not yet available. He saw the instruments initially at Pro Light+Sound, Frankfurt 2008, and once it was in production, Robe’s sales team contacted him and arranged a demo, which convinced him that the 6500 ANSI lumen output would work for the effects he wanted.
Addict Studios in Amsterdam custom-made all the content, which is stored in the DT7000 heads. It follows a storyboard that was originated by Daalhuizen and developed with input from the artist. Approximately 100 MPG 2 video clips are used throughout the 90-minute show.
Daalhuizen triggers all the cues through a Wholehog iPC console, which he runs in Wholehog 3 mode.
“I’m really happy with the DT7000s,” he said. “They are doing all we wanted and more, plus proving to be a very smooth and stable platform with no glitches.”
Triple Showtechniek’s lighting crew chief Martijn Steman is also pleased with the fixtures. “They have been touring since we took delivery back in October and have been totally reliable. They are really fast, and the picture merging facility works superbly.”
Daalhuizen is a keen advocate of integrating video and digital effects with lighting in his visual creations, and has been doing this with greater ease and flexibility in the last several years as more dynamic “crossover” products come to the market.
“Robe is definitely making the right decision in going the digital route, and they have some great ideas for the future,” he said.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
