ZURICH, Switzerland — Lighting and media designer Matthias Kern of Kernfusion used Robe DigitalSpot 5000s for a 360-degree projection created for the Conelli Circus’ performances on a small island on Lake Zurich. The circus has been performing its two and a half month winter season there in a 900-capacity tent for the last 25 years.
Last season was the first where Kernfusion was asked onboard to design lighting and visuals. The show’s director, Roby Gasser, was eager to project photos and video at the start and for the conclusion of each show, and also during some of the acts.
Staged in the round, the crew lit a projection surface that was 5.5 meters in diameter and 10 meters high, suspended in the center of the venue. This was moved into several different positions during the show, so the crew needed a video projection system that could be quickly moved.
“The solution of using a digital moving light was obvious,” said Kern, who knew about the Robe DT Digital Series, but had not yet used the gear on one of his shows.
He contacted Robe and looked at all the DT series options — the DigitalSpot 3000, 5000 and 7000 — and decided the 5000 would be best-suited for the application and size of the venue. The five DT5000s were supplied by Hansjörg Liechty of AudioTech.
“The multi-functionality of these fixtures immediately struck me,” said Kern, “and the fact that they can also be used as standard moving lights as well as video projectors.”
The five instruments were rigged on custom brackets over the audience around the sides of the tent, each with a 9.2 meter throw distance to the sphere, with each DigitalSpot covering a projection area of approximately 4 meters wide.
The different video sources were all created by Kern and uploaded to and stored in the DT5000 heads, then soft-edged together using the fixture’s Picture Merging facility.
The fixtures were run via ArtNet from a Compulite Vector Orange console that also ran the show’s lighting. “They were extremely easy to program and use, and were the perfect solution for this show, both creatively and budget-wise,” said Kern, adding that no other video gear was required.
“It’s great to see a manufacturer with this foresight and enthusiasm for bringing new technologies to the market,” said Kern, who added that he will definitely be using the gear again.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
