A beloved address in Austin, TX is downtown at 310 Willie Nelson Boulevard. It belongs to the Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theatre, also the studio home of the Austin City Limits TV show tapings of some of the top names in music. Sharing that same address is 3TEN, a new intimate showcase room downstairs from ACL Live. The one-level, 350-capacity space opened in March 2016 as an extension of the ACL venue as well as its own club.
A Multi-Purpose Space
The 3TEN space constantly changes. It’s often a rock concert or DJ night. Sometimes there’s a wine tasting event, a Game of Thrones viewing party or a live streaming of Phish. Even weddings and wakes have taken place in the space.
“The top priority is to give people the best experience possible, to give the best show here,” says Bryan Schrumpf, in-house LD for both ACL Live and 3TEN. Through his Austin company, Go Show Pro, Schrumpf staffs both venues with lighting professionals.
Flexibility was the starting point of the 2,700 square foot indoor event space and its 700 square foot outdoor patio area. Anything installed needed to comply with ACL venue’s LEED certification, which considers the building’s energy and materials conservation. The lighting and video system also had to reconfigure quickly with minimal turnaround time.
Interior architect Heather Plimmer sought out help from Schrumpf on the lighting specs, and Schrumpf turned to Austin-based Olden Lighting — specifically LD Walter Olden — for help with product demos in considering his equipment choices. Roy Kircher and Zach Richards of Big House Sound focused on audio/video specs. Barbizon Lighting handled the final installation.
“Our LEED certification is a bonus,” Schrumpf says, referring to the “green building” guidelines. “When we can, we use an LED rather than a traditional lamp source. It’s easier to find those solutions now with all the technology on the market.”
“Industrial Chic”
In its early days, Schrumpf admits to some “wild ideas” of how the space could be tricked out with technology. “I originally had digital lights; went crazy with content. We talked about projecting on an outdoor screen. It became apparent that we needed to keep it simple,” he says. “It needed to be appealing. I think we accomplished that.”
The decor is simple — call it industrial chic. But it’s not stark. There are lush velvets, leather and dark hardwood appointments in the VIP and Green Room areas, where atmospheric lighting emanates from a few vintage Edison bulb fixtures. Both rooms also feature 65-inch Samsung LED/LCD displays.
A focal point in the space is the LED wall, which measures nine by 16 feet (HxW). It’s made from 60 of Chauvet’s 3mm PVP X3 video screen panels, and it’s permanently installed behind the stage. Besides accompanying a band or adding special images to a corporate event, it can live stream any event, including a show happening in the ACL Live venue upstairs.
Taking the place of a rig is a crisscross grid of black pipes, which serve as trussing all across the ceiling. This allows lights to move anywhere in the room.
To ensure he’s got sufficient light for television broadcasts if needed, Schrumpf selected ETC Source Four Series 2 LED Ellipsoidal fixtures with zoom lenses. The fixtures serve as key or front light and can focus on anyone or anything in the room. A dozen ETC Desire D40s shine as color toners on the columns. Houselights include eight LightSource RGB Fresnel houselights and 20 Altman MF4 Track LEDs on Altman SmartTrack.
Regarding stage lighting, it was “a given” that they would consider High End Systems products, Schrumpf says, as the locally based manufacturer has long been a sponsor of the “Austin City Limits” TV show and has gear installed in the ACL venue. From HES they chose LED fixtures: 12 SolaSpot Pro CMY and 14 SolaWash 19 fixtures. The fixtures allow for positioning and color control and can be used as backlighting, effect lighting or supplemental architectural elements. A High End Systems Axon HD Pro media server allows for digital content on the LED screen.
For architectural accent lighting, they went with 118 G2 cove lights from Ketra, an Austin start-up company. Schrumpf pixel mapped them and runs video through them as well to complement the theatrical lighting. He can also program them to change colors or intensity along with the changing conditions in daylight.
Moss LED tape highlights six other areas, including planters on the patio and bottles in the bar. “The only non-LED lights are a couple of picture frame lights and two brass bar lamps,” Schrumpf points out.
A User-Friendly Setup
For control, Schrumpf chose a RoadHog 4 console with wing for the live events, while a RackHog 4 handles the architectural lighting. Schrumpf also has an easier control system for those non-lighting staffers. Holding up an AMX touchlink tablet, he points to buttons that feature programmed lighting looks which he’s assigned to touchscreen numbers.
When the marketing team wants to demo the space for a client, or turn on lighting for an impromptu event, they can easily do so without having to call on Schrumpf and a lighting team.
“When Prince died, that very night we held a Prince Tribute here,” Schrumpf explains. “A manager could hit a button, turn the lights purple, play Prince videos on the LED screen, open the bar and cut down on overhead by not needing a lighting staff in here. It was last-minute and successful.”
The AMX touchlink may also come in handy for a new client as well, Schrumpf says. “A church just signed a contract to hold its Sunday service here for the next two years. We can put in a worship or band look on the AMX touchscreen for them or they could bring in their own lighting guy and I can teach him the console.”
They may need to drape off the bar area for that one. But then again, with their flexibility, everything is possible.
3TEN in Austin
Gear
- 1 RoadHog 4 console w/ wing
- 1 RackHog 4 console
- 12 HES SolaSpot Pro CMY fixtures
- 14 HES SolaWash 19 fixtures
- 10 ETC Source Four Series 2 LED Ellipsoidals
- 12 ETC Desire D40 fixtures
- 8 LightSource RGB 120W Fresnel houselights
- 20 Altman MF4 LEDs on Altman Smart-Track
- 118 Ketra G2 Cove LEDs
- Moss LED tape
- 60 Chauvet PVP X3X1 LED panels
- 65” Samsung LED/LCD displays (VIP/Green Rooms)
- 1 HES Axon media server HD Pro w/ DMX control
- 1 Blackmagic Design Smart Videohub (20×20 6G-SDI)
- 1 Blackmagic Design MultiView 16
- 2 Chauvet VIP LED drivers
- 1 AMX NetLinx NX-3200
- 1 Pathway DMX Repeater
- 2 AMX touch screens
- 1 ETC Net3 ACN Gateway
- 1 ETC Sensor IQ system
- 1 Le Maitre MVS Hazer
For more on 3TEN in Austin, go to www.3TENAustin.com.
