AUS – Showtech Australia is one of a growing number of companies investing in and using Kinesys automation products regularly in both their day-to-day and custom work. The company was founded in 1987 by Tiny Good with headquarters in Braeside, Victoria, and a satellite office in Hong Kong – to serve the growing Asian market.
More details from Kinesys (www.kinesysusa.com):
Showtech Australia specializes in entertainment rigging, staging, automation, flying effects, technical and ‘uncommon’ services, applying expert knowledge and imagination to the intriguing world of motion control.
Tiny was already familiar with Kinesys products before he committed to the purchases, as they had been working regularly with Kinesys elements … “basically I knew the power and scope of the Vector system, so I was confident it was the right choice,” stated Tiny.
They have been purchasing and utilizing Kinesys products regularly for the last five years.
As a busy production facility, it reached a stage where owning a reliable and flexible brand which could be used as standard for all projects made sense … and the first purchase was the Kinesys Velocity drives, Vector control and a Mentor E-stop interface, which they used in combination with their existing Zero Fleet AC winches.
Their Vector control system was installed in a bespoke console, complete with 15 inch touch screen, the Vector keypad, E-Stop and DMH, all incorporated in one easy to use and transport box.
Other subsequent Kinesys investments have included LibraCELLs, more Velocity Drives, DigiHoist , mini Array PDES, Vector console, Liftket 1 tonne motors and Elevation 1+ drives … “and there will be more coming” confirms Tiny.
Tiny reckons the DigiHoist is “one of the best and most powerful fixed speed controllers on the market and great value for money” with features like digital communications, limit monitoring, load and position feedback and group halt functionality.
Vector is “a great piece of control software that’s powerful, user-friendly and straightforward to teach people in terms of operating a basic show, as well as being extremely stable and reliable”.
Showtech has proudly been engaged and worked with many producers within Australia and internationally to produce both complex and simple motion and aerial scenarios for shows and events with their Vector system.
Along with Showtech’s growth of shows requiring automation and motion control comes the need for training new operators and Tiny has taught the system to several key personnel who are now operators in their own right.
LibraCELL and DigiHoist are regularly used by Showtech to ensure real-time monitoring of the hoist loads.
Tiny believes that LibraCELL and DigiHoist will become increasingly common in the concert, event and touring sectors, especially when video walls are concerned, which is something they are pushing to make mandatory in Australia, especially when involving more than three support hoists.
The support they receive from Kinesys is “really great” despite the difficulties of being in an opposite time zone and together with recent expansions at Kinesys USA this has become “even easier”.
Tiny observes that flying and automation, be it a person, lighting, video or other production elements, is becoming more popular within Australia and Asia, and in fact across the world, live audiences are expecting more spectacle and WOW factors now than they did a decade ago. Producers therefore have more creative options for making live shows visually and physically exciting… with automation playing a massive part
Automation is on the increase in theatres and venues due to enhanced safety and repeatability … and with all of this maturation, “we need more emphasis generally on automation as a technical skill. It’s not something for which we can simply rely on stage managers or lighting operators to push the button on cue!”
The evolution of the motion control sector of the industry is a hot discussion topic in the rigging community right now and something that Tiny feels Kinesys addresses in its ongoing and forward thinking product development.
Tiny and Showtech are looking forward to the ongoing expansion of their Kinesys inventory and the exciting future of automation and motion control.
