Transformation Church in Tulsa, OK, has recently had a complete redesign of the lighting rig in its 4,000-seat main auditorium, which was created and delivered by 46 Entertainment of Nashville, TN, a team of engineers and technical creatives specializing in event production, design and management. At the center of the current production lighting design is a 40ft diameter circular truss on a six-axis Kinesys automation system, which is rigged with 64 equidistantly spaced Robe LEDBeam 350s.
“Transformation Church has been a client of 46 Entertainment for the last 13 months,” explained project manager, Noah Wilbanks.
They work with 46 to reimagine the lighting and technical design every 6 months or so; a task that is achieved utilizing a collection of the church’s own kit purchased from different companies over the years, together with some rental items as required for the specific current design.
Live streaming has become an essential aspect of Transformation Church’s immersive Sunday Service and Worship sessions, which are known for their high production values. The streams are also posted on YouTube (sometimes getting up to half a million views in the following days) so there is a definite need to keep the look and style of the presentations fresh and evolving.
The LEDBeam 350s were already owned by the church, while the circular trussing sections were rented in for the occasion, to support 46’s spectacular design which is flown above the stage and can pitch and tilt into a dynamic array of positions due to the automation.
The lights are in action every Sunday, occasionally on Monday nights and often a couple of other times during the week.
Positioning the LEDBeam 350s into a flown circle, complete with plenty of back and key lighting, created a captivating environment for the live audience as well as a modern studio look for the broadcasts.
A large upstage LED video wall dominates the stage, so Noah and the 46 team thought the LEDBeam 350s would be ideal in this format and punchy enough to stand out against the high amount of ambient light coming off the screen.
“The LEDBeam 350 is a perfect luminaire for this,” Noah notes. “It’s a highly versatile fixture with a nice tight beam and thanks to the great zoom, also produces a nice wash. You can create some gorgeous effects, and that was the idea here, together with the shape and movement of the circle,” added Noah.
He is also impressed with the speed of the fixture and their impact as fly-out, spinning or effects fixtures. “They are simply very powerful and compact fixtures at a great price.”
The room is around 215 feet wide by 180 feet deep, with about 50 feet of headroom, so it is a large space to fill, but the circular design has a great overall presence.
In addition to the LEDBeam 350s, the church also has 46 x Anolis Divine 160 LED architectural luminaires which are scattered around the auditorium ceiling to provide house lighting, including colored and atmospheric mood looks for walk-ins and interval states.
Lighting control is a grandMA3 full size, and there are approximately 300 other lighting fixtures in the rig.
Noah and his team worked in close consultation with Transformation Church’s technical director, Keithan Carrol, on the design and implementation.
Photos: courtesy The Transformation Church
