The Winnipeg Jets ice hockey team is utilizing 12 of ADJ’s high output Vizi Beam 12RX moving heads to create impact as players make their entrance into the rink for home games. Arranged in a tight circle around the entrance tunnel, the fixtures generate piercing beam effects which fill the arena and help to enhance the pre-game atmosphere for fans and players alike.
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional Canadian ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. As a member of the North Division of the National Hockey League (NHL)’s Western Conference, the Jets play their home games at the Canada Life Centre. The team has a dedicated fan base and is known for high-energy games. The Jets strive to provide an exciting and engaging in-game experience for both their fans and players.
Each summer, the Jets’ marketing department makes plans for the upcoming season, coming up with ideas for enhancing the atmosphere at home games. This year, the Jets’ marketing team wanted to enhance the player’s pre-game entrance from the tunnel, starting with the first home game of the season, to make it more exciting for both the fans and the players themselves. The Jets organization needed a reliable lighting solution that would create a dynamic and powerful visual display to introduce the players as they make their way from the locker room to the ice.
Specializing in creating dynamic lighting effects for events, Winnipeg-based Light Energy Productions was tasked with finding the solution. The company proposed using the ADJ Vizi Beam 12RX, a powerful and versatile moving head beam fixture, supplied by ADJ’s Canadian Distributor, SFM. Jason Glass, owner of Light Energy Productions, who also serves as the Jets’ Lighting Designer, knew that ADJ’s extremely popular Vizi Series of high output beam fixtures would provide the perfect solution for creating the required impact. The flagship Vizi Beam 12RX model harnesses the power of a 260W Philips® Platinum 12R LL lamp resulting in an extremely high intensity beam, which made it the ideal solution for the job. As Glass explains, “the Vizi Beams really lent themselves well to the project at hand in terms of lighting players’ intros, due their powerful output, which is great for large scale events.”
All 12 of the Vizi Beam 12RX units were installed around a circular floor-standing truss, positioned in front of the players’ pre-game entrance tunnel and the results are impressive. The lighting effects are synced perfectly with the music and other audio, creating an immersive and engaging atmosphere as the players make their way from the locker room to the rink. In addition to powerful beams, vibrant colors enhance the overall experience thanks to the fixture’s striking cool white beam with its native color temperature of 7800K, combined with a choice of 14 dichroic filters mounted on a fully indexed independent wheel. With the ADJ Vizi Beam 12RX, the Jets were able to add a new level of excitement to the player’s entrance, making it a ‘must see’ moment for fans. “The effects on the Vizi Beam 12RX are really great through the multiple prism patterns and colors,’’ enthuses Glass. “They are also easy to program and control, so they were the perfect choice.’’
With a razor-sharp 2-degree beam angle, the Vizi Beam 12RX has been fully optimized for creating impressive mid-air beam effects. It also offers a versatile collection of onboard beam-shaping tools, which allow for a vast variety of different looks to be achieved. The fixture’s GOBO wheel is loaded with 16 static metal patterns (including four beam reducers) that have been carefully selected for the creation of mid-air beam effects. Other features include both 24-facet circular and 6-facet linear rotating prisms, a frost filter and CTO + CTB color correction filters. Despite its impressive light output, the Vizi Beam 12RX remains a compact and lightweight fixture. This makes the head a nimble mover, allowing it to quickly spin through its full 540-degrees of pan range and 270-degrees of tilt range. Meanwhile, 16-bit fine stepper motor control means that the unit is also capable of extremely smooth slow sweeping movements and precise static positioning.
The ADJ Vizi Beam 12RX proved to be a perfect solution for the Jets. Its powerful beams and vibrant colors create immersive and memorable experiences for both the fans and the players. At the same time, its power, speed, versatility, and easy control options, made it the obvious choice for Glass and Light Energy Productions.
Event: Winnipeg Jets 2022-23 Season Home Games
Lighting Designer: Jason Glass
Lighting Vendor: Light Energy Productions
ADJ Canadian Distributor: SFM
Further information from SFM: www.sfm.ca
Gear List
12 ADJ Vizi Beam 12RX
Further information from ADJ: www.adj.com
