Based in San Diego, California, turnkey production design studio and rental company Maktive says it is “dedicated to bringing the GLP fixture experience to the masses.” The company has been quick to back up this pledge by ordering large quantities of the German company’s latest generation of IP65-rated fixtures, all on the advanced X5 platform.
When it “blind purchased” 150 of the new JDC2 IPs after seeing prototypes at the LDI booth last November, it became its single largest investment in one type of fixture. And by then it had already bought 100 each of the impression X5 IP Bar 1000 and FUSION by GLP Exo Beam 10s, as well as 50 of the new impression X5 IP Maxx.
The IP fixtures already serve the company well in all elements, as they travel coast-to-coast during the outdoor event season. But Bryan McClanahan, who set up the partnership with Patrick Randall in 2009, knows that with the commonality of GLP’s advanced iQ.Gamut algorithm, they can guarantee. “We are always keen to match our chipsets to create homogenous colour tones,” he says.
Such has been the growth of Maktive, both with its own creative projects and the demands of their pool of production designer clients, he says that “whereas in the past we would buy, say, 24 of each product, we realised we had to start buying fixtures in the 100 counts to be competitive and service both our needs and those of LDs across the United States.”
McClanahan will extol the virtues of the JDC2 IP endlessly. “We knew we could get really creative with them,” he states. “There are so many variables that are seemingly controllable. We understood right away that the DigiFX are, in essence, digital gobos that you can run in 127 channel mode, and manipulate them no differently than a moving head. So it clicked for us the second we saw them.
“A lot of companies had been trying to figure out how to make video work on their products,” he continues, “using complex array video mapping software run through NDI, whereas the JDC2 IP has visual effects built-in alongside NDI integration. And so our idea was to put it on as many shows as possible, even shows that didn’t necessarily have the JDC2’s slated for them.”
In addition to being a creative design house in its own right, Maktive’s rental business works in tandem with LDs nationwide. “We placed a [JDC2 IP] at front of house, so when LDs came for their programming window, we could show them how the light worked, and they could see how easy it was to use,” explains McClanahan. “Many were expecting us to have a laptop and asking how it could be routed. And I’d say, ‘Yes, it’s an option and your VJ could control it if you don’t want to’, but with the 100 built-in presets, once they’d figured it out, they said they had no intention of letting VJs control it.”
DoLaB’s inventive ‘MACROdose mushroom’ stage at Coachella became the first deployment, while further units travelled to Texas Eclipse for the total solar eclipse celebration (which took place simultaneously). Here Maktive worked with Berlin-based design team Projector 3000, where the fixtures were at the forefront of the design. “In fact that was a five-show weekend for us, with five PMs, and it was impressive that we were able to pull it off,” says McClanahan.
From there they lit international DJ Solomun in an event at the PanAm Pavilion in San Francisco. “Our Solomun show was another ‘pinch us’ moment, in that we realised we could light the entire show exclusively with GLP – all the FX we needed were achievable with one brand,” he continues. McClanahan notes how the touring landscape has changed: “Covid has shaken the way that EDM artists are touring. They are focusing more on one-offs and tours aren’t making as much sense.
“That said, PRG actually took almost our whole order of impression X5 IP Bars for a good six months with Post Malone; it’s pretty exciting when some of these larger behemoths turn to us when they have these tours.” Maktive acquired the X5 IP Bars in October, “since when we’ve not been able to keep them on the shelves. The fact they are IP and a brighter 40W fixture, with a really tight beam angle, made it our choice.”
GLP became a brand that Maktive wanted to prioritise after the success of the JDC1, when they were able to join a networked community, says McClanahan: “But in the new ecosystem – trying to adapt to new norms and budget restrictions – the fact that JDC2 IP emulates video presents a very different proposition.
“[JDC2 IP] becomes a video tool as well if you use NDI
. And because of this, the fixture can help alleviate budgetary needs when an artist requires video for a show but can’t afford to have a VJ and video panels. The JDC2 allows us to give the illusion of video being part of a show but still controlled by the LD. It allows us to break through to these projects which was a big selling point. We can deploy it as video as well as lighting, and with no steep learning curve.” McClanahan continues: “Within a narrow programming window, LDs have been able to pick up the DigiFX quickly and implement it next day which we think is incredible; a light that’s going to have video needs to be that easy to use.”
Despite its desire to integrate a common chipset into shows, Maktive still evaluated the market when seeking the ideal washlight, he says: “We realised that the impression X5 IP Maxx does a couple of things very well: it fits in pre-rig truss, which not a lot of the other big LED washes do, and it’s an incredibly bright washlight. An unexpected bonus is when it zooms all the way down to its narrowest it actually doubles as a beam fixture. We’ve never had a washlight be that strong and tight at 3.5° before.”
But as Maktive moves further into the sports space with its lighting creativity, it arguably had the most challenging deployment when soccer rivals LA Galaxy and LA FC moved their grudge match on 4th July to the iconic 96,400-cap. Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena.
And when Dutch DJ Afrojack played the halftime show at the match there were no fewer than 100 JDC2 IP in a 360° ground surround. “Between the LA Galaxy game and Freedom Fest in San Diego at the same time, the full fleet of JDC2 IP were in action over that weekend,” concludes Bryan McClanahan. “It’s now so in demand, as we’ve really hyped it up to our clients. We believe the light is something spectacular. It’s the new eye candy … the next toy to bring excitement to the stage!”
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