Designer Sam Parry chose to push the limits of academy touring production with the latest in hardware and software technology from Ayrton and grandMA with Sea Girls’ latest touring campaign in support of the chart topping Midnight Butterflies record. With an aim to experiment with the newest technology manufacturers had to offer, the creative decision was made to avoid conventional LED wall and instead drive large format, pixel mappable lighting fixture with video content hosted directly within the grandMA3 software, no media server required.
“grandMA3 is really leaping ahead in the video hosting and control field,” Parry remarks, referencing previous experience with video innovation and its influence on this choice. “Hosting video content locally within the console and having the ability to drive the fixtures directly without the need for a third party piece of software, media server or gimmick to replicate the content for the show in a live environment makes the programming process slick and easy. On top of that, the live NDI input option makes taking this show out to festival environments all the more seamless.”
Remarking on the improvements made to the MA recipe system and workflow, Parry noted that switching the hosting on video content to an external media server would remain a simple process. “That’s really the beauty of this workflow; changing source for content will have everything updated with ease.”
The challenge of using the quantity of high output fixtures for the pixel mapped element for the tour was overcome with Ayrton’s new Kyalami and Rivale fixtures, supplied through Cardiff production house SR Production Services, a long time collaborator with the designer.
“Everything needed to punch,” he indicates. “There’s enough output in just this floor package to make an arena blush, so any beam and spot fixtures we used had to keep up and keep up consistently.”
Parry heaps particular praise on Rivale, used at front of house to emphasise the band’s new branding and artwork. “Ot’s easy to fill a stage with video production or huge beautiful backdrops and get impact that way – but what about when you want to go the other way, what about when you want something to stand out as a singular piece, almost outside the bounds of the show – that’s what we wanted to try and do with the new butterfly artwork and branding for this show. My thinking was treating it almost like the Bat Signal, a beacon for the fans and audience to reach out and touch in the darkness, build the anticipation until the show kicks in and to hold the atmosphere between moments in the set. Rivale delivered on that in spades, even at times where rigging was at a way greater distance than planned, it always gave us the punch we needed.” Using a custom gobo and the Rivale’s animation wheel, Parry was able to give life and texture to the static backdrop at various points in the show.
Kyalami was equally showered with positivity, particularly at Brixton Academy where the venue height allowed them to reach their full potential. “They are killer units which absolutely pack a punch,” Parry notes. “You have to admire a fixture in a chassis of this type producing the kinds of beam it can. The big winner for me was the prism effects which fill space really well; get them all rotating and you could be walking down the iconic 007 gun barrel opening moment.”
Commenting on the future of the product, Parry is hoping to see the technology allow for even more brightness in the saturated colour space. “I am very excited to see what generation 2 and the latest advances in laser technology can do when it comes to deeper colour tones. Now we have all these products out there, the innovations will keep coming and the more exciting these products will be. I love how much Ayrton is utilising laser based fixtures, it can only keep getting better.”
In his final remarks on collaboration with Ayrton and grandMA, Parry is clearly excited to experiment and push what both manufacturers have to offer at all levels. “I’ve always endeavoured to take the bull by the horns and test the latest the industry has to offer, in often the most ludicrous ways I can think of. Challenging both myself and the technology to hand has its risks but taking those risks is what leads to further innovation. I know after training so many young and up-coming designers over the years that I’m often looked to to see what can be done – I hope that by continuing to prove that you can do wildly fantastic things in even the smallest environments that it will keep inspiring new innovations and new ideas.”
Tipping his proverbial hat to the software developers and product designers he concludes, “Without great minds developing at the bleeding edge of the products, there wouldn’t be the plethora of options, choices, and methods of creative expression that we have in this field. grandMA3 is really on the edge of a complete creative control system.”
