Impress Audio & Lighting was recently appointed as the AV supplier for Aquinas College in Ringwood, Melbourne. Apart from 18 x ShowPRO LED PAR Quad-18 fixtures, the college had not had an upgrade in their theatre for quite some time so the guys at Impress immediately set about modernising the venue.
The College’s Theatre Manager, Maryanne Leavey, was eager to achieve an all LED rig and for the first time ever, she wanted moving lights so Aaron Barfoot, who is owner and director of Impress along with his brother Jordan, recommended Ayrton Diablos and ShowPro Pluto 800 washes.
“Maryanne and the college decided on a couple of Ayrton Diablos for their FOH bar because they really wanted the fixture’s shaper system to help them with their front wash,” commented Aaron. “Obviously that’s what they were designed to do so they were a great fit for them! The Diablo is bright and also quite lightweight which is good because the lighting bars they have are quite old and can’t take a lot of weight.”
Diablo is a versatile, feature-rich 300 W profile luminaire with a record output of 19,000 lumens and a total weight of only 21.8 kg. Its framing section allows accurate positioning of its four shutter blades on a 100% surface area in all positions.
For general wash, the college decided upon nine ShowPRO Pluto 800 washes each comprised of three 40W RGBW LEDs which can be individually controlled.
“Instead of having to buy nine profiles to do the traditional nine spots for dance shows they wanted a fixture that could also be a wash,” said Aaron. “The Pluto 800 was perfect for what they required and worked really well with their trim height. They’re a great fixture, the client is really happy with them as are all the dance shows and theatre companies that have been in the venue.”
Aaron also recommended six ShowPRO LED Fresnel RGBAL DMX Zoom, three ShowPRO Fresnel 50, six ShowPRO LED Profile FCs and one Pharos 50 Profile. The RGBAL Fresnels and Profiles leverage the power of RGBAL (lime) LEDs to boost the lumen output for white and lighter colours. The fixtures can be used for colour washing from the front wash bar seven metres from the stage.
“Dance schools had asked for the ability to do face colour and this was the best option,” added Aaron. “The ShowPRO Fresnels and Profiles are great fixtures and we’re fitting them into a few schools.”
Aaron reports that the school is extremely happy with the new lighting rig especially taking into account the amount of money they spent on the install. The clients that hire the venue are even happier to now have moving lights – a big step up from the rig being all one channel dimmer with no movement or colour!
