The original Australian Outback Spectacular was the first show of its kind in Australia and the newest production ‘High Country Legends’ takes the unique and exciting evening dinner show to an all new level.
In the new multi-million dollar production, guests experience a captivating journey to the snow peaked mountains of the high country where enchanted whispers and legendary yarns come alive.
“High Country Legends will be the most breathtaking arena show ever produced under the Australian Outback Spectacular roof,” says Shane Phillips, Australian Outback Spectacular General Manager. “The bravery, beauty and courage of the greatest Australian stories never told are brought to life through the biggest display of special effects ever implemented.”
With lighting upgrades to be made, Clint Dulieu, Lighting and Technology Supervisor for Village Roadshow Theme Parks, was the man with the knowledge to wade through technical offerings from a multitude of suppliers – naturally gear from Show Technology featured prominently!
With projection a major component of the show, all media servers were upgraded. Having effectively used coolux media systems for the past five years, Clint wouldn’t think about using anything else as it does everything he needs it to do, reliably and efficiently. The new coolux system drives the main 35 metre wide projection screen which is taken care of by four Barco HD20’s and a double stacked blend.
The old system comprised of three Pandoras Box SERVER PRO, a Pandoras Box SERVER STD and a Pandoras Box Manager. This was reconfigured it to four Pandoras Box SERVER PRO and a Pandoras Box Manager; the Pandoras Box SERVER STD that was previously used to output audio was not required anymore as this can now be done from the Pandoras Box Manager straight into the audio system.
“By adding another Pandoras Box SERVER PRO we have one server per projector whereas before we only had one for two projectors,” explained Clint. “Essentially we upgraded to the latest software and did a complete hardware upgrade.”
Having successfully used Clay Paky fixtures for the previous production, Clint was keen to add more to his rig in the form of additional Clay Paky Alpha 700 Profiles, Sharpys and A.leda Wash K10 CC’s – thus making the rig predominantly Clay Paky.
“We’ve been very happy with the Alphas and Sharpys, which we’ve had over three years, as they have proved to be very reliable and have worked really well for us,” commented Clint. “We also purchased twenty A.leda Wash K10 CC as I like the beam edge quality they deliver. They work well as a narrow beam as well as an even wash. When coupled with the forty-eight Pro Shop LED PAR Quad-18 fixtures, the A.leda’s replace the entire two hundred colour scroller rig of PAR Cans and 2Kw fresnels! They supply the main wash element to the arena really well and have been great. The Quad-18’s fit a good balance between affordability and performance, their output has been great and we’ve had no problems with them.”
According to Clint, the sleeper hit has been a bunch of Martin RUSH MH2 Wash which he states have been fantastic. The RUSH MH2 are situated on the floor around the edge of the arena so every night they get covered with sand, snow and horses try to eat them!
“Whatever we throw at them, they just keep working,” remarked Clint. “They’re punchy, the dimming is nice and they’ve been brilliant. If anyone wants to put a bunch of them in a crappy abusive nightclub venue – go ahead, I don’t think you’ll have any problems.”
There are also four RUSH MH4’s in the rig and although they are only used for one minute of the show, they do a great job!
The new production features a large Wireless Solution’s W-DMX system comprising of a W-DMX™ BlackBox outputting to twenty-four receivers running a multitude of things such as flame effect units, quad bikes, twelve cast members wearing LED costumes and also driving some OEM W-DMX wireless dimmers in a selection of other costumes.
“The W-DMX system has been completely reliable and has delivered great coverage through the venue, we’ve been very happy with it,” added Clint. “We first started using W-DMX seven years ago, and we’ve been adding to the system ever since and it’s never missed a beat. It’s totally rock solid.”
