Ayrton presented a number of new products at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt, exhibiting with its German distributor, Vision Stage, on a ‘double-decker’ stand where this year’s new creations were shown to spectacular effect in a dazzling light show. Designed by Stéphane Migné, the show, featured over 650 fixtures in a 224sqm booth, and culminated in a surprise ending which wowed the crowds who came to see the new creations in action. There were plenty of new and innovative ideas, with no less than nine new products launched.
Yvan Pe´ard, Ayrton’s visionary Chief Design and Technology Officer, delivered an array of innovations which have enlarged the scope of several of the Ayrton ranges: the largest and most efficient optics on the market have been incorporated into the XT range to provide an optimised version designed for large-scale venues; the SX range marks the start of a new series that introduces a zoom capacity to the options available in Ayrton’s product line; and the MagicDot family has been extended to incorporate fixtures to suit all sizes of venue. Ayrton continued to surprise visitors with more new innovations, including the world’s first laser-source automated profile, a MagicPanel fixture with square optics, and the world’s only motorised strobe.
Here’s a run-down of the newest Ayrton fixtures to hit the market:
DreamSpot-18K – profile with a laser source
Unique in appearance and performance, DreamSpot-18K is the world’s first automated, multifunctional, multiple-purpose luminaire with a laser-source. Fitted with an Osram Laser Phaser P6000 phosphor conversion module, DreamSpot-18K is capable of both beam and spot projection and offers an astonishing 18,000 lumen output, in a uniform beam with no hot spots, plus continuous pan and tilt capability.
DreamSpot-18K’s zoom offers a range of 2° to 34° in Beam mode and 6° to 54° in Spot mode. DreamSpot-18K’s monochrome laser emitter is colour calibrated at 5,600°K. It offers a CMY subtractive colour mixing system and a wheel of 13 standard colours that includes four levels of CTO correction. Effects include fixed and rotating gobos, an iris, a dynamic effects wheel, rotating prisms, and diffusion filters.
IntelliPix-XT – Ayrton slims it down to 2°
IntelliPix-XT has nine ultra-powerful, low-profile, RGBW multichip LED emitters, arrayed in a 3×3 matrix, that produce an intense, sharp, coherent parallel shaft of light over a long throw distance. Each individually controlled emitter is coupled with Ayrton’s new proprietary 126 mm diameter optics – the biggest and most efficient on the market – to deliver a 2° full beam with a record-breaking centre-beam luminous intensity of 580 candelas per lumen. The combination of emitter and 126mm optics with a next-generation power supply unit results in over 95% efficiency, ensuring the fixture can run continuously at full power without any loss of performance, says Ayrton. IntelliPix-XT can be used alone or to create large-dimension 3D volumetric lighting effects in motion.
MagicDot-XT – far reaching power
MagicDot-XT is an amplified version of the MagicDot-R with the same minimalist design, a similar circular footprint, and all the features, but with a more powerful punch designed to suit long throw applications. Like IntelliPix-XT, MagicDot-XT is equipped with the new Ayrton proprietary 126mm diameter collimator that distinguishes the ‘XT’ product line. Weighing in at 550g, this new high-efficiency lens is the world’s largest collimator which, when coupled with an ultra-powerful RGBW emitter, enables MagicDot-XT to project a 2° beam with centre beam efficiency of 580 candelas per lumen. MagicDot-XT’s ultra-tight, fat beam is impressive over distances in larger venues where it can generate the sharpest of light curtain effects.
MagicDot-SX – The 8:1 Zoom-Dot
The compact MagicDot-SX is a hybrid version of MagicDot-R, with the added features of a zoom capability and Lumen Radio wireless connectivity. The newly developed 8:1 optical zoom has a fixed transmitting lens, no visible moving parts and an incredible zoom range of 5° to 40°. The short stroke of the zoom system permits MagicDot-SX to switch from intense Beam mode to sweeping Wash mode virtually instantaneously.
MagicDot-SX has the identical physical dimensions and transmitting lens diameter as its MagicDot-R sibling and is capable of the same ultra-quick infinite rotation, which makes it the most compact washlight and fastest zoom moving head on the market. MagicDot-SX delivers up to 75% optical efficiency and has great compatibility and graphical interactivity with MagicDot-R when used in combination, resulting in incredible new visual compositions.
MagicBlade-SX – Pure power and versatility
MagicBlade-SX is a cousin of the successful, award-winning MagicBlade-R with five individually controllable, ultra-powerful RGBW LED emitters and a zoom function. The new state-of-the-art zoom has a 10:1 ratio giving a wide zoom range of 4° to 40°, partnered with smooth movement, and continuous, infinite pan and tilt rotation. The zoom has no visible moving parts and is fronted by a 94mm diameter fixed frontal lens – the same as MagicDot-SX – to generate five fat beams that can be zoomed to increase the visual impact while creating volumetric effects.
MagicBlade-SX is ideal as a shaped wash light for lighting musicians on stage, or for use as footlights to create washes on the audience or artist.
MagicPanel-FX – 25 mysterious windows conjure both 2D and 3D effects
MagicPanel-FX is an exciting new multi-function luminaire which marks another step in the evolution of the MagicPanel family. The front face comprises a 5 x 5 array of new squared lenses which offer exciting new possibilities for the creation of 2D graphical effects and extraordinary new 3D volumetric effects.
A revolutionary new proprietary optical zoom system, with no visible external moving parts, gives a zoom range of 3.5° to 52°. MagicPanel-FX zoom optics can project a solid beam that initially appear round, but then squares off as it separates into a stunning patchwork of colours. The unit is capable of projecting everything from tight shafts of light to a wide wash, making it ideal for pixelmapping, as a powerful special effects projector, and as a wash light.
With the same dimensions as the DreamPanel family and MagicBurst, MagicPanel-FX has multiplied the creative potential of these amazingly original families of fixtures.
MagicBurst – Ayrton’s spinning 240,000 lumen strobe
MagicBurst is the industry’s first high-power graphic LED strobe with continuous, unlimited, rotation on the pan and tilt axes – and the first strobe unit to be produced by Ayrton.
A 384 x 384 mm squared face supports 3,840 high-output white LEDs grouped into 64 pixels on an 8 x 8 matrix. MagicBurst’s new ultra-compact 1,300 Watt power supply can deliver peak light output of over 240,000 lumens – perfectly calibrated at 5600K – for several seconds, and put them into continuous rotation.
The strobe duration, speed and intensity of each LED pixel group can be individually controlled, and individual sections controlled to create graphic arrays. There is also a library of fixed images and pre-programmed dynamic effects.
MagicBurst’s standardized format allows it to be combined in arrays with Ayrton’s MagicPanel-FX, or with Imaging Display units like DreamPanel Shift and DreamPanel Twin, for breathtaking results.
Wildsun-S25 – Powerful Stadium Colour
WildSun-S25 is the colour-mixing cousin of the WildSunK25 wash light, packing 217 highly efficient RGBW LED emitters into a compact moving head and punching out 60,000 lumens of light – equivalent to a 4K HMI.
It offers a zoom range of 10° to 60° and six independently controllable segments of 36 LEDs. Its four-colour mixing emitters combine with a holographic filter on the output, which optimises the colour mix and protects the fixture under extreme conditions, for example, the dust and sand in multisport venues. The transmitting lens is equipped with an integrated honeycomb ‘egg crate’ louvre to prevent unwanted off-axis glare.
Wildsun-S25 is the most powerful RGBW fixture on the market and ideal for spreading magnificent pastels, saturated colours and sheer power over the long throw distances of concert halls, stadiums and festivals.
AlienPix-RS – Eight continuous rotation axes and six extraordinary beams
AlienPix-RS is a unique, multi-rotational fixture, inspired by those from the ’70s and ’80s, which uses modern technology, optics and LED sources to combines a multiplicity of effects within a single luminaire. A tight, 3.5° RGBW LED central emitter, with a centre-beam luminous intensity of over 180 candelas per lumen, is surrounded by five individually controllable beams, each of which can tilt continuously as the main saucer pans, tilts and rotates in any direction. In total AlienPix-RS can simultaneously perform up to eight multidirectional continuous rotations.
The raft of new products launched at the show, and the volume of visitors who continually crowded the stand for the four days, confirm the established reputation of Ayrton as a company known for developing only original and innovative products. “Ayrton continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of technological innovation – in optics, electronics, mechanics, and heat dissipation – and, this year, Ayrton’s R&D team has excelled itself in pushing the boundaries of imagination. Ayrton’s new fixtures mark a breakthrough in the history of the company, which once again has introduced completely new concepts, from scratch, in order to surprised its clients and visitors to the show,” the company says.
‘It has been fabulous to exhibit with Vision Stage, in one of Ayrton’s most active and successful markets, and to hear the reactions of our distributors and customers to the new products,” says Ayrton’s International Sales Manager, Valère Huart. “The stand was full and busy – on both levels – for the four days of the show, with customers eager to take the new products, and their capabilities, back to their home markets. It is Ayrton’s mission to present new technology, ideas and inspiration for lighting designers and it is very satisfying to see the enthusiasm with which the latest products have been received. We are very happy with the result.”
Video footage of the Prolight+Sound booth show can be seen via Ayrton’s website and a conversation with lighting designer Stéphane Migné, who is responsible for designing most of Ayrton’s famous demo videos alongside programmer, Arnaud Pierrel, can be read in the latest issue of AyrtonLIVE magazine which will be downloadable soon on the Ayrton website at www.ayrton.eu
Australian Distributor: TLC Global http://www.tlcglobal.lighting/
