AC says that DBN was not actively looking to purchase a new lighting desk, but upon reading about the Jands Vista thought it was the first really interesting desk in a long time and therefore warranted a demo to their team of lighting designers. According to DBN, the whole team was excited by the Vista, feeling that the ground breaking desk offered a new type of user interface which would allow them to either make significant savings in show programming time or program much more complex shows in the allotted time.
DBN director and lighting designer, Pete Robinson said: "As soon as I saw the desk I knew that I had to use it on this show instead of my current desk, as the Vista's unique timeline features fitted perfectly with the requirements of my design. It's the most exciting development in lighting in the last 15 years bar none (even rotating gobos in moving lights!). It's just such a different way of working and just makes the job of lighting design so much easier . . . I intend to use Vista on all my future shows. Our directors all design their own shows and all mean to use the Vista in the future as well, so we're certainly going to buy another one."
The show in question was for DBN client and production company Reflex Communications, who were providing the set for a standalone meeting in Barcelona for 1200 psychiatrists hosted by AstraZeneca - one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.
Similarly, during a demo of the new Chroma-Q Color Block, the quality of colour depth of blue produced by the units was more than any other LED product in DBN's rental stock. Impressed by the superior colour mixing options the product offered and also the brightness of the fixtures, Robinson used 60 Color Blocks on the show as well.
The set was lit by a combination of moving head and colour-mixing LED fixtures, including three curved spines backlit with Color Blocks shining onto rear projection material. Pete found that because he could split the Color Blocks into single block battens, he could follow the curves of the spines really smoothly for an even dispersion - something which wouldn't have been possible with fixed-length battens. Equally, Pete found that by using the Vista to control the Color Blocks, he was able to programme complex colour sequences very quickly which would have taken far longer to programme on other desks in their rental stock.
(Lee Baldock)
