San Diego Comic-Con is just about here, and we at MattyCollector.com wanted to share a little pre-Comic-Con show-stopper with you! Check out the amazing DC Universe Classics Wonder Twins package that features lights and sounds you gotta see to believe!
Posts Tagged ‘Sound’
Video of new DCUC Wonder Twins packaging w/lights and sound
Sunday, September 5th, 2010The 107 Club, Crawley, Sussex, UK – Sound & Lighting Installation
Sunday, June 6th, 2010When we first visited the site for the 107 Club it was simple an empty shell. It was difficult to picture how it would be transformed into a fully functioning sussex nightclub, but after three months of hard work the venue opened its doors to the public with great success. The brief was straightforward: High quality sound and an impressive nightclub lighting show to match. The 107 Club’s Sound System Starting with the sound system, we opted for a sound system by Funktion One. Renowned for their high quality and visually impressive systems, we felt that Funktion One would offer the most suitable system for the venue. On the dancefloor the sound system comprised of four Funktion One Res2SH speakers flown from the ceiling, with two Funktion One F221 twin 21” bass bins. The Funktion One Res2SH speakers offer a fairly narrow dispersion, which allowed us to concentrate the sound on the dancefloor area, without spilling out too much into the bar areas. The speakers were powered by two MC² amplifiers, the E25 and E45. These were in turn controlled by an XTA DP424 system processor and an XTA C2 compressor limiter, with a Formula Sound FF6000 mixer in the DJ booth. The peripheral sound (surround in-fill system) was slightly more complex, with 7 additional separately defined areas. Firstly, there were four individual VIP rooms, each requiring its own volume control. For these a Bose system was specified, giving a high sound quality from compact enclosures. The first three rooms utilised the Bose DS100 surface mount speakers, with the last room having a Bose Freespace 3 system. Each room was also fitted with a Cloud RL1 remote volume control unit, allowing the customers to control the volume in their own room’s independently. Next were the upstairs and downstairs bars, and the secondary dancefloor. For these areas we opted for a number of (EV) Electrovoice ZX1 speakers. Powered by QSC GX3 and GX5 amplifiers, these speakers offered a perfect solution of good quality but not overpowering sound for the peripheral areas. The 107 Club’s Nightclub Lighting System Moving on to the lighting system, we had the challenge of creating something impressive but unique, in order to give the venue a way of standing head and shoulders above its competitors. With its fairly high roof, the 107 Club was a perfect candidate for an LED ceiling. After a few discussions and alterations, it was decided that we would construct the custom LED matrix to run the whole length of the ceiling, and down one of the walls, opposite the DJ box. Covering a total area of 90 square metres, this would provide one of the most impressive nightclub lightshows in the area. The ceiling itself was made up of 1850 RGB LEDs, covering the 18m long and 5m wide area. Each of the LEDs is individually controllable, allowing us to create an almost infinite array of patters, graphics and effects. Within the area of the LED ceiling, we also fitted a number of conventional nightclub lighting effects to add even more impact to the lightshow. These comprised of 8 Robe ClubSpot 300 CT moving heads, and 8 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes. Also added were two custom UK built 300mW green lasers, a Martin Club Fog system and a Martin AF-1 fan to distribute the smoke. To light the stage area, two Robe ClubWash 300 CT moving heads were fitted, and two additional Robe ClubSpot 300 CTs were placed over the secondary dancefloor. Peripheral LED lighting was also added, with 48 Octostip LED battons placed in the bar area and edging the balcony. Control for the lighting was provided by a computer based software system, eCue. This gave us the flexibility to program the entire system on the one computer, with different areas being able to be controlled separately. It also gave us the ability to run graphics and low resolution video on the LED ceiling. The DMX was outputted using seven eCue Butler devices, giving us a total of fourteen universes of DMX. To finish off a visual system was added comprising of three LCD projectors running from a computer loaded with Arkaos Midi. Two custom screens were constructed at the edges of the dancefloor, while a third electrically controlled rear projection screen was suspended at the edge of the dancefloor. This allowed the venue to close off a section of the club by lowering the screen and using it as a divider. As a rear projection screen was used, it allowed customers both sides of the divider to see the visuals and graphics being projected. Finally Overall, the finished product was just as impressive as we had hoped. All elements worked together to create a complete clubbing experience, with a new high standard being set for what is expected of the late night industry. See The 107 Club’s Website.
Revenge Nightclub, Broghton – Sound & Lighting Installation
Monday, May 31st, 2010 Located in the heart of Brighton, UK, the Revenge nightclub is one of the South coast’s premier gay venues. With an ongoing project of refurbishing the club, Showtec was contacted to design a new lighting system for the Box Bar on the 2nd Floor. The system needed to be something which would make the venue stand out from its competitors, offering something never seen before in the area.
The first idea we came up with was to get rid of the existing dj box from the corner of the room and move it to the centre of the back wall. This way we could create a strong focal point which put the emphasis on the Dj or the performer. From this we then designed an LED ceiling which would rise up the wall behind the Dj and run across the ceiling over the dancefloor, covering a total of 36 square metres. This would then be complimented by a series of LED battons mounted on the side walls, which was designed to surround the customers with moving light.
The first job was to move the dj box to the new position. Our team of engineers and electricians removed the existing fuse board from the dj box, along with all the sound system cables which would need to be re-used. These were then routed under the floor to the new position so the old box could be dismantled. The new dj box was built from scratch and incorporated a laser cut logo in the face of the box which would be back lit by two LED battons. By building the new dj box larger than the existing unit, we allowed space to house the new lighting control system and the driver boxes required for the LED systems.
Once the Dj box was built construction on the ceiling started. In order to get the best results, a false ceiling was constructed to compensate for the uneven surface of the existing ceiling. This would also give us a smooth wooden surface to fix the LEDs to. Once the false ceiling was finished, the spacing for the LEDs was marked out and the LED node holders were screwed up. It was decided that the LEDs would be spaced 100mm apart lengthways, and 200mm apart widthways. This gave us a higher resolution than the standard 200mm spacing we have used before, allowing the reproduction of higher quality graphics and visuals.
For the LEDs we decided to use the iColour Flex SLX from Philips Colour Kinetics range. These units offer a high brightness at a reasonable cost with various options on spacing and lenses. By using the clear lenses we were able to produce a more ‘industrial’ feel to the overall effect. In total, 36 strings of 50 LEDs were used over the 9m x 4m area, giving us 1800 individually controllable LEDs. These LEDs were driven using 5 Colour Kinetics sPDS-480ca driver boxes mounted in a rack within the new Dj box.
To add to the effect of the ceiling, a series of 1200mm long LED battons were fitted to the side wall to carry the lighting effect on down the walls. By building out the walls, we were able to make the battons sit flush with the wall, creating a smooth finish with no protruding edges. 10 battons were fitted to each side wall, each of which contained 18 separate LED segments, each with full RGB control.
For the control system, we decided to use a computer based system running Ecue Lighting Application Suite. This offered a perfect solution to the large number of DMX channels that was required. The ceiling along with the battons and the exsiting Martin MX-4 scanners in the venue used approximately 6,500 DMX addresses. By using the new version 5 of the Ecue software, we were able to connect directly to the Philips driver boxes using the KINet protocol. This enabled us to reduce the amount of DMX output devices required, keeping costs to a minimum. The computer running Ecue was fitted with two network cards, one to run the KINet network for the ceiling drivers, the other to run the ArtNet network for the DMX output devices to run the battons and MX-4s. Two Ecue Butler Silvers were used for DMX output, each of which running two universes. In total, 16 universes of DMX were created in order to handle all of the channels required.
To entice customers up into the newly refurbished room, we fitted two more strings of Philips LEDs along the sides of the staircase to create a welcoming effect that gave people a taste of what to expect. By producing moving light running up the stairs, customers are encouraged to follow the flowing light up into the venue.
Once all of the equipment was fitted, the floor was sanded and varnished and new stair nosings were fitted around the club to finish off the installation and give the room a final finishing touch. Two solid of programming later, and the finished effect looks stunning! The ceiling and walls give the effect of being surrounded by light, truly immersing the customers in the experience. The dj box provides a new centre of attention, emphasising the importance of the dj and music played.
Overall, the finished system is truly unique and has created a real buzz in the nightlife of Brighton.
More information can be found here.
