At the recent LDI tradeshow, ADJ utilized a time-coded lightshow to highlight a selection of its latest fixture offerings. The show was designed and programmed by experienced concert LD Steve Kosiba. In this behind-the-scenes feature, Kosiba discusses his creative process and shares his thoughts on some of ADJ’s latest fixture releases. ADJ’s Tradeshow Manager, Charlotte Wester, also reflects on some of the technical challenges that had to be overcome to deliver a stunning showcase for ADJ Lighting.
A partner at Squeek Lights, the concert lighting specialist based in New Jersey, Kosiba has extensive experience in the lighting industry. He joined Squeek Lights after six years at Starlite Productions, where he was head of the automated lighting department, and also worked as a house LD at many venues in and around Philadelphia. As Squeek Lights has invested in a number of ADJ fixtures over recent years, including the Encore Series of lime-infused wash units and the Jolt Series of multifunctional LED strobe/washes, Kosiba jumped at the chance to become acquainted with more of the company’s product line when he was invited by Sales Director, Alfred Gonzales, to design a lightshow for ADJ’s 2023 LDI booth.
Kosiba’s task was to create a rig design and program a time-coded light show that showcased the ADJ product range to its full potential, with multiples of each fixture type deployed in a way they may be utilized within a concert rig. His tools for creating the show consisted of brand-new products that made their debut at LDI 2023 as well as a collection of ADJ’s current best-selling luminaires. After throwing other ideas around, Kosiba settled on a design built around five truss ‘pods’ hund at angles from a master grid.
“I originally came up with a different design,” explains Kosiba, “and then thought – no, let’s do pods – as that’s a look we’re seeing all over touring these days. A lot of big rock shows have pods out at the moment, and I thought it was a completely different look to what you usually see at an LDI booth. It was a pain to put up, but it was worth it. I think we really delivered a unique booth.”
The job of taking Kosiba’s concept rig design and making it a reality fell to ADJ’s Tradeshow Manager, Charlotte Wester, who is a college-educated lighting professional with extensive tradeshow experience. Wester first translated Steve’s rig sketches into Vector Works to create the required technical drawings. She then carried out the necessary calculations for rigging, as well as power and signal distribution, and provided Kosiba with a full patch list of the fixtures ready for programming on the NX4 console from ADJ’s sister company Obsidian Control Systems.
“The biggest issue I had to initially negotiate was weight,” remembers Wester, “the original design came in at close to 20,000 lbs, which is a lot to hang in a relatively small area. So, I worked with the venue, and negotiated a little with Kosiba, to the point that we had a workable design that fulfilled his creative vision in a way that was manageable. My next job was to work out power distribution and then the easiest task was actually the patch, even though the booth involved 30 universes of DMX!”
At the heart of the finished rig design was ADJ’s popular Jolt Series of multipurpose LED strobe/wash fixtures. LDI saw the official launch of the Jolt Bar FXIP and Jolt Bar Panel FXIP, which each featured prominently in the rig. These robust IP65-rated versions of ADJ’s best-selling first-generation Jolt bar and panel inherit all the popular features of the original fixtures with a number of improvements. These include brighter color LEDs, Aria X2 wireless DMX, and a dedicated slot and locking clip that allow an optional light shaping filter to slide in front the of the LEDs to diffuse the output.
“This was the Jolt show!” confirms Kosiba. “Everybody has either used, seen, or at least heard about the Jolt Series over the last year. So, this was about getting the new Jolt Bar FXIP and Jolt Panel FXIP in front of the whole industry. If people were coming to the booth to see something specific, and they’re a concert lighting person, that’s the light they were coming to see. So, we had 20 bars and 16 panels, and they were definitely the statement piece of the show. The other fixtures were on and off at different times, but there were very few moments when the Jolts weren’t doing something. ADJ was one of the first companies to market with a linear LED strobe, which started the Jolt Series’ momentum and now – with the IP version – I think it really stands out as one of the best offerings on the market. That’s due to a combination of brightness, the layout of the pixels, the compact sizes, the versatility, and – of course – the price. Between the panel and bar, you’re able to get a lot of effects from surprisingly affordable units.”
All five pods featured four Jolt Bar FXIP units - with two lining each of the vertical truss pieces – as well as two Jolt Panel FXIP fixtures, which hung at the bottom of each pod. At the top of every pod sat a pair of the Focus Flex L19 high output LED zoom-wash fixtures, while inside the pods were three of the compact Focus Flex L7 variant, an Encore LP32IP LED wash panel, a pair of Focus Spot 7Z LED-powered moving head spots and three Focus Hybrid multifunctional LED-powered automated fixtures.
“Even though it was introduced at last LDI, I really wanted to showcase the Focus Hybrid as part of the show,” enthuses Kosiba. “It’s a great fixture for a lot of smaller companies and many people haven’t properly seen it shown off. You see one of them in your shop, that isn’t going to do it, but when you see fifteen of them up in the rig doing all these big sweeping looks, that lets you see it and go, ‘oh man, the Focus Hybrid is actually a cool little light’. It’s super lightweight, it’s tiny and it has a 200-Watt LED with a ton of features: two prisms, two GOBO wheels, and colors that really punch through nicely. It’s a killer light. Put it this way: it’s able to hang with the Focus Spot 7Z, that’s a 420-Watt source, this is a 200-Watt source, that should really tell you something!”
The Focus Spot 7Z was also featured at the show. In addition to the units hanging in the pods, eight more fixtures were positioned on floor-standing truss plinths at the rear of the booth, shooting beam upwards. Another eight units were then rigged to the down stage side of the master grid, allowing Kosiba to fill the whole space with crisp GOBO projections.
“I really enjoyed getting my hands on the 7Z!” confirms Kosiba. “I was very impressed by both the huge output from its 420-Watt LED engine and its extensive collection of features. Both GOBO wheels rotate and the whole GOBO load is fantastic - every single GOBO in that light rocks! It punches through hard, and the color mixing and CTO are fantastic. Overall, it’s just a really solid light.”
Also rigged to the master grid were six additional Focus Flex L19s, which ran in two lines of three along the forward sections of the grid’s side trusses. In addition, six Focus Profile luminaires were divided into pairs and hung from the rear of three mid-way trusses that divided the grid and were also used to support the pods. Finally, five pairs of Encore LP12Z IP zooming LED pars were attached to the front two mid-way trusses, while three groups of four Encore Z7LP units were hung from the rear truss of the master grid.
To fill in the back of the booth, six ladder trusses of various heights were hung from the downstage side of the master grid, positioned between hangs of VS2 LED video panels. Each ladder featured an Encore Profile Pro Color LED-powered Fresnel and a Hydro Spot 2 IP65-rated automated fixture, alongside additional Focus Flex L19 and Jolt Panel FXIP units. Four of ADJ’s flagship IP65-rated Hydro Profile fixtures were also positioned on the floor at the rear of the booth.
The rig was completed by eight of the new Vizi Beam CMY fixtures that were officially unveiled at the show, which were positioned on top of the booth’s main video screen – constructed from more VS2 panels, ground-stacked at the rear of the booth. Representing the next evolution in ADJ’s popular Vizi Series of automated luminaires, the Vizi Beam CMY is a feature-packed dedicated beam fixture. “Harnessing the full potential of a 310-Watt Osram Sirius HRI discharge lamp, paired with precision engineered optics, it generates a potent and crisp 2-degree beam that is ideal for generating awe-inspiring aerial effects,” ADJ’s announcement states. It offers the creative potential of CMY color mixing, paired with a 14-position dichroic color wheel, a separate wheel with 17 static GOBOs (including 4 beam reducers), motorized focus, two rotating prisms (16-facet circular and 6-facet linear) which can be overlayed, a frost filter for creating wash effects and Aria X2 wireless DMX.
Featuring more than 160 ADJ fixtures, the light show provided a showcase of the potential offered by ADJ’s current catalog of professional entertainment lighting fixtures.
“Thanks to a combination of Steve’s creative vision and the hard work of the ADJ tradeshow team – headed up by Charlotte – throughout the entire duration of LDI 2023 crowds regularly filled the aisles around the ADJ booth to take in the spectacle. While it undoubtedly had to be seen in person to be fully appreciated,” the announcement concludes.
Lighting Designer Steve Kosiba
Tradeshow Manager Charlotte Wester
Photography Eddie Short
Fixture List
20 x Jolt Bar FXIP
16 x Jolt Panel FXIP
24 x Focus Spot 7Z
22 x Focus Flex L19
15 x Focus Flex L7
15 x Focus Hybrid
12 x Encore 7LP
10 x Encore LP12Z IP
8 x Vizi Beam CMY
6 x Focus Profile
6 x Hydro Spot 2
6 x Encore FR Pro Color
5 x Encore LP32IP
4 x Hydro Profile
Web: www.adj.com / www.adj.eu
