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ADJ | The Vizi Beam’s tight, five-degree beam width along with gobo and prism options can perform at ease in small settings to large indoor or outdoor settings.
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ClayPaky | The Scenius Profile features extensive, independent framing shutters along with full CMYC color mixing.
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Elektralite | LightStream is a multi-plane moving head spot system featuring six 12-watt, quad (RGBW) LED in a split-yoke design offering independent pan and tilt.
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Chauvet | Chauvet’s Rogue RH1 Hybrid fixture allows for spot, beam, and wash capabilities.
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Elation | Elation’s FUZE Z350 LED-based fixture features flicker-free output and multiple options for broadcast and film applications.
As churches aim to revolutionize their approach and message, one facet keeps coming to the forefront: immersive environments. More and more places realize the need for creating environments that exude warmth and excitement while supporting the music and message. Even among traditional houses of worship, lighting is playing more of a factor in a church's choices to improve the experience for every attendee. And many times, this means solutions that will accomplish a wide rage of potential needs in the future.
Moving light fixtures were once reserved for large-budget operations—churches that had both financial and infrastructure resources readily available. Now many houses of worship are multi-use facilities, rather than simply Sunday destinations. From hosting concerts to conferences, theatrical performances and many other events, the need for transforming the worship space while providing the necessary production support has exponentially grown in the past decade. And when it comes to lighting, having a professional, multi-use installation and inventory is not only convenient but is proving to be a necessity.
As the industry has responded to the needs of lighting designers and these immersive environments, the house of worship market has played a pivotal role in new designs and features being implemented in both high-end and entry-level fixtures. Features that were once groundbreaking are now commonplace. And creative expansions and demands are being implemented to give solutions that are practical, innovative, and able to serve a vast array of environments and designs.
Getting to Now
Thoughts of incorporating moving light fixtures–not to mention even owning them–into your church production in the late 1990s were all but wishful thinking. The financial investment alone was something many places would never be able to touch, not to mention the power and rigging infrastructure needed. It was a wish that only the deep-pocketed institutions could touch. Yet, this would soon change in the years to come.
The sheer pace of technology movement is often taken for granted. Even 10 years ago, the lighting market saw little if any LED-based moving fixtures—a sector that is just as common as standard discharge lamps nowadays. Not only that, manufacturers across the board began to introduce a wider range of products into their offerings—products at price-points now attractive to houses of worship, smaller operations, and with features and build quality to meet the demands of professional applications.
While there is no definitive point where the paradigm began to shift, the HOW market, among others, presented a massive opportunity not only for lighting manufacturers but those across the entire line of audio, lighting, and video to take a close look at offering professional technology at both the high and lower ends of their product lines.
Specifically for the HOW market, there has been an influx of mobile, multi-site, and smaller spaces—in addition to megachurches and everything in between. And these HOWs are taking their production standards to another level. This, in turn, has led to fixtures becoming more affordable, efficient, compact, and offering features and performance once reserved for high-end models. Even among the more professional offerings, designers now have creative tools and responsive fixtures at their disposal, fueling the rise of cutting-edge designs and possibilities.
"… the house of worship market has played a pivotal role in new designs and features being implemented in both high-end and entry-level fixtures."
Now more than ever, your HOW might be making the jump into purchasing moving light fixtures, adding to your inventory, or simply re-tooling your setup. So what can you expect from moving fixtures currently and in the future?
Efficiency Reigns Supreme
Aside from cost, one of the biggest purchase factors for any HOW is infrastructure and power. Many existing buildings do not exhibit extensive load-bearing capacities. And for new construction, adding that capability comes at a cost. The need for fixtures that pack a high level of output in a small package has become necessary.
For the consumer-level market, several companies have released attractive fixtures that meet the efficiency spectrum, but at a price-point attractive to those looking to upgrade on a budget. Chauvet's Rogue Series of fixtures contains both LED and discharge-lamp models. With both the R1 and R1 lines featuring a spot, beam, and wash fixture—and several of those fixtures weighing less than 30 pounds—users have a wide range of choices that are weight-conscious, high output, and compact for both installation and mobile applications. Chauvet has also released the RH1 Hybrid in this series. Featuring a 330-watt lamp, the fixture offers an impressive output in beam mode while utilizing frost and prism filters, among others, for various aerial and wash effects.
In recent years, the surge of beam fixtures has taken the notion of efficiency to new heights. Seen worldwide dominating concert tours, sporting events, and installations, many of these fixtures come in under 50 pounds, yet due to their narrow beam width, along with advanced optics, they are able to illuminate even the largest outdoor stadiums with high-quality aerial effects—many reaching outputs of close to 100,000 lumens at 5 meters.
ADJ released its Vizi Beam 5RX fixture in mid 2015. With a Philips Platinum 5R lamp, the tight, 5-degree beam width gives enough lumen out large houses of worship or arenas. With a 14-slot color wheel, 17 fixed gobos and eight-facet prism wheel, there are plenty of options for design. Other beam fixtures include the PRG Icon Beam, Elation Platinum Beam 5R Extreme, Robe Pointe, and Clay Paky Sharpy. Each of these models is quick, lightweight, low power, and offers a big punch within a compact package.
Advanced Design Tools
While moving fixtures were once reserved for touring concert productions, we've seen the demand for their use populating dance clubs, houses of worship, and theatrical productions. Because of these increasing demands from a design standpoint, it's no longer applicable to simple have fixtures that give the standard eye candy for those in an audience. Designers are looking for advanced tools that will allow for precise, clean, and limitless creations.
Released at the 2016 Prolight + Sound Show in Germany, Martin showcased its new Mac Axiom Hybrid fixture. One of the more attractive features of this compact light is the inclusion of a full CMY color mixing system, incorporated from the company's larger Viper fixture. Typically seen on much larger, more expensive products, this will surely be lauded by designers needing a smaller fixture but with unlimited color choice. Martin also says that the Mac Axiom features a proprietary beam smoothing system that creates an even field in the air and projects on surfaces while removing any “hot spots” in the center of the beam.
Also released this spring was Clay Paky's Scenius Profile. This high-end fixture features a powerful 1,400-watt lamp, CMY color mixing, gobo and frost effects, and new dimming technology. Touted as being especially suited for the theatrical market, the Scenius Profile's shutter system uses four independent, overlapping blades, giving users wide-ranging ability for a multitude of beam shapes. The fixture's “curtain effect” allows for a gradual closure of the shape using any one of the four blades.
Broadcast Solutions
As the world of online streaming and broadcast has become more affordable and feasible for churches, so has the need for lighting solutions that work hand in hand with cameras and broadcast protocols. Elation recently introduced their Fuze series of LED-based fixtures that are specifically optimized for film and TV applications. Two models, the Z120 and Z350, are moving head fixtures featuring 120 watt and 350 watt LED sources respectively. Both feature COB (chip on board) technology and lens diffuser giving full, flicker-free and even wash coverage. While not available for purchase yet, the fixtures will be available mid to late 2016.
Looking Ahead
It's reasonable to think the design of moving head fixtures will trend toward compact- to medium-sized construction. The sheer amount of weight, infrastructure, and power savings is enough to warrant serious consideration. What we should expect to see, though, is a move towards fixtures with highly flexible and design-centric features—ones that cover the concert, theatrical, and architectural worlds and their specific needs.
Outfitting or upgrading your worship space with moving fixtures is easier than ever. And the reliability and performance gap has closed considerably. Where once there was great disparity between entry-level and professional models, the gap has been filled with respectable and high-level solutions from all manufacturers. The advancements to come point toward a promising future.
