LONDON – DTS Titan LED wash lights are being used to illuminate several life-size animatronics at the London edition of Dinosaurs Unleashed – the UK's largest interactive dinosaur encounter – which recently opened at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC). LD Ian Austin of STL Lighting purchased the Titans for the exhibition from DTS's U.K. distributors, Lightfactor. Austin designed both interior and exterior lighting schemes for Dinosaurs Unleashed, which ran earlier this year on the Land Securities Parklife site in Oxford Street, London.
The brainchild of Nicky Allison of Progressive Events, the slightly industrial setting served as home for the 24 dinosaurs, one of a number of temporary events/uses that during a break in the ongoing process of redeveloping the site.
Austin, who works often with Progressive Events, was initially hired to deal with the exterior elements, but that later extended to lighting the interior exhibits as well.
LED lighting posed a solution to the problem of limited power, and Austin also needed a good IP65 rated fixture for outdoor illumination. Having already purchased a quantity of LED from Lightfactor, Peter Coles suggested he look at the Titan, which has a light output similar to that of a medium flood PAR 64 can.
That resulted in the purchase of 18 Titans, which were set up around the site in a variety of shades and colors. Austin credited the gear for standing up to lots of rain and occasional freezing temperatures.
For the Bournemouth show, the Titans are also being used to color wash the roof of the domed hall, showing the fixture's versatility.
The self-contained Titan fixtures are suitable for indoor or outdoor fixed and mobile installations, with an integrated power supply making them easy to set up and use.
They were part of a rig controlled by a LightProcessor QCommander 512 console, and all the dimmed lighting inside and out was powered by a combination of different LightProcessor Paradime dimmers.
The QCommander and a LightProcessor Zip desk for interior control were also selected for their simplicity and ease of use. They were pre-programmed with a number of different shows, so all the duty managers had to do each day was press one button to play.
The entranceway was lit with a selection of Source Fours complete with camouflage style break-up gobos and LDR 1K Fresnels for color washing the area. The LDRs were also purchased from Lightfactor.
STL's five-person installation team worked intensively for two weeks to rig and set up everything, which included the provision of power distribution throughout the exhibition.
STL does a lot of architectural lighting and other exterior work, so the Titans are now available from their rental stock.
Dinosaurs Unleashed is scheduled to move from Bournemouth to another location in September, and there will be a Christmas show at another venue as well.
For more information, please visit www.lightfactor.co.uk.
