NEW YORK – Root Sports Northwest has completely revamped its Seattle studio and added a new complement of LED fixtures and ETC lighting control provided by WorldStage. TV Lighting Design, Inc. of NewYork City collaborated with Studio1Group in Hartford, Connecticut to upgrade the studio’s set and create a fresh, new look for the regional sports network.
More details from WorldStage (www.worldstage.com):
Part of a group of US regional sports networks, Root Sports Northwest launched in 2011. It holds the regional cable rights to MLB’s Seattle Mariners, MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC and Portland Timbers, and the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks. It is the cable home of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the NBA’s Utah Jazz.
Prior to taking on this project lighting designer Scott Wolfeil, president of TV Lighting Design Inc, joined with Studio1Group to revamp the Root Sports Southwest studio in Houston. “Root Sports is modernizing their operations and introducing a new look across the board,” he explains. But although there is a consistency in the set design and big-screen displays for all the regional networks, “it’s the colors of the individual sports teams that distinguish them,” says Wolfeil. “Our lighting design gives each team a totally unique look.”
Wolfeil has worked closely with Terry Jackson and Jerry Romano at WorldStage for 20 years. “They’ll keep me up to date on the latest fixtures” he says. Wolfeil opted for a complement of LED fixtures from WorldStage, which gave him the flexibility, versatility and color-changing capabilities he needed to achieve the different looks.
Three Kino Flo Celeb 400 DMX LEDs are mounted in ring of lights in the set’s demo area. “The Celebs make a fantastic soft-fill light,” he says. “The ability to alter the color temperature from tungsten to daylight is key when working with monitor walls. We chose a color temperature of 5000K and the Celebs allow us to dial it right in,” Also part of the light ring are 32 ETC Source Four LED Studio HD Luminaires, which Wolfeil calls his “new go-to key lights.”
Elation Arena PAR LEDs act as floor and set lights. “They’re super-versatile PARs that have the ability to zoom” he says. “I can alter the size of the beam and the color and spread them across the floor as texture. They really are fantastic” Twenty-four Chroma-Q Color Force 12-inch fixtures, with cyc lens options, backlight a color-changing soffet that wraps 180º around the set.
WorldStage also furnished an ETC Ion 3072 console and Ion Universal Fader Wing 2×10 for lighting control. “ETC Ion consoles have become the default in TV studios,” says Wolfeil. “With the Fader Wing we set up submasters for each team so different looks can be easily recalled.” Ethan Kaplan was TV Lighting Design’s programmer for the project.
“The client is thrilled with the upgrade and very impressed with the new LED lighting,” Wolfeil reports. “The Seattle studio went from a very small incandescent lighting hang to a 100% LED all digital design.”
Josh Smith was Wolfeil’s design assistant at TV Lighting Design, Inc. Wayne Elliott was the set designer with Studio1Group. ABC3i fabricated the set; its COO is Adam Laberge.
