More details from ETC (http://www.etcconnect.com):
ETC Selador Desire D40XT luminaires provide ‘hauntingly’ beautiful light for Halloween event
MIDDLETON, WI – Halloween wouldn’t be complete without a few jack-o’-lanterns, and Blaze – an annual Halloween event in Croton-on-Hudson, NY – takes pumpkin-carving to the extreme. More than 4,000 jack-o’-lanterns are on display during the event at the Van Cortlandt Manor, enticing guests to stroll around the grounds and admire the intricately hand-carved designs. Adding to the Halloween-themed ambience is the synchronized lighting design created by Jay Woods, using an ETC lighting system that includes Selador Desire D40XT LED luminaires.
The entire lighting system is controlled and run from an ETC Eos control console, programmed by Pete Wiegand. The Eos synchronizes the lighting to a ghoulish soundtrack, and runs various displays wirelessly. Many of the pumpkins are individually lamped and cued, including rows of jack-o’-lanterns surrounding the main house on the property, which light up in rhythm with organ music. In one of the displays, jack-o’-lantern chandeliers, Selador Classic LED luminaires and goboed Source Four fixtures dance to the music. In several areas, XT fixtures and Source Four PARs are used to swathe haunting scenes in pools of stunning colors or highlight the intricate details of the pumpkin sculptures.
To achieve the desired Halloween effect, light quality was of the utmost importance. The Desire D40XT luminaires each have 40 high-efficiency emitters, so they produce bright, powerful light. The fixtures also feature the x7 Color System, which mixes up to seven different LED colors to create vibrant, bold hues. And, special settings on the XT luminaires’ on-board user-interface can adjust the lighting to recreate a variety of effects.
Says Woods, “I was pleased to see that the range of color available was vast – especially in the blue range – and that the response time on the fixtures was quick enough to mimic lightning and smooth enough to handle the gradual fades I required.”
Woods chose Desire XT units to replace older LED fixtures that had previously lit Blaze. Says Woods, “The benefit to using the Desire XT was threefold. First, the fixture is significantly brighter, which meant I could implement my design with fewer fixtures. Second, the lensing options allowed me to control the light far better than I had been able to previously, which in turn allowed me to program the lighting in a much more finite way, resulting in a better overall show for my client. Lastly, the ability to daisy-chain power and data with a weatherproof connection kept the cabling to a minimum, which resulted in a faster install time and a lower manpower cost. Additionally, the fact that the fixtures process data on board means that there is no remote power supply to worry about.”
Another consideration when selecting the Desire XT luminaires was the fixtures’ durability in any type of weather. The XT fixtures have an IP-66 rating, meaning they are waterproof, dust-proof, convection-cooled, and can be used safely in temperatures ranging from -4 degrees F to 104 degrees F.
“This event takes place outdoors and spans a six-week period from September through November,” explains Woods. “Typically, the lighting fixtures on this event are exposed to everything from hot sun to drenching rain and sometimes even snow and ice. I have complete confidence that the Desire XT fixtures will handle all of these conditions without skipping a beat.”
Photo © Kelli Patterson, www.kellipatterson.com; lighting by Jay Woods of Jay Woods Design
