ALTON, Staffordshire, UK – Alton Towers Resort, based here, marked the end of the 2014 theme park season with their “Ultimate Fireworks Spectacular.” Simon Horsley, Alton Towers Resort’s technical manager, designed supplementary show visuals with cues managed by a Jands Vista control system. Horsley’s lighting design made use of more than 150 fixtures, including lighting gear from Martin, Clay Paky and Robe. For video projected on a water spray screen, the setup included a Green Hippo video playback system with cues controlled via a laptop PC running the same Vista v2 software as the main control desk.
More details from Jands Vista: (www.jands.com/vista/users):
Alton Towers Resort specified the Jands Vista system to provide lighting and media control for the event, for the 4th consecutive year running.
Simon Horsley, Alton Towers Resort’s Technical Manager, based his lighting design for the show around this year’s storyline, which took guests through a battle between dreams and nightmares, featuring the thrills and fear of the Resort’s most famous and iconic rides.
Simon’s dramatic lighting for the event utilised a Jands Vista console to control the rig, which featured over 150 fixtures from leading brands including Martin, Clay Paky and Robe.
In addition to the lighting, the show featured an impressive video element projected onto a water screen. The video playback system used a Green Hippo media server, which was controlled via a laptop PC running the same Vista v2 software as the main control desk. This element of the show was programmed by Alton Towers Resort’s Assistant Technical Manager, Dave Reynolds.
He commented: “One of the reasons we chose the Vista is because for a time-coded show, it’s so easy to set up.”
He continues: “Also, it’s effortless to create a physical layout on-screen of all the fixtures in your show. With Vista’s visual interface, I was able to pre-plot the entire show using the offline editor – leaving only the position elements needing to be programmed on-site. This saved a massive amount of time!”
Summarising the experience, Simon comments: “After using the Vista for several of our previous fireworks shows, and for our ‘The Smiler’ rollercoaster launch event last year, it was the obvious choice for this event. Once again, the technical team at Alton Towers Resort are really delighted with the outcome of the show using Vista – which helped to make it another huge success.”
Equally at home on tour or as a venue’s house console, the Vista is ideal for shows and special events, arena touring, lighting companies, AV companies, venues and rental, not to mention a fantastic investment for a designer.
The Vista range includes a choice of portable, flexible control surfaces and self-contained consoles all running the same Vista v2 software.
Jands’ award-winning Vista lighting & media control system has been embraced by leading designers, companies and venues all over the world on a wide range of shows. Covering entertainment, education & drama, installations, corporate, events and worship, there’s a Vista system to suit all levels of user and almost any scale of show.
Recent shows featuring lighting or media control by Vista include international concert tours by Kylie Minogue, Queen + Adam Lambert, Peter Gabriel, Dierks Bentley, Fall Out Boy, Bloc Party, Deftones and Little Big Town.
To arrange a Jands product demo or discuss your requirements, contact:
(Europe, the Middle East and Africa)
A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)1494 446000
(North American Sales)
A.C. Lighting Inc.
Tel: +1 416 255 9494
Or for more information and a list of international Vista users, visit www.jands.com/vista/users.
The rights and ownership of all trademarks are recognised. The information contained herein is correct at the time of printing, however as we are constantly refining our product range we reserve the right to change the specification without notice. E&OE.
