For a couple of weeks every June, Sydney is transformed into a spectacular canvas of light and music as the Vivid Sydney Festival takes over the city after dark.
The festival features a rich international program of music and arts events including a spectacular 3D illumination of the Sydney Opera House and an outdoor exhibition of interactive light sculptures.
This year also saw the launch of Skyscraper Illuminati, a theatrical transformation of Sydney’s Circular Quay, in which the district’s large facades are brought to life each night with choreographed light shows that play throughout the evening.
Behind the illuminations was Sydney-based 32 Hundred, one of Australia’s most innovative event lighting and audio companies. For over twenty years the company has built an enviable reputation creating cutting-edge work integral to Australia’s most famous events.
When 32 Hundred’s managing director Iain Reed discovered that his company had won the tender to design, install and operate the production, he knew he had the right fixture necessary for such high-power projections – the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500.
With its cutting-edge professional beam-framing system and massive 1500 W power, the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 was the clear choice. It features an impressively rapid 1:9 ratio zoom that makes it suitable for both short and long distance applications.
“The Vivid Festival and the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 were the perfect match!” Reed declared. “They are very, very, very bright and I’m extremely happy with them. Their sheer intensity is brilliant and the classic Clay Paky eye for detail with the optics is amazing. I love the auto focus, vast colour mixing, gobo selection – really they are the Ferrari of moving lights!”
For Skyscraper Illuminati the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures were supported by forty-four LED fixtures used to wash three prominent city landmarks: the AMP building, the Four Seasons Hotel and the Marriott Hotel. While the LEDs provide a general wash of colour, the Alpha 1500 fixtures provide texture and movement. Each of the twelve Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures is housed in a custom-made Perspex housing, designed and constructed by 32 Hundred Lighting.
The Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 posseses a comprehensive range of graphic effects, an innovative Stay-Sharp-Zoom function allowing automatic focusing and also smart Zoom-Tracking-Diffuser for a linear beam softening – all features that make the Alpha Profile 1500 a valuable resource for designers working in demanding lighting environments.
Iain is delighted to report that there have been absolutely no problems with the Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures and that they have added an extra dynamic element to the lighting display.
“I have been blown away by their optics,” he added. “You can light a twenty-storey skyscraper with just four of them.”