This year’s Reading Festival in the UK had some additional colour, courtesy of Colour Sound Experiment, Ltd. of London. Two weeks prior to the event the organizers decided to add lighting decoration to the general audience area. They called on Colour Sound, whose design solution added 1,500 metres and 1,500 lamps of TMB’s IMS colour-changing festoon strings.
The IMS™ (Intelligent Marquee Systems) rig was strung from an array of 6-metre high poles, suspended over the audience between the rear entrance and the main stage, arranged like spokes of a cartwheel. The individually DMX-controlled RGB IMS lamps were reminiscent of normal light bulbs hanging over the audience, but with each lamp acting as a low-resolution colour-changing “pixel” for a dazzling display of video and graphics content. The system’s 12 IMS Universe Drives™ were controlled with ArtNet using a Chamsys console.
“We chose IMS because of its unique, retro look, and its brightness,” says Colour Sound’s Senior Accounts Manager, known to everyone as Fletch. “Outdoor gigs require more lumen output and IMS LED bulbs were the brightest we could find. Everything happened pretty quickly and TMB’s 24/7 Tech Support was a huge help.”
“The brightness and overall performance of IMS was better than we could have hoped for,” says Colour Sound’s Managing Director, Haydn Cruickshank. “We knew about the IMS system and when the opportunity arose we went for it. We plan to use the rig at Reading for the next two years and beyond. Meanwhile, we want to specify IMS on TV referrals.”
IMS is available in two versions: The Portable Touring range for indoor and temporary outdoor applications, and the Architectural range for permanent outdoor installations. Both IMS ranges are available with RGB, warm white, and cool white A-type bulbs. “Vampire-tap” IDT™ sockets allow fast and flexible lamp spacing on regular two-conductor wire, which carries both signal and low-voltage power. The proprietary IMS Universe Drive integrates DMX data and power for up to 170 bulbs (one DMX Universe). Using the Vampire Tap sockets, systems can be custom built and reconfigured with different lengths and lamp spacings for each specific application.
Check out this Video of IMS in action at the Reading Festival.
(The scale of the installation is shown at 0:06 to 0:18 )
Find out more about Colour Sound at www.coloursound.co.uk.
IMS is exclusively distributed worldwide by TMB: www.tmb.com/products/ims.
Learn about other innovative products from TMB at www.tmb.com.