Pixel Mapped Nexus 4x4 Panels Add Flash To Calibash

LOS ANGELES – Ten of Latin music’s most glittering stars were shining on the Staples Center Stage for Calibash recently, and a dozen Nexus 4 x 4 panels from CHAUVET Professional were there to support them step by glittering step. Production manager William Cortes of Link Productions and LD Brandon Dunning of Visions Lighting used the intensely bright LED panels to create bands of dazzling light on massive circular downstage truss at one of North America’s premier Latin music festivals.

Pixel mapped to display graphical and video images that support the performances on stage by artists like Pitbull, Don Omar, Carlos Vives, Wisin, Becky G and others, the Nexus panels served as kind of a crown jewel for the massive lighting array, which was anchored by circular truss set ups of 100’, 60’, 40’ and 20’. “This was without a doubt a powerful display for a powerful show,” said Todd Roberts, president of Visions Lighting. “The level of excitement and anticipation that you see at Calibash is intense, so you want a lightshow that matches that mood.”

The Nexus panels were essential to setting an appropriately bold tone at the concert, according to Roberts. “We used the Nexus panels as audience blinders and they were plenty bright,” he said. “Most of the time we ran them at 100% brightness and if you know the Nexus, you know how intense that is! The 12 panels we had on the downstage truss lit up the entire Staples Center. It was quite impressive.”

A grandMA console was used to control the Nexus panel, and ArKaos MediaMaster Pro was used to pixel map the units. The images on the panels were part of a general pixel mapped theme that covered the entire stage to deepen audience engagement.

Creating this pixel mapped presentation in a short setup time period was the main challenge with this project, noted Roberts. “The only big issue we had to contend with was the time frame for setup,” he said. “We had to load in at 4:00 am and be ready for rehearsal at 10:00 am, and we had 37 different video surfaces to map. This required a lot of teamwork on our crew’s part, but we finished everything for rehearsal and were able to put the stage in place at 9:45. We were actually fifteen minutes early!”

Of course, anyone who saw this amazing concert had no idea about the frantic rush to set up 37 mapped video surfaces, a combined 220’ of circular truss and a large array of lighting fixtures. “We got a lot of great comments on the lighting rig,” said Roberts. “William Cortes, who was responsible for hiring us, gave a lot of great props to our team. We all wanted to make a big statement on stage, and certainly Nexus helped us turn up the lighting volume.”

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