Omnia nightclub at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino features lighting design by renowned designer Willie Williams, whom Audiotek brought in as guest designer, working with Andy Taylor on the club's entertainment and theatrical lighting. “The key idea for the club visuals is that we provide a journey over the course of the evening,” says Williams. “All of the visuals--lighting, video, motion control--work in unison, creating the possibility of a huge number of color palettes and visual themes.”
In addition to the club's main room with the kinetic chandelier (read about the main room lighting), a secondary room called Heart of Omnia features 24 Ayrton MagicPanel-R fixtures and 16 MagicBlade-R units, as well as eight Robe Robin Pointes, 16 Robin 300E Spots, and eight Philips Showline SL Nitro 510 C LED strobe, all attached directly to the ceiling.
Taylor notes that a few ideas ended up on the cutting room floor, including one early plan to use Chromlech Elidy panels in the Ultra Lounge to animate the ceiling. “The client had concerns over them only being white, but we really thought that we could convince them that, with judicious programming, they could really create a stunning effect unseen in the same context in any club,” he says. “Unfortunately, our hand was forced at the eleventh hour when Chromlech announced they were closing due to being priced out of the market by a sea of imitation products—a real shame.”
Instead of the Elidy fixtures, more Ayrton MagicPanel-R fixtures and MagicBlade-Rs form the centerpiece in the Ultra Lounge and can be pixel-mapped to create the animated ceiling, Taylor says, “with the added bonus of being able to do so in color. If the operator gets bored of doing that, they can also waggle about in a rather pleasing manner—the lights that is. We try to dissuade operators from waggling.” An Avolites Sapphire Touch controls lighting in the Ultra Lounge and an Avolites Quartz on the Outdoor Terrace.
"I’ve been itching to use the MagicPanels and Blades since I first saw them but never had the opportunity up until this project," says Taylor. "I think they’re great units, especially in clusters where you get to take full advantage of their pixel-mapping. Of course, it means you can only get four of them on a universe in full extended mode, but I definitely think it’s worth it." Taylor says the Sapphire Touch console running the Aytron fixtures was shipped without the latest Titan software but specified knowing what features are being added to the next release. "When we get a chance to have it upgraded, the increased functionality of the pixel effects generator and the keyframe effects will open up a Pandora's Box of opportunity to create some really stunning effects," he adds.
Taylor also calls attention to the TMB Solaris LED Flares in the main room. "They're hidden from view, uplighting the dancer podiums in the main room, not a huge part of the overall scheme of things, but a small, powerful, multicolored wash light that strobes is a very handy little gag to have up your sleeve," he says.
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Check out our full coverage, sponsored by Robe and L-Acoustics, at our Project In Focus on Omnia here, and check back often for continuing updates.