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Daft Punk Comes Alive with Moving Heads and Strobes

Some things you will always remember: your first kiss, your child’s first steps, your first bicycle—you get the picture. I certainly remember all of these things, in addition to one very bright memory: Daft Punk’s 2007 Alive tour’s concert lighting. I know it was a number of years ago now, but it just doesn’t get much better than this show. Daft Punk, a pair of French DJs, was situated in a giant pyramid surrounded by huge lattices of LED tube lights. The base and top of the pyramid were comprised of LED screens to keep the action truly non-stop. The pyramid was surrounded by two diagonally hung trusses, one on either side of the pyramid, which framed Daft Punk’s pyramid with a combined 12 moving heads powered by Philips’ MSR metal halide short arc lamps. Perpendicular the diagonally hung truss was another truss that ran the width of the stage, featuring another set of 12 moving heads and three powerful strobes to get those robotic effects necessary to match the music.

There parallel trusses were hung above the stage; these trusses featured a combined 38 moving heads and eight strobes to really create a multi-dimensional lighting experience. Mounted directly on the stage, surrounding the pyramid, were another 18 moving heads and six strobes to ensure that the lighting designers had all of their angles covered. As you can probably infer, Daft Punk’s show was packed with moving and dynamic lighting. If you have ever heard Daft Punk’s music you would know that their space-age disco hits could only be matched a lighting set up that was truly massive, ever-changing, and well, alive.

BulbAmerica has all the stage lighting equipment, including strobes, moving heads, and LED tubes, to make your performance a memorable one. Check out what we have to offer today! As usual, leave us a comment on our blog or our Facebook or give us a call at 1-877-622-0897 for anything you need.
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, concert, lights, moving heads, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

The Tallest Skyscraper in the World's Light Show Reaches Unprecedented Heights

This past January the inauguration of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest skyscraper in the world, took place. The 2,717ft tower was inaugurated with perhaps one of the most technologically complex light shows ever created, featuring video, fireworks, and of course lighting. During the entire ceremony, 320 automated 7,000w xenon searchlights sent powerful white beams of light darting in sync with the fireworks being shot off the sides of the building. The ceremony also featured the most powerful searchlight in the world, a 72,000w xenon lamp powered single-beam search light. United Arab Emirate (UAE) newspapers reported many of the 6,000 inauguration invitees clasping the backs of their necks after nearly thirty minutes of looking up at the mesmerizing fireworks and searchlight display.

BulbAmerica has an array of searchlights and other outdoor lighting products to make a stunning impression on your audience. In addition to searchlights, we have numerous outdoor color changers, promotional projectors, and gobo changers to capture the attention of anyone near by. As usual, leave questions or comments on our blog or Facebook, or call us at 1-877-622-0897.
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, followspot, lights, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

Las Vegas' Fremont Street: An LED Spectacular

Las Vegas is undoubtedly one of the most exciting places on earth, and its Fremont Street, a shopping area lined with shops and food vendors certainly contributes to this excitement. What is unique about Fremont Street is not what is happening on the street, but what is happening 90ft above the street on the inside of the street’s canopy. Attached to the canopy is the largest LED screen in the world. The 125ft wide Viva Vision screen features an incredible 12.1 million red, green, and blue LED bulbs. The screen is powered 10 high-speed computers that control the animation, graphics, and live footage of the street displayed on the Viva Vision Screen. By using LEDs, the Viva Vision screen achieves a very high resolution and is thus an incredibly popular Las Vegas attraction.
What is amazing to me is that prior to 2004 when the screen was first unveiled, the canopy was studded with 2.1 million incandescent bulbs. Beyond the astonishingly huge task of keeping tack of the burnt out bulbs in a 2.1 million light bulb display, it is likely that the energy expenditures and heat produced by the old incandescent canopy at Freemont Street were incredible. Though the 2004 replacement of the 2.1 million incandescent bulbs with the 12.1 million LED Viva Screen probably had much to do with the higher video resolution LEDs can achieve, surely another reason was the dramatic energy savings that the LEDs contributed.
The moral of the Freemont Street LED story is that if you need outdoor video panels LEDs are really the only good choice. But, beyond this, you should replace your incandescent bulbs with LEDs, or at least CFLs, to make your lighting that much more efficient. After all, the desert is pretty hot as it is, one doesn’t need the additional heat of 2.1 million incandescent bulbs to feel the heat.

BulbAmerica has a wide selection of LED and CFL light bulbs to keep you in bright, cool light. Be sure to check out our entire catalog. Don’t forget to write us on our blog or our Facebook page, or you can call at (888)505-2111
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, lights | 0 comments | Read more

The Guangzhou Opera House Lights Up with ETC

The Guangzhou Opera House Lights Up with ETC

By BulbAmerica Editor

In May of this past year, the Guangzhou Opera House opened in China. The Guangzhou Opera House represents a landmark among operas houses with regard to its size, architecture, and technology. The 1,800 seat and 452,000sqft opera house required lighting that would match its size, thus, it was no surprise when lighting designers turned to ETC for their professional theatrical lighting technologies. The Guanzhou Opera House’s lighting system, from its controllers to its followspots was largely ETC. The stage’s lighting rig consisted of 360 ETC fixtures, which included 220 Source Four ellipsodials with beam angles ranging from 5˚ to 26˚ and 140 Source Four Revolution moving head fixtures. Sixteen of ETC’s Source Four Zoom were also used for narrower lighting. Like all high performance lighting systems, the Guanzhou Opera House’s lighting system featured numerous dimmers and ETC controllers.

The Guangzhou Opera House is an amazing step forward in theatre technology. Without the help of ETC’s Source Four technology, however, the opera may not shine as brightly. BulbAmerica stocks many of the same ETC Source Products used at the Guangzhou Opera House so you have access to the best lighting possible. Check out what we have to offer today! As always, feel free to comment or post a question on our blog or Facebook, or call  (888)505-2111
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, followspot, lights, theater | 0 comments | Read more

New York's FAO Schwarz Gets an LED Makeover

By BulbAmerica Editor

The FAO Schwarz on New York City’s iconic Fifth Avenue is likely the most famous toy store in the world. The designers responsible for the lighting for the store’s renovation therefore faced a significant challenge when they were faced with the task of redesigning the store's lighting. The designers sought a lighting system that would sustain the store’s fanciful and exciting environment while remaining versatile and efficient. Another hurdle was devising a way of evenly and vibrantly lighting the store’s expansive 140ft by 60ft floor space and while ensuring that the store’s merchandise be adequately lit. The lighting designers settled on a plan to stud the entire ceiling with almost 80,000 individually addressed LED bulbs. When the project was finally completed the ceiling was adorned with an astounding 28,080ft of color changing light. Moreover, the ceiling lights also serve as a gigantic LED panel and can create lively shows, shapes, and images for the customers at the store to enjoy. The color changing and LED panel effects made them ideal for matching the lighting to the varying themes and displays used at the store.

Though you may not be able to create an LED light system quite like FAO Schwarz’s, you can come close, and save money and energy while doing it. Start adding color to your home or business lighting and check out what we have to offer today! As usual leave a comment or question on our blog or Facebook or call 1-877-622-0897.
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, christmas, effects, holidays, led, lights, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

Exit Light, Enter Night: Metallica's Concert Lighting Keeps the Heavy Metal Light

By BulbAmerica Editor

I was thinking about my favorite lighting from some of the concerts I have been to over the last couple years, and one concert stands out in particular, Metallica’s concert from theirDeath Magnetic tour. Though my memory of this show (it was in the spring of 2009) is a tad hazy now, PLSN wrote a great article on their lighting and jogged my memory. The lighting scheme of Metallica’s show was simple. To the lighting designers nothing else mattered but the band’s performance and the audience’s enjoyment of it. The stage was the center of the action and the audience surrounded it so there was no backdrop. This presented two lighting problems: the audience had to be lit because the audience was the background of the show and the band had to be lit from above. Another complicating factor is that the members of Metallica like to move around a lot on stage. These circumstances required the lighting designers to use spotlights and truss mounted, automated followspots to keep track of the band members on stage.

The majority of the stage lighting was accomplished using an elaborate overhead truss system, fashioned to look like huge coffins, on which hung lasers, and a large number of moving head washes and other units. This lighting strategy was chosen to create a memorable, almost ghostly and fairly minimalist look, absent of hard edged light beams. There were also moving head washes set up on the drummer’s individual stage and on other parts of the stage for supplementary lighting.

Controlling the show was no easy task. As the PLSN article reported, Metallica typically chooses from a range of 30 songs that will play during a show, so the lighting designers had to program cues and scenes for all of these songs. This meant that by the time it was show time, their controllers had roughly 4,500 cues programmed, just so they were prepared for any song the band would play.

Though you may not have the resources or the heavy sound of Metallica, you can certainly put together a lighting system using followspots, spotlights, moving heads, and lasers to wow your crowd. Make BulbAmerica your one stop shop for lighting. As usual, leave a comment or question on our blog or Facebook or call us at 1-877-622-0897.
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | bulbs, concert, effects, lights, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

The World's Largest LED Screen is on Display in Shanghai

By BulbAmerica Editor

The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, which began in May, is a multi-month event for the nations of the world to congregate and share with each other their cultures, peoples, and spirit. The architectural and artistic contributions of the nations present were not the only thing on display. Beginning this year’s world Expo featured a display of the wonders of LED technology with a light and fireworks show with the largest LED screen ever created at its center. The Shanghai LED screen was 9,500m, which is equivalent to nearly 105 football fields. The screen demonstrated many of the unique merits of working with LEDs. For one, because LEDs emit light from tiny bulbs and are clustered together, they can be formed into virtually any shape. This is especially useful for LED panels where they may need to be mounted in oddly shaped ceiling or wall spaces. The screen was also amazingly colorful, highlighting LEDs’ ability to rapidly change color and create bright, well rendered color. The durability of LEDs made them an obvious choice for the World Expo. The screen was situated on the banks of the Huangpu River in the center of Shanghai, so the weather and environment were unpredictable.

I probably sing the praises of LEDs too often on this blog but applications like the screen in Shangai beautifully display the technology’s versatility. From high resolution and low resolution panel displays to LED bulbs, consumer products,LED PAR cans, and DJ effects, LEDs are changing the lighting game. Though we can’t offer you a 105 football field long LED screen, we can offer nearly all other LED products and at great prices too, so check out what we have to offer! Don’t forget if you have a question or comment you can leave it on my blog or call toll free 1-877-622-0897.
By Victor Lopez | 19 November, 2014 | led, lights, outdoor | 0 comments | Read more

The Empire State Building Lights Up the Night and Goes Green Too

By BulbAmerica Editor

The Empire State Building at night is the crown jewel of the New York City skyline, and is perhaps the most famous city skyline in the world. The Empire State Building’s illuminated top is iconic, it’s image among the most well known images of any building at night. The Empire State Building, which was completed in 1931, had its first light, a searchlight, placed on top of it in November of 1932 to celebrate the presidential victory of Franklin Roosevelt. It became a nighttime beacon in 1964, with the installation of floodlights on the top 30 floors of the building. Color lights were first installed in 1976 for the United States’ bicentennial, illuminating the building’s tower with red, white, and blue. In 1977, additions to the Empire State Building’s exterior lighting were made, creating the iconic image which we are familiar with today. The installation included 207 metal halide high intensity discharge (HID) lamps and 304 fluorescent lamps illuminating the building from the 72nd floor to the base of the TV tower. The last addition to the building’s lighting took place in 1984. An automated lighting system, which included 880 vertical 75 watt fluorescent tubes and 220 horizontal fluorescent tubes were installed on the upper portion of the TV tower mast. The horizontal bulbs are organized into different panels and produce green, blue, yellow, and white lights, thus creating the lighting displays you see today.

Though the Empire State Building’s exterior lighting has not been changed since the 1980s, the interior lighting underwent substantial greening in the spring of 2009. The Empire State Building contains 3,194,547 light bulbs, so developing an environmentally friendly lighting solution for the building’s vast light system was a challenge. The $100 million dollar greening project included the replacement of old incandescent light bulbs with more energy efficient ones as well as the installation of motion detector systems to only light rooms when they are occupied. These energy efficient renovations, including lighting renovations, are projected to cut the building’s energy consumption by 38% and save it $4.4 million dollars annually.

BulbAmerica has ideas and products to help you go green too! Check out our blog and our website for ideas and products to save the environment, energy, and help you spend less on energy. Go green today!
By Victor Lopez | 18 November, 2014 | bulbs, light, stage lighting | 0 comments | Read more

The World Cup Lights Up with Osram's LEDs

By BulbAmerica Editor

The World Cup soccer stadiums in South Africa are the object of attention of millions of viewers watching the greatest soccer talents in the world vie for victory. Some eyes, however, are trained on the stadiums in South Africa for reasons unrelated to soccer, namely their use of cutting edge LED and HID lighting technologies. Osram-Sylvania has agreed to supply all ten World Cup venues with environmentally friendly lighting solutions, and has done so, particularly at the Green Point and Moses Mabhida Stadiums, in a spectacular fashion.

The Green Point stadium, located in Cape Town, is one of Osram’s greatest lighting achievements in South Africa. The rebuilt Green Point stadium features its LED lighting as its architectural focal point. The stadium has a wavy balustrade of white light that wraps around the entire stadium. The stadium’s designers needed a light bulb that was slim and would not interfere with the stadium’s elegant architecture. To solve this problem Osram used its Opto Semiconductors and Golden Dragon Plus LEDs to be hidden, yet produce a striking white light. In total Osram used 482 luminaires which amounted to 1.8 meters of lights. These lights were installed along the wavy balustrade and the ring encircling the top of the stadium. The Osram luminaires, like most LED bulbs, have an estimated life span of 50,000 hours or more and guarantee the lighting system to be low maintenance.

The second of Osram’s largest lighting installations is at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (pictured above) in Durban. The Mabhida Stadium features a 350 meter long arch (1,148 feet), 105 meter (348 feet) high, spanning the entire stadium. The beam is illuminated by 12,000 Osram Golden Dragon plus LEDs as well as custom LED beams. The LED system on the beam features exciting strobe patterns that bring the stadium to life. In both the Green Point Stadium and the Mabhida stadium Osram also installed HID lighting, T5, and T8 fluorescent lamps. Osram’s decision to outfit the World Cup stadiums with LEDs signals the global push toward LEDs and other forms efficient lighting like CFLs and HIDs.

Embrace the World Cup fever and check out our LED and other green lighting technologies today.
By Victor Lopez | 18 November, 2014 | bulbs, led, lights, osram, world cup | 0 comments | Read more

Taking Control of Your Lighting System

  The controller is the brain of your lighting system. Controllers have always been central to production and theater lighting. With the adoption of the DMX512 protocol in 1986, the controller could easily and precisely dim numerous lights from a central location. As the demands of lighting productions and the technologies they require have become more advanced, so have the lighting controllers. Today, not only are controllers used to dim and raise lights, but they are used to control various parameters such as panning, gobos, colors, strobes, chasing, scene memory, etc. The introduction of
LED lighting into theater and production lighting has also added additional considerations in choosing an appropriate controller for your needs. This article is an introduction to today’s lighting controller and its features. 
  Generally speaking there are two broad categories of controllers, namely the dimming controller and the intelligent controller. The dimming controller is very basic and is geared to the individual who only wants to control dimmers. Intelligent controllers are for individuals who want to control dimmers and fixtures that require the control of numerous types of attributes and parameters. These controllers are compatible with moving lights and are typically found in concert venues, DJ lighting, large church lighting systems, etc. Optima’s DMX I, for example, has the ability to remember 6 chases, or light flash sequences, of 240 programmed scenes. The chase patterns can be activated using programmable chase buttons. The pan and tilt of moving lights can be manipulated using two jog wheels. Many intelligent controllers have the ability to precisely control light movements, chases, and fades. The Optima DMX I’s speed slider, fade time slider, and fine button allow minute adjustments to your chase speed, fade speed, and light tilting to perfect your lighting performance.

LED technology, particularly LED par cans, is the most important new technology to come to theatre and production lighting. Nearly all LED par cans available today come with dimmers and effects already built into them. Provided that your controller and your LED par can use the same protocol, the LEDs’ internal dimmers, colors, and effects can be triggered remotely by the controller. Because LED par cans have so many on board features they can be operated successfully on both a simple dimming controller and an intelligent controller. Making the decision concerning which controller to go with will depend largely on what other lighting components you have in your system and on what degree of control you need and want over your lights.

The technical capacities of lighting components and the controllers mean endless possibilities for the creative lighting designer. The integration of controllers and computer software adds another dimension of control and creativity to the lighting designer not otherwise possible. Optima’s Sweetlight USB to DMX512 box and control software, available for Mac and PC, allows for the full simulation and control of all facets of your lighting performance, including full syncing of music and lighting. The scene builder and 3D view allows you to fully construct your production; the generator function allows you to manipulate fully the movement, light, gobos, etc. of your lighting components, giving you unprecedented control. Regardless of whether you choose an intelligent controller or a computer-based controller, the future of lighting system control is promising.
By Victor Lopez | 18 November, 2014 | dmx, led, stage lighting | 0 comments | Read more
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