Townsville based production company Wild Gravity caters to a wide variety of clients with events ranging considerably in size. Consequently managing director Noel Anthony decided to invest in a ‘family’ of lighting control consoles and with its ease of use and visual interface the Vista was the ideal choice.

The company already owned a Vista M1 Control Surface and an S1 Control Surface when Noel decided to purchase a Vista I3 Console late last year. The Vista I3 is a mid-range console with two video outputs suitable for pen-tablets, touchscreens, or standard monitors.

“It’s the same platform for us whether we’re taking out our little M1 with five faders on it or a larger one – you only have to learn one system to do small or large jobs,” commented Noel. “We just love the whole time line aspect of the Vista consoles and the fact that they are very visual. I sold one to a mate a couple of years ago and it has never broken down on him so I thought that’s good enough for me! He’s travelled all around the world with it and it has been rock solid.”

Noel particularly likes the Vista’s fixture editor which lets him create and add new fixtures to the library especially as he recently purchased some fixtures from a new supplier. “In fact I made a library for a fixture before it even arrived and the minute I plugged it in it worked perfectly,” he said. “I was very impressed by that. All its attributes were as they should be and it’s very easy to edit your own fixture.”

Noel also says that his operators are usually very keen to learn about Vista especially as they “don’t have to choke on a manual to get some basics done on it’!”

Lincoln University’s Media Broadcast Production Centre

Jands Vista consoles, running the new Vista v2 software, have been installed in the two TV studios at Lincoln University’s Media Broadcast Production Centre, a purpose built production environment which includes radio studios, video editing, audio editing, digital imaging, and multimedia suites as well as a brand new sound theatre.

The studios have been newly upgraded to include some of the latest lighting and camera technologies, bringing the facilities up to full multi-camera and HD spec.

The University offers qualifications with some of the UK’s leading media orientated courses, and the studios are used for full programme making and a variety of other associated functions. They are run by the University’s Media,
Humanities & Technology Faculty, and overseen day-to-day by studio engineer and technical specialist, Steve Judge. Steve also teaches the practical and technical elements of courses to students using the facilities.

The Jands Vista consoles, a T2 and an I3, were supplied to the University by Jands exclusive UK dealer A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET).

The T2 console is located in the larger of the studios with the I3 in the smaller, both controlling a mix of generics, and the new LED fixtures.

Steve had not used Jands before, and was glad he listened to the recommendation to take a look at it for himself before choosing to buy anything else. He says that AC-ET were very helpful and informative in providing information and responding to his queries.

He downloaded the Vista software and gave it a thorough test himself, commenting, “I found that, particularly with Vista v2, people were really embracing Vista and enthusing about how much it moved it into a different league. I was confident we were investing in the right technology.”

Programming the console via its logical and intuitive interface is ideal for his students, he explains, as they are already familiar with technology and communications devices working in the same style.

He believes that having their new LED fixtures, and the freedom to get the most out of them with the Vista control system both quickly and simply will energise students and stimulate their interest in lighting generally. The studios are regularly used for the production of current affairs style programmes, and one of the briefs is that student teams should come up with fresh and innovative ways of lighting and presenting these.

US Lighting designer Tony Fransen continued his long association with the Jands Vista lighting and media control system by recently going on the road with a Vista T2 console to run lighting for the Sara Bareilles US Tour.

On the road since May, the tour is a mix of her own headline performances as well as some opening shows for country duo Sugarland.

Tony’s neatly designed touring package gives Bareilles her own individual stage aesthetics utilising his distinctive “boutique” style. Taking advantage of whatever extra lighting is available in each venue to supplement his design, Tony uses the Vista’s powerful Fixture Swap and Cloning to swiftly integrate units into his show.

This ability to further enhance his standard programmed show, ensures that it will always look great, and Tony has the time to tweak and fine-tune as he goes. “It’s extremely powerful, the software is rock solid and it is definitely the best control platform on the market” he enthuses.

Bareilles’ floor package consists of VARI*LITE VL2500s, about 40 Martin Professional MAC 101 LED washes and a selection of other products including JTE PixelLine 1044 battens, Micro W LED ‘bricks’, plus a smattering of generics. The slick, moody low level set contains a further 320 x MR16 ‘birdies’.

The Vista T2 and touring packages are being supplied by rental company TLS Inc. in conjunction with Deluxe Productions. Huntsville, Alabama headquartered TLS has several Jands Vista consoles in its hire inventory, and being based nearby, Tony works closely with their Nashville, Tennessee office.

Tony uses his iPad as a complete remote for the console, making focussing simple and allowing him to run cues to check his show from anywhere in the venue. “It allows me to be really efficient with my time”, he explains.

“I love the way the timeline shows me information”, he declares “I can literally just stretch the times out and line them up, all while seeing what I am doing, rather than looking at a bunch of numbers” he explains, adding that you “simply can not beat” that way of working.

Tony is full of praise for Jands’ North American distributors, A.C. Lighting Inc, “A.C Lighting Inc offer incredible support, they are on hand to help at any time, and are always a good springboard for bouncing new ideas as well as a brilliant team of people” he states.

This leg of the Sara Bareilles tour ran until the end of October, and continued with a series of Festival shows in December, where Tony once again took a Vista T2. Tony’s individual design style keeps him constantly in demand, and he currently has four other designs on the road, all of which have been programmed on and are using Jands Vista consoles – including Stephen Curtis Chapman and two “Women of Faith” tours.

Click images to enlarge

Three Jands Vista T2 consoles, each running the next generation Vista v2 software, are controlling lighting and media at White’s Chapel United Methodist Church (UMC) in Dallas, Texas, USA.

In the run up to Christmas a spectacular show, “Celebrate The Light”, is being projected onto the front of the impressive 250 ft wide by 150 ft high façade of the church building. Drawing crowds of up to 5,000, and running six times a night, a Vista T2 is in control of this popular show.

Tim Georgeff, the Church’s Creative Director, had been dreaming about producing a Christmas projection presentation on the building for some time. With the help of Steve Alford of leading technical production company Alford Media – who supplied three Barco 20K FLM projectors and a pair of Green Hippo Grasshopper media servers – as well as local graphic designer David Koss this became a reality.

The Vista controlled the Grasshopper media servers to create the detailed Video presentation the team were after. Vista’s graphical interface made the process fast, accurate and smooth.

Throughout the duration of the festive season White’s Chapel run events including a major annual Christmas musical. This year’s production, “Born Where the Shadows Lie”, has lighting designed by Keith Allen from Alford Media.

Fixtures include VARI*LITE VL 3000s, Martin Professional MAC 550s and GLP Volkslicht LED washes , Chroma-Q™ Color Block DB4™ LED battens, plus ETC Source Four profiles, PARs and fresnels.

Tim comments that the ease of programming on the Vista made creating both these shows a very time-efficient process, remarking on how simple it is to get the most from whatever technology they choose to use – whether moving lights, conventionals, LED, or media servers.

White’s Chapel has been running the Vista v2 software for some time, with Tim highlighting that information is clear and readable; its fast setup is “fantastic” and it is “so easy” to navigate.

Tim explains that they loved the first Vista T2 they bought so much that they went out and purchased a second for their smaller venue! Both are in constant use with the busy schedule in its two worship facilities – the main 2,500 capacity auditorium and the second 650 capacity facility, ‘The Bridge’.

The Vista consoles were supplied via Jands exclusive North American distributor A.C. Lighting Inc. VP of Sales and Marketing, Fred Mikeska said “We hear from so many of our users that they know they can create a show by putting all their effort into programming a console, but with Vista they just don’t have to. That gives them, and their clients, the freedom to create whatever they choose without having to think about the complexity of programming it. Vista v2 really shows that powerful doesn’t have to be complicated…..”

Click on images to enlarge

More photos and video

The Star-Telegram Texas

The smallest pair in the Jands Vista lighting and media control range won the award for ‘Best Moving Light Console – Small Format’ at the 2011 WFX expo in Dallas, Texas, USA.

The portable and compact Vista M1 and Vista S1 shared the spotlight, together with the second generation of software for the range – Vista v2 – which was launched earlier in the year.

The Awards are an integral element of the high profile annual WFX show, and are designed to honor the most innovative products available. The winners are selected by a panel of industry experts.

This is not the first time that the Jands Vista family has received one of the prestigious awards from WFX, in the past being honored not only with ‘Best Automated Lighting Controller’ but also ‘Best Overall Lighting Product’.

The 2011 WFX Award was collected on behalf of Jands by VP of sales and marketing at North American distributor A.C. Lighting Inc, Fred Mikeska. On accepting the award Fred commented “The team at Jands is really in tune with the market, they listen carefully to all of the input and feedback they receive from our extensive list of users. The Vista range is a great example of a company listening closely to its user base, then delivering a product that meets their needs. Vista v2 gives users of all levels the tools to deliver great looking events quickly and easily without having to resort to hours of complicated programming. A.C. Lighting Inc. is honored to receive the WFX Award on behalf of Jands.”

The Jands Vista control system has been enthusiastically adopted by many users, where its combination of simple, fast and flexible access with the power of controlling fine detail has made it a winner with users looking to deliver great looking shows quickly and efficiently.

Vista v2 was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of user to get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether dimmers, moving lights, LED or media.

Vista continues to make a big impact worldwide with recent tours and shows including Third Day, Sara Bareilles, Adele, Pulp, The ‘Year of the Forest’ WWF Fund, Vienne Jazz Festival and Finland’s European Capital of Culture Opening Ceremony.

Recently Giancarlo Vannetti, Jands Vista product specialist for Italy, was pleased to help his friend and new owner of a Vista T4, Lighting Designer Paolo Firulli with a special event in Bari Italy.

The event was the “Meraviglioso Modugno” a tribute to Domenico Modugno, a songwriter, actor and one of the best known Italian singers from the 1950s. The show was held on November 25th in one of the largest and most beautiful theatres in Italy, the Teatro Petruzzelli located in Bari. The challenge for LD Paolo Firulli and Giancarlo was to create a unique atmosphere for each of the 13 Italian artists who performed different Modugno’ songs, each of them featuring a different stage setup.

The lighting rig was simple but effective. Rigged across 3 overhead trusses were 20 Robe MMX Spots, 20 Robe ColorWash 575 ATZoom and some conventional fixtures. The background was lit by 20 Robin 300 LEDWash, all supplied by International Sound owned by Franco, Paolo and Gianni Firulli, one of the biggest rental company in southern Italy.

Commenting on Vista v2 Byron, Paolo says “I’m really impressed how quick and easy we could create a lighting show performing live with less time than usual and with a bunch of different artists on stage with different setups. Giancarlo introduce me to the Livetime feature which is great in this conditions and busking the show is so simple and fast!”

This was also an opportunity for Giancarlo to demonstrate the Vista, running the v2 software to the theatre staff who have shown interest in the using the console on other shows. Giancarlo commented, “People are always surprised how the v2 software can make simple the programming work, Copy/Paste commands let people literally go WOW! Live Timing and Timeline are really appreciated features for theatres were a detailed control and manipulating of pre-programmed events is required and allows the operator to gently control any type of effect or feature with smooth fades”

Click images to enlarge

Lighting designer and long-time Jands Vista advocate, Rob Sinclair specified a Vista S1 console with two M1 wings to run lighting for Grammy Award-winning UK singer-songwriter Adele’s recent 2011 international tour.

The system ran Jands’ next generation Vista v2 software, and on some sections of the tour operating duties were taken on by John Barker while Rob fulfilled other design commitments on his busy schedule – including tours by Peter Gabriel and Goldfrapp also utilising Vista systems.

Rob’s classy, innovative design for Adele was sculpted using entirely white light, a bold aesthetic move which has won considerable acclaim. None of the moving lights were seen to move, there was minimal flashing, and was a real case of subtlety and suggestion to augment Adele’s powerful performance and natural stage presence.
There was a distinctive back wall of 96 cone-shaped lampshades each illuminated from behind with a 60 Watt incandescent household light bulb – all individually dimmed. These had been dipped in a special rubber solution treatment to make them break-resistant.

The Matrix facilities on the Vista S1 – one of the many tools added with the Vista v2 upgrade – made mapping and programming this unique arrangement of lights extremely easy.

The lighting rig echoed the simplicity of the show’s concept. Rigged across three overhead trusses were seven Robe ColorSpot 2500E AT moving lights and 20 ETC Source Four profiles, and on the deck were 16 Martin Professional MAC 2K Washes, all supplied by Neg Earth Lights.

Commenting on the Vista v2 software, Rob says, “I really like it. It is very solid and a marked step forward from V1. It feels almost as if the console directly connects my brain to the lights”.

In addition to Rob’s Vista systems being used on Adele, Pulp, Peter Gabriel and Goldfrapp tours throughout 2011, one has also just gone out on Will Young’s latest UK tour, operated by Jason Hynde.

The next generation Vista v2 software was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of user get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether dimmers, moving lights, LED, or media. Available in a wide range of hardware Vista v2 offers both the simplicity to work fast, with the power to control the finest details, so everyone can focus on creating a great looking show rather than on programming a desk.

Jands Europe’s Neil Vann commented, “Rob’s designs are always interesting, fantastic looking and very precise. Vista v2 offers the perfect balance to get the detailed control he demands, with the simplicity to get the most from the tight timeframes that today’s productions have to work to. If you haven’t taken a look at Vista v2 for yourself yet, take the chance to see just how much you could be getting from your time……”

Gallery

The award winning Hot Ice Show at top UK amusement park, Pleasure Beach Blackpool is one of the many shows around the world taking advantage of the powerful, simple, and visual Jands Vista lighting and media control system to run their lighting during their ice skating spectacular.

Hot Ice has been running for over 70 years, with the 2011 show, ‘Aura’, performed twice daily, six days a week, to entertain and enthral nearly 20,000 visitors a week. This makes it one of the UK’s most popular attractions.

Hot Ice is created, produced and directed by Amanda Thompson and presented by Stageworks Worldwide Productions at the Pleasure Beach’s ice skating theatre, The Arena. Stageworks Head of Production, Management & Events, Scott Hope, specified the Jands Vista T2 in consultation with his team, when the time came to upgrade and replace the show’s lighting control desk.

They researched extensively before making any commitment to a new console or brand, and after considering all the available options Scott decided that he and his team should take a look at the Vista for themselves. When it came down to it, he reveals, “It was actually a very easy choice to make.”

Key to his decision, says Scott, was that Vista “Is as easy or as sophisticated as you want to make it, which is really helpful to get the most out of short programming windows.” He especially likes the way it is quick and easy to manipulate any fixture and any cue, “This is hugely powerful and saves masses of programming time” he qualifies, adding that the whole Vista concept is excellent.

Once they had decided that Vista was the way to go, they looked at the hardware range to find the console that best fitted their needs and budget, finally settling on a Vista T2.

Paul Lee’s spectacular lighting design for ‘Hot Ice’ combines spectacle, drama and contrasts, as well as integrating multiple lighting effects for the show.
The Vista T2 controls a wide mix of lighting fixtures including 40 Martin Professional MAC 2K profiles and 12 x GLP Impression moving lights, along with 60 x Chroma-Q™ colour changers and over 200 generics, plus 20 banks of ACL’s, 23 x Showtec Sunstrips, two Starcloths, MDG Atmosphere and Compack smoke machines, as well as numerous strobe and in-house effects.
It also controls a special bespoke ‘Prometheus’ flame jet fire effect that was developed in house, comprising of four effects heads.
Stageworks were so impressed with their T2 that they decided to invest in a further two Vista I3′s and three Vista PC ‘dongles’ for various other shows and events onsite. They find the ‘dongles’ to be a handy ‘quick fix’ solution for corporate events, presentations and press launches.

Scott finds that the Vista substantially accelerates the time taken to complete the process, “being Head of Production, for me this equates to saving money”, he explains.

The next generation Vista v2 software was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of user get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether dimmers, moving lights, LED, or media. Available in a wide range of hardware Vista v2 offers both the simplicity to work fast, with the power to control the finest details, so everyone can focus on creating a great looking show rather than on programming a desk.

Jands Europe’s Neil Vann said “Scott and his team have to be able to create precise structured shows like Hot Ice, but also have to be able to deliver a variety of events to a high specification in very short time frames. The Vista family offers the right balance between powerful functionality, and ease of use, that allows them to get the most from all of their shows. If you haven’t taken a look at Vista v2 yet, you really should before you choose to use anything else… ”

• Charlotte – November 22nd or 23rd, 2011 from 8:00am to 4:00pm
  Hampton Inn & Suites Charlotte Airport
  2731 Little Rock Road
  Charlotte, NC 28214 USA
  Tel: 224-520-6951
  Parking is free, contact pirya.patel@hilton.com for hotel reservation special rates.
• Atlanta – December 6th or 7th, 2011 from 8:00am to 4:00pm
  Marriott Courtyard Windy Hill
  2045 South Park Place
  Atlanta, GA 30339 USA
  Tel: 1-800-321-2211
  Parking is free, call for hotel reservations. www.marriott.com/atlwh

The training session will cover all aspects of the new Vista v2 software and is geared to all levels and types of user – including designers, programmers, operators – no matter what your background or knowledge level.

To register for an upcoming Jands Vista training session, visit our registration page

Remember…

Space is limited, so be sure to register now to be one of the first in the US to learn just how much you can do with Vista v2.

Take advantage of the special Early Bird pricing – $249*

* Early bird discount applies until the day of the event. Training will be subject to availability on the day for those who do not pre-register, and at a higher rate of $299.

Vista v2 was designed from the ground up to allow all levels of users to get the most from whatever mix of technology they have available, whether dimmers, moving lights, LED, or media. Available in a wide range of hardware Vista v2 offers both the simplicity to work fast, with the power to control the finest details, so everyone can focus on creating a great looking show rather than on programming a desk.

Jands Europe’s Neil Vann says “If you haven’t seen Vista v2 for yourself yet, don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to take a proper hands-on look in a relaxed, local environment and see just how much it can offer you.”

The roadshow is being organised in conjunction with Jands’ extensive EMEA dealer and support network, and after Norway moves on to Switzerland, Sweden and then Germany. Other countries the roadshow plans to visit in the coming months include Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Lebanon, France, UAE, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Greece, Austria, Russia, Finland and the UK.

Over the next few weeks, the roadshow will be visiting the cities below, but more dates are being added all the time….

October

4/10 Zurich, Switzerland
17/10 Stochholm, Sweden
18/10 Borlange, Sweden
19/10 Norrkoping, Sweden
20/10 Gothenburg, Sweden
21/10 Malmo, Sweden

November

7/11 Aachen, Germany
8/11 Wiesbaden, Germany
9/11 Stuttgart, Germany
10/11 Munchen, Germany
14/11 Hannover, Germany
15/11 Hamburg, Germany
16/11 Berlin, Germany

To find an up to date schedule, to register your interest, or to see if we can bring the roadshow to your town, please visit our road show page. To keep up to date with the roadshow’s progress, follow us on Facebook for regular updates.