Martin MAC Family a Perfect Composition for Wagner
Melbourne Opera’s - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Victoria
Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building hosted Melbourne Opera’s stunning production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the first time an opera has performed in this iconic venue.
The grandeur of Wagner’s masterpiece came to life with a dynamic lighting design by the talented Philip Lethlean, featuring cutting-edge fixtures from Martin Professional. The golden trio of Martin’s latest innovation – the new powerful Martin MAC Viper XIP, the vibrant Martin Aura PXL, and the compact yet punchy Martin MAC One – helped create a truly immersive and unforgettable operatic experience. StarLite Productions supplied lighting and crew.
The venue wasn’t the easiest in which to stage a light show. The lighting competed with daylight for the first 90 minutes of the four-hour production as the building didn’t black out. Fixture placement was tricky as no overhead trusses were allowed apart from one over the seating bank. Also, you couldn’t have any haze or smoke and nothing in the dome.
“Everything we did had to be approved by engineers; it was worse than doing an outdoor gig!” commented Philip. “It was quite limiting. I had no overhead lighting for the set.”
Fortunately, Philip had seven compact Martin MAC Ones that he discreetly placed in the set’s open-framed, two-story high ceiling.
“The MAC Ones are great because you can sneak them into little corners to get a discreet shot, and they zoom and are pretty bright for their size,” he said.
Philip used the Martin MAC Viper XIP for the first time, and he was impressed by its brightness and, of course, Martin’s famous reliability. Five were rigged on the front truss, with a couple on road cases way down the back for the big backlight scene at the end of Act 3. A large procession of choir members with banners walks through the building, spectacularly lit by the MAC Viper XIPs and Aura PXLs.
Philip remarks that the 17 x MAC Aura PXLs were also good because of their zoom, especially since he could not have an overhead rig. Instead, he had two five-metre-high vertical trusses tucked behind the pillars. Each of these trusses housed three MAC Aura PXLS.
“I couldn’t go any higher than five metres because of engineering, and the stage is 1.5 metres high, so I only had about 3 metres worth of truss above the stage,” he added. “The MAC Aura PXLs are good because they’re lightweight, and you can jam them in. I didn’t need any of the sparkle effects or anything like that. I was using them for colour and washing. I had six more on the front truss just for the front wash and spot. When I plotted this, I left two Aura PXLs out on the front truss and two Aura PXLs on the side trusses just as sniper lights, rapidly filling gaps where a performer might be standing. They worked well for that.”
These MAC Aura PXLs were also used to light into the famous Dome of the Royal Exhibition Building: dark blue for night, medium blue for the day, and amber for the glorious full-stage climactic finale.
Each vertical truss held another Martin trooper: five MAC ERA Performance CLD with a couple more on the stage floor for set gobo washes and window backlight.
The Martin family performed their duty over the run of shows right up until the last performance, where the temperature was 38°C, and there was no air conditioning in the building.
The Martin MAC Viper XIP next-generation, Viper-class moving head combines legendary Viper performance, Martin XIP smart weatherproofing technology, and the most robust feature set Martin has ever developed. Drawing on best-in-class features that defined the iconic Viper lineup, including Viper Profile, Performance, Wash and Wash DX, MAC Viper XIP builds on its heritage, setting a new standard for all-in-one performance, innovation and reliability.
The Martin MAC Aura PXL adds to the industry standard line of Martin wash lights with multi-lens and Aura backlight technology. Bigger and brighter than the MAC Aura, the PXL features significantly higher intensity and a tighter beam as well as a smaller face and less busy lens look compared to the MAC Quantum Wash. The MAC Aura PXLs bigger “bubbles” provide a more appealing look and beautiful wide wash fields.
It is also the first wash light in the market to feature individual pixel control for main beam pixels and Aura backlight with full control via DMX, Art-Net and sACN, as well as with Martin´s very own creative P3 video protocol.
The compact size and low weight, trusted Martin build quality and feature set, and simple and clever setup and control options make the MAC Aura PXL ideal for rental customers and lighting designers working in concert/touring, TV shows and corporate, as well as customers supporting the high-end nightclub market.
Weight:15.60 kg (34.39 lbs.)
Dimensions: 410 x 489 x 232 mm
Setting a new standard for compact moving heads, MAC One is a revolutionary Beam, Wash and Eye-Candy fixture, featuring a captivating Fresnel lens that transforms any stage or event into an extraordinary visual spectacle. Compact, lightweight, and highly versatile, MAC One defines a new compact class of performance lighting.
Designed to fulfill the demand for a bright, compact, tour-worthy moving head, the Martin ERA 400 Performance CLD combines a feature-loaded and rugged, yet cost-efficient profile for entertainment and rental applications. It features a highly efficient 300W cold white LED engine that produces a bright, sharp 6,500K gobo projection with a flat field. Additional key benefits include 1:3 zoom, electronic dimming and strobe, full CMY color mixing and separate color wheel, iris for beam adjustment and fixed and rotating gobo wheels, loaded with user-favorite gobos from the renowned Martin MAC range that include a wide variety of effects, especially when combined with the included rotating prism.
The ERA 400 Performance CLD includes a full curtain framing system which offers lighting designers a high degree of flexibility to achieve precise looks on stage. When fully focused, gobos can be nicely framed with a soft edge, and each of the four framing blades can cross the entire beam independently for a full blackout. The entire system can rotate 90 degrees, allowing designers to direct light exactly where they want it to go and achieve unique movement effects not otherwise possible.
Whether being used for small and mid-sized concert and touring, live TV productions, corporate shows, cruise line or houses of worship, the Martin ERA 400 Performance CLD is ideal for a long list of scenarios, requiring a truly versatile LED profile that offers near limitless design and usage potential.
PHYSICALLength: 379 mm (14.9 in.)Width: 237 mm (9.3 in.)Height: 632 mm (24.9 in)Weight: 22.5 kg (49.6lbs)
