CLAY PAKY BRINGS SHARP LOOKS TO THE STAR CASINO

At Vivid 2016, Sydney’s The Star casino chose 36 Clay Paky Supersharpys to put on an impressive optical show. “We chose Clay Paky due to past positive experiences with the brand,” commented Bruce Dwyer, Head of Lighting at The Star. “We did look at using Mythos but decided we would be paying for a lot of amazing features that we just wouldn’t use in this application.”

The Supersharpy’s beam angle can be reduced to almost zero degrees by means of a perforated grid which provides a perfectly parallel beam, similar to a laser beam. Each fixture is housed within a Clay Paky Igloo enclosure for protection against rain and humidity, and maintains an optimum working temperature for fixtures even in hot or sub-zero conditions. 36 IP-rated ShowPro LED Flood EX36 are positioned between the Supersharpys for colour wash, thus adding another dimension to the design.

The lights are tightly programmed and choreographed with little fast paced movement. Beam angles are carefully controlled so as not to hit apartment blocks, the Harbour Bridge or possibly interfere with air traffic.

Show Technology supplied a full turnkey solution for this project, with Technical Manager Mike Gearin working closely with Bruce Dwyer to put the system together.

“Essentially its 36 lights managed from two MA onPC computers, main and backup, with MA 4port nodes,” commented Mike Gearin. “The PC’s were custom made by James Moore at Show Technology. We’ve designed it so that you can program a show from down on the pier. The entire show is run from Agenda on the MA with Time Code taking over every hour; we spent a lot of time changing Agenda to be different every day so it’s not the same show triggered at 8pm every night.”

RDM has been utilised so every fixture is performing two-way communication back to the computer. PCC Event Services supplied a wireless networking link that allows a MA Gigabit link 400m away down at the pier. The project used air fibre for lighting networking: 1GB a second, 400m away.

“It’s amazing, we are getting 1GB per second 400m away in an area that is jammed packed full of wifi,” remarked Mike Gearin. “It’s super easy to configure the system and now its just plug and play. We roll out the grandMA light for programming and we have an MA session running in seconds with fast connection speeds and no latency. We have one air fibre mounted on the top of The Star permanently and one that we mount on a speaker stand on the wharf. We line it up with the line up tool on a laptop and we are away!”

Bruce Dwyer commented that Show Technology’s involvement with the project was exemplary.

“Mike Gearin has been shoulder to shoulder with us from concept proposal all the way to completion,” he added. “He has been a shining example of Show Technology’s ‘can do’ attitude. Our proposal had an extremely short lead time and a very tight time table. The support we received from Show Technology ranged from sourcing equipment, designing power and data systems to installing the gear side by side with our own technicians. Time tables were adjusted almost daily due to all manner of obstacles yet Mike and Show Technology just rolled with the waves and kept the ball steadily on course to the goal. Nothing has been a problem. The ongoing response we have received to technical queries post the install, has again has been immediate and succinct.”

A few days after the installation was completed, Sydney suffered one of its worst storms in history and the entire set up came through unscathed.

More Info:
Clay Paky: www.claypaky.it
Australian Distributor: www.showtech.com.au