The installation was designed by Gerrie Swart of Selec Consulting Engineers, who worked in conjunction with Martin’s South African representative, Electrosonic. The final specification comprises LED as well as Martin smartMAC moving heads and Stagebar 54s.
In the foyer area, three smartMACs and two Stagebars are programmed to change colour slowly, adding to the overall ambience. In addition, LED tubes and FLEDs have been installed between the double-glazed studio windows, as well as inside the front face of the studio desks, behind the acoustic panels and in between the system racks.
The two studios – an on-air studio and a production facility – both have smartMACs programmed to move even more slowly than in the foyer area, and in such a way that the movement of the gobos does not disturb presenters or guests. Gobos are also located in the bar, which is additionally lit with LED FLEDs.
Martin’s business area director, Ulrich Borup Hansen, told II: “The smartMAC is quite unique in that it includes a fanless cooling system which makes them ideal for noise sensitive environments like this. Their ability to dynamically project an image, logo, or message onto any surface – and easily adjust that message to whatever the occasion – makes the entire space a canvas for a marketing message, raising the commercial value of the space. Included are eight interchangeable dichroic colours and rotating effect wheel that houses 6 interchangeable effects. They also offer unprecedented reliability with service intervals up to two years with a 9,000 hour lamp.”
Control for the Yebo Radio system is provided by Martin LightJockey, installed on one of the PCs housed in the main rack room but also accessible from a networked PC situated inside the broadcast studio. A number of lighting scenes and chases have been programmed to satisfy the client’s requirements.
