Auckland Live is the leader in performing arts, culture, entertainment, and events in Auckland, and is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest performing arts platform.
Their iconic venues and public spaces are stages for presenting a programme of live arts and entertainment for the enjoyment and inspiration of Aucklanders and visitors, every day.
Venues such as Auckland Town Hall, The Civic, Bruce Mason Centre, Queens Wharf, the Viaduct Events Centre, and more now have the distinct advantage of being able to add up to 24 Ayrton Rivale Profile IP65 units to their productions!
Glenn Border, Manager Technical Lighting & Staging, Auckland Live & Auckland Conventions, says the fixtures were selected after extensive research.
“We conducted a lot of shootouts with various other LED-based fixtures,” he commented. “We looked at eight or nine different alternatives for our A-rig moving head profile stock. Our criteria were based on an LED fixture with shutters, and a local provider with good backup and after-sales service. Rivale delivered all of that, plus the bonus of being an IP-rated fixture.”
Glenn observes that the alternative fixtures tested were generally larger and heavier, while Rivale offered a compact, lightweight solution suitable for smaller venues yet powerful enough to meet the demands of larger spaces.
“They do move around,” added Glenn. “They go from the town hall to concert chambers, they go into corporate situations to event dinners, award evenings and big corporate sort of shows in large venues and into our premium venue, which is the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre.”
Glenn describes the Rivale as a very versatile, extremely bright fixture that simply wins the day over anything else.
“Not just because the light itself is an excellent build quality, but it was the other things as well, such as the local support that we have with Showtech and the IP rating that gives us the ability to put them outside if we need to,” he added. “There are some other cool features, such as infinite pan and tilt rotation, which is a point of difference to a lot of other movers. Our guys have been using that for more party-oriented events.
Glenn notes that the Rivale’s framing section is very important, as it allows precise positioning of each shutter blade across 100% of the surface with a rotation of ±90°. He says the shutters are brilliant, especially as the Rivale are often placed out front to light lecterns and set pieces, and being able to shutter them down is very useful.
“They’ve got some other attributes as well, for example, being able to address them via an app on your phone,” continued Glenn. “You can just open the app and point the phone at the light and address it that way. And they’re only 30 kg, which is reasonable for a punchy fixture. I also really like the gobo set.
“They’ve got a lot going for them. And the other big thing is that they’re quite popular around the tracks. There are two other companies that own dozens of these fixtures, so it’s good for us to know we can always grab more from some of our other suppliers.”
Glenn remarks that another good thing about Rivale is that its frame rate is well-suited to TV and camera applications. Their refresh rate is very good, and there are no issues with flicker or anything when they’ve used iMag cameras or similar setups.
“I’ve had good comments from everyone who’s used them, and we’re very happy with them.”
