That sweeping, powerful, attention-grabbing searchlight effect that you see at a Hollywood movie premiere, or any number of high-profile events, has traditionally been the domain of cumbersome and inefficient Xenon lighting systems. Elation Professional is changing all that with Sky Motion, an automated sky tracker system in its compact Proteus Excalibur™ beam moving head that allows the unit to operate as an impactful searchlight effect without the need for a dedicated lighting controller.
“During development of the Proteus Excalibur, we made comparisons with legacy Xenon fixtures in order to get a sense of how the aerial beams compare to each other,” explains Elation Product Manager Matthias Hinrichs. “We quickly realised that in many respects, the Excalibur outperforms these fixtures. It became clear that there was a unique opportunity for the fixture to replaces expensive and power-hungry Xenon searchlights for special events, theme parks and other applications.”
Patterns accessible via simple menu
Built into the latest firmware of the Proteus Excalibur and accessible via a simple menu display, Sky Motion searchlight mode allows an Excalibur unit or group of Excaliburs to create the famous sky tracker effect. The Sky Motion system operates autonomously and is quick and easy to set up directly from the fixture display.
With the simple assignment of IDs, a variety of searchlight patterns can easily be adjusted for size, speed, and colour. Choose from a variety of attractive movement designs like Hollywood, Sky Tracer, Searchlight, Diagonal, Sweep and more, and even customise the look live right from the fixture.
Proteus Excalibur
With 7500 lux at a distance of 100 metres, the Proteus Excalibur is the brightest IP65 full-featured beam fixture on the market. It houses an ultra-efficient 550W Flex discharge lamp and projects an ultra-narrow 0.8-degree beam that cuts effortlessly through the sky and is visible at great distances. The intense beam projects from an ultra-wide 260mm front lens as a massive column of solid, attention-grabbing light that is ideal as a searchlight effect. Fully IP65 rated, the fixture stays operational in all weather conditions.
Easy to deploy
Comparable in output to large 2000W or 4000W Xenon fixtures, the Excalibur is compact enough to easily load in and out and operates at a fraction of the power of Xenon systems. All that is required are IP65-rated 5pin DMX cables and power. The low power draw means that land power is easy to find for easy deployment. No generator required!
No lighting controller needed
Sky Motion makes it easy to create a traditional 2 x 2 searchlight grid system, or any custom arrangement in lines or clusters, and is especially useful in situations where traditional programming isn’t feasible or available. The Excalibur fixtures are easy to set up without a DMX lighting controller and because the system is autonomous and completely stand-alone with no need to transfer data or set up a control console, even users not familiar with lighting and DMX can prepare and run the Sky Motion system.
“The innovative Sky Motion system is designed to be operated by anyone and anywhere,” Matthias affirms. “It’s easy to connect and a dedicated display layout was created to allow event staff and technicians to simply choose a pattern and adjust its size and speed, without any experience in lighting programming. The results are immediate, and setup takes only minutes until the fixtures are ready to animate the sky with the iconic patterns of Hollywood movie premieres.”
Elation’s automated Sky Motion system not only expands the usability of the Proteus Excalibur beyond traditional show lighting applications, it is changing the way we think about traditional searchlight systems.
