Liberty University Acquires Claypaky Scenius Spots and Scenius Unicos for Vines Center

	Liberty University's Vines Center

The Event Production department at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia has increased its lighting inventory with the addition of Claypaky Scenius Spots and Scenius Unicos. They will be used in the Vines Center, the university's basketball and volleyball arena, which is also used for concerts, special events, and their Convocation service three times a week.

The purchase is the first stage in a "five-year upgrade of our lighting and audio equipment," says Amy Justice, lighting director and tier 2 production technician in the department. "Most of the Scenius fixtures will be mounted around the ring of the arena but we will keep four for portable and floor lighting. Scenius gives us lots of options for front lighting for various stages, and better ambient lighting and mid-air effects lighting."

Earlier the university purchased Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20 luminaires for the new School of Music, the first Claypaky lights on campus.

The choice of Scenius was a "team effort" of the department, which is headed by Sheldon Donigan, assistant director of events and logistics. Event Production handles some 1,700 events annually from small audio systems to touring concerts, Justice says.

A.C.T Lighting, Inc., which exclusively distributes Claypaky lighting in North America, arranged for two demos of the Scenius fixtures, "including one up near where we wanted to install them," notes Justice. "That gave us a really good idea of how they'd work for us."

"Scenius stood out for three reasons," she says. "They have great color mixing. The hues are brilliant and deep, especially the true red, while maintaining a really bright output. There's also an evenness of lighting across the beam, which is especially important for a front light. And their modular structure means the fixtures are easy to maintain -- and when you have a lot that makes a difference."

The Scenius Spots will be deployed as spots and front lights with near field reflectors; some will use color and gobos. The Scenius Unicos will showcase their tight beam and wash capabilities.

Event Production also owns a large complement of grandMA2 consoles for lighting control. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting products in North America.

The university acquired its first grandMA console in 2009 and has continually added to its inventory. "We're very pleased with grandMA and the flexibility and capabilities the systems give us," says Justice.

A grandMA2 full-size with one RPU, one NPU and more than 20 nodes has been installed in the new concert hall. Event Production also has two grandMA2 lights, two Ultra Lights, two command wings, a fader wing and an MA onPC system.

"We plan to purchase another NPU for the Vines Center where we already have one of the grandMA2 lights and three nodes," says Justice.

Doug Mekanik, A.C.T Lighting eastern regional sales, commented, "Liberty University has been an A.C.T supporter for many years, ranging in products from campus wide MA2 use to MDG hazers. As the Vines Center is such unique and heavily used space, the Scenius offered the best quality of light for it. We're happy to have Liberty continue to support our products and showcase the fixtures."