20 Datagate Mk2s Control LEDs for $200 Million Dollar Las Vegas Nightclub

	Photo: Erik Kabik Retna

ENTTEC's Datagate Mk2s are playing a leading role in controlling the 25,200 LEDs in the webbed ceiling of the new $200 million dollar Hakkasan Las Vegas Nightclub at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino.

James Reed, president of Audio Video Lighting Innovations Inc. (AVLI) in Miami, and Michael Callahan, AVLI's vice president and technical director, spent three months wiring, testing, and making sure all of the lights functioned correctly for the nightclub's grand opening April 18 featuring deadmau5 Unhooked.

Reed said this is the tenth project where AVLI has used ENTTEC's Datagate to control the lights for a venue. "It gets the job done and it's reliable," he said. "When we find products that work, we stick with them." Stage Equipment and Lighting in Miami provided the Datagates to AVLI.

The massive 80,000-sq.-ft. main room has a webbed ceiling that Reed and Callahan lined with 3,600sq.-ft. of Elation Flex LED Pixel Tape. The 20 Datagates running Art-Net allowed them the ability to control every node individually, making the lighting experience even more spectacular.

Reed explained that AVLI used a video server running the MADRIX software, which was then connected to the Datagates that were distributing different universes of information to the pixel tape like one big chain. Reed said it took a whopping 144 DMX universes to run the incredible LED light setup.

By using MADRIX and the Datagates, Reed described how they could create complex color fades and abstract video color patterns. The combination of the Datagates and MADRIX enabled the color patterns and rhythms of the lights to coincide with the beats of the music.

A large selection of Robe LED fixtures with moving heads are used to light the dance floor at Hakkasan. These are normally controlled by a ChamSys console in the booth. However, a twentieth Datagate Mk2 was installed at the club, this time by lighting system integrator 4Wall, which allows them to turn those fixtures all white and aim them straight down toward the floor, should the fire marshall require this of them. As of now, that feature hasn't been requested yet, but it's standing by for future use thanks to the flexibility of signal routing inherent in the Datagate's design.