Susan Rose Harmonizes Chauvet Professional Q-Series with Video Panels at Dollywood Show

	Great American Country Show with Chauvet Professional and lighting design by Susan Rose

When Susan Rose first saw the Q-Series moving fixtures from Chauvet Professional, she was instantly impressed with their brightness. This was important to the lighting designer who knew that "brightness" was the one must-have quality that the LED fixtures would need if they were going to keep up with the lavish video walls used in the Great American Country Show concert series at the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

A joint venture between the Great American Country TV Network and Dollywood, the 21-week Great American Country Show is a series of 40-minute programs featuring six singers, a six piece band, and a rotating roster of top-selling country recording stars like Wade Hayes, Larry Stewart, and Sarah Darling. The live concert/TV show is fast paced, fun, bold, and above all bright, with a stage dominated by large video screens.

"Any moving fixture used in this light show would have to pack a powerful punch to keep up with the high impact video walls, which are positioned behind and to each side of the stage," says Rose, the show's lighting designer. The Q-Series units delivered this and then some -- not only providing more than enough brightness, but also giving Rose a level of color rendering that brought out the best in her creative flair.

"The output of the Chauvet moving fixtures was impressive," said Rose. "They were surprisingly bright. Their intensity perfectly balanced the lighting with all the bold content that we have on the rear and side video screens. Aside from looking great with the video panels, the intensity of the moving fixtures also worked well with all the audience lighting that I tend to use to involve the crowd."

Rose used 16 Q-Spot 560-LED 180W moving yoke fixtures, eight Q-Spot 360-LED moving yoke spot fixtures, and eight Q-Wash 560Z-LED RGBWA washes. "We positioned the Q-Spot 560s in the air on our pipes for aerial and symmetrical looks," she said. "The Q-Spots 360s were positioned on the floor to create angled aerial looks out over the audience, and the 560Z units were used on a stage as a wash to highlight performers."

With an impressive output of 13,100 lux at 5m, excellent color rendering, and a vast color palette of soft pastels and vivid hues the Q-Wash 560Z-LED delivered an even, richly-colored wash on stage that drew in the live audience and delivered consistently powerful images to TV viewers.

"I approached designing this show as if it were a rock-and-roll concert in terms of the color, intensity, and impact I wanted to deliver," said Rose. "The moving fixtures certainly helped me accomplish this with their color and brightness."

Rose rounded out the show's lighting design by using four COLORado 3P IP wash banks as scenic elements on stage. Featuring three pods of 18 RGB LEDs arranged in circles, this versatile fixture can be used as a blinder or set piece. The COLORado 3P IP RGB allows color mixing in each pod to be controlled separately, which adds to its versatility.

"I take into consideration costume colors in the video content, and just 'feel' the music to create colors for the light show," said Rose. "The Chauvet fixtures give me the flexibility to create a wide range of colors that matched the performances on stage, show after show over the entire series."

At the end of the day, though, it was the brightness of the Q-Series moving fixtures that stood out. "They provided a powerful look," said Rose. "My clients and the artists absolutely loved it! The big powerful looks we got from these fixtures created a concert style impact on the audience -- and that was our plan."

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