‘An arsenal of FX with arena scale reach’ – CHAUVET Professional Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash

CHAUVET Professional EU Product Manager, Ben Virgo reviews the latest addition to the lighting specialist’s Maverick family of tour-grade moving heads.

What is the idea behind the introduction of Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash?

“The initial concept for the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash was for a brighter and lighter wash fixture in the Maverick Storm series. We wanted to give more tools to lighting designers and end-users working in outdoor and indoor events with challenging environments. Since we developed a new optical system, that allowed the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash to be brighter, and have a wider zoom range, with which we could do nice beam effects. Additionally, we thought that adding the LED ring effect would give a little something extra for end users to play with.”

How does it fit into the Maverick family?

“Maverick Storm fixtures fill two particular needs. They are designed to perform as well outdoors as they do inside and they need to be able to be seen in environments where you cannot control the ambient light. So, they must be bright. Compared to the rest of the Maverick line, Storm fixtures are generally brighter than their non-IP equivalents. The Maverick family has been expanding rapidly in the past few years, and further developing the Storm range is the next evolution.”

Which features will end users benefit from?

“The powerful 19, 50W RGBW LEDs. These powerful LEDs in combination with our optics pack a serious punch and enable us to reach almost 10,000 lumens of output; The 12-zone pixel-mappable RGB LED outer ring is a very exciting addition to the Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash. It creates a ring of light separate from the main output, which means that you have another tool to create some great eye-candy effects. We also used a stealth filter on the ring, designed so that if you decide not to use it, it blends into the background. And, of course, the ability to use in any environment – from outdoor extreme sports venues to festivals to indoor arenas.

How will the addition of an IP65-rated certification benefit end users?

“In the past, customers had to make a decision; IP or not IP? Generally, this was due to the fact that the IP housings were big and heavy. CHAUVET has worked on a new Aluminium-Magnesium alloy, which means we can close the weight gap between IP and non-IP, meaning that with some fixtures we are just 300g heavier than our non-IP version. A rental company now can choose the IP version, worry a lot less about weight, and use them on both indoor and outdoor shows.”

Has the shifting global landscape affected the roll out of Maverick Storm 2 BeamWash?

“When the world started to shut down during the pandemic, CHAUVET made a very deliberate choice to double down on fixture development. We found that many customers and lighting designers finally had the time to sit down and catch their breath. So, we invited them to sit with us – online – and delve deeply into helping us find solutions for the problems they’d been facing with the existing fixtures on the market. What we did not expect was component shortages – a major headache – and supply chain issues. The bungled supply chains have affected every manufacturer. It’s not just about our ability to deliver finished products to our customers – that is a challenge that we have met better than most. Everything from the ore used to make the materials that we use in our housings, to the integrated chips that control our fixtures, have been affected and increased both the upstream time to market as well as the costs. This has meant that although we have lots of new product ideas ready to go into production, we have had to be very selective about which we choose to put our resources into.”

How important has the development of your IP range been for CHAUVET Professional? 

“CHAUVET Professional has a long, long history of developing IP-rated products. It is in our DNA. We developed some of the first LED pars in the industry with our COLORado line around 15 years ago. Now we are continuing that tradition by developing a broad range of IP products to support both the creative departments and production crews in our industry. We continue to receive more and more requests from customers to make as many products IP as possible.”

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