Could you explain the journey behind VLHive 151 Digital FX’s development?
“The VLHive platform has been in development by the Signify R&D team for eight years, and leverages a significant number of patented technologies, with the goal of creating a digital light fixture with fewer mechanical parts and more long-term customisation capabilities. We wanted the fixture to be bright, fast, and controllable, rather than just a projector with a pan/tilt motor.”
What challenges did you and the team face?
“The key challenges in developing the VLHive – apart from the technical challenges and physical hardware – was ensuring that what we created a luminaire that allows for new effects and looks but still had a control that felt like a traditional moving light. Again, we wanted the flexibility of digital illumination but wanted the ‘buskability’ that makes entertainment lighting what it is. We wanted to put new creative tools in the hands of lighting designers, so we strove to ensure that the looks and effects of VLHive can be controlled from a standard lighting console.”
How does VLHive 151 maintain reliability and durability in challenging environments?
“We always ensure we design products that can withstand the stresses and rigours of touring. This is exemplified in the IP65 housing of the hive, along with the general construction and rigorous standards Vari-Lite customers expect. Of course, the main aim of the project was to reduce the number of mechanical moving parts, which improves the long-term reliability. We also introduced several sensors within the VLHive, offering advanced sensor reporting to identify potential issues quickly.”
Does the digital light engine differ from other solutions on the market?
“VLHive is truly the first real step forward in creating looks and effects that are created digitally, not mechanically, as well as being adaptable over time. The fixture comes with 80 shapes and 50 animations built in, for a wide range of creative possibilities out of the box. As well, you can use our HiveCreator software to upload up to 60 additional shapes and 50 more animations to the light fixture, allowing it to be customised to fit each production over the life of the luminaire. This gives designers the long-term creativity they need, while ensuring the fixture can be controlled with standard DMX without needing a media server.”
How intuitive is the control of the VLHive 151?
“We’ve been engaged with some of the world’s leading lighting programmers right from the
outset of this project to tailor the way the fixture works on a console. Shapes and animations are selected using standard DMX in the same way you would select a gobo on an analogue fixture, with familiar controls for rotation, speed, etcetera, along with additional DMX channels for new capabilities such as positioning the shape within the beam or adjusting contrast and saturation. This ensures the fixture remains a light, not a projector, feeling simultaneously familiar and new / exciting to programmers.”
How does its ability to load user-created effects open new possibilities for designers?
“VLHive opens the door to a new world of creativity, making every show look unique, rather than using the same set of gobos in the same ways for every production. Not only can users load new shapes and animations, but with a wider range of control available, designers can adjust the shapes and animations in more ways than ever before possible. This allows the designer to showcase their work and creativity every time.”
Which features are key to making this multi-departmental collaboration more seamless?
“Because users can upload their own shapes and animations, the looks from the fixture can more easily match the rest of the production. Creative teams can create custom images and looping video clips that match what they are designing for the other stage elements.That media can then be incorporated into the rest of the lighting design without needing a media server for the fixtures. That said, for future proofing, we also adding NDI integration into the fixture, which will allow even greater crossover between disciplines.”
How can users get the most benefit from SmartColor+ and FluxBoost?
“Technologies like SmartColor+ and FluxBoost ensure that the light provides the best quality and performance a design can expect in a variety of applications. SmartColor+ was created to ensure VLHive works in more situations, as it allows designers to adjust the balance of CRI and output to get the perfect look for the application, whether they are illuminating an artist or cutting through a bright video wall. FluxBoost also works across the board, helping maintain a constant output on mixed colours, for the maximum output possible with any colour.”
How customisable are the digital effects?
“VLHive includes three layers: a ‘wash’ layer that is full-pixel colour, an ‘animation’ layer that offers bitmap animations with controllable playback speed, and a ‘shape’ layer that renders 2D vector images within a three-dimensional virtual space. These three layers can then be combined and adjusted in a variety of ways, offering a huge array of possibilities. Users can digitally scale, reposition, and rotate shapes for multiple looks, and adjust the animation’s contrast, saturation, hue, and more. They can also use HiveCreator to upload .jpg, .png, and .mp4 files to become new shapes and images, for endless possibilities.”
How does Vari*Glass enhance the workflow of crew on-site?
“VLHive features Vari*glass technology that converts the large 12” front lens to a frosted projection surface at the press of a button. This allows designers to switch seamlessly back and forth from mid-air effects to direct-view animations on the fixture’s face. There are no adjustments or messing with lenses to change the use case, and the fixture isn’t locked into a single mode. Direct-view fixtures on stage can project beams of light one moment, and then switch to project surfaces the next, playing back animations or spelling out words to fit the design.”
Which features help production teams reduce their carbon footprint?
“Signify is a world leader in sustainability. We’ve been a member of the prestigious DJSI World Index for seven consecutive years and named Industry Leader four times. Vari-Lite always ensures we adhere to Signify’s strict corporate policies on sustainability, particularly their commitments to waste reduction and the circular economy. From a practical perspective, the VLHive has fewer moving parts, and so it reduces the amount of waste from spare parts or replacement gobos. It also features output optimisation technologies like SmartColor+ and FluxBoost, for less energy waste.”
Where can we expect to find the Vari-Lite VL Hive 151 Digital FX in the coming months?
“Vari-Lite VLHive fixtures are currently on a field test with The Wombats, and the feedback has been stellar. We’ll also debuted VLHives at Prolight + Sound, and we have product discovery days planned for all regions. Not to mention more productions expected soon.”
