VIP Production Northwest of Spokane, Washington, recently added Elation Professional’s Smarty MAX hybrid moving head to inventory and see the multifunctional light as an essential tool in what is shaping up to be a busy summer rental season.
The Smarty MAX is an extreme-output version of Elation’s 3-in-1 Smarty Hybrid with the same ‘smart’ lamp technology but nearly twice as bright and with even more design features. Triston Ward, Live Production Department Manager at VIP, expresses their rationale for selecting the Smarty MAX: “We chose the Smarty MAX because of its broad feature set and wide range of applications. When we saw them last year at LDI we were impressed with the brightness and what they had to offer. We do all types of events from large concert stages to smaller venues so fixture flexibility is very important to us.”
VIP Production Northwest combines over 25 years of experience providing lighting, sound, staging and support to a wide variety of clients in the American Northwest, from outdoor festivals to houses of worship and local theaters. “We do everything from small backyard birthday parties to multi-week music festivals, and everything in between,” stated Katelyn Ward, Marketing Manager and Rental Manager at VIP. “All events are important to us because we focus on the community as a whole, which means supporting everyone the same. We are here to support however we can and are excited for our region to see the new Smarty MAX fixtures!”
The Smarty MAX is a unique blend of economy and performance, combining high output and long lamp life in a feature-packed yet compact and lightweight hybrid fixture. It has flexible use as a primary workhorse for virtually any stage application while providing an excellent return on investment. The beam/spot/wash light with CMY CTO color mixing uses a 4000-hour FLEX 400 lamp to project a bright 21,000-lumen beam from a 160mm front aperture and can instantly switch to a wash when needed. It includes a zoom, two gobo wheels, four prisms on two planes, dual frosts, dual track animation wheel and full iris.
Triston explains that VIP selects Elation not only based on the quality of the equipment, but also due to the exceptional customer service they receive and the ease of fixture repairs. “When we have fixtures that basically live out of our shop in the summertime, going from concert to concert, having one go down can be critical and Elation has always helped and repaired our fixtures in a timely manner. We've seen massive growth in Elation’s offerings, which is great, especially since it's followed by Elation's awesome support.”
The Smarty MAX fixtures join other Elation gear in VIP’s inventory, a move they hope is just the beginning of a larger Elation fleet. Triston concludes, “We have big plans for growth which means many more fixtures to come with Elation being at the top of the list of our manufacturer partnerships.”
