ADJ LED videowall makes an impact

USA:

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Impact Church is a fast-growing, multi-ethnic church known for high-energy worship. The HOW recently moved into a new home, which was purpose-designed to host cutting-edge worship services with a focus on high-quality audio, video and lighting. The focus of this new AVL system is an ADJ LED video screen which fills the rear of the stage, while the lighting setup consists of fixtures from ADJ and sister company, Elation Professional.

Senior pastor Travis Hearn contacted long-time friend Rick Franke from Illuminate Production Services (IPS) for the project. Originally designed as grocery store, the church’s new building didn’t benefit from the height often found in purpose-built church buildings, which meant that Franke and his team had to design the new system carefully to maximise the available rigging height. Another challenge they faced was the presence of support columns throughout the auditorium, which was overcome by an expansive video system that can be clearly seen from anywhere in the space.

At the heart of the church’s new video system is a large LED wall comprising 144 ADJ VS3 panels. This video display surface extends the full width of the stage and provides a constant backdrop to whatever is happening in front of it. This not only allows for the display or song words, pre-produced video content and IMAG, but also the creation of silhouette effects with solid coloured graphics on screen.

“The clarity of the VS3 is phenomenal,” commented IPS’ VP of sales and marketing, Jeff Hess. “As far as the technical challenges of this project, the VS3 really outperformed in many ways. We needed a high refresh rate on the wall because of the strong IMAG and broadcast requirements in the space, and it excels in that regard. From a practical point of view, it’s about the easiest wall our team has ever assembled, and we have certainly built a lot of LED walls.”

For the lighting part of the project, Impact Church’s style of worship called for a full-on concert level of production. As a part of this, the IPS team decided to make use of ADJ’s recently released Jolt 300 multipurpose strobe/blinder/colour wash fixture. “Selecting the Jolt 300 for this project was a value decision,” explained Hess. “We needed a good quality of coverage from a strobe/blinder effect light that can also be used for colour. The Jolt really delivered a nice punch for that space. They are installed on the mid-stage truss, downstage truss and floor. With 18 of them, it created a nice layer of flare to the stage.”

Aerial effects and surface projections are generated by 16 FUZE SFX moving head luminaires which are complemented onstage by 12 Rayzor 760 moving head wash fixtures. A run of Chorus Line 16 motorised pixel wash bars sit under the LED wall along the back of the stage, while key light is provided by a mixture of KL Fresnel 6 CW and KL Fresnel 8 fixtures. Finally, the setup is completed by a Magmatic Therma Tour 800 oil-based haze generator.

Hess concluded: “It was so great seeing the smiles come to the leadership team’s faces as the systems came to life. This was a full audio, video and lighting install, so watching it all come together brought a lot of joy to the team. Like with any project, seeing the technology bring a space to life is always fun. Being there to observe the reactions of the client was a priceless experience.”