UK event production specialist CPL started the year with some major investments in carefully selected lighting and video products.
This includes the acquisition of Barco UDM 4K22 projectors – one of the first three companies in the UK to invest in these brand-new machines – plus Portman P1 Mini LED fixtures, trending Astera Titan Tubes and OXO Pixyline 150 LED battens.
This is in addition to the 40 new Robe LEDBeam 150 wash beam moving lights that joined the CPL lighting inventory in December 2019.
This new kit will ensure that CPL clients in all sectors have a range of the best, most flexible and creative options available!
Eight Barco UDM 4K22s join the company’s already extensive fleet of Barco – and other – high-powered projectors, purchased for their quality, reliability and innovative features.
These include remote connectivity and management via Barco Insights, the manufacturer’s new cloud-based IOT solution for enhanced projector management, designed to simplify and facilitate remote monitoring and serviceability. The UDM 4K22 is also the lightest 22K laser projector currently on the market, weighing in at under 50Kgs, and it has the widest colour spectrum.
CPL plans to use these projectors on several upcoming projects.
Astera is a buzz product of the moment, and the battery powered fully wireless German-designed brand’s award-winning Titan Tubes have become super popular for all types of event and film lighting in the last 12 months.
CPL has invested in Titan Tube kits. The fixtures emit an excellent range of powerful tuneable whites with an excellent high CRI in addition to seamless colour mixing.
Controlled by the neat and convenient Astera App or any DMX lighting console, the products are IP65 rated so great for interior or outdoor use, and they can also be run wired for full versatility. The average battery runtime is an impressive 20 hours and clever power management means users can input the amount of time needed and the Tube will maintain colour and intensity for the period.
Continuing the LED batten trail, CPL has purchased OXO Pixyline 150s, an RGBW linear LED strip from OXO light in France.
The 1-metre battens have fourteen 10 Watt, RGB and WW combination LED chips and a solid metal housing, plus asymmetrical rotating feet with Omega brackets and quick locks for quick and easily flown or ground-stacked deployment. They are also IP65 rated and CPL has cased the battens in convenient packs of four.
The Pixyline 150 has a virtual colour wheel with calibrated White (2700k – 8000k) and LEE filter colours 3200k. Dynamic macro effects include smooth chases, fire, water and other effects, and additional features like electronic dimming and strobe plus individual pixel control add yet more flexibility.
Also new for the lighting department is the Portman P1 Mini LED from innovative Polish manufacturer Portman. Portman’s latest unique lighting fixtures look great as decorative pieces and produce authentically tungsten-like effects … but they are all LED!
The attractive P1 Mini comprises seven hexagonal lightsources, one centrally positioned which is surrounded by six in a flower-like pattern.
It is a dual-layered light source. The seven 3-Watt LED filaments each have an RGBW glow surround and are mounted onto a pivoting circular frame. CPL’s Portman P1 Mini LEDs are available with an adjustable drop-bar for flown height variations.
The LED Filament is 1800k and accurately reproduces that much-loved warm halogen glow that’s familiar on stages and TV sets worldwide. Five DMX modes allow each individual pixel, filament and RGBW LEDs to be individually controlled via smooth 16-bit dimming.
These purchases are added to the substantial investment in Robe LEDBeam 150 moving lights at the end of 2019, and the plan is to continue expanding the lighting department steadily.
Event Director Lee Gruszeckyj explained that when the company first started, it was primarily a video and audio supplier, however, the demand for lights, and other associated production elements like wireless transmission systems, IT management and IOT networking for conferences and corporate events … has grown rapidly.
In the last five years, the trend generally has shifted away from single to multi-discipline suppliers with clients, production companies and agencies seeking one technical supplier who can deal with the full complement of event / show technical infrastructure.
This has resulted in CPL growing and its core business shifting to now being ‘full technical production’ show design and equipment rental.