Virginia-based rental and production company Lite Tek Entertainment (www.litetekent.com) has grown with Elation Professional through the years and recently continued the close relationship with an investment in Elation’s Fuze series of high performance/high value lights.
“The Fuze series products have great features and high-quality construction but come in at price points that make them fit our markets,” stated Lite Tek founder and owner Darren Lewis. “Elation has proven that they didn't forget us in the middle of the market and still want to support the smaller lighting companies with quality products. That’s why we remain loyal customers, confident in their commitment to our success and growth as partners in the industry.” Lite Tek’s recent purchase includes 32 Elation Fuze MAX Spot™, 16 Fuze MAX Profile™ and 24 Fuze Wash 500™ luminaires, all automated moving heads with full-spectrum RGBMA LED engines. Lite Tek took delivery of the new gear earlier this summer.
High-power spot
After seeing the Fuze MAX Spot at the prolight+sound show and later demoing the LED moving head, Lewis and his team decided it was the fixture they were looking for. “As our shows get bigger, we needed a higher power spot than our inventory contained,” he said, emphasizing that LED was a route they also wanted to pursue. “The key features for the Spot is the 21,000-lumen output and amazing colors. Because it is an RGBMA light source, we get fantastic saturated reds, greens and blues and the added colors mean whites and pastels are just as good. The range of color is worlds above just RGBW.” But it’s the fixture’s built-in CMY emulation that Lewis says makes it such a good choice. “When we put it in a rig, the LD doesn't have to think in five colors, only in the familiar CMY. Other than color mixing, which was the big sell for us, the Fuze MAX Spot has the full range of beam effects including multiple gobo wheels, animation, prisms, etc. that are expected in any good spot.”
High-output framing
Elation manufacturers rep firm The Healy Group has been very supportive of Lite Tek through the years and when Chris Healy sent the Fuze MAX Spot to the company to demo, he also sent along a Fuze Profile fixture as he knew that Lite Tek was also looking to replace their inventory of high-output discharge-based framing fixtures. “They really want to see us grow and proactively work to assist us in finding the right light so we appreciated him bringing this ‘bonus’ fixture along to the demo.” They eventually chose to go with the more powerful Fuze MAX Profile, with an output in a 1000W arc fixture range. “It is the perfect replacement for our older fixtures as well as a complementary match to the Fuze MAX Spots.” Lewis says, adding, “The fact that the Fuze MAX Profile includes framing shutters while maintaining two gobo wheels allows us to supplement our spots with profiles in the same rig without taking any important features away from the LD.”
Wash complement
Lite Tek also added the Fuze Wash 500 to rental stock as a complementary wash fixture to their hard-edge inventory. “The Fuze Wash 500 is a perfect complement since it is the same RGBMA light engine so colors between the three fixtures match perfectly across the stage,” Lewis comments. He adds that they also stock some of Elation’s smaller Fuze Wash Z120 single source par moving heads, which have been trouble free. “I'm a big fan of the Fresnel lens look. With every manufacturer providing a pixel faced wash, the single source look from the Fuze Wash line makes it unique.”
Lewis highlights another contributing factor in Lite Tek’s decision to add the Fuze lights to inventory, namely industry-leading dry hire provider Main Light’s decision to incorporate Fuze into their rental inventory. “They are our typical go-to vendor when we run out of gear, and to have a fixture that matches their inventory just makes sense.”
Out of the shop
It didn’t take long for Lite Tek to debut their new Fuze fixtures with 26 Fuze MAX Spots supporting the Pixies at Red Hat Amphitheater in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 16, and 40 (some cross rented from Main Light in Delaware) used to light Kenny Chesney in Endicott, New York for the PGA Tour on June 23. They has also been out on the Dirty Heads, as well Brett Michaels’ Parti Gras tour where both LDs reportedly loved the fixtures. “The colors, punchy output, great gobo package and best of all easy cloning into their existing show file were all standout features,” Lewis said. In mid-August, at the Richmond Jazz Festival, Lewis will be handling lighting design using their entire Fuze line along with Elation Protron 3K Color strobes on a 100 % Elation lit main stage.
