Because Air Zoo is a 'living' museum, lighting the hybrid facility was a challenge for lighting designer Bill Hunter of Hunter-Leet & Associates, a Kalamazoo- based lighting design, consulting and contracting firm. With displays that were often moving - only the carnival rides have permanent homes in the museum - Hunter needed a lighting system that was flexible and moveable as well. He couldn't be tied down with a traditional rack-mounted dimming system. Instead, he used 48 six-pack IPS dimmer boxes from Entertainment Technology.
"The place is just too big, to install conventional theatrical distribution," Hunter explained. "The cost of doing theatrical style raceway and racks would have been astronomical. I can get the same amount of dimming from the Entertainment Technology dimmer boxes."
With the 48 dimmer boxes, the museum is equipped with what essentially amounts to three racks of dimming. Because the boxes can be distributed throughout the museum where the loads are needed, Hunter was able to simply cord-connect the fixtures with the dimmers rather than having to pipe raceway from remote dimmer racks. This also leaves Air Zoo free to re-arrange its exhibits with only a fraction of the effort and expense.
Because the IPS dimmer boxes are IGBT-based, they are short-circuit proof, which provides exhibit designers additional peace of mind knowing the equipment won't malfunction from being repeatedly connected and disconnected as the exhibits and equipment are moved around. "When they decide to move one of the planes to a different location, all I have to do is move a dimmer box," Hunter said. "At the very worst, all I'm going to need to do is make a four-pole and ground extension cord for it."
In the early planning stages of the project, Hunter notes, the natural assumption was to use traditional racks and raceways. But when the cost of the system was added up, it was not financially feasible.
"When I started looking at the numbers - not just materials, but also in labour to pull all the wiring and run all the pipe - it came up about four times over budget before I ever presented it," Hunter explained. "So I went back to the drawing board, and the Entertainment Technology dimmer boxes became the way to go."
Lighting the museum are more than 200 conventional fixtures, all of which are powered through the six-pack dimmer boxes. Hunter distributes the DMX over Cat 5. Every place where there is a power drop, there is data distribution. Each dimmer is independently controlled within the system. The exhibit runs on automation, or it can be run through manual override units. There are no architectural wall stations.
(Lee Baldock)
