The Action

The Czech moving light and LED manufacturer capitalized on the confidence and positivity of the market, as well as the strategic importance of the United States, by launching three exciting and innovative products, while presenting its new spectacular live show “The Power of Imagination”. The show itself won the 2023 LDI Award for ‘Best Product Display’.

The Robe debuting products at LDI included the iT12 ProfileTM, the T32 CycTM, and two new variants of the cool and successful PATT series of scenic illumination tools, the HolyPATTTM and the MolyPATTTM, all of which attracted plenty of interest.

Also showing at a USA expo for the first time were a number of recently released products launched throughout the year. These included Robe’s new iSeries of IP-rated and robustly weatherized moving lights – the incredible iFORTE® LTX, currently the most powerful LED moving head on the market, together with iESPRITE®, iPAINTE®, iTetra2TM and iBeam 350TM luminaires – all of which were incorporated in the 9-minute high energy production show.

The Robe North American team – recently expanded with the acquisition of lighting and media control manufacturer Avolites – were joined by an international team from Robe lighting s.r.o. international including CEO Josef Valchar and International sales director Ingo Dombrowski – underlining the importance of the market and the expo.

Avolites – now ‘A Robe Business’ – looking forward to a new era of control solutions development ahead – were on an adjacent stand benefiting from the proximity of being next to Robe including the high footfall.

Completing the ‘Robe collection of businesses’ was architectural LED brand Anolis, which has been exceedingly successful across this sector and the world of built environments, as well as crossover disciplines like architainment.

CEO of Robe North America, Lorienn Cochenour, commented, “We enjoyed another great show and were consistently busy seeing lots of high-quality industry professionals from multiple markets. There were many LDs, programmers, show and visual designers, and other creatives, encompassing everyone from rising stars to established, legendary professionals.”

“The Power of Imagination”

This slick, all-action extravaganza with three dancers including an aerialist was reprised for LDI where it tapped into the gregarious mood by bringing a truly Vegas vibe to stand 911A.

Replete with BIG, bright looks and statements, the fusion narrative was inspired by the rich performance cultures of illusion, dance, cabaret, and theatre – with Vegas famous for all of these!

Using around 200 Robe fixtures, the 4-part show was conceived, storyboarded, designed, and produced to highlight the newest products in a real-life scenario by Robe’s in-house creative team. Nathan Wan and Andy Webb worked closely with Jordan Tinniswood, Josh Williams, Tomáš Kohout, and David Gonzalez on the staging and production, with choreographic magic by Jaye Marshall.

The performance illustrated how all of the Robe products could work together, complete with flames, confetti, smoke, and bespoke video content, all ramping up the drama, “The Power of Imagination” thrilled audiences, running every 90-minutes throughout the expo day.

Once on the stand, most visitors stayed to hear and see the specially devised individual product VOG (Voice of God) presentations.

The power and potency of the LTX was highly visible, leaving people in no doubt what the fixture could achieve and how bright it really is, with 14 x iFORTE LTXs as core fixtures together with the other two new FORTE variants – FORTE Fresnels and FORTE PCs – mostly rigged on overhead trusses.

The truss design included some architectural curves and drop-bars to add depth. A row of iFORTE LTXs on the upstage edge of the stage blasted through, while 360-degree rotating TetraXs were prominent across the balcony of the raised upper tier of the stage.

LEDBeam 350s and PAINTES were scattered around with PAINTES on the lower sections of the stage together with the Award-winning FOOTSIE2TM – another impressive Robe innovation, a fully IP-rated lighting concept to replace traditional ‘footlights’ with a super-smart cable-tray styled LED foot light batten … removing any visual barriers between audience and performers.

T1 Profiles running on a 3-way RoboSpot remote follow system picked up and key lit the dancers, while T11 Profiles, PCs and Fresnels from Robe’s theatre range further highlighted the movement and scenic elements of the design.

Six of the new MolyPATTs graced the downstage edge. The luminaire is based on the casing of Robe’s popular PicklePATT, complete with lamp holder for a ‘squirrel’ filament bulb. On the back wall were six HolyPATTs, the slightly larger counterpart, which is a derivative of the PATT 2013 scenic luminaire, a favorite for television shows, livestreams, studios, and concerts.

All lights were programmed by and run to timecode via an Avolites flagship D9 console.

The Award

“The Power of Imagination” won the LDI ‘Best Product Display’ Award for staging “a compelling theatrical experience with a show highlighting the brand's latest offerings and incorporating traditional theatrical storytelling” stated the organisers.

Nathan proudly accepted the Award on behalf of himself and his collaborators.

LDI show director, Jessi Cybulski, hosted the Awards assisted by members of the LDI and Live Design teams, technical theatre organizations USITT and TSDCA plus lighting and visual design studio, Lightswitch.

The Products

At the back of the booth were two enclosed showrooms where the launching and new products could be seen close-up by interested parties. Both were full throughout the show and interested visitors took their time to properly examine the new products and drill down into details with Robe’s team of product specialists from the USA, UK, and the international team.

The T32 Cyc and iT12 Profile both received a lot of interest.

The T32 Cyc combines performance, tools, subtlety, and control to help make designs even more exciting and visually stimulating, addressing the task of cyc lighting which has always been challenging, achieving greater reach, smoother coverage, and more visual impact than ever before with an LED fixture.

It is low-profile, easily inter-connectable and contains powerful RGBBAL multi-chip LEDs to generate outstanding levels and faithfully reproduce a full spectrum of colors and tints. A 6:1 height-to-distance ratio asymmetrical optical system, produces uniform flat field coverage even when in very close proximity to the cyclorama … freeing up valuable stage space for performers, set, props, etc.

The fully weatherized iT12 Profile is an advanced modular outdoor solution for all exterior static projection needs – from a single static, optically crisp projection to a complexity of gobo, framing, beam, and color control, the fixture has an impressive CRI of 95+ and a 13,000 lumen output with all the advantages of Robe’s TETM (TRANSFERABLE ENGINE) technology and the standard Robe T-Series color refinement and consistent and precise replay-ability.

The iSE-MSL-TE™ 500W TRANSFERABLE ENGINE is an IP65-rated self-referencing, rapid changing TE Multi-Spectral light source, and a sustainable and cost-effective investment that can be exchanged or replaced.

There was intense interest in the iFORTE LTX, with visitors impressed with its power and punch together with the clarity and quality of the light output.

Many also loved the FOOTSIE with its different approach to key and close-up face lighting, particularly not these fixtures can also be controlled via Robe’s highly flexible RoboSpot system, giving lighting designers and operators even greater control over this critical element of lighting.

The Vibes

Being staged in the West Hall of the convention center seemed to be a big hit with everyone – exhibitors and attendees.

Robe’s renowned happy hour hospitality was extended from 3 pm to 6 pm on the first two days of the show with delicious snacks offered on all three days of LDI which greatly enhanced the already convivial atmos.

The Robe team interacted with a lively international mix of visitors throughout the show. In addition to those from all over America, many entertainment professionals came from Mexico and other Latam countries, emphasizing the close relationships, geographical and commercial crossovers that exist in our industry, and with the ever popular and vibrant Latin market.

Others came from as far as Asia, the Middle East, the Far East and Australasia, with numerous Europeans all boosting the appeal of the show as a cosmopolitan networking hub, underlining the global nature and reach of the industry.

Robe CEO Josef Valchar concluded, “We experienced another great LDI which is why we decided to launch important products here, and also reinforce the hard work and success of our operation in the USA, especially over the last year, as we look forward to a busy and inspiring 2024.”

Photo Credits: Pavel Nemec, Marek Polášek, Louise Stickland, Nathan Wan