Transformation Church (TC), a multiethnic, multigenerational, mission-shaped community outside Charlotte in Indian Land, South Carolina, has added Ayrton Levante fixtures to its inventory of equipment used in producing worship services. ACT Entertainment (formerly ACT Lighting, Inc.) is the exclusive distributor of Ayrton products in North America.
TC acquired the Levantes from SES Integration, a division of Special Event Services located in North Carolina. Levante fixtures are a dramatically miniaturized version of Ayrton’s Bora wash light offering outstanding performance capabilities in an ultra-compact format. Levante’s optics produce an extremely uniform flat beam with no hot spot, ensuring a perfect color mix regardless of the color combination selected.
Jeff Cranfill, Owner and Lighting Designer at Special Event Services, recommended the Levante to TC. “The entire line of Ayrton fixtures is very well constructed with high output and great features,” he says. “I have had great results using the Levante wash fixtures in concert and video settings. The beam is very smooth edge to edge, and the framing shutters make it easy to create a video-friendly wash across the entire stage down to a single spot. Color temperature adjustments are very consistent fixture to fixture, and the range of color temperature is large. This makes the fixture very usable in many environments. All of the Ayrton fixtures have very good optics along with even color mixing and a great variety of gobos. They are some of the best LED source fixtures I have worked with, and I highly recommend them for touring and installs.”
Zach McCrorey, Lighting Designer and Production Director at TC, admits that he arrived “slightly skeptical” at the Levante demo set up by SES Integration since he’d never used an Ayrton product before. “But after being introduced to the product line, my skepticism was a thing of the past. I was blown away by the features housed within the Levante and left the demo deciding that the Levante was a top contender among the fixtures we had researched” for the church, which was delivering its services online during the coronavirus pandemic.
Ultimately, McCrorey removed all incandescent fixtures to make room for seven Levantes. “What a world of difference these fixtures have made!” he declares. “The Levantes have been an absolute game changer, and the quality of our online experience has been raised tenfold. In conjunction with our most recent broadcast camera upgrades, our key lighting infrastructure had to be enhanced as well. Now, our team on stage is lit so incredibly well in person, and that translates beautifully through the camera lens to those watching from home. Also, there are multiple broadcast locations within our auditorium – from the main stage to the broadcast host location to our baptistry area – and utilizing the very smooth framing shutters has made highlighting any area within the auditorium a breeze.”
McCrorey believes the Levante would be an asset to any house of worship, regardless of its size. “They would be impressed by the performance and features that the Levante effortlessly delivers,” he says. “The output is superb, the beam is incredibly flat, and there are absolutely zero hotspots thrown from the lens.
“As our community is multiethnic, being able to light diverse skin tones quickly and correctly is important,” he notes. “Levante’s color palette mixes very well, and the colors displayed are crisp. The fixture is quiet and quick in response. But what is truly mind-blowing is how compact it is! We utilize a single-man lift for all strike and installation of lighting fixtures, so weight was an important factor in deciding which fixture to purchase. We were thrilled to learn that this awesome fixture came in right under 50 lbs.”
McCrorey reports that TC is “incredibly pleased with the purchase we made and the powerful performance delivered by the Levante fixtures. It’s a phenomenal light. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a few more Ayrton products very soon!”
