Totally Aurasome E3 Trade Show!

Martin MAC Aura™ here, there, everywhere at world’s leading video game trade show. Lightswitch uses weight and power-saving light as workhorse on Nintendo booth

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is the global video game industry’s leading event with a tagline of Innovation Unveiled, which happens to also be an appropriately fitting description of the Martin LED lighting innovation hanging above visitor’s heads.

The world's premier trade show for computer and video games took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 5-7 with upwards of 700 Martin MAC Aura LED wash lights highlighting many of the show’s 200 booths, most prominently that of the world’s largest gaming company, Nintendo, plus those of other big exhibitors such as Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo booth
Lighting on the Nintendo booth alone featured 240 MAC Auras and 70 MAC 101 wash lights, a combination of compact LED lighting fixtures supplied by Entertainment Lighting Services (ELS) that designers are increasingly turning to.

Lightswitch handled all lighting design aspects of the booth for Ralph Miller Productions, with whom they have been collaborating on Nintendo of America's E3 exhibits for years. The exhibit was designed by Kevin West.

“The Aura was the workhorse of the rig,” says Lightswitch’s Chris Medvitz, lead lighting designer on the project. “We had a lot we needed to light with moving wash lights but had very strict weight limitations. The Aura allowed us to fit the design concept within the physical constraints of the project without compromise.”

Saves truss, labor and drayage
Both the MAC Aura and the MAC 101 are small yet highly capable LED-based lighting fixtures that weigh in at 5.6 kg and 3.7 kg respectively, a compact form that allows for important savings in weight and power.

“On this particular project, the quality of light and the overall fixture weight and power requirements were the Aura’s standout features,” Chris says, referring to the Aura’s low power consumption (1 amp) that allows multiple fixtures to be daisy-chained on the same power line for an easier and less expensive installation.

“The fact that the fixture itself is so compact saves truss, labor and drayage, but also its low power requirements meant we could reduce the amount of cable in the air significantly, which is a major factor when faced with such tight rigging restrictions.”

Nintendo
Lightswitch, LDs Chris Medvitz/ Norm Schwab
Lighting Supply: Entertainment Lighting Services
240 x MAC Aura
70 x MAC 101

Microsoft Xbox
Yeager Design, LD Chris Collins
Lighting Supply: Christie Lites
140 x MAC Aura

Square Enix
Yeager Design, LD Fabian Yeager
82 x MAC Aura

Sony PlayStation
Ozterity Lighting, LD John Osborne
80+ x MAC Aura