LightParts Upgrades Victory World Church With Cutting Edge Lighting

Statistically the most diverse worship facility in North America, Victory World Church in Norcross, GA seat up to 12,000 parishioners a week in their main worship space, and also broadcast their services to over 6,000 online viewers weekly. Victory recently turned to LightParts for assistance in upgrading their lighting system, and a potent mix of new gear has now been installed in their worship facility. Included in the new system are 16 High End Systems SolaWash Pro 2000 and 16 SolaSpot Pro 1500 LED fixtures, an HES Axon HD Pro and DP8000s, Hog4, Road Hog 4 and HedgeHog 4S consoles, eight Clay Paky B-Eye K20s and 16 GLP X4 Bar 20 fixtures.

When given the task of replacing the aged lighting system in Victory, Stage and Lighting Director Charlie Pike knew he had a daunting task ahead. Several years ago, Victory's main stage suffered from an overnight fire and subsequent water damage from the fire suppression system. Some of those fixtures were cleaned and placed back in service, but the time had come to make a change. After attending several trade shows, Pike turned to LightParts to help him arrange demo fixtures from various lighting manufacturers.

Charlie comments, "The LightParts staff are brilliant. Their patience and attention to detail were crucial during this entire process. My associate Nathan and I traveled to Austin to refresh our Hog 4 training and to demo the various moving lights from High End Systems, also in Austin. Robert and Sean were extremely friendly and hospitable. LightParts' customer service is unlike anything I've ever seen, and they went above and beyond the call to ensure we were comfortable with the gear we were going to purchase."

Victory's lighting system is as complex as it is diverse. At the front end of the main sanctuary is a full sized Hog4 with an additional 2 DP8000's for 48 universes of control. The majority of the lighting rig is run over various ArtNet devices all across the room, both on the stage and over the audience. Other stages include Road Hog 4 and Hedgehog desks.

The sanctuary has a total 64 Elation SIXPAR 100's to illuminate the audience both on the lower floor section and over the stadium seating. This helps immerse the audience in the worship experience at Victory. When the question of what fixtures Victory would use for the main stage wash came up, the answer was easy; High End Systems SolaWash Pro 2000 was Pike's clear choice, and a total of 16 SolaWash Pro 2000's were installed to illuminate the stage.

Pike says, "The output of the SolaRange fixtures is fantastic. Better yet the lamp engine is LED, so no more color shifts, output drops, hotspots and other problems attributed to discharge based fixtures as their lamps age. The color mixing and framing system are phenomenal— best in its class I dare say. I am able to achieve such an even and perfect stage wash I almost feel like I'm cheating. Next we added 16 SolaSpot Pro 1500s over the house and stage to provide much needed hard edged looks to the wash heavy rig. The 1500's have the power to push through the B-Eyes, Auras, and VL550s with ease."

GLP X4 Bar 20 fixtures were chosen to replace the existing failing upstage lighting package. Charlie also chose the new GLP GT-1 Hybrid fixture, commenting that the tilt and zoom are extremely helpful for lighting such a tall black upstage curtain. "For worship, they are focused on illuminating the entire curtain but during speaking, they are focused lower to provide a brighter upstage look for broadcast. They also afford the opportunity to do some really dynamic looks during worship, from a huge wide wash to a laser thin line of light."

Pike adds, "It's my job as the church's lighting designer to create an environment that is not only conducive for worship, but to assist in the overall experience here at Victory. With these new tools, I have been able to exceed the expectations set forth before me, and can now effectively light some of the very complex services we run without the need to rent. One of the worst feelings is telling my superiors or other creative peers that I can't realize their vision because I don't have the necessary equipment. Thanks to LightParts, those days are behind us, and now the creative teams can attack our projects with a new fervor!"

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