The BT-1 System allowed us to enhance the production in so many ways. This production was primarily lit by blacklight, emitting light in the UV spectrum, and in collaboration with Frische Marionettes, all the characters, except Moana and Tomatoa were puppets that were designed and built to live in this blacklight world. The character of Moana was a human in the show; not painted in any blacklight, her costume was completely un-reactive, and she needed to be lit with traditional non-UV light. By using the BT-1 system, we were able to isolate the incandescent lighting to Moana and have all the puppets remain in the UV spectrum. Moana could move throughout the stage, and we never revealed the magic that was behind the puppets (the puppeteers). The process of working with BlackTrax was easy and smooth. The creation of the show file and the use of the system was efficient as we had very limited tech time in the venue.

BlackTrax was one of the most important developments in theater technology that’s come along in a long time. It solved one of the problems that had not been resolved until BlackTrax was created, the ability to put a follow spot anywhere you wanted, to use multiple lights, and to do it economically. At a permanent venue – to put a follow spot anywhere, not having to create places/space for an operator is huge.

I like all the new features especially the fixture selection in chapters and the auto douse option. Also, I LOVE how easy it is to update the WYG file in BlackTrax.

We love working with BlackTrax. What it adds to the show is so far beyond any other spotlight / automated key light system I’ve ever seen. The whole team was surprised by the degree of accuracy. In the preliminary talks, we thought “millimeter” accuracy was a marketing ploy. It was NOT. I’ve never seen anything in entertainment lighting this precise.

It’s like launching space shuttles and you get what you put into it. BlackTrax can go as far and deep and as complex as I want it to, or it can take things over and be extremely simple and easy to use. If I need to key light an artist, it is very easy to do, or if I want 32 lights to pick up a quarter body shot in a blackout, in a moving target with prediction, I can do that as well. It’s the only solution that can do that.