The Gearhouse Group is one of the largest technical suppliers for the event industry in South Africa and boasts the widest range of equipment and services in the country. In recent months, the Gearhouse Group has made a significant investment in new equipment for use across various disciplines, including professional lighting and projection.

As one of the largest users of MA lighting technology in the country, Gearhouse has established a reputation for providing world-class events using technology that fulfils the majority of international riders for professional lighting.  In 2015, Gearhouse purchased four lightweight and compact dot2 XL-F consoles, and recently invested in several new grandMA2 consoles in response to increasing demand. According to the company, three dot2 XL-Fs have been distributed to the Gearhouse branches in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg. INHOUSE Venue Technical Management (IVTM) have purchased four dot2 Cores, a console designed for small to medium sized productions with up to 4 096 control channels.

Johannesburg Lighting Operations manager, Adrian Skinner, states “MA ticks all the boxes, and most importantly, does what it says it does on the box. It boots up, functions every time, and has proven to be a workhorse.”

In addition to the impressive investment in lighting control, Gearhouse has also increased its inventory of high-quality, intelligent moving head lighting fixtures. The company’s new consignment of Robe fixtures includes 48 Robe BMFL Blades, 46 Spiiders and 48 LEDBeam 150s. The purchase forms part of a lighting investment for its branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban as well as for the IVTM team.

“The multi-functional, diminutive Spiiders are a notch brighter than the Robe 600 which they will replace in the Durban branch and offer superior control on channel programming” adds Goodman Nyoka, who heads up the lighting division at the Durban branch. Andrew Gleave, Cape Town lighting operations manager, is also pleased to add these fixtures to his arsenal.

In addition, Gearhouse Splitbeam has recently taken delivery of two Panasonic PT-RZ12K 3-Chip DLP 12000 Lumens Laser Projectors, purchased through PanSolutions Holdings (PTY) Ltd. According to the company, the new units will be used by Joburg Ballet at the Johannesburg Theatre in the near future.

According to Gearhouse, laser projectors are at the forefront of technology. Compared to regular lamp projectors they tend to give clearer and brighter images and are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.  Fan units in traditional projectors can be noisy, which is a major issue in theatres, and so this efficiency makes the new laser models far quieter to operate. The 12000 lumens brightness combined with the known reliability of these units, makes the Panasonic PT-RZ12K a winner for most theatre applications and offer around 20,000-hour maintenance-free operation.

“Splitbeam is proud to be one of the first companies in the Gearhouse Group to stock laser projectors,” states managing director, Alistair Kilbee. “Increasingly, projection technology is being used as a replacement for the costly static painted backdrops traditionally used for scene changes in theatrical productions. Using projection allows the designers to create dynamic scenes that can move and change effortlessly,” he concludes.