When Patrick Woodroffe, lighting designer for Live Earth, was looking for a visually stunning yet low energy lighting fixture, he turned to PRG Europe for a solution. Since the event was sponsored by Philips, his plan was to use standard household fluorescent lighting above the stage. But fluorescent lamps don't generally like being turned on and off too much - and they certainly don't usually run off DMX - creating a communications challenge. Philip Norfolk, PRG Distribution commercial director, had the answer: put a Pathway control system between the Wholehog II and the lamps, and it can convert the desk's DMX output into control information which the lamps' ballasts would understand.

"Patrick was interested in doing something using high efficiency domestic lighting," explains Philip. "So he created six 'Ecoclusters': he took 24 A-rated for efficiency lamps and hung them from the inside of half an oil drum, which was then covered with a translucent black gauze and suspended above the stage. We fixed the ballasts inside the drums then wired the bulbs, via the Pathway, to the control desk.

"This is the first time Pathway has been used for this kind of application - it's more commonly used in for complex theatrical installations, such as at the National Theatre.

"We also supplied the VL3500 wash luminaire, which is a new 1,500w HMI fixture from Vari-Lite and operated at about 110-120 lumens per watt (lm/w) - compared to about 19 lm/w for a standard domestic light bulb."

PRG Europe Sales is the exclusive UK distributor for Canada-based Pathway, which designs, manufactures and supports a range of products that enables the operation of sophisticated stage lighting systems. Famous for expanding the functionality of DMX systems, Pathway is now creating next generation lighting networks with open system products that harness the power and convenience of Ethernet.