ETC Source Four LED Series 3 Brings Stunning Color to BYU-Idaho

Brigham Young University-Idaho is known throughout the state for its star power. The 15,000-seat BYU-Idaho Center is a focal point of the local community, attracting both locals and visitors from across the region to their programming: festivals, touring performers, and a weekly devotional series. “The Center really is a spectacle, second only to the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City,” says Peter Maurelli of Barbizon. Barbizon keeps the venue equipped with top-of-the-line gear from ETC, including 186 new Source Four LED Series 3 fixtures that are bringing powerful new color to the space.

The Series 3 fixtures were introduced to the BYU-Idaho Center to replace more of the auditorium’s conventional fixtures with LED technology. “I did a cost benefit analysis on running an incandescent fixture versus LED and the overall savings over the lifespan of the LED fixtures greatly outweighed their upfront cost. It was a no-brainer,” says Patrick Laing, one of BYU-Idaho's resident lighting designers. And with Source Four LED Series 3 fixtures featuring integrated wireless DMX technology courtesy of City Theatrical’s Multiverse protocol, and simple mobile-device enabled NFC configuration, installation was a no-brainer too. Using just the Set Light app on your phone, you can configure your fixture with just a tap—even when the fixture isn’t powered.

Color quality was a big priority, making Series 3 the clear choice for the auditorium. “We looked at some other fixtures, but Series 3 had the best color,” Laing says. With the eight-color Lustr X8 array, Series 3 brings unparalleled depth to the full spectrum of skin tones without sacrificing powerful brightness. “It gets all those colors across a space of our size with the brightness to see those true colors on stage rather than petering out before it gets there, considering how long of a throw distance we're using.”

Quality is the name of the game at the BYU-Idaho Center. “Barbizon has a 20-plus year history with this facility,” shares Peter Maurelli, “and we know they have very high standards for their production quality.” So when the time came to upgrade their fixtures, “there was really nowhere else to go but with ETC.” Laing agrees, “Every time I turn these fixtures on, I'm impressed with them.”

The new lights made a stunning debut last December during BYU-Idaho’s annual Christmas Spectacular. The yearly event incorporates the university’s choir, multiple music ensembles, dancers, and theatre department for an unforgettable celebration of the season. The show was backdropped by a vibrant cyc lit by 32 fos/4 Panels with Desire D60 fixtures providing top lighting.

The new fixtures are sure to keep the lights on at BYU-Idaho for years to come with the support of ETC's unmatched 5-year full-fixture warranty and a 10-year warranty on the LED array. “The ETC system Barbizon provided for the I-Center in 2009 will continue to provide a viable infrastructure to support these fixtures for years,” says Maurelli. “That's very important to us. We don't want to sell something to a customer and then five years later see it orphaned or abandoned, which we see all the time with other manufacturers.” He reflects proudly: “That idea of ‘the show must go on’ – and that we should be doing everything we can to support our customers – is very shared. It's a culture that both ETC and Barbizon have really done a good job to foster and make sure that we never lose sight of.”