Infinity TCYC-7 LED Cycloramas – “Genuinely Incredible” at The National

The National Theatre is one of Melbourne’s cultural treasures. Sitting majestically on the corner of Barkly and Carlisle Streets for 102 years, its 783 seat auditorium, theatrette, and studios are home to the National Drama School, National Ballet school and Opera School (Melbourne), as well as a busy programmer of drama, musicals, dance, and concert productions.

Max Woods is Technical Manager of The National, and came to the role after extensive experience in production and stage management, as well as lighting design. As an LD, he’s gained credits for The Triumph of Man (dir. Mary Angley); Hedda GablerGablerGabler (dir. Mary Angley); and as an Assistant LD for The Amateurs (dir. Susie Dee).

Always on the lookout for lighting fixtures to enhance his work at The National, Max was treated to a demo of Highlite’s premium Infinity theatre range in late 2022. July and August 2023 saw Max hire four Infinity TCYC-7 LED Cycloramas through July and August from Highlite distributor and rental house Clearlight Shows.

“I love the Inifinty TCYC-7 LED Cycloramas!” says Max. “They are very, very, VERY good fixtures. They have excellent vertical throw; I had them no more than 30cm away from the surface I was lighting, and tilted all the way back, they managed four metres of vertical throw. That is genuinely incredible.”

TCYC-7 LED Cyclorama uses a 300W, 7 colour LED engine in a custom-designed array. Equipped with a special high gloss asymmetric mirror, the projection angle is 75° with a very linear drop. A motorised tilt range of 30° ensures easy floor or ceiling focussing. The unit’s CRI is consistently greater than 96 on full CCT range, and comes with a colour wheel with 64 spectrum matching filter gels.

“The colour saturation and mixing are exemplary,” continues Max. “Every colour I mixed looked beautiful, and the consistency of intensity across the colour spectrum was outstanding. It’s always a sign of a good fixture when the deep blue still has a strong intensity to it. Live colour changes were so smooth I never even noticed they were happening.”

Boasting Linear, Square, I-Square, and S-Curve dimming at 16 bit resolution, the TCYC-7 LED Cyclorama ensured all of Max’s transitions were perfectly smooth. “The dimming curves on these fixtures is fantastic,” confirms Max. “It was always incredibly smooth, and much like the colour mixing, not once did I ever even notice the dimmer curve in the roughly 250 cues I used the fixtures in.”

The Highlite Infinity range of high-quality fixtures for theatre are available through Melbourne-based distributor Clearlight Shows, with many models in hire stock so LDs can try before they buy. There’s also a fantastically appointed showroom at their Moorabbin HQ where you can see the fixtures for yourself. Contact the Clearlight team at clearlight.com.au or on (03) 9553 1688.