Simon Horn Takes Train On Magical Holiday Ride For Steam Illumination With ChamSys
NEW ALRESFORD, UK – Seen from a distance, the Steam Illumination Christmas Train appears like a rolling band of moving light cutting through the dark night as it rolls past the farms and fields of the Hampshire countryside. To those inside, the experience is even more magical, as they find themselves immersed in a rotating tunnel of brilliant colors and patterns.
Covered entirely by LED lights, this special 120-metre-long train seems like something out of a fantastical Hollywood Christmas movie suddenly come to life in South East England. In reality, however, it was the result of extensive of planning and hard work by the nonprofit Mid Hants Railway’s Watercress Line and a creative team that includes Simon Horn.
The owner of Purple Lighting in West Sussex, Horn was responsible for designing and programming the 78-universe Steam Illuminations lightshow with the help of his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M console and MagicVis software. “This was the kind of project you become completely immersed in,” he said. “The Watercress Line typically has visits with Santa every December, but this year that was impractical because of COVID, so the foundation turned to something new.
Horn spent two weeks programming and four months on background research for his show, which involved two Steam Illumination trains, each adorned with 14,000 individual fixtures. (Some fixtures are banked, so the console sees just shy of 10,000 heads and pixels.) He programmed roughly 1000 cues for his show, breaking them down into an internally timecoded cue stack for each section, which cover the intervals between the two stations on the 20-mile roundtrip route as well as the time spent at each station.
“I programmed everything on my MQ500M,” said Horn. “Although the design was originally built on another software, I ended up using the MagicVis Visuliser to preprogram this show, as it was far more stable and smoother with visualizing such a big array of pixels.”
The ability to manage a large number of pixels was a key benefit of using the MagicQ MQ500M in this project, according to Horn “Being able to make pixelmap grids automatically from the plot, saved me days of work, as 10,000 pixels all in a slightly complicated array would have been nearly impossible to do myself,” said Horn.
Given the size and scope of this lightshow, the channel capacity of the MQ500M was another important benefit for Horn. “At 78 Universes and with limited space on the train for control gear, my console was a life saver, because it handled everything with no need for any racks of external processing.
“The on-board audio playback was also essential,” continued Horn. “Using the console to play back the Audio content was a fantastic help. One gain, the meant I needed less equipment. It was nice and simple to have an all-in-one solution with audio and time code all in one place!”
Aside from dealing with cramped quarters, Horn also had to content with power and data distribution issues. “There are a great many long cable runs in a railroad environment,” he said. “This can play havoc with distribution. We got around this by using custom waterproofed and powerful PSU and drive modules that were built for this application with its complex cabling system.”
Dealing with these issues freed Horn to push the creative envelope for Steam Illuminations. For example, he created immersive and memorable looks by rolling an intensity effect from one side of the train over the roof and down the other side. In addition to creating a jaw-dropping impression on those viewing the train from the outside, this created an engaging tunnel effect for the train’s socially distant passengers.
Horn also used his lighting to play off the tress that the train passed along its 20-mile roundtrip route. Hitting the trees from two angles from the wash lights under the train, he created animated color shadows that mesmerized passengers as they passed through wooded areas.
At some points, Horn even created rainbow chase effects, something he normally avoids.
“In the concert world, I would look at these as ‘my first lightshow’ kind of effects,” he said. “But as it’s Christmas — and also as a nod to our hard-working NHS – I did it, and frankly it looks pretty epic in this scenario.”
For those visiting Steam Illuminations, which ends January 3, many of the looks created for this event will be “epic.” By combing a centuries old form of transportation with cutting edge lighting technology, this popular attraction is transporting visitors away from the daily concerns of life in 2020, to a place where the magic of the Holidays blooms in vibrant color.
Scott’s plan may have seemed simple, but there was a complicating factor: he was given only 48-hours-notice that he would be LD for the show. To make matters even more problematic, he also had to light two other bands on the second night of the holiday show, along with providing supplemental lighting at the start and conclusion of the movies that were shown each night. 
“Being able to take my desk on the stage deck to do my DS focus without having to ask a tech to assist with moving it made my days a lot easier,” said Scott. “I never fail to be amazed at how something so compact can be so easy to work with in real time at a show. Things like the eight Encoder Wheels put so much at your fingertips.”
Dustin L Derry programmed and ran the laser show on his ChamSys 
Describing the MQ500 as “the workhorse” of his 24-universe (one for each laser) show, Derry recounted its role in his work. “I used the MQ500 along with X-Laser Mercury for programming the show in my home studio, and the interface between the two was perfect,” he said. “MagicQ was the primary ‘brain’ in my entire show. 
In addition to his main console, Derry had a 
A longtime ChamSys user, Berzosa programmed his show on a MagicQ with a PCWing. He is running the show at venues throughout Spain on his 
“The Plan View Grids in the output window that allow you to have multiple Grid Plan Views to divide up a lighting grid views are very useful when you have so many elements in your show,” said Berzosa. “It is easy for me to simplify things by using the buttons and encoders to change brightness levels and colors for fixtures by groups, especially since I had so many things going on. Also, having the faders and encoders arranged around the touchscreen is very convenient.
As so often has happened when creative spirits have been challenged by this pandemic, those involved in FLAVS came roaring back with a fierce burning intensity that blew away any disappointment. The 40 artists who appeared at the festival created a tight, nonstop torrent of raw unapologetically passionate sound, leaving those who paid Rp 99,000 (US$6.99) for a virtual day pass with the feeling that their money was well-spent.
Dimitriadis arranged some of the fixtures in his rig on five totems behind the DJ booth, spacing them out to preserve the sea view. Other fixtures were positioned on overhead hang points as well as on each side of the booth. This allowed him to hit the DJ and the widely separated tables on what would normally be the dancefloor with an immersive web of light from every direction. 
Taking place at the Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica School of Dance in late 2019, the production won the national Mireya Barboza 2019 award for best designed dance show in February. It captivates audiences by presenting a series of stories built around its central them.
“In a production such as this one, where there were so many components and so many changes of scene, it was very important to have a smooth workflow,” said Piedra. “The ChamSys console aligned with my creative process. This was fantastic, because it let me focus on what is truly important, telling the story and creating the right visuals. 
These considerations led them to pack two 
Although purely virtual and not good for admittance to any show, each tour pass is customized for Murph’s friends, with their name, as well as job title, which is some form of “House Integration Specialist.”
Murph is gratified that his “world tour” is making a difference in the lives of people close to home. He’s also grateful that it gives him the opportunity to work his console. “I have been touring with a MQ500 since 2017, right when they came to the United States,” he said. “From what has been told to me, I was the second person in the States to take delivery of the MQ500 and the first to take one on a North American Tour.”
Just ask Lighting Director and Operator Jason Hyne, who is running the boards for the show, which was designed by Rob Sinclair. A ChamSys user since 2013, Hyne is working with the MQ500 for the first time on the Ducks tour, and finds that the console has greatly enhanced his work.
“I was very impressed with Adlib’s new programming suite, as well as team account handler Jordan Willis, and the lighting team of Kev Byatt, Paul Hyne and Oli Gorman,” said Hyne. “As you would expect, the 
