Brightline Lighting AV/720 Low Voltage Control And Flex-T LED Fixtures Create Eye-Catching Visuals

Professional podcasts are booming.

They're an effective way to establish company executives as industry leaders, humanize a large organisation, drill down on specific topics, and actively engage with a company’s target market. When it comes to building an audience, first impressions count. But without broadcast-quality visuals and audio, viewers may search for a more engaging channel on the same topic.

While podcasts started as an audio-only medium, video is now commonplace. To create engaging podcasts Associa knew the highest possible quality video was a must. And key to that is well designed lighting. No matter how brilliant your content, poorly executed lighting gives off an amateurish look – think boom mic in the shot. On the flip side, professional lighting communicates credibility and shows you’re serious about your brand.

Moving to headquarters in Richardson, TX, Associa, the largest community management company in North America, was designating more space in its new digs for its podcast studio. The studio needed to support one current show as well as upcoming productions from other divisions. Associa turned to Dallas-based Taurus Technologies, an audio/visual commercial integrator, for design guidance on the new studio.

New podcast studio at Associa headquarters in Richardson, TX where Brightline Lighting AV/720 system powers and controls 17 Flex-T in-ceiling LED fixtures

"With plans to produce more podcasts in the future, Associa was focused on an A/V system that was easy to use for non-technical personnel, cost-efficient, and upgradeable with the highest production quality possible," said Tyler Cutrer, Account Manager, Taurus Technologies. "We always pay close attention to lighting because it sets the tone right off the bat. And it’s something we can build the system around. The best cameras in the world can’t create beautiful images if they’re poorly lit. We have a long relationship with Brightline Lighting. The combination of their stellar video lighting with the new AV/720 low voltage control system sounded ideal for Associa."

The AV/720 is an all-in-one control system for variable white lighting over a single low-voltage cable. Designed to provide seamless compatibility with low-voltage professional AV systems, the AV/720 lighting control system offers a simple “lighting by numbers” installation with true color reproduction.

The newly installed AV/720 system in the Associa HQ podcast studio powers and controls 17 Flex-T in-ceiling LED fixtures. The lights hang from an acoustic drop ceiling. Ten Flex-Ts feature drop arms for greater flexibility in lighting direction. The drop arm fixtures also give the space more of a studio look and feel. The remaining seven Flex-Ts are in-ceiling fixtures without drop arms. Each fixture is connected separately to the AV/720. The AV/720 is then connected to the lighting console via a 5-pin DMX cable. A single DMX cable runs from the lighting console to the AV/720, enabling the user to control each fixture individually.

For Lighting Designer Chris Boyd, this was his first Brightline Flex-T and AV/720 installation, and he found the process surprisingly simple. "I was impressed by the ease of installation of the fixtures and the rack mounted AV/720," he said. "Hannah Jackson, the technician from Taurus, did an incredible job managing the cabling for the fixtures inside the rack. Running each fixture individually to the AV/720 allowed us to have each light on low voltage power, which prevented additional general contracting installation costs and enabled our crew of three to complete the install very quickly."

Cutrer shares Boyd's enthusiasm for the simplicity of the install process: "They were able to get everything up and running in two and a half days, with zero issues. The installation was smooth and quick. Though our experience with AV/720 is limited, its ease of use is a huge benefit to any customer with limited experience and technical resources. Our goal was to provide Associa with a very simple to use system that had the highest production quality possible,” said Cutrer. “Our client was very happy with the end result."

Since the AV/720 arrives programmed and with pre-labeled cables and fixtures, installation is simplified. Onsite installers simply follow the numbers. If system expansion is desired, either with existing capacity or by adding a second AV/720, Brightline will run a new program at the factory and send the software update to support the expansion.

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