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Electrosonic SA’s buzzing stand
JAMES VALPY – THE HIPPOTECH
By Bruce Schwartz (Entertainment Lighting Manager)
James Valpy’s nick-name is ‘The Hippotech’, but he’s not a hi-tech
game ranger. This South African born, English trained, lighting and
video technician trots the globe providing stunning visuals with
Green Hippo Media Servers. I caught up with James backstage at
the Johannesburg leg of Rihanna’s Diamonds World Tour.
Born in Cape Town in 1988, James left South Africa for England when he was
four. He studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London,
and completed his BA (Hons) in Theatre Practice. James initially specialized
in production lighting but soon gravitated to video as a medium. The
knowledge of both proved invaluable.
James was working as an associate to the production designer Tupac Martir,
when he met Ed Prescott on the Beyoncé Glastonbury tour. James bumped
into Ed again in Azerbaijan where he was working as house tech for J-Lo,
Rihanna and Shakira. In spite of the twenty hour days, James managed to
keep a smile on his face throughout, and this made a good impression on Ed.
Ed liked what he saw and put James’s name forward as the Green Hippo Tech
for Rihanna’s Diamonds World Tour. James got the job, and he and Ed now
both work for Bowman Touring Video out of the USA. Both provided their
tech assistance throughout the entire Diamonds World Tour.
James first got his hands on a Hippo at university where, as part of his
second year studies, he volunteered to program and engineer the video for
a big musical theatre show. The university had an older V2 Hippo that was
upgraded to a V3; and they used a MagicQ desk to program, which was similar
to the Avolites desk, which James knew. James trained with Simon Harris and
James Valpy doing his "Hippo-magic" at Rihanna's Diamo nds World Tour
Hippo helped him out in loaning a machine for a university show. He quickly
became the Hippo expert at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was
the crucial link between lighting and video, and in his final year of study he
worked in the Green Hippo Office with Nick Charalampidis. He tested new Using two versions of Hippo software ver 3.2 to Time-code sync on a layer, it
versions of software, and got invaluable under-the-hood experience of the provided immense power when using DMX control. To date the system has
software. It was the perfect training for problem-diagnosis in Hippo Systems. been rock solid, as one would expect from Hippo.
It all came together for ‘The Hippotech’ on the Diamonds World Tour, where
his skills and experience were thoroughly tested. For Rihanna’s B-Show there
is no automation rigged, so James had to take all the original video content,
which was pre-masked to the raster, and stitch it back together in After
Effects. This meant he could use one Hippo to playback the content, instead
of five Large Hippo HD units, which is how it worked on the USA leg of the
tour. He had one week to build a 3 X Hippo HD system for the main show, and
a 2 X Hippo Portamus system for the B-Show. The Diamonds tour was also the
first show to use the new Blackmagic Design USB3 SD SDI capture cards. For
the Johannesburg leg James used one Hippo Portamus to run the content on
the screens on stage; and a backup unit to provide FX for the IMAG screens. At
one point during the show all of the video was run through only two Hippo
Portamus laptops.
The youthful James takes great inspiration from video practitioner legends
such as Cherie Sturm, Ed Prescott, Graham Lambkin, Ed Lawlor and John
Bowman; as he does from Green Hippo gurus Simon Harris, Kris Murray and
Loren Barton.
The future is bright, not only for James but for media servers, which will
become ever more crucial to the live event industry as projectors and LEDs
get brighter. The challenge for the designers is to push their creativity, and
stretch their technical capability, in designing more visually spectacular
shows. When audiences pay top dollar to see a big live show, they expect a
mind-expanding visual extravaganza. James ‘The Hippotech’ Valpy, and his
Green Hippo Media Servers, are perfectly placed to deliver just that.
TOMMY INVESTS IN MARTIN RUSH AND 101s
The charismatic Tommy Derbenus, from Power Room AV, knows the
Johannesburg and Pretoria nightclub scene inside out. Tommy is a longstanding supplier of lighting and needed to expand his inventory. He wanted
to invest in the best; equipment that would withstand the rigors of club life.
After doing his research Tommy put his faith in the Martin Professional range.
up on an arsenal of MAC 101s. This decision was based on the feedback from
MAC 101 owners, and on the sheer number of fixtures out there for cross
rental. Tommy also needed to provide some wow factor in one of the larger
venues. After seeing the Martin RUSH MH3 Beam he reckoned that four of
them would do the trick.
Tommy spent time in the Demo Room at Electrosonic SA (Johannesburg),
where he carefully reviewed various products. Eventually he decided on the
Martin RUSH MH2 Wash as a good fit for the different clubs he is involved
with. Because he also rents out to the staging industry he decided to stock
Tommy’s Martins are now working away night after night in premier clubs
such as Taboo and Sway in Sandton; and Kong and Hush in Rosebank. Tommy
is happy that his investment will serve him well over the long run; and that he
has the committed support and backup of the Electrosonic SA team.
PROMAG
– fourth quarter 2013
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