FUTURETECH Featuring RZI Lighting - Lighting Innovations and Rental Trends at RZI

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All right.
Welcome back to Geezers of Gear

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Future Tech.
I'm Chris, joined by Lacey.

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As always, today we're diving
into the freshest trends in

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lighting rentals and honestly, I
think RZ is got some kit that

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will make your jaw drop.
Totally.

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Seriously, some of the stuff
they're carrying now I hadn't

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even heard of six months ago.
So Chris, you keep going on

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about that Acme Pixel line IP,
convince me.

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What's got you so hyped about
it?

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OK, let me paint the picture.
The Acme pixel line IP is this

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ridiculously compact strip
light, really light IP66 rated.

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So rain, mud, humidity, whatever
just bounces right off it.

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It's got this frosted smart
glass technology.

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Have you seen that Lacey where
it just smooths out all the

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colours into this buttery look?
You get 672 R GB LEDs or 112

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cool whites.
Tons of sections for mapping.

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I mean seriously, I watched AUK
crew set these up at this

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festival in New Orleans.
Classic summer.

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So of course the sky opens up
mid show, everything gets

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drenched, punters are running
for cover, but these Acme strips

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keep ticking like nothing
happened.

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The show went on.
That impressed me.

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I think that's sort of the Holy
Grail for rentals, right?

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My biggest nightmare working
events in Louisiana is stuff

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just melting or glitching out in
the heat and storms and the

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smart glass.
So is that like an actual panel

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over the LE DS or kind of a
coating?

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Yeah, it's a full on panel
patented tech.

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Kind of diffuses everything.
You get those frosted almost

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neon ribbon effects, but it's
still punchy.

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Even the white strobe hits you
in the face, but not harsh.

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It's got 32 RGBW sections, 16
cool whites and it just looks

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expensive on stage Tiff.
I got to get hands on one of

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those.
The visual stuff's cool, but I

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also love the creativity with
fixtures like that.

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Speaking of, you've got your eye
on the Chauvet Colorado PXL

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Curve 12, right?
I keep seeing these on social

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media with like wild movement
and color effects.

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Exactly, full pixel mapping,
motorized tilt on every head so

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you can have 12 beams swirling
around and edge to edge mounting

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means you can run a whole line
of them with 0 gaps.

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It's also got all the protocols
baked in.

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DMXSACN, artnet, clingnet, RDM.
Stage designers are loving these

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because you can do proper
volumetric looks with crazy

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movement and those prebuilt
effects, virtual gobos, macros,

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all sorts of madness straight
out the box for rental stock

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that's a home run.
And the consistency between

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units.
I'm guessing that's where the

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edge to edge is a big deal.
Like making a runway of effects

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with no awkward breaks.
Love that.

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I always say if it looks cool
and it holds up in a downpour

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you can sell me on it.
Spot on.

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And with how portable they are,
crews don't have to haul around

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awkward heavy bars just to get
the job done.

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Lighting techs will thank you,
trust me.

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All right, moving from lights
that won't quit to how you

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actually run all this new gear,
Let's talk about control and

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flexibility.
Yeah, this is where I kind of

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geek out, since I've been burned
by bad data runs more times than

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I'd like to admit.
Traditional DMX cables?

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Lord, let's not even go there.
But lately everyone's about

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wireless and Ethernet nodes,
right?

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Oh absolutely.
The multiverse node wireless DMX

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super compact, either a
transmitter or receiver, and it

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honestly simplifies those last
minute oops moments, you know?

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And then there's the Neutron EN
1212 ports, all SACN and Arnet

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ready.
If you're running a huge show or

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spreading across locations, you
just drop these boxes in patch

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and go.
It's brilliant.

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Those Neutron products, I've
seen them around but didn't

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realize you could stack up so
much control in just like a

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single rack.
I ran into this hospitality gig

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private party, small ballroom
setup where the DMX cable just,

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I don't know, shorted out or
something.

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There was zero time to rerun
lines.

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The only way we saved the night
operator had a spare wireless

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box in her bag.
Plugged it in, mapped the

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addresses, bam, show runs as if
nothing happened.

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Honestly saved my bacon.
That's exactly the kind of

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scenario these modern systems
are perfect for and why rental

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houses like R ZI carry so many
node and splitter options.

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You can be running copper cable
all day or you just flip over to

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wireless and keep the gig going.
The Netron RDM 10, that hybrid

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splitter shut merger gateway
would have made your life even

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easier probably with those 10
ports and built in queues means

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if one bit of the system fails
you can just reroute or merge

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control on the fly.
And having all these networked

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solutions, it feels like even
smaller shows are getting access

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to the kind of tech big tours
had a few years ago.

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It's a huge flex for rental
companies.

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Plus you can scale little show
big show, just add more nodes or

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wireless with no drama.
Definitely.

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And as we said in our Gearshare
and DMX Gateway episodes, the

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industry is seeing this trend.
More wireless, more distributed

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data makes setups flexible.
And let's be honest, less cable

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means less tripping hazards
backstage.

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Should we jump into what really
sets RZI apart though, beyond

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the gear?
Totally because look, anyone can

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rent out a badge Light but great
support that actually keeps you

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coming back.
RZI doesn't just throw boxes at

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you.
They do repairs, warranty work,

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sales on brand new and used
gear, even recommend partners if

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you need full event production.
Yeah, that's something I rate

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about them.
You walk in, and whether you're

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the tech manager on a major
festival or you just need a

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simple stage set up, they'll
kind of walk you through and

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actually make sure what you take
is what you need, not just

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whatever's out on the shelf.
Their repair shop is in house,

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they've got proper staff, so
even if your favorite old

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fixture's a bit battered,
they'll try to fix it instead of

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telling you to buy new.
I heard so many stories like

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that Jake Vernum guy from the
UK, he said.

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He flew in for one show and
basically had no hiccups.

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The crew was super helpful, all
the gear dialed in, and he'd

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100% recommend RZI.
And then there's Lumumba

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Moulton.
Her team rented a stage and it

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was just smooth, no issues.
Which, for New Orleans, is kind

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of a miracle.
It's not just about renting you

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stuff and waving goodbye.
And if you need a full event

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producer, they point you to
people like See Here or Pelican

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Events sort of building a
network so you're not left in

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the lurch in the live events
world that kind of wrap around

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support.
That's real value.

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And you know, there are other
regional rental places out

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there, but RZ is whole thing is
taking out the drama.

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Gear works, teams friendly,
nobody's too busy to help even

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last minute.
I mean, after 15 years

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backstage, I'll tell you that's
something you remember when

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you're booking your next gig.
I think that's the future of

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rental tech right there.
Yeah, killer products, but also

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people who stand by them and
know what they're doing.

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Exactly, service and experience,
not just specs.

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All right, that will do us for
this episode.

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Next time we've got a stack of
new tech reviews and more behind

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the scenes stories lined up.
Lacey, always good chatting gear

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with you.
Thanks Chris, and cheers to

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everyone tuning in.
See you next week on Geezers of

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Gear Future Tech.
Take care everyone, bye for now.

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Future tech is here.
Come on then you make the specs

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so clear.
Oh La La with music to your

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ears.
Hey, hey.

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Yeah, let's go.
New gear vibes, new tech jive

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gearheads unite.
We keep it live.

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Oh yeah, come on, this gear, the
leaders gear, we got it here.