(14/05/2014) Live music lighting designer Nick Whitehouse is currently out on the road for a year long tour with pop superstar Justin Timberlake and he has chosen to specify Philips Vari-Lites VL3000 range of luminaires as the backbone of his stylish and dynamic design.
Though 2014 the tour will visit some of the worlds biggest arenas in Europe, America, Asia, the Middle East, and Australia. With such a gruelling schedule Whitehouse needed robust and consistent luminaires that would also give him plenty of creative options. He also wanted a luminaire that was ubiquitous worldwide. To that end he tested a number of products before settling on the Vari-Lite fixtures.
Before every major project I take all the new comparable lights from a range of manufacturers into a dark space with haze and do a shoot out to see if there is anything that beats the Vari-Lite 3000 range in terms of look, but also taking into account size, weight and cost, explains Whitehouse. To this day I still havent found anything that has the right combination of features to take me away from using the VL3000. For Justin, I was looking for something smaller and lighter but the output, especially in deep saturated colours, which I use a lot in my design, simply didnt match the fantastic optics of the VL3000.
Whitehouse began working on the design process for The 20/20 Experience with Timberlake in January 2013. Fixtures of choice were the VL3000 Spot, VL3015 Spot and the VL3500 Wash, which he has used to great effect throughout the show.
The VL3000 Spot has been my spot of choice for pretty much everything I do, Whitehouse explains. Ive used it so much I know exactly how to get the best out of it, plus there are no gimmicks or unnecessary features that get in the way. I love the vibrant colour output, optic systems, bright beam and gobo effects, not to mention its reliability; as a fixture its excellent. I cant get enough of the way the light looks in smoke and haze. To me, the VL3000 Spot is the perfect professional big show workhorse. Plus, theyre such a universal fixture I can get them almost anywhere in the world.
The exquisitely executed design features geometric installations in the form of a 150 by 60 foot plastic hexagon wall and ceiling. This comprises both solid and wire-mesh hexagons, through which the VL3000 Spot, VL3015 Spot and VL3500 Wash project beams of light in an array of rich and vibrant hues.
Respected for its incredible imagery, beam control, color and brightness, the VL3000 Spot features 6:1 zoom optics, CYM color mixing, variable CTO color temperature correction, a six-position colour wheel, three gobo/effects wheels, a beam size iris and separate dimmer and ultra-fast strobe mechanisms.
Giving Whitehouse the punchy output and creative flexibility he required the VL3015 Spot features 6:1 zoom optics, uses a 1500W double-ended short arc lamp and offers CYM color mixing, variable CTO color temperature correction, a six-position color wheel, three gobo/effects wheels, a beam size iris and separate dimmer along with ultra-fast strobe mechanisms. Two reflectors are standard on the luminaire allowing users to choose between either a peaked or flat field beam. In the peaked beam, the fixture provides 27,000 lumens of output, and in the flat field beam, an output of 22,000 lumens is achieved.
Whitehouse says that the Vari-Lite fixtures very much held their own against the shows numerous other visual elements: Our projection is really bright, which balanced well with the VLs.There were instances when we used just a couple of fixtures to moments when the whole rig was on. At all times the VL3000s looked great!
The Vari-Lite luminaires, along with the rest of the lighting package, were supplied by Canada and US-based rental house Solotech, including the 70,000 lumens output VL3500 Wash luminaire, which features internal zoomable beam optics with either Fresnel or Buxom options, an interchangeable front lens system, and an aperture wheel. The VL3500 Wash also features the renowned VARI*BRITE mode. From any zoom position, this mode can be engaged to offer a tight column of remarkably intense light.
The 20/20 Experience tour, which plays 129 dates worldwide, continues until December 2014.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
(14/05/2014) Live music lighting designer Nick Whitehouse is currently out on the road for a year long tour with pop superstar Justin Timberlake and he has chosen to specify Philips Vari-Lites VL3000 range of luminaires as the backbone of his stylish and dynamic design.
