Madrix at Amnesia, Ibiza

Amnesia Ibiza, Spain, appointed LEDsCONTROL to take the Balearic club experience to the next level. Four times winner of the Best Global Club award (IDMA/Winter Music Conference) including 2011 and ranked #4 on DJ Magazine's Top 100 clubs in 2011, Amnesia is well-known around the globe. The famous Ibiza venue now owns the biggest kinetic 3D LED installation in Europe with 76 DMX universes controlled by MADRIX, the German manufacturer of LED lighting control solutions.

At Amnesia, 8,848 RGB pixels are turning the night into day; the striking setup was first to be seen at this year's opening on June 11.

LEDsCONTROL (Madrix's distributor for Spain) planned a spacious, lightweight, and safe construction with large distances between fixtures. As a result operators are able to easily adapt to different daily events. Owing to the club's unusual height of 36', the installation is hidden from view if the LEDs are not lit up. When the show starts, the 2D/3D setup proves to be a real attention-getter.

The fixtures in use were specially customized for Amnesia by LEDsCONTROL. Three hundred fifty- four LED tubes, the majority, have a length of 1m and contain 32 SMD RGB LEDs. Two LEDs each are controlled as one pixel via DMX. The fixtures are attached in zigzag shapes of 45 degrees and form a tram of "diamonds" that covers the entire ceiling (incl. horizontal platforms and inclined roof).

On top of that, 1m vertical fixtures are positioned below the horizontal platforms at every intersection of horizontal tubes. Four LEDs each are controlled as one pixel via DMX to offer a 360-degree view. The 3D effect is delivered by 217 tubes in total.

Six aluminum structures of 19.6' x 6.5' are used for the inclined roof. The horizontal platforms include five aluminum structures. Two of them stretch 16.4' x 16.4' wide, which is a static setup. Moreover, there are three kinetic structures of 9.8' x 16.4'. Supported by four chain hoists, the hoist controllers determine the variable elevation of those movable platforms and the 3D array.

The exclusive setup is controlled by Madrix, the LED lighting control software. One Madrix ultimate version controls 26,544 DMX channels with the help of 10 Luminex Ethernet-DMX8 MkII nodes.

Dozens of special effects were developed by LEDsCONTROL for this installation. These customized effects as well as custom-built and unique Madrix scripts, mostly used for 3D, provide the new club experience.

The timing during operation is important. The combination of video walls, moving heads, LEDs and other lighting equipment requires the special attention of the lighting operator to create an atmospheric and vibrant light show.

An MA Lighting grandMA 2 console, which also controls MADRIX remotely via DMX-IN, and the MIDI controller AKAI APC-20 complete the setup. More than 2km of cables were used, while the installation demands 10,000W of power.