Stray Production Services Invests in Elation's Award-Winning PARAGONStray Production Services, a full-service event production company based in Lititz, Pennsylvania, has announced an investment in Elation's PARAGON LED profile moving head. Stray is located on the Rock Lititz Campus, a production campus and home to dozens of production vendors in the live events industry. Only a short drive from New York, Baltimore, Washington DC, and Philadelphia, Stray specializes in events of all types, including large-scale installations. "We wanted quality and needed something rugged enough for outdoor events -- we didn't want to keep putting our non-IP-rated profile fixtures at risk outside," says Mark Bartlett, VP of events at Stray. "We followed LDI and saw that PARAGON won the best lighting product award and decided to bring it in for a demo." Stray brought the PARAGON S and M models for comparison and evaluated them against some of their existing stock. "When we compared the PARAGON M to our 1000W discharge fixtures, we were blown away -- it was both brighter and lighter," a weight savings critical when working with truss limitations. "Something we ran into a lot the past couple of years is trying to fit all the lights designers want on a mobile stage. There are a lot of weight limits there, and the lighter weight helps with our truss calculations." The IP54 rating makes PARAGON a lighter and more compact unit that can withstand rain and dust, making it well-suited for Stray's growing outdoor workload. Bartlett adds, "That works for us. We're not submerging these in water, but we need to trust that they'll hold up in real-world weather. PARAGON checks that box." The PARAGON M emits over 37,000 lumens and offers an array of features packed into a compact profile light -- CMY color mixing, variable CTO, fast zoom, interchangeable animation wheel, gobo wheels, dual prisms, dual frost, high-speed iris, and an indexable framing system. Custom-engineered features like the TruTone variable CRI system, adjustable up to CRI 93, are a boon for Stray's increasing broadcast work. "We've been doing more video shoots over the last couple of years," Barlett shares, "commercials and music videos of late, so the variable CRI comes in handy there." He also commends the fixture's unique set of gobos, which allow for new design possibilities. "We were looking for a light that could fit all of these different parameters, a core light for our inventory that we can use for a variety of work, and we found it." Another major advantage of PARAGON is its interchangeable lens system, allowing one fixture to function as a profile, Fresnel, or beam unit. "Although we haven't taken advantage of it yet, that flexibility means we don't have to invest in separate wash or beam lights, which simplifies our inventory and improves efficiency on shows," Bartlett says. Bartlett reports that business at Stray has been non-stop this year with little to no downtime. "With more events on the calendar, we need gear that can keep up. The PARAGON gives us power, flexibility, and the durability to meet those demands head-on." The PARAGON M made its Stray debut at the Cirque de la Symphonie and Lancaster Symphony Orchestra performance in early April, where the fixtures served as texture and front lighting. They are also slated for use in an upcoming outdoor festival in May, among other events. 
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