Martin Professional A/S, the powerhouse in the entertainment lighting industry, was awarded a US patent on a moving light/manual follow spot hybrid titled “Intelligent Light Fixture With Manual Follow Spot Function.” Patent number 8,449,141, with a priority date of Dec 23, 2010, is shown below.
This is an interesting design and could be useful for a dual use of such a fixture as Martin’s new Viper series. This also allows for the possibility of very accurate spotlighting while the other parameters (i.e. beam effects and color) are properly coordinated with the console and other fixtures. For instance, this would be very helpful to have numerous follow spot fixture to blackout in perfect sync.
The patent is available on Mike Wood Consulting’s website here.