Lights! Camera! More Lights! Houston's KTRK Optimizes Look with Brightline

Houston broadcaster KTRK-TV has been on the scene for 70 years and is known for community outreach as well as investigative journalism. It is the only major network affiliate in Houston to occupy its original studio facility. As a longtime Brightline customer, with over 60 Brightline fixtures in their Bissonnet Street location, the studio recently added to its Brightline complement.

Just last year they purchased 37 Brightline L1.2 variable white fixtures, eight L1.4 fixtures, and five Brightline Lupo Fresnels to replace existing fluorescent soft fixtures and augment their LED Fresnel inventory in the main news studio. This past June, new L1.2 and L1.4 fixtures with DMX control were installed and now light all of Studio B. The station has been eager to add functionality to Studio B, including expanding its chromakey capability to enable virtual set production. A large chromakey corner, lit by Brightline, is the start of a complete upgrade. Later plans involve an interview set and possibly a talent stand-up area.

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Lighting designer/director Chris Boyd installed the fixtures. Rob Kreps with Barbizon Lighting Company programmed the DMX console based on settings supplied by Boyd. “Thanks to the daisy-chain ability of the Brightline fixtures, we only used three 20A relay circuits to power the entire rig. Control was provided by DMX cable from an ETC Element console,” explained Boyd. “The set was lit to 3200k tungsten but can go up to 5600k daylight when needed.”

“KTRK has always been a true partner with Brightline,” said Kathy Katz, managing partner, Brightline. “We’ve worked closely with them for several years and look forward to many more. They truly understand the transformative power of great broadcast lighting.”

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Last month’s lighting updates in Studio B at KTRK are as follows: two Brightline L1.2X variable white with DMX control; 17 Brightline L1.4 variable white with DMX control; wide control screens on back light; fixture mounted intensifiers on front light; and ETC Element console.