Know what you’re asking for
Kinetic rigs look like magic and are mostly rigging engineering. Here’s what’s involved in a Los Angeles kinetic build, and where the safety work sits. Every piece below is something we own, hang, and run ourselves — no brokered sub-rentals arriving the week of your show.
MotionKinetic winch
A computer-controlled motor that raises and lowers a fixture or object on cue.
Ask for it when: When elements need to change height during the show — a ceiling that descends, a sculpture that lifts on a reveal.
MotionKinetic sphere array
A grid of lit spheres on individual winches, moving independently to form shapes in the air.
Ask for it when: Reveals and brand moments where the ceiling itself is the effect.
ProgrammableMoving head
A fixture that pans and tilts on cue without physically moving position.
Ask for it when: When the beams should move but the rig shouldn’t. Far simpler and cheaper than physical motion.
ContentPixel-mapped array
Fixtures addressed individually so video content or patterns can play across them.
Ask for it when: When you want the rig to display something — a logo sweep, a wave — rather than just change colour together.
ControlAutomation console
The desk that drives physical motion, separate from the lighting desk that drives colour and intensity.
Ask for it when: Any winch-based build. Motion and lighting are two systems that have to be cued together.
RiggingMotorised hoist
Load-rated chain hoists that fly truss and kinetic elements to trim.
Ask for it when: Every flown build. Capacity and duty rating are speced from the load calculation, not selected by eye.
SafetySecondary safety bond
An independent steel restraint on every flown element, sized to catch it if the primary fails.
Ask for it when: Non-negotiable on anything overhead. Ask any vendor whether it’s included — the answer tells you a lot.
SafetyLoad calculation & sign-off
Engineered figures for every point, submitted to the venue before anything is hung.
Ask for it when: Every kinetic build. Moving loads are dynamic, so the calculation is different from a static rig — and venues know it.
ControlTimecode sync
Motion, lighting, audio, and video all locked to one clock.
Ask for it when: Any moment where movement has to land on a beat or a line. Motion can’t be busked convincingly.
ProcessPosition rehearsal
Running the motion cues in the actual room, at speed, before doors.
Ask for it when: Always. Kinetic elements are the one part of a rig where a mistake is a safety issue, not an aesthetic one.