PRO3 rocks with Robe

PRO3 – one of Mexico’s leading lighting and visual design studios which also has a large stock of its own lighting equipment – has invested in more Robe moving lights in the last 18 months with the purchase of FORTES, Spiiders and RoboSpot systems.

The company was started in 2012 – as legend has it, “after a few beers” – by three individuals all passionate about letting and delivering the best and most exciting shows and live experiences – Fulkas Camacho, Osvaldo Giuliano “Chicho” and Juan Carlos Zamudio “Charly” who are all talented lighting designers in their own right.

Fulkas explained how Robe products have helped fuel the company’s expansion as an equipment supplier for their own creative projects. There are now almost 300 Robe lights in the inventory, an investment plan that started with Pointes, was followed up with MegaPointes and Spiiders, then most recently, FORTES and RoboSpot systems. These – plus other lights – are constantly in use. PRO3 was one the first to commit to FORTES in Mexico, elucidated Fulkas. They were all impressed by the power of the fixtures and by their excellent colour changing characteristics. He admits that they did look at a few ‘alternatives’ … but all concluded that “Robe was SO much better!”

The FORTES – they now have a substantial quantity of these flagship fixtures – were delivered in 2024 in two batches via Robe’s Mexican distributor, Showco.

Moving on to RoboSpots, Fulkas feels it’s super-important to bring the control of such important fixtures on any lighting scheme to the console and direct to the LD or operator.

PRO3’s FORTES are used regularly on their RoboSpot systems and also MegaPointes. They have received some “excellent” training from Showco, and remote follow spotti ng which is another transferable and valuable skill set they can pass on to their technicians and crew.

Spiiders are one of his favourite Robe fixtures as a designer, especially when run in full ‘pixel mode’ for all the wonderful whizzy and liquid effects that can be created. When he used these effects on a show, it is sparingly and for maximum impact.

Fulkas loves the industry generally. He enjoys listening to music, interpreting narratives and stories and expressing these in terms of lighting in colours and textures, then taking the lighting ideas from his head, through the visualiser then playing out for real onstage via the lighting fixtures. “Lighting – when used properly – is a very powerful art for the transmission of emotions,” he commented.

PRO3 is now a medium-sized company with around 20 full-time employees and 60 or so regular freelancers – with a big reputation and a lot of respect in Mexico and the primary Latin markets, with considerable ambitions still ahead.

www.robe.cz

Photography © Louise Stickland