Lighting designer Daniel Saveski – the current head of lighting for Australia’s Channel 9 (GTV9) – used an Avolites D9 console (with a D7 for backup) to light the broadcaster’s famous “Carols by Candlelight” Christmas special. The event has been an annual Australian tradition since 1938, staged this time at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.
Owned and co-ordinated by Vision Australia, a leading national non-profit organisation providing services for those with blindness and low vision, Carols by Candlelight is their largest annual fundraiser and is produced and broadcast by the Nine Network. Dan has worked on the event for the last nine years in different lighting related roles, and this was the second year he has been the lighting designer.
Dan specified the D9 because he wanted a powerful and intuitive control platform that could be programmed quickly and easily.
While fluent in and working across multiple lighting and visual control platforms, he thought Avolites would be especially appropriate for this show.
He had initially rediscovered Avolites and the D9 during the COVID lockdowns, although at that stage there were no D9s available in Australia! After Avolites became ‘a Robe Business’ in late 2023 and LSC Control Systems became the new official distributor, his interest was renewed and he started actively looking at the brand and its products, especially the D9. This included booking a demo, where he “fell in love” with the hardware at first glance!
The more he explored via the offline D9 editor, the more he appreciated the “power and simplicity of the workflow,” and Avolites had really started to stand out for him.
LSC and Avolites business development manager, Clare Springett, introduced him to the T3 console, which he loved. He immediately purchased one, commenting that it’s “incredible to have a console that fits in a backpack, unlocks 16 universes, and doesn’t compromise on programming or playback space!”
For the 2025 Carols event, he wanted to tap into the power and flexibility of the D9 to control a sizable lighting rig. The rig comprised 65 Ayrton Rivale Profile moving lights, 3 x Ayrton Domino LTs running on a remote Ground Control system for follow spots, together with 21 x GLP Impression X4s and 50 x Impression X4 XL wash lights, 24 x ACME TORDNADOs, 46 x ACME PIXEL LINE IPs, 14 Martin Mac Aura XIPs, 20 x ShowPro Fusion Wash 48s and 8 x Claypaky Scenius Unicos.
On top of that were Creamsource and Creamsource Mini LED soft lights, 12 x CK ColorBlast 12 TRs, 12 x ETC LED PARs, 17 sections of Starcloth drape, together with several hundred metres of LED festoon and LED tape around the set.
All lighting equipment for the event was supplied by PRG, who Dan describes as “simply amazing” to work with, making the process effortless, offering “a distinctive level of comfort and confidence when they are looking after one of my shows.”
The set was designed and built several years ago and is stored and maintained by Nine Network’s staging department.
In addition to the lighting, a large upstage LED screen handled a variety of visual content. The set design further enabled Dan to incorporate ROE Visual CB3 panels into the set of windows on the left and right stage wings and the ‘rosette’ in the centre of the scenic pros arch, as well as the mid stage low fence in front of the house band. These were all supplied by CT Australia.
He also included a roof feature in the design, made up of ROE Vanish that was not visible from the front, but worked brilliantly in terms of adding depth and visual interest from those all-important low and upward angled camera shots.
During programming, he found the D9’s ‘Locate’ options for specific fixtures “incredibly helpful.” By setting the default Locate to a tight zoom, he was able to focus key light positions much more quickly, knowing exactly where the centre point was from the start.
The ‘Attribute Editor’ was another “essential” programming tool for Dan, particularly for managing framing shutters and maintaining precise RGB control over the CMY engines in the different fixture types.
He found the ‘Set List’ feature pretty “invaluable” on a show like this, where songs were constantly being moved between segments right up until show day.
Set List allowed me to rapidly reorder tracks while retaining all the specific notes and programming attached to each list, so last-minute schedule changes were seamless!
Daniel Saveski, Lighting DesignerHe totally appreciates how the ‘Key Frame Shapes’ feature enabled him to concentrate his eyes on the stage rather than being buried in console syntax, which “seriously sped up” the process.
Moving forward, he says he will be specifying a D9 more often and whenever he can get his hands on one!
Overall, he found the D9’s workflow incredibly straightforward and an aid to efficient programming. He is impressed with how the Avolites platform has stood the test of time – the brand celebrates its seminal 50th anniversary throughout 2026.
He mentioned the importance of maintaining a clean and organised workflow on the desk and in the rig, giving his crew the clarity they need to perform at their best.
“I lead from the front, ensuring that even in high-pressure national broadcast environments like Carols by Candlelight we can operate as a team with precision, mutual respect, and a shared passion for the craft.”
Beyond the technicalities
Carols by Candlelight is a special project with enormous meaning for Dan, and together with all involved, he is hugely proud to be part of delivering it. “It is also a cherished yearly reunion with my crew ‘family,’ and the show carries a profound weight as so many Australians are watching with their friends and loved ones, and our work is bringing smiles to children’s faces nationwide.” All the money raised goes towards supporting specialist services for children who are blind or have low vision.
Working closely with Dan on the 2025 edition were lighting directors Lynden Gare and Hamish Lee and screens director Matt Jones.
Dan was so delighted with the performance of the D9 and the D7 used as backup, and has already slated a D7-330 and a D7-215 to run the 2026 Australian Open broadcast.
He has even vowed to don his “Avo Trainer” hat and convert a few lighting director colleagues to the platform! Frequently working across multiple control platforms, Dan has become one of Australia’s go-to “terminology translation” phone support nerds for most of his professional network, and comments that it’s been “a great experience” seeing how these tools are evolving and helping others bridge the gaps between different systems.
