USA - Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in America with a membership of over 45,000 and a weekly attendance of around 17,000, is emblematic of the Lone Star State’s scale. When the church realised that it needed to revitalise its audio mixing, routing, and management capacity, DiGiCo was chosen.
Working closely with integrator Paragon 360, the church installed three DiGiCo Quantum7 consoles in the 7,000-seat auditorium of its main campus in Plano, Texas, used for front of house, monitors, and broadcast, and one more Q7 at its newer Prosper, Texas campus, used to simultaneously handle front of house, monitors, and broadcast for the smaller yet substantial 1,500-seat sanctuary there.
The 140-acre Plano campus is also now fitted with an ample complem

USA - The BYU-Idaho Centre, on the western edge of Brigham Young University-Idaho’s Rexburg campus, is an architectural marvel. Dedicated in December 2010 after three years of construction, the ‘I-Centre’ is a 435,000sq.ft facility combining two distinct gathering places: a large athletics centre equipped with 10 multi-use sporting courts and a 15,000-seat auditorium used for student devotionals, ecclesiastical meetings, graduation exercises, and select artistic and cultural events.
Recently, the auditorium became more intimate sounding when an L-Acoustics loudspeaker system was installed by Clearwing Systems Integration.
The fan-shaped venue with its 7,500sq.ft stage is one of the largest production theatres in North America, offering only 6,000 fewer seats than its sister facility, the LDS Conference Centre at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.
Familiar wit

UK - Scottish Ballet has recently taken possession of a second consignment of Robert Juliat Dalis 860 cyclorama lights bringing its total inventory to 26. The award-winning Dalis 860 fixtures were supplied quickly and efficiently by Adlib’s Glasgow branch to provide Scottish Ballet with a versatile tool that can adapt to many environments and design requirements.
The upgrading of Scottish Ballet’s lighting systems began with a focus on cyclorama fixtures. “Cyc lighting is a fairly constant requirement at Scottish Ballet, and we don’t anticipate models to change dramatically. We wanted an LED replacement for our existing fixtures that looked the part as well as doing a great job,” explains Scottish Ballet’s technical director, Matt Strachan.
“I have been looking at Robert Juliat’s Dalis at trade shows for several years but never had a chance to use them
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Indochine X PixMob Fan Immersion

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's - 40 thousand LED pixels on a ceiling!!! Indochine's whirlwind tour transports fans to another level of the live experience - immersing them from floor to ceiling with PixMob's X4 wristbands, and an LED ceiling made entirely of its NOVA Minis! With the vision of Indochine's creative team, PixMob used its LED fan-technology to turn attendees and venues into an ocean of effects, and a starry sky of LED magic. Très très cool!

Read more about the Indochine tour in the latest issue of LSi

UK - Marta Minujín’s provocative work Big Ben Lying Down With Political Books is a centrepiece of the Manchester International Festival. The work takes the London landmark and turns it on its side in Piccadilly Gardens. Stretching 42m and reaching as high as 8m in some places, the structure commands immediate attention. But the Argentinian pop artist had more than novelty in mind when she created the distinctive structure.
Covering the tower are 20,000 books donated from various Manchester groups. Representing a range of literary eras and styles from Marx’s Das Kapital to Marcus Rashford’s You Are A Champion, the books have been selected for their roles in shaping Britain’s culture and influencing its future. Collectively they serve as a source of reflection for the nation during a time of profound change with Covid and Brexit.
Adding impa

UK - Gravity Media, provider of live broadcast facilities and production services to content owners, creators and distributors – has made further significant investment into its real-time communication systems for live event broadcasts. The new equipment meets increased demand for Gravity Media’s services, particularly for live sports. It will initially support a project with long-time client, UEFA European Soccer League, before being made available to other customers worldwide.
The purchase includes 20 new V-Series Iris Panels, in addition to Gravity Media’s existing Clear-Com Eclipse HX Digital Matrix within their London facility, as well as Station-IC Virtual Desktop Client licenses. The Station-IC client will enable Gravity Media’s expert technical teams to create a completely scalable intercom user station, which includes talkback both on desktop and for working

Qatar - Creative Technology (CT) has supported its clients with AV technology across various events in Qatar for over a decade and continues to provide technical advice and show-stopping event experiences in the region.
This year marks the 10th anniversary since CT opened its first Qatar office in the heart of City West Bay in Doha.
Although CT have been delivering projects in Qatar as early as 2001 out of its UK facility, it was realised in 2011 that having a local office and warehouse would make CT’s services, skilled engineers and event technology easily accessible to clients in the region.
Irum Ashraf, CT Qatar general manager, comments, “Within the first year of opening, the success of our organic growth saw CT Qatar move from our first warehouse in Al Rayyan with three full-time employees to a 14000sqf.t space in Logistics Village with over 14 full-ti

Taiwan - Seapower Technology has partnered with Renkus-Heinz to strengthen the company’s loudspeaker offerings in the Taiwan market.
“We are very happy about this strategic partnership with Seapower, a highly recognised company that is excited and passionate about high quality audio solutions,” said Karan Kathuria, director - sales and business development. “We are sure this collaboration will enable the best support, education, and training for end-users, integrators, and system designers across various business verticals in Taiwan.”
Based in Foothill Ranch, California, Renkus-Heinz has a global presence in permanent installations at auditoriums, transit centres, sports venues, houses of worship and musical performance venues as well as in the concert touring industry.
“We’re extremely excited to partner with Renkus-Heinz,” said Douglas Chang, MD

Australia - To create an innovative space for industry experts to effectively interact and communicate with students, Videopro collaborated with Harman Professional Solutions to outfit James Cook University’s new JCU Ideas Lab with a cutting-edge networked AV solution.
Established in 1970, James Cook University (JCU) has campuses in Cairns, Townsville, Singapore, and Brisbane, as well as research and learning sites in Mackay, Mount Isa, Rockhampton, and Thursday Island.
JCU recently completed its new $30m facility, the JCU Ideas Lab, creating a place for researchers, entrepreneurs and students to share ideas and innovate together. The facility houses an atrium, meeting rooms, electronics labs, workshops and teaching spaces to create, prototype, test, develop and scale innovative technologies, products, and business concepts, including a Narrow-band Internet of Thing

China - On 18 July, the Shanghai Planetarium opened in a blaze of bright lights nearby the Dishui Lake in Pudong New Area, Shanghai. It covers an area of 58,603sq.m and a building area of 37,741sq.m, making it the largest planetarium in the world.
With the vision of "shaping a complete view of the universe", Shanghai Planetarium strives to stimulate people's curiosity, encourage them to appreciate the starry sky, understand the universe and think about the future. The main exhibition area includes three parts: Homeland, Universe and Journey, which show a panoramic view of the vast universe, create a multi-sensory exploration journey to help the audience shape a complete view of the universe.
The What If theatre is located in the Universe exhibition area and uses a highly immersive 360-degree circular screen with 7.1.4 3D immersive sound to create an enveloping univers

UK - Event production specialists, ADI, delivered a visual experience that transformed the ExCeL for the 2021 Heineken London E-Prix. Creative applications in LED and video featured across the venue, resulting in stylish sports presentation and a high-octane fan experience during the fully charged double-header, that was also the world’s first indoor-outdoor motorsport race.
Having first conceptualised ideas for Formula E London two years ago, ADI designed a huge modular set with over 100m of 3mm LED to create a show-stopping digital centrepiece. Over both race days the bespoke LED staging hosted live performances by Raye, TV presentation and podium celebrations, with the integration of multiple displays and content zones for re-active video and fan-rousing messaging.
Modular LED screens to stage left and right delivered coverage for fans inside the ExCeL, while ou

Europe - Audio-Technica has introduced the AT2040 Hypercardioid Dynamic Podcast Microphone.
Taking cues from the BP40 professional broadcast microphone, the new AT2040 dynamic microphone brings pro-quality sound, style and all-metal construction to podcasters and other discerning content creators, at a more accessible price, says the company.
The directional, precision-made hypercardioid pickup keeps the sound focused on your voice and helps to minimise unwanted room noise, ensuring professional-quality broadcasts even from less-than-ideal locations. To further reduce unwanted noise, the mic features a specially designed, integrated shock mount that dampens shock and vibration that’s transmitted through a mic stand, boom or mount.
Additionally, the AT2040’s multistage windscreen combines a nonwoven filter with foam mesh to provide superior internal pop filter

USA - Minneapolis-based developer of LED video walls and headset microphones, Thor AV, focuses on sharing best practices and providing reliability and excellence in audiovisual performance.
The company works on a wide range of projects, from fixed installations such as The Belonging Co.’s culture-shaping church, to Signature Productions Group’s rental applications for the meetings and special events industry. It has chosen Brompton LED processing as its trusted LED partner, helping its clients to create a visual experience that is lifelike and real.
“Over the past couple years, we’ve seen a shift from ‘We need LED walls’ to ‘We need manufacturers that genuinely understand our specialties’,” says Thor AV’s director of sales & marketing, Luke Vettel. “There is a category within the LED wall industry that demands a certain spec. In 2021, we cont

USA - The new LED Work Light II (WLII) from Altman Lighting is designed to be a solution for any space requiring a high CRI, wide-spectrum, dimmable work light.
WLII’s 90+ CRI ensure both costumes and set painting looks as colourful and true as designed.
“Altman designers and engineers focused on developing a new LED Work Light that would be portable enough and energy efficient enough to make it perfect for just about any venue,” says Nicolas Champion, VP of sales and marketing.
The LED Work Light II is outfitted with onboard dimming for local control or, when set to full, can be operated on any Phase cut or Triac dimmer. It can output well over 14,000 lumens and offers a high CRI and soft, even distribution of light, when coupled with the included framed diffuser. The 3000K or 5000K, 90 watt single point source allows for a true flood with soft distributi

Greece - Eleftheri Ekfrasi Theatre in Athens is a lively and proactive family owned and run business, benefitting from the passion and enthusiasm of a compact and dedicated team headed by Nikos Koutsaftis, who is also venue’s chief of lighting.
Producing classics from Shakespeare, Moliere, Carlo Goldoni, and many more, Eleftheri Ekfrasi Theatre is also renowned for offering a top line up of stand-up comedy and is acclaimed for its children’s theatre productions.
Recently, Nikos has been busy overseeing a technical refit in the lighting department, which has included the purchase of a new Zero 88 FLX S48 console.
Nikos was recommended to look at Zero 88 by his friend, Antonis Panagiotopoulos, who is one of the most popular and prolific lighting designers in Greece. For many years he was the chief lighting designer of the Athens Concert Hall (Megaro Mousikis A

Europe - In view of the ongoing COVID-19 situation worldwide, Showlight has decided to further postpone the lighting quadrennial in its traditional form. Showlight chairman, John Allen, explains the reasons behind the decision:
“The Showlight committee has been reviewing the current state of our industry and the effects of the COVID pandemic on employment in many of our theatres, conference centres, touring venues, and within our manufacturing and servicing companies. We have also considered the difficulties and unpredictability of travel bans, quarantining and the effect of Brexit, and none of our conclusions are encouraging.
“As a result, we have reluctantly decided that a traditional Showlight in 2022 at Fontainebleau is not viable in any form so a further postponement will be necessary, and we will reconsider our options for Showlight 2023 next Spring, ideally

UK - Based in the heart of the Lake District, in Bowness-on Windermere, The Ro is a new hotel with a big personality. This new venue is aiming to become a destination for both tourists and locals alike.
The Ro prides itself on its chic design, coupled with familiar and friendly ‘northern’ service. As part of the development, owners 7 Hospitality Management brought in APM Design to deliver the interior design scheme for the hotel. APM Design then appointed custom sign specialists Sutton Creative to the project, to produce the signage package. Working from the approved branding document, Sutton Creative created a variety of options for the wayfinding and exterior signage to fit in with both the client and the designer’s expectations.
Speaking of the partnership, Andy McCluskey, Design Director at APM Design said: “We have worked with Andrew Sutton for many years

USA - The Community Christian Church in Fort Lauderdale stood empty when Kevis Mulchan lit livestreamed services during the height of the pandemic. Nevertheless, he worked hard to create looks that gave worshippers a greater sense of “being in church” even though they were watching on a TV or computer screen.
The skills sharpened during this period came in handy recently, when Mulchan, the church’s visual arts director, lit Night of Worship, a hybrid live/livestreamed musical celebration featuring Community Christian Church’s worship team led by Craig Crynes.
In contrast to their work during the pandemic, when they didn’t have to concern themselves with a live audience, Mulchan and his team (technical director Kevin Gomez and video director Bill Kelly), had to create a show that came off well on camera, while also immersing those present at the church.

UK - Fourier Audio is a new company that aims to bring cinematic audio to live audiences with a set of new audio processing tools. Fourier Audio is one of eight of the University of Southampton’s most promising start-ups that unveiled technologies ‘to make the world smarter, safer and more sustainable’ as part of the Future Worlds Founders Cohort.
It has been created by multi-Olivier award-winning sound designer, Gareth Owen, acoustical engineering postgraduate student, Henry Harrod, and lighting designer and software engineer, Peter Bridgman.
Henry says: “Fourier Audio is reinventing the tools used by sound designers on live productions, enabling them to create amazing new sonic worlds and revolutionise the audience’s listening experience. While live events have the most electric atmosphere, so often there simply isn’t the same immersive and mesmerising au

Germany - Fibre network specialist, Optocore, has announced the appointment of Márton ‘Marci’ Sós, as its new technical support engineer, with immediate effect.
Sós, who will take up the same role with sister company, BroaMan, hails from Budapest and is multi-lingual. He has wide experience in both system integration and sound engineer roles within the theatre world and as a freelance, and is proficient on many industry leading digital platforms, including Optocore partner DiGiCo, as well as Focusrite Pro and Dynacord.
Of his appointment, he says, “I met Optocore’s former support team a short time ago and was impressed with their immense level of knowledge, so I know I have big shoes to fill. The challenge therefore is to move into the role seamlessly so that clients don’t notice the personnel change.”
He says the move to the German company is a lo

USA - Audinate has announced the immediate availability of Dante Domain Manager version 1.2. This new version improves how AV and IT managers use and maintain their Dante-based AV networks, while supporting a new, more flexible range of purchase options.
All editions of Dante Domain Manager are now expandable to accommodate growing needs for Dante nodes or Dante domains and features previously reserved for Platinum customers are now available as add-ons to the Silver and Gold editions. Additionally, the base versions of the Silver and Gold editions now support twice as many nodes right out of the box: Silver now supports 20 Dante nodes, and Gold supports 100 nodes. Additional nodes may be purchased at any time in packs of 20, 50 or 100, and provide additional domains.
“This change helps our customers get just the right size Dante Domain Manager package with flexibili

USA - ACT Entertainment, the new entity formed by the ACT Lighting, RapcoHorizon and AC Power Distribution brands, has announced the appointment of David Johnson to the new post of senior vice president sales. Johnson is well known for managing the Live Design International (LDI) franchise.
“When we rebranded as ACT Entertainment, it was clear that we needed strong leadership in the sales department to bring all our world-class sales forces together across the organization and ensure their continued success and the high level of customer service for which we’re known,” says Ben Saltzman, CEO of ACT Entertainment. “David has 30 years’ experience in the industry and is a proven team leader. He’s well liked and has a broad knowledge of all the disciplines in which ACT Entertainment operates in. He knows the business front-to-back and side-to-side and understands the

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