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Germany - At Frankfurt, DTS introduced Katana which offers a brand new type of light beam: the dynamic 'blade' projection. Thanks to a custom 3.5° - 40° linear zoom, Katana is capable of projecting an extra-bright blade of light that cuts through any show.

Single pixel control lets you obtain stunning dynamic multicolour effects, says the company. Features include single pixel control, ultra-fast motorised tilt, integrated full-range PSU and DMX control.

(Jim Evans)

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India - On 6 April, India's National Council of Science Museums (NCSM) opened its long-awaited Science Exploration Hall - an impressive new exhibition centre within the famous Kolkata Science City. The new Exploration Hall features three galleries, which together tell the story of human evolution.

Eight HDX-W20 FLEX projectors from visualization expert Barco, set up by VizExperts, bring a breathtaking 360° view on human evolution in the crispest of colours.

Established in 1997, the iconic Science City is India's largest science centre. "Our goal is to bring science to the people, and to young people in particular. To stir their enthusiasm, we make our message as fun and interactive as possible, by using state-of-the-art technology," says A D. Choudhury, Director of NCSM, science city park.

When in 2013, Science City decided to build a new hall fully dedicated to an

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USA - The growth of the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) continues apace, as a further seven international companies, at the forefront of digital video production and delivery, opt for membership. Avid, Dejero, Ikegami, IntoPIX, Matrox, NEC and TVU Networks have swelled the ranks of the alliance in the last few weeks.

Avid led the revolution in audio and video editing over 25 years ago. Its software-based, non-linear editing system is a television and video industry standard, providing the tools needed to create, manage, store, distribute, and monetize content.

"The smooth transition to IP is going to depend on customer confidence in the interoperability of equipment in the production and distribution chain," Tim Claman, vice president of platform and solutions at Avid. "At Avid we're fully committed to supporting standardization efforts that facilitate this interope

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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

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USA - Wohler Technologies of Hayward, CA in the San Francisco Bay Area has joined the rapidly growing ranks of the RAVENNA Partnership community. With over three decades' experience in in-rack audio monitoring technology, the company is now one of the leading lights in signal monitoring and correction solutions in multiple form factors for broadcast, motion picture and production facilities.

NAB sees the unveiling of Wohler's first RAVENNA/AES67-enabled products, the iAM-AUDIO monitoring device which offers AES67 decoding, metering and monitoring in a compact 1U package and a new AES67-enabled module for their flagship AMP2-16V audio monitoring and management platform.

According to Craig Newbury, Wohler VP sales & marketing, "As customers continue to migrate over to IP, the requirement to support technologies such as RAVENNA/AES67 in monitoring solutions, like our new iAM-

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USA - Audio-Technica ATH-M70x M-Series Professional Monitor Headphones have been used for both mixing and playback for a remarkable sonic and visual art installation in Times Square, New York City.

From 1 April, Soundwalk Collective, an international sound collective based in New York and Berlin, is presenting JUNGLE-IZED: A Conversation With Nature - a month-long interactive multi-sensory art installation that transforms Times Square and transport close to half a million visitors daily to the heart of the Amazon.

Presented in collaboration with David de Rothschild, The Times Square Advertising Coalition (TSAC), Times Square Arts, Audio-Technica, and CXA+ART, the immersive installation includes a participatory audio experience and an interactive video, to encourage a conversation with nature and to heighten awareness of the environmental impact of climate change.

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Denmark - Vejle Musikteater is the largest performing arts venue in the picturesque cultural hub of Vejle which sits at the head of the magnificent Vejle Fjord and the convergence of the Vejle and Grejs rivers in southeast Jutland, Denmark.

The venue has invested in over 50 Robe fixtures, including MMX Spots and LEDWash 600 moving lights and PARfect 100s in the last three years, a move instigated by Technical Manager Tor Futtrup.

Opened in 1993, the Musikteater has two main auditoriums, the Great Hall with 1,134 seats - and it can also be configured as a standing venue - and the Jacob Gade Hall which seats up to 300, plus an active programme of drama, large scale musicals, concerts and comedy productions.

It also hosts parties and special events, and the Musikteater crew facilitate technical production at the nearby Spectrum Conference and Sports Centre and for the ann

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USA - With over a decade long relationship, Sir Paul McCartney, once again, commissioned TAIT Towers, the company that supplies live staging equipment and scenic design for 19 of the top twenty highest grossing artists world tours including The Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, U2 and many more, to build a one of a kind stage and scenic set for his One on One Tour. McCartney will be performing a high-energy, high impact show by displaying a repertoire of his music catalogue supported by electrifying video animation, a moving stage and a collection of his personal photos.

Since McCartney's compelling Super Bowl XXXIX performance in 2005 where TAIT provided its artistic talent and staging experience, the two have worked closely together to continue executing the best audience experiences. Likewise, for the One on One tour, TAIT worked closely with McCartney's production manager and

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UK - The British Entertainment Industry Radio Group (BEIRG) urges Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) spectrum users to respond to an Ofcom consultation on funding for a possible compensation scheme for those affected by the clearance of the 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz).

On 31 March 2016 Ofcom issued a consultation document entitled Managing the effects of 700 MHz Clearance on PMSE and DTT viewers. It can be found here: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/700-clearance-cfi

The consultation is designed to ascertain the possible level of funding that will be needed to compensate PMSE users whose equipment will be left fully or partially redundant after the 700 MHz band is cleared of PMSE users.

Towards the bottom of the webpage listed above, there is a link to a 'PMSE Financial Questionnaire'. While the UK Government has not yet formally committed

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UK - Leading provider of professional AV equipment, Audiologic, has appointed Steph Seaton in the role of Internal Sales Support. Steph joins the company from a background in chemical distribution where her role required high levels of organisation, communication and efficiency. Steph will be the first point of contact for Audiologic's customers, dealing with and directing sales traffic in order to best support every member of the team in its drive to provide excellent service.

Sales and Marketing Manager Andy Lewis welcomes Steph Seaton's appointment: "It's important to stress the value we place upon every appointment at Audiologic. As we continue to grow our business at a rapid rate, we need to ensure that our internal systems efficiently keep pace with the pressures created by increased demand. Steph joins us from a high-pressure industry where she demonstrated exactly the

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USA - Green Hippo has announced that from April 2016, Cory Froke has joined the Green Hippo US team as product specialist, based in Burbank, California.

Cory has a strong background in the world of lighting and AV having previously worked at PRG Nocturne / PRG Concert Touring, Chaos Visual Productions, DWP Live and Entertainment Lighting Services (ELS).

Cory's role will be product specialist, meeting and engaging with both our current and potential US users; liaising with both development and the marketing team to ensure that the Hippotizer media server range and all its newest features are bought directly to US customers.

Green Hippo CEO, Emma Marlow stated, "The US is an important market for Hippotizer, and we're delighted to have someone of Cory's experience and knowledge in our US office. He has a real passion for media servers and understanding of how Hippotizer a

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Germany - Prolyte reports that the Verto truss was among the most mentioned product innovations at the Prolight+Sound exhibition. From the launch on 5 April until the last day of the show, a record number of visitors tried and tested the Verto truss, while quite a few were brave enough to take up the Verto Speed Challenge. The speedy and very silent Verto truss, sets records in assembly and disassembly times.

"The feedback we received during the show has been tremendous, we have been constantly busy. We've raised an immediate demand for this truss - way beyond our highest expectations," comments Ralph Stockley, CCO.

"We knew the Verto truss would draw attention as the first real truss innovation in years," continues Eric Laanstra, product manager, "But you never know to what extent. The Verto truss has received very positive feedback, that's very rewarding."

The Verto

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Germany - Clay Paky launched three new products for the first time internationally at Prolight+Sound 2016, all of which aroused considerable interest among industry professionals. The products were the stars of a demo/multimedia light show which accompanied the performances of some musicians and cover bands.

The Scenius Profile is the new beam shaper at the top of the Clay Paky moving head range. Its advanced optical unit and the 1400W OSRAM discharge lamp provide very high light output and an excellent CRI. Its framing system consists of four independent overlapping blades which create shapes of all sizes and proportions by working simultaneously on four different focal planes

The Hepikos is a 700W washlight that combines low power consumption with colour quality, without compromise. Thanks to its PC front lens and narrow 5° beam angle, the fixture can also produce a

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UK - Award winning U.S. event technology start-up Crowd Mics are to hold a UK launch in London on the 12 May. The event, to be held at the iconic Curzon cinema in Soho, will feature a presentation from CEO and co-founder Tim Holladay together with live demonstrations of the technology with UK partner Saville Audio Visual.

Since featuring on the BBC in August last year the company has seen a dramatic rise in requests for its technology which allows users to speak, text and vote using their own smartphone. Tim explains, "For us, Crowd Mics is all about engagement. It's about letting people in the audience participate and be a part of the discussion. Since our launch we've had significant interest from the UK and have been looking for the perfect partner to drive this forward. Saville combines a vast technical know-how with a forward-looking and personable team. Perfect for Crowd

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UK - The Salisbury Playhouse has recently brought down the curtain on a Myrtle Theatre Company production of Up Down Man by Brendan Murray. The lighting of this internationally acclaimed play was designed and programmed by award winning LD, Michael Straun. He chose to run the show on an MA Lighting dot2 Core console after attending one of the seminars run by exclusive UK distributors, Ambersphere Solutions.

Straun was keen to get a closer look at the MA dot2 console after his first brief encounter at a show in Sydney, Australia. "I didn't have time to have a proper 'play' to explore what it could really do so I grabbed the chance to attend one of the sessions offered by Ambersphere. It provided a good insight into the basics of the desk but the Ambersphere team were also on hand to answer more in-depth questions. However well you think you know a console you always lear

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UK - With a loyal fan base in the UK eager to see their favourite wrestler vie for ring dominance, American professional wrestling organization TNA Wrestling travelled to England earlier in the year for a series of arena shows dubbed the Maximum Impact 8 Tour. Elation Professional lighting fixtures have been staples on TNA Wrestling events in the UK recently with this year's lighting package predominately made up of Elation Platinum Beam 5R Extreme and Platinum Wash ZFX Pro moving heads.

This year's shows, which included an extra layer of emotion as they marked wrestling legend Kurt Angle's final bouts, were designed by Emmy Award-winning LD Jeff Bornstein with Ian Livie, whose production company has provided entertainment technology for TNA's UK shows for years, assisting with the design elements. Lighting operation was by Andre Huff.

Lighting designer/director Jeff Borns

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UK - Lifting, control and rigging specialist Lift-Turn-Move (LTM) supplied LoadGuard hoists to SSE Audio which were used for The Corrs tour. Four of the LTM team were invited by SSE Audio's Russell Holt to watch the load in at Liverpool Echo Arena. This was the first time behind the scenes for some of the team to see their gear in action. It has proved a very valuable experience, improving their understanding and product knowledge.

The attendees from LTM comprised of Clare Sheppard from Sales, Alison Marshall from Marketing and Jack Triggs from the Workshop. Jack Triggs stated, "Today has been extremely beneficial, I am based in the workshop building the hoists I have never had the opportunity to see what the hoists were used for in a concert, it gave me a great overview of how the hoists are used."

The LTM team enjoyed watching the rigging by SSE Audio's Perttu Korteniemi

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USA - Four years after masterminding the set design for Blake Shelton's first major tour, creative director Steve Cohen has been brought in again to unite lighting and video into a fluid stage set redolent of the artist's Oklahoma roots.

And once again he has dipped heavily into the LED catalogue of GLP to fulfill his requirements, sourcing over 200 of the German company's X4 Series fixtures from his regular vendor, Beame (formerly Atomic Lighting).

The set features 116 impression X4 along with 32 of the large X4 L (37 x 15W RGBW LEDs), punctuated by 60 of the tiny single source X4 Atoms.

The itinerary consists entirely of full size sports arenas, with a few country fairs built in. And with demand for tickets so high, the artist's manager, Narvel Blackstock, wanted to sell every arena seat possible, including those behind the stage Asked to produce "something cool" by

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Australia - Originally built in 1892 as a brewery and malting works, building in Southbank, Melbourne has been the home of the Malthouse Theatre since 1990, when Carlton and United Breweries donated the space for the creation and presentation of contemporary Australian theatre. Today, the thriving theatre presents mainly cabarets and musicals, but also plays, conferences and seminars.

In early 2016, the audio system at The Coopers Malthouse, which was over 10 years old, was due for a technical upgrade. The venue is run as a non-profit organisation, so budget was a major criterion in the choice of a system. The Coopers Malthouse consists of three theatres (with respective seating capacities of 500, 200 and 100), rehearsal studios, meeting rooms, a bar and a café. Seating configurations in each theatre change depending on the performance criteria, so the new system also n

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UK - Making the audience the focus of attention turns the usual aspect of arena events on its head, but then there was nothing 'usual' about WE Day at the SSE Arena, Wembley on 9 March. WE Day is an inspirational event, fusing the energy and enthusiasm of young people - in the words of the organizations' website - "to empower a new generation to shift the world from 'me' to 'we' - from a focus on the individual to the power of the community."

And it's that audience focus which immediately validates such noble sentiments as Jason McKinnon, who designs the event in collaboration with executive producer Lina Beaudin explained. "It is a pretty amazing event. The audience can't buy tickets; they earn their way into the arena by taking action on social issues that are important to them."

To put that in context, the young people that attended earned their place through participat

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UK - Arena Group was pivotal in supporting The Jockey Club's transformation of Aintree Racecourse for the 2016 Crabbie's Grand National with temporary event seating and structures. David Mullins trained Rule the World won the race and the £1m prize money.

Carl Pastor, The Jockey Club's operations director, states, "I view Arena as a partner, rather than a contractor: they are pro-active in suggesting ideas and helping us overcome problems, always in tune with our own brand values. The introduction of new features such as the Arena Deck viewing area in front of The Chair Pavilion and the double decker Owners and Trainers hospitality facility this year were great examples of the fantastic advances in the experience we were able to offer our guests."

Arena Group's Aintree installation came hot on the heels of a record breaking installation at Cheltenham Festival for The

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USA - Las Vegas-based with the purchase of eight variable speed chain hoists fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ drives, Kinesys Vector Software and eight Kinesys LibraCELL load measuring shackles, all delivered via the manufacturer's U.S. office in Atlanta.

Brent founded Alpine Rigging in 2011 and has been working out of the frenetic entertainment industry hub of Las Vegas since 2005. He's previously worked as a freelance rigger and automation specialist in Europe, Asia and other parts of the world, as well as extensively throughout North America.

Las Vegas was already replete with several major and well respected lighting, rigging and AV rental companies, so with Alpine Rigging, Brent wanted to offer something altogether different. He decided his unique selling point would be to concentrate on niche markets within the world of entertainment and prodAlpine Rigging, headed by

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