Europe - High End Systems has released its latest OS for Hog 4 lighting consoles. Hog 4 OS 3.5.0 offers numerous new features and enhancements for the platform's wide user base; the company is also touting new features in development for release in the near future.

Hog 4 OS v3.5.0 fully supports Compound Fixtures (single fixtures with multiple parts), providing easy scheduling and patching without the need to manually and, renumber, and patch individual parts.

Hog 4 OS v3.5.0 communicates directly with several video matrix switcher products over Ethernet. This allows smaller productions to control video equipment directly from a lighting console without the need for additional control systems or operators. Hog 4 OS supports the Barco MatrixPro-II SD/HD/3G-SDI series, the Bla

UK - GoboPlus.com turned out in force on its fully recyclable cardboard stand at PLASA 2016. The whole stand, with graphics designed by GoboPlus.com's Vicky Fairall, was made entirely of cardboard, including the lectern, seats and tables. It succeeded in drawing large numbers of visitors with its unique and colourful appearance that guided customers through the process of custom gobo production.

GoboPlus.com is a one-stop online shop that specialises in the supply of custom and standard metal gobos, glass gobos and all projection images. Goboplus.com's online shop now features colour filter which is available from stock, by the sheet or roll, for shipping the same day.

Its sister company, CutColourPlus, provides bespoke cutting and complete scroll-making services, and supplies lighting filters in sheets and rolls from leading manufacturers that include Lee, Rosco and GAM.<

UK - Fineline Lighting headed for some beautiful countryside and chilled vibes renewing its long term acquaintance with and commitment to the eco-conscious Shambala festival - a three-day family-friendly event staged at a secret location in Northamptonshire UK, featuring a diverse and eclectic mix of music, art, cuisine and culture.

The Bristol based lighting and visuals rental company's association with the festival dates back 12 years, and it was the ninth year for project manager Stu England who led a large crew. Fineline also seized the occasion and the fantastic atmosphere of Shambala to celebrate a super-busy 2016 summer festival season.

Fineline supplied lighting for the main stage - a Wango's tensile structure featuring a large central pole and a free-standing arch at the front; the four-pole big top Kamikaze stage utilised for fun sports in the daytime and as the

featured content

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 - A curious scan through internet searches for Found111's latest production of Owen McCafferty's Unfaithful yields little other than ringing endorsements and glowing reports for the latest project undertaken by producer Emily Dobbs.

Emily Dobbs brings together director Adam Penford, lighting designer James Whiteside, set designer Richard Kent and Found111's regular composer and sound designer Edward Lewis; who between them set the framework within which the cast will perform for seventy tense and periodically explosive minutes. Niamh Cusack and Sean Campion play the older of two couples alongside Matthew Lewis and Ruta Gedmintas.

James Whiteside explained his approach to lighting Unfaithful. "The first thing I did was read the play. I've lit an Owen McCafferty play before, so I knew his style of writing and what to expect. McCafferty uses a very naturalist

UK - It's August Bank Holiday in leafy Cheshire: that must mean it is time for Creamfields - arguably, the premier UK dance music festival of the season. The production team at LarMac Live have continued to invest in the infrastructure and entertainment technology to ensure the festival continues to attract the many thousands of electronic dance music aficionados who flock there annually.

Ian Greenway is the production manager: "We have sold out for the last seven years and attract an audience of over 70,000 but being content with the status quo is not an intelligent option in this game. As we approach our twentieth anniversary in 2017 we've continued to raise our game across all aspects of the festival. Perhaps the most significant this year has been the new Steel Yard stage (more of which later). But of course, in some departments change is neither necessary or advisable so,

USA - New York Fashion Week can always be counted on to make some clear trend declarations. Happily, the one thing that always seems to be in style during this weeklong (actually nine-day) celebration of haute couture creations is its commitment to helping good causes.

Along with all of the glittering debuts by big name designers, New York Fashion Week is a time of high-profile charity events. Among the most popular with celebrities and the press alike is the Hearts Fashion Gala, which raises money for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Produced by Eric Rosette of Rosette Management, the three-day event showcased the work of 20 celebrated designers like Hale Bob, Sanja Bobar and Gregorio Sanchez on a runway that LD Dougie Lazer illuminated with Ovation and Rogue fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"The setting that this event took place in is very evocative and unique," said

UK - Showlight 2017, which takes place in Florence, Italy, 20-23 May 2017, exhibited for the first time in four years at the newly relocated PLASA Show, with great success.

Showlight is one of the few international events organised specifically for lighting professionals by lighting professionals across the theatre, television, film, performance, architectural and event worlds. A mix of conference, tradeshow and sociability, Showlight is an opportunity to mix with others in the lighting industry in an informal and informative atmosphere.

"PLASA was the right forum to have a stand for Showlight," says lighting designer and Showlight technical support, Rudi Benz. "It is a show that puts a lot of effort into networking and education which is right in line with Showlight's own philosophy.

"We had a lot of interest from visitors as prospective exhibitors, speakers and deleg

Denmark - Litecom is a top Danish lighting, video and automation rental and production specialist headquartered just outside of Copenhagen in a modern industrial building that has been designed to both be functional and look cool, providing an invigorating working environment.

The company, headed by Rasmus Sorensen, has just invested in Robe BMFL Blades, DL4S Profiles and DL4F Wash luminaires which have joined the 80 Pointes already in their rental inventory, as the general demand for Robe fixtures in Scandinavia is growing.

Litecom was founded by Rasmus, his brother Morten and his father Erik in 2000 and now has 35 full time employees, a pool of regular freelance talent, a large inventory of equipment with state-of-the-art drawing and visualisation facilities, an expansive warehouse, a policy of continuous investment in current technologies and an operation brimming with

Europe - Robert Juliat is the first manufacturer to collaborate directly with ETC to have its award-winning eight-colour Dalis cyclight fully calibrated with the Eos family of lighting desks. Operators and lighting designers will benefit from the ease and transparency of using Eos consoles to gain full, precise control of Dalis' complete colour spectrum.

Encouraged by requests from theatre lighting designers, Robert Juliat and ETC decided to collaborate to fully integrate Dalis cyclight into the Eos desks. From now on, lighting designers can harness the full power of the Eos family desks and easily select and calibrate any colour they wish - by whatever method they prefer. They can synchronise their Dalis cyclight to a precise colour, or match any manufacturer's gel palette, and rapidly fine tune and modify the colour spectrum at will.

"We have made colour selection, match

UK - Leading entertainment production specialist Adlib inaugurates its new Scottish warehouse in Glasgow with an afternoon / evening event on Thursday 13th October 2016.

Adlib has invested over £1m in the Scottish operation since its launch at the start of 2015. The new warehouse completes the current phase of development which also includes a substantial amount of new equipment and the set-up of a comprehensive infrastructure.

The 'open' event will provide an opportunity for guests to check out the new premises and meet key members of the Adlib team, together with some of the manufacturers and suppliers / distributors with whom Adlib works closely.

On the audio side, these will include L-Acoustics with their Kara and K2 systems; console manufacturers DiGiCo demo'ing their SD10 and S21 products; Soundcraft highlighting the Vi6 and Vi3000; Midas with their ProX an

UK - The decision to relocate the PLASA Show back to Olympia proved to be a great move, securing the show's continued future as a key event on the industry's calendar. The quality of the audience was strong across all three days, with 60% being final decision makers and specifiers. Exhibitors also reported an increase in international visitors, further validating the decision to move the event back to West London.

Once again, PLASA's high quality free to attend seminar programme was a key element of the show and featured extremely well attended presentations by Durham Marenghi on lighting the Olympic ceremonies in Rio as well as a Production Masterclass from Ola Melzig and Fredrik Jönsson on Eurovision 2016.

This year's content-rich show also featured the seventh edition of the Rigging Conference, hands-on console training opportunities, the Innovation Gallery, and an exp

UK - Pharos Architectural Controls Ltd, designer and manufacturer of advanced lighting control solutions, has launched a new lighting controller - the Pharos VLC.

The Pharos VLC (Video Lighting Controller) is a simple, cost effective, all-in-one solution for controlling LED lighting fixtures installed as a large array; such as a building fa

USA - At AES in Los Angeles, Apogee Electronics announced a Dante Network option card for its flagship audio interface Symphony I/O Mk II.

The addition of Dante expands Symphony's connectivity options which currently include, Thunderbolt, Pro Tools HD and SoundGrid. The Symphony I/O Mk II Dante option card uses Audinate's Dante Brooklyn II module which features plug and play media networking for up to 64 bidirectional channels at 48kHz.

"Dante's powerful solution allows Symphony I/O MK II customers to network Apogee's legendary sound quality in a wide range of audio workflows including live sound, sound stages and networked recording studios," commented Betty Bennett, Co-Founder and CEO of Apogee. "Dante compatibility is the latest result of our commitment to the growth and evolution of the Symphony I/O Mk II system."

(Jim Evans)

USA - With an output greater than that of a 750-watt HPL ellipsoidal, the Ovation E-260WW IP is bright enough to work effectively at outdoor events, theatrical performances and concerts. The new LED fixture from Chauvet Professional will also keep working without issue if the weather at those outdoor projects turns bad, because it is fully IP65 rated, says the company.

In addition to its IP65 rating, the new indoor/outdoor fixture, which will be showcased at the Ovation LDI booth (1515), is endowed with all of the performance features of the popular Ovation E-260WW. This includes a 50,000-hour LED source life as well as an intense output (6,910 lux at 5m with a 26? lens). The latter feature makes it, along with its sister fixture, the brightest LED ellipsoidal on the market.

"The response to the Ovation E-260WW has been overwhelming since we introduced it earlier this year

UK - Allen & Heath has announced the availability of further ProFactory Mic presets for Audio-Technica Microphones, following the successful collaboration with microphone manufacturers, Shure and Sennheiser, to provide channel library presets on its leading Qu Series compact digital mixers.

ProFactory Mic presets offer engineers of all abilities the ideal starting point to get the best possible sound out of their instrument, microphone and mixer combination, in record time and across a large range of popular and industry standard mics.

New presets for Audio-Technica include MB, ATM and Pro series microphones, to add to the evolution e600, e800 and e900 series from Sennheiser, and PGA, SM and Beta series from Shure.

The team at Allen & Heath worked closely with the engineers at each manufacturer to ensure that the optimal settings were applied for each mic paired with Q

UK - Doughty Engineering has added a new item to its Studio Rail 60 range in the form of an Articulated Carriage that will allow for curved Studio Rail to be used for applications other than, but not excluding, curtain tracks. The new piece of kit which is unique to Doughty was given a surprise debut on the company's stand at this year's PLASA show.

Dan Phillips, project sales co-ordinator at Doughty explained, "The Articulated Carriage is a piece I'd been working on for a little while and thought it would be worth taking along to PLASA to try it out and see just how well it would work. If it didn't perform as expected, I was ready to go back to the drawing board to fine tune the design. But we built the stand and it worked perfectly - and went on to become the talking point of our stand at this year's show."

The new Articulated Carriages allow the Studio Rail perimeter tr

UK - After a highly successful year with their new product portfolio - notably on the London West End stage - GLP's inventive solutions continue to evolve, as was evidenced at this year's PLASA Show at Olympia.

Visitors to their booth saw the new GT-1 hybrid, which has been causing such a stir on the international circuit in 2016.

GLP marked the PLASA Show's 39th edition with the first presentation that the German manufacturer has fronted under its new UK operation.

Led by head of operations (UK & Ireland), Noel 'Roly Smith, with full support from senior international representatives, GLP could not have been more effusive about the response to their new LED fixtures, expertly integrated into a centrepiece lightshow by KOI award-winning LD Tom Campbell.

Campbell, who was accoladed last year by the Knights of Illumination for his touring work with Anna Calvi, again d

USA - Bandit Lites continued its summer of stellar festivals with a lighting package provided for a weekend in the woods at The Firefly Music Festival, and while the weather may have put a damper on last year's festivities, the elements cooperated this year to give the 90,000 attendees nothing but good vibes and great performances.

Headliners for the 16-19 June event featured a wide variety of artists such as Mumford and Sons, Blink 182, Florence and The Machine, Death Cab for Cutie and Kings of Leon.

The ethereal atmosphere for Firefly comes from the woodland surroundings, which boasted a hammock hangout area, draughts from Dog Fish Head Brewery, a silent disco amongst the foliage and four stages of top tunes.

Bandit provided lighting for the Main, Lawn, Backyard and Porch stages, where lighting looks had to pop during the daytime shows and compliment artists who util

USA - With over 22 years of experience in motion picture production, MediaLight Inc. is a New York City-based lighting and video design firm in the Motion Picture industry who has seen a number of revolutionizing technology innovations.

As LED video has continued to evolve its technology, designer Frank Blasko has been creating exciting applications that range from dynamic LED video backgrounds to LED video lighting. Now needing a solution that can work within all the parameters of his lighting and video designs, Blasko and MediaLight Inc. have made an investment in FLEXLite NXG 3.9mm and 8.9mm LED video technology becoming the newest PixelFLEX production partner.

"I've been working in the motion picture industry for over two decades and we are now seeing multiple opportunities emerging for the application of LED video lighting, so we wanted to be at the forefront of that

USA - As a live and studio sound engineer, one of the challenges that John Buitrago faces daily is maintaining balance between the final studio production and the live elements of the band on tour, especially the drums.

For Latin American Superstar J. Balvin, the drummer is an essential part of the rhythm. As Balvin's FOH Engineer, Buitrago knows the drums should not disturb the sound spectrum that allows the public to immediately identify the song. In order to find the space for a kick, snare and toms, Buitrago relies on DPA Microphones' d:vote 4099D Instrument Microphones for Drums.

J. Balvin is the stage name of José Álvaro Osorio Balvín, from Medellín, Colombia. Balvin is a reggaeton singer, whose polished urban singles and best-selling albums have made him a top-tier Latin pop artist. Balvin's music is electronic, yet it is very rich in the low end where the

Norway - Audio dealer and rental supplier, Kultur Support, has chosen Allen & Heath's dLive as its leading rental system.

Based in Sandefjord, the company purchased the dLive S7000 Surface and DM64 MixRack system.

"Having many years' experience with iLive and GLD as reliable big players in their portfolio, choosing dLive was a natural step forward. Stability and reliability are extremely important factors for our business. After seven years with iLive never once letting me down, it wasn't a difficult choice," explains CEO Lars Petter Kristiansen. "I love the uncomplicated layout, and the fast access to all important features, combined with the great flexibility and also probably the best on-board FX suite on the market."

The new dLive system has already been employed as the monitor system for the two-day GIT KAM festival, featuring some of Norway's most popular artists

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