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Audio-visual and multi-media specialist DJ Willrich has been making dreams come true recently for one of the world's leading producers of computer-animated films for entertainment simulation. The 4DEX Themeport, which is currently being built in Brighton Marina, is the brainchild of Ian Williams; designed to 'take the visitors into the next dimension of human entertainment experience', the 4DEX Themeport is the airport of the future, transporting the modern time-travelling visitor into both the past and the future. Beginning with the technical design, DJW worked with Williams to develop initial simulation solutions that would 'transport' visitors from each of the terminals to the destination of their choice. The company then introduced Haley Sharpe Designers, with whom it has worked on pro

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Cause & Effect, the organisers of the 2001 Birmingham Fringe theatre festival, are looking at the possibility of holding collaborative projects with entertainment technology companies during the 2001 festival, in order to demonstrate the contribution made by them to technical theatre. Project director Derrick G Knight told us: "My motivation is to enhance Birmingham as a host city for performing arts. This will be achieved through the development of a network of performance venues in partnership with the performers, venue owners and production companies associated with performing arts." An initial idea is to include a sound and lighting exhibition alongside the festival, which takes place in July and August 2001, and Knight is currently exploring the availability of no-cost exhibition space at a number of venues adjacent to the reserved performance spaces. For further informati

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Bandit Lites Inc has appointed Bryan Dihigo to join its Nashville sales team. Dihigo, who previously worked for the Shop At Home Television Network as a floor director and as an independent representative of Excel Communications, is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University with a BS in Mass Media Communications. Bryan will be heading up the local sales efforts as well as being responsible for inventory management.
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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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Roxsett boss David Wilson has been sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court to eight years imprisonment for smuggling £4.27 million worth of ecstasy into Britain. Wilson, whose clients included the Spice Girls, was stopped in June this year with 125 kilos of ecstasy tablets as he drove a rental truck through customs at Dover. His young daughter was in the cab with him. In mitigation, Aidan Marron QC said Wilson was forced to smuggle the ecstasy into Britain by a "vicious" gang of "serious and professional criminals". "He was threatened with a sawn-off shotgun. He feared a loss of life if he didn't obey their orders," Mr Marron said. Wilson pleaded guilty to one count of importing Class A drugs but had smuggled the illegal cargo under duress, Mr Marron said.

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The Dutch Parliament Building in Limburg has recently joined the list of government buildings around the world using the BSS 9088 Soundweb to provide digital voice processing and distribution. Forming the hub of a complete new audio-visual and voting network costing 500,000 Guilders, Soundweb encompasses three separate areas - the conference hall, the ballroom and a smaller conference and performance area. TM Audio were subcontracted by Heuvelman Sound and Vision BV, who won the tender for the overall design project, to specify the electro-acoustic elements and audio distribution of the system design. The conference hall includes a central loudspeaker cluster and individual peripheral speakers, distributed around the public tribune for maximum intelligibility. A Philips DCN (Digital Conference Network) discussion system, comprising a 70-piece mic/speaker station, is assigned for the purp

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A new music venue has opened on East London’s Brick Lane. Part of the former Trumans Brewery complex, 93 Feet East is a 500-600 capacity venue with an on-site recording studio, allowing performances to be recorded and broadcast over the internet. The music policy is alternative, and early bookings include Cold Cut and the Sneaker Pimps. The club has a Funktion One PA system, installed by Blue Box, from Sussex. The front-of-house control is provided by a new Series TWO console from Soundcraft, supplied by Marquee Audio. Technical manager and sound engineer Paul Epworth explained: “This desk has a very open sound, considering its price. It’s easy to place sounds in a mix and, like the Soundcraft K3 which I’ve used before in live situations, the EQ is very sensitive. It’s a very flexible console.”

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Secreted deep in the hostile recesses of Doom Island, the Master of Misery presided over his evil masterplan to destroy planet earth . . . all hopes were pinned on Federal Agent 451 to defeat him.

So went the narrative for Thorpe Park’s end-of-season spectacular, a stunning, action-packed amalgam of lighting, sound, lasers and fireworks.

Lighting designer Dave Gibbon (pictured) designed a massive 216 Par can matrix for the project (36 x 6-lamp bars). This was rigged on the island on a tower above his operating ‘bunker’ which also contained six 48-way Avolites ART dimming systems, Dave himself, his trusty Avolites Pearl console and his right-hand rigger-in-chief Chris Henry (Carrot) and Avolites’ John Snelling.

Avolites wrote custom software for the Pearl to allow Gibbon to programme letters, numbers and text for the matrix on a PC - using a mouse and a grid

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Star Rigging has installed a new fall arrest netting system into Wembley Arena to improve safety for people working at height during events at the London venue.

The new safety system has been installed into the Wembley grid, which is the largest moving grid in the UK. Pictured is the Fall Arrest Net after being raised at The Who load-in at Wembley Arena.

Both Mark Armstrong and Phil Broad at Star Rigging have been rigging major live events, including major tours for 15 years. The net is a new innovation, which has gained popularity in the construction industry, attracting the approval of H&S executives across the country. The system ensures that a worker who falls off the grid will be caught, and there are handrails to prevent people falling outside of the grid area. Star Rigging had to adapt the net to suit indoor music applications including making it fire retardant to BS EN 1263-

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Henry Butcher International has been appointed to dispose of the contents, owned by NMEC, that went into creating The Millennium Dome, following the planned closure of the Dome on December 31st. The Dome houses an enormous range of assets, including lighting, audio-visual, broadcast & sound equipment, restaurant and catering equipment, stage equipment, office furniture and equipment, golf buggies, battery-powered scooters and vehicles. Even the equipment from the world famous Millennium Show, which currently employs 350 people, will be for sale, including stage and acrobatic props, costumes and circus rigging. Henry Butcher will be disposing of all assets owned by NMEC over the next three months by Private Treaty and Public Auction. The Private Treaty sale process is already underway and includes many of the themed Zones, audio-visual and broadcast equipment from some of the most sophist

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Tom Scharff has been appointed the new general manager for the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. Scharff joins USITT from Cornell University where he was general manager of the Cornell Center for Theatre Arts. His career as a theatre administrator includes work as managing director of the new Repertory Theatre in Boston and business manager for Theatre and Dance at the University of New Hampshire.

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Daniel Carver of university specialist consultants, Section 77, has opted for the new Cerwin-Vega SUB218/T250 Intense stacks for Nottingham Trent University, following a demo of this and other leading brands by John Southee of JPS.

Thus an order for eight stacks was placed with Cerwin-Vega’s exclusive UK distributor, Lamba plc. The SUB218 is a direct-radiating twin 18" sub, featuring high-power output down to 32Hz - a combination of deep bass and high power handling. Thanks to its stainless steel bar handle and and wheels it’s also portable - which is precisely what the University wanted, since the 1,500-capacity auditorium functions as a canteen by day, and the evening conversion includes the eight stacks of T250/SUB218 being wheeled into position - four stacks either side of the stage.

The Intense! T250 mid/high box is divided into two sections which can be operate

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It’s still difficult to think of Performing Arts High Schools without images of multi-coloured leg warmers and ballerinas armed with high octane welders flooding the visual horizon. The movies Fame and Flashdance still have a lot to answer for in terms of how we view formal training within the arts.

A visit to the Brit School in Croydon quickly annihilates those dated eighties images and replaces them with a slick, contemporary vision where leg-warmers (if they’re worn) are disguised beneath cool student attitudes and dedication to the various artistic and technical vocations on offer. With the recording industry backing the Brit School, it’s no surprise to discover that the music courses are well developed and until recently the school emphasis fell in that direction.

The school’s production manager, Caroline Heale, was brought in with a brief that included

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Creative Technology crews and communications systems were out in force at the British International Motor Show 2000 - working alongside leading design companies Imagination and Jack Morton Worldwide (formerly Caribiner).

The highlight was the spectacular Ford Motors stand, dedicated to the launch of the new Mondeo, which dominated Hall 4 of Birmingham’s NEC. The centrepiece of their display was CT’s fully-integrated audio-visual installation, designed and programmed by Chris Slingsby, head of Imagination’s Special Projects dept, working alongside CT’s Dave Herd. The presentation combined multiples of 6K PIGI scenic projectors, using double scrollers and rotating double scrollers through 360 degrees, supplemented by eight Christie 7K Roadie projectors. These were mounted onto the circular lighting grid in the centre of the drum, firing out into the 30m diameter

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If you’re interested in how control systems and computers are used in the live entertainment arena, then John Huntington’s latest book will not disappoint.

Control Systems for Live Entertainment has become something of a bible for those who seek a better understanding of control systems. In this updated and revised version, Huntington has revised his original work in answer to the changes of the past six years. He covers the new technologies that now operate in the field, although perhaps the most important change has come not in the technology itself, but the level to which it is now being used. Huntingdon addresses the challenge of how to adapt these technologies to purposes for which they were never designed. Covering control for lighting, lasers, sound, video, film projection, stage machinery, animatronics, special effects and pyrotechnics for theatre, concerts, theme

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It would appear that the world of opera is trying to take over the world of the musical: London in early autumn saw two directors best known for their operatic work in action in the West End. Robert Carsen created The Beautiful Game at the Cambridge Theatre, while up the road at the Shaftesbury multiple-Olivier award winning director Francesca Zambello was pulling together Napoleon, an epic new musical charting the love of Napoleon Boneparte for Josephine through troubled times in France.

To help her, Zambello turned to regular collaborators, notably set designer Michael Yeargan and lighting designer Rick Fisher, who won the 1998 lighting Olivier for his work on Zambello’s Lady in the Dark at the National Theatre.To stage the show, which covers a huge range of locations and times, Yeargan designed a spectacular floor capable of rising, falling, twisting and tilting to provide lan

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Explorer of the Seas, the latest addition to Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager class cruise ships, showed the world her colours on her first cruise out of Miami on October 28th, 2000.

The Explorer, the second in the Voyager class which debuted with Voyager of the Seas in 1999, could actually be considered a destination in itself, boasting a wealth of facilities, activities and entertainment. Perhaps one of its most arresting features is a 60ft by 40ft ice skating rink (the only one at sea) which can be converted to a 900-seat concert venue or TV Studio.

At the heart of the vessel is the Royal Promenade - longer than a football field and wider than three lanes of traffic anchored by two atria that are marvels of marble, trees, greenery and sculptures. Diversions along the way include the Crown & Kettle - a traditional English Pub, a 24-hour cafe, a sports bar and more sho

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New service introduced to help members through the complexities of running a company.

Ever mindful of the growing burden legislation places on businesses, PLASA has launched a new service designed specifically to make life easier for its company members.

The new Human Resources Service, set up in conjunction with CP Associates HR Consultancy, provides PLASA members with access to professional help and advice on personnel issues.

The service is designed to offer practical, independent advice, based on the latest legislation, and covers areas including contracts & terms of employment; disciplinary and grievance procedures; employee benefits; employment legislation; pay reviews; recruitment and selection; risk assessment; redundancy and absence control.

To give you an idea of the type of information you could receive through this new service see the Briefing panel to the right. To

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Since late 1998, major new requirements have fallen on employers and enhanced rights have been granted to employees through the National Minimum Wage, Working Time Regulations and Disability Discrimination Act. Revised legislation has also raised the unfair dismissal compensation limit to £50,000.

If all this has come as news to you, then it would be worth your while taking advantage of PLASA’s new Human Resources Service. The advice you receive will clarify the current legislation so that you and your staff don’t end up in a dispute.

For instance, when the Parental Leave Regulations were updated in December 1999, the existing entitlements were revised. Parents became entitled to 13 weeks’ leave per child before the fifth birthday (subject to a four-week annual ceiling in blocks of one year), a ruling which also applies to adoptive parents or those of children with

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Palazzo Grassi is among the most imposing buildings on Venice’s Grand Canal. It was built in the 1700s for a rich merchant family before being purchased by Fiat in 1984, who restored it to its original splendour and equipped it with all the facilities necessary for a large modern exhibition centre.

Currently running until July 1 is a new exhibition covering ‘The Etruscans’. Occupying 36 exhibition rooms with 700-plus exhibits, the exhibition uses cutting-edge multimedia technology to ensure visitors high-impact immersion in the history of this mysterious race of people. The company responsible for these aspects of the exhibition was specialist Turin firm Medialogos/WDM, whose expertise in this area has been gained on other high profile events, including ‘The Future of the Longobards’, the Italian Design Process show in Seoul and the ‘Sinestesia&rsquo

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Mackie Designs has launched the V3.0 operating system for the Mackie D8B console, and it is now available for download at the company’s website. V.3.0 features third party plug-in support, and many new surround sound mixing features, innovative networking capabilities, and many new user-requested features.

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Following two years of concentrated improvements to its company training programme and the development of individual employees, Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd has just received recognition as an Investor In People. The Investors In People award signifies that Star Hire know where they are going as a company, have imparted this focus to all their staff, and have trained them to move forward in line with that vision. Maddy Sheals, responsible for steering the company towards the standard said: "In the feedback session at the end of the two days, the assessor said how much he was impressed with the calibre of people he interviewed - their honesty, commitment, and individual skills, plus an awareness of what Star Hire is trying to do." Maddy hopes to build on this achievement through a programme of continuous innovation and improvement in the training and development of all Star Hi
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