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Avolites enjoyed a hugely successful PLASA 2001, with the launch of three new products, spearheaded by the Diamond 4 console, a packed press reception, a busy distributors’ evening and 17 confirmed orders for the new console by the end of the show. The first Diamond 4 was sold two hours after the show opened on Sunday 9 September to top lighting designer Dave Bryant. His recent projects included lighting the BBC’s Proms In The Park in Hyde Park and he has always been a keen Avolites user.

On the Monday of the show, Avolites staged a champagne press reception to mark the launch of the Diamond 4, which attracted a massive turnout of UK and international press - a real coup with so much competition for hospitality and new products at the show. Avolites sales director Steve Warre

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Lighting and sound hire company, DLC in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has announced the opening of a new associate company, Lighting Supply International (LSI). The company will concentrate on the design and supply of architectural lighting fittings for specialist lighting projects throughout the Gulf States. The operation will be headed by well-known industry veteran, Andy Pivec from LTV, who has over 15 years’ experience in the lighting industry.

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Central London-based Flying Squad, experts in rigging and aerial flying for special events and live productions worldwide, were recently contracted by Vari-Lite to supply full rigging design and installation services for Cooper Cameron’s striking 140sq.m stand at Offshore Europe 2001. Designed by US design agency Excalibur Exhibits and with contract management of the truss and lighting installation in the UK by DB Systems, the stand fused the use of intelligent lighting, truss and staging to its creative limit.

Offshore Europe 2001 - a biennial oil and gas exhibition and conference - opened its doors on 4th September in Aberdeen to over 20,000 pre-registered visitors, from 87 countries. This is a massive trade event, where over 1,500 exhibitors cover a total of 40,000sq.m. Flying Squad's Bryan Wilson was invited to specifically oversee the construction of the enormous Eurotruss s

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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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After an amazing summer rush of corporate work that saw LSD/Fourth Phase service no less than 20 fashion shows, exhibitions and conferences, the company now returns to its traditional roots for the Autumn season with a full mix of music tours. Not that it’s turning it’s back on these healthy pastures, the spectacular opening of Millennium Point this past weekend is just one of the special events that LSD service between now and Christmas.

If you’re into eighties music, then a line up that includes T’pau, Go West and Kim Wilde will be right up your street. The ‘Here and Now’ tour is lit by Simon Tutchener and is very much in the style of the era featuring a front and back truss with a large V truss between sports over 120 Pars, plus Mac 500s and Studio Colors.

Status Quo go out with Pat Marks at the helm of a suitably long-haired and be’denime

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An emergency exercise involving the mass evacuation of several London theatres will take place this month as part of a campaign to mark European Week for Safety and Health. The Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns nine West End theatres, is planning to ask patrons and employees to carry out timed evacuations after each performance during the week, which begins on October 15.

The Group is one of thousands of organizations throughout the UK set to take part in this annual event which this year focuses on the prevention of workplace accidents. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the main organizers of the event in the UK, has received a record-breaking 100,000 requests for action packs - almost double last year’s figure. Provisional statistics for the year 2000/01 indicate an increase of 34% in fatalities among Britain’s workers, with 295 deaths compared to 220 in 1999/200

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Crown Audio announces the recent availability of its powerful IQ for Windows software version 5.0. Like the previous IQ for Windows version 4.1, the new software application, which is designed for configuring, controlling and monitoring Crown IQ Systems, is available for free download from the Internet.

Compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000/Professional and NT 4.+, version 5.0 features a number of enhancements that make it even easier to use. IQ System integrators now have an even greater number of graphical tools with which to design customized work surfaces foroperators, as well as the ability to create direct user controls free of confusing program elements. Fully indexed help screens are available to informatively guide users through system setup, and no programming language experience or training is required to quickly be up and running.

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Receiving their UK debut at this year’s PLASA show were Proel’s new TFL218SP 2x18" subwoofer and TFL152P 1x15" full-range enclosure. The TFL218SP features twin 18" drivers with 4" voice coils delivering output up to 133dB and a frequency range down to 35Hz. Power handling is 1200W (AES), and the system has a sensitivity of 100dB @ 1W/1m.

The TFLV152P pairs a high quality 4" voice coiled 15" speaker with an HF compression driver fitted with a 3" titanium diaphragm. The TFLV152P has a frequency response of 45Hz-18kHz (+/- 6dB) and will handle 600W (AES). The two-way configuration, bi-amp/full range selectable, produces great bass output, while the compression driver/horn assembly smoothly disperses mid-frequencies over an optimum field.

Ideal used in pairs, the new systems join Proel’s TFLV flying installation series of 18mm birch-

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PA Installations, in conjunction with Laser Studios and Swansea City Council, held a demonstration of effects lighting and laser projection on the cliffs of Knab Rock, Mumbles, as part of the closing event for the Swansea Bay Festival.

The event created a major impact in the area, with over 2,000 people being drawn to the site as the effects were seen right across Swansea Bay as far as Port Talbot. Some visitors saw the demonstration from the M4 and followed the trail to the end of the Mumbles Esplanade. The demonstration comprised two laser installations, one covering the cliff face and the other shining out over Swansea Bay. This display was supported by effects lighting - Studio Due and Griven exterior colour change floodlights - illuminating the Knab Rock itself, providing a palette against which the laser show could work to maximum effect.

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A group of lighting technicians, riggers and designers have joined together to form 4Effect, a new company specializing in décor, effects lighting and special event packages. Led by a former Students Union entertainment’s manager and décor designer, Malcolm Cameron, 4Effect will work across the corporate, students union, trade show, nightclub and events markets.

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Zero 88 presented three companies with Dealer Awards during the PLASA Show. Zero’s Graham Eales presented the UK Dealer of the Year award to Glyn O’Donoghue of AC Lighting, and the Overseas Dealer of the Year Award to Bob Gordon and Mike Falconer of LA-based AC Lighting Inc. The Award for UK Independent Dealer of the Year, however, went to a less well known company - Stagecraft. The award was presented to Stagecraft's managing director David Goodrich, senior sales executive Grant Bales-Smith and project manager Martin Palmer.

Zero 88 equipment has been used by Stagecraft in a number of the company's recent projects. For example the Frog control desk has been used by Stagecraft at St Laurence School, Testbourne Community School and Shrewsbury College. Senior sales executive, Grant Bales-Smith said: "We have recently invested in new Zero 88 products for our hire departm

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Jules Lauve has joined Theatre Projects as a senior theatre consultant. He joins the project management team where his responsibilities will include management of major projects, consultation on theatre design issues and design of performance equipment systems and advice on facility management and operations. For six years, Lauve was director of entertainment for the Treasure Island Casino Hotel in Las Vegas. Prior to joining TPC, he headed his own firm, Jules Lauve Entertainment in Las Vegas, where he provided production, design, direction and consulting for live entertainment.

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The last time a son et lumière was staged in Sion, Switzerland, was 1961, but that didn’t mean the concept couldn’t be re-kindled. "This was a test project funded by the City, with the support of some local sponsorship," explained lighting designer Andy Doig. "They simply wanted to know if it was feasible and realistic to resurrect what had been an annual event."

Well they certainly had a stunning location, as the photograph reveals: two castles sit atop adjacent peaks and strategically dominate the valley that leads now to the modern city of Sion. Striking in their position, the impregnable nature of good castle design left Doig with a big problem. "Although the castles are just 500 metres apart as the crow flies, commuting between them takes a tortuous drive of several kilometres down one mountain and up the other." Which is exactly what Doi

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Leading lighting control specialist, iLight Ltd, has achieved a ‘double whammy’ by significantly increasing both its factory output and number of staff in just six months. Output at the purpose-built facility in Cwmbran has almost doubled since the company’s launch in March 2001. All products for the iLight Group plc - iLight Ltd and Zero 88 Ltd - are designed and manufactured at the UK factory. General manager, David Rosen told L&SI: "The sales forecasts are increasing all the time and we are expanding quickly to accommodate the growth of the business. It’s looking very positive and we have been able to invest in further equipment and personnel."

The factory team has also doubled with the appointment of 14 new operators and three test engineers to handle the increased workload. At iLight Ltd’s head office in Kent, eight new staff have been appoi

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Macy's 'Passport 01' is an AIDS benefit, fashion show and live music event all rolled into one. The show, staged in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, starred such notables as Magic Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor, Macy Gray and the Jeff Rollie Band. Lighting designer Tim Becker, along with moving light programmer Tom Thompson and conventionals programmer Jinx Kidd, put together a large rig which included 18 VL7s, 42 VL6Cs, 13 VL2402s and eight Studio Color 575s all run from a MA Lighting grandMA console, rented from Towards 2000 in Los Angeles.

Thompson specified the grandMA console in particular so that he could make use of the new version 3 software: "The console was powerful before version 3," he said, "but now I have features and programming tools that are radically effecting the way and the amount of time that I spend programming."

He continued: "The configu

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Los Angeles-based Elation Professional has introduced the Pro Color DMX color changer, a highly affordable intelligent colour changer that features 10 dichroic colors and 10 split colors. It includes a bright, 150W 9,000 hour discharge lamp and a special frost filter that produces a dynamic wash effect. The Pro Color is aimed at venues requiring more colouring options than a standard Par can provides, but who may not be able to afford the full colour-wash fixtures. The Pro Color also is equipped with two DMX channels that can be programmed to set the tone for any application. One channel controls the frost filter and a 0-100% dimmer, while the other operates the color wheel. This makes it easy for the user to program the Pro Color and automatically keep the coloured background effects changing. A 10-19° beam angle can be adjusted to set any stage accordingly.

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F-Audio/F-Musiikki Oy has delivered the first Yamaha PM1D Digital Audio Mixing System in Finland to the main auditorium of Finnish National Opera. The system contains one CS1D Control Surface, 96 channel version of DSP1D DSP Unit, 224 mic inputs, 32 line inputs, 96 analogue outputs and 64 AES/EBU in/outs. "This is one of the biggest PM1D systems delivered so far," says Petri Mäntysalo of F-Audio. He continues: "The Finnish National Opera has been using a digital mixer at FOH from the early 90s, so when they started looking for a replacement to the old console, digital was their only option. This Yamaha PM1D is their 10th Yamaha Digital Mixer so far, as they already have seven 01Vs, one 03D and one DME32 in use."

F-Audio/F-Musiikki Oy will be displaying PM1D and other Yamaha Pro Audio-products at the AV2001 exhibition in Helsinki, Finland, from 24-26 October.

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Theatre specialist Stagetec UK Ltd has recently completed the installation of a brand new Nexo sound system at the Orchard theatre in Dartford, complete with Crown amplification and signal processing from Sabine, all supplied by UK distributor Fuzion plc. Stagetec’s managing director Andy Stone explained that the Orchard approached them with a basic specification around which Stagetec could suggest some options. As a result, Stagetec proposed three different systems, which were modelled on the acoustical modelling package EASE to provide an indication of sound pressure levels and coverage, of which two were demo'd on site. After hearing the results of the shoot-out, Orchard's project manager, Bob Clutterham, chief electrician Andy Coleman, and stage manager Lee Edmundson decided to go with the Nexo system.

Stone said: "Apart from the obvious audio quality of the Nexo, one of

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Following a disastrous fire on 28 June which virtually wiped out an entire production of Riverdance, the company is now back on tour across Europe with a brand new audio system supplied almost exclusively by Telex EVI, in particular Shuttlesound and the Klark Teknik Group. Mick O'Gorman, sound designer for Riverdance, remembers the day: "The show was due to open at the Palacido De La Comunidad in Madrid . . . somehow a fire started in the roof of the theatre and before anyone could react the whole of the roof caved in. Luckily there were no casualties, but it destroyed all of the rigging, the set, the lights, the stage, the instruments and of course the entire sound system including the desks. The only things to survive were the office and the costumes. It was heartbreaking."

The production that had arrived in Madrid in 14 trucks limped back to London in just one and a half,

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Australian company Bytecraft has won the contract to supply the Beijing Grand National Theatre with its control system and electrics. The state-funded Opera is scheduled for completion in December 2004 and the Bytecraft contract - which covers both the control system featuring 400 axis of control and electrics and is worth $32million - will see the creation of one of the biggest control systems in the world. Bytecraft expects to go on site in early 2002 and remain there until the venue opens.

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Kylie Minogue recently celebrated beating Victoria Beckham to the top of the charts by performing her hit single in front of a celebrity audience. She performed her sixth number one - Can't Get You out of my Head - at the recording of An Audience with Kylie Minogue at the London Television Centre on Sunday 23 September 2001.

Blackout Triple E was commissioned by London Weekend Television to provide a double kabuki drop with burgundy festoon drape. The kabuki was hung from Blackout Triple E truss and motors with a separate motor lowering a mirror ball. Stars including Coronation Street actress Tracy Shaw, Julian Clary, Cat Deely and Kylie's sister Dannii watched the 33 year-old Australian perform for the Audience show, which was screened this weekend.

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Trantec has responded in the best way possible to the request from high-profile rental companies to upgrade its award-winning S5000 synthesized UHF system. The first choice for many leading event-based production houses, the S5000 has taken pride of place in their rental fleets for the last five years. But at this year’s PLASA Show visitors saw how this feedback had been processed in the form of a new S5000 beltpack - programmable from a Palm Pilot.

As Trantec marketing manager Tim Riley told us: "It was only a matter of time before we put the ideas we had been receiving into production. After all, if you don't listen to the people who are going to be using the kit before going into production, how can you expect to sell anything?" The new S5000 beltpack is powered by single AA battery, giving around eight hours of use. Gain, frequency and user name can be programmed vi

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