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Germany / Hungary - Camco Gmbh has appointed Budapest-based Lisys Lighting Systems as their new distributor in Hungary, and has supplied amplifiers from both the Vortex and the Tecton range to meet Lisys's opening order. Lisys has been specifying Crest amplifiers for some years, but has identified increasing demand from the top end of the Hungarian market for lightweight, European-made amplifiers. "Our customers are mostly in the live entertainment sector," explains managing director of Lisys, Sándor Böröcz. "Although this is the first commitment we are making to Camco, we are confident that these amplifiers will deliver what our high-end customers are asking for; first-class reliability and sound quality. Not only that, but Camco also has a valuable strategic part

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USA - Total Structures' new wave truss is now the proud winner of six widely recognized awards, making it one of the most decorated products in entertainment and exhibition history. The latest award is First Place in the Professional Category - Commercial of the 2004 International Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition held by the Extrusion Technology for Aluminum Profiles Foundation.

Since its launch at LDI 2002, the innovative new wave, with its carbon fibre technology and nine-port aluminum extrusion that is used for the shear webs, has caught the eye of entertainment and exhibition industry professionals. The truss and, in particular, the shear webs have now been recognized by the global aluminum extrusion industry.

Ian Coles, president of Total Structures Inc, said: "I am delighted that the product has now received recognition outside of the entertainment and exhibiti

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Germany - German pro audio manufacturer K.M.E. has announced that its Digital Delay Module (DDM), launched at the Frankfurt ProLight+Sound show in April, is now available. The DDM has been designed as an additional plug-in for fixed installations into active speakers CSA 400 D, QSA 200 and QSA 500 D. Both DDM and MM2 mixer modules can be integrated into the existing module tower at any time. For example, if it is used for the active system CA 6 (the top part CSA 400 D), installation of the required delay-line is quick and easy, without the need for any additional equipment.

K.M.E's DDM features 'internal' or 'external' delay mode. The internal mode setting transmits the required delay time to the active speaker as a signal delay, while the 'external' mode routes the delay to the DDM output and provides a signal for controlling external PA systems (e.g. K.M.E. CA 6). The internal

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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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The Netherlands - Rotterdam's Ahoy arena has witnessed a 'virtual' LED stage set for the first time, created by conceptualiser Philip Pelgrom for the recent Fox Kids Planet Live event. Pelgrom juxtaposed the different screen resolutions of a conventional centre 32sq.m (8 x 4) 25mm Unitek display, flanked by a recessed Element Labs Versa TILE wall, and 'book-ended' by a 5.4m x 1.8m Barco MiPix display (provided by CT Germany), incorporating around 3,000 of the tiny pixelblocs. All the equipment was supplied by JVR Audiovisual.

Promoted by Palm Plus Events, the event featured an Anglo-Dutch cast of boy and girl bands, including Girls Aloud, Big Brovaz, Liz McClarnon and a host of Dutch artists. Mindful of the fact that the stage design had to resonate with an audience of 6-12-year-olds, Philip Pelgrom's team sent block slabs of colour to the Versa TILE flats, with recognizable, ra

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USA - Clay Paky America Inc, the exclusive US distributor for the Clay Paky range of intelligent lighting fixtures, has announced the launch of its new website (address below). With news on the latest Clay Paky products, Clay Paky America contacts, directions, and links to the extensive Clay Paky network of websites, the website is the online portal for all things Clay Paky, say the company. "The website is an essential tool for our business," says Clay Paky America's CEO, P.J. Turpin. "Whether you are a dealer, a technician in the field, or just someone who is interested in our great new products, our website is for you."

Based in Valencia, California, Clay Paky America is a subsidiary of the Italian moving light giant Clay Paky SpA. It was created to increase Clay Paky's US market share and raise the brand profile internationally. With a number of successfu

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South Africa / Denmark - Four members of the South African Roadies Association (SARA) will spend two weeks engaged in on-the-job training in Denmark as technical and production on-the-job trainees. The famous Roskilde Festival will host the four SARA technicians as part of a skills exchange project between SARA and Roskilde Festival. For Relebogile Thapayo (23) from Mofolo (Soweto), Weziwe Mpande (22) from Ngqamakhwe (Eastern Cape), Vincent Mahlalela (24) from Chaiwelo (Soweto) and Johnie Tsotetsi (24) from Frankfort (Freestate) this will be their first chance of international travel.

The highlight of the visit is the Roskilde Festival, arguably one of the biggest festivals in Northern Europe with seven stages and more than 160 bands performing with an expected attendance of more than 70,000 people. The four will enhance their technical and production skills with some of the bes

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UK - Will Young is using EV's Xlc compact line array, supplied by Britannia Row, on his sell-out solo UK tour. For front-of-house engineer Charlie Bradley, EV's compact line array has given him the flexibility and performance he needs on a UK tour encompassing so many different venues. "It is a small box but it doesn't sound small," he explains. "It has more throw than many other line arrays I have used and the system still has plenty of bite when you want it."

He continues: "For a typically single balcony venue of around 1,500 seats, we fly just eight Xlc127 boxes a side, and for larger venues, or more balconies, we hang 10 deep. With six ground stacked Xlc118 subs per side, there's plenty of bottom end, and a pair of Xi1152s for front fills ensures we've got everything covered."

System design has been simplified by the use of software tools tha

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UK - The ILMC Safety Focus Group is well on its way to raising the €40,000 euros it needs to secure a €160,000 grant from the European Community. To date, the total amount of money either donated or pledged to the ILMC Safety Focus Group (SFG)'s European project stands at €44,628 euros. The core of this support has come from live music agents, promoters and support services.

In addition, the ILMC Safety Focus Group is hoping to raise further funds to help secure the future of the group and to start work on other industry-led safety projects, in particular a crowd safety project. It is planning a second fundraising campaign for Autumn 2004, with a target of €20,000.

Meanwhile SFG member Bert van Horck of ICMS urged live music professionals: "Please continue to donate. Any funds raised for the ILMC Safety Focus Group above the original target will allow us to research f

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UK - Vertigo Rigging were called in to action at The Odeon, Leicester Square for the launch of the new Harry Potter blockbuster, Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban. Vertigo's brief included the rigging of a giant 5m wide by 9m high Dementor's claw, made by Brighton-based Phil Donoghue, at the top of the cinema's tower - strategically placed to curl round the tower, appearing to grip onto it.

Working in conjunction with Service Graphics, Vertigo covered the entire front fascia of the Odeon with adhesive vinyl panels, creating a massive Harry Potter picturescape and branding. The suspension of another 10m wide by 4m high sign weighting over half a tonne required the installation of a substantial rigging infrastructure over the building's balcony. The initial stages of the vinyl cladding detail of the project started the Monday before the Bank Holiday Sunday of the Premi

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Denmark - Martin Professional has announced a number of useful changes made to its ShowDesigner (MSD) lighting design simulation software package. New version 4.6.6.0 contains a new set of keyboard shortcuts and additional mouse functions that accelerate and facilitate the virtual lighting design process. Additionally, a number of Bugfixes have been implemented, say the company.

The latest updates, which can be downloaded from the Lighthouse website, address below:

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Opus Audio Developments, designer and manufacturer of high-end PA systems, is exhibiting for the first time at ABTT 2004 (16-17 June). Analogue throughout and using a complete system approach, including loudspeakers, controllers and amplification, Opus systems achieve a highly accurate sound quality combined with absolute reliability, say the company, which is crucial for theatre systems.

On show at ABTT will be a selection of loudspeakers from the large Opus range, designed to cover every main system application including FOH, in-fill/under balcony and foldback, for fixed installation in any size of venue or for touring theatre. Opus will also be showing its high definition amplifiers and system controllers and technical and sales staff will be on hand to discuss how these are configured to provide complete systems.

With all design and production in-house at their facto

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UK - PA and hearing loop experts Millbank (Ampekko) were appointed by Exeter-based Faber Maunsell Consulting Engineers to design and supply a host of hearing induction loop systems at the new Royal National Lifeboat Institution's (RNLI) training Lifeboat College based in Poole, Dorset. Looking forward, the RNLI wanted the new college built in line with the impending DDA legislation, which enforces that all public spaces are equipped to cater for sensory disabled patrons by October 2004. Millbank's induction loops offered a discrete and effective solution for the hard of hearing.

The new £10.9 million purpose-built college was designed by architects Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole and offers a dedicated education and training facility for its volunteer lifeboat crews. The five-storey building includes seminar and training rooms, a 120-seat auditorium, restaurant, kitchen, bar and f

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Italy - SGM has introduced the X-Line, a new range of products created to provide high quality performance with an exceptional quality/price ratio. The X-Line Idea is a new family of moving heads offering great reliability and a stylish and modern design. The Idea line is made of four models, fitted with 250W or 575W discharge lamps: the Idea Spot 250, Idea Wash 250, Idea Spot 575 and Idea Wash 575.

With special attention paid to both the styling and performance of these fixtures, the Idea line offers a high level of performance using a Philips MSD 250/2 lamp (luminous flux 18,000 lumens, colour temperature 8,500°K - Spot 250 and Wash 250) - or a Philips MSR 575/2 lamp (luminous flux 49,000 lumens, colour temperature 5,600°K - Spot 575 and Wash 575).

The Idea Spot 250 has a 13° beam angle (18° and 21° on request), while the Idea Spot 575 has three selectable beam angles

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Australia - Enttec has released a community-based DMX USB interface - a USB to DMX widget that can be used by any PC to generate DMX using the USB port. The project is composed of hardware and a software driver. Enttec has released full schematics of the hardware and full source code of the example application on the website under a GPL license. The requirement for users is that they must give back to the community any improvement or change made to the project.

At Enttec we believe that it's important to lower the entry barrier for students and enthusiasts wanting to get involved with Lighting control and DMX512. This project allows anyone to download the information from the website and build their own interface. From there they can write software based on our example. Enttec also offers very low cost prebuilt hardware.

The project was released two weeks ago, and in that shor

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USA - ETC has unveiled its new corporate headquarters building in Middleton, Wisconsin. Described as being "Like an old-time movie set waiting for its gangster extras, or a Broadway musical stage before the dancers appear", the $21m building has a unique character.

ETC CEO Fred Foster, who dreamed up the building's theatrical concept, believes it is not only the hub of his global company's productivity but an homage to its business - a building about theatre, about the sheer joy in the art of illusion and light. When the lights are bright in ETC's Town Square, towering expanded-metal mesh scrims create a virtual cityscape: when the lights are dimmed, the real office world of ETC appears magically 'behind the scenes.'

Based on the paintings of Edward Hopper, each 'storefront' and façade here has a story to tell, says Foster, who mocked up early models and has persona

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USA - Apogee Sound International, manufacturer of state-of-the-art sound reinforcement products, has appointed five new sales representative organizations. "We're excited by the enthusiasm and knowledge our new sales reps bring to Apogee Sound," said Dominick Buonantuono, national sales manager for Apogee. "We're confident that our new partners can not only meet but exceed our growth projections for Apogee Sound."

The new appointments are as follows:

Action Sales & Marketing will represent Apogee in southern California, southern Nevada and Hawaii. Contact Gabriella Chambers, Action Sales & Marketing, 15722 Condon Circle, Westminister, CA 92683, USA. Tel: +1 714-839-9991. Fax: +1 14-839-9992, E-mail: asmg@socal.rr.com.

Audio Pros will represent Apogee in metro New York and Long Island, northern New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts,

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UK - Snifferdog is a new company which aims to provide intelligent and relevant research material for theatre designers, directors, production managers - indeed, anyone who ever wished they had a research assistant! Snifferdog was founded by Ros Morgan-Jones, a stage manager of ten years' experience who has worked on shows ranging from the fringe to the West End to the Royal Shakespeare Company. She left stage management to complete a two-year university course studying Furniture and Design History. "During that time, designers I knew started asking me to research projects," she explains. "That proved so successful that it has now grown into this new business."

Amongst the first to use Snifferdog's services was set designer Tom Pye, then designing the new Broadway production of Fiddler On The Roof. Snifferdog gathered together hundreds of images of Ea

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The Netherlands - Midas Consoles Holland continues to prove its success as the new distribution model for Midas and KT in Holland, with the sale of a 36-channel Legend 3000 and a 40-channel Verona to Amsterdam rental company, Peak Audio. Peak Audio required the additional consoles to handle their workload of festival and theatre commitments over the summer. The new desks will be added to existing inventory which already includes a Midas Heritage 1000 and three Venices.

Peak Audio's Martin During explained that while he already owned a number of Midas boards, he nevertheless had his engineers trial several different consoles from a variety of manufacturers before making his choice. "It basically came down to the fact that competitive desks simply couldn't match Midas in terms of headroom or sound quality, nor indeed features and outputs in relation to the price, so I'm delig

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USA - Chauvet has introduced its ILS (integrated lighting system) technology which, the company says, pioneers total synchronization of different types of intelligent ILS fixtures (yokes, scanners, colour changers etc) via a custom-built, user-friendly DMX-512 controller and even on stand-alone mode. "This is a first for Chauvet, and a first in the USA. We are thrilled that we can now offer a technology that is not only innovative but gives much more options to DJs while making DMX lighting easier than ever," said Chauvet CEO Albert Chauvet.

ILS technology offers unprecedented flexibility and ease of operation, say Chauvet. Unlike other moving fixtures that can only be synchronized when they are the same type, ILS intelligent fixtures can be linked together and work in synchronization regardless of type. All ILS intelligent fixtures - i.e. ILS scanners, yokes and proje

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UK - The Corn Exchange theatre in Newbury has invested in a 40-channel Midas Verona mixing console as part of a complete audio system upgrade, which includes L-Acoustics loudspeakers and amplification, all supplied by Glen Smith of GSA.

Technical and operations manager Guy Dickens was attracted to the Verona for a number of reasons. "At the time I was looking for a new desk, the Verona was brought to my attention by Glen Smith, and as he rightly pointed out, it turned out to be the perfect choice for us," commented Dickens. "As a Theatre Arts Centre, we do not have a large budget to spend on our sound system upgrade, but I was keen to get the best I could afford and in particular wanted to fit out the venue with equipment that was easily recognizable; the distinctive Midas purple colour and the all-important logo do just that. Furthermore, the Verona fitted into m

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UK - ESL recently provided the effects lighting for the UK Round Table Annual Conference and Dance, which was held this year at the Cliffs Pavilion Theatre, Westcliff on Sea. The event, which lasted two days, was the Round Table's showpiece event of the year, attended by guests from all over Europe. ESL's brief was to provide mood lighting during the dinner and light shows for the evening's entertainment, which was to include live bands and tribute acts.

The show's design included both generic and intelligent lighting, which consisted of six Robe Spot 1200s, six Robe Spot 500s, eight Robe Spot 250s and four Robe Scan 250 XTs - as well as an assortment of miscellaneous generic lighting. All of the fixtures were controlled by an Avolites Pearl 2004 desk, and the smoke and haze effects were produced with a combination of Jem Stage Hazer and fog machines. A Le Maitre pyrotechnic sys

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