UK - Reviewed as 'one of the best yet', V Festivals 2004, the two-site event which started in '96, enjoyed a strong line-up of artists, ever-swelling crowds and good weather. Sennheiser UK supplied a full range of evolution mics for the Music Choice Stages at Chelmsford and Stafford, through Capital Sound Hire who provided the sound for both. Sennheiser also had a backstage booth to provide support throughout the events.

The mics supplied included e935 for lead and backing vocals, e865 for lead vocals if a condenser was required, e614 condenser overheads, e609 for guitar cabs, e602 for kick-drums, e604 clip-on for drums and e903 for snare. Commenting for Capital Sound, project manager Martin Connolly said, "We were really pleased with the Sennheiser mics, which impressed thro

UK - Continuing a 12 year relationship, the recent Edinburgh Festival Fringe saw Delta Sound once again supply the audio requirements for the Assembly Rooms. The venue comprises of six spaces, with capacities ranging from 80 up to 750. For 25 days it puts on a marathon 56 shows each day, running from 10.45am until two o'clock the following morning.

As the spaces are not used as performance venues for the rest of the year, rigging, draping, seating, power, sound and lighting all have to be installed to create a professional theatre experience for the paying public. Delta Sound's brief was to supply a PA and foldback system in each space, carefully tailored to the individual room.

"In all venues; the aim was to have equal coverage in all areas, without it sounding amplified," says Delta Sound project manager Steve Lutley. "The other big challenge was dealing with

USA - Road Cases, the organization established to chronicle on-the-road exploits through the eyes of backstage and sometimes onstage touring personnel, has joined with TV documentary experts, Incue Productions to shoot their first film in Las Vegas at the Entertainment Technology Show (ETS) on 24 October, 2004. Incue, a Los Angeles-based production company specializing in HBO First Looks, behind the scenes 'making of' specials, promos and documentaries, will be taking HD cameras into the seminar rooms at the Sands Convention Center.

"Filming guest panelists in a 'talk show' setting is just one segment of the concept," says Paul Dexter, who founded Road Cases along with partner Larry McNeny. "We have invited a diverse group of road guys with a tremendous amount of experience and personality that range from serious and sophisticated to cynical and witty."

R

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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

UK - The growth of the international marketplace, and a significant rise in digital communications, has made the protection of product ideas and designs an increasingly important issue. This year, for the first time in the history of the PLASA Show, a Code of Ethics was introduced and successfully implemented in response to exhibitors who wanted to protect their design copyright and patents.

PLASA's CEO, Matthew Griffiths, commented: "This is a very important step forward - not only for our exhibition, but I hope for others in the industry. Blatant copying of product and theft of intellectual property are real concerns for many manufacturers who make huge investments in R&D. For years, companies have been able to pass off copied products at exhibitions, knowing they are unlikely to face consequences. PLASA is keen to take a firm stand on this issue and has introduced the Ex

UK - Two Avolites Diamond 4's and a Pearl 2004 were used by lighting company Siyan for the high profile Oxfam Make Trade Fair charity show at Hammersmith Apollo last week.

Topping the bill was REM, other highlights of an animated line up included hottest-guitar-band-of-the-moment Razorlight, The Thrills, Jamelia, Minnie Driver and her band, comedian Ricky Gervais and a special guest appearance by Coldplay's Chris Martin, who played two songs with REM.

The general lighting design was created by Bryan Leitch and based on a festival set up. It was programmed by Nick Whitehouse using one of the Diamond 4s, and a second Diamond 4 was made available offline at FOH for visiting LDs to pre-programme their show using Avolites' Visualiser (supplied as standard with every D4).

With only a short amount of time available for any pre-programming on the day, the second console was a

UK - Top-selling British reggae band UB40 have a long history of using InnovaSON consoles on the road, and their ongoing Homegrown tour is no exception. Front-of-house engineer Tom Wiggans is using a digital Sy80 console, having upgraded from a Large Scale as the tour has progressed around the globe. UK PA rental company SSE, who count UB40 as one of their long-term clients, is supplying the consoles.

"When I was asked to mix UB40 at the beginning of the Homegrown tour last November, the Large Scale was the obvious choice," he says. "The first shows were in New Caledonia and Tahiti, so weight was a major concern. I also needed to know I had a piece of kit that was reliable as there isn't a great deal of technical support in the South Pacific!"

However, as the tour progressed, Wiggans found the newly-available Sy80 was the perfect upgrade path from the Lar

Germany - CT Germany is offering customized masks for the established Versa Lightguide LED modules (the name under which the company markets its Versa Tile systems from Element Labs). The new masks offer endless variations on the Versa Lightguide theme. The company is offering the new customized modules for rental and fixed installation projects worldwide. The modules are available in 50cm x 50cm and 100cm x 100cm panels, and can be delivered with any mask requested. (Lee Baldock)

UK - tsg, the Chesterfield-based media programming and systems company, have recently completed the installation of an audio, lighting and vision system at one of the capital's best known watering holes. The Tattershall Castle, London's favourite floating pub and club, has recently been in dry dock in Great Yarmouth undergoing an eight-month, £4.75m refurbishment. On 19 May, she sailed home up the River Thames and returned to her berth at Victoria Embankment.

Originally a passenger ferry sailing across the Humber estuary from Hull to New Holland, the Tattershall Castle has taken on a modern, new look, with large, clear windows being fitted in the stylish main bar, offering both drinkers and diners stunning views of the nearby London Eye, Festival Hall and the Houses of Parliament.

On board there is also a nightclub, which plays host to the glamorous Kash Point alternative c

UK - As part of an ongoing drive to improve the services offered to its customers, the FX Group has restructured its technical department, with several key promotions from within the company. The reorganization is also in response to the departure in early September of technical director Frank Oglethorpe, who has relocated to the US.

Adam Pope, who has worked in a technical capacity for FX for almost six years, has been promoted to technical manager. Pope previously worked as an audio engineer in Prague, prior to that spending six years in Soundcraft's R&D department. He will be responsible for the day to day running of the technical and check-in department, liaising with suppliers' and clients' own technical staff and working with clients on special projects which involve FX in both an advisory and rentals role. Pope will also continue to offer technical support on equipment, s

USA - Bogen Communications, Inc. recently announced that it has launched a redesigned company web site at http://www.bogen.com, which is content-driven and user-friendly offering details about products, support services, technical documentation, and corporate information.

The site offers more information on new products and services, sample application drawings, product literature, and technical and sales support including Bogen's Free Design Service. Improved navigation allows visitors to get to the information they need quickly and easily.

Learning Library is a new section, which is dedicated to making technology and paging understandable, as well as offering tips and suggestions for audio system design and installation that save time and money. The Learning Library allows visitors to access product information online as well as documents, charts, and guides that will assist

Europe / Argentina - After a busy exhibition season, rounded off with successful shows at PLASA and IBC, PG Stage and LCC Photon Technik have been appointed European co-distributors for the Dexel range of theatre and studio luminaires. The deal, which was finalised between PG's Paul Holt, LCC's Lee Rickard and Dexel's managing director Marcello Ruiz Diaz at IBC in Amsterdam, will see PG Stage take responsibility for marketing Dexel's theatre lighting range, while LCC Photon Technik have similar responsibility for the studio range.

The Dexel range of luminaires from Argentina provides a value for money alternative to larger name brands and is already carving a niche in the market for users where financial constraints apply, but where high performance is still required, say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Sited over the main Central Bar, a high resolution Barco DLite 7 daylight screen - supplied by Creative Technology - created a riveting information focal point for visitors to this year's PLASA Show.

Following its success last year, CT this year upped the ante, increasing the display size to 22sq m and intensifying the screen resolution to 7mm pixel pitch, to send a clear picture to all corners of Earls Court exhibition centre.

All of which delighted PLASA production manager Chris Toulmin, who proclaimed the display a complete success - particularly during the presentations for PLASA Awards for Innovation. Toulmin himself produced the content for DVD, using video editing and animated stings, created in a combination of Adobe After Effects and Particle Illusion - with a live camera feed for the awards.

CT also provided ten 42" plasma displays - strategically located

UK - DHA Lighting recently announced its appointment as the exclusive UK distributor for the Lighting Innovation range of products. The appointment took place at this year's PLASA Show, and begins with immediate effect.

This new deal will see DHA Lighting offering the entire Lighting Innovation range in the UK, with particular focus on the new Super Beam 1200 Beamlight, which was launched at the PLASA Show. This is an updated version of the classic low-voltage 'beamlight' lantern that has found favour with lighting designers over the years, particularly DHA's David Hersey who has featured beamlights in many of his classic designs. Beamlights give an intense, parallel-beam 'shaft' of light unobtainable with any other type of fixture. The Super Beam 1200 improves upon the traditional low-voltage units by using a Philips' 80V 1200W lamp to give dramatically improved brightness - mo

USA - Elation Professional has unveiled the Octopod 80, an LED pod lighting system manufactured by Chinese-based Alkalite and distributed exclusively by Elation in North America.

Consisting of a network of eight large lighting pods and a proprietary controller, the Octopod 80 utilizes LED technology to produce a virtually infinite range of colours. Each of the pods is equipped with 90 LEDs - 30 red, 30 green and 30 blue - which, through RGB colour-mixing technology, can create any colour imaginable. When all 90 LEDs are turned on, the Octopod 80 will generate extremely bright, 100% pure white light, with smooth transitions from one colour to the next.

Because the Octopod 80's LED system produces no infrared and ultra-violet light, heat production is kept to a minimum. This means the lights can shine directly on an object or surface at close range, with no risk of discoloration

USA - Since Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas opened its doors in 1989 as an extension of an existing church in Irving, it has seen phenomenal growth in numbers of its congregation. Today, more than 18,000 people attend five identical services each weekend. The church has a dedicated mixing suite, attached to the video departments master control room, which now houses a Soundtracs DS-00 digital console.

The church campus is a considerable size, comprising a 125,000sq.ft main building with an additional 25,000sq.ft children's building, a 40,000sq.ft adjacent property that has been renovated it into a youth facility and office space, plus a state-of-the-art Creative Communications Center of 80,000sq.ft that contains three children's churches along with breakout rooms and a chapel for weddings, funerals and events.

Fellowship Church Pastor Ed Young's services include a larg

UK - At the final stage of the judging process for the 2004 PLASA Awards, the wrong company and product name was mistakenly added to the 'final' list of winners, with the result that the Awards press release initially listed Enttec's Datagate as an award winner instead of the Easy Stand Alone 2005 from Digital Art System, which the judges actually awarded.

The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the very brief description written for the Easy Stand Alone 2005 could appear equally relevant to the facilities offered by Enttec's Datagate!

The mistake was rectified as soon as it was noticed, and a corrected press release was issued. However, it seems that this was not done in time to avoid some confusion and embarrassment for the companies involved.

In the light of this, we would like to apologize for any confusion caused by the error, and to clarify that although Enttec

Europe - The Kisslite 3200K white LED ringlight is the first available low CCT and high CRI, warm white solid-state onboard light source. Lightweight and portable, the ringlight system opens the door significantly for use of solid-state illumination in commercial, drama, and documentary shooting.

The Kisslite ringlight unit clamps onto the barrel of most popular fixed barrel lenses and also features an adaptor clamp for standard Arri 19mm bars and Panavision PV bars. Step down rings are available for most lenses from 112.8mm down to 80mm. The ringlight is powered by a small, lightweight, dedicated power supply unit that accepts power from any 12Vor 24V film or video battery utilizing standard configuration 4-pin XLR. The control box provides flicker-free power and allows individual switching of four-quarter sub-sets - top, bottom, left and right - and dimming from 100% down to

UK - Pro audio distributor LMC Audio has pledged immediate faith in Soundcraft's new mid-market GB4 console, which received its world debut at this month's PLASA Show. Confirming the first order of six mixed-frame consoles off the production line, LMC MD Paul Hinkly said he was impressed by the overall featureset, particularly the GB30 mic preamps and EQ, designed by Graham Blyth for the company's 30th anniversary last year.

"Our investment decision is an immediate reaction to a great new product, which further underlines Soundcraft's renewed presence in the middle market sector. This is now the main volume area of the console market - even more so than at entry level - and our rationale was driven by being able to further penetrate that with the benefit of the Soundcraft badge."

The new GB4 carries the familiar high quality Soundcraft manufacturing hallmark. Caref

UK - After the successful launch of the DGS Counterwright Drive system at the ABTT trade show in June, where it won the ABTT Rigging & Engineering Product of the Year award, Hall Stage has repeated the feat at PLASA 2004 in London this month, winning a prestigious Innovation award to complete the clean sweep. In the opinion of the judges - "it is coming to a theatre near you".

The DGS is the first genuine counterweight drive hoist that means an end to counterweight loading, with all of its inherent Health & Safety, cost and time implications. Awards judge Andy Hayles, from theatre consultancy Charcoalblue, hails the system as "head and shoulders above the competition in terms of innovation and a huge step forward in improving the lives of flymen everywhere."

Easily retro-fitted directly onto an existing counterweight frame in under five hours per line, DG

UK - UK - Star Rigging provided all rigging services at the Asda Tickled Pink Girls Night In Breast Cancer Care fund-raising concert at the Royal Albert Hall, recently, and cooperated with Netherlands-based Flashlight Rental for the sophisticated CyberHoist / InMotion 3D motion control system, to enable the movement of the screens as an essential set element of the show.

Geri Halliwell, patron of Breast Cancer Care, hosted and performed in the concert, televised on Channel Five, which featured sets by artists including Jools Holland with Tom Jones, Ronan Keating, Natasha Bedingfield, Lemar, Rachel Stevens and comics Alastair MacGowan and Nina Conti.

Production manager Phil Christensen assembled a trusted team of professional suppliers that incorporated Star Rigging's Phil Broad drawing up the rigging plans to fly eight XL Video screens, Canegreen's PA and the set. Flash

USA - Road Ready Cases, a leading manufacturer of heavy-duty cases, announced the availability of the new RRMPC4000 case, created to protect the Akia MPC4000 digital recording studio.

Developed with the professional in mind, the RRMPC4000 features smart, Road Ready features like a no pressure design removable latchable cover, two access doors, and a unique low-profile base that allows easy access to the system's digital media disks.

"We pride ourselves on having the largest variety of cases in stock by staying on top of the hottest new releases from the biggest names in the industry," explains Agatha Gerutto, Road Ready's director of marketing.

Features include: stackable ball corners, double anchor industrial rivets, recessed, industrial-grade latches, industrial-grade recessed handles, industrial-grade rubber feet, two access doors, premium 3/8" vinyl lamin

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