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UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Video division has been appointed as a UK distributor for the Pufferfish range of high impact visual display systems.

The Pufferfish PufferSphere range offers a 360° spherical viewing window for the display of digital video content in a wide range of environments.

Fully portable and easy to transport, set up and operate, the PufferSphere is suitable for temporary exhibitions as well as permanent installations.The PufferSphere can stand upright or be inverted and suspended, maximising its usability over a variety of environments. Applications include concert-touring, set design, sports, music and cultural events, trade shows, exhibitions, branding, experiential advertising, alternative marketing, promotions, art installations, educational

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European Affairs - The European Commission says it wants to know why Italian officials spent 720,000 euros (£613,000) of EU cash on a concert by Sir Elton John last year. "We're asking the managing authority about this. We want to know why they think it fits in with the rules," the Commission's regional policy spokesman Ton van Lierop said. The expenditure only recently came to light, he told the BBC.

The concert was part of the Piedigrotta festival in Naples in September 2009. A right-wing Italian Euro MP, Mario Borghezio of the Northern League party, called it a "shameful" misuse of EU funds by the Campania regional authority. The Commission does not know how much was paid to Sir Elton John for the gig, Mr Van Lierop said. Cultural projects can be co-financed by the Commission and regional authorities in the EU, he explained, "but we want to know

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Argentina - Rio de Janeiro's Theatro Municipal marked its 100th anniversary last year and, to celebrate, the building underwent a massive renovation.

While the renovation restored the historic theatre's façade and interior to their original splendour, the stage has also received attention. Brazilian ETC dealer Telem replaced the outdated lighting system - comprised of products from many different manufacturers - with a complete ETC system including ETC Selador LED fixtures.

Theatro Municipal's 2,361 seat auditorium houses the Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra, the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and a local ballet troupe, and plays host to a litany of plays, dance performances, concerts and private events every year. Running the lighting for these shows is an ETC Eos lighting control system, with an ETC Ion backing it up. Both Theatro Municipal's in house staff and touring light

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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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UK - Pink Floyd fans will have a chance to own a slice of the band's live performance history when the hand built quadraphonic mixing consoles used on the Momentary Lapse of Reason and Division Bell world tours are auctioned at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on 15 December 15.

A percentage of the proceeds will go to concert industry charity Stage Hand, the new name for the PSA Welfare & Benevolent Fund. The consoles are being sold by their owner, Britannia Row Productions (BRP), the sound company originally formed and owned by Pink Floyd, which has been independent for the last 26 years.

Every Pink Floyd tour since the late 1960s featured quadraphonic sound among the many live sound and lighting effects pioneered by the band.

Sound effects including helicopters, the famous chiming clocks and gongs of Dark Side Of The Moon and many more, were whirled around mas

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Germany - d&b audiotechnik has championed the system concept since its very beginnings, acknowledging the benefits of the control and monitoring of loudspeaker systems for its users and listeners alike. So to further this endeavour towards a greater System reality, d&b has forged a partnership with AMX to provide even further choice when integrating systems within a media environment.

The ability to remotely control an audio installation from one central position has far greater advantages than just convenience. A large distributed audio system may have amplifiers in many different locations and the time it can take just to power them up and down without a remote system is substantial and can cut into precious time schedules. It is also significant in the first place to know that each element in the system is turned on and working. The d&b Remote network not only enables this co

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The Netherlands - Chief has announced a new suspended ceiling lift that claims to make installation up to 10 times faster than a conventional lift.

The SL220 features a quick three-step installation method that simplifies adding automation into an installation. It no longer requires two or more people to install; you only need one person and one ladder. No floor lift is required.

The lift measures 600 x 600 mm (2ftx2ft) to snap easily into ceiling grids and is made of lightweight aircraft-grade alluminium for easy handling. You can use this lift with any of Chief's popular projector mounts (RPA Elite or Mini Series). It will be shown at ISE 2011.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - When Northern Light won a competitive tender to provide an advanced technical infrastructure for the new £35 million Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, the company set out to design a fully-integrated system that was versatile, reconfigurable and provided the facility to carry out remote system diagnostics over a LAN via the resident PC.

Working to a specification devised by Carr & Angier Theatre Consultants, evenly dispersed sound was of paramount importance, since there are three audience tiers (including fixed-seating balcony and upper balcony levels), and optional ground floor seating wagons to enable the 1200-seat auditorium to convert into a larger 1800-capacity standing space.

Thus Northern Light project manager Simon Cooper decided to base his sound reinforcement solution around Martin Audio's purpose-designed Wavefront theatre systems.

For the primary system, h

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Italy - Proel is running an international competition to create a name for their new series of professional digital loudspeakers. This range of speakers, that can be networked and remotely controlled, will use the latest Proel Group digital technologies and is targeted at the live sound and installation markets.

The winner of the competition will be awarded a Proel M16USB mixer for "their imagination and ingenuity in suggesting the chosen name".

Full details are available at www.facebook.com/proel. The competition closes at midnight on 22 November 2010.

(Jim Evans)

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Italy - RCF has completed its range of Commercial Audio Column Speakers with two new products CS 3041 and CS 3082. Both models are formed in an ultra slimline design offering minimal visual impact.

Easy installation can be achieved with either the supplied 'L' shaped wall brackets or the optional MA 7W swivel bracket, which allows the installer to angle the speaker to suit, says the company.

The new CS Slimline Columns have been optimised for speech reproduction using extended range twoinch speakers and one inch tweeters.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Martin's UK distributor, Stage Electrics, is the company's first UK dealer to add the small, super-light and simple LED moving head washlight - the MAC 101 - to its hire stock.

The MAC 101 features a tight and bright beam, rapid movement and calibrated colours that allows for "revolutionary set, stage and decorative lighting designs".

Adrian Searle, head of technical and hire at Stage Electrics commented: "The MAC 101 is a great product which we had to have. We have started with an initial investment of 24 units and plan to expand to meet demands for this superb little product."

(Jim Evans)

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China - The opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games was held on Haixinsha Island on 12 November and Barco presented a festival of lights on the water-stage for the occasion. During the 16 days of competition, the Guangzhou Asian Games will feature 42 events.

For the opening ceremony's water theme, the 2000sq.m main stage was covered by water 10cm deep, and four sailing ships, with a total of eight LED velamena, were set around the stage. Barco and BeiAo, one of China's largest event planners and executors, had placed 16 XLM HD30 projectors around the 10,000-person audience area, projecting an array of lights onto the huge water-stage. As the velamena opened under the stunning light, the audience felt as though it was on a huge ship sailing east.

Barco and BeiAo were both pleased with the results of their team effort. The video lighting solutions enable the event to present th

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UK - Theatre planning and design practice Fisher Dachs Associates has announced the opening of its new office in the UK. The Stratford-upon-Avon office joins FDA offices in New York City and Seattle, Washington, and will be led by Flip Tanner who comes to FDA directly from a 19-year career at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

Over the last nine years Tanner has been instrumental in developing both the temporary Courtyard and the permanent Royal Shakespeare Theatre for the RSC, where his work culminates when the company opens its new facility in January.

Joshua Dachs, FDA's principal, says: "I've known Flip for over 10 years and I've always been impressed by his incredible range of experience in the theatre. He also has the unique experience of sitting on the Client side of the table during intricate building projects at various scales. Further, the fact that he has a k

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Norway - Gronningen Lyd, a sound company based in Lensvik, has become one of the latest audio rental specialists to invest in an Eclipse digital mixing console from Innovason. Supplied by Innovason's Norwegian distributor, FotoPhono AS, the new console was put through its paces for the very first time at a corporate event which was held at the Orkdal Cultural Centre 14 November 2010.

The Orkdal Cultural Centre is a large, multi-purpose performance and exhibition space based in the Norwegian town of Orkanger, the region's second largest town after Trondheim which is 45km away. The Cultural Centre serves the municipality of Orkdal and beyond and hosts everything from concerts to theatre shows, dance and of course conferences and corporate events. The event in question was a corporate event with a number of bands and lectures. According to Jan Gronningen, owner and MD of Gronningen

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China - Robert Juliat has supplied a large quantity of profiles and followspots to the newly built Guangzhou Opera House in China.

Designed by London based Zaha Hadid Architects, Guangzhou Opera House has been created as a leading 'palace of art', and a landmark of both the city's new development and Guangzhou's cultural status.

Based around a 'twin boulder' design, the venue consists of an 1800-seat opera house and 400-seat multi-functional theatre. These will run a broad programme encompassing ballet, symphony orchestral music, experimental drama and artistic and cultural exchange.

Robert Juliat Asia supplied the Opera House with a range of 2000W profiles in the form of 20 RJ 711SX, 16 RJ 714SX and four RJ 713SX, and a total of six followspots: two Lucy 13/22° 1200W HMI, two Alex 7/14.4° 2500W tungsten and two Ginger 13/22° 2500W tungsten units. The Concert Hal

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UK - The durability of VDC supplied cabling and live sound kit was put to the test by Placebo and LEE Engineering during a gruelling, two year world tour which came to a close last month - a test that it passed with flying colours. According to Ian Nelson, director at LEE Engineering and Placebo FOH engineer, the man who, with VDC, oversaw the specification and development of the tour's audio technical infrastructure, its performance and reliability was unparalleled.

He said: "When we came to pack away the kit after the last date in Brixton, Brandon Reece and myself just looked at each other in disbelief. I can honestly say that I have never seen a line system go more than four or five weeks without a problem cropping up, let alone two years, and I've been in this business for 15 years."

Niall Holden, MD at VDC Trading said: "It's always great when customers tak

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UK - Arcstream AV created a grand entrance into the exclusive launch party for Swarovski's Fashion Meets Tradition exhibition at the Swarovski Crystallized concept store and lounge on Great Marlborough Street in central London.

The exhibition got underway the evening prior to opening to the public with an exclusive fashion show which featured creations from renowned global designers.

Design agency M managed the event production and decorated the venue in the style of an Arabian palace with mirrors, mosaics and jewel encrusted drapes creating the ultimate glamorous environment. Arcstream AV added a 21st Century twist to this glamour by installing its interactive floor system at the entrance into the exhibition. This was designed to look like a sea of Swarovski diamonds, gems and crystals.

Arcstream AV sales & operations director Neil Manwaring explained, "The inte

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UK - This summer, The University of Sheffield completed an expansion of their Students' Union, and PSCo, partnered with Universal AV Services, were chosen to provide AV solutions that befitted the Students' Union's new, modern look. This included two Samsung 46" Ultra Thin Bezel LCD videowalls to be viewed though glass windows from outside the building, displaying the latest news, offers and events taking place inside the Students' Union and enticing people inside.

The University of Sheffield approached Universal AV Services to provide display solutions for the Students' Union that would effectively advertise their latest events, special offers and news to attract attention both on two videowalls that could be viewed from outside, the first in a huge 3x3 138" formation and the second an impressive 2x2 92" size. Inside, different information is displayed throughout

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The Netherlands - Elation Professional's new TVL2000 is designed to be the "ultimate LED broadcast light." The TVL2000 is equipped with 450 cool white and 450 warm white LEDs that can be combined to adjust colour temperature from 3200°K to 6500°K. The unit provides a 30° beam angle standard and produces up to 98 foot candles @ a 10'/3.05m throw.

Using either onboard controls or a standard DMX-512 controller, operators can blend the LEDs to create any shade of white, from cool natural daylight to soft warm tungsten - or anything in between, says the company. The versatile TVL2000 makes it possible to instantly customize studio lighting to complement any skin tone or production environment with a soft, even white output.

The panel also features full 0-100% dimming capabilities, so users can fade in and out and control the intensity of the light. A 4-way bar

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Japan - The InterBee 2010 international broadcast exhibition sees Yamaha launching two major software products - Yamaha Console File Converter and the M7CL Version 3.5 operating system - both of which offer "significantly enhanced functionality for users".

InterBee 2010 takes place from 17-19 November at the Makuhari Messe exhibition centre in Chiba, Japan.

Yamaha Console File Converter is a highly significant product which users have been consistently requesting since the M7CL and LS9 consoles were introduced, says the company. To be available as a free download, users will be able to use the software to convert file formats between the PM5D and M7CL, and the M7CL and LS9, providing unprecedented data compatibility between Yamaha digital mixing consoles.

The software means that audio companies will have flexibility in how they deploy Yamaha consoles, enabling them

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UK - 2010 marked the release of the Feeder's seventh album Renegades, and the band embarking on a sell-out international tour.

As part of the live set up they used a pair of HK Audio CT115 Contour Series monitors which had been biamped off two channels of a Lab.gruppen fp+10000QSP and channel 1 of a HK Audio DSM2060 speaker management processor.

Taking the drum seat for the tour is noted session drummer Karl Brazil, whose previous tub-thumping exploits have seen him work with the likes of Robbie Williams, Take That, James Blunt, Elton John and Leona Lewis. He chose to use HK Audio monitors from the Contour Series (a pair of CT118 subs and a pair of CT115 speakers).

"Karl is a very musical and dynamic player," says monitor engineer Dan Trowhill. "It has been difficult for us on previous shows as the drum-fills provided haven't delivered a satisfactory pe

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Russia - The 2010 Victory Day Parade in Moscow saw the skies over Red Square alight with colour and a spectacular fireworks display. Clay Paky fixtures were at the heart of the event which marked the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War in 1945.

The festivities began in the afternoon with the largest parade held in Moscow since the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991 and saw 11,135 troops and 127 aircraft and helicopters making a fly over the Kremlin to form the number '65'. For the first time, the 2010 parade also included military units from foreign countries who were allied with the Soviet Union during World War II, with representation from France, Poland, the UK and the USA and members of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Approximately two dozen world leaders also attended the event.

But it was the evening celebration that had all

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