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Germany - d3 will introduce its software only version, d3 Designer, to press and public during ProLight + Sound 2012.

d3 was previously only available as a software/hardware bundle. The new d3 Designer is a software only solution that has all the powerful features of d3 but with the outputs water marked. Made specially for show creators, content designers, projectionists, project managers and other video production professionals, d3 Designer is billed as "the most advanced integrated production platform in the market".

Shows created on d3 Designer are transferable to both 2U and 4U d3 production systems. d3's real-time stage simulator also allows for pre-vis of moving screens and props, "giving full control of your show - on the train, or the plane, or even in you

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UK - Harting's new Ha-VIS preLink(R) interconnection system offers a new installation concept for data network cabling according to ISO/IEC 1180.1, and is suited to heavy-duty applications in theatre backstage and upstage areas.

The new connection technology simplifies cabling, saves installation time and enables extensions and conversions without incurring significant interruptions to existing operations.

With the Ha-VIS preLink(R) system, the data cable is first assembled in the preLink(R) termination block, which then simply snaps into the preLink(R) standard RJ45 jacks or optional Harting plug modules. The preLink(R) cables can be either terminated in the field or factory supplied pre-terminated in a reliable, performance-guaranteed, pre-tested state.

Installation flexibility is enhanced by easy replacement and 'drag through' in narrow ducting of the small cross-section

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Germany - Merging Technologies will be exhibiting at Prolight + Sound on stand #8.0 G18A. Horus, Merging's new flagship I/O system is now being delivered and is already making its mark on the live sound market, just as it is with high end music recording and broadcast. For this reason, Merging Technologies decided to exhibit in Frankfurt on its own stand rather than that of a local distributor.

Horus has been designed as a stand-alone converter of the highest quality, but its utility is hugely increased by becoming an IP 'node' on a RAVENNA network. Combined with Merging's MassCore, performance and flexibility takes on another dimension and allows comprehensive routing and control of the astonishing I/O capability of the converter, says the company.

This highly scalable solution has applications right across the industry from the simplest location recording and mastering to ma

featured content

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 - XL Video provided video production - including LED screens, projection system, PPU and cameras for the 2012 Brit Awards, staged for the second year running at London's O2 Arena.

The event was the 11th year in a row that XL Video and (XL Project manager Paul Wood) has been a supplier to the event, working for technical production co-ordinator Papilo Productions and producers Brits TV.

Peter Bingemann's stage set design was inspired by the work of British pop artist Peter Blake, and consisted of a series of different sized white box frames, which were filled with artefacts and props, and two LED screens, also ensconced in box frames. The stage left screen measured 8.1m high and 4.5 wide, while the stage right one was a 4.5m square surface, both made from Pixled F-11.

In front of these, on the downstage edge of the stage were three more F-11 screens, two 4 x 4m squares on

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South Africa - On 20 January, Gerriets offered its second Technical Presentation on the Latest Overseas Entertainment Technology in Johannesburg. Organised by its South African distributor, Gerriets South Africa /AVL Distribution, the session was held at Radio Park within the Auckland Park headquarters campus of the SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation). SABC Radio Park was a perfect venue for this event, as it is equipped with Gerriets curtains, track systems, and roller screens that were installed in late 2010.

Andreas Gause, Gerriets GmbH director of sales and marketing, travelled from the company headquarters in Germany to present a comprehensive introduction to the full scope of Gerriets products. Lasting two-and-a-half hours and addressing more than 170 current and prospective customers, the presentation focused on projection screens, textiles, and rail syst

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Qatar - Dubai-based event production company Kenkaato has produced the first ever live public music event to be staged in the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park in Doha, Qatar.

The initial concert in a series of music shows planned over the coming months was headlined by Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens - also on his first ever live appearance in the Middle East - and was completely sold out, attracting a capacity audience of 2,800 including 221 VIPs and senior members of the Qatari Royal Family.

Kenkaato is a new company established by Sarah Whitmarsh and Daryl Payne to provide imaginative, turnkey, full production solutions for all types of live events.

Both Whitmarsh and Payne have extensive experience working on a variety of large scale and high profile productions in the Middle East region.

The company's brief for the MIA Park show from the Qatar Museums Authority included the p

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UK - Spanish singer-songwriter Juan Zelada's debut single Breakfast in Spitafields achieved Record of the Week status last summer. Fast becoming one of the most talked about names on the music scene he was awarded a prize at the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA), for his songwriting. Since then, Zelada has been A-listed three times in a row; and he has just released his debut album High Ceilings and Collarbones, which has already received critical acclaim as well as Radio 2 Record of the Week status.

On the road, Zelada and his guitarist Luke Higgins both use Trace Acoustic TA200s. "The TA200 is so easy to set up - it's like a PA in a box and the sound quality is absolutely phenomenal," Zelada states. "It's particularly versatile, as it has two channels; I just plug in my mic and guitar, and I am able to get a crystal clear tone as well a

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UK - The Hire Company's South coast office has moved to custom built freehold units on the new Christchurch Business Park, Radar Way, Christchurch, Dorset BH23 4FL. The new home for The Hire Co. more than doubles the storage and equipment preparation space, allowing the company to set up and fully test larger projectors and demonstrate its larger equipment to customers.

Manager Scott Clarke commented, "This eagerly awaited move will help The Hire Co. to deliver an even more efficient service to our hire and conference customers. Last year saw us service a record number of events, producing record turnover. This has seen continued investment in more equipment, the latest delivery of our new 16,000 ANSI lumens Panasonic PT-EX16 Projectors, pushing our old unit to breaking point.

"Whereas parking and loading in our old premises was a chore, this is not the case at Chris

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France - Le Camji is a dedicated performance space that includes a 320-seat auditorium right in the centre of the bustling city of Niort in western France. First opened in the year 2000, Camji's mission is to support cultural diversity through the medium of contemporary music in general and amplified modern music in particular.

The organisation therefore plays an active role in supporting local talent and introducing young performers to modern technology, as well as hosting concerts from well known and established artists. When the time came to upgrade their audio facilities, Le Camji turned to Poitiers-based systems integrators, Agora Audio, who specified and installed a full digital solution based on a EtherSound network throughout and an Eclipse GT digital console from Innovason.

According to Agora's David Rocher, it was the Camji's role of nurturing local talent by offerin

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USA - Students at Valley Christian Schools' Conservatory of the Arts in San Jose, Calif. are honing their musical skills in a high-tech rehearsal and performance facility unlike any other in the country. Completed in late 2011, the new Conservatory building incorporates a multipurpose rehearsal hall that can be used as one large room or divided into two smaller spaces. In any of the three space configurations, the acoustical characteristics can be instantly optimised for music style and ensemble size using the permanently installed Meyer Sound Constellation acoustic system.

"The school wanted acoustics with exceptional variability," says James Black of Acoustic Dimensions' San Diego office and principal acoustical consultant for the Conservatory project. "The idea was to accommodate anything from a small string ensemble to a full marching band, either for rehearsa

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Europe / USA - Alan 'Big Nobby' Hopkinson has been a fixture on the London live sound scene for some time now. Perhaps best known as the perennial front of house mixer for Tool, Hopkinson spent most of 2011 on the road with System Of A Down. It was his first tour with the band, and his first behind a Midas digital mixing system - the PRO9.

"I've been a longstanding Midas user, but it's always been an XL4 analogue for me until now," notes Nobby. "I have used Midas digital previously though, as we have a PRO6 installed at Shepherd's Bush Empire, probably the busiest 2300-capacity theatre in London. I have babysat many engineers on it there, and have seen many come in apprehensive and leave amazed. So I knew what I was getting into."

With System Of A Down, Big Nobby used the PRO9 across Europe and North America, with occasional switches to a PRO6 as availabili

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USA - Jon Weingarten, president/CEO of Dazian LLC has announced today that DreamWorld Backdrops will become part of the Dazian family of businesses, effective 27 February 2012.

Since 1842 Dazian has been the premier company in the Entertainment, Worship, and Event Industries for Theatrical Fabrics, Custom Fabrication and Rental Drapery. Dazian has full service facilities in CA, NJ and FL. supplying a full range of products, fabrication, and install services to its clients throughout the U.S. and abroad.

DreamWorld has been a force in the air brushed, hand painted and digitally printed backdrop business in the US since its inception in 1999.

Bev Parmensky, president of DreamWorld Backdrops, states, "By joining the Dazian family, DreamWorld Backdrops will now be able to offer a full complement of products and services to its wide range of customers."

Weingarten add

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UK - The Inaugural Event Production Awards held at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane and hosted by the comedian Mark Steel saw Star Events Group win overall 'Supreme Supplier of the year' and less than two weeks later they picked up Rigging Company of the Year at the Tpi Awards.

"To receive both awards and to be recognised for our achievement in the industry was a great honour," says Jane Russen.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - The PLASA 2012 free registration offer ends in just under 48 hours! Over 9,000 people have taken advantage of the free registration offer for this year's PLASA 2012, taking place at Earls Court in London from 9 - 12 September. Register before midnight on the 29th February and save £20 on the standard ticket price.

All previous PLASA Show visitors have been sent this special offer via email, and free registration for new visitors is live at www.plasashow.com

(Claire Beeson)

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South Africa / UK - Two female members of the South African Roadies Association (SARA); Nomsa Ndlovu (26) from Zola, Soweto and Nonhlanhla Bonongo (28) from Emdeni, Soweto - will join SARA president Freddie Nyathela in attending The National Skills Academy Creative & Cultural (NSA) Annual Industry Conference 2012, which takes place at The Lowry in Salford, Manchester on 6-7 March 2012.

The Conference will bring together professionals from the Creative and Cultural industries from all over the UK, to discuss how to work better in collaboration with young people and education, and explore the real return on investment in skills, and what impact this is having on the sector. John Hayes MP (Minister of State for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning) will be the keynote speaker, and he will be joined by some of the most influential figures from the creative and cultural se

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Germany - Nexo has chosen the Frankfurt ProLight+Sound expo to share its new system design with the professional audio rental community. The show will see the world preview of its STM Series, talked of as the new flagship product for the company.

Turning its back on the dominant line-array trend, Nexo has taken modularity as its central design concept. It promises advanced formatting options by combining four separate loudspeaker elements - main, bass and sub cabinets, with an all-purpose 'omni' 15° option. Building on the discrete main and bass cabinets, STM can be configured at will; from arrays of main cabinets only, to main+bass, or to bass+main+bass. Adding the dedicated subbass cabinets, either in the arrays or as ground-stacks, further increases the options, and the omni units complete the coverage pattern, whatever the scale of the system.

"The modularity of S

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UK - Black Light reports that it has significantly expanded the storage and warehouse capacity at its West Shore headquarters in Edinburgh by 50%. This move will allow the company to enhance its hire and sales stock and will boost its capacity to serve its customers.

"This exciting development shows that we are really bucking the current economic trend and growing strongly," says Black Lights head of company development, Phil Haldane. "This is all part of our push to continually improve our service delivery, while still keeping the company friendly and approachable. We are really excited at the new opportunities this opens up for us."

The expansion will see the company move into a third unit at the West Shore Trading Estate, where it has been located for the past two years. The new premises comprise over 4,500sq.ft of warehousing and will give the company a

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Qatar - Three TV studio tents were installed by TechnoPro llc, with lighting equipment from PR Lighting and trussing from Litec for Doha TV, for the Qatar National Day 2011 celebrations at Darb-a-Saai, Doha.

As the National Day TV channel, Doha TV took up its makeshift studios in Darb-a-Saai which were used to broadcast a special set of programmes, by hosting individuals who had significant roles in Darb-a-Saai activities.

They constructed the high impact lighting rig around 22 x PR Lighting XL 1200 spots, 20 x PR Lighting XL700's, and 46 x PR XLED 590 (each head containing 90 powerful LED's).

TechnoPro, one of the major suppliers for Qatar National Day, has been servicing the technical needs of the Qatar National Day Organising Committee for three consecutive years now. This includes professional LED screens, lighting equipment, audio equipment, truss structures and power d

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UK - Lighting and sound rental company Entec supplied lighting production for three high profile shows at London Fashion Week - Paul Smith, Mulberry and Moschino. A projection system and media server was also provided for Paul Smith, and all three projects were once again managed for Entec by Adam Stevenson.

Paul Smith featured the largest lighting rig and was the biggest space, staged in the Lawrence Hall of the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria, central London. It also accommodated one of the largest audiences of the whole event. Entec has supplied lighting for Paul Smith's LFW shows for at least the last eight years, working with several different lighting designers in the process.

Lec Croft was Paul Smith's LD for this season (and also last), who has an illustrious LFW history dating back to the late 1980s. The creative brief this time continued on from the summer coll

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Australia - Newcastle's Ausgrid Stadium (formerly Energy Australia Stadium), home to the Newcastle Knights, has undergone a dramatic facelift with the redevelopment of the Western Grandstand. This facility provides Newcastle and the Hunter Valley with a sporting facility to rival any across the country.

The Stadium boasts yet another stadium audio system, designed and implemented by The PA People, using the proven formula of JBL Application Engineered loudspeakers with weatherised treatment for external use (WRX) as well as JBL Control Contractor 29AV and 25AV products. All speakers are driven by Crown CTS amplifiers fitted with the latest Crown DSP card - Crown IQ PIPUSP4/CN. Overlay processing and control is via BSS London BLU systems.

Loudspeakers for the stands consist of six clusters of spaced elements mounted close to the leading edge of the roof and a quantity of fill-s

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Belgium - LumenRadio was recently part of the celebration of Belgian city Turnhout's historic water tower and its status as the 2012 Culture City of Flanders.

Brick water towers used to increase water pressure were once a common sight in lower laying areas of Belgium, but Turnhout's massive 38m high tower is now the only one of its kind remaining in the entire Flemish region of the country. The tower was granted landmark status in 1987 and has become a visual focal point for this city located about half way between Antwerp in Belgium and Eindhoven in Holland.

Philips has more than 1,700 employees in Turnhout and its headquarter is located in Eindhoven about 40km away. As gold sponsor of Turnhout's status as 2012 Culture City of Flanders they enthusiastically embraced the idea to make the tower, with its central downtown location, into a colorful beacon and anchor site for the

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