UK - The A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) stand (S-E1) at PLASA Focus will feature a selection of leading brands for which AC-ET is the exclusive UK wholesaler for, including Chroma-Q, Jands Vista, GLP, PixelRange, High End Systems, Green Hippo and CM Entertainment Lodestars.

The AC-ET stand will provide the first UK tradeshow unveiling of the new Jands Vista L5 flagship media and lighting control console. The design includes a 21" HD Wacom pen tablet display, which makes it easy to manage today's lighting rigs of moving lights, media servers and LEDs. To celebrate the launch, enter the competition to WIN* a MacBook Pro running the Vista v2 software and find out more about the L5 at www.jandsvista.com/L5.

Also showing is the Chroma-Q range of LED lighting solutions.

UK - FBT UK are exhibiting at PLASA Focus 2012 in Leeds and look forward to welcoming visitors to Stand S-A26 where they will be introduced to the latest additions to FBT's loudspeaker ranges. Particular focus will be on MITUS sound reinforcement systems, StageMaxX stage monitors, and the new Shadow series of extreme weather resistant speaker enclosures.

FBT MITUS is a comprehensive and flexible range of powered and passive line arrays for live sound touring and permanent installs. At this year's PLASA focus, FBT is showing its new additions to the existing MITUS range. These include the MITUS 215A (double 15" LF and 2" HF driver/horn), and the MITUS 152A (single 15" with 2" driver/horn) - both of which are available in active and passive formats, and the MITUS 218 SA (double 18" active bass reflex sub).

All MITUS active speakers feature 2-way, bi-ampl

Germany - t&m Systems, based in Ibbenbüren, has released new piano-gloss finish versions of its popular XS4 and XS6 compact, multi-purpose loudspeakers.

The XS4 loudspeaker handles 40W RMS and utilises a 1-inch dome and 4-inch mid/bass driver, coupled via a complex crossover with integrated dynamic protection circuit for driver protection. The slightly larger XS6 offers the same configuration but with a 6-inch mid bass unit, which extends low frequency and increases power handling to 100W RMS. Both systems use NL4 Speakon connectors and are offered as standard with a black or white textured paint finish.

The textured paint models will continue and are now joined by the new piano-gloss finish versions, also available in black or white as standard. The high gloss finish carries a modest premium of 30 EUR on the XS4 and 50 EUR on the XS6. These premiums are MSRP ex VAT.

In add

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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 - inspHire will be demonstrating its award winning, easy to use, Hire Management Solutions, at Scotland's leading Construction and Plant exhibition, ScotPlant 2012, on 27-28 April.

inspHire's hire management software boasts a modern interface, full of easy to use features which has helped over 900 single and multi-depot companies worldwide grow and increase profitability. Dedicated to continual product development, inspHire will be demonstrating latest features including new user-friendly Hire Management Dashboards on stand D10 in the Pavilion.

inspHire Dashboards provide key, real time information in a simple, easy to read graphical format for all different areas of the business.

(Jim Evans)

UAE - Now celebrating its tenth year as the GCC region's longest-running trade show for sound, lighting and AV professionals in the event and integration industries, PALME Middle East is again proving its appeal to regular exhibitors, such as Unusual Rigging & Engineering - which has an office in the region, run by Alan Thomson - and Dutch manufacturer, Prolyte Group.

Unusual Rigging & Engineering has made a major impact in the Middle East, where it is the local partner for Doughty, Liftket and Wybron, whose products will be demonstrated on the stand. It has also just been appointed regional rental company for Kinesys motion control products.

Recent major projects for Unusual include the 2011 Dubai Airshow, for which the company was contracted to provide all rigging and associated services, and was also responsible for the auditing of all suspended items in the four main halls

The Netherlands - Broadcast Facilities Netherland has purchased two sets of factory-matched DPA 4006A omnidirectional microphones from Benelux distributor Amptec. The mics have been purchased for recordings in the 2,200-capacity Grand Hall of de Doelen in Rotterdam, mainly for broadcast sessions of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Broadcast Facilities Netherland's recording engineer Rob Heerschop first used the new mics for Mahler's Fifth Symphony, and was surprised by the clear and transparent sound they brought to this complex orchestral work.

"Broadcast Facilities Nederland and de Doelen own a permanent studio in the main hall, and we needed a small AB and a wide AB for basic recordings," explains Heerschop. "The reason we chose these mics is because they are simply the best for the AB recording technique when it comes to natural sound, transparency and

UK - Organised by Reed Exhibitions UK, the biennial SPE Offshore Europe conference and exhibition is the largest upstream oil and gas event outside North America. With some 1,500 exhibitors it attracts an audience of around 50,000 visitors, including engineers, technical specialists, industry leaders and experts from all over the world. Held at the AECC in Aberdeen, around 25,000 square metres of temporary exhibition space is created in five giant marquees, and a substantial PA system is required for information and safety announcements.

Taylored Sound, the Aberdeen-based pro audio rental and installation specialists, were commissioned to hire and install the PA for the recent exhibition, and they designed a system based around Community R.25 loudspeakers.

"We chose the Community R.25's as their power and 90 x 40 degree dispersion were ideal for the large areas to be cove

USA - More than 60 Chauvet Professional fixtures make their big-screen debut in Tyler Perry's new romantic drama, Good Deeds.

Southeast Staging set up the runway and brought in lighting for the design team's 'Club Riot' scene. To light the scene, Bob Daniel, president and chief executive officer of Southeast Staging recommended COLORado Tour fixtures because of their on-camera capability as well as their efficiency, powerful output and precise colour temperature settings.

"We chose the COLORado Tour series because they are the brightest and most versatile lights in their class," Daniel said. "We dialled in the exact temperature needed for film and they performed flawlessly on camera. Each light did everything it said it would do."

To light the translucent 40ft runway, Daniel and his team placed 12 COLORado 1 Tour and 18 COLORado 1 VW Tour wash ligh

UK - James Harden is that latest addition to the ELP production staff. He joins ELP from Panalux where he was a project manager looking after broadcast and events clients.

"This is an excellent addition to our team" comments acting MD Dave Keighley. "James has over 30 years experience in the industry across all the various production sectors ELP work in including TV, music, corporate, sport and fashion shows. "

Harden grew up in South Africa and that's where he first worked in the entertainment industry. "I was a road manager for various bands, lighting designer for everything from Opera to Raves and everything in between. I was also a technical director for various shows including fashion shows, corporate launches and various tours," he says.

He came to the UK to expand his career and worked at Bandit Lites for eight years. He worked through th

USA - Audio-Technica is introducing its new System 8 VHF wireless systems. Featuring stackable, contemporary styling, Audio-Technica's System 8 Wireless Systems are designed for reliable performance, easy setup and clear, natural sound quality at affordable price points.

Available in handheld, headworn, guitar, lavalier and body-pack configurations, these single-channel, fixed-frequency systems are available in three travelling VHF frequencies (169.505, 170.245 and 171.905).

The System 8 units offer reliable performance and durable construction. Features include an advanced dipole antenna system for extended operating range; Power, RF and AF Peak indicators; Volume control, ¼" output jack and user-adjustable squelch; rugged unidirectional dynamic element on handheld microphone/transmitter; variable microphone trim control and multi-colour battery/power indicator (with AA

Germany - Loudspeaker manufacturer Coda Audio reported a successful Prolight+Sound this year, with interest in its products continuing to come from a diverse array of territories. As well as its current range of loudspeaker cabinets, including the CoRAY4 which was demonstrated in the Portable Sound Arena and AIRLINE LA12, demonstrated in the Concert Sound Arena, Coda exhibited the C3, a new amplification product, as well as revealing its ability to now supply a Polyurea coating for all cabinets upon request.

The C3 is a rugged, 19 inch / 2U high performance, two channel power amplifier. It integrates light-weight power supplies with high power class D amplification and features either USB or network controlled 24 bit 96kHz via powerful SHARC-based DSP.

The C3's outputs can be configured as 2 x 1250W at 2 Ohms or 1 x 2500W at 4 Ohms, it has 2 Ohm and 70 / 100V line capability,

South Africa - Cape Town-based SMD Technical purchased Robe Robin 300s at the end of last year, which have gone out on almost every job since, including Johnny Clegg, Locnville and Radio Kalahari Orkes.

"I think that the regular lighting, staging and sound aspects of the Cape Town market is saturated with highly competitive businesses, and tend to operate with a more rock 'n roll approach, whilst the specially engineered/ bespoke side is unsaturated and far more complex in its requirements," said David Harris from SMD. "We find that our clients are leaning towards more design-orientated technical equipment, i.e. smaller, less visual, more powerful speakers, and more creative, intelligent and decadent decor lighting."

With this in mind, SMD purchased six Robin 300s at the end of last year. "We felt that the Robin 300s were better suited for our events d

UK - Entec's sound division again supplied a powerful d&b system to the 2012 Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) shows at London's Royal Albert Hall (RAH), taking the opportunity to use the new d&b V-Series speakers as part of the main system for the high profile event.

Entec has supplied audio to TCT at Albert Hall since it started 12 years ago, and for the last four years, the system has been designed and overseen by Liam Halpin for the west London based rental company. Entec has used d&b on TCT for all 12 years, ever since it became their first-choice rental brand.

The RAH event involves installing a high quality and very flexible audio system - to deal with a vast array of musical styles and genres - this year from Paul McCartney to Florence + The Machine, plus a raft of top comedians - into one of the most acoustically demanding spaces for amplified performance, to ensure that all

China - At close of day two of InfoComm China 2012, attendance at the show was 14,868, representing a 39% increase over its previous showing in 2011. Final attendance at close of the three-day exhibition is expected to breach 16,000, a record turnout in the history of the show.

The 30 sessions of the InfoComm China Summit education programme also attracted a record attendance of 1,550 delegates, more than double that of last year.

The organizers have already announced that the 2013 show will expand to Halls 5 and 6 next year to cater to the additional demand for space, not just from existing exhibitors but many others that have visited the show and indicated their intent to join next year's event.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has announced the appointment of four new members of staff, as well as a number of role changes within the company, in order to service the needs of its growing customer base.

These changes are part of the AC-ET's philosophy of continuing to reinvest in, and further develop its business, to ensure that customers and suppliers continue to receive the highest levels of service and support, says the company.

James Bawn has taken on the joint role of technical sales manager and Chroma-Q global brand manager.

Having served as AC-ET's Northern technical sales manager for the last five years, Bawn will now provide support for both the Leeds and High Wycombe offices. He will oversee the technical sales department.

As Chroma-Q global brand manager, he will oversee the introduction of new Chroma-Q product launches to the international mar

USA - PLASA Focus: Nashville 2012 is set to welcome a raft of new exhibitors as the two-day event continues to grow, with over 20 companies now committed to taking part and as many applications being processed. The event takes place 11-12 July, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, TN, and is the first of its kind to be held in the region.

Confirmed exhibitors include: Barbizon, IATSE, Seachanger, Hive/Interspace, Show Sage, Ultratec, LynTec, Nicolaudie America Inc., Thern Stage Equipment, Coolux, Doug Fleenor Design, Chauvet, Robe, High End Systems, White Light, Creative Stage Lighting, Mainstage Theatrical Supply, Martin Professional and TMB.

PLASA Focus' much talked about 'new style' event brings new products out to regional areas, providing free networking and learning opportunities for regional entertainment-tech communities. Those involved will also have the unique oppo

UK - UK professional lighting sales company Lightfactor will again exhibit at PLASA Focus at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds this week.

A selection of products from top brands will be featured, including new moving lights and LED luminaires from Italian manufacturer DTS for which Lightfactor is the exclusive UK distributor.

Architectural LED products 'made in the UK' from Cogent will also be on display, together with theatrical luminaires and spot lights from another popular Italian brand, LDR.

The DTS section of the Lightfactor stand will show the new Nick NRG 1201 Wash moving light. This features 30 high powered RGBW LEDs and has an 8 - 50 degree motorised zoom with sophisticated optics that enable it to be used for many different styles of lighting - from a wide wash to a PC beam - with smooth, silent pan/tilt.

DTS's Jack Spot with also be highlighted - a compact li

UK - Wireless Solution Sweden AB is on the road again, this time heading for PLASA Focus: Leeds with new products and some innovative advancements to their W-DMX product range.

In addition to demonstrating their new product advancements, Wireless Solution will also be holding a seminar on Wednesday, 18 April from 1:00-1:45 in the Wellington Room covering Wireless Controls with RDM and Ethernet Advantages. The seminar will be hosted by Ben Darrington and is appropriate for lighting operators, lighting designers, installers, rental and stage managers.

The company has been working on a completely new software platform since October 2011 that is prepared for future hardware functions as well as many new features and updated functions. The W-DMX G4S software platform includes:

A much improved adaptive frequency hopping algorithm that improves the plug and play use in crowded radi

Sweden - The award-winning wysiwyg previsualization suite from CAST Software of Toronto, Canada played a key role in the recent Melodifestivalen 2012. This is the annual Swedish song contest that determines Sweden's song to be internationally represented in the Eurovision Song Contest. This year's Melodifestivalen began 4 February 4 and the Finals were held at the Globe Arena in Stockholm on 10 March.

Lighting designer Fredrik Jönsson used wysiwyg for the lighting of 32 songs from all over Sweden, with a total of six live broadcasts by SVT (Swedish Television) from Växjö, Gothenburg, Leksand, and Malmö, a second chance head-to-head in Nyköping and the final 10 duelling at the finals in Stockholm. Pre-programming was done in Jönsson's office, Eyebrow Designs AB, in Stockholm starting in December.

"I use wysiwyg to design the rig and simulate the camera shots so I can

Canada - Apex has appointed Gerr Audio as its distributor for Canada. Gerr Audio was established nearly 30 years ago in Brockville, Ontario.

"Apex is well-established as a manufacturer of the highest quality signal processors," says Gerr Audio president Bob Snelgrove.

"The Intelli-X2 processors set a new benchmark for quality in the live entertainment industry and now the new Intelli-Z2 series is bringing that quality to the installed audio market. We are very pleased that we can now supply Apex's level of quality to the Canadian market."

(Jim Evans)

Belgium - Robe Robin 300 LEDWash moving lights have been purchased by Belgian national broadcaster VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep) and installed at their studio complex in Brussels

The initial batch of 42 fixtures were delivered by Robe's Benelux distributor Controllux, in a package co-ordinated by Belgian sales manager Bram de Clerck, and specified for the TV station by their head of technical Johan Bosmans.

He had been impressed after seeing LEDWash 300s in action on shows, and they also came highly recommended by a number of others, including leading Belgian TV lighting designer Michiel Milbou, who specified them on his current design for popular prime-time entertainment industry chat show, Vrienden van de Veire.

(Jim Evans)

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