UK - Austrian manufacturer of flame retardant fabrics, dance and stage flooring and stage technology solutions, Tüchler Bühnen- & Textiltechnik, will be making its first appearance as an exhibitor at PLASA 2012 (Stand 2-R10).

Tüchler has specialised in textiles, flame retardant, projection screens and performance flooring since the 1970s. Its products are called for in theatres, stages, operas, event centres, dance and ballet schools, television studios and multi-purpose halls, as well as event organizers, rental companies, architects, and planners.

The 1990s saw Tüchler's product portfolio expand to incorporate stage technology solutions including chain hoists, curtain tracks and stage platforms.

Now one of the top three vendors of specialist products in Germany, Tüchler

UK - Avolites Media will showcase the Ai Infinity Media Server and launch the Sapphire Media console at PLASA 2012, hall 1, stand G15.

Just one event-packed year since Avolites Media was launched at PLASA 2011, the company will preview the much-anticipated Sapphire Media video control console.

Steve Warren, managing director of Avolites Media reports, "The last 12 months have seen our Ai Infinity Media Server deliver some of the richest and most electrifying visual feasts for some of the most stunning, internationally televised events and live performance shows on earth. Just a year into our new venture we are thrilled to be able to bring so much good news about the Ai Infinity to this year's PLASA and to introduce our second exciting media control product, the Sapphire Media, to the show floor."

Designed and manufactured in the UK, the Sapphire Media Console offer

UK - Community continued the successful track record of its high power R-Series loudspeakers with around 230 systems installed at multiple venues for the London 2012 Olympics, including the Handball Arena, Basketball Arena, Water Polo Centre, Aquatic Centre, Outdoor Water Sports Centre and the Main Olympic Stadium.

The 22 models in the R-Series range provide a comprehensive choice of throw distances and coverage patterns and are used outdoors, from theme parks like Disneyland to the flood warning system of the city of Venice, and indoors at large convention centres and airports.

The five models deployed at the London 2012 Olympic venues were the R2, R1, R.5, R.5COAX and R.25, configured with a variety of dispersion patterns to provide the coverage each location required. The long-throw R2 is a powerful three-way system, comprising dual 12-inch LF drivers, 2-inch M200 midrange

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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 - Heading into PLASA 2012, Czech Republic based lighting manufacturer Robe has upped the ante on its already strong green policies, underlining its commitment to helping preserve the planet in as many ways as possible.

"Sustainability is becoming ever more important in customer choice," comments Robe's CEO Josef Valchar, "Many companies and organisations in our industry are being encouraged to produce greener and more carbon-neutral shows and events. It's our strategy to offer the widest, most versatile choice of appropriate tools for creative and visual designers to work with in this context."

All Robe's products at PLASA will be marked with three different shades of green stickers. In a market swamped with 'eco-friendly' goods, this straightforward 'traffic light' system will allow visitors and potential buyers to immediately identify and assess the ef

UK - LSC Lighting Systems booth at PLASA this year will see the production launch of the new Clarity LX300 & LX600 lighting and media control consoles. The LX300 was released to the market in June however this will be the first international showing of the production LX600.

The new LX600 will arrive in style at PLASA on Monday with a gold medal from its inaugural sports day show in East London.

Designed in conjunction with Open Clear, Clarity LX consoles will be shown and supported by several renowned lighting operators who are taking time out from their world touring schedules to be on-hand. They will offer demonstrations, answer questions and explain why they have chosen to work with this exciting and powerful new range of consoles.

Also new for PLASA is the Eko Trupower installation dimmer that offers dimming or power switching on each and every circuit and can be monitor

UK - Avolites Ltd and its recently augmented team of directors is set to launch the new Titan One Virtual Console and the latest Titan Operating System - Version 6 - at this year's PLASA show, Hall 1, stand F18.

The Titan One virtual console offers a cost effective solution for all lighting applications. Its focus - to offer fast and intuitive control of intelligent lighting, Dimmers and LED effects from a single on-screen console. The DMX USB Dongle allows users to output one line of DMX on any of 12 lines, with the full functionality of Avolites Titan Software.

Virtual Console users have access to powerful features such as Pixelmapper, Quicksketch, Media Clip Select, Attribute Control-Blades and Shape Generator. Not only that, Titan One allows users unlimited usage, offering uninterrupted programming and playback time, says the company.

Alongside this Avolites will introdu

UK - Philips Entertainment will debut professional lighting brand, Showline, and its range of professional entertainment LED fixtures at PLASA 2012.

Showline will join premier lighting brands Vari-Lite, Selecon and Strand Lighting on the Philips Entertainment booth in hall 1.

Specifically designed with the live music and events markets in mind, Showline luminaires work seamlessly together with other Philips Entertainment Brand luminaires, offering consistent colour matching, dimming and operation along with intuitive, simplified set up.

On show will be the SL BAR 640 and 660, the SL BAR 520 and the SL PAR 150.

The Showline SL BAR 640 and 660 are powerful RGBW linear wash luminaires available in four-foot and six-foot configurations respectively. Both deliver "exceptional" light output and accept a range of standard beam spread accessories to adjust the standard 6

UK - Martin Audio has provided a major boost to its touring and theatre portfolio, with the introduction of the new high-output XD Series. This sets out to define the ultimate in performance and versatility for professional, fixed-dispersion, two-way loudspeaker systems, says the company.

The models in the XD Series - the XD12 and XD15 - have been designed to deliver best-in-class performance, including higher output levels and more extended frequency range than is normally associated with similarly-sized systems. They are designed to represent new benchmarks for the compact two-way format which has always played a central role in professional sound reinforcement.

Designed principally for live sound, theatre/fixed install and high power stage monitoring, both the XD12 and XD15 combine a full, rich sound and an accurate 80° x 50° dispersion pattern in a compact, multi-a

Thailand - Bangkok-based JSS Production Company has become the first L-Acoustics K1/Kudo rental network agent in South East Asia. JSS is one of Thailand's largest live event production companies, founded more than 25 years ago by industry expert Jack Jesada Pattanatabut.

The system purchased by JSS consists of 48 K1 WST line source loudspeakers, 24 K1-SB and 24 SB28 subwoofers, 36 Kudo and 12 Kara cabinets and 18 LA-RAKs. Members of JSS' audio team underwent a training session for the systems in August 2012 with certified trainer, Alvin Koh.

"We are very pleased to have this new system," says JSS director Bob Samithisawad. "Our team is very excited and can't wait to get it out on the road once the training is over. We are confident that this new system will be very much appreciated by our clients, not only in Thailand, but also around South East Asia, since we a

UK - Always up for a party, Artistic Licence will be getting out its glad rags on 9 September 2012, when it sponsors the Knight of Illumination Awards at Battersea Evolution, London.

Initiated in 2008, the Awards recognise the most remarkable achievements in lighting design across a range of UK productions, encompassing the general categories of Television, Rock and Theatre. Emphasis is placed on the individuality of the lighting designer, a 'Knight' demonstrating the shining qualities of integrity and professionalism. Selection of the Awards recipients falls to a panel of experts from the British associations of lighting designers, STLD and ALD.

Artistic Licence owner, Wayne Howell, explains the company's decision to sponsor the event. "As both manufacturer and projects integrator, our involvement with lighting design is unusually broad. From custom-building state-of-the

UK - Three years ago, entertainment lighting specialist White Light supplied lighting equipment to an innovative new production of the timeless classic Peter Pan, staged in a giant tent in London's Kensington Gardens. This summer, White Light has once again returned to the majestic Kensington Gardens, supplying lighting to a new production of another timeless classic - CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

The Threesixty° production, playing until 9 September, takes the audience on the fantastical and complex journey of siblings Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.

Directors Rupert Goold & Michael Fentiman worked with scenic, costume, and puppetry designer Tom Scutt and lighting designer Tim Mitchell to create the magical and encompassing world of Narnia. The production, staged in the round, required versatile and powerful equipment to solve challenges u

Spain - The Congress Palace (Ciudad de Oviedo), which has opened in the heart of Spain's Asturian capital, has already become a new symbol for its spectacular architecture.

Designed by Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava, this visually stunning exhibition and convention centre has left its own indelible footprint on the local landscape.

Set on three floors, and elliptical in shape, the 15,530sq.m Congress Palace consists of several different function room and exhibition spaces - but without doubt the most spectacular is the main auditorium. This unusually shaped 2500m2 hall has a seating capacity of 2,144 seats, with a height of 45.16m up to the dome.

With the complex geometry (and high reverberation time) of the room, the choice of sound system was critical - and after an extensive study of electro-acoustic systems the decision was taken to specify an OmniLine® m

UK - This year's Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe has been the most successful yet for Black Light. Over the four-weeks of the summer arts festival (the biggest in the world) the company supplied light, sound, staging, AV and theatre equipment to some of the Fringe's biggest names and venues.

"We've had a great festival. It's been bigger, better and busier than ever," says Black Light's hire and events manager, Calder Sibbald, who explains that, as always, the company's planning for the festival began early in the year to make sure that it could access the tonnes of equipment and the miles of cabling required.

"This year we thought that a major challenge would be posed by the Olympics which would swallow up a lot of gear," says Sibbald. "However, careful forward planning meant that this wasn't a real problem."

Highlights of Black Ligh

UK - XL Video, a major global provider of video equipment and services, has announced a substantial investment in new Barco high-brightness projectors.

The purchase includes a total of 66 new projectors - 44 x HDF-W26s and 22 x HDQ-2K40s - the latest models from Belgium-based Barco.

This is part of a continuing commitment to supply the latest video technology to its customers, and reinforces XL Video's ongoing plan for growth and expansion across all its markets.

(Jim Evans)

France - The Théâtre National Populaire (TNP) in Villeurbanne, north east of Lyon, has reopened following extensive refurbishment - with an wide array of new ETC lighting, power distribution and control.

Previously, the TNP operated with just 56 ways of ETC IES SineWave dimming power in the multipurpose black box theatre. Following completion of refurbishment, its Grand Theatre has become the best equipped SineWave theatre in France - with 632 channels across the two halls.

The equipment was supplied by ETC's French distributor, Avab Transtechnik France. Avab's sales manager Jean Louis Pernette explains, "The theatre's technical director, Jean-Michel Dubois, wanted to use the latest and most advanced technology while keeping maintenance as straightforward as possible. He started by testing a single rack of ETC IES SineWave dimming to see how it performed, before t

Australia - The Victorian College of Arts has added a MA onPC command wing to its inventory to the delight of their performance technology course students.

"The MA onPC command wing allows us to train the students on the MA platform at an affordable entry point into the market," commented Joseph Mercurio, VCA's performance technology coordinator. "It is vital that the students here learn on current technology in order to improve their skills and make sure they are employable upon graduation. MA has such market share and penetration that it was always on our list. Since we have purchased it we have had a steady stream of students using it and getting to know the console."

One such student is Steve Hendy who is in his first year at the college and had previously only had lighting control experience with a Hog 3PC. However, he found the MA onPC command wing to

UK - Ross Ashton's The Projection Studio once again entertained the sold-out crowds at Edinburgh Castle with stunning projected visuals for the spectacular 2012 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The show action featuring a cast of nearly 1000 performers took place on the Esplanade down below the Castle walls in the centre of the Tattoo's new, purpose-built state-of-the-art amphitheatre, which includes a special climate controlled projection room.

The Tattoo's chief executive and producer for the second year running was Brigadier David Allfrey, a big fan of large format projections, and this year's event theme was HM Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee and the year of Creative Scotland.

Creative Scotland included specific sections of the show and dances celebrating iconic items of Scottish culture like tweed and whiskey, plus the industrial revolution. All these and more gave As

UK - Several Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing systems were selected by two PA companies, APR Audio and SXS Events, running seperate Olympic events in Weymouth, where all of the sailing events were held.

Somerset-based APR Audio used several of its iLive systems for the opening night at the Weymouth & Portland Beach Live Site, which hosted live entertainment, welcomed the Team GB Sailing Squad, and broadcast a live screening of the London opening ceremony.

APR employed the largest Control Surface in the series - the iLive-176 - at FOH with an iLive-T112 at monitor position, both fed from an iDR-64 MixRack. An iDR-48 with iLive-144 was also set up to manage monitors for Eliza Carty, who headlined the opening night.

Meanwhile, SXS Events managed the Bayside Festival, a major festival running alongside the Weymouth Olympic Sailing Events. Located at the end of Weymouth beach,

UK - LumenRadio will showcase its RDM products and OEM partners at this year's PLASA show. Remote Device Management, RDM, is an extension of DMX that allows bi-directional communication for configuration and monitoring of equipment typically found in entertainment applications and also in many architectural lighting systems.

The company released the first wireless DMX/RDM product based on its wireless CRMX technology in 2009. It has since then completed hundreds of successful installations all over the world and added wired RDM connectivity in the form of the Unity extension. Integral to the success is also SuperNova; a powerful and ever evolving software application that offers a feature rich RDM controller and an easy to use graphical user interface; putting the power of this technology into the hands of the everyday user.

Lighting industry heavyweight Robe, a pioneer in the

UK - The MA onPC command wing paves the way for mobile use of the highly flexible and powerful grandMA2 control system. In combination with the free of charge grandMA2 onPC software, the MA onPC command wing is a portable 2,048 parameter control solution that can be used nearly in any location - and all for an affordable price.

Designed as "the perfect hardware expansion to the grandMA2 onPC software", the MA onPC command wing enables the look and feel of the software to be as close to a real grandMA2 console as possible. Thanks to the MA onPC command wing - incorporating the command section of the grandMA2 consoles - it has never been easier to use the grandMA2 onPC software. With a simple USB connection between the MA onPC command wing and the computer running the grandMA2 onPC software, all inputs and outputs of a grandMA2 console are available to the user. DMX, Mid

UK - d3, the integrated production toolkit for video production professionals, will introduce its software only version, d3 Designer, to the UK press and public on stand 1-G46 during PLASA 2012.

The new d3 Designer is a software only solution that has all the powerful features of d3 but with the outputs water marked. Made especially for show creators; content designers; projectionists; project managers and other video production professionals, d3 Designer is the most advanced integrated production platform in the market. Created to design and simulate your show from concept design to delivery.

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 you full control of your show - on the train, or the plane, or even in your hotel, says the company.

(Jim

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