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Switzerland - When Gerard Shallier's French production company NAT rigged the Renault stand at this month's Geneva Motor Show, not only were they showing the latest cars from Renault, but also the latest automated lighting fixtures from Coemar - the Flex range.

NAT, who utilize Coemar automated lighting exclusively in their rental fleet, had worked closely with the Italian manufacturers during the development of the new Flex range and saw the Renault stand - with its long throw distances and high output required - as an ideal opportunity to debut the range.

NAT installed 80 iWash Flex luminaires, interspersed with 18 Coemar 2.4K SuperCycs and 19 Coemar 2.5k PC theatrical projectors, to create a stunning presentation for the new Megane, Scenic and F1 showcase cars. All the lighting cues on the Wholehog II desk were programmed by Remy Roland, working for DoP Frederick Dorieux, w

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USA - The ‘Tim McGraw & The Dancehall Doctors One Band Show’ tour kicked off this spring with more than 120 High End Systems automated luminaires in the rig and a couple of Wholehog II consoles in control, as prescribed by lighting designer John Broderick. Premier Global Production Company of Nashville supplied all the lighting gear and built the rolling stage for the tour, which runs from 20 March to 31 May in the US.

HES fixtures on the tour include 50 Studio Beam, 38 X.Spot and 33 Studio Color 575 automated luminaires. Show control is conducted via two Wholehog II consoles, programmed by Troy Eckerman. Lighting director is Jerome Thompson, spot caller is Phil Ealy, crew chief is Rich Vinyard, electrician is Jamie Grossenkemper and lighting technicians are Eric Perry, Steve Schwind and George Kiem.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers (ISCE) and the Professional Lighting and Sound Association (PLASA) have agreed to set up a joint group on Audio Frequency Induction Loop Systems (AFILS). International Standard IEC/EN 60118-4 is up for revision, and some of the current content has been a bone of contention amongst many for some time. The collaboration between the two organizations will help provide a productive forum for members to generate a considered and expert view on the proposals, submitting them via BSI committee EPL/29.

PLASA has agreed to share John Woodgate's reports on the relevant BSI and IEC meetings with ISCE members. Currently, it is anticipated that the group will communicate through the ISCE mailgroup at present. If necessary, a separate mailgroup can be set up, depending on the level of response. The group is open to employees of PLASA me

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Finland - Oy Hedcom Ab has recently supplied three Midas XL4 consoles complete with XL3 sidecars via their installation partners to Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Helsinki for installation into some of the world’s most advanced cruise liners. Kvaerner Masa-Yards has been shipbuilding since 1737 and is now a vast operation employing over 4,000 people across two extremely modern yards in Helsinki and Turku. In the last 10 years, over 25% of the world’s cruise ships have come from these two shipyards.

The consoles have been installed in the main show lounge/nightclub of the Carnival Pride with a passenger capacity of 2,680 and her sister ship the Carnival Legend which sail primarily in the Caribbean out of Florida, while the third has been delivered to the Costa Mediterranea, which is still under construction and will be sailing in the Mediterranean upon her completion later th

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UK - Having completed another successful year, UK-based sound and lighting wholesaler Batmink Ltd has expanded its warehouse with an additional purpose-built storage facility covering some 6,000sq.ft. The additional facility is now in full operation ensuring a fast turnaround of customer orders and additional stockholding. Commenting on the expansion, managing director David Churches said: "We seem to be bucking the downward trend, with 2002 being our most successful year. I believe this is due to our customers appreciating our honest and competitive outlook to the trade distribution business. The first three months of 2003 are some 15% higher than the same period last year and I am looking forward to a very successful 2003."

(Lee Baldock)

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Germany - That doyen of German lighting designers, Max Keller, approved the use of five Wynne Willson Gottelier (WWG) Fantômes as the main component front-of-house system for Munich’s historic Kammerspiele theatre, which re-opened recently for public performances after seven years of darkness.

Fantôme is WWG’s fully automated version of Robert Juliat’s revered d’Artagnan 2.5kW HMI zoom profile spotlight. Fantôme provides pan and tilt via WWG’s patented orbital, double mirror head, now manufactured by High End Systems, remote automation of zoom, focus, and iris plus WWG’s new flexible, full-framing system. Automated mechanical fader and gel-scroller, both by Licht Technik, were also incorporated at the specific request of Keller.

The challenge for Keller was that the Kammerspiele has a listed decorative ceiling in the theatre and it was fo

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Russia - Spanish manufacturer D.A.S. Audio reports that its systems have been fundamental in installations ranging from houses of worship to theatres in both Korea and Russia recently. Kusan,the company’s distributor in Korea has installed D.A.S. systems in a number of venues requiring precise and natural coverage. Reference series R-212s and Dynamics series DS-12s have been incorporated in the audio/video systems of the the Bu-Kwang Methodist Church, the San-sung Church and the Pyung-Tack City Youth Center.

Another example of the international scope of D.A.S. installations is the Norilsk Zapoliarny Theatre in Russia. BossMan, D.A.S.’s Russian distributor has installed a large number of different D.A.S. systems. The venue was built in 1941 and remodeled in 1985. In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the theatre, a series of upgrades were undertaken, including n

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UK - Summit Steel has moved into new, bigger, better, more convenient and funkier premises in Kent.According to Summit, the move was necessitated by the expansion in Summit’s equipment stock over the past 12 months, reflecting a healthy growth in the working schedule, which in 2002 included major events such as the Queen’s Golden Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games.

The new warehouse and offices will consolidate all the equipment stock - including James Thomas trussing, ground support systems, Lodestar Motors and Summit’s own SmarTmast small footprint PA towers - in one location. The warehouse will have easier access for trucks, and geographically, Sissinghurst is well located for major motorways and road routes. It’s 45 minutes from central London on the train.

The offices - all with South facing windows - have been designed and purpose built by the Sum

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UK - KAVE Theatre Services, a specialist in theatre and theatrical education services based in West Sussex, is extending its services to the Midlands and North of the country, by opening a new office in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, on 23 April 2003. This new Midlands division will be based at Wirksworth Station, which itself is seeing rejuvenation, as plans to re-open the Wirksworth to Duffield line are well underway.

Established for over 30 years, KAVE is now a major supplier of theatrical services to theatres, concert halls, schools, colleges and conference venues. Demand for its specialist expertise and services has geographically widened and the opening of KAVE Theatre Services Midlands represents the company’s desire to offer a regionally responsive service. David Abbott, managing director of KAVE Theatre Services, told us: "The opening of our Midlands division is an

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UK / France - Focusrite recently announced a new partnership with French distribution company Audiopole, who will be responsible for the entire range of Focusrite hardware products. Focusrite sales director Chris Gooddie said of the appointment: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to work with Bruno and his team at Audiopole. They are a company who match technical excellence and commercial know-how with the best in customer care - a combination that makes them the perfect partner for the Focusrite brand."

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - UK Steel have welcomed the preliminary ruling by a WTO disputes panel that the tariffs imposed by the USA last year on steel imports contravene WTO rules. The news will also be welcomed by those in this industry who export steel-based products to the US.

Ian Rodgers, deputy director commented: "This confirms what we said from the start - that there was no legal justification for the US government to impose these measures at a time when steel imports had been falling consistently for three years. The WTO rules are quite clear - such measures can only be taken in response to a current increase in imports."

Responding to the possibility that the US government might appeal the ruling, Rodgers said: "This was such a cut-and-dried case from the start, it would make most sense for the US government to end the tariffs immediately, rather than suffer the humiliation

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UK - The 2003 Showman’s Show North attracted a wide range of events industry professionals to The Great Yorkshire Showground this March. The second Showman’s Show North offered the 630 visiting event organizers, everything from falconry displays and helicopters for hire, through to security, generators and laser shows.

Unlike the larger Newbury-based Showman’s Show, the majority of the exhibitors were based inside the exhibition hall on the showground. Organizer Jeremy Lance told us: "We were delighted with the look of the show this year and all the exhibitors presented themselves really well. Visitor numbers were on par with the previous year, so we feel we need to address attracting a wider section of the northern events industry when we next return."

The main event, The Showman’s Show, will take place at Newbury Showground on 22-23 Octob

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Portugal - Stageland, the new sound and lighting company, based in Coimbra, Portugal, 200km north of Lisbon, has made a substantial investment in a Nexo Alpha system. Stageland has been set up by Rui Silva, António Cunha and João Moreira. All three are experienced professionals who worked formerly with another Portuguese PA company, PRO2, service providers for international artists such as Joe Cocker, Skunk Anansie, The Pretenders, Ben Harper and Moby.

Newly independent, Rui Silva and his team have invested in a 24-stack Alpha system, largely as a result of a concert in Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon last year, staged as a cooperative venture with Belgian PA company Philing Live. It was such a success that Stageland decided to rent the Nexo Alpha system for the summer season. With Alpha, Stageland is using Crown VZ 5000 and 3600 amps, Soundcraft Five consoles, and Martin LE70

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USA - The ESTA Board of Directors has voted unanimously to approve a detailed business plan to establish a personnel certification programme for entertainment technology technicians provided the required funds can be raised. Two key areas have been identified for initial development - electrical skills and rigging skills. In addition, a curriculum-based certificate programme will be created to address essential skills which comprise a fundamental body of knowledge needed to work in the entertainment industry.

The business plan for the programme has been developed under the guidance of a professional certification consultant using detailed research and extensive market surveys. In order to implement this business plan, the Board has defined the administrative structure needed to establish and run the programme, including the management skills that are essential to the governing

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USA / China - Barco’s Media & Entertainment division has acquired the assets of US-based Trans-Lux West and China-based Beijing Leyard Electronics Technology Co Ltd, in order to further strengthen its position in the full-colour LED (Light Emitting Diode) display market.

Trans-Lux West Corporation, based in Logan, Utah, is a manufacturer of full colour and monochrome displays, message centres and scoring systems for sports applications; Leyard Electronics Technology Co Ltd is a privately-owned company that designs, manufactures and installs LED displays for the Asian market, with strong focus on China. The two investments confirm Barco’s strategy for continued growth in the full colour LED display market by consolidating and expanding its presence in the key North American market and entering the fast growing Chinese market. The two investments are expected to delive

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UK - Donny Osmond's UK and Ireland tour has benefited from two EV line arrays, the choice of front-of-house engineer Lars Brogaard, and provided by rental company Major Tom Ltd. Osmond's three-week tour encompassed a variety of venues, from 2,000-seater theatres to the 14,000-capacity Manchester Evening News Arena. Given the wide variations in size, Brogaard had specified not only an Electro-Voice X-Line Array system but, additionally, an XLC System, provided by Shuttlesound. Last year, Brogaard was the first engineer in the world to tour with the prototypes for EV's new compact line array, on the road with Rod Stewart. This year, he rates the XLC as "a great, great-sounding box, a real PA in its own right."

Brogaard has worked with Donny Osmond before, back in the 70s when the Osmonds were a force in world pop music. Today, the set list is the same, but the underwear

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USA - A weekend of hands-on technical training sessions will be held in New York City on Saturday and Sunday 28-29 June, immediately following the ninth annual Broadway Lighting Master Classes. The courses are organized by ESTA's Training and Seminars commitee, part of the association's ongoing technical training effort. All proceeds from these events will go to ESTA.

On Saturday 28 June, beginner-level hands-on training on the Wholehog III console will be held at High End Systems' New York facility. Limited to just eight students, this intensive day-long session is taught by Vickie Claiborne, training specialist for High End Systems. The cost of the class is $190 with a small breakfast, box lunch, and soda break included.

On both days, WYSIWYG intensive training will be taught in the Fordham University Theatre by Ben Sanford, WYSIWYG product manager for ETC. This two-day cour

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USA - DiGiCo has announced its first US sale of the D5 Live digital mixing system, to Chicago’s dB Sound. The console is already in action on a European tour this month by metal rock Ministry, with dB Sound’s VP of tour development, Lee Popa, at the controls.

The D5 Live is proving a hit with Popa because the large band line-up presents him with no less than 67 inputs from stage and an endless stream of effects and processing cues. Popa comments: "There’s a new generation of bands and a new generation of young sound engineers, people who have come out of their bedrooms and DJ mixers and want to mix real bands live and who are really good at it - new talent with fresh ideas. That’s one of the many reasons we’ve gone for the D5 Live - there’s a whole new wave happening out there and we intend for dB Sound to remain at the cutting edge."

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UK - Silverdown Studio has installed a complete 5.1 Genelec monitoring system featuring 1034B, 1031 and the new LSE 7073 sub-woofers, to cope with the heavy demand it has been experiencing for 5.1 work. The Hertfordshire studio is owned by Jeff Calvert, who has had a string of hits over the years, starting with a massive number one hit Barbados which he wrote, followed quickly by Starship Trooper. Calvert, who started at Morgan Studios in the 70s, left to set up Silverdown, which was originally located in London. After many successful years, he decided get out of ‘the smoke’ and re-locate to the gently rolling countryside of Hertfordshire.

Calvert’s production partner Chaz (Dabat) Kkoshi says: "We have just completed the intro music for a new PlayStation game in 5.1 called Dance Flight, a new album by Mona for the record company TLC, and we are in negotiat

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USA - Vari-Lite and Entertainment Technology have relocated into one central facility in Dallas, Texas. Genlyte Controls has completed the relocation of the three brands which comprise the Genlyte Thomas Group's controls division. Entertainment Technology, Lightolier Controls and Vari-Lite all began working from a new single location on 1 April. The move to he new facility, which has more than 70,000sq.ft of manufacturing and office space, consolidates all operations of the three companies in one facility.

"Each of the three brands will continue to operate and function as individual companies," said Genlyte Controls general manager Steve Carson. "But having each of the companies in a single location, and under the same roof will allow us to operate more efficiently and take greater advantage of the synergies and resources that the companies share."

The new

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USA - Creative Technology North America provided high performance display technology for the recent 75th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, which aired on ABC and was seen in 150 countries around the world. The celebration, thought somewhat subdued, took place at the Kodak Theatre in the Hollywood and Highland Complex and was hosted by comedian and actor, Steve Martin. Presenters included John Travolta, Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ben Affleck and Halle Berry, to name a few.

Creative Technology provided 17 Digital Projection Lightning 28sx projectors to project video images onto a variety of projection surfaces throughout the venue. The most interesting surface was a 30ft tall ‘flute’ that sat centre-stage and also served as a scenic element. The flute, approximately 40ft in diameter at the top, narrowing down to 7ft at the bottom, was created out of wh

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UK - SSE Hire has completed a series of highly successful shows in Ireland and Germany with Oasis, using the long-awaited Nexo Geo-T tangent array system, launched at the Frankfurt ProLight&Sound exhibition earlier this month.

SSE has been field testing the system over the past three months, powered by Camco Vortex lightweight amplifiers. It appeared in public for the first time on Tori Amos' Rotterdam Ahoy show during her recent European tour. Following the run of highly successful Oasis shows, FOH engineer Bruce Johnston, who is a long-time Nexo fan and was very keen to be one of the first to use the new Geo-T system, comments: "I'd been to the demo in Frankfurt and couldn't wait to get my hands on the system and try it out. It was fortunate that the Oasis German shows coincided with the launch and that I could be one of the first to get out there with it. I have to say I

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UK - Even while the facilities design branch of Nautilus Entertainment Design steams toward the 2003 launches of Cunard’s ‘Queen Mary 2’, Costa Cruise Line’s ‘Fortune’ and ‘Mediterranea’ and Carnival Cruise Line’s ‘Glory’, Jim Tetlow and the production lighting design arm of NED entered 2003 with a full slate of corporate theatre and special event projects.

January saw the team working on the Porsche exhibit and Cayenne SUV introduction at the Los Angeles Auto Show, on behalf of Jack Morton Productions. Intel had a huge arena show for several thousand of its sales and marketing personnel, produced by John Halloran Associates, while Kaleidoscope Productions oversaw the Glaxo Smith Kline business meeting in Phoenix; both relying on NED for lighting design services. In the spirit of the auto show season, NED designed

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USA - BSR E1.25-200x, Recommended Basic Conditions for Measuring the Photometric Output of Stage and Studio Luminaries by Measuring Illumination Levels Produced on a Planar Surface, is new standards-drafting project intended to help manufacturers collect the data required to be reported in ANSI E1.9 - 2001, Reporting Photometric Performance Data for Luminaires Used in Entertainment Lighting. The adoption of that standard has been slowed by the lack of rules for the basic test conditions for any of the commonly used photometry systems that involve shining the light from a luminaire at a flat screen or wall.

Flat-wall photometry, either using a digital camera photometry system or a simple hand-held meter to measure the illumination levels, is the most common type used by stage and studio luminaire manufacturers, but no standards exist to provide guidance for these me

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