Business

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14 March 2016

The course, hosted by Spotrental, the largest stockist of Strong products in Europe and one of the manufacturer's official European distributors, was attended by participants from the UK, Holland and Greece, as well as US-based experts from Strong itself.

The course is the latest in a developing programme of training that will be extended to cover Australasia, The Caribbean, Central and South America and South Africa in the next 18 months."We started the scheme in 2005 when we realised that no-one was providing this training," says Jack

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14 March 2016

The new lights were specified by Sundial technical manager Andy Webb, who wanted a warm colour temperature fixture to blend in with the generic rig and to contrast with their discharge sources. "It was a logical step. In the past, to deal with the need for tungsten washes, we have had to hire ColorWash 575E ATs and use the CTO correction."

For the McIntyre show, the ColorWash 750 AT Tungstens were used to up-light 4 sections of gauze dressing the stage space.

Webb will be utilising these, plus eight more, on Di

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14 March 2016

"The challenge was to design a camera system which fitted into the tank bag of my BMW GS1200 Adventure motorcycle," von Planta explains. "I chose a Sony V1 camera and with some Velcro I managed to attach two evolution receivers to it. And then with a splitter cable I connected both receivers into audio channel 2, which was set on automatic level."

"I was very pleased with the performance of the Sennheiser evoluti

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14 March 2016

tdc used high power lights on the stainless steel art piece, which features seven life-size doves perched on the chimney.It was designed by Sheffield's internationally renowned artist Richard Bartle and inspired by Pablo Picasso's visit to the Second World Peace Congress held in the city in 1950.

Eamonn Hunt, director of tdc, said: "It's good to be involved with Richard's work - the sculpture is truly symbolic of key events from the city's past and if things go to plan then it may be replicated in the other countries that held Peace Congresses. It

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14 March 2016

"The desk is so easy to use,"says Roberts. "Everything is completely accessible on the touch sensitive screens. There are plenty of gates / compressor limiters, all available at the touch of a screen, and in several banks of 8 channels, so you are not limited to working with one channel at a time.

"There are loads of channels. I managed to fit the Criminals on the first layer, and the tour support (Cantaloop from Leicester) on the second. In addition, the Vi6 output busses could be configured for whatever purpose I required. For mixing purposes, I was able to set the up the first eight busses as sub-groups with com

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14 March 2016

Hilfiger stores in (London, Amsterdam, Cologne, Antwerp and Dublin) now feature through-window touch screen technology, providing an interface for passing shoppers to capture, stylise and submit their image as part of a collage of images being shown on digital screens in the shop windows.

The digital storefronts enable customers to interact with the Hilfiger brand even outside of business hours. At the end of the campaign, customers will be able to return to the store and have their own T-shirt specially printed using the image they created as the design.

This is the first time a global fashion brand has embraced an interactive out-of-the-home format to create a unique channel for 24/7 dynamic relationsh

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14 March 2016

The VersaTubes are part of a design collaboration between Emmy award winning lighting designer Bob Dickinson and Scenic Artist Brian Stonestreet. Mounted into moving set pieces that open and close to reveal performance areas on the stage, the configuration of the VersaTubes takes advantage of, not only the point source effect of the tubes, but also reflected light due to the finish on the set pieces, says ShowPro.

The final product is a fascinating combination of high-tech digital lighting and classic theatrical light box effects. "It's great to see such a creative and impactful use of LED display on this show" says company president David Smith. "This further exemplifies the visual convergence of video a

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14 March 2016

The moving lights were almost entirely sourced from the Clay Paky Alpha range, comprising 12 of Hawthorn's Alpha Profile 1200s, 32 Alpha Spot 575 HPEs, 24 Alpha Wash 1200s and 24 Alpha Wash 575s. On top of these, the rig housed the new Alpha 300 range, with 24 HPEs and 12 Wash lights.

Also featured for effect were 24 GLP Impression LED moving heads. These units were even rigged to the automated 45ft cherry pickers just to make things more interesting. The arena side walls were lit with IPIX Big Boy LED floods.

The main set piece (an eight-storey building site scaffolding) was back lit with Studio Due City Colours, while each bay of

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14 March 2016

The Lightspace range comprises three systems - Lightspace Play; Lightspace Design and Lightspace Dance - based on an interactive floor/wall system using 400 sq.mm low-res LED tiles. Each tile contains 4 x 200sq.mm RGB pixels and four pressure sensors, through which the user can interact with the Lightspace surface.

Lee Engineering directors Phil Leedal and Ian Nelson state that the technology fits perfectly within their Education and Special Needs portfolio - a key market for the Lancaster-based company; but there are also systems specific to the entertainment and architectural markets.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Mark Morley, technical production manager for TED AV, comments: "The Artemis was the third Carnival UK Group ship refit we did in 2007. We needed to provide mics for two lounges on The Artemis. One was The International Lounge, which is the main entertainment venue on board. The other was The Horizon Lounge, wrapped around the funnel at the top of the ship, which is more for duos, trios and karaoke nights. That's more of a multi-purpose venue."

In The International Lounge TED installed an eight-way system comprised of four EM3532-U Sennheiser Receivers, four SKM 3072-U handheld mics, nine SK 3063-U beltpacks, ten HSP 4-4-3 radio mics, and four MKE 2-4 Gold lavalier mics routed thro

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14 March 2016

The choirs performed on four consecutive nights in the week leading up to Christmas with viewers eliminating groups as the nights wore on. Lachey's Cincinnati-based choir emerged the winner taking home $250,000 for the Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Lighting designer Greg Brunton was challenged to light more than 40 songs during the course of the shows. "We knew what songs would be performed from night to night only one hour before the show because we didn't know which choirs would be moving on," he explains. "So we had to reformat cues each

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14 March 2016

With this in mind, the Academy has decided that Jörg Pöhler and Rüdiger Kleinke from Ottec Technology GmbH should receive a Technical Achievement Award (Academy Certificate) for the design and development of the battery-operated series of fog machines known as Tiny-Foggers. Their work was one of ten Scientific and Technical achievements honoured by the Academy this year from a short-list of 25.

Among the motion pictures which have employed the Tiny-Fogger are Spider-Man 3, I Now Pronounce Yo

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14 March 2016

The new storage facility is situated in Croespenmaen, near Blackwood in Caerphilly which is situated close to the M4 just 40 minutes drive from the company's head office in Avonmouth. The storage facility is situated on a large mixed usage estate and potentially another half million square feet is available if required in the future.

This year Stage Electrics supplied 13 temporary ice rinks in the UK and Ireland including rinks of 850m2 in Manchester, 810sq.m in Brighton, 600sq.m in Cambridge, 450sq.m in Huddersfield, 325sq.m at Marwell Zoo and for the third year Gloucester's rink, two rinks in Bristol, a 600sq.m rink in Tralee, Ireland and an artificial rink at Earls Court at the Boat Show.

Gordon Wells, head of finance at Stage

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14 March 2016

Steven Ward comments: "Steedsy and I had worked together 20 years ago, before both going on to having successful businesses within the entertainment industry. However, we had both been dabbling in sound hire and kept up with developments in technology. Following on from a meeting over a year ago we decided to form a professional sound & light hire company.

"After a trip to PLASA, we set our sights on a Funktion One system. There was an obvious gap in the market for Funktion One in Cent

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14 March 2016

"In a concert hall of this calibre, with its truly exceptional natural acoustics, there are limitations on what can be done in terms of sound reproduction," says Klaus-Peter Groß, Berlin Philharmonic Hall's audio engineer.

Provided by Berlin-based Werner Audi, the completed system is a multi-faceted design that creates natural imaging localising two sound sources. A centre array of 12 M1D ultra-compact curvilinear array loudspeakers is augmented by five UPJunior ultracompact Vario loudspeakers, which provide the source point imaging. A second array of five M

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14 March 2016

The latest revival of the show, starring newcomer Lee Mead, takes place at the West End's Adelphi Theatre, and features the work of award-winning sound designer Mick Potter, who created a Meyer Sound loudspeaker system provided by London-based audio equipment sales and rental company Orbital Sound.

The main system for the Adelphi Theatre performances features 12 Meyer Sound M'elodie loudspeakers per side, along with four 600-HP and four 700-HP subwoofers per side.

"Working on a show like Joseph is quite different from a typical pop concert," says Potter, a veteran of West End and Broadway pro

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14 March 2016

Manning reports: "The principal reason we've upgraded all our generic heads to intelligent units is for health and safety reasons. The whole industry has a duty to improve working conditions and to reduce the risk of accidents wherever possible."

ETC's luminaires product manager Tom Littrell adds: "The Source Four is the most efficient tungsten luminaire for entertainment, given its high performance lamp and a dichroic ellipsoidal reflector which pushes more light out of the front and heat out of the back. This means a 750W Source Four is as bright as a 1200W unit with

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14 March 2016

Popular television series are providing an unexpected and welcome bonus for all involved in the touring business. The latest to go out on the road is Strictly Come Dancing which is proving an excellent showcase for the industry's creative teams and products.

In the events diary, The ARC Show, the RIBA-accredited business event for those involved in architectural, retai

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14 March 2016

Codex Audio had used the original fP Series amplifiers for many years. When Lab.gruppen released FP+, Codex's David "Lofty" Lockhart was keen to try them out. "My first question was, 'Can Lab.gruppen really make a better amp than the fP?'" observed Lockhart. "The answer has got to be a resounding YES - FP+ amplifiers are even better. We think FP+ is a real step forward in amplifier technology."

LMC Audio's Paul Hinkly adds: "We believe that Codex Audio is at the forefront of a new breed of PA company that is success

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14 March 2016

The Solar Roofs were utilised for Elton John's The Captain and The Kid tour followed by Sydney's Big Day Out event, where the 2008 line rocked with Rage Against The Machine, Bjork, Arcade Fire, Carl Cox and many others.

Serious's 22m wide, 12m deep Solar Roof - as used on the Elton gigs - offers 12m of headroom and also featured a 2.4m thrust running its full length. This version of the Roof can support up to 24 tonnes of flown equipment. It was supplied complete with double out-rigged goal post towers standing 9.6m wide and 15m off the deck, facilitating two PA hangs and video screen supports each side.

The tour visited assorted wineries and country houses and was Elton's 12th of the country. Serious worked with

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14 March 2016

Founded in 2000, Gator is the largest case supplier in the entertainment industry, selling more than 80,000 cases per month to 90 countries worldwide. The company has over 2,700 dealers in the USA, and distribution takes place from two large warehouses in Tennessee and Utah with a two day UPS ground shipment to 95% of the USA. Gator has been nominated the NAMM accessory product of the year, winning three of the last four years.

The company has a 400,000sq.ft global manufacturing facility in D

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14 March 2016

Each artist performs two tracks and on the third track, the next artist comes on stage, sings part of the song before taking over to perform their two songs. With so many different acts and styles, it demonstrated the versatility of the MagicQ consoles, say the company.

Every day, the opening sequence of the show included a two-minute drum solo with audio, lighting, video and pyrotechnic all synchronised together using SMPTE timecode. The two MagicQ MQ100 Pro consoles each took a SMPTE feed to ensure perfect synchronisation with a total of 77 different lighting cues fired automatically during the opening sequence.

Ignace d'Haese from Arf & Yes designed the se

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14 March 2016

Lighting director was Jesse Blevins, who also helped with lighting programming and toured with the show. He commented on the decision to go with Martin MACs: "Due to the size of the LED walls and our sub-grid (half of the dates were shed gigs) the lights had to be small enough to fit into some pretty tight spaces but still bright enough to compete with all of the video content.

"The 2K Wash was a nice fit. It also h

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14 March 2016

The sound system was provided by ATK AudioTek with FOH engineers Ron Reaves and Mikael Stewart, while the broadcast audio was supervised by Phil Ramone and Hank Neuberger. New York-based XM Productions/Effanel Music were onsite with their L7 remote truck to create the music mix, facilitated by Music Mixers John Harris and Eric Schilling.

Artists who performed using Audio-Technica's Artist Elite 5000 Series UHF Wireless System, with the AEW-T5400 handheld microphone/transmitter and AEW-R5200 true diversity frequency-agile dual receiver, included Morris Day and The Time in a performance with Rihanna; Kanye West; an all-star gospel revue featuri