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Visual Productions, which specialises in lighting control products including hardware solutions and cross-platform software lighting control for Mac, Windows, and Linux, will be showing its CueCore Solid-State Control, aimed at addressing the issue of maintenance in installations.

Maintenance required to keep the lighting and its control system working well over time, observes the company, must be keep to a minimum in an installation. In many, the computer proves to be the weakest link and is the main cause for maintenance - including instances such as a broken fan, dust on the heatsink or a defective power supply. However, with CueCore as part of an installation, no computer is required.

The CueCore is a lighting controller for permanent installations in museums, themed venues, parks, architectural lighting projects, bars, clubs and other projects.

The device is completely solid-s

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Exhibiting its growing range of stage lighting control products, Avolites brings to PLASA 2011 its expansive Titan Range and the production launch of the Sapphire Touch.

The Sapphire Touch has undergone significant aesthetic enhancements and employs the newest technology available. It combines twin multi-touch screens with 45 motorized touch sensitive faders and an Optical trackball with Z axis ring, affording designers faster control of complex fixtures.

In addition, the company adds, the Titan Mobile "heralds a new dawn of compact world-class lighting control consoles". Ideal for designers on the move, this lightweight console brings all the Avolites experience and quality to an affordable level and has been used on tour with the likes of Fat Boy Slim and Groove Armada.

These latest innovations incorporate Avolites' fully integrated Titan Operating System, which feature

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Rose Bruford College will be featuring its two innovative new programmes in Performance Sound and Creative Lighting Control. These three-year BA programmes are unique in Higher Education, and with two year's of graduates working in the industry, says the college, they are already making their mark.

BA (Hons) Performance Sound reflects the growing importance of sound in every field of performance - from theatre to music concerts, from sports events to dance, and from site-specific installation to radio drama. The programme combines sound design, technology and operation, with a strong emphasis on live production, and has recently attracted the support of key players in the audio industry, including sponsorship by Harman Pro Group UK in the shape of a Soundcraft VI-1 digital mixer.

BA (Hons) Creative Lighting Control has been created in response to rapidly growing industry demand for s

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SPOTLIGHT SRL is to launch a new LED fresnel luminaire at PLASA 2011, the AR 12 LED 100 CW Z. The compact luminaire, the latest addition to Spotlight's Sintesi range, has a quoted power consumption of 100W power for a light output of 8,000 lumens.

The fixture is available in Cool, Warm and Natural white versions, and the company underlines the quality of the materials used and its pursuit of simplicity, design efficiency and optimisation of the internal airflow.

A very wide 9°-85° zoom also suits the fixture to floodlight lighting, a feature that broadens its appeal to TV studios. Like its companions at the top end of the Sintesi range the unit is completely noiseless, and features both a built-in DMX dimmer and manual light adjustment through a potentiometer.

Supplied accessories include a colour frame, barn-doors which provide a perfect cut and a solid but lightweight sus

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PLASA 2011 will see Elation Professional launch its new Platinum Wash LED Zoom, which features some of the company's latest technologies in a powerful, compact, energy-efficient DMX moving head LED color wash with a built-in zoom.

Featuring a 300-watt Quad Color LED system and built on Elation's space-saving Platinum base, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom offers brilliant RGBW colors in a trimmed-down fixture that the company says is as ideal for concerts and stages as it is for churches and theatrical applications.

Powered by 30 x 10-watt RGBW CREE LEDs, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom, says Elation, produces an output comparable to a 575-watt discharge moving head, yet drawing only 360W at maximum use, offering notable energy savings over fixtures with conventional lamps. The LED source emits 1,672 lux / 155 foot-candles at 16 feet (4.8m) - for a bold, bright wash in any color. Elation adds t

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Out Board will preview iPad and iPhone apps developed to control the TiMax2 SoundHub mix matrix, playback server and audio show control matrix. Simple factory-default setups are user-configurable, and a custom programming service provides bespoke GUIs specifically tailored to individual systems and sound effects control projects.

Also on demonstration will be the new S-Version software features for the TiMax2 SoundHub - the PanSpace effects map and TimeLine Editor for in-depth sound-effects programming, featuring multi-channel waveform-based editing, looping, panning, volume profiling and versatile show control trigger management. TiMax2 SoundHub is a scaleable mix-engine, sound effects playback server and delay-matrix platform which offers up to 64 channels of analogue or AES I/O - with MADI, Ethersound, CobraNet and Dante networking options - in a single compact 2U chassis.

It will

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The Show Translations closed caption system uses the latest technology to deliver real-time captioning, in a wide selection of languages for the hearing impaired, increasing the accessibility of theatre productions and fulfilling the theatre's commitment to corporate responsibility.

Using a high reliability wireless network, the system delivers captions for the performance to full colour, widescreen personal handsets. The captions are updated automatically over the network, so all the theatregoer has to do is select the language of their choice, sit back and enjoy the show. An operator in the theatre controls the system, so the captions are always synchronised with the performance.

Unlike traditional theatre captioning, the system is designed to eliminate any distractions to other audience members. The screen is black, and the brightness of the captions carefully controlled to avoid

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Martin Professional will launch its new EC-10 high performance, true 10 mm pixel pitch LED display panel at PLASA 2011. The EC-10 teams with Martin's EC-20 to form a fully compatible EC family of LED displays that can be mixed and matched for ultimate design creativity.

Featuring the same award-winning, lightweight and cable-free design for rapid deployment, the EC-10 is 100% compatible with the EC-20 in terms of color, setup, curving, and control and processing, even accessories, allowing for seamless, mixed resolution visuals in one system.

Using high efficiency Nichia LEDs, the EC-10 offers visual performance at the highest level. Pinpoint 48-bit color processing ensures uncompromised color depth at any brightness setting. Each pixel is color and brightness calibrated for maximum color and brightness uniformity and consistency from pixel to pixel and panel to panel.

High brightn

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USA - FocusTrack, the production lighting documentation system, has been chosen to create a record of the lighting on another hit Broadway show: the new musical Sister Act. The show is now playing at New York's Broadway Theatre after a successful run in London.

FocusTrack was specified by production electrician Michael Pitzer to document Tony Award-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz's work on the show. Pitzer has previously used the software on The Addams Family and the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. On Sister Act, the software took the information from the show's grandMA console, programmed by Hillary Knox, and identified more than 1600 lamp-focus positions across the show's 125 moving lights - an average of over 12 positions per light.

With the lighting complete, Pitzer organised a focus plot session where he connected FocusTrack t

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UK - Dealers and customers were treated to a fashion show with a difference at the recent John Deere 2011 new product launch which was held in the majestic setting of Thrumpton Hall, just outside Nottingham.

Newark based events and exhibitions specialist, OneBigStar supplied full production and design services for the reveal show which took place in a large saddle span tent in the grounds of the 17th century stately home. With the models weighing in at up to sixteen ton and measuring four metres wide, the event, entitled Setting Directions needed a fair bit of space- and some innovative production.

Guests were seated in a 250 capacity auditorium inside the tent to view technical product presentations on multiple screens given by John Deere staff whilst the new products paraded (or in most cases were driven) past. This was followed by an opportunity for a close up inspec

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UK - One of the south's largest University complexes, the University of the West of England in Bristol called in acoustic design company Munro Acoustics to design and build a new suite of recording studios to serve the expanding audio engineering department.

UWE Music & Multimedia technician, Richard Brown explained that their existing facility lacked isolation and was far too small so they chose Munro because they wanted to be confident of the best possible outcome. "We knew of Munro's reputation and we were not disappointed. In addition to being a good looking design, the new rooms are amazingly well isolated and acoustically perfect for what we needed, " he said. "As well as recording and mixing audio the rooms will be used for film dubbing and other audio applications, giving us complete flexibility."

The complex consists of a main live area which doubl

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Germany - The National Theatre Mannheim is a theatre and opera company with a celebrated history that stretches back centuries. Housing a variety of performance spaces for opera, ballet and theatre, it is also notable for being the oldest local theatre in Germany.

Head of lighting at Mannheim National Theatre is Nicole Berry who has recently overseen the installation of new Martin MAC III Performance moving head fixtures, an innovative high-output luminaire with interleaved framing system.

Used as downlights and front lights in both the 1200-seat opera house and 640-seat theatre, Berry lists a number of features of the MAC luminaire as outstanding, not least the fixture's framing system and sharp projection quality over all four framing blades.

The MAC III Performances were purchased for the National Theatre Mannheim via Werning Theatertechnik of Recklinghausen with service

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Iraq - Local audio company Farasout Negar has completed the design and installation of a PA system for calling Muslims to prayer at the Imam Mousa Kazim Holy Shrine in Kazmein, Iraq.

To achieve 360-degree coverage and very high SPLs, Farasout Negar designed a system based on 16 Community RSH-462 exponential FocusedArray horn systems. Each voice-range RSH-462 utilises four Community M200 ferrofluid-cooled compression drivers mounted to a hand laminated, reinforced composite fibreglass horn-array with a 60 degree horizontal and 20 degree vertical coverage pattern. With a sensitivity of 117dB for 1W at 1 metre and a 750W program power handling capacity the RSH-462 provided the considerable SPL required.

Coverage was achieved by mounting four RSH-462 in each of the shrine's four minarets, at a height of 33m from the ground. Four Lab.gruppen C28:4 four-channel power amplifiers are

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UK - All Star Family Fortunes is now filming its sixth series, presented by Vernon Kay. The ITV show is designed by Dave Davey and supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML).

The lighting rig includes Stage Colour 300, Mac 500 and Mac 600.

The industry standard MAC 600 is a powerful wash light with a CMY colour mixing system, 440° of pan and 306° of tilt and a fast and smooth movement.

Each show, two teams of five family members (headed up by a celebrity captain) go head to head trying to guess the top answers in a series of open ended survey questions given to 100 members of the general public.

(Jim Evans)

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Morocco - Late May saw Morocco's Festival Mawazine - Rhythms Of The World celebrate its 10th anniversary with an event that was bigger and more diverse than ever. Bringing together an eclectic array of artists from across the globe, Sennheiser helped to ensure that every one of a highly varied collection of traditional instruments and vocals was heard in detail.

Festival Mawazine - Rhythms Of The World takes place in the Moroccan capital Rabat and is patronised by the country's King Mohammed VI. Featuring live concerts, street shows, art and creative workshops, it is noted for hosting performances in a wide range of venues.

One venue - the Roman and medieval ruins of Chellah - featured an all-digital audio system, which was the result of close co-operation between Sennheiser France, Sennheiser Global Relations, K-array, Innovason, Rabat-based audio company HLO / TLS and French

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South Africa - ProAudio, distributors of HK Audio in South Africa has announced a restructuring within the HK Audio support base in SA.

A dedicated HK Audio Specialist has been appointed to provide after sales support for the HK Audio brand. Andrew Sorrill has been in the professional audio industry since 1995, serving various sectors from a sound engineer, audio mixer, audio department manager, advisor and lecturer. He is also a seasoned radio broadcaster.

The HK Audio Specialist will amongst others, provide sound-related advice, on-site quotations and general expertise, product knowledge and information on HK Audio products. Seminars will also be held on audio education as well as selected HK Audio brands.

ProAudio has a large product show room which clients are encouraged to visit to take a listen to the various HK Audio loudspeaker systems for first hand experience. Plan

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PLASA 2011 will see Capture Sweden launch the latest version - 2.6 - of its lighting visualisation software, Capture Polar.

The company says that Capture Polar version 2.6 features significant improvements in the aesthetic qualities of the visualisation, with "new and stunning" smoke and intensity effects. Further steps have been taken, it adds, to ensure that Capture utilizes the power of the designer's computer better, creating "the smoothest design experience ever".

Capture will also be demonstrating the powerful video and material mapping features of Capture Polar version 2.5, which made it possible to integrate the visualisation of virtually any video surfaces or projections with a lighting design.

PLASA 2011 2-R5

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Europe - Tait made important contributions to the record breaking Take That Progress European tour this summer. Production manager Chris Vaughan reports, "This is a very complex production, I gave some specific scenic elements to Tait and having never worked with them before, it's been a good experience and we've both learned from each other."

Tait Towers project manager James Erwin started concept development with Chris Vaughan, Es Devlin, Malcolm Birkett, and Phil Broad four months ahead of the tour, working on three key custom show elements.

The custom B-stage was 40' 6" wide and37' 6" deep, based on Tait's proprietary Mag Deck. Incorporating eight 30"x80" lift decks and one 12'4"x7'11" centre- lift, the stage was designed with maximum use of limited space in mind to store theatrical props used during the show. To maintain clea

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UAE - Dubai based rental, company Spectrum Entertainment Services, has invested in a new in-ear monitor system - Sennheiser's ew 300 IEM G3. Supplied by Sennheiser's UAE distributer Venuetech, the eight channel system includes transmitters, receivers, antenna combiners and omni-directional antennae.

"We were looking for a high quality wireless in-ear monitoring system that can work as eight channels or can be split into two four channel systems," says Julien Beyrouthy, Spectrum Entertainment Services general manager. "We recently used the Sennheiser system on concerts by Shaggy and DOV Amiel and were really pleased with its performance."

The system includes a 42mHz switching bandwidth, five band EQ and data ports for use with Sennheiser's Wireless Systems Manager software.

"Sennheiser IEM systems are now the norm on most stages across the world,"

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UK - Proms in the Park made a welcome return to Bedford Park this year and local sound specialists JAP Sound chose a Roland Systems Group M-480 cascade and REAC solution to take care of the production. The Proms, which took place for one night only in Bedford, saw stars such as Aled Jones and Natasha Marsh performing live alongside the London Gala Orchestra. This year's eventwhich was organized by The Full Effect and attracted a record number of people.

"We chose Roland because it is a scalable package and we have the options of using one or two desks or cascading two desks together - we also have all the Digital Snake stage boxes to choose from- there are so many options that all fit together easily. Once you've set up the desk you just plug in the stage boxes and they find each other - there is no complicated programming required as the desk recognizes each one as you con

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Germany - A Jands Vista I3 console, running the next generation Vista v2 software, was specified by installation artist and lighting designer Fred Pommerehn to control the lighting for a specially commissioned work on display as part of the World Wildlife Fund's Deutschland wird Wald Meister 2011 (Year of the Forest) campaign in Berlin, Germany.

The Year of the Forest initiative is supported by prominent German celebrities, and the launch featured a media conference the day after the installation went live. The lit work became a local and international talking point, as well as a popular attraction enjoyed by press, public and passers by.

The temporary installation - which was in place on the steps of the Konzerthaus in Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt square - featured 26 tree sculptures measuring up to six metres in height, each carefully crafted by Pommerehn usi

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UK - J&C Joel have completed a major installation of stage machinery, rigging systems, acoustic solutions and theatrical textiles in Wales' conservatoire of music and the arts - the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama.

The Welsh College of Music & Drama (RWCMD) provides its students with specialist education and preparation for a career in music, theatre and performing arts.

In June 2011 RWCMD opened a £22.5m performance and rehearsal complex incorporating the 160-seat Richard Burton Theatre and the Dora Stoutzker Concert Hall. In a major installation J&C Joel designed and installed stage machinery and equipment in both venues to help establish them as facilities in which the college's students can perfect and perform their craft.

The Richard Burton Theatre provides teaching space for some of the UK's most exciting young actors and also hosts many of the RWCMD's annua

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Peru - The famous Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. On 7 July this year, it celebrated the 100 year anniversary of its rediscovery by North American adventurer and archaeologist Hiram Bingham. Andrés Cuadros and Guillermo Riera, owners of rental company Red Power, provided a sound and light spectacular for the celebration, with a DiGiCo SD8 digital mixing console being pivotal to the audio design.

With overall direction from Peruvian movie director, Luis Llosa, 200 actors, under the direction of Eduardo San Roman, took part in the show of dance, lights, fireworks and music. A performance from Peruvian singer Tania Libertad was accompanied by the Cusco Symphony Orchestra, directed by Coco Salazar and a rhythm section, made up of drums, keyboards, electric guitar and bass, with Manuel Miranda on wind instruments.

R

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UK - A new trade association for sound designers will be launched at PLASA 2011 next month.

For the last 18 months a group of sound designers have been working to create a new professional association with a series of meetings to discuss what the association should do and how it should work. The meetings were held at the National Theatre, the Royal Court and the Royal Exchange with attendance from over 60 of the country's leading sound designers as well as representatives from hire companies including Autograph, Blitz, Mac Sound and Orbital; manufacturers including d&b audiotechnik and Duran Audio; and educational institutes such as the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Gareth Fry, chair of the newly-elected Board of Trustees of the ASD, said that "the meetings were a great opportunity for a lot of sound designers to meet up, some for the first time, and discuss releva

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  4. Symphony of light in Helsinki
  5. Ron Arad's curtain call at the Roundhouse
  6. Sydney Grammar School takes shape
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