Business

Details
UK - The most creative and experimental use of new generation products is often found at the hands of indie/dance production designers. This has been proven recently by Rob Stanley, of ZEROdB Live, who has been using the entire inventory of 44 SGM XC-5 LED strobes newly purchased by Haydn Cruickshank's Colour Sound Experiment (CSE).

Formed three and a half years ago, and famed for their work in the Drum 'n' Bass and more experimental corporate sectors, ZEROdB Live have continually been placing SGM's low-profile, high output platform on their "dream kit list" for gigs since they became part of the CSE stock.

The XC-5 RB strobes debuted on ZEROdB Live gigs at Mint Festival, Leeds and award winning Hospitality Brixton in September. "They have not been off our kit list since," confirms Stanley. "We do BIG shows, and the XC-5's are right on the money."

Details
- Alan Titchmarsh is back with a new series of his ITV tea-time chat show. Roger Williams designs the lighting show, with equipment provided by Richard Martin Lighting (RML).

To enhance the warm and homely feel of the set, Williams' specification consists of Alpha Spot 575, Alpha Spot 300, Martin MAC Aura, James Thomas PixelPar 90s and LED Par cans.

In each daily episode, Alan approaches topical news and debates. He also cooks meals with resident and celebrity chefs, chats to celebrity guests and enjoys music numbers.

(Jim Evans)

Details
China - Located at number nine Yuancun Yiheng Road in the Tianhe district of Guangzhou, the Higher People's Court of Guangdong Province is one of the highest appellate courts in China. A typical commercial case heard here would sit in judgement over disputes in excess of three hundred million Renmimbi (approximately €3.70m). It also presides over cases from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau; most famously being the venue for the renowned Apple and Shenzhen Proview iPad trademark dispute.

"When the authorities to the Judiciary determined the court's PA system required renovation they set higher definition and intelligibility as immutable goals," said Mr. Long Po of integrators Acejet (Group) Technology Co. Ltd.

This was to be no easy task, the floor and walls of the courtroom are marble clad and reverberation is high; multiple gooseneck microphones with high input gain mak

Details
UK - Night arrivals at Edinburgh airport over the festive season will have seen a stunning example of Black Light's capabilities. To help kick-start the recent re-branding of the airport, the company's technicians installed an array of LED luminaires to colour the control tower purple, turning it into a striking new night-time landmark for the city.

"The project was designed for the airport's recent re-branding and was carried out on behalf of the award-winning design company Speirs + Major," explains Dave Moffat, one of Black Light's event project managers who oversaw the temporary installation. "We used an array of equipment from Robe's CitySkape range to create the stunning effect the airport wanted. It was a great project to work on and its success highlights our expertise with LED technology and our dedication to deliver the artistic vision of our clients.&qu

Details
UK - Point Source Productions Ltd, the London-based hire company, has started the new year by investing in over £250,000 of new hire stock, expanding its inventory with equipment from manufacturers such as Chroma Q, Clay Paky, ETC, GDS and Selecon.

The investment comes on the back of an extremely successful year in 2012 for the company as it supplied events surrounding the multiple celebrations in and around the capital.

"The high-profile sporting and royal events - and the various spin-offs generated by them - during the summer kept us busy and has enabled us to expand our stock in readiness for what is promising to be a very busy 2013," says Point Source Productions' MD, Stephen Capel.

"We decided to increase our moving light stock by delving into the impressive Clay Paky catalogue and have invested in the Alpha Spot HPE 700 profiles and A.Leda K10 was

Details
UK - West Midlands-based video and production specialist Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) designed and built a high-impact interactive walk-in video effect for a large company party in Bristol at Motion nightclub - and also supplied video, media servers, content and projection equipment.

CPL was working for the event producers Bright Productions who commissioned the walk-in effect which was designed and engineered by CPL's project manager Nick Diacre.

It utilised 60 VersaTube LED battens, a Pandora's Box media server with customised html5 code and an iPad. The brief was based on the idea that the event became more energised as it filled up with guests, each one contributing to the 'full power' needed to get the party started.

People walked into a raw, stripped-back industrial style area, where each guest placed their hand on one of four iPad stations. A red scanner beam cased

Details
Norway - This year's electrifying Nobel Peace Prize Concert saw Philips Vari-Lite VL3000 Spot luminaires, supplied by Norway's AVAB CAC, star as the power luminaire of choice for respected lighting director Nick Collier.

"The main challenge in lighting this particular show is the variety of performers," explains Collier, who took over lighting design duties from original designer, Al Gurdon. "The design has to bring out the best in Peter Bingemann's excellent set, and allow us the ability to deliver a unique look to each of the tracks. To this end, the VL3000 Spot is the obvious candidate. It has a very bright lamp, with excellent zoom optics."

American actress Sarah Jessica Parker and Scottish actor Gerard Butler hosted the annual event held at the Spektrum Arena, Oslo while performances came from Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Hudson and Seal amongst others.

T

Details
UK - US-based company Williams Sound, a global designer and manufacturer of wireless communications, has appointed POLARaudio as its exclusive UK distributor. 'Helping People Hear' has been Williams Sound's motto since its formation in 1976 and its success in achieving this aim is manifested in its strong presence in markets from government to houses of worship; from the military to healthcare and entertainment to tour-guiding.

Specialists in radio, audio, infra-red, microprocessor and mechanical design, Williams Sound continue to develop new products that meet the technical requirements of many different countries.

John Midgley, POLARaudio MD comments: "This is an exciting development for POLARaudio as it significantly expands our offer in what is a growing marketplace. Williams Sound is without doubt a heavyweight player in this sector and I foresee a mutually bright fu

Details
Theatre News - Adam Kenwright, managing director of West End marketing agency AKA, has predicted that 2013 will be a "massive year" for London theatre with record audiences and box office. His predictions follow the news that West End long-runner The Lion King reported record box office of more than £38m in 2012.

2012 results for the whole of the West End are expected to be confirmed later this month, but already Kenwright has forecast that the next 12 months will be even better. Results for 2011 saw the West End record all-time high box offices of £528m, although attendance fell by 1.7% to 13.9m.

Kenwright told The Stage, "2013 will be a massive year for London and Theatreland in particular - all our analysis, forecasts and experience confirms that the next 12 months will be record-breaking in every sense. In fact, I am confident that

Details
Lebanon - A large selection of DPA microphones were deployed at the first Gibran National Committee Annual Awards Ceremony, which took place in Beirut to honour and promote distinguished Lebanese innovators.

More than 60 musicians, 40 choristers and two presenters took part in the event and every one of them was miked with a DPA microphone.

Sound engineer Roger Bou Farhat, head of Beirut-based rental company Loud N Clear, supplied all of the audio equipment for the Awards ceremony. He says: "I specified DPA microphones because they always deliver fantastic results. As this was a highly prestigious event, the audio had to be first class and I knew that DPA would be up to the challenge."

DPA d:vote 4099 instrument microphones were used to mic the entire orchestra and also the Guy Manukian band, which performed at the ceremony. For the band's piano, high hat and orien

Details
Germany - Bosch Communications Systems once again invited international distribution partners to its annual in-house trade fair (Hausmesse) in Straubing, which ran from 16-18 January. This year, Robert Hesse, vice president sales communication EMEA and managing director of EVI Audio GmbH, and his team welcomed some 150 business partners from Europe, Middle East and Africa. The programme included a business update, best in class presentations, breakouts, product demos and guided tours of the factory and service facility.

Aaron Chisena (product manager Electro-Voice Mobile Audio) and Markus Schmittinger (product marketing manager) previewed a major new loudspeaker line from Electro-Voice -- shortly to be unveiled to the general public -- and the agenda also included, under the theme Growth3, a recap of the products successfully introduced in 2012 and an exegesis of residual growth

Details
Sweden - The largest ski resort in Northern Europe has amplified the lighting and sound experience for its guests, with Technomad advanced audio loudspeakers as the centerpiece.

SkiStar, located in the Åre municipality in northern Sweden, is giving skiers an interactive experience on the slopes with its new high-quality, multi-zone entertainment system. The Technomad loudspeakers, projected by systems integration company Watt & Volt Sverige AB, communicate the history of SkiStar and deliver atmospheric audio in eight locations. Watt & Volt worked alongside project leader Ljusarkitektur AB, which is responsible for the new lighting structure that accompanies the audio system.

The complete, synchronized system delivers a captivating lighting and sound experience to skiers, with audio originated through zoned DMX-controlled MP3 players.

"This is a completely new concept f

Details
Slovenia - Robe is the moving light of choice at the prestigious Cankarjev Dom in Republic Square, Ljubljana, Slovenia, which has over 100 Robe products in its inventory.

Named after writer and playwright Ivan Cankar, the building was designed by leading Slovenian architect Edvard Ravnikar and opened in 1982, complete with a large basement area that is fortified to withstand a nuclear attack!.

It is the largest Slovenian cultural and congress centre and features six venues - the biggest is a 1650 capacity concert hall - plus several galleries and studio spaces. It's both a producing and a receiving venue staging a wide variety of shows, events all year round, from opera to dance, popular music to choral, orchestra to drama ... and everything in between.

Sometimes there are multiple shows a day, and up to 15 different performances a week is not unusual during the busy periods

Details
USA - Opened in late 2012, ArcLight Cinemas' newest location in La Jolla, California, offers patrons "the ultimate movie-going experience with ArcLight Wide Screen, a state-of-the-art auditorium concept". The premium theatre features a 50-foot curved screen, 3D-capable 4K projection, and immersive Dolby Atmos audio reproduced through a Meyer Sound system based on the Acheron screen channel loudspeakers.

"At ArcLight we offer a wide variety of programming, ranging from the newest Hollywood blockbusters to art house films and cult favorites," says Joe Miraglia, ArcLight's director of design, construction, and facilities. "To introduce our 'Wide Screen' concept, we selected Meyer Sound to power our Dolby Atmos auditorium to ensure that our guests will experience precise and realistic sound, exactly as the filmmakers intended."

The Dolby Atmos format

Details
Switzerland - Barco has confirmed Baranday as its distribution partner in Switzerland for Barco's projection and image processing products. Thanks to this new partnership Swiss resellers, system integrators and others will enjoy easier access to Barco's extensive projection product line and support services.

Barco and Baranday have built up a strong, successful relationship since 2006: the Swiss AV expert has been providing the local rental and staging market with Barco products for all those years. Signing this new agreement, Baranday will now also become the official Swiss distributor of projection products and image processing products for fixed installs, offering resellers, system integrators and mid-sized rental companies access to Barco's full range of projection and image processing products for business and events applications.

The new agreement with Baranday perfectly

Details
Kenya - The Turbosound Flex Array loudspeaker system has helped to make the fourth annual Nairobi Rock Fest a storming success, says the company. The festival, which takes place in the Kenyan capital, was headlined by African rockers Skinflint.

"Flex Array has become a firm favourite for us here in Kenya as it allows our engineers and guest engineers to concentrate on getting bands to sound right, and not have to spend time setting up the front of house. It delivers no compromises on punch and clarity - especially vocals - and everyone who attends functions when we are in the chair comments on how powerful and clear the sound is," comments Ed Williams of EdTheMix, Turbosound distributor and local hire supplier for the region. "We deployed four TFA-600H three-way mid/highs a side; over three TSW-218 dual 18" subwoofers. The trusty TQ-445s provided apron-fill,

Details
USA - Bandit Lites had the privilege of lighting the 31st Annual Texaco Country Showdown, the nation's largest and longest running country talent search. The event took place at The Ryman Auditorium on 17 January and was hosted by singer/songwriter Jewel.

California band Poor Man's Poison, one of five finalists, triumphed over the competition, which included Kassie and Ben, The Brothers Roberson, Deidre Thornell and Kate and Corey. The winning act was selected by a group of industry executives and artists, and was awarded a Grand Prize of $100,000.

Lighting designer Mark Carver has provided the lighting design for the contest for several years, and has become adept at transforming The Ryman. Parts of a circular truss, made up of two arch trusses, created a twin circular look over the stage. VL 2500s and Coemar Halos were hung over the stage, while Bandit GRN fixtures washed th

Details
The Netherlands - Christie will be running free seminars on their stands at ISE (Hall1, stands H40, H46 and H50). The seminars, given by Christie's product management team based in Kitchener, Ontario will focus on three frequently discussed display applications.

On 29th January, John Stark, senior director of collaborative visual solutions will speak about content control and management across remote workspaces. 30th January sees Christie address wi-fi standards and projection technology in corporate environments with an address by George Tsintzouras, senior director product management of business products.Both seminars will be delivered in English, last approx. 30 minutes and anyone interested should arrive at the Christie on-stand reception five minutes before the designated start time.

29 / 12.30 -Content Management across remote workspaces

30 /10.00 - Wi-fi standards and

Details
UK - Working with lighting designer, Petter Skramstad, PRG have provided an innovative lighting system to feature at the Topman/BFC show for Family Productions.

As part of London Collection Men's Fashion week, Topman's show took place at The Old Sorting Office in New Oxford Street.

The space featured a creative curved design with a 100m catwalk that weaved around the venue, designed by 42 Architects. PRG's Loz Wilcox, provided over 100 Chromlech Jarag fixtures, which in a break from their traditional use as a dynamic eye candy effect, were suspended above the catwalk and used as the primary lighting fixture for the collection. The luminaires were suspended from a piece of custom rolled barrel stipulating the line of the catwalk around the venue.

Continuing with the curved theme, the walls surrounding the audience were bespoke backlit cycloramas using 36 ColorBlaze 48's and 7

Details
Abu Dhabi - When Gearhouse Broadcast's Projects Solutions Division was awarded the contract to build a series of interconnecting Flyaway Pods, for satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting's coverage of Formula 1 motor racing, they asked Showforce to provide crew for the project.

The Flyaway Pods featured a series of portable cabins linked together, containing the servers, audio facilities and all the technical equipment needed to support the production. Showforce was appointed to assist with the installation and breakdown at some of the more remote and challenging circuits. Initially Showforce utilised their strong presence in the Middle East to deliver quality crew members for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Following on from the success in Bahrain, Showforce was then asked to assist with the Grand Prixs in India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil. For the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix they were on

Details
UK - Celebrations erupt across the globe as one by one major cities and capitals welcome in the New Year. As the Great Clock of Westminster edges ever closer to midnight the anticipation and expectations of the Mayor of London's New Year's Eve Firework Display grips the awaiting crowd, as quarter of a million revellers line the Thames and her bridges. The amazing eleven minute display of pyrotechnics and lighting brought to an end a historic year for the UK events industry in 2012.

With over a decade of experience in supplying this event, Stage Electrics was again commissioned by the display producer, Jack Morton Worldwide - the global brand experience agency, to supply all the production lighting and crew to help ensure this iconic event's success. Lighting designer Durham Marenghi provided a stunning and original design for the show utilising a myriad high output fixtures from

Details
UK - The ABTT Theatre Show is increasing exhibition floor space by some 50% and introducing more facilities for both exhibitors and visitors for 2013. Following the successful transfer of the show to The Old Truman Brewery in 2012, the event will now be staged there in three interconnected exhibition halls and run in conjunction with a comprehensive seminar programme. Everything connected with theatre will be on show, making the ABTT 2013 Theatre Show, 12-13 June, an essential place to be for everyone involved in theatre and an event not to miss, say the organisers.

Show director Roger Fox, announcing the expansion of the ABTT Theatre Show 2013 said, "We are literally turning the show around this year and making use of the large, welcoming entrance hall at the other end of the Truman Brewery building. The new entrance, off Dray Walk, provides direct access down to a new spa

Details
Sweden - Experienced Swedish lighting designer Henrik Lundin is discovering that SGM's new X-5 LED strobes are making an increasingly powerful contribution to his show designs.

A member of the successful Stockholm-based company Satellite Live, since touring with eight of the new white strobes from the newly set-up SGM Sweden (headed by Mikael Uddh), he has never looked back.

One of the latest dance extravaganzas to undertake an extensive club tour with the strobes has been electro/hip hop group Maskinen (The Machine). "Because we were often visiting clubs with limited access to power, the X-5, with its low power draw when compared with the traditional energy hungry xenon sources, became a natural choice," he says.

The X-5 is not only a high-efficiency white LED strobe but its astonishing power is harnessed in an extremely compact form factor. By combining LED techn

Details
UK - A lucky student from Birmingham's top creative, digital and performing arts academy has landed the opportunity of a lifetime; lighting the stage at the star-studded BRIT Awards ceremony.

Devante Benjamin, 17, from Birmingham fought off tough competition to join two students from London's BRIT school to work alongside some of the best in the business; preparing, installing, operating and de-rigging lighting equipment at the high profile event hosted by James Corden at London's 02 Arena next month.

Currently in Year 13 studying Production Arts at Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA), Devante has already had the chance to work on a number of high profile events including the Olympic and Paralympic opening ceremonies.

He said: "I've been lucky enough to get the opportunity to work on a lot of really exciting projects during my time at BOA, but this will be the biggest by

  1. Vari-Lite luminaires give Elbow a leg-up
  2. LMC Audio hosts Sennheiser training days
  3. Rycote in collaboration with Røde
  4. DiGiCo awards its Olympic winners
  5. Siyan invests in more Robe MMX Spots
  6. TiMax2 SoundHub installed at NYC centre
Page 1458 of 1813

Latest Issue. . .