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USA - After a hiatus of several years, TMB has officially been reappointed exclusive US distributor of W-DMX products. The global distributor will represent Wireless Solution for the architectural, entertainment production, staging, and film/TV markets.

"The reliable and dependable W-DMX wireless systems are an ideal addition to our product line-up," says Stephanie Kilburg, TMB sales manager. "Considered the standard of excellence for Wireless DMX technology - the standard to which others are compared - W-DMX perfectly complements our ProPlex and Solaris ranges, and much more. Cable is obviously an important element of TMB's business, but wireless control is an important tool, necessary and useful to many of our customers. W-DMX is the leader in wireless technology and we're delighted to be part of the ongoing wireless evolution."

For David Ferraz, international business d

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UK - The Theatres Trust has announced that booking is now open for its tenth annual conference: Conference 16: Protecting Theatres (21 June 2016, New London Theatre), a leading event in the Trust's 40th anniversary year.

In this milestone year in the history of the Trust, the conference will examine the state of our nation's theatres and discuss their future. The event will consider the past and present influences on theatre architecture and design; the provision of existing and new theatres in response to city and government devolution; changing demographics; housing delivery and community and audience demand.

The Trust will then look to the future, and the potential for the next 40 years, and ask: What kinds of theatres will we need to build, and how will we find the resources to do so? How should we be asking existing buildings to adapt and change? What impact wi

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USA - A new generation of UV LED lights is not only changing the quality of UV light projection, it's making it easier for designers and production houses to implement UV light into their projects.

Elation Professional offers two new generation UV LED lighting products - the Antari UV Spot 670 and the Antari UV Wash 2000 - each with clear advantages over traditional UV LED lights. Because they use high-quality, medical grade LEDs that emit UV light in the 365nm range, virtually no visible light is emitted from the UV Spot 670 and UV Wash 2000, meaning only the UV reactive material glows and nothing else.

"When lighting for UV you only want the projection surface to glow without seeing any mid-air light," explains Justin Jenkins, owner of Creative Production & Design, one of the first companies to take advantage of the new possibilities in UV lighting after purchasing sever

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UK - After a four-year absence, Copycatsis returning to UK TVscreens and moving light specialist Richard Martin Lighting (RML) is back on hand to help lighting designer Roger Williams with the revamp.

Last aired in 2012, Copycats sees Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes host with two family teams, each of six contestants, battling against each other in a series of games. Each episode consists of a number of rounds, three of which are based on Chinese whispers as well as a variety of physical challenges.

Filmed at BBC Scotland the show has been given a face lift with new opening titles, a new logo and a new set complete with new exciting lighting rig. It features a mix of MAC Auras, Nexus 4x4 Panels and Robin LED 600 Wash units to create a fun and vibrant atmosphere.

"I've used the Nexus 4x4 panels many times," says Roger Williams. "I love them, they're stylish, ver

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Europe - Production company Showlab has worked with rap duo Madcon - known for hits such as Glow, Don't worry and Beggin both in their native Norway and across Europe - for a number of years, supplying both crew and kit. Their European tour, which kicked off earlier in the year, took advantage of a new console set up for both Front of House and monitors, with DiGiCo S21s now residing at both positions.

"I was interested in trying something new for the 2016 Madcon tour," says FOH engineer Borre Leinebo. "I first saw the DiGiCo S21 at ProLight+Sound in 2015, and I thought that it would be a great console for Madcon. Touring everything from smaller venues to larger festivals, a console with a small footprint was what we needed. Despite its small size, the S21's two touchscreens make it really easy to figure out and navigate, and the sound quality is huge."

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UK - Merlin Entertainments has chosen Illuminate Design to work with their Technical Show-AV department to carry out a range of upgrades to both the London Eye 4D Cinema Experience and Sea Life London Aquarium's new Penguin Point attraction.

The 4D Cinema Experience received new technical infrastructure throughout the pre-show area to enable the creative team to develop a more immersive experience from start to finish. A custom relay rack was developed in conjunction with David Cattrell from Eaton lighting systems that provide 48 channels of 32A DMX controlled relay switching.

Within the cinema itself, on top of the infrastructure package, Illuminate Design chose Chauvet Illuminarc Ilumipod Logic TRI-4 as house lighting, enabling the fixtures to be integrated with the video content.

Penguin Point, Sea Life London Aquarium's new home for their Gentoo penguin colony, has

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Sweden - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest has come and gone once again, but not without setting a whole host of firsts, one of which was the biggest international audience to date to witness the acclaimed TourPro LightSky Aquabeam.

Supplied by Litecom, 67 Aquabeam fixtures were used to illuminate the high-tech stage and interior of the Globe Arena in Stockholm.

The production featured the work of technical director Ola Melzig, with lighting design by Fredrik J

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USA - The Indy 500 celebrated its 100th anniversary in dramatic fashion as rookie driver Alexander Rossi coasted to a victory after his car ran out of gas near the end of the race. Rossi may have been running on empty when he crossed the finish line, but there was plenty of fuel left in the tanks of the high octane lightshows that Collyns Stenzel created for the three concerts that took place in conjunction with the race.

Using a collection of COLORado fixtures from Chauvet Professional, Stenzel drenched the stage in rich bold colours on Friday for the Carb Day concert by Journey. On Saturday he reconfigured his truss, but used the same fixtures to colorize the Legend Day concert stage for Blake Shelton. On Sunday he moved to a different spot on the Indianapolis 500 grounds to light the Snake Pit EDM fest featuring Shrillex, Zeds Dead, Martin Garrix and DJ Mustard.

"It was

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USA - Hughston Engineering, which offers full-service solutions for events, trade shows, conventions and out-door events, has become a Behind the Scenes Pledge-a-Product Partner.

Hughston Engineering has pledged a percentage of the profits from sales of their Male and Female SOCAPEX Cable Testers to support the charity. The Female Tester features an Edison input, rotary dial for each circuit, 20A circuit breaker, and 6 indicator lights while the Male Tester includes a continuity tester and 6 indicator lights. All of Hughston Engineering's products are made in-house by IATSE Local 16 employees. All products are rigorously tested to ensure the utmost quality and they are an ETL-Listed shop.

Upon announcing the pledge, Lance Hughston, Sr. stated, "I want to support Behind the Scenes because they are a great organization that helps a lot of stagehands when they can't work and

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Guatemala - Empire Music Festival, Guatemala's biggest electronic and alternative music celebration, recently completed its two-day run in Guatemala City.

Over 15,000 festival-goers descended on the four stages set up at Finca El Jocotillo to see performances by a wide range of artists, which ran the gamut from Incubus, Zedd, and Café Tacuba to Skrillex and Paul Van Dyk. Artists and fans alike enjoyed quality sound provided by a robust professional sound system drawn from D.A.S. Audio's Aero Series 2 catalogue.

Guatemalan sound company Blessure, with Alan Mejia at the helm, was called in to handle the sound for the festival. D.A.S. Audio Systems engineer Vicent Olucha made the trip from Spain and was also on hand to help the Blessure team set up and adjust the small army of D.A.S. systems deployed for the event.

The hard-hitting performances that took to the EMF

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The Netherlands - Grafisch Lyceum is an independent vocational college in central Rotterdam, Netherlands, specializing in the fields of media, design and technology. It was founded in 1950 as a printing college and has moved with the times, now offering over 40 different courses and programmes for creative industries - which also includes a three-year technical theatre course.

The already excellent training facilities for the theatre course have recently been boosted with the purchase of 20 x Robe DL4X Spots and 20 x LEDWash 300s which are being utilized for teaching on all the course's Lighting modules.

The 250 or so technical theatre students - it's the largest such course in the Netherlands - also benefit from being able to use the TV broadcast and recording studios provided for those on the media and communications and music technology courses.

Additionally, there'

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UK - As of this month, June, the 21 employees of Black Light Ltd, based in the Granton area of Edinburgh, own the business in which they work.

Founder Gavin Stewart, sold 80% of his company to the staff as a first step towards his eventual exit of the business. In choosing employee ownership, Gavin hopes to ensure the business remains in Edinburgh, and continues to deliver a brilliant service to the company's clients and vendors. To mark the occasion, Gavin gave each member of staff a teddy, asking them to care for the company as much as he had over the years.

Gavin started the business in 1983, as a mobile DJ, known as Black Vinyl, for student unions and various functions. Soon, the company diversified into lighting solutions. Now the company is renowned for its innovative approach to the design and delivery of sound, light and audio visual installations across a variety

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UK - The PLASA Show (18-20 September) has begun its run-up to the 2016 event with the opening of online visitor registration and the announcement that this year's highly valued PLASA Awards for Innovation is now open for nominations. This year the PLASA Show will make the highly popular move back to the heart of West London, in its former September timeline, and reintroducing the show party, which will take place at a venue on King's Road on the Monday night. Full details of PLASA 2016's industry-leading Seminar Programme will be launched soon hosting topics from world-class designers, production teams and consultants involved with some of the world's best known venues, prolific tours and major global entertainment and sporting events taking place this year.

The Rigging Conference will run alongside the PLASA Show on Monday 19th September. With the opening key-note from well-k

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UK - PLASA members enjoyed an informative backstage tour of the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 24th of May. Elizabeth Scott's iconic 1932 cinema-style Royal Shakespeare Theatre has been transformed in recent years and, with the intimacy offered by a thrust stage auditorium, is now the perfect environment for performing the works of Shakespeare to audiences of today. Following a welcome to the venue by RSC deputy technical director, Peter Bailey, members were invited to tour with Jeremy Dunn, head of RSC sound or Vince Herbert, head of lighting and inventor of the RSC Lightlock. A demonstration on the day showed why this product won the first ever Gold Innovation Award at the 2008 PLASA Show. The team from the RSC were joined by representatives from PLASA members, Stage Electrics (systems integrator) and Charcoal Blue (theatre consultants), who had in-depth

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USA - At InfoComm 2016, Barco has unveiled its 'digital media canvas' - a LED screen technology that's radically different than traditional LED displays. Thanks to their thin, lightweight, and bendable design, the R-series attach easily to virtually any surface - especially on curved surfaces, says the company.

The R-series frees customers from the limitations of traditional LED displays when digitizing their visual communication. Currently offered with a 10 mm pixel pitch, the outdoor-rated R10 is the first model of the digital media canvas family that's being introduced, and it will be shipping from Q3 2016 onwards.

"Venue owners, advertisers, and retailers are faced with the ever-challenging task of catching the attention of consumers and visitors. With our revolutionary R-series digital media canvas, we free designers from the limitations of traditional LED displays, m

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Sweden - Nearly 70 multi-featured TourPro LightSky AquaBeam fixtures filled Stockholm's Globe Arena with light at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 grand final, which reached official global viewing figures of 204m.

Fredrik J

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USA - Danley will add its hometown football team to the long and growing list of sports stadiums using Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers. The Atlanta Falcons are currently building the 75,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which will feature a "pinwheel-shaped" retractable roof, the world's largest LED screen, and a truly massive distributed Danley Jericho Horn and BC-218 subwoofer sound reinforcement system.

"The Falcons headquarters is five minutes from my house, and I've been a lifelong fan," enthused Danley president and CEO, Mike Hedden. "We have had a relationship with the Falcons for several years so when the new stadium was first being discussed we gave them an outdoor demo at a community event that blew them away in terms of volume, clarity, and musicality. We were later asked by the Falcons to come up with a design for the new stadium that, when compared to the other p

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USA - For its fifth year, Sunset Music Festival took over the grounds of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium and continues to break records. Since the festival's inception in 2011, attendance has increased with ticket sales surpassing 30,000 for 2016. Sunset Music Festival has become the destination electronic dance music festival for central Florida. EDM fans from around the state, country and the world converged on the gulf town to enjoy over 60 artists across three stages during the two-day event held Memorial Day weekend.

2016 marks the second year that AG Production Services has been relied upon to provide production support for the festival. For all three of the stages that make up the festival, AG Production Services provided the staging, roofing, lighting and video systems.

Production and lighting designer Koen De Puysseleir from AG Production Services was tasked with

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Estonia - The multi-functional Paide Kultuurikeskus, located in the middle of Estonia, opened to the public in December 1987. In recent years, this cultural centre has undergone significant improvements to its facilities to maintain its status as a national landmark, all the while retaining its original and distinctive 1980s design features. The latest development phase incorporated the installation of a series of ETC ColorSource PAR luminaires.

The venue is home to a number of flexible spaces, designed to accommodate a variety of cultural and entertainment events. The 529-seat main hall serves as a cinema, as well as a space for theatrical and musical performances. Other facilities include a spacious foyer for exhibitions, a dance studio, a ballroom, several classrooms, and a small hall suitable for concerts and seminars.

The most recent improvement project involved an up

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Romania - Leading live electronic music festival, Electric Castle, will provide 100,000 festival-goers with high tech RFID wristbands for fast and secure entry through the event gates and camping sites. The RFID wristbands will also be used as "digital wallets" for guests to make speedy purchases for all food, drink and merchandise on-site, making for a pain-free and seamless experience.

This year's Electric Castle is a fully cashless festival, delivering benefits to guests including significantly reduced queue times, increased convenience and enhanced security. Electric Castle takes place from 14-17 July in the grounds of B

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Saint Lucia - David 'Gurn' Kaniski had his rig for the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival main stage all set up when he was given the bad news - 15 of the ÉPIX Strip Tours at the heart of his design were blocking a path that (unbeknownst to the LD) had been designated for equipment load-ins. "They told me I had to remove the 15 strips," said Kaniski. "My response was, 'You got to be kidding!' Running the strips to follow the stage's dome was at the heart of my design."

It was then that Kaniski discovered a valuable feature about the pixel mappable LED strips from Chauvet Professional. ""The ÉPIX has this cool slide adjustment that allowed me to hang the strip off centre in order to clear the door way," he said. "Using this feature, I could keep the 15 strips in place and preserve my look without obstructing that pathway."

The crisis-averting sliding feature w

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Japan - Situated in Hakata city, the Hakataza Theatre in the Fukuoka Prefecture - one of the most famous musical theatres in Japan - has been renovated after 16 years in order to meet complex acoustical demands for events such as Kabuki, Musicals and Theatrical shows.

Several premium systems were trialled over a nearly five-year period before Martin Audio's MLA family was given approval. As a result, 11 elements of MLA Compact are hung left and right of the proscenium along with DSX sub, and eight MLA Mini have been deployed as an L/C/R centre cluster.

To cover the remaining areas (including under-balcony) a further 73 Martin Audio DD6 have been specified.

The sound engineer, Mr Noguchi from Music Reserve inc, stated, "Our top priority is delivering perfect sound to the entire audience. In Hakataza Theatre we have to cater for many kinds of programme and in the past we

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UK - When Mariah Carey kicked off her Sweet Sweet Fantasy world tour at the SSE Arena in Glasgow, Colin Luke, senior project manager at Load Cell Rental was requested by the tour's production manager Ian Kinnersley to complete a full weight report of the rig. In order to do this effectively, Colin relied on BroadWeigh.

"We were in contact with the Mariah production team from an early stage. In order to prove due diligence in terms of ascertaining actual weights as opposed to relying on calculations, Ian brought Load Cell Rental on board to weigh the entire rig", said Colin. "To do this we used 52 BroadWeigh wireless cells - a cell for each point. From this we were then able to complete a certificate for each individual truss which detailed the equipment used, the recorded weight from the cell and a detailed description of the load."

Load Cell Rental is receiving an increas

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