Lighting

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City Theatrical has announced that technical salesperson Brian Byrne has left to join Kingsborough Community College, in Brooklyn, New York, as a media technician. Byrne joined the company in 2000 and played a large part in enabling CTI to win the ESTA Dealers’ Choice Award for Customer Service for 2001. Gary Fails told us: "We’re sorry to see Brian go, but we wish him well as he moves along in his career." Phyllis Newsome and Lorlyn Sia will staff the CTI sales department while a search for Byrne’s replacement is underway.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Proel S.p.A. has established the Proel Lighting division. The operation started with the merging of the lighting manufacturing company M&L s.r.l. of Bellusco (Milan) with Proel S.p.A. This new venture expands the commercial and strategic relations with existing Proel divisions, such as the Sound Reinforcement and the Installation divisions: increased integration with these divisions will allow the company to offer a more comprehensive range of products to the pro audio and lighting market. Product manager of the new Lighting division is Roberto Meggiolaro, major shareholder and founder of M&L.

The official launch of the new division will take place at the Frankfurt Prolight+Sound (13-17 March), Hall 4.1 Stand F31. Following this, the company will be further promoting its Lighting division at SIB International in Rimini (24-27 March). Proel Lighting will feature a Lighting Master Catalo

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Jands Australia, in cooperation with Stage Technologies, has been awarded an A$5m (£1.8m) contract for Sydney's new Walsh Bay Theatre. The Walsh Bay redevelopment project, to be completed by early 2003, comprises over 250 prestige apartments and a new theatre on the harbour foreshore in the historic Rocks area of Sydney. In partnership with Stage Technologies PLC, Jands will supply and install stage machinery, power flying equipment and theatre infrastructure services including paging, closed circuit televisions and the stage manager'sconsole. Jands is also supplying and installing Jands HP series dimmers, wired lighting bars and cable reelers, curtains and decorative proscenium surrounds.

Working with French company Serapid, Jands will also supply and install Linklift 100 machines, which eliminate the need for screw jacks and caissons for orchestra pits. The 850-seat theatre will be

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This month sees the launch of PE Consulting, introduced to provide business development expertise to entertainment technology and themed entertainment companies that wish to grow business in new markets and countries.

Developed by Peter Ed, who, since beginning his career at Theatre Projects in 1978, has worked with some of the industry’s most influential entertainment technology companies, PE Consulting helps its clients towards a clear definition of their objectives and the method of achieving them. "The most successful companies involve everyone pulling in the same direction and all resources having the same end in mind," said Ed. "PE Consulting looks at all aspects of marketing from growth planning and international market development, marketing strategy and product pricing, to internet marketing and customer relationship management, image building and public

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A new face on the international trade show circuit is Le Mark's Rebecca Lace. She has joined the company as project manager with the task of expanding sales and the product profile of Le Mark’s reusable PAL Roadcase Label and accessory range within the US. One of Rebecca’s first outings came at the recent NAMM show held at the Anaheim (Los Angeles) Convention Centre in January, where Le Mark shared a stand with Penn Fabrication.

Penn has developed a unique range of steel dishes for Le Mark's label range. The dish can be specified by clients and can be built in as original equipment for all new roadcases. It is available on a worldwide basis through Penn and its extensive Dealer network.

(Ruth Rossington)

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The official laying of the foundation stone for Martin Professional’s new ultra modern manufacturing facility took place at noon on Friday 15 February 15 in Frederikshavn, Denmark, with a host of top Martin personnel and local dignitaries taking part.

Both Frederikshavn mayor Erik Sørensen and Martin President and CEO Kristian Kolding addressed the large crowd, which numbered nearly 300. Kolding told us: "This ceremony marks an important milestone in our expansion programme and confirms that our new facility will be up and running on schedule later this summer." Geared towards the production of Martin’s most advanced lighting products, the $20 million 12,500sq.m factory is slated for completion in August. Upon completion, Martin will effectively double its production capacity for the manufacture of automated lighting; its current production facility, also located

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Artsitic Licence has launched an update to its award-winning Micro-Scope technology. Micro-Scope 3a, which is now shipping, provides a host of new features, many aimed at the forthcoming DMX512-A standard. Terms such as Text Packet, System Information Packet, Alternate Start Code and Network Test will be added to the lighting technician's dictionary when the new standard is launched and Micro-Scope 3a supports them all!

Micro-Scope 3a also provides a range of new features derived from customer feedback. A complete show patch can be downloaded from the new version of Mic-Edit. This allows Micro-Scope 3a to identify each and every channel by both lamp and function. The new version of Mic-Edit also provides a range of new features, including the ability to output DMX via Micro-Scope 3a. This feature alone will greatly speed the task of entering lamp personalities and test patterns. Mic-Ed

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Hels Australia Pty Ltd will now be handling the transtechnik Lichtsysteme range of professional lighting systems for television studios and theatres in Australia. The appointment is recognition of the increasing importance of the markets in the Pacific region. Hels, which is based in Templestowe (a town in Victoria, not far from Melbourne, the state capital), will handle both the Australian market and the entire south-east Asia region. In addition to sales, the company will also work with companies in the planning stages.

Hels is run by Zoltan Seles and Tomas Bardos. The two businessmen have been working together since 1998, supplying technical equipment and services to the television and theatre markets.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Central Theatre Supplies in Birmingham were the hosts of a Lighting & Sound Workshop held at Solihull Arts Complex in Solihull on 2 February. Almost 250 people from amateur theatres, drama groups and schools attended the day and were given a full insight into stage lighting and sound. Exhibitors including Zero 88, Selecon, Audio Technica, Strand Lighting, Celestion, HW International, Doughty Engineering, Stonewood Audio and Prolyte were in attendance to demonstrate their latest products and services.

The first session of the day - entitled ‘Lighting from Scratch’ - was led by Jason Larcombe of the White Light Group. This was later followed by a demonstration of effects by Ian Knight, hire manager for Central Theatre Supplies. This offered those in attendance an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the recommended practices when working with pyro. Ian also demonstrated

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AC Lighting has announced three new appointments at its corporate headquarters located in High Wycombe. The Special Projects Division has been strengthened by the appointment of Ray Dolby in the role of project manager. Dolby has worked in the lighting industry since leaving school, firstly as resident theatre technician at a Birmingham Arts Centre, then as lighting designer at the Leicester Haymarket and subsequently at the Derby Playhouse, where he lit 34 shows, covering everything from plays to musicals and pantomimes. Ray then joined Stage Services in Loughborough as general manager before progressing his career with Lighting Technology Projects in London. He worked on many projects whilst there including the design and installation of lighting schemes at the Lakeside and Bluewater shopping centres, numerous major corporate headquarters in London, airports, railway stations, colleges

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John ‘Brad’ Bradshaw, formerly of Triflite Cases (Trifibre Containers), has started a new Flightcase business called Dragon Cases based in Cwmbran, South Wales. Brad - a well-known face in the industry - started his career in flightcases at Autopia some 15 years ago. After being made redundant after five years from Trifibre in December of last year, he returned to Autopia (then renamed as Encaseit) for a couple of weeks until again being made redundant after the receivers were called in on 16 January.

Brad will be working in partnership with Nomad Cases, a manufacturer of custom-built flightcases, polypropylene cases and padded bags, based in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

(Lee Baldock)

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The city tram station in Grenoble, France, has been outfitted with two Martin Exterior 600 colour changing washlights in a unique example of the creative possibilities inherent in intelligent lighting. Mounted in the tram station’s ceiling, strobe and colour change effects are used to signal the arrival and departure of trams.

When a tram is not present at the station, the Exterior 600s project white light. But as a tram nears, a sensor sends a signal to a Martin ProScenium DMX512 lighting controller, signalling the Exteriors to strobe. As the tram enters the station, the light then turns blue. Upon arrival, the strobing stops and the light remains blue. When the tram is ready to depart and pulls out from the station, the light turns progressively whiter. The lighting designer for the installation was Pierre Negre.

(Lee Baldock)

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The new Colour-Fresnel CFN-60, which will find many applications in architectural mood lighting, is the latest addition to the Artistic Licence range of digital lighting solutions. The product is based on additive colour mixing of red, green and blue high power light emitting diodes with the resultant light providing in excess of 16 million colour combinations.

Colour-Fresnel is housed in a Reggiani recessed fixture that provides rotation in two axes and a variable focus fresnel lens. The product, which is available in both a white and a silver finish, operates on a 24V, four wire control signal. It can be controlled and powered by either Power-Pipe or LVD-12, and can also be mixed with other Digital Lighting fixtures, providing further flexibility.

(Ruth Rossington)

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When Channel 5 asked its lighting director, Martin Foster, to design the lighting for Channel 5's new-look 5 News, ETC's Source Four profiles were high on his list for key lights. Originally designed for theatre lighting, the Source Four has become a regular feature of lighting rigs worldwide and is currently in use in most of London's West End Shows. Perhaps less well-known is that the Source Four is now becoming a common feature in many television studios in the UK.

Having worked for 5 News since the start, Foster has had Source Fours in his lighting rig all along, but this is the first time he has used them as key lights. Previously, they have been back lighting the set and used to project the Channel 5 logo. For the revamped rig, Foster specified a total of eight Source Fours - four of which are used as key lights on the news presenter and for the guest positions. The rest are back

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ANC Sports Enterprises of Purchase, New York, has completed the installation of Lighthouse video banners at four major US sports stadiums, along with the latest version of its proprietary FasciaSoft 2001 control software. It takes the total of Lighthouse video banner installations by ANC Sports to over 4,300 linear feet.

The installations are also the first of their kind to employ 24-channel input video switchers, allowing wipe and fade transitions between displays, rather than simple cuts. Lighthouse LVP25 (25mm pixel pitch) LED video panels make up the video banners at each of the stadiums.

ANC installed 924 linear feet of Lighthouse LED signage in Philips Arena in Atlanta, which is home to the NBA’s Hawks and the NHL’s Thrashers. The system became operational at the start of the 2001-2002 NHL season. 340 linear feet (two locations of 170-feet) of Lighthouse LED signage

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Fourth Phase is accustomed to working in strange and interesting locations, but using an open-top double-decker bus as a drive-by projection platform is a first! Contracted by Simon Garrett, managing director of event organisation specialist Pandemonium, Fourth Phase London was asked to project the Audi logo onto the exterior walls of the Audi showrooms on Piccadilly to mark a press launch. The projection, seen by thousands, took place between 6-9pm on the evening of Friday, 22 February.

The search for the ideal projection platform was initially narrowed down to a particular room at The Ritz, which stands opposite the Audi showroom, but unfortunately it was unavailable. In a moment of inspiration, the Fourth Phase team noticed an almost suitably positioned Big Bus Company bus stop! Fourth Phase hired a bus for the evening, which was parked at the bus stop quite legally for the duration

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Digital Projection International has released the Lightning 25sx projector. At 14000 ANSI lumens and SXGA resolution, the Lightning 25sx is one the world’s brightest projectors. It is complemented by a palette of more than 1 billion colours, absolute greyscale tracking and luminance uniformity greater than 90%. It is suited to a wide range of applications and the on-screen results are engaging video, HDTV and computer imagery with an inherent ‘Film Look’ appeal.

(Ruth Rossington)

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LCA - Lights, Camera, Action Ltd are supplying Strand Lighting, MovieMaster ballasts, Mole Richardson lighting, Avenger grip equipment and Rosco filters to Salon Films in Thailand for the latest Jackie Chan movie, HighBinders. Currently filming in Thailand, the film will also be shot in Hong Kong and Prague and stars Jackie Chan, Lee Evans, Jonathon Rhys Davies, Christy Chung and Anthony Wong.

Nick Shapley, managing director of LCA commented: "It was a huge challenge to supply Salon Films with the vast amount of lights and lighting grip in such a short space of time. However, I am happy to say we fulfilled the client’s request despite the challenges of pulling in so many products from so many suppliers." The DOP for the film is Arthur Wong, chairperson of HKSC - the Hong Kong Society of Cinematographers.

(Ruth Rossington)

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As part of a continued effort to increase the wide-scale availability of its automated lighting systems, Vari-Lite Inc has announced the establishment of a Dealer Network, which will carry a full line of Vari*Lite products for sale or rental. The names of the eight companies that comprise the initial Northeast Sales Network were made public yesterday.

"Each member of this dealership network has a solid reputation among lighting professionals and has established itself as a leader within the industry," said Bob Schacherl, Vari-Lite's vice-president of sales and marketing. "Vari-Lite will continue to explore opportunities to add to its Dealer Network where and when it makes sense financially and strategically."

The Northeast Dealer Network includes Barbizon - New York (sales), High Output - Boston, (sales and rental), Parlights - Frederick, MD (sales and rental), PR

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SGM has launched a new range of professional moving head fixtures. The new Giotto Spot 400, Wash 400 and Profile 400 are professional moving head fixtures designed for use in high profile entertainment applications including concerts, theatres and television studios. All three fixtures are compact and lightweight and have a range of features including 400W hot re-strike MSR lamp, 9°-24° motorized zoom, electronic ballast (90-245V).

(Ruth Rossington)

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The new Artistic Licence discussion forum is now up and running. In addition to offering technical support for the company’s product range, the company is actively promoting an open discussion of the technical standards issues facing the industry. So if you have a view or need more information on ACN, DMX512-A, RDM or Art-Net, the Artistic Licence Forum is the place to visit.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Leading pro entertainment industry lighting sales specialist TMB has appointed two new European distributors for its new PowerPAR fixture. In Germany, Seigen-based Trendco will be handling sales for the TMB PowerPAR, and in France and Belgium, Sonoss will be leading the way. Both deals were confirmed at the SIEL show in Paris.

In announcing the distributorships, TMB is underlining its confidence in a buoyant European market. In fact, with the popularity of the PowerPAR taking off, it was essential to expand the European network quickly. Both companies also distribute Wybron, whose Eclipse II dimming shutter was on display mounted on a PowerPAR at SIEL. The Eclipse II is a perfect device for the PowerPAR, turning it into a dimmable fixture and opening further applications for the unit. The PowerPAR continues to grow in popularity for a variety of applications. The fixtures have recently

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A series of fund-raising concerts in Los Angeles was staged Feb. 26 by the Recording Artists Coalition to raise awareness of artists' rights. High End Systems automated lighting was there highlighting the music and the famous faces. The concerts were held in four different venues, all on that Tuesday night. LSD/Fourth Phase of Newbury Park, Calif., provided the gear for the Forum show, under the guidance of Robert Roth from its Atlanta office."It was an all High End Systems rig and the show was executed flawlessly," says Roth. More than 120 HES products were specified by the event's overall LD Nick Sholem, including Studio Color(R) 575 and Studio Spot(R) 575 automated luminaires, run on two Wholehog(R) II consoles. Don Henley and The Eagles headlined the $175 ticket, with Sheryl Crow, Stevie Nicks, Tom Petty, John Fogerty, and Billy Joel (for which LD Steve Cohen added his inpu

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Swiss manufacturer ETR Lighting has introduced the Terra 12 - a 12 x 10 digital dimmer, a lightweight unit designed for optimum ease of use and reliability. The Terra 12 operates on virtually any load, and operating characteristics can be set for every channel individually. Its electronically controlled ventilator ensures a safe and continuous operation even under maximum load. The dimmer features an optional differential current breaker and comes in a 19" 3U rack-mountable case or a portable table-top version. A wide selection of connectors makes the Terra 12 dimmer ready for use in virtually any environment.

(Lee Baldock)

  1. SF Marketing to distribute Coemar in Canada
  2. VH1 Pilot Series Flies HES Lighting
  3. Reading Students Union
  4. Westsun veterans join Showtime Lighting Inc
  5. Vari-Lite Europe takes delivery of VL1000 ERS Spot Luminaires
  6. More Moving Lights for the Royal Opera House
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