Lighting

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It’s been water, water everywhere recently for D J Willrich Ltd (DJW), as the Hampshire-based AV and multi-media specialists have recently completed work on the saltwater Bournemouth Oceanarium in Dorset and the freshwater Lakeside Aquarium at Newby Bridge on the shores of Lake Windermere.

Working within a deadline of just three weeks, DJW installed in the Bournemouth Oceanarium three Sony plasma displays, three touch screen quiz-based interactives and, with the help of strobe lighting and Bose speakers, the sound of a rainforest thunderstorm that automatically comes to life every 20 minutes.

Visitors to the Lake District are obviously used to it raining more frequently there since DJW’s thunderstorm sound simulation at the Lakeside Aquarium proved to be so popular that it now runs every three minutes! In addition to this, DJW has also installed two Sony plasma displays,

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In less than six months since acquiring Italian lighting giants, Coemar SpA, Florida-based Coemar USA (formerly Tracoman) has radically streamlined production, marketing and distribution to make the company more competitive and efficient in its traditional markets.

Chief executive Gerard Cohen confirmed that while expansion of Coemar’s production facilities in Belarus will enable the company to bring commercial luminaires to market faster and more cost-competitively, the handover of administrative responsibility will provide more creative freedom for the company’s inventor, Bruno Dedoro, as head of Coemar’s R&D and production operations. "Over the past two decades, Coemar has designed groundbreaking products such as the Robot, NAT and CF series of luminaires, and this will continue. At the same time we are looking at ways of improving the global distribution netw

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Erikson Pro has been named the new exclusive Compulite distributor for Canada. "Compulite gives users the tools that allow them to unleash their creative powers," commented Erikson Pro general manager, Christian Bouchard. "We are excited at the opportunity to develop the potential of this comprehensive line of products, which fills a vast range of lighting control needs. The distribution agreement is effective immediately.

(Lee Baldock)

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ETC has further expanded its pan-European service, with the appointment of David Gray as field project manager for the Southern Region. Currently ETC's project manager, servicing major ETC projects on a global basis, Gray will commence in his new role on April 1st, 2002.

Based in Rome, David will be working with Fulvio Cotogni, ETC's manager for Southern Europe, providing on-site project support. Together, they will offer a complete service to the region, which includes the Middle East and Africa, complementing other similar ETC teams in Europe. Having worked for ETC since 1997, David has grown to be respected member of the industry. He joined ETC to develop the projects department and, together with Jeremy Roberts, has played an important role in establishing ETC as a major player in the global cruise and entertainment markets. During his four years at ETC, he has managed numerous lar

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I-Vision supplied and co-ordinated the equipment for an eye-catching exterior architectural lighting scheme for the re-opening of the Walker Arts Gallery in Liverpool. The show was designed and produced by Liverpool City Council’s Cultural Events Officer and lighting designer Lee Forde.

The Gallery re-opened after a £4.3 million refurbishment, part of National Museums & Galleries on Merseyside’s (NMGM) first major capital project for the 21st century. The Victorian building façade which features central steps and an extruded section, is flanked by Grecian-style columns, and flat sections either side. The columns and two statues either side of the steps, were lit using 300W profile fixtures, and the flat, end sections of the building’s fascia were bathed in blue light from powerful Coemar Panorama 1800W cyc fixtures. Tight 4-way finger-beam fans of ‘Aircraft La

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Stage Electrics’ business development manager Matt Lloyd has been chosen to take part in The Clipper 2002 Round the World Yacht Race, which covers over 35,000 miles of gruelling ocean racing. It’s an 11-month sabbatical, commencing in October, that will take him to 16 stop-overs around the world. The crew will consist of 14 ‘amateur’ crew members, both men and women, accompanied by one professional skipper.

There are eight yachts competing, each sponsored by an individual city - Liverpool, Bristol, Glasgow, London, Jersey, Hong Kong and Cape Town. The Bristol Clipper which Matt is crewing won the Clipper 2000 Race, so she will be defending her title in this year’s race. David Whitehead, owner of Stage Electrics is fully supportive: "Matt has worked for Stage Electrics for over ten years and this is a fantastic opportunity for him. I am very supportive

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ARRI recently awarded a portable lighting kit - consisting of the Junior range of Fresnel spotlights - to a lucky competition winner, after he entered a ‘business card’ draw on the company’s stand at the Video Forum Exhibition earlier this year.

Richard Hookings, a freelance lighting cameraman commented: "I was so surprised to actually win as I was dubious that these things are ever genuine. This kit will nicely complement my existing lighting kit, and being so compact, it will be ideal for situations when I’m working on my own and need to transport my kit around single-handedly." ARRI displayed two new kit formats at Video Forum - both suitable for 3-point lighting arrangements. The first contained two 650W Junior Fresnels and an 800W ARRIlite which offers flexibility and control, whilst the second contained two 300W Junior fresnels and a Junior 150W

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Martin Professional introduced the Maxxyz lighting control system at last week’s SIB International exhibition in Rimini. One of the main product highlights of the exhibition, Maxxyz boasts a comprehensive range of cutting-edge features and attractive, modular design, with an intuitive operating system, easy programmability and customizable characteristics. The desk’s built-in 3D visualizer with real-time Preview mode gives full real-time preview of shows, allowing the user to create new ones without interrupting the running show. Maxxyz offers Ethernet capability (10/100 Mbit) for DMX universes and multiple console linking, remote access via a laptop/PC or Internet network, plus a link for automatic Internet updates, programming modification, service and support, and more.

Two complete Pentium III-based computer systems communicate with each other through COM+ technology. T

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A group of exhibition design final year students from the Reinwardt Academie in Amsterdam recently enjoyed an informative visit to the London office of Sarner, audio visual, visitor attraction and design specialists. Frank van Oosterhout, faculty lecturer from the Academie (an institute which specializes in Museum Communication, Management, Registration and Conservation) was so impressed when he visited Sarner’s Lands End tourist centre installation in 1996 that he brought the students to the UK to meet the company behind the project.

Marije Kruize, one of the visiting students, thoroughly enjoyed the experience. She commented: "We’ve all been inspired by Sarner’s individual approach to each project and would love to work for a company like that. The visit has helped us all get an insight into a company that delivers innovation and technology with bags full of pa

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On Sunday 17 March, the World Wrestling Federation held its annual extravaganza, Wrestlemania X8. This year’s event was held at Toronto’s SkyDome in front of nearly 69,000 people live and millions via Pay-Per-View, setting several attendance records. The four-hour production featured title matches and live performances by Saliva and Drowning Pool.

As long-time lighting suppliers to the WWF, Bandit Lites and production designer Jason Robinson were called upon to make this year’s event bigger than anything the WWF had ever done before, and judging by the numbers involved, they succeeded: 12 semis full of lighting gear, 4,000,000W of power at 11,000 amps per leg, 450 moving lights, 700 Par 64s, three Flying Pig Whole Hog 2s with four Overdrives, an ETC Expression 3x, 216 motors, 204 pieces of 10ft A-type truss, five custom A-type circles ranging from 42ft in diameter to

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Halo Live is a new company, launched by Yann Guenancia and Steve Marley, set up to handle all aspects of visual production and lighting for live tours and events. Halo Live will work with its sister company, the successful London-based operation Halo Lighting, which has been trading for 12 years as a lighting sales, rental and installation house.

The new company will focus on the specific creative needs and demanding requirements of the live industry - from music tours to corporate presentation and everything in between. The move is also designed to enable Halo Lighting to concentrate fully on its traditional core businesses. Halo Live’s production manager is Steve Marley: "We’d reached the stage where we needed to separate the production projects from the straight hire and sales ones. With Halo Live, we offer more than just lighting - it’s a fully integrated vis

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Universal Events, specialists in corporate event production and presentation technology, supplied sound, lighting and AV design, equipment and crew for the recent Miss Movie pageant - a major event on the Bollywood calendar.

Now in its 10th year, the event was staged at London’s famous Hammersmith Apollo and featured not only the contest itself, but a myriad of top international Asian singing and dancing acts. Universal’s Steve Butcher created the set design, opting for a white-floored stage featuring a simple, clean look. Two symmetrical podiums flanked the stage, whilst the presenters stood centre-stage on a raised upstage platform. Universal supplied a large, flown, central screen and a 5000 lumen projector, used to rear-project the sponsors’ logos. The screen was also used for live camera IMAG (the show was also recorded for broadcast). Butcher also designed two s

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Bill Jones has joined Stage Electrics as business development manager based at the company’s Birmingham Branch. Jones has a wealth of industry knowledge and experience spanning some 15 years. His career began at lantern manufacturers CCT, following which he took on the role of pro-sales manager at Harman UK. He then moved on to the position of sales manager with Lightfactor, before moving to Cloud One in Birmingham.

(Ruth Rossington)

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The Art-Net Alliance is a key industry group made up of major lighting control manufacturers, intended to promote the widespread adoption of the Art-Net Ethernet Standard. Artistic Licence reports that the Art-Net Alliance continues to expand and now includes AC Lighting Ltd, AC Lighting Inc, ADB, MA Lighting, Doug Fleenor Design, ELC Lighting, Electronics Diversified, Enttec, Goddard Design Co, I-Light Group, IES, Medalion, Media Motion, SandNet, Touchlight Systems Ltd, Zero 88 and Artistic Licence.

"Art-Net is the only public domain Ethernet Standard in the marketplace - that’s the reason the Art-Net Alliance is growing at such a rate. We regularly receive emails congratulating us for the decision to put Art-Net into the public domain," said Wayne Howell of Artistic Licence. "The aspect I find most pleasing is that we see both large and small companies supporting

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Danish manufacturer Martin Professional has announced positive year-end sales and pre-tax profit figures for 2001. Sales in 2001 amounted to DKK 878 million (over $100 million), an increase of 14% over the previous year, while pre-tax profit jumped to DKK 73 million ($8.5 million), a considerable improvement over 2000.

President and CEO of Martin Professional, Kristian Kolding, commented: "We are very satisfied with these results. Despite the difficulties in the industry following the tragic events of 11 September, especially in the United States and United Kingdom, as well as the general downturn in the economy, we managed to create the best results in the history of the company in 2001. This is really a testament to the quality of the product that we offer, as well as the people who back it up. The entire range of Martin, Mach and Jem products saw significant developments in 200

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Architects, lighting designers and other specifiers of lighting products interested in incorporating LED technology in their projects and designs will be interested to learn of a seminar, run by Color Kinetics, addressing the use of LED technology in architectural applications. The seminar, which will cover LED Basics, Color Kinetics’ technologies and case studies profiling the latest in LED applications, takes place on Tuesday April 9 at the Business Design Centre, Executive Centre 3, 52 Upper Street, Islington Green, London. Attendees can choose between two course times: 2:00 - 3:00pm (1:30pm registration) and 7:30 -8:30pm (7:00pm registration). To register, e-mail seminarlondon@colorkinetics.com.

(Ruth Rossington)

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At the close of last year, history was made in Moscow as Nord-Ost, the first permanent musical production in Russia to be staged on such a vast scale, opened to the public. A story about love, hatred, heroism and betrayal, the musical is based on the novel Two Captains by Russian author Veniamin Kaverin. Nord-Ost is unusual not just for its scale; it is the first musical theatre performance in Russia to use a wide range of sophisticated western technology, supplied by London's Lighting Technology and Doka Media of Russia.

The novel is set in a number of contrasting locations, which means that its musical adaptation has to recreate dramatic changes of scenery, including the Northern Lights over the Arctic Ocean, a military plane landing on the tundra, the ghostly appearance of a wrecked ship and a train leaving a Moscow railway station. To bring these images to life

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UV/FX scenic productions of Los Angeles have recently completed the set design and painting for Shaggy's current tour. The Grammy nominated artist wanted a muslin backdrop (28ft x 40ft) and two side legs (28ft x 12ft) which would portray a traditional Jamaican beach scene under normal light and transform to a magical night scene of the beach under UV illumination.

UV/FX president Richard Green told us: "We had been speaking with Shaggy's people for a while and we finally decided to do a mixed Day to Night and Dual Image style." With the addition of the side legs and some smaller scrims designed to work in the front of the stage, the set had many lighting options and the multiple scenic elements gave incredible depth to the stage. The scenery was designed to work well under any lighting conditions and to simulate different times of the day based on the type of colored light us

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Coe-tech Ltd has announced three major new international distribution deals, all of which were cemented with the manufacturers at the recent Frankfurt and Rimini exhibitions. Coe-tech is now the exclusive UK distributor for French lighting control specialists Ariane, Italian theatre, club and architectural lighting manufacturers Teclumen and for Stage Tools from The Netherlands, manufacturers of trussing, metalwork and all associated accessories.

Coe-tech’s Ian Brown told us: "I’m delighted to bring these quality brands aboard the Coe-tech portfolio. They will further strengthen our current product ranges, enhance our competitiveness, and allow us to offer an even more diverse selection of quality equipment to our clients." The new ranges will also complement Coe-tech’s existing long-running distribution deals with Studio Due and Futurelight. "The scope

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The Broadway staging of the revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 1943 musical Oklahoma! opened on 21 March at the recently renovated Gershwin Theatre, New York. The classic musical about the American West hasn't been seen on Broadway since the late 1970s, but it's now back by way of the well-reviewed London production directed by Trevor Nunn and produced by Cameron Mackintosh.

Fourth Phase supplied the entire lighting system for the show, working closely with lighting designer David Hersey to realise his creative vision. Darren DeVerna, vice president of Fourth Phase's parent company PRG, has a long-standing professional relationship with David and headed the Fourth Phase team. The production features a combination of conventional and theatrical lighting, new colour mixing technology, animation and fog effects equipment, plus dimming and control systems.

Fourth Phase is one of

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A new distribution agreement between Le Mark Group and Link srl or Rome was finalized during the recent SIB Exhibition in Rimini. As a result of the agreement, Link will distribute Le Mark's Magtape range of gaffer tape, as well as its award-winning Slipway cable cover tape.

Link is internationally recognized for its range of high quality products, which includes its own Eurocable and LK Connector ranges, both extensively used within the audio, video and lighting sectors. "We are all extremely pleased with the new agreement," said Le Mark's Stuart Gibbons. "Both companies have excellent reputations and have shown sustained growth within the industry."

(Ruth Rossington)

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Martin Professional has announced that it will continue to expand its production capability with the establishment of a manufacturing facility in China. Production is expected to begin by the start of the year 2003. As an important part of the company’s strategy to maintain its competitiveness in the lower-priced lighting segments, the new Martin facility will be geared toward the production of Martin’s DJ range of lighting products. The facility will be located in the Chinese city of Zhuhai in the southern part of the country.

Martin will maintain full control over the facility’s production and level of product quality. Martin Professional President and CEO Kristian Kolding commented: "The DJ market has traditionally been an important segment for us and with this new facility it will continue to be so. The factory in China will allow us to maintain an aggressive

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Sarner is working on a unique multi-million pound travelling exhibition of Russian Yachts, which is set to open in Hamburg at the end of this year. ‘Treasures from the Tsars Imperial Yachts’, depicts the evolution of the Imperial Navy from 1703, when Peter The Great launched his first ship, through to 1918 and the era of Nicholas II - it includes more than 400 original artefacts, jewellery and ships from the palace of Peterhos and the Central Naval Palace in St Petersburg.

Intellectual property management company, Eagle Crown Productions, who have the rights to this stunning collection, first met with Sarner to discuss the venture almost three years ago. As a result, Sarner have been responsible for every element of the exhibition design and concept; visitors enter by walking onto an imposing aft deck of an imperial yacht; once inside there are displays of panoramic archive

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On the evening of Wednesday 24 April 2002, Lightfactor/LightProcessor, Lights Camera Action, Vari*Lite Europe and the Society of Television Lighting Designers (STLD) will host an open evening at the Fairway Trading Estate in Greenford Middlesex, just off the A40/M.

The gathering will offer an opportunity for demos of the latest technology from these three companies - including the VL1000 and VL2000 series of luminaires from Vari*lite; Strand, Mole Richardson, Dedolight and Panavision high definition camera technology from LCA; Paradime digital dimmers, SGM moving lights and other brands from Lightfactor’s extensive product ranges, as well as a great chance to network with other industry people, including members of the STLD, ALD, BSKTS and BSC. The day will also include a tour each company’s premises and a chance to meet with the manufacturers and suppliers.

Please call P

  1. Lighting specialist Joe Zamore joins Martin Professional Inc
  2. New installation company launched
  3. Imagination opens Stockholm office
  4. Lighting Technology at world’s first Submarium
  5. David March joins PSL's Concert Touring Division
  6. ShowCAD Artist installed in Chicago Rock Cafes
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