Lighting

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Germany - Lumileds Lighting has announced the formation of the Luxeon Lighting Network, a certification, training and technical support programme designed to assist lighting specifiers to bring the benefits of solid-state lighting to their clients. The programme will give specifiers access to a pool of lighting manufacturers and other suppliers with proven expertise in engineering and fabricating LED-based luminaires.

The benefit to designers, architects and other specifiers who work with certified network members is the assurance that they will receive luminaires capable of delivering the desired lighting effects as well as reliable long-term performance. The benefit to luminaire manufacturers and related solution providers is the ability to guarantee performance to specifiers and end users through a clearly defined set of design and development requirements, making it possible

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UK - Robe UK has supplied eight Robe ColorSpot and four ColorWash 250 moving lights for an upgrade to the house installation in the main auditorium at the renowned Scala, Kings Cross - London's alternative venue for live music clubs, film and food. The lights were specified by the popular venue's technical manager, Christian Smith, and supplied via Bristol-based Utopium Lighting in a deal co-ordinated by Robe UK's Stuart Fenwick.

A recent increase in the Scala's live music schedule made the upgrade necessary, to keep pace with the need to supply a versatile and effective house rig for the vast array of artists appearing. Smith approached Utopium's Angus Chinn to discus the best options, and after comparing several brands, Robe fixtures won the day in terms of features and cost-effectiveness.

Smith, an LD and programmer in his own right, had also used the Robes before on other

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Portugal - Cast Software recently announced that, for the first time, the forthcoming Rock in Rio festival - one of the world's major rock festivals - will be pre-programmed using the company's software, WYSIWYG Perform. This year the organizers expect over 500,000 people to attend the festival, taking place in Lisbon, Portugal from 28-30 May and from 4-6 June. Bright Preproductions in Germany has been hired to provide the WYSIWYG services for this occasion.

Bright is a member of the WYSIWYG Certified Service Providers program and they will supply services and WYSIWYG Perform Systems to do the on-site pre-programming for the show. Totalling more than 4,000 channels, they will offer a full simulation of the automated rig for the Palco Mundo which consists of approx 100 moving lights hung on nine moving trusses, giving the LDs of the headlining acts the ability to perfectly pre-cu

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USA - Color Kinetics Incorporated (CKI) has announced that it has been issued two new US patents. U.S. patent number 6,720,745 is a utility patent covering a 'Data Delivery Track'. The patent relates to an LED lighting system where the lighting control signals are communicated through a light track. This facilitates designs and installations that call for intelligent LED illumination in a traditional track lighting scheme. The data used to control the LED-based lights on the track may be communicated through the track itself.

US patent number 6,717,376 is a utility patent covering 'Automotive Information Systems' that, in part, relates to colour-controllable automotive lighting systems. This includes the application of LEDs in colour and dimmer-controlled systems used to customize the look and feel of a vehicle, as well as feedback-controlled lighting systems that tailor the lig

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UK - The lease on Central London's legendary Hippodrome - made famous in the 1980's by Peter Stringfellow - has been extended by 12 months to new incumbents, following the departure of previous operators, Luminar Leisure, last September. As a result, a consortium headed by Chinawhite director, Jeremy Hartley and Leicester Square Association chairman, Steve Bowen, have taken on the lease, and earmarked a £750,000 development budget, with a large percentage going on lighting.

A contract worth £150,000 has been awarded to Ian Kirby's Coemar UK for the supply of a large consignment of Coemar moving head dancefloor and mid-air beam effects plus Hungaroflash strobes, James Thomas Engineering LED battens and ShowCAD computer control.

Replacing the majestic satellites - the mainstay of the club's dynamic lightshows through the '80s - the fixtures have been purchased and installed by

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Canada - For the team of lighting designer Jean Renaud and his associate designer/programmer, Vincent Colbert, two televised music award shows provided a natural opportunity to put a Super WYG 5000 channel system through its paces, as they lit both the 2004 East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs) and the Juno Awards, Canada's version of the Grammys.

Halifax, Canada-based Tour Tech East supplied both the Super WYG system for the ECMAs and technician Roy Mombourquette, who also served as the ECMA's crew chief. "The producers of the ECMA's were amazed when we were able to show them the actual camera shots!" says Mombourquette. "With the aid of WYSIWYG, we were able to demonstrate how many people would have obstructed views because of television cameras or other unforeseen obstacles."

This year's ECMAs were particularly challenging for the lighting department with six

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USA - ETC is making changes to its executive staff, announcing new titles and roles for two of the current-vice presidents. Well-known industry veteran Steve Terry will now assume the leadership of the company's global R&D department. Terry's current executive title and role within ETC's service operations will be expanded to vice-president of research and development and professional services.

Terry, who has been with ETC since the summer of 2001, has been a highly respected authority in the industry for over 25 years, and a major visionary force behind some of most significant technical advances in the field, including the development of industry-wide control protocols. In addition to driving the development of DMX512, he helped start the ESTA Technical Standards program and is the current co-chair of the Control-Protocols Working Group that is developing ACN and RDM.

A tire

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USA - Super Vision International, the US manufacturer of fibre optic and LED lighting, has been awarded the 2004 Greater Orlando Business Ethics Award by the Central Florida Society of Financial Service Professionals. Super Vision was nominated for the award by Craig Townsend of MetLife Financial Services.

Earl Adams, executive director of the Central Florida Society of Financial Service Professionals, said: "We are pleased to include Super Vision International among our roster of noted regional honorees. The company has demonstrated a strong commitment to the highest business ethics during a trying time in their business life and serves as a model for all businesses."

The American Business Ethics Award (ABEA) recognizes US companies that exemplify high standards of ethical behavior in their everyday business conduct and in a response to specific crises or challenges

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USA - Strand Lighting has appointed Tim Burnham as president of the Strand Lighting Group, to be based in the company's North American offices in Cypress, California. Burnham recently left French multi national Legrand, where he was marketing vice-president and director of strategic planning for Legrand, North America. Prior to that, he had spent 30 years in the entertainment lighting business in the UK and USA, starting work backstage in the West End, followed by years of touring, lighting design and running his own rental company. He managed Arri's lighting control division in London before moving to the US in 1994.

"I'm truly excited to be back in the lighting industry," Burnham commented. "I have so many friends in this business, and to be honest, I missed them while I was away. Now I'm getting to know a great new group of people, and I think we have a great p

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UK - Audiolight has announced the availability of its Emerald series lasers, which include a 19" rack-mount controller, or can be purchased with a PC control system, using Zion 3D laser software. The high quality beam can produce text, animations, sequences, 2D or 3D projections, say Audiolight. The Saffron Series provides more scope with colour, housing red, yellow and green diodes. The compact system is ideal for many applications, including promotional, display and corporate projections. Because the Emerald or Saffron Lasers do not require 3-phase or water supplies, they can be rigged up, plugged in and running a show within 10 minutes.

If required, the Emerald and Saffron laser systems can come with The Zion 3D laser show software and PC. Zion 3D is one of the most advanced software titles available for laser display applications, and provides an easy-to-use interface e

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USA - The retirement of lighting consultant Sonny Sonnenfeld, who has represented Wybron products on Broadway and in Greater New York City for many years, has signalled a change of representation in the City for Wybron. Ron Fogel & Associates (RF&A) has been appointed as Wybron's new representative in New York City, in addition to their current New Jersey/New York territory. Ron Fogel has been in the lighting business for over 20 years. In addition to representing Wybron, the company offers a full range of lighting and control products and services.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - London-based event lighting specialist Fentura has purchased a Compulite Vector Blue control system from Stagetec Distribution, as part of a continuing investment program. The console was delivered direct to production rehearsals for the L'Oreal Colour Trophy Tour, before the three-week jaunt around the UK and Ireland working for the production arm of CS Media. The show's LD and operator, Tim Matthews, commented: "The Vector performed well; its operation is very user-friendly, not only keeping the Compulite familiarity, but equally familiar to operators of other consoles due to its unique behavioural setup capability."

Fentura see this as important because most of their shows in the past have been run on Compulite Spark and SparkTOP desks, so moving to a larger console has been simplified by keeping the syntax, just making it more intuitive with a graphical user

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Turkey - More than 320 High End Systems lighting products, including its newest digital lighting line, will enhance this year's Eurovision Song Contest, which airs live and on the Internet on 15 May from Istanbul, Turkey.

Swedish lighting company Spectra+ has been chosen for the fourth time to supply lighting for the ESC. This year it is working together with Turkish company Staras in supplying all production equipment, including 13 Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media servers, four DL1 digital light fixtures, 100 x.Spot HO, 100 Studio Beams, 75 Cyberlight SVs and four Studio Color 575s.

Production manager Lars-Ola Melzig of Spectra+ says that he and returning lighting designer Per Sundin of Swedish Television (SVT) are happy to again be using High End Systems lighting products - especially the Catalyst Pro v3.0 Media Servers and DL1s.

Melzig says: "After using the DL1s at the Nobel

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Germany - From March of this year, students of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Ludwigsburg, Germany, have had the opportunity to learn everything about the craft of broadcast production in a fully equipped, state-of-the-art television studio. transtechnik Lichtsysteme of Holzkirchen, Germany, project managed the installation and also supplied the lighting and studio automation equipment for the almost 380sq.m TV studios.

The studio is truly multifunctional - used for classes in cutting, montage, and series formatting, as well as for film and television productions, lectures, movie screenings, and other events. To familiarize students with the latest technologies, the Filmakademie has placed a high value on modern (as well as standard) studio equipment. transtechnik Lichtsysteme could offer everything from a single source: from planning the ceiling construction all the way

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Denmark - Martin Professional has introduced a new tool for power distribution - an intelligent mobile switch pack for use wherever DMX power control of a complete installation is needed. The PSP-12 offers easy DMX control of interior and exterior light sources and many other devices. Also, using high quality power relays, the PSP-12 will reduce installation costs, say Martin.

Individual circuit breakers, one on each output, protect against short circuits and overloads, while a Bypass Safety Switch allows manual control of all outputs: the DMX address switch is selectable using the pole DIP switches. DMX gives individual control of all output channels, and a high power output of 2300W (230 V) on each channel makes it possible to connect nearly any device.

Multiple devices can also be connected to the same output, with the status of each output clearly indicated through the P

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Denmark - On 7 April, Seelite of Denmark produced a dynamic lighting environment for the grand opening of ARoS, Denmark's new Museum of Art, in the country's second city of Aarhus. The lighting event was one of the chief attractions of the opening of the Museum, a new 17,700sq.m, $50 million building designed by Danish architectural firm Schmidt, Hammer and Lassen.

Lighting design and programming was by Seelite's Steen O. Larsen, who made extensive use of Martin's MAC 2000 Performance, MAC 600, MAC 500 and MAC 300 fixtures, as well as other lighting. All Martin equipment was supplied by Seelite through Martin Scandinavia.

The 10-storey museum is in the form of a 52m x 52m cube. Through the centre of the cube is a curved area called "museumsgade" out of which a distinctive spiral staircase emerges with adjacent balconies. It was in this space that the lighting atmosp

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USA - Kurt Kern, long-time TMB sales representative, has relocated to Cleveland to join Vincent Lighting Systems. TMB's East Coast sales manager, Brian Dowd, said: "Kurt has been a great asset and friend to us all. We respect the devotion to his family that prompted this move. The growth of our New York office over the past few years would not have been possible without Kurt's knowledge, talent and hard work. Paul Vincent and everyone at Vincent Lighting are very fortunate. Meanwhile, we now have to deal with our worst nightmare: a customer who knows our deepest, darkest secrets!"

"Who can blame Kurt for moving to a town with such an awesome football team?" said TMB's sales manager, Tommy Stephenson, famous follower of lost causes, adding: "Paul, did you get a chance to look at my resumé yet?"

"These have been great years," comments Ke

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UK - White Light Hire is now supplying equipment to all the theatre's on London's Shaftesbury Avenue. The arrival of the new musical Beautiful and Damned at London's Lyric Theatre will complete a clean sweep for one of the leading lighting rental companies.

Beautiful and Damned, set in the 1920s telling the tragic story of Zelda Sayre and F. Scott Fitzgerald, is being lit by Nick Richings. Next door - at the Apollo Theatre - the acclaimed production of Edward Albee's play The Goat has transferred from the Almeida Theatre, with lighting design by Peter Mumford.

Further along the Avenue, the RSC's production of All's Well That Ends Well, starring Dame Judi Dench, is playing at the Gielgud Theatre; the show - lit by Paul Pyant - is a sell-out and has recently had its season extended. Next door is the Queen's Theatre, the new London home for Les Mi

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USA - Lighting designer Michael Franks used 11 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spot luminaires, provided by Boston-based supplier High Output, as part of the complete television lighting and grip package for the two-day NFL Draft event, which was televised live on ESPN from Madison Square Garden on 24-25 April.

All 11 of the VL3000s were positioned front-of-house. Franks used the lights mostly for background colour and texture, using the Madison Square Garden Theatre walls as scenic backdrops for the ESPN draft analysts at the main set. From directly in front of the stage, Franks needed fixtures that could throw to the sides and back of the Theatre, a distance of about 150ft (46m). "He needed to cover a whole lot of area with a few units," High Output's Chris McMeen explained. "It takes a powerful light to throw that distance, but then when you zoom all the way out, how much li

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Czech Republic - Robe's latest product release, the ColorSpot 250AT, builds on the ColorSpot 250 XT, one of its most popular moving head models. ColorSpot 250 'Advanced Technology' is the ColorSpot range luminaire for applications requiring smaller and more discreet lights. The ColorSpot 250 AT is aimed at TV studios, small- to medium-sized clubs and various other types of installation, including retail environments.

The fixture uses Robe's high-efficiency optics, designed and manufactured in-house, to ensure the fixture is exceptionally bright for its size, while its streamlined new shell design follows the same aesthetics and style as the larger ColorSpot 1200 AT.

ColorSpot 250 features include a new rotating gobo wheel with seven replaceable 'Slot and Lock' dichroic glass gobos and open, and a new colour wheel hosting 10 replaceable 'Slot and Lock' colours plus open. The th

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Switzerland - Martin Professional's Maxxyz lighting console has made its Swiss TV debut on a live Saturday evening show on Switzerland's Channel One, VIP Parade. The company Winkler Veranstaltungstechnik, in cooperation with TPC TV Production Center of Zurich, completed the project for producers B&B Endemol. Broadcast on 3 April, it was also the first use of the soon-to-be-launched Maxxyz Playback Wing.

Other Martin equipment used included 22 MAC 550 profile spots, two MAC 2000 Profiles, eight MAC 2000 Wash and 16 electronic ballast MAC 600 NT washlights, as well as 26 Martin Architectural Cyclo 04 DMX fluorescent colour mixers. Winkler supplied the Maxxyz and all Martin lighting to TPC TV Production Center, distributed for Switzerland by ASL Electronic AG/SA.

Ronald Huber, lighting designer and operator for Winkler, was the man behind the Maxxyz for the TV event. He co

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France - The organizers of the European Laser Show Festival have announced that the second edition of the event will take place in the city of the Cap d'Agde, situated near to Monptellier in the South of France, from the 23 - 26 June 2004. Nine European professional of laser display companies will compete for a variety of prizes at the event. These are LM Productions (UK), Laserforum (Netherlands), HW Lasertechnik (Germany), Laser Entertainment (Italy), Global Laser Systeme (Austria), Laser System Europe (Belgium), LPI (France), Omicron (Poland), Art Screen Multimedia (Russia) will be present for the Festival.

In 2002, 15,000 spectators watched the shows in the Gulf of St Tropez. In 2005, the organizers plan to stage the 'World Cup Laser Show' with competing companies coming from all over the globe.

(Lee Baldock)

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Switzerland - When Hard Rock Café International selected Bristol to unveil their new Bar concept, they again commissioned Cadmium Design - their interior specialists - to conceive the new blueprint, working alongside audio-visual experts, Audiotek. Part of the brief from Cadmium was for a moving light ceiling to highlight the black and white artworks in the triangular building. Since the listed building boasts two giant window frontages and the backlit feature was to sit in the centre of the modern interior, Audiotek's Santi Arribas felt an LED approach offered a more dynamic solution to conventional Par cans.

After showing the colour-changing attributes of the James Thomas Pixel Par 87 LED Lanterns, he specified 16 of the fixtures from distributor Lighting Effects Distribution (L.E.D.). These highlight the photo montage (depicting rock legends), which overhangs the horseshoe-s

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USA - When Bombay Dreams made its much-anticipated debut on 29 April at the Broadway Theatre, it also marked the debut of the Vari*Lite Series 3000 'Q' product line on Broadway. Lighting designer Hugh Vanstone specified 16 VL3000Q Spot luminaires as part of the automated lighting rig, which includes well over 100 Vari*Lite automated fixtures. With a few modifications to the original, the 1200W Series 3000 fixtures, Vari-Lite engineers were able to achieve a 50-percent reduction in audible noise output in the Q fixtures. "All of the VL3000Q Spots are hung over the stage," said associate LD Philip Rosenberg, "and the rig is virtually silent, which is great. It is a very, very quiet light."

The Q product line was specifically designed for noise-critical applications including theatre, television, houses of worship and corporate events. The Series 3000 Q f

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