Lighting

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UK - Following the release of Stardraw Control Beta 1 last month, software provider Stardraw.com has announced the public availability of Stardraw Control Beta 2 with immediate effect, prior to its formal launch scheduled for NSCA next month. A community of nearly 600 systems specialists was involved in the Beta 1 test phase and further participants in the Beta 2 test phase are similarly invited. Stardraw Control Beta 2 offers enhanced stability and applicability over the first Beta version, which was developed on the Microsoft.net v2 platform, which is itself still in the beta testing stage. As there is no firm release date for MS.net framework v2, Stardraw has released Stardraw Control Beta 2 on MS.net v1.1, the current release version. "It will be very easy to port everything back over to MS.net v2 when it is formally released later this year," commented Stardraw.com

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USA - Fibre optic lighting manufacturers Lumenyte International Corporation and Visual Lighting Technologies Inc have entered into an exclusive sales and distribution agreement for worldwide sales in the architectural market. Visual Lighting Technologies will be taking over all aspects of Lumenyte's architectural trade, including sales, marketing, design, installation and customer service.

The new alliance will combine the strengths and superior product offerings of both companies, including Lumenyte's proprietary LEF directional linear technology, Sta-flex large core fibres, and LumePanel Backlighting fixtures, and VLT's line of high quality Roblon Fiber Optic stranded fibre and fixtures. Visual Lighting Technologies will also contribute its extensive experience in the architectural lighting field, and its reputation for outstanding customer service, the company says.

The n

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UK - Leicester-based effects lighting company EVL Lighting has announced the appointment of Scott Callis as accounts manager. Callis, formerly with Robe UK and previously the now defunct Mad Lighting Ltd, brings a wealth of industry knowledge and experience. His new role will see him liaising with the already extensive dealer network and bringing onboard new area accounts. Callis said: "I'm looking forward to working with EVL and giving total support to their dealer network."

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Main Light Industries Inc has appointed Architainment Lighting as the exclusive distributor for the UK and Ireland of its award-winning patent-pending SoftLED product. Architainment was formed in 2003 to distribute the Color Kinetics' range of products to both the entertainment and architectural markets, and as the SoftLED utilizes Color Kinetics' Chromasic Technology, the partnership made total sense, say the company.

SoftLED is a high quality theatrical drapery with tri-colour LEDs embedded in the material. The LEDs are virtually invisible until energized, so that the effect is as dramatic as possible. Each LED pixel (or node) is individually addressable for intensity and colour. SoftLED drapes are available with their LED nodes spaced in a number of different resolutions: Low resolution is with the LED nodes placed on 30cm centres, medium resolution is on 20cm centres,

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USA - The latest move in the ongoing LED patent dispute between Super Vision Inc and Color Kinetics Inc was the filing this week by Super Vision of a motion for summary judgement against Color Kinetics. The motion, which includes nine affidavits from witnesses against Color Kinetics, alleges that the founders of Color Kinetics, George Mueller and Ihor Llys, were aware of the existence of prior art relating to their LED products before they filed their own patent applications. Among the nine witnesses against the company is Jerry Laidman, the Nevada-based lighting innovator who created the Saturn colour-changing LED effects in the late 1970s, and of whose products Mueller and Llys were allegedly aware (see L&SI November 2004 to read more on the background to the controversy). The case is scheduled to be heard

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UK - To celebrate its 25th year in business, Walthamstow-based specialist lighting manufacturer Light Engineering is organizing an unusual prize draw: 5,000 of their customers have been invited to enter to win a giant 30" mirror ball, which includes around 27,500 individual mirror pieces. However, before the draw takes place, the mirrorball is going on a remarkable 1,000 mile charity walk around London in the capable hands of local stunt man and celebrity Terry Cole, with all funds going to the Tsunami Appeal.

Light Engineering has just completed its third commission to produce a 69" mirror ball (the second one to go to France) which they will despatch before the end of January.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - White Light is the chosen lighting supplier for a flurry of new theatre productions opening on tour and in the West End this year. On tour, White Light has supplied equipment to Highland Fling, the new ballet directed by Matthew Bourne, designed by Lez Brotherston and with lighting by Paule Constable - who on Sunday became the winner of this year's Olivier Award for Best Lighting for her work on His Dark Materials at the National Theatre; to Dracula, lit by Rick Fisher, to Insignificance, lit by Neil Austin, to The King and I, lit by Peter Mumford, to Sleeping Beauty on Ice, lit by Gavan Swift, and to The Witches, lit by Mark Jonathan. Tours returning for the New Year using White Light equipment include The Play What I Wrote, lit by Tim Mitchell, An Inspector Calls, lit by Rick Fisher, Miss Saigon, lit by Je

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UK - The latest addition to the Cardiff Bay skyline, the Wales Millennium Centre, has received plaudits from around the world, and not just for its striking appearance. At the heart of the WMC lies the Donald Gordon theatre, the new permanent home for the Welsh National Opera Company. A 1,900 capacity auditorium or 'Lyric Theatre' as the management would have it, the theatre embraces all that its new tenants could possibly desire; an aesthetically tailored interior that matches and enhances the striking exterior, a superb natural acoustic; and it boasts all the very latest in stage presentation technology.

Stage Electrics were awarded the technology installation contract, Jonathan Porter-Goff project managing the complete installation from the company's HQ in Bristol. "We installed the lighting infrastructure," he said. "But when it came to selecting the specific

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UK - Lighting design and installation specialist i-Vision has completed an architectural lighting scheme at the new Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council Civic Centre, located in central Neath. The contemporary building, designed by the Council's in-house architects, features a large central entrance atrium and two impressive glass staircase atriums at either end of its two wings, all clearly visible from the exterior. Other elements include distinctive clad pillars, exposed brickwork and intricate lattices of steel structural detail - all of which lend themselves naturally to lighting.

The project was managed for i-Vision by Dave Mackay, who worked closely with Geoff Jones to design the scheme. Given an imaginative free reign and a relatively open brief, they certainly weren't short of ideas! It was decided to illuminate the central atrium's front metalwork - which unites t

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UK - The Lighting Technology Projects sales team has expanded with the addition of Tilly Howarth, who joins the existing team in the company's new Birmingham office. Howarth's sales skills and experience comes from the new build and construction industries, and she was hand-picked for the LTP job because she has no specific background in lighting, and therefore "No baggage" says LTP's Terry Reeves. "I specifically wanted new blood and a fresh perspective," he explains.

Howarth will be part office-based and part road-based, and will develop LTP's direct sales operation initially around the Midlands, concentrating on the short lead-time projects in the retail, leisure, entertainment and public arts sectors. The expansion of the sales team is part of LTP's new long-term business strategy that kicked off with the move to Birmingham last autumn, say the company.

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USA - On 19 January, 2005, guests began using the 53,000sq.ft first floor of the all-new Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne, California. What the Black Oak Casino was looking for to complement the new casino was an automated lighting package to deliver the right look and perhaps, a few reminders to guests. "When specifying this job, the customer was looking for automated lights that ran silently, delivered a wide range of looks and colours, and allow the casino to project messages and logos. The Vari-Lite VL1000TD fixtures were perfect for the application," explains Gary Guberman, lighting manager for Quantum Audio and Video, the supplier and installer of the project.

The Black Oak Casino uses eight Vari-Lite VL1000TD luminaires (tungsten lamp source with integral IGBT dimmers) in their main lounge, the Willow Creek Lounge. The Willow Creek Lounge has a dance floor, and on

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Ireland - Eurolites Productions, one of Ireland's largest lighting and production rental companies, is currently negotiating the purchase of a brand new 1200sq.m unit close to Dublin Airport. The building, near Blanchardstown just off the M50 motorway, is due for completion in late June and is a major move for the company which has rapidly outgrown its facilities in Portlaoise, Co. Laois.The past 12 months has seen a huge increase in the workload undertaken by Eurolites and 2005 looks to be a year of continued expansion, the company reports. The company says the move to Dublin will better serve its clients in the touring, concert, television and corporate presentation industries, and the new building will boast increased storage space and efficient loading and unloading facilities. The sales division of the company will also greatly increase in size and service, further expanding

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UK - Rob Merrilees has joined Essential Lighting Group as project manager, specializing in exhibition lighting and power. Merrilees brings 20 years of worldwide experience in the exhibition and event industry. Since joining the company in early January, Merrilees has completed projects in London, Dubai, Turin, Berlin and Dusseldorf.

(Lee Baldock)

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Australia - Some of Australia's most popular contemporary musicians performed at WAVEAID - a one-off event that generated approximately $2 million in funds for Tsunami disaster appeal. The sold-out show was held at Sydney's Cricket Ground before an audience of 50,000 and broadcasted live on radio networks around the country, with highlights televised the following day.

The concert featured performances from the likes of Nick Cave, The Finn Brothers, Kasey Chambers, The Waifs, Missy Higgins, Powderfinger, John Butler Trio and highly anticipated sets from both Silverchair and Midnight Oil. This was the first time that Silverchair had performed for over two years whilst Midnight Oil were lured out of retirement for such a special occasion.

The WAVEAID concert was organized by veteran promoter Michael Chugg, Mark Pope and Joe Segreto. To ensure that maximum money was raised, the

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Denmark - The Ego X6 is a 250W light that projects colorful flower effects with DMX control. This powerful deco effect light houses an effect wheel packed with new textured glass designs, as well as a combined color/twinkle effect that features new decoration and projection designs. The textured glass wheel adds depth and life to each gobo pattern. It is the perfect portable effect and decoration light for DJs, bands, clubs, bars and entertainment venues of all types.

A 250W, 1000-hour halogen lamp combines with a bidirectional parabolic reflector with highly reflective mirrors to give exceptionally bright projection. Top quality optics and precise manual focus adjustment produce sharp and detailed projections.

The Ego X6 also includes 12 inbuilt macros (slow, medium and fast) for fast programming. Besides the benefits of customized DMX control, the Ego X6 can operate in eithe

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USA - When Elation Control Systems (ECS) unveiled the DMX Operator, the unit was hailed as an affordable solution to DMX lighting control for clubs, DJs and entertainers. Now ECS is following the success of this controller with the introduction of a new, upgraded model, the DMX Operator 192.

Like its predecessor, the DMX Operator 192 is an affordable 192-channel controller that can operate up to 12 intelligent fixtures, with as many as 16 DMX channels each, however the DMX Operator 192 also goes well beyond the original.

One of the new upgrades is a joystick for controlling pan and tilt. Users can assign any one of the 12 fixtures to the joystick - and enjoy smooth, easy, precision control of its movements at the flick of the stick. The DMX Operator 192 also features an encoder wheel that can be used as an alternative to the stick.

Another new feature is USB input, which all

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Singapore - Robe Show Lighting has established a new company in Singapore - Robe (S.E.A.) - which will operate as a sales and support office to integrate and coordinate Robe's rapidly expanding business in South East Asia. The new enterprise is registered in Singapore and is located at 160, Paya Lebar Road #07-05, Orion Industrial Building, Singapore 409 022.

The company will be headed by Louis Teo as regional sales manager. Teo has a highly successful track record with the Robe brand via his company Light + Sound Distribution, which continues to operate as Robe's Singaporean distributor. Robe (S.E.A) will oversee general sales and service support as well as project co-ordination in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam. The company says that existing distributors will continue to receive their supplies directly from the Robe factory in th

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UK - The world record times for the indoor Women's 3000m, Men's 1500m and Men's two mile races were illustrated by Stage Electrics during the Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix on Friday 18 February 2005.

A lighting system designed by Stage Electrics' Simon Baker allowed the athletes to race against banks of lights around the track. The lights were carefully programmed to chase at the world record pace, meeting the exact specification set by Bob Caple production manager for Fast Track. The chases were set up to be accurate to within 0.01 of a second and the whole event was broadcast live by the BBC.

Working for Fast Track, UK Athletics and BBC Sport, Stage Electrics ensured that the system was robust and wouldn't let the athletes down during the races. 100 floor cans were rigged around the 200m track and controlled by Martin Light Jockey and a Strand 520i desk. Other equipment used

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USA - Lighting designer Bob Dickinson has used Martin Professional's MAC 2000 Wash fixtures recently for both the Grammys and the Oscars awards ceremonies. For the 77th Academy Awards show at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, Dickinson used around 260 MAC 2000 Wash fixtures into this year's design. "Good colour mixing combined with exceptional output make it the perfect tool for television, especially broadcasts with very high trim heights," he said. "The Grammy's had trims of over 80ft and the Oscars were some 45ft."

"Considering a live television broadcast is a one chance circumstance, dependability is very important," Dickinson states. "I have come to trust the MAC 2K as a solid player, a very dependable light. The MAC 2K Wash is a lot of light when you want it, where you need it and you know the damn thing will be working when the cue is called!&

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UK - When the Imperial War Museum in London needed lighting to enhance the launch of its new touring exhibition, Their Past Your Future, TPYF communications manager, Sarah Dowd, turned to White Light Events, following the successful collaboration between White Light and the Museum on the 1940's House exhibition in 2001.

Their Past Your Future is a new educational project led by the Imperial War Museum, and funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which aims to inspire people of all ages to discover the Second World War, how it shaped and altered the world's course, and why it is still relevant now and in the future. It is now showing in nine different locations around the UK, including: Bluewater Shopping Centre in Dartford, Kent, Bletchley Park in Milton Keynes, Action Stations at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, Forest of Mercia Innovation Centre, Staffordshire, Blackburn Mu

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UK - HSL Productions is supplying all lighting equipment for the current Bill Kenwright UK tour of "Jesus Christ Superstar". Lighting designer is Nick Richings and Simon Sherrif operates the show.

The rig includes a wide variety of Martin Professional MAC moving lights - 11 MAC 2K profiles, eight MAC 2K Washes, 12 MAC 500 profiles, six MAC 250s and four MAC 300s. There's also four DHA Digital Light Curtains and the generic lights include 36 Source Four Profiles with different lenses, and a selection of PAR cans.

All the generic fixtures are fitted with either ChromaQ Broadway or ChromaQ PAR scrollers, and Sherrif is running the show from a WholeHog II console. HSL has also supplied three Avolites ART dimmer racks and one of its custom built mains distro. The whole rig is completely self-contained at each venue apart from follow spots, which are supplied by the house.

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UK - In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the release of The Who's legendary album, Tommy, a production of the musical Tommy has hit the road for a 20-week European tour with lighting supplied by PRG Europe. PRG won the opportunity to supply the lights after the show's production company, Theatrical Management Group (TMG), decided to change lighting and audio suppliers at the last minute. "I chose PRG because they enabled me to stay in budget while keeping my original design," said Michel Boersma, the show's producer.

Given only two weeks to ship and set up the equipment at the tour's opening in Frankfurt, PRG's Alan Thomson and Loz Wilcox, together with independent production electrician Simon Needle, pulled out all of the stops in delivering a solution on-time. In the process, they recognized that rigging changes would need to be made in order to achieve

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UK - Workwear manufacturer Setwear has announced the availability of EasyFit 2 - a tough yet flexible glove made from 0.5mm synthetic leather with durable gel foam padding in the palms for extra grip and neoprene reinforcement over the knuckles for flexibility and protection, while Lycra panels between the fingers increase mobility and give extra comfort.

Machine washable and fast drying, these gloves allow you to dial your phone, tie knots and operate equipment without taking them off, say the company. The gloves "built for the needs of the technician working in the live entertainment industry" are now available from stockists in the UK and Europe.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and Spot 250 XT moving lights are on Natasha Beddingfield's current UK tour - her first shows with her own production to promote the successful debut album, Unwritten.

Lighting designer Dave Gibbon decided to buy the XT 250s himself, having used them extensively last year on the Hadley vs Cox tour and other events. "There's absolutely no doubt that they are the most reliable and cost-effective fixtures available for the type of work I do" he says - which ranges through a variety of touring artists to corporate and special events.

It was important that Beddingfield's lighting rig was adaptable and flexible as it's visiting a great variety of venues, from student union gigs and clubs to large theatres. It also had to fit into an expedient amount of truck space.

Gibbon chose the six Spot 250 XT's for their small size and large brigh

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