Lighting

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UK - The Lighting Design Awards represent the UK's most prestigious opportunity to achieve recognition for excellence and innovation in lighting design and technology. Rigorously judged by leading industry professionals, finalists and winners earn the plaudits of their peers, industry respect and publicity across a wide range of media, including national press and TV.

New this year, sponsored by PLASA and the PLASA Show, is the Entertainment Lighting category. Open to theatrical productions, concerts, music festivals, corporate events, exhibitions, temporary and one-off lighting installations, this new award will see lighting designers in the event sector recognised for excellence.

The event or events must have taken place in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands between 10 December 2004 and 9 December 2005 (the deadline for entries). Judges will require full technical informati

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Denmark - The new MAC 250 Wash is currently playing an important part in Danish amusement park Tivoli's celebration of Hans Christian Andersen's 200 year birthday. Titled A Tivoli Fairytale, the show pays tribute to Denmark's beloved writer through the daily presentation of an imaginative puppet show. The free show plays at Tivoli's Open Air Stage and includes living fairy tales, special effects, historical readings, newly composed music and song. Andersen was a frequent visitor to the amusement park and it was there that he found inspiration for the fairytale The Nightingale.

Cascades of light, music and special effects set the stage for a gigantic puppet show whose main character is the writer himself. Surrounded by iridescent puppets standing several meters tall, Andersen presents ten of his most popular fairytales including Thumbelina, The Emperor's New Clot

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Italy - The Regia 2048 version 2.15 Rev.1 boasts a number of new features. Hands-on simultaneous control of a maximum of 38 cue lists (static or changing scenes) is possible, where each list can contain an unlimited number of cues.

Via the touch screen, it is now possible to access the new Direct Access mode, which allows the operator to change the current scene instantly, should this be necessary for any unexpected reason. SMPTE enables the synchronization of a programmed show with an SMPTE source.

Regia is equipped with an effects generator that can create in a few seconds complex effects on any attribute of the fixtures being used. All playback registers can be controlled remotely via DMX, using any external desk.

SGM can be found on stand G30.

(Jim Evans)

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UK - Scenechange and Green Hippo have merged to form Green Hippo Ltd. Until recently digital media specialists Scenechange had been working as the exclusive worldwide distributors of the Hippotizer media server.

James Heron, director of Green Hippo comments, "It became more and more apparent over the last year or so that the combination of Green Hippo and Scene Change as a force for furthering the Hippotizer has really been a meeting of like minded enthusiasts. For Hippotizer to continue going from strength to strength, the merging of the two companies was the only sensible option."

He continues: "We now have the team we always wanted under one roof and this puts us in a strong position to develop, evolve and support our media server range."

As part of the merger, the two companies have completed a move into larger premises. Nigel Sadler, formerly technic

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UK - PID has enjoyed a busy year including moving to bigger premises in west London and launching a new web-site along with supplying digital media products like Catalyst, Pixel MAD and Versa TUBE to various live entertainment sectors. The company's client base is also diversifying into architectural installations for both retail and commercial projects.

At PLASA 2005 PID will feature Element Labs' Versa TILE and Versa TUBE products from their ever-increasing range of LED-based video input display technology. These will be controlled from a Pixel MAD system which allows the playback of low-res video across LED or DMX fixtures.

The latest Catalyst software will be displayed, running on both Apple Powerbook and G5 platforms illustrating the many cost-effective options now available for this video-optimised digital media system.

PID will also highlight the latest D-Tek products

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UK - Stagecraft Theatre Services has completed its four-year project at the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth, part of a series of upgrades following a fire backstage at the Victorian venue in 1972.

A company specialising in theatre design, Stagecraft was responsible for the complete refurbishment of all lighting and sound systems, including internal and external lighting design. "We have been working with the New Theatre Royal for many years on a refurbishment programme, and it is great to see all our hard work finally come together," comments Martin Palmer, Stagecraft director.

A team of ten engineers from Stagecraft Theatre Services worked with the theatre Manager to relocate the infrastructure of all sound and lighting systems. The lighting and sound control room was moved to the gods of the Theatre to enable the restoration of the upper and lower circles to

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UK - For the fourth year running, Entec Lighting supplied CMP Entertainment with full lighting production, foyer area and VIP tent illuminations and crew for the month long Liverpool Summer Pops event. The hugely successful 2005 Pops season featured a dynamic assortment of home grown and international talents - including McFly, Anastasia, Meat Loaf, The Australian Pink Floyd, Paul Weller, Diana Ross and many, many more.

Once again staged in its 4,500 capacity 6-pole Big Top, this year the location was shifted to a site on the Dock Road as Liverpool's new stadium is under construction on the previous one. The lighting rig was designed by Dave Hill. He wasn't able to physically run the shows himself this year as he was fully committed with the Rolling Stones. Instead, Entec dispatched their cheerful team of Phil White and Leigh Yeomans, both of whom have also worked on the show be

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UK - Lighting filter supplied by Lee Filters has been used to help control the lighting levels at the recent New Dawn Women exhibition at the Watts Gallery, Compton near Guildford. The Exhibition explores the role of women in the Arts & Crafts movement around the dawn of the 20th century and curator Irene Cockcroft has traced a unique collection of work never before presented to the public.

A number of the precious artefacts in the exhibition have been lent by leading British museums, so strict lighting conditions needed to be applied to protect the pieces from any damage. One major concern was the elimination of the ultra-violet light levels from the fluorescent lamps used to light the display cabinets. Lee Filters Fluorescent Sleeves with UV inserts were used within the cabinets, which removed virtually all traces of ultra-violet light. This ensured that none of the exh

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France - While Lance Armstrong was making history on the world's stage for his seventh Tour de France win, another stage was being set up for his victory and retirement party. High End Systems digital lighting products and a Wholehog 3 console helped set the celebratory scene for the cyclist and the Discovery Channel cycling team at The Ritz Paris.

Capital Sports & Entertainment (CSE) hosted the post-awards party. The main party room in the hotel's indoor swimming area accommodated 700-plus guests by adding a custom dance floor over the pool. Four ballrooms upstairs were also used.

Rudiger Haeming of Arcus supplied technical support and 4 High End Systems DL1s, 4 Catalyst Pro media servers and a Wholehog 3 console. French event producers Adelie Evenements and STe Displays provided additional lighting, audio and video equipment plus local crew.

The party's visual elements cen

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UK - One of the keynote sessions at this year's PLASA Show (11-14 September, Earls Court 1, London) will be an audience with American lighting veteran Sonny Sonnenfeld (Tuesday 13 September, 4.30pm). Sonnenfeld has been involved in theatre and architectural lighting for over 60 years: his career started at Century Lighting (now Strand) in 1945, where he became New York sales manager. In 1961, he co-founded Lighting & Electronics, rejoining what had then become Strand Century between 1975-85. In the intervening years, he's also been a sales representative for Colortran, Wybron and ETC.

During his professional career, he has taught lighting, won several awards, written numerous articles and founded the Broadway Lighting Master Classes, making a major contribution to the professional development of many of today's leading architectural and theatre lighting designers. After almost 6

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USA - Apollo Design Technology Inc has introduced Apollo Gel in 24" x 24" sheets in order to provide a simple solution to an ongoing problem, say the company. Unused gel left after cutting a 20"x 24" sheet into the most popular frame sizes is wasted: the 24"x 24" Apollo Gel sheets mean less waste The company's labour-saving PerfGel is also available on 24" x 24" sheets.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - ETC officially launches its powerful Congo lighting-control console at PLASA 2005. Sneak-previewed at last year's PLASA and now shipping worldwide, Congo offers seamless integration of conventional and moving light control, say the company. The first system to combine ETC and Avab expertise and engineering, Congo earned its stripes at the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, where four final beta test boards controlled hundreds of automated and conventional luminaires, 16 media servers, 15,000 channels of lighting effects and 37 universes of DMX. Since then it has found favour throughout Europe, being ordered by and installed in theatres, TV studios and multi-purpose venues alike.

Also new is ETC's IES Matrix Mk II sine wave dimming system, bringing higher density, improved efficiency and an extended choice of channel ratings to the highly successful and reliable Matrix standard.

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UK - Lumidrives, the UK-based LED technology provider, has made seven new appointments following strong domestic and export sales growth. Keith Watson joins the company as product manager with responsibility for solid state lighting products; Adrienne Nichols (fluent in French and German) takes on the role of sales coordinator with responsibility for distributors and key clients; while Stewart Goodall joins the company as purchasing manager.

Emma Loftus joins as sales administrator, while two new agents have also been appointed - Paul Dewey as northern England rep and Douglas Gardner as Scottish agent. Finally, Jonathan Veal joins the company as product support technician.

Managing director Gordon Routledge says: "With sales of both LED components and complete lighting solutions continuing to rise, we recognize the need to ensure that customer support is focused and of th

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USA - American DJ has introduced the Accu Spot 250 II. An upgraded version of its Accu Spot 250 automated moving head, the Accu Spot 250 II has a number of new features that make controlling a light show easier, including Remote DMX Addressing (RDMX), say the company. The new RDMX feature gives users the ability to change the Accu Spot 250 II's DMX values remotely, from any DMX console.

Other features include an improved 4-button menu system that makes accessing and navigating the menu an easier and clearer process. A new glass gobo has also been added to the unit, so that it now comes equipped with two glass gobos instead of one (out of a total of seven gobos plus spot). The dimming function on the Accu Spot 250 II has also been made smoother, say ADJ. Users now have the option to run the unit in 8-channel or 9-channel DMX, with the added channel being an independent dimmer. Th

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China - This year over 750 exhibitors of musical instruments and accessories, more than 130 exhibitors of professional audio and lighting equipment, and a packed schedule of events to entertain and enlighten visitors at the Music China and Prolight + Sound Shanghai show, which will run side-by-side at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Pudong from 19 - 22 October.

Prolight + Sound Shanghai may be smaller than it's neighbour Music China, but it's growing steadily and attracting some of the world's leading pro-audio and lighting companies into the fold. With over 130 exhibitors from 10 countries and regions - including China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Norway, Singapore, Taiwan, the UK and the USA - the 2005 fair will show a good range of entertainment and AV equipment.

Amongst the exhibitors are: Roxland (representing McCauley, Crest Audio, Pioneer and Shure)

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Australia - Over 100 Robe ColorSpot 170 moving heads and Anolis Arcsource RGB LED fixtures have been installed in the newly refurbished banqueting and ballroom facility at the Grand Hyatt, Melbourne, Australia.

The new facility's multi-purpose function areas now cover two levels, offering 2100sqm of conference facilities, and include the new Art Deco style Mayfair and Savoy Ballrooms The banqueting facility is designed to meet the highest international standards and is unparalleled anywhere else in Australia.

Lighting was integral to the whole interior design: designed by Michael Huggins the installation was completed by two companies - Premier Lighting (for the Robe elements) and Lightmoves (for the Anolis fixtures). Robe Show Lighting and Anolis brands are both distributed in Australia by ULA.

The Savoy Ballroom features over 100 Robe ColorSpot 170s which are discreetly lo

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USA - Northern Sound & Light (NSL) recently received the Outstanding Sales Performance Award for 2004-2005 from dbx/Lexicon Professional Products. The company was chosen from many competitors in the Eastern region of the United States

The award was given to NSL based on a phenomenal sales performance representing 23% sales growth year over year for the dbx/Lexicon product line. It was personally delivered to Steve Raslevich, president of NSL, by sales rep Bob Podolinski of RLA and Aaron Kunz, eastern regional sales manager for dbx/Lexicon Professional Products.

"The partnership between NSL and dbx/Lexicon is a winning combination," said Kunz. "We have a collective goal to increase sales and brand promotion while offering first rate service and expertise to the pro audio market."

"I am thankful that Bob and Aaron took the time and effort to recognize

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UK - Multiple Brit Award-winner Scissor Sisters has employed the services of Specialz to custom design and build an illuminated curved sign that incorporates their famous logo - the scissors with legs. The dramatic, sparkling sign has 4ft letters spelling out 'Scissor Sisters' with the 9.5ft glyph motif in-between.

The 16-part sign and has over 800 15W E14 prismatic light fittings which are across three circuits to enable chasing. The sign and transportation dollies were built in 10 working days. The effect of this sign works well with the artistic nature of Scissor Sisters and their cabaret style. The overall look creates an amazing Moulin Rouge spectacle on the stage.

Scissor Sisters lighting designer David Ross commented: "From the initial phone call to reality, the whole project was handled in the most professional of manners, and within the very limited deadline that

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UK - Steve Hoffman, director of sales for Gamproducts Inc of Los Angeles, California has announced the introduction of two new SX4 gobo changer trays. "Designers now have the ability to effortlessly project multiple gobo pattern images from just one lighting instrument, saving power and space," says Hoffman.

The SX4 B size gobo changer tray holds four B size metal or glass gobos and the M size gobo changer tray holds six metal or glass M size gobos. "Changing gobo direction is simply done using the onboard stand alone program modes, or to create your own custom gobo changes you can use any DMX-controlled lighting board," says Hoffman.

The SX4 was built for the rugged demands and duty cycles of the architectural, retail, display, and theme park markets.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK/Canada - Photonic Products Ltd, is sponsoring Paul Cocksedge as a keynote speaker at IIDEX/NeoCon, Canada, 22-23 September 2005, in Toronto.

Paul Cocksedge is one of the UK's most exciting lighting designers working today and will present his lighting designs plus an overview of the latest products, designers, innovations in technology and emerging lighting trends coming out of the UK today.

"Crystallize", designed by Paul Cocksedge for the Swarovski Crystal Palace Collection, is a chandelier made from light. When there is no light the chandelier disappears. Using lasers and crystals in perfect alignment, the iconic shape of a Swarovski crystal is drawn in mid air. At the heart of the chandelier is a single crystal which sparkles as it catches the light.

The development of this chandelier was made using Photonic Products' green laser modules.

The 532nm DPSS gr

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Italy - Ribalta from Italian manufacturer SGM is a colour-changing projector utilizing 90 Luxeon LEDs to provide colour washes over large areas such as walls, theatre and television backdrops, and architectural elements. The IP65-rated unit is suited to both indoor and outdoor use.

Other features include RGB colour mixing, high-power Luxeon LEDs 30 blue (1W), 30 green (3W), 30 red (1W); Luminous flux 3,000 Lumens; Colour temperature: 5,500°K (variable); interchangeable lenses - 8° asymmetric, 30° asymmetric, 10°x 90° (elliptical) horizontal and vertical; pan: +/- 45° and tilt: +15° / -70°.

(Lee Baldock)

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Sweden / UK - Wireless Solution Sweden AB, the producer of the award-winning W-DMX product at PLASA 2004, is again entering the PLASA Awards for Innovation with the new W-DMX IP65 Repeater - "a new and innovative product in the W-DMX family that brings the wireless technology for lighting one step further", say the company. The repeater solves a lot of problems for productions and installation companies, for example differences with very long distances or physical obstacles, the company claims, as it supports a distance up to 20km between each repeater.

Wireless Solution Sweden is also showing the W-DMX IP65 Transceiver, which supports RDM. All W-DMX products offer talk-back function, and the plug and play solution can be set up in less then 60 seconds, the company says. W-DMX follows the standard of ETSI and FCC to cover the European and the North American market.

L

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UK - Shortly before the official UK launch of the ADB Warp/M at PLASA 2005, Glyndebourne Opera House in East Sussex, England became the first British venue to acquire the new luminaire. An advance consignment of the Motorised Warp was built and installed in time for the legendary opera house's summer season.

Glyndebourne's lighting manager, Keith 'KB' Benson, organized a head-to-head 'luminaire shootout' when the venue's management decided to make its first long-term investment in automated lighting. He explains: "We've used generics for years because I never felt that the moving light for opera was there, although we have tried a few - we used a couple of 2K PCs for a few years and they performed pretty well. But we have never really gone for anything else; I am not so keen, personally, on colour mixing, as it can be difficult to get a really pure specific colour. But usin

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UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light will be at the PLASA Show once again this year, showing new products from many of the companies for which it is the exclusive UK distributor as well as its own Digital Festoon System, a winner of a PLASA Award For Innovation at last year's show.

In order to demonstrate its full potential, the Digital Festoon System - a radical re-think of conventional festoon lighting that allows each lamp along a festoon's length to be individually dimmed without the aid of external dimmers - will be put through its paces in a two square metre demonstration rig featuring a 27 x 27 square grid of bulbs - 729 in total. The arrangement will show some of the many dramatic possibilities offered by what, at first glance, appears to be just a collection of light bulbs.

Alongside DFS, White Light will be showing the new White Light/ETC Smart Touring Ra

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