Lighting

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New from SGM on the Lightfactor stand was the Synthesis 700W moving head fixture, which comes complete with Wireless DMX as standard. Also new from SGM was the elegant flat-faced Palco LED moving head fixture that can be used both indoors and outdoors due to its IP22 rating.

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The Lightfactor stand was a constant hub of activity with a number of the brands under the Lightfactor umbrella enjoying significant success. This success was epitomized by Lightfactor's Paul Deville, who told us: "This year marks a return to form for us. We've come out of the shadow of High End [whose products Lightfactor used to distribute in the UK] with [rival moving light manufacturer] SGM, and it's a great feeling."

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The wildly waving arms of the fan-driven MBN Eventproducts Airman are a familiar sight at PLASA and this year was no exception. The C-180 small confetti cannon was making its UK debut, as was the ProLED range of low-cost, single-colour and RGB lighting fixtures. These include balls, tubes, panels and replacement MR16/GU10 bulbs. The full range of effects includes foam, snow, confetti cannon, silk flames, inflatable figures and weatherproof airdomes for moving heads.

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The big news from Tomcat UK was the announcement of a strategic partnership with Pfaff-silberblau, including the acquisition of the latter's PCM brand and UK distributorship of Columbus McKinnon hoists. The agreement has been lauded by both companies: Tomcat UK's Tony Dickson emphasised that existing PCM motor hoist customers will now be able to access a much wider range of services. In turn, Pfaff-silberblau's Paul Kelly said that the company will continue to develop and market its extensive range of backstage lifting systems.

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Getting on to this appropriately-named company's stand was difficult at times, the dazzling wall and floor-mounted Ayrton Dreampanel display acting as a particularly eye-catching beacon - even in a show where a vast range of LED panels and fixtures were literally blitzing visitors' attention. The big news was that Gatecrasher is opening its new £3m Leeds venue with a DreamPanel wall, part of a lighting package being installed by HFM Lighting & Sound (more on Gatecrasher in L&SI Jan 2006).

LED lighting fixtures were a mainstay of the stand, but there was also a UK debut for the Antari Z series of smoke machines, plus a wide range of moving heads and scanners on show.

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The ever-packed TMB stand featured a number of new product lines. From the ex-Flying Pigs, who are now known as Carallon, was the new Pharos LPC (see Award Winners, p58-59).

With the purchase of DHA by Rosco and the obvious impact on DHA's Scenechange division (now merged with Hippotizer creator, Green Hippo), distribution of the Hippotizer media server for Asia and the Middle East has been awarded to TMB in addition to its existing territory of North America.

A virtual Rolls-Royce of crowd control barriers, manufactured by All Access Staging and Production - The Versacade II, is also being distributed by TMB. Finally, the Falcon range of high power xenon, metal halide and LED fixtures by German manufacturer A&O Technology was also a key feature of the TMB stand.

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The architectural lighting control manufacturer, Dynalite Europe, displayed its new 'Revolution' series control panels. The buttons and controls on each panel can be raised or lowered to allow for almost any thickness of material to be used as a custom fascia.

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A combined DHA and Rosco stand for the newly combined companies featured Rosco's X-Effects projector, which now comes with DMX512 control, a dowser and colorizer gobos. Also from Rosco was a new animation wheel/effects wheel module with built-in power supply.

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With a trade show dominated by LED products, it can be difficult to get noticed. On the Lightfactor stand, Xilver certainly managed to do so with the uniquely designed Xolar LT batten. The 16-segmented batten can be used on its own or in conjunction with other battens to form a grid, a longer batten or any combination. Xilver's homogenous colouring technology is clearly in evidence with the Xolar LT, which also features a reflector for each light source and produces a beam angle of two degrees. The Xolar LT is controlled by DMX or Xilver's own serial interface and can be customized using a number of effect filters, lenses and diffusers.

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Specialists in designing and producing power supplies for lighting, Power Gems was showing an electronic PSU for moving lights - 'Clear Arc' ballast technology - itself a former PLASA Awards winner, and already in use by Robe Show Lighting. Its PSUs run at a very high 300kHz (150Hz is more usual), which allows it to run cool with consequently less fan noise. Other benefits from this PSU is an extension to lamp usability, as the burn envelope stays clearer for longer than is usual with more conventional PSUs.

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"World Class Products - Right here in your own backyard," was the slogan and with a stand designed to look like a backyard, LSC launched its new products upon PLASA - where it also celebrated its 25th birthday.A subtle redesign to the chassis of the Maxim console, along with the doubling of controllable moving lights and a 15% increase in operating speed - plus a number of other software improvements - justified the "V2" suffix to the successful four-year-old console. Another new product from LSC was the ePlate remote wall station for its EKO and e24v2 dimming systems. Also for the e24v2 dimming system was LSCnet - a remote monitoring and control interface that utilizes an LCD touch screen and full diagnostics error log with data backup.

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Ben-Ri Electronica from Madrid, Spain, is a manufacturer of lighting control equipment and dimmers. The company was showcasing its new top end 'Hydra' range of lighting consoles, from 512 - 2048 channels, for combining moving and conventional lighting shows. SANDnet DMX-to-Ethernet hardware and software products were also featured on the stand.

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Ensconced on the White Light stand, ELC Lighting promoted its new Sidekick Fader 10 - a multi-function fader board that has numerous interface options including, MIDI, DMX512 and serial.

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Le Maitre previewed the prototype of its new MVS (Multi Venue System). Features include variable high output haze, twin variable high output projection fans, 90° electronically variable haze output direction, 4-channel DMX 512, and an LED display control panel. Also new was a flame effect using Le Maitre's patented haze technology: FakeFlame, made by Back Stage Technologies Europe (BSTE), creates the illusion of real gas flames. Upstairs, Le Maitre held live pyro demos, showing effects from the Pyroflash and Prostage ranges.

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Another of the many French exhibitors this year was MH Diffusion from Paris, at PLASA for the first time - after many years as visitors. The company showed its new range of LED theatre lighting fixtures called 'LED Projector', available in 16-, 30-, 36-, 54- and 64-LED options. They also showed a new laser product - the MAC VI - a 100mW DMX-controlled green laser for discos. The company also produces its own brand of sound products including amps and speakers.

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Safety Ring Switch from Sonoss is, as the name suggests, an Ethernet switch used in a ring configuration. For big events where double ring Ethernets are often employed, the switch has a response of less than 35 millisecs to an interruption. Luminex Products, who make the switch, also showed a prototype lighting desk - Hummingbird - a 'soft' desk where any function of the desk can be subordinated to any module in an Ethernet system.

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Australia's Enttec was showing new add-ons to its Lightfactory PC-based, open architecture lighting control software. These included the Shortcut and the Playback, Ethernet-based hardware controllers which can also function as stand-alone ESP or Artnet units. The Shortcut features 62 buttons, while the Playback has 10 faders with three buttons and Flash assigned to each.

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Ayrton showed its moving LED heads and its eye-catching LED 'DreamPanel' (see entry under Lighting Effects Distribution). The Ayrton Dreampanel has 256 pixels per 500mm square panel and a 16 x 16 resolution. New was the modulated 318 3 x LED bank and the Slimled 54 directional wash panel, and for programmers, the Conger IR remote pocket-sized remote controller.

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Belgium-based Goboland has just opened a London office and was highlighting this at the PLASA Show. This gobo manufacturer specializes in one and two-colour products, which are great for company logos.

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Swedish company Wireless Solutions showed a new IP65-rated wireless repeater for its wireless system. The repeater allows the elimination of "dead spots" in wireless coverage, making for a more dynamic wireless network.

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Chamsys now offers three different sizes of PC Wing to its existing range of DMX lighting consoles. Maxi Wing can control up to four DMX universes, the Normal runs two, and the Mini just one. The Maxi Wing is also offered with an in-built PC.

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Anytronics displayed its new range of wall-mount dimmers. There are 12 models currently available and they feature RS232 as well as DMX and analogue control options. Also new was the fluorescent ANYColour range of IP65-rated colour changing fittings, including 1200 x 1200mm ceiling panels, which the company claims are five times brighter that similar LED products!

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There were two elements to PRG at PLASA this year. For one of the biggest companies in the room, one of the two stands occupied by PRG was remarkably small. Here, Phillip Hesleton was offering PLASA visitors a free shuttle service to PRG's Greenford HQ to view a multitude of automated and conventional lighting products, including top-line control desks, ready for re-sale. Most were barely two or three years old, but PRG's relentless drive to be current makes them past best. An attractive package to many visitors, the popularity of this service says much about the durability of products made by many of the manufacturers who exhibit at PLASA.

On the main stand, the big news was the VL500, the new wash fixture from Vari-Lite, available in four versions, all effectively modelled on the well-known Vari*Lite VL5. On show were the 1000W tungsten with on-board dimmer, which can also be run off

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Shown last year as a prototype, the production version of the Swefog Live T26 smoke generator was on display. Using water-based fluids, the unit delivers smoke at up to 1,800sq.m/min and is controllable via DMX, remote and standalone. Two new cracked oil hazers were also on show, the Ultimate 200 and 300, the latter having ultra-low noise technology built in.
  1. Network Lighting Designs
  2. Bandit Lites
  3. Wybron
  4. Sovis Optique
  5. White Light
  6. Coemar SpA
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