UK - Clifton Suspension Bridge spans some 214m across the River Avon linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in Somerset, England. Designed by Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, this Grade I listed structure is a landmark of the city of Bristol and has attracted visitors from all over the world for almost 150 years.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust wanted to update the existing lighting of the bridge with a new solution that would display the immense achievement of the structure. Illumination has long been part of the bridge's appeal, but previously it had focused more on a lit bulb component, rather than lighting the bridge structure itself.

With the bridge a key landmark of Bristol and the surrounding region, the Trust wanted the main elements of the bridge (the deck, the chains and the towers) to be treated with concealed light sources wherever possible. In ad

USA - High up on the sixth floor of the Time Warner Center in New York glows the stunning logo of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The white, teal and red sign is visible from halfway back to Fifth Avenue.

Says Jazz at Lincoln Center lighting director Zakaria Al-Alami, "The upstage wall of the Allen Room is all glass, looking down at the circle and straight down 59th Street - the perfect visibility for our brand. Displaying a sign of any sort in the window was a tad challenging for a number of reasons. Thenext best thing: use the back wall of the Allen Room. But we still needed something bright, legible, and economical and something that would fit right in with the architecture and aesthetics of the room. Building a light box was out of the question."

The solution was to use an ETC Source Four spotlight fitted with ETC's Enhanced Definition Lens Tube (EDLT) and

Europe - The Bryan Adams world tour continues on its latest European leg, with an Avolites Diamond 4 controlling all lighting. The console was programmed and is being operated by Ewan McRobb with equipment supplied by Siyan. The lighting design was created by Bryan Leitch and Nick Whitehouse.

Adams has been on the road since November 2006 and in that time has toured South American and the USA. For these sections, they toured the Avo console throughout and picked up local rigs for each show.

"You need a board that's totally hands on in this situation" says McRobb, "I need to be able to grab and access looks, scenes and fixtures instantly and to be able to improvise and go with the flow in real time - just as he does."

The rig is based on three trusses and a back wall. The back wall contains 15 Skypans and twenty 4-cell Moles. The rear truss features four N

UK - Production company Congo Blue Design has bought four Robe StageBanner 50 ATs. These were immediately deployed to suspend four rotating scenic doors on the set of the three-times-a-day live catwalk show at the Spring 2007 Harrogate Lingerie & Swimwear Exhibition.

Ben Teale from Berkshire-based Congo Blue provided lighting, sound, set and full technical production for this section of the show for the eighth season. This year he wanted something different to incorporate into his set design which had to be a versatile effect and fit the budget.

The StageBanners were mounted on the top rail of the rear truss above the runway entrance, Four polycarbonate panels with different sized holes cut into them, were suspended below each StageBanner, painted white on one side and black on the reverse. Small spinning bases were positioned at the bottom of the panels, supporting them on th

Europe - Chicago's Fall Out Boy complete a sold out European tour of arena size venues ending in the UK this month. And to cap it all their recent album Infinity on High has just reached no 1 on the American Billboard Charts.

Southampton based hire company, GLS Lighting provided the lighting rig, a large amount of LED VersaTubes, a Hippotizer media server, live cameras on stage and to control it all - a ChamSys MagicQ MQ200 console.

The rigs itself comprised of 20 Robe ColourSpot 1200Ate, 20 MAC600, 14 Atomic strobes with scrollers, 20 ChromaQ Colourblock DB4, 20 LED PAR 64s, 260 VersaTubes driven from a Hippotizer plus a variety of moles, generics and dimmers over four universes of ArtNet.

Lighting Designer, Esteban Caracciolo found the transition to the MagicQ extremely easy and he was particularly impressed with the powerful media and LED control, and with t

Switzerland - PRG Europe, working with design and communication's company Imagination, supplied the lighting equipment and control for the press launch of the new Ford Mondeo at the Geneva Autoshow. On the evening of 5 March, the President Wilson Hotel played host to 200 members of the press, where three new Mondeos were on display.

The full lighting package for the event, which included dinner and a speech by Ford of Europe's president & CEO John Fleming used some 45 Vari*Lite luminaires and over 70 conventionals.

Lighting designer for Imagination Tanya Burns explains, "Our aim was to create a comfortable, relaxed environment, rather like a plush private members club. We used subtle lighting throughout and then highlighted the cars with brighter lighting. By using the more subtle general lighting scheme we were able to let guests eyes adjust to the light so that, for the

USA - Nemetschek North America announced that it has donated VectorWorks Spotlight 12.5 to a winner of theBehind the Scenes raffle held at the 2007 USITT Conference. The Long Reach Long Riders and the ESTA Foundation raised a total of $17,800 for Behind the Scenes at the annual USITT trade show.

Behind the Scenes, an ESTA Foundation initiative, provides grants to seriously ill or injured industry members that may be used for medical care and living expenses. "We were thrilled by the level of support for Behind the Scenes at USITT this year," says Rick Rudolph, committee chair.

"I'm excited to put VectorWorks Spotlight 12.5 to use, as, having worked with earlier versions of VectorWorks in the past and SoftPlot, I find VectorWorks to be much more robust," says USITT raffle winner Jayson Adamsen, technical director, Rhino Staging.

Czech Republic - Robe Show Lighting held its 2007 International Dostributors Conference in its home town of Roznov pod Radhostem. The event was attended by over 130 representatives from the company's worldwide dealer network. Robe capitalised on the close proximity of Frankfurt's ProLight + Sound show, choosing the date so attendees could combine their trip to the exhibition with that of the Distributors' Conference.

The day started with a tour of Robe's 10,000sq.m factory in Valasske Mezirici. This employs 300 people and produces all Robe's current ranges of digital, LED and moving light fixtures. All processes - from the raw metalwork to the final assembly - are contained within the building, ensuring that Robe's uniform quality standards are applied across the entire production process.

The conference section of the event was staged at the Relax Hotel in Roznov. Robe's CEO

USA - Lorenzo Cornacchia, VP of Pyrotek Special Effects once again worked with the Grammy Awards in designing a number of productions including Chris Brown, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Christina Aguilera.

Chris Brown's quick pace hip hop style included effects such as cryo jet heads, a 20ft high gerb chase which led to an all-fire cue of 24 gerbs and a final 18 flashes with bang. Also, included was a confetti snow-like effect for the Red Hot Chili Peppers performance Snow.

Pyrotek provided Christina Aguilera's performance with a low-lying fog effect for her tribute piece to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, It's a Man's World.

(Jim Evans)

USA - In a move to provide integrators with a clear understanding of power distribution and grounding of audio, video and telecommunications equipment, Middle Atlantic Products has announced that its newest industry resource, Integrating Electronic Equipment And Power Into Rack Enclosures is available for download from the company's website, MiddleAtlantic.com.

The result of a collaboration between Bob Schluter, president and chief engineer, Middle Atlantic Products, Bill Whitlock, president, Jensen Transformers and Neil Muncy, president, Neil Muncy Associates, this new white paper provides installers with a basic understanding of effective power distribution while offering tips and tricks for avoiding common problems, says the company.

Commenting on the announcement, Schluter said, "The intent of this paper isn't to teach integrators how to be electricians. Rather

Denmark - A range of front end accessories is now available for Martin Professional's MAC TW1 Tungsten washlight that expands the optical possibilities of the fixture. The accessories have been developed by City Theatrical of New York and include a Top Hat, Top Hat with Louver, and Color Frame. Additional accessories will be available in the future.

The holder for the accessories, developed by Martin Professional and easily attached to the front of the fixture, features three static runners with a fourth spring mounted clip. Inserts are constructed of silicone rubber to ensure that the already quiet fixture does not give off any extra noise if moving with accessories mounted. Up to two accessories can fit onto the holder.

The Top Hat and Top Hat with Louver are devices used in theatrical lighting to shield the audience's eyes from the direct source of the light. They are speci

UK - Registration to attend the 29th ABTT Theatre Show (13-14 June, Royal Horticultural Halls, London) is now available via www.abtt.org.uk/theatreshow.

Already sold out, this years show will play host over 100 exhibiting companies filling all three halls to capacity. With several new exhibitors, including ChamSys Consoles, Sunbaba Fabrics and Northern Stage Services, the event presents a comprehensive range of products and services for professionals and non technical users involved with equipping, refurbishing or up-grading their drama studio, theatre, auditorium or multi-purpose performance space.

One of the show's aims is to illustrate all aspects of performance technology and offer practical advice from leading suppliers about the enormous value that can be added by investing in technology.

Also illustrating the Show's commitment to education, drama schools from around t

UK - Adlib supplied full lighting production and - in conjunction with Capital Sound - PA for the recent Kelly Jones tour. The Stereophonics front man's high profile solo tour sold out in minutes, visited a series of high profile theatre and concert hall style venues, and has been hailed as a massive critical success.

Jones played his acclaimed Only The Names Have Been Changed album in its entirety, and wrapped the set up with a small selection of acoustically re-worked Stereophonics classics. He was accompanied by his guitar, his voice and ample charisma, and backed for some of the set by a string trio and keyboardist Tony Kirkham.

Adlib came onboard through tour manager Neil MacDonald. Adlib project manager Phil Kielty says, "It's been great working with an artist of Kelly Jones' calibre. The show looked and sounded stunning, featured some great teamwork (both cr

Japan - Beyonce kicked off her Beyonce Experience world tour on 10 April with a large video-dominated production featuring 14 High End Systems DL.2 digital light fixtures, the most ever specified on tour, in the design. LD is Justin Collie of ArtFag; DL.2 supplier is XL Touring Video of Los Angeles.

John Wiseman, CEO and president of XL Touring Video, says, "This is not only a large tour in terms of scale of production, but in terms of fixture quantity, this is the largest tour DL.2 has ever been on. We're proud to be supplying the fixtures for it. The DL.2s are a major element in Justin Collie's design, and this is definitely a visual experience to see."

The tour started in Tokyo, moves to Australia, hits Europe/UK in April-June, and North American arenas July-September.

(Jim Evans)

Denmark - Architects Dissing + Weitling have created a combination of form and function in Bryggebro, a 190m long, 7m wide bicycle and pedestrian bridge that forms part of Copenhagen's growing network of pedestrian and cycling paths. Inaugurated in September 2006, Bryggebroen is a swing bridge for the passage of large ships, and the first bridge built over the city's harbour in 50 years.

Besides saving Copenhageners several minutes on their commutes, not to mention providing a safe and beautiful alternative to the noise and trafficked roads, visually Bryggebro connects two sides of Copenhagen - Islands Brygge with Havneholmen - while defining the space of the harbour.

At night the bridge stands as a lighted ribbon over the water thanks to built-in linear luminaires designed by Dissing + Weitling in collaboration with Martin Professional. The bridge's central spine, which divid

USA - As people around the US prepare to recognise Earth Day on April 22, Color Kinetics emphasises the role that new lighting technology will play in mitigating energy strain, projecting that at least 75% of commercial lighting in the US will be produced by energy-efficient LED sources by 2030.

LEDs already deliver four times the efficiency of traditional incandescent and halogen light sources, while rapidly gaining ground on fluorescent and offering numerous benefits above and beyond all three, says the company.

"With millions of lights burning nearly 24x7 in office buildings, hospitals, shopping malls, hotels and public places, it's no wonder that commercial buildings account for 51% of total energy consumption for lighting in the US vs. 27% for residential," said Bill Sims, president and CEO, Color Kinetics. "This presents us with an enormous opportunity to

USA - Beginning 26 April 2007, Vari-Lite will embark on a six city road show. As part of the 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Vari-Lite road show will highlight the new VL3500 Wash luminaire, the newest member of the Vari*Lite Series 3000 family of luminaires, along with the complete line of Vari*Lite automated luminaires. The road show will begin in Los Angeles, CA, and will conclude November 2007 in Orlando, FL.

"Vari-Lite is eager to get out on the road and demonstrate the new VL3500 Wash luminaire" stated Vari-Lite product marketing manager George Masek. "During the road show, we will have the opportunity for quality personal interaction with our dealers and lighting designers across the nation. Their feedback regarding the light, along with their feedback on the complete product line, is highly regarded. This new light is truly something special, and we are

USA - Nexxus Lighting has completed the renaming of the company from Super Vision International to Nexxus Lighting. The company is focusing its resources on the rapidly expanding market for LED lighting system technologies, fibre optic lighting technologies and other new emerging 'white light' technologies through both new product development and potential strategic acquisitions.

The company has also announced that it has completed the move to its new manufacturing and distribution facility in Orlando, Florida.

"We are very pleased with the response to the Nexxus Lighting strategy from our customers and partners." stated Mike Bauer, president & CEO. "Although we are only a few months into implementation, we have accomplished our short term goals with the name change, symbol change and facility move and now our focused on executing on our branding strategy to mak

UK - Christie has introduced Christie ACT, a new theatre automation controller purpose-built to interface with the latest generation Digital Cinema technology. The system makes it easy to automate presentations by translating cues from connected devices to control most theatre equipment including lighting, curtains, sound, masking and projectors, says the company. The system offers a solution, enabling customisable control to suit the needs of a single screen, a multiplex facility or an entire theatre chain.

Manageable through a web interface, Christie ACT allows the user control and flexibility. It can be accessed from any web browser on a networked computer making it accessible from a portable handheld computer or laptop.

With an intuitive graphical user interface, even the novice can easily customise tasks and events to suit specific needs, says the company. Featuring pre-d

Denmark - It was ten years ago that Martin Professional launched the MAC 600 washlight, a fixture destined to become one of the most successful automated moving heads in the history of the lighting industry. From the first delivery to Hamburg-based PROCON Event Engineering in early 1997, the 575 W Fresnel luminaire went on to become an industry favourite with over 30,000 units sold to date.

The MAC 600 certainly lived up to the company's slogan at the time, 'Tougher than the rest'. Marketed as the 'MACnificent Team' along with the MAC 500, which launched later that same year, the MAC 600 gained a loyal following that changed Martin's reputation forever, says the company.

With their purchase of 300 units in 1997, PROCON was the first to bring the MAC 600 to the rental market, a transaction that other rental houses would soon copy. In honour of that first purchase Martin recentl

UK - Live event lighting company, Essential Lighting Group, has made a significant investment to become the world's first lighting rental company stocking Barco MiTRIX and MiSTRIP Scenic LED fixtures.

MiTRIX is a lightweight, bright and highly transparent LED module with 16 by 8 pixels and a pixel pitch of 24mm. MiSTRIP, a linear pixel strip with 13.25mm inline pixel pitch, can be freely spaced to suit the resolution required, offering immense flexibility in a wide variety of applications, says the company.

Essentialís technical director Martin Lubach says, "The creative LED range uses video images which are accurately mapped to the chosen LED configuration using the powerful Director Toolkit software. There's no need for video clips to be pixel mapped into DMX512 signals with the resulting loss of image quality and low refresh rate. The system is easy to configure and c

UK - Dave Parry has joined the Avolites team as technical sales engineer. Parry brings a wealth of enthusiasm and experience, having worked as a technical project manager, lighting designer and specifier in the club and live entertainment sectors. Projects include high-profile installations at Fabric, Ministry of Sound, Camden Palace and Rehab in London, the Sub Club in Glasgow, Elevate in Delhi and the Wag Club in Paris. Perry is also an active LD with dance gurus Hybrid, and has some club projects which are on-going.

Avolites' Steve Warren says: "We're really delighted to be working with someone of Dave's calibre. His hands-on experience and industry-wide credibility is invaluable. He is also used to dealing first hand with all the challenges and demands of the live, touring and clubbing entertainment markets, and has a clear understanding of the requirements from both cr

Singapore - Singapore's growing infrastructure - requiring the need for ever more professional staging services - is already having a positive effect on this year's Event 360º show, which makes its debut under the wing of the umbrella PALME Asia expo in July.

Some 1,000sq.m, a quarter of the overall capacity at Singapore Expo, will be set aside for Event 360º Asia. Heartened by the initial response, Davin Er, who is responsible for developing this sector, believes that interest has not only been stimulated by the support from the Singapore Tourism Board, but the building of the S$3.85bn Marina Bay Sands complex, housing casino, hotel and convention centre.

Event 360º Asia will also be working closely alongside Singapore-based UnUsUal Productions, who are among an increasing number of local companies that have the capability of offering world-renowned ev

Italy - Traxon Technologies is set to showcase three LED developments at Euroluce 2007 which takes place from 18-23 Aprilat the New Milan Fairgrounds.

Traxon's booth will feature a complete overview of its colour changing and white LED lighting systems - Panels, Luminaires, XB Luminaires and Modules - along with their latest product line enhancements in all categories: 16PXL Board and Module, high brightness Luminaires with 1W, 3W and K2 Luxeon LEDs and a preview of its Tile 64PXL Outdoor panel.

(Jim Evans)

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