Lighting

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UK - The first LED fixture capable of competing against a conventional 575W washlight made its debut at this month's PLASA Show on the stand of German company GLP. And waiting to snap up the first consignment to arrive in the UK were leading theatrical hire companies, White Light and Hawthorn Theatrical.

Ian Kirby, of UK distributor Lighting Effects Distribution, confirmed that the two companies had secured the first GLP Impression compact moving heads to arrive in the UK after they had been previewed at this spring's ProLight&Sound expo in Frankfurt, and then successfully trialed at Live Earth in Hamburg.

German promoter Marek Lieberberg commissioned Cologne-based Showtec to handle the lighting, and they designed 75 of the pioneering heads into their stage grid for the event.

This was all the encouragement Ian Kirby needed. The delighted distributor reports that L.E.D. now

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UK - The London Coliseum has carried out the first upgrade of its dimming system since the completion of its four year restoration programme in 2004, with the installation of an ETC Sensor+ 96 way dimming rack. The complete installation, from receipt of order to re-energising the system, took just eight days, ensuring the house was ready for rehearsals and performances in the new season.

The order for the new rack was received by Fagan Electrical on 30 August 30 and ETC delivered the rack to the Coliseum the following Monday. The Sensor+ rack upgrades the house light dimming system, supplying more than 80 channels, most with an RCD on each channel. Other channels utilise the Sensor+ emergency lighting modules, some dimmed, some relay switching. Control is from an ETC Unison system, which was installed during the refurbishment.

Nick Ewins of Fagan Electrical said, "We had

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UK - As in the past three years, PRG Europe has supplied the lighting and control for the Edinburgh Tattoo, which includes over 120 VL5s, 17 City Colors and seven MAC 2000 performance spots, which carry gobos for the show sponsors, as well as a Wholehog III.

Project manager Keith Duncan explains: "Through my company Amorphous Projects, I supply project management and crewing for the entire site electrics. We install the electrical infrastructure for emergency lighting, sound and the show lighting. I have a core crew of four on site: lighting director and operator Gerry Mott, crew chief Biz Bauermeister and lighting technicians Clive Mitchell and Cara Wiseman, who look after the day to day running of the site."

Project manager for PRG Europe John McEvoy notes: "The Tattoo took the opportunity to test out some new follow spots this year and, after I brought some u

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UK - York College, a £60 million development consisting of a 29,350 sq.m facility at Sim Balk Lane in York, is one of the largest single further education buildings ever constructed. The building consists of a main theatre space and a separate drama/rehearsal studio. The main space was equipped with 96 ways of Compulite CompuRACK digital dimming.

The College wanted to utilise the very latest technology throughout and a Compulite Vector Green control system, complete with iControl riggers control system and WYSIWYG console edition, was specified. The Vector was chosen because of the ability to completely customise the behaviour and syntax of the console to suit a wide range of users and a multitude of multimedia features using the latest software Release 3.15. Its improved theatre style features were a further advantage.

The Vector PC software is available as a free downl

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USA - Wybron has announced that Terry Taylor and John Tabor have joined the company to cement its ability to best serve the house of worship market's lighting needs. Taylor, former head of lighting designs at New Life Church and Tabor, assistant lighting designer at New Life, are two of the country's foremost experts on lighting the worship space.

"I am thrilled that these two successful and high-profile church lighting experts have joined Wybron to support our focus in this vertical market," said Larry Turner, CEO of Wybron. "With Terry and John, Wybron is already improving its role of providing churches with the best possible lighting fixtures and retrofit products that benefit the emotional process of worshiping."

(Jim Evans)

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Australia - Following the success of the Colour Your World Conference in March, Mandylights' Greg Yates was again behind the drawing board and then the lighting console for Australia's largest conference - the Hillsong Conference, which saw an abundance of Martin gear in use including the new semi-transparent LC series video screens.

This conference attracted more than 26,000 Christians from 68 nations representing 19 denominations who call the Acer Arena home for five days as part of the annual Hillsong Conference. Considered Australia's largest annual conference, each year it attracts pastors, worship leaders, musicians, community workers and individual believers representing hundreds of churches.

During the conference, the rig has to light everything ranging from the contemporary worship music that Hillsong is famous for, through to ballads from Guy Sebastian and Pau

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USA - Modelled after the US Capitol building, the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta with its gilded dome and monumental neoclassical structure was considered the perfect expression and symbol of the "New South" when it was built in 1889. More than 100 years later, it's still an architecturally impressive and symbolically important building for one of the country's fastest growing states.

However, at night, the building and dome lost much of its lustre with a lighting scheme that created uneven lighting. The rotunda was primarily lit with 400W high-pressure sodium lamps from an extremely steep angle, resulting in deep shadows above the curve of the dome and at the upper cupola. A mix of lower wattage metal halide lamps and high-pressure sodium lamps combined to create hot spots and uneven colours on the stone and gold leaf.

"The overall result was somewha

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USA - Reflecting ever-increasing use of LED sources to light sets and stages around the world, Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions, the new entity formed by Philips' acquisition of Color Kinetics, has announced the adoption of its new tour-friendly lighting system, ColorBlast 12 TR, by the industry's leading supplier and integrator of entertainment technology equipment - Production Resource Group (PRG).

To provide a one-stop solution for its customers, PRG also purchased the complementary power/data supply, PDS-750 TR, designed by City Theatrical, specifically to withstand the rigours of the touring world.

To date, the integrated LED lighting system has already been supplied for the concert tours and corporate events of Aerosmith, Gwen Stefani and Astra Zenica, and television productions including 1 vs. 100, the Daytime Emmy Awards, and the presidential candidate deb

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Canada - étienne St-Jacques is the technical quarterback behind all those performances on Canadian Idol, a summer blockbuster show seen on Canada's CTV Television Network. He is the project manager at Solotech, a Montreal-based company supplying lighting, sound and video equipment on the market since 1977. He makes sure that dozens of microphones will be in working order during all those taped rehearsals, run-throughs and live shows.

étienne states: "Confronted with such a challenge, you start with the obvious. The thing is, most performers associate the word microphone with the name Shure. There are quite a number of singers out there that are basically expecting nothing less than an SM58 microphone when they arrive here. This suits me fine because Shure has a great tradition for quality and reliability while being able to stay one step ahead of the pa

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UK - An unusual feature of Litestructures' impressive stand at this year's PLASA Show in London was the large number of visitors from the world of professional audio. The focus of their interest was one of two brand new products Litestructures unveiled at the show, LiteMast.

As MD Adrian Brooks explained: "The tremendous rise in popularity of line array sound systems within the concert and touring sector of the pro-sound marketplace has created a problem. They need to be flown, and many venues do not have the facility to easily do this. LiteMast provides a convenient, labour-saving and cost-effective solution, hence the interest from this area, with both manufacturers and hire companies enquiring."

The company also launched LiteBarrier, a modular crowd control system with advanced features and superior ergonomics, designed to hold back the pressing hordes. Commenting

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Denmark - Based around the same principles as the Jem Roadie X-Stream, Martin Professional's rugged Roadie Compact is a powerful, condensed version for venues that need instant fog or haze coverage of large areas.

The Roadie Compact features a twin block design. Dual, high-output 1.5KW heat exchangers work with a high performance fan to provide long, stage-filling projections. Versatile and capable of casting a variety of effects from a controlled haze to a high-density fog, the Roadie Compact can also be positioned vertically for geyser effects or towers of fog.

On board controls allow for independent smoke possibilities with full functionality capable from a remote control (accessory). Control via DMX is a standard feature. Designed to accept a variety of fluids for different effect options, a large 9.5 litre fluid container and easy remote fluid connection mean fluid refill

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World - The harmonies of Crowded House have reunited in song on a worldwide tour. In control of the show are two Wholehog 3 consoles.

LD/set designer Paul Normandale and lighting director Glen Johnson have carried Wholehog 3 consoles on a number of tours the past few years.

Says Johnson: "Its Only Natural (referencing a popular Crowded House song title) that I would choose the Wholehog 3 console again for this tour after my faultless year with it on James Blunt."

UK's Lite Alternative provided the two Wholehog 3 consoles, along with two Playback Wings, a full-size Expansion Wing and 2 DP 2000s. Upstaging is the lighting contractor on the US tour.

"Crowded House have a catalogue of 100-plus songs with over 70 programmed in the console," Johnson explains. "While I am given a set list every night of 20 songs, it is rare for them to keep to the set, an

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USA - Nemetschek North America has announced the release of the latest upgrade to the VectorWorks line of precision design software: Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Machine Design, Fundamentals, and RenderWorks.

Two years in the making, VectorWorks 2008 features a new name in addition to new features and enhancements developed with the direct input of VectorWorks users. VectorWorks 2008 offers new technology to optimise workflows, enrich presentations, and facilitate collaboration, says the company.

VectorWorks 2008 offers interface improvements, placing at the user's fingertips the exact controls needed to finish designs with little wasted effort or distraction. A new heads-up Data Display bar brings precision drawing into the user's line of sight, with the ability to switch quickly between mouse and keyboard inputs.

A new View bar consolidates often-used viewing

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Australia - Novatech Production Services have used the power and reliability of LSC to bring Australia the third annual Roc Tha Block series of concerts, the biggest urban experience ever to be staged in the Southern Hemisphere.

Novatech provided all the sound, lighting and video production services that were required, including the logistics for touring three states in 72 hours: Vodafone Arena in Melbourne, the Adelaide Entertainment Centre and the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The concerts presented a huge challenge due to the close proximity of the tour dates and the tyranny of distance which needed to be covered, some 5,600km, with Novatech arranging the logistics, equipment and staff for the shows as well as the actual production.

Lighting control included a combination of six LSC ePAK dimmers and numerous LSC Delta DMX splitters to ensure that the shows ran smoot

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Canada - Rush are currently on a world tour backing their latest album Snakes & Arrows. This 62-city run is scheduled across Canada, the United States, the UK and Europe.

After being involved with the Rush in Rio Vapour Trails Tour, Pyrotek Special Effects was consulted to brighten up a number of songs for their present tour. Long time lighting designer, and agent, Howard Ungerleider approached pyrotechnician John Arrowsmith to come up with a number of special effects.

With a focus for a concussion effect to emphasise a specific moment in their newest hit single Far Cry, the requested effect was to synchronise upon the completion of the course. Arrowsmith collaborated with Doug Adams (designer & president of Pyrotek Special Effects) to design an element to the theme which ends with a big punctuation.

During production rehearsals at the Hershey Centre (Mi

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USA - High End Systems (HES) has announced the completion of a new $9 million line of credit with Wachovia Bank, NA.

"Our strong financial performance during the last three fiscal years has allowed us to team up with one of the largest banks in America," said Frank Gordon, HES CEO. "We intend to use the new facility to further support technology innovation and its global sales effort."

"High End sales revenue continues to grow dramatically in Europe, the Middle East and Asia and we have now strengthened our position to provide customers more financing options and to support dealer sales with more demonstration equipment," said Bill Morris, HES executive vice-president.

Merritt Belisle joined High End Systems as chairman in January. "I was excited by the outstanding team of innovators when I joined High End," Belisle said. "The sea

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UK - When the first Eurostar pulls into St Pancras on 14 November 2007, it will be the culmination of a project some 10 years in the making. To celebrate the incredible construction, a lavish event recently took place to mark this piece of landmark engineering.

Lighting designer Vince Foster created a breathtaking centrepiece for the 4,000 revellers - a moving LED chandelier structure featuring 100 PixelArt video battens and 50 PixelLine 1044s. Over 100 Pixeline 1044s highlighted the enormous ground support truss and another 50 provided a chevron video wall on the live acts stage.

Foster enthuses: "PixelLine 1044s are one of my favourite LED fixtures and are constantly specified in my designs. I am very impressed with the new PixelArt video batten, the resolution is outstanding, creating further design flexibility."

To enable the guests to see the trains going in a

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Australia - Robert Juliat has announced the appointment of Show Technology Australia as its new exclusive distributor, responsible for promoting and distributing Robert Juliat products throughout Australia.

Show Technology marked the occasion by holding Robert Juliat showcase events at their Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane offices. Special guest was Lionel Garraud, Robert Juliat's international sales director.

Products on display included the Cyrano followspot, the Quincy architectural profile, the Lutin fresnel and the award-winning Super Korrigan followspot (2006 Live Design International Products of the Year).

Show Technology's managing director Emmanuel Ziino commented, "The market has shown a great acceptance for Robert Juliat and there is pent up demand for the product. We have committed to building up stock and consequently will have showroom stock in all of our b

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UK - Robe moving lights, Anolis LED fixtures and Avolites lighting control have been specified for the new 1,350 capacity Carling Oxford Academy, the latest £2 million live music venue to be opened by Academy Music Group (AMG).

Bristol-based lighting specialists, Utopium have once again worked with AMG to introduce state-of-the-art facilities to the design of its three-room operation at Carling Academy Oxford.

Richard Maides, Academy Music Group's operations manager says: "We have worked with Utopium on a number of installations at our venues in Newcastle, Bristol, Liverpool, Islington and Glasgow and as a group we invest heavily in both our PA and lighting equipment. We aim high in our production values so that all AMG properties offer the same excellent in-house production facilities for both international touring acts and the very best for upcoming talent looking

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UK - LXCO was contracted to light up the stage at the Arundel Festival which took place at the historic Arundel Castle, in West Sussex, from in August.

The four-day festival hosted an eclectic mix of performances from a 40-piece orchestra to Girls Aloud. LXCO designed and supplied the production lighting for the festival, transforming the lighting set between each of the shows. Among the lights hanging from the truss were 54 PAR cans creating colour washes on stage as well as 14 Martin MAC 500s and 18 MAC 600s. The rig was developed over the four varying gigs, to suit the music and the mood of each event.

Mark Wheatley, LXCO's lighting designer commented: "We wanted to try and give it a different look each night for people coming back to the festival; suiting the style and genre of music. We knew there would be activity and rehearsals on the stage during the day so our te

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USA - Built in 1914, Chicago's Wrigley Field is one of Major League Baseball's legendary landmarks. Having long ago been designated one of the city's historical landmarks, improvements to the park are carefully evaluated and overseen, not only by the city's historical society, but by fans and the public. The installation of lighting in 1988 to allow for night games was preceded by several decades of controversy. And the field's original scoreboard, with per-inning and pitch scores changed by hand, has been untouched by progress (or pitches) since its construction in 1937.

Not surprisingly, the project to upgrade the park's audio system was also subject to the limitations of historic preservation. "Because of the park's landmark status, any proposed changes have to run through a number of lengthy and complex approval processes," explains Kevin Tucker of Chicago-based Ad

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UK - White Light - and the members of the White Light family of manufacturers that the company distributes in the UK, report "a hugely successful four days" at PLASA 07.

Leading the move into Earls Court 2, which the PLASA Show expanded back in to this year, White Light created more than just a conventional stand: a White Light Zone featuring White Light itself and ELC DMX Tools, LDDE, Look Solutions, LSC, Rainbow, Robert Juliat and Wireless Solutions.

Notable events in the Zone included the launch of the new Robert Juliat Victor 1800W MSR followspot presented by Francois Juliat, and the new Redback dimmer from LSC Lighting presented by LSC's Gary Pritchard. In addition ELC marked the milestone of supplying their 2007th FocusHand/Brain hand-held remote in the year 2007 by presenting the unit to the 2007th customer, Stuart Lodge of Wimbledon High School.

The unit's

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UK - When Rosco launched #313 Light Relief Yellow Supergel filter in 2003, the hope was that the colour would provide the Light Relief charity with a steady income from its sale for years to come.

Developed with the help of Rick Fisher, co-founder (along with the late Tony Gottelier) of the industry charity which supports lighting designers in difficult times, Light Relief Yellow is a vibrant colour, suitable for raising awareness of the charity.

Since committing to this programme, Rosco has presented Light Relief with an annual donation based on the sales of #313. At PLASA 07, Rosco's president Stan Miller presented Light Relief with a check for $3,172 bringing the total to date over $10,000.

"What has been remarkable about Rosco is the continuing nature of its support for this charity, which is there to provide practical assistance to those in the Lighting Industry wh

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Belgium - Introduced at the PLASA Show in London in September, Goboland's innovative black steel gobos have received a positive response from the lighting industry. Each gobo is coated with a black, heat-resistant coating, which does not burn or peel off under extreme heat. The coating minimises internal reflection, producing a crisper image with no halo effect. Encouraged by initial tests and feedback, Goboland has a patent pending on the use of this material for gobo production.

"Lantern optics have improved considerably over the years," explains Goboland's exclusive consultant, Wyatt Enever, "but the basic nature of the gobo has remained the same - until now. Goboland is known for the work it does on glass gobos, now we are extending our development to our steel range as well."

Goboland gave some 'M' size black steel gobos to ETC to try out in the ETC So

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