Lighting

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Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden has announced the release of two new W-DMX Micro products: The BlackBox S-1 Micro Transmitter and the BlackBox R-512 Micro Lite Receiver.

"The Micro line was extended after seeing the incredible response to the R-512 Micro receiver released in 2006," says Niclas Arvidsson, international sales manager for Wireless Solution. "The unit has all the reliable functionality of the full sized W-DMX BlackBox units, but the compact size was appealing to a large number of end users."

The new Micro series builds upon the considerable successes of the full size BlackBox range. Thanks to advances in circuit miniaturisation, Wireless Solution has managed to fit the complete W-DMX system into a compact package with less than half the volume of the usual casing.

Even with the compact size, the S-1 Micro includes a full battery backup syst

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UK - Remo Martufi has joined Tomcat UK in the role of channel development manager. Martufi comes to Tomcat from a well established entertainment background, working for some of the most well known companies within the industry, amongst which are Ampco-Flashlight & Blue Squares. In addition to leading the sales team, Remo will be responsible for Sales & Business Development in the European, Middle Eastern and African markets.

Paolo Dozzo, sales manager for the Vitec Staging Division - Tomcat UK's parent company, commented, "Remo is experienced in sales, marketing, customer support and communications, all of which have built him a lot of respect within the industry. We are pleased to have Remo on the Tomcat team."

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Nexxus Lighting has announced that it has closed the previously announced merger of LED and fibre optic lighting manufacturer, Advanced Lighting Systems (ALS), with and into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nexxus Lighting. The newly merged company, Advanced Lighting Systems, LLC, will continue to operate out of ALS' manufacturing facility in Sauk Centre, Minnesota.

In addition, Nexxus Lighting announced that the non-binding letter of intent it entered into with LightWild, LLC in Overland Park, Kansas has expired and will not be extended.

"We are very excited to have closed the merger transaction with ALS. We look forward to integrating ALS as a Nexxus Lighting company and executing our LED product development strategy for both the commercial and entertainment lighting markets," stated Mike Bauer, president & CEO of Nexxus Lighting.

"Our overall strategy for

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UK - Richard Martin Lighting has recently taken stock of the latest innovation from Martin Professional, the LC2140 Panel.

The LED based video screen has a semi-transparent design with easily connecting panels that allow for area coverage of up to 14m in height and no restrictions in width.

Each panel frame is 1m x 2m with LEDs laid inside an acrylic tube. The pixel pitch of the panel is 40mm which allows for excellent resolution and the design of the panel creates a seamless image, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - High End Systems (HES) has announced the release of version 2.2.2 software for Wholehog operating control systems including the Wholehog 3, Hog iPC, Road Hog consoles and Hog 3PC.

"This release includes added functionality, new features, improved reliability and enhanced performance," says Brad Schiller, HES director of control systems development.

Version 2.2.2 contains the following new features: cuelist effect rate control, options for using cue time and/or macros when going backward, improved fixture selection tools and Chinese language help. Several other features and many bug fixes are also included within this release.

Version 2.2.2 marks an important milestone, says HES. Over the last three years, significant portions of the software have been rewritten to improve the system's reliability and performance. Now that most of that work is complete, a focu

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Poland - Last year saw the opening of Poland's newest mall, Lodz Manufaktura which is located in a former industrial park with a rich history and great significance to the city. ETC provided lighting solutions for this renowned venue.

In the 19th century, fabric magnate Izrael Poznanski opened a textile factory in Lodz, which grew to become one of the largest in Europe. The factory contained a palace, living quarters, its own power plant, railroad, fire department, school, and more.

Thousands of employees worked and lived in the industrial park until WWI, when production was slowed. In WWII, the German army took over the factory. Slowly, in the post-war era, the factory began shutting down, and finally closed in 1997, leaving behind a cache of historical buildings and landmarks.

The French design firm Apsys Polska began rebuilding the area, preserving most of the original st

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Austria - The recently opened Stadion Center, a huge shopping centre in Vienna, and grandMA consoles, five grandMA media servers, eight MA NSPs and 21 MA 2Port Nodes combined with the latest networking and LED technology form the technical basis in this ultra-modern building.

"It was important to the lighting design that the installed LED fixtures, DMX controlled as well as video walls, were fully integrated into one system," explained Manuel da Costa of mo2 design who was responsible for the realisation of the lighting and media design concept. "It was also necessary to implement a sophisticated control interface with minimal user interaction. The idea was to create an ambient lighting design and mood management from a mixture of different LED fixtures matching the architectural characteristics."

Multiple moods and looks as well as randomly selected movies

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USA - Bandit Lites was once again involved with Farm Aid which took place last month at New York's Randall's Island, a 480-acre island located in the East River between East Harlem, the South Bronx and Astoria, Queens.

Farm Aid 2007 hosted a unique musical collaboration: Gregg Allman performed a special acoustic set with Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews. Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Tim Reynolds and The Allman Brothers Band all played full festival sets. Other performers included Counting Crows, Guster and Montgomery Gentry.

The first Farm Aid concert was organised by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp in 1985. They wanted to increase awareness about the loss of family farms and raise funds to keep family farms in business. Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001. Farm Aid has raised more than $30 million dollars to

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USA - Wybron has committed 82 CXI IT colour scrollers, nine RDM compatible power supplies and five InfoTrace Control and Management Systems to the fourth annual New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF).

"We are very pleased to help sponsor one of the premier sources for new musical theatre material and talent," said Larry Turner. "Our goal is to offer the world's stages lighting products that help lighting designers and engineers both fulfill their artistic vision and flawlessly run every show."

Herrick Goldman, lighting designer for three of the NYMF shows, states: "I have worked with Wybron's CXI colour changers for more than a decade and have always been impressed with the company's products. The CXI line has improved greatly over the years. Working with these RDM-controlled lighting devices allows the venue technicians to easily maintain the fixtur

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UK - For the fourth year, the Stage Electrics Welsh Trade Show is being held at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff. The event takes place on Wednesday 10 October with doors opening at 11am and closing at 5pm.

Industry suppliers Allen & Heath, Avolites, ETC, Le Maitre, Lee, MA Lighting, Martin, Pulsar, RCF, Roland, Rosco, Selecon, Sennheiser, Strand, Yamaha and Zero 88 will be exhibiting their latest products, offering demos and providing expert advice.

The show is a free event, open to everyone and no tickets are required. Stage Electrics staff will also be presenting products at the show including the Apollo Right Arm and products from Prolyte, Prolyft, Stage Dex, Teclumen, San-Ei & Swisson.

Visitors can take the opportunity if they wish to pre-register via the Stage Electrics website to be entered in the prize draw and to receive a goody bag on the day.

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Europe - Dialight Lumidrives has agreed a European distribution deal with ELFA, one of northern European's leading catalogue distributors.

Gordon Routledge, managing director at Dialight Lumidrives, says, "The ELFA catalogue is known as 'the' reference book of the electronics business. Over 134,000 copies are distributed across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Poland. Associates also supply into the Baltic States, Russia, Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

"Our agreement with ELFA covers the entire Dialight Lumidrives' product range, with the ELFA catalogue now incorporating Dialight Lumidrives' LED drivers, a wide variety of single and multiple LED light engines, both single colour and RGB, optics, linked LEDs and even retrofit LED units.

"The ELFA agreement follows on from our success in the UK in marketing through established catalogue su

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USA - The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has denied Epistar's request to stay enforcement of the US International Trade Commission's (ITC's) limited exclusion order prohibiting importation of Epistar's OMA, MB, and GB products into the United States. The ITC earlier denied a similar request by Epistar.

The Federal Circuit's decision clears the way for US Customs and Border Enforcement to enforce the limited exclusion order. The exclusion order prohibits importation of Epistar's infringing OMA I, OMA II, MB I, MB II, GB I, and GB II LEDs, as well as any other Epistar LEDs that infringe Philips Lumileds' US Patent No. 5,008,718.

The exclusion order also prohibits the importation of packaged LEDs containing the infringing Epistar LEDs and boards consisting primarily of arrays of such packaged LEDs. Companies that use, import, or sell these unlicensed infri

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Singapore - MA Lighting recently opened its new office and training facilities in Singapore. By doing this MA Lighting continues its strategy to be closer to the market and strengthens its position in the Asia Pacific region, says the company. In addition MA Lighting has its own competence and support centres in the UK, North America, Latin America and Middle East/India.

"We are very committed because we're not just talking about lighting desks anymore - our products have grown into highly sophisticated control systems, and for a user to fully grasp their potential, they need good quality training from our experts. This is something we're keen to develop here," says MA Lighting managing director Michael Althaus.

The new office, MA lighting Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, is located in Block 10 Ubi Crescent, #06-28 Ubi Techpark (Lobby B) Singapore 408564. Jens Poehlker takes ov

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USA - GE Consumer & Industrial has announced that it intends to restructure its lighting business "to become more competitive and better positioned for global growth in the dramatically changing lighting industry".

The company says that this restructuring proposal, which would impact plants in Mexico, Brazil and the US, is a continuation of structural changes that have occurred over the last year and included facility closures, work transfers, employee reductions and the sale of operations at GE sites in Europe, China, Indonesia, the US, Latin America, and India that have impacted more than 3,000 positions.

The objective of the proposed restructuring is, GE says, to help the business better respond to customer and industry demands - particularly the global market move to more energy-efficient products - and invest in, and deliver, the high-tech lighting products incr

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UK - White Light has announced details of the autumn and winter courses offered by its Training Initiative training and education programme. Between now and Spring 2008, courses are offered covering everything from moving lights to rigging to many types of lighting control consoles.

The autumn training schedule kicked off last month with White Light's popular Level 1 and Level 2 Moving Light courses, Level 1 offering an introduction to the equipment with first-level troubleshooting, with Level 2 offering a more detailed analysis of troubleshooting and repair. These courses will also be run on 19 and 20 March 2008.

For those looking to programme lighting, White Light will offer courses covering the ever-popular Whole Hog 2, the Whole Hog 3, MA Lighting's grandMA, Zero88's LeapFrog and Strand's 500-series console ranges. The Hog 2 courses will be held on 23 October 23 and 5 Febr

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Sweden / Australia - Wireless Solution Sweden has appointed ULA Group as exclusive distributors for W-DMX in Australia and New Zealand.

ULA is an industry leading import and wholesale company for specialist lighting products in the retail, professional and architectural markets. In addition, the company offers support services for design, installation, programming, commissioning and ongoing programmed maintenance.

"ULA Group was a perfect distribution partner for W-DMX," says Niclas Arvidsson, international sales manager for Wireless Solution. "They are the undisputed market leader in Australia and New Zealand and we're very excited about the opportunities this provides."

Cuono Biviano, MD of ULA, states: "The ULA Group is very excited to be joining forces with the market leaders - Wireless Solution. ULA are proud to continue bringing tomorrow's tech

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Australia - Over 100 Robe moving lights supplied by Clifton Productions were used to light the 2007 Brownlow Medal event. Awarded to the 'best and fairest' player of the season, it is the most prestigious annual accolade on the Australian sporting calendar.

It was the first time that lighting designer Robert Coia had used Robe's new ColorWash and ColorSpot 700E AT fixtures on a major show, and also the first event in Australia to utilise Robe's powerful new ColorSpot 2500E AT units.

Staged in The Palladium at Melbourne's Crown Casino complex, the 2007 Brownlow Medal dinner was attended by 1500 sporting celebrities and VIPs. It was broadcast live on the country's Channel Seven TV station, topping the evening's ratings with an audience of over 1.5 million people.

Coia worked closely with scenic designer/art director Mal Nichols to develop the room's aesthetics and look for the

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USA - Elation Professional has entered the architectural lighting market with the introduction of two IP-rated LED products for indoor-outdoor use. The Elar EXFlood and the Elar EXPar, an LED floodlight and LED par can respectively, are the first of as many as 50 new products that will be offered in the new Elation Architectural series by early 2008 at price points never seen before, the company says.

The move into the architectural market is a natural expansion for the company, which has focused heavily on advanced LED technology in recent times, said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional. The emergence of LED lighting and RGB colour-mixing have changed the nature of architectural lighting, making it a more dynamic concept, according to Loader. Elation's product development expertise in this area fits in well with this growing trend.

"Our new Elation Ar

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USA - Belmont University is now offering courses in Tour Production Management and Production Design, compliments of Bandit lighting designer Chris Lisle. An experienced tour manager and lighting designer, Lisle is currently the lighting designer for country music superstars, Sara Evans and Phil Vassar.

Lisle was brought on board as an instructor at Belmont after doing the 2006 Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business Showcase Series, a student production put on by Belmont University students.

Bandit business development officer, Brent Barrett commented on Chris' involvement: "When we were looking for someone to design the 06/07 Concert Series, Chris very graciously gave of his time to do so without hesitation. Chris Lisle has the talent, knowledge, attitude and approachability to serve as a very positive role model in our industry as well as an instructor at Belm

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Germany - A four hoist Martin lighting rig totaling 40 MAC TW1 tungsten wash luminaires (80 V) and 16 MAC 2000 Performances graces the Saxon State Opera House in Dresden, Germany, better known as Semperoper.

Built in 1878 by the famous German architect Gottfried Semper, the building excels in its magnificent architecture. Destroyed in 1945, Semperoper was rebuilt in its original form complete with four balconies and a lavish interior abundantly adorned with paintings and stuccowork. Reopened in 1985, the Opera seats nearly 1300.

Theater-Architekturlicht (TAL) Chemnitz supplied the Martin lighting systems with installation by Semperoper technicians in cooperation with TAL. Jan Seeger, lighting crew chief at Semperoper, and Mathias Meyer, manager of TAL Chemnitz, first saw the TW1 at the Pro Light and Sound exhibition in Frankfurt and agreed on the luminaire's potential to open

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UK - Projected Image Digital (PID), and architectural lighting design practice Indigo, have designed specified and installed a spectacular Element Labs VersaPixel ceiling effect for the house gymnasium of a leading investment bank in London's Canary Wharf.

PID supplied 1500 25mm square VersaPixels, a VersaDRIVE C1 driver and a, Pharos LPC1 architectural lighting controller for the project, which was co-ordinated for them by Sam Douglas.

PID also designed and manufactured custom steel mounting brackets for the VersaPixels which are installed in the room's ceiling panels, and created 17 special clips of digital content, working to a brief from Indigo's Paul Nulty and gym staff.

The content includes athletic-themed figures running, skipping and rowing, a heart trace graphic equalizer effect etc., plus a selection of more ambient, 'mood' style clips like clouds and flocks of fly

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USA - Martin Professional has named Michael Nevitt's as product manager (US). Formerly Martin US's marketing manager, Nevittwill now take responsibility of all facets of product management including promotion, R&D communications with the company's headquarters in Denmark, pipeline information flow, product life span monitoring and field testing of new products. As a support to sales, Michael will assist with demonstrations and will consult on projects as needed.

"By improving the launch process as well as the product training and educational aspects, we will strengthen our position in the marketplace," said Brian Friborg, president at Martin US. "With so many new products on the horizon, we have a definite need to introduce them properly and educate not only our staff, but our customers. I have full confidence that Michael, with his strong product knowledge and te

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World - When the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was kitting out its latest world tour, lighting director Al Crawford chose the multi award-winning Eos to replace the company's Obsession II, also from ETC.

Says Crawford: "I am aware that we have one of the first Eos consoles available. The product team are really excited about the development of the desk and listen carefully to their end users. For example, there was one time when we had an issue with the software - not a fault, but we needed it to operate differently. We contacted ETC and received a software update within 24 hours. We felt they completely supported during the Eos's tour around the world. That is unprecedented in my book - they truly stepped up to the plate."

Alvin Ailey was among the first to use an Eos lighting control desk from ETC, which recently won a PLASA Award for Innovation, completing a

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USA - The production team of Walmartopia chose the new Light Palette VL console for the off Broadway production in New York. Programmer Jon Dunkle said: "This console offers everything I have been looking for in a theatre desk. It offers the ease, speed, and familiarity of command-line data entry and the convenience of touch screen selections. The powerful fixture library and abstract control model allowed me to adjust all parameters of intelligent devices as easily as bringing up a dimmer. All possible attribute selections were conveniently displayed in an understandable vocabulary - I never had to think about a numeric DMX value when manipulating a fixture. Also worth mentioning is the easy to use effects engine. Intuitive and useful effects are built in, and are easy to access, apply, and manipulate for any given fixture or parameter."

Bobby Harrell, lighting contro

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