Lighting

Details
New Zealand - Two new Selecon Acclaim Fresnel luminaires blend the advantages of discharge light source efficiency and life hours with all the features that have made the original 500W version so popular.

The new Acclaim CST 250 Fresnel with Hot Restrike capability (no fans) has been designed specifically for high output, high intensity architectural/specialised display lighting and for smaller studio or production applications where energy saving and cool light are important. The CST 250W HR discharge light source with its 3200°K colour temperature is interchangeable in this luminaire with the Philips MSR 250 HR discharge lamp (6000°K), offering designers a choice of either tungsten or 'daylight' colour temperatures.

The second new addition to this range is a high intensity display Fresnel luminaire with an adjustable 7°-60° soft edge beam for controlled illum

Details
UK - The Centre for Life (CFL) educational science museum and exhibition centre in Newcastle, North east England, was first opened as one of the regional Millennium Projects and, thanks to Light Perceptions, has just been given a new lease of life. With lighting designer Bruce Kirk at the helm, the centre has recently undergone a programme of gallery upgrades.

Our Origins and Our Futures depicts man's journey through evolution and is lit exclusively with low energy lighting sources including ETC Source Four HID luminaires, various LEDs and high frequency fluorescents. By employing Source Four HIDs with their long-life, 150W metal halide lamps, lamp maintenance is reduced to a minimum.

Source Four HIDs offer comprehensive lighting solutions. Kirk comments: "The Source Fours HIDs were chosen for their aesthetic benefits as well as beam control and the wide ran

Details
South Africa - Robe's South African distributor DWR Distribution staged a special technical workshop covering Robe's Digital Series at their Johannesburg base. This was organised in conjunction with Robe Lighting, whose technical sales manager Ales Grivac was on hand to demonstrate the products and discuss all things technical with interested parties.

The workshops were attended by a selection of designers and engineers actively involved in working with these products, and those included DigitalSpots, MediaHUB and StageQubes.

DWR sold the first Robe DigitalSpots into Africa earlier this year, purchased by Mike Jones of MJ Event Gear, also based in Johannesburg. The busy rental company covers a host of corporate and TV work with some rock 'n' roll.

This was the second Robe DigitalSpot workshop in South Africa this year. The first followed soon after the initial DigitalSpots a

Details
The Netherlands - The 2007 Junior Eurovision Song Contest was a colourful success, thanks in part to High End Systems' Showgun and Studio Command automated luminaires. The show was held at Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and was broadcast live to millions of viewers via Dutch broadcaster AVRO.

The show is a spin-off of the Eurovision Song Contest, produced by the European Broadcast Union (EBU). This was the fifth year for the programme, showcasing performances by 17 countries. Each act consists of performers aged 10-15, who must compose their own music and lyrics.

This year's theme was Make a Splash! and was reflected creatively in each of the stage elements, which included water screens, an onstage waterfall and large water drop props hung from the arena ceiling. Five 8m tall moving video screens projecting images of water and rain completed the look.

Lig

Details
USA - Bandit wrapped up 2007 with annual Angel Tree charities. Each of the company's locations recently put up an Angel Tree in the lobby for employees who would like to help the less fortunate. The tree includes toy and clothing suggestions for foster children and local families who are unable to provide holiday gifts for their kids this year.

"The office Angel Tree is a great opportunity for Bandit employees to give back to people in their own community," explains Bandit human resources coordinator Cori Link. "The employees are not required to donate, but the majority of them do. I'm really proud to be involved with such a caring group of people."

Bandit employees also participate in the Salvation Army Angel Tree Programme. In this programme, a company such as Wal-Mart or Target (among others) places a Christmas tree in a pedestrian high-traffic ar

Details
Singapore - Last month, MA Lighting Asia Pacific held its first workshops in Singapore dedicated to operators, lighting designers and system integrators alike. The first three days of the workshop catered to the operators and lighting designers who wanted to get a closer look at the wide range of lighting control equipment that MA Lighting has to offer. The following two days focussed on grandMA video and networking.

The attendees had the chance to familiarise themselves with the whole MA Lighting console range and gain the confidence on how to operate the consoles in a hectic show environment.The workshop was heavily subscribed and 32 attendees from eight different countries came together at MA Lighting's office at Ubi Techpark to get a very detailed insight into the world of programming on the grandMA.

The event, which included evening dinners, was a great opportunity for ev

Details
UK - Following its £1.3 million revamp the Wyvern Theatre Swindon is opening its doors on 4 February 2008 for a special Venue Technology Day. Coordinated by Stage Electrics the day promises the opportunity to explore some of the latest in venue technology in an operational setting.

On 25 September 2007 the Wyvern, a busy receiving venue, reopened after nearly a year in the dark following the discovery of asbestos in the auditorium roof (see Lighting&Sound International magazine November 2007). Stage Electrics was contracted by Swindon Borough Council to design, install and supply technical infrastructure and equipment to the venue.

The Wyvern Theatre is a truly multifunctional venue hosting everything from Shakespeare to ballet, live music to comedy and conferences to cinema. With a reasonably small team of staf

Details
UK - For Mika's Mika Dodgy Holiday tour, lighting designer Ian Tomlinson wanted to inject a more rock and roll element into the theatrical performance. The rig included a battery of Martin moving lights providing a beam look to the show, whilst PixelPars and PixelArt added effects.

Tomlinson comments: "PixelArt achieved the look I was hoping for and more. When I first saw the demo in the warehouse I knew they would integrate with the design and add the desired effect. They were also a big hit with Mika."

The PixelArts created a wall behind the band and featured a mixture of homemade video content provided by system tech Andy Rowe and stock footage. The lighting was controlled by a Roadhog and the PixelArts controlled by a Catalyst media server. All the lighting was supplied by Adlib.

(Jim Evans)

Details
China - One of the year's largest events took place in early October in Shanghai, China and like all events of this magnitude the numbers were staggering. Perhaps the most impressive figure though was 950. That was the number of MAC luminaires that American lighting designer Bob Dickinson used to support his lighting design for the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Held from 2-11 October, the Special Olympics World Summer Games saw 7,500 athletes from 160 countries compete beneath the Olympic Flame of Hope. An army of 40,000 volunteers were called upon to make sure the Games ran smoothly.

Perhaps bigger and better than anything staged before in China - until next year's Summer Olympic Games that is - 80,000 spectators at the Opening Ceremony in Shanghai Stadium witnessed an awe-inspiring display of traditional dance, music, lighting and pyrotechnics.

Details
South Africa - MA Lighting initially made its entry into South Africa a couple of years ago. Gearhouse had spent a lengthy period of time deciding which desk would be the best way forward for them as the largest rental company in Africa. They finally decided on the grandMA. Michael Althaus, managing director of MA Lighting, travelled to South Africa to visit Ofer Lapid, Tim Dunn and Bill Lawford from Gearhouse and was introduced to Duncan Riley, who had just started his own company called DWR Distribution. By February 2007, an agreement was formed, making DWR Distribution the agents for MA Lighting.

"MA Lighting is very precise and they do everything properly," commented Duncan. "If they say it's going to happen on this day, you can be assured that it will. The desks have proved themselves as reliable above all else, which does effect how they are seen by the ente

Details
Austria - Wiener Event Technik, one of Austria's leading rental companies has expanded its rental stock with the addition of three Frog 2 Lighting consoles inventory, each complete with two 3M touch screens to maximise their usability on the fly.

The Frog 2 made its Austrian debut with the Vienna State Opera Ballet on their production of Walzerreigen in August. The performance was staged at the Kaiserzelt on Lake Altaussee with lighting design by Rudolf Fischer. The Frog 2 controlled the comprehensive lighting rig, which included 18 Martin MAC 600, 18 Martin MAC 2000, 16 6-Bar PAR 64 1kW, 12x Arri 2kW Fresnell, 12 Floodlight 1kW, 12 UV Tube 36W and two UV Flood 400W.

Managing director of Wiener Event Technik, Erich Kulicska says: "The Frog 2 fits all the criteria for our rental consoles including individual timing of channels and quick access to all desk data. In a

Details
USA - Tony Forman has joined Theatre Projects Consultants (TPC) as a project manager in the group's US office. Forman has over 25 years of experience working in international, regional, and collegiate theatre. His responsibilities at TPC include project management, programming, theatre planning, and advice on both facility management and operations.

"I am excited to apply my accumulated experience in production, administration and community cultural organizing to the work of TPC." says Forman. "Building or renovating a performance space has always been a keen interest of mine, and I now feel well suited to this unique endeavour. I am thrilled to be part of the team."

(Jim Evans)

Details
USA - The new Northwestern Prentice Women's Hospital in Chicago recently celebrated its grand opening with a gala performance from soul legend Aretha Franklin.

Lighting designer Terry Heisler, transformed the hospital into an entertainment atmosphere, with an eclectic mixture of moving lights - 20 PixelLine 1044s showcased on the main stage and 24 PixelArc Rs decorating the walls inside the hospital.

Heisler reports: "The PixelLines were a perfect fit for this show. The main stage was located in a large portable tent with sloping angles. I wanted to break up the monotony of those angles with something that could contrast and add another dimension."

He continues: "When the PixelLines were turned on you lost the 'tent' feeling - plus the pixel mapping and collage movement made the rig look much bigger than it was. The PixelLines also complemented the collage wal

Details
UK - HSL is injecting some old and new magic lanterns and lighting effects to the successful nine-week run of Aladdin at Newcastle Theatre Royal for Qdos Productions. It is lighting designer Ben Cracknell's sixth consecutive panto season at the Theatre Royal and HSL has also been supplying kit for the same duration.

"Panto is one of the hardest shows to light because it encompasses so many different genres - comedy, tragedy, musical, theatre, dance and rock 'n' roll all rolled into one," says Cracknell.

This Aladdin show also includes 3D projection for key elements including the magic carpet and the genie, which really throws the action right out into the audience and into people's faces - eliciting great excitement and reaction.

HSL is supplying all the moving lights for the show, along with equipment for another 10 Qdos productions around the UK, fr

Details
USA - The grandMA is in control on R. Kelly's national Double Up tour which continues until 13 January. Production designer Patrick Dierson, of Artfag, selected the console to control all the automated elements of the big stage show, including lighting, video and scenery.

Dierson notes that R. Kelly has always had problems getting the lighting of his shows to be exactly as he envisioned it. "Now, for the first time in his career, he has complete control. He was very involved in the lighting and sat with us throughout the programming sessions."

The Double Up tour's high production values required the grandMA to control all the lighting, the DL.2 projectors, video control and routing, Control Freak systems integration and M-box servers.

The grandMA also controls the Mainlight Soft Motion system, a DMX-controlled motor cabling system for soft goods like

Details
Australia - An extensive Anolis architectural LED lighting installation has been completed at Brisbane's Paddington Tavern pub - known locally as The Paddo, renowned as one of Queensland's finest pubs.

The Paddo's new lighting scheme was designed by Craig Chandler of Craig Chandler Architects as part of a recent re-vamp of the large venue, giving it a post-modern industrial edge. The installation was undertaken by electrical contractors Espirit.

The project was jointly managed by Acoustic Technologies and ULA. Blair Terrace, national sales manager from ULA comments: "Craig has specified both Robe and Anolis fixtures for many other venues."

(Jim Evans)

Details
UK - HSL supplied seven Robe Digital Spots, a set of custom built DMX winches, full lighting, rigging and crew for designer Rob Sinclair's innovative look for the Human League's 2007 festive tour. It is Sinclair's fourth tour with the band. Each year he ensures that the production values are maximised for the available budget and that the band have a fresh style to the stage.

This year lead singer Philip Oakey took a real interest in the visuals. Deciding to perform their seminal 1980 Dare album in order in its entirety, he discussed with Sinclair his desire for a real period feel from the visuals and a 'rectangular' basis to the stage.

Sinclair created and edited all the show's video content himself. Approximately 50% of this is completely new, and the rest was a combination of re-edited and archival material form the Dare era. All of it is stored in the Digital

Details
USA - The new Tom Stoppard play, Rock 'n' Roll opened on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on 4 November.

Lighting design is by Howard Harrison (Mary Poppins, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Mamma Mia!) who was LD on the original London production that started at the Royal Court Theatre before moving to the West End, where it played successfully for nine months. Associate lighting designer is Daniel Walker with Marc Polimeni handling lighting programming.

Harrison uses 12 Martin MAC TW1 tungsten wash lights for tight moving specials on the Broadway production. "One of the problems we had was that the light we used in London - an old Strand Pirouette PC moving head - was hard to source in America," Harrison explains. "There was nothing that quite replaces what it does which is basically very small, tight specials to something a bit bigg

Details
USA - To honour individuals who have made outstanding contributions to improve the lives of children, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) hosted its 23rd Annual Awards of Excellence celebration in Rosemont, Illinois in October. In addition to the awards presentation, the Awards of Excellence celebration included a dinner and lively entertainment by actor and comedian Bernie Mac.

The annual event presents three awards to individuals selected from across the globe. Past recipients have included such personalities and dignitaries as Paul Newman, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, former First Lady Betty Ford, former US President Jimmy Carter and many others.

The event is produced for RMHC by McDonald's Creative Services division, and for the 13th consecutive year they turned to Lightswitch for lighting design; long time McDonald's vendor Billy Nolan and TLC to provide equipment

Details
China - A contract to supply general lighting in the National Stadium, the iconic 'Bird's Nest', is among a range of lighting contracts secured by GE for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. GE recently announced it is working on over 335 infrastructure projects for the Beijing Games including a variety of lighting installations.

The National Stadium will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as athletics and soccer events. GE is working with the stadium's architects Hertzog and de Meuron to implement their high aesthetic goals and the need to minimize energy. The interior lighting design is intended to ensure that light remains as invisible as possible, while revealing the building to its visitors in a visually pleasing manner. To achieve this, fixtures are integrated within and behind structures, and the use of compact fluorescent minimizes energy use while maximizing the

Details
UK - Marl CreativeArc, a division of Marl International, has announced the availability of a new series of dual up and down light fixtures for producing powerful illuminations to enhance any environment.

The 735 Series from Marl is designed to be mounted on a vertical surface and can emit light in two directions, either horizontally or vertically. The new range is suitable for both internal and external installation making simultaneous illumination of both buildings and pathways possible, says the company.

Vibrant effects can be created with a choice of warm white, cold white or RGB with colour mixing at source, creating a shadow-free vivid illumination. The 735 Series can be fitted with different colour light engines top and bottom. The product can be supplied with white, RGB or monochrome red, green or blue LEDs. This enables the sides of buildings to be washed with colourfu

Details
UK - EcoLEDLighting is returning to The ARC Show with its range of BSI (British Standard's Institute) approved LED downlights - claimed to be the first ever BSI-tested luminaries to fully comply with Part L 1 (A & B) and 2 (A & B) of the UK building regulations.

Looking to build on last year's successful launch of the MR16 LED luminaires, the company now has a wider range of products (including lift lighting and linear lighting) with the additional benefit of BSI compliance to offer.

"I'm delighted to be back at the ARC Show after a very successful year in business," comments Robin Day, managing director of EcoLEDLighting. "Last year visitors were impressed with our high quality, long lasting, low energy fittings. We now have an expanded range and the ARC Show represents the perfect opportunity for us to display our range to the country's leading lighting design

Details
USA - A.C. Lighting Inc has appointed a new North American Sales Representative to support the company's continuing growth plans in the US and Canada. Graham Likeness joins A.C.'s sales team in the newly created position of sales representative - Western US and Canada.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Likeness will provide in the field support for the company's stockholding of general distribution products and leading technology brands - including the exclusively distributed Jands Vista, Hog 500/1000, Event, ESP and Stage lighting console ranges, and the Chroma-Q range including colour changers, gobo rotators, PSUs, and the Color Block, Color Split and Color Web multi-purpose LED solutions.

Likeness has nearly 20 years' entertainment lighting sales experience, holding the previous positions of VP for sales and marketing at Pathway Connectivity Solutions for 11 years and eight years

Details
Denmark - The new smartMAC from Martin, first seen at PLASA 07 in London last September, is billed as "an extremely bright, fanless 150W profile luminaire offering a number of unique performance and economic benefits, not least the ability to reduce operating costs".

Suited for lounges, bars and restaurants, and appropriately silent for noise sensitive environments, smartMAC will liven up any space while saving money on power bills and service and maintenance checks, says the company.

The smartMAC features new fanless thermal management. With no dust and pollutants forced into the fixture, lamp life is optimised, service intervals extended (up to two years with 9000 hour lamp), maintenance kept to a minimum and operation costs reduced.

"The smartMAC is a unique product and a significant step for Martin," states Martin product manager for moving heads, Pet

  1. American DJ debuts Accu Spot
  2. iLight controls Greenpeace display
  3. State Automation signs Opera House contract
  4. Nexxus Lighting to acquire Lumificient
  5. Robe & Avolites check in with Virgin Atlantic
  6. HSL lights Liverpool 08 opening
Page 751 of 1201

Latest Issue. . .