Lighting

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UK - ETC has appointed London Light Production Services as a console dealer. The move, which means that London Light can now promote, sell and provide training for ETC's range of control desks, including Eos, Ion, Congo and SmartFade, as well as ETC's newest desk, Element, shown for the first time in the UK at PLASA Focus in Leeds.

Sam Crook, director at London Light, says: "We have been given the opportunity to focus on selling what we know best, which suits us well. As lighting designers, fellow director David Buffham and I have worked extensively on ETC Eos and Ion desks, and are able to provide full training and support from a user's point of view."

London Light has already sold an Eos and Ion system to English National Ballet, providing the ballet company's technicians with a demonstration and a day of training at ETC's office in west London before they went on

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Germany - For the final of Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS), the German equivalent of the talent show American Idol, which was screened last Saturday on RTL, a number of the impression luminaires from GLP used in the programme were sporting an elegant chrome-look finish.

The lighting design for the show was the responsibility of mo2 design's Manfred Olma and Manuel da Costa. mo2 design has been providing the lighting design for the show since its first season; the season that ended last weekend was in fact DSDS's fifth.

In all, some thirty impression XL luminaires were used in the course of the show; as a special feature for the final, six of them were coated with an elegant chrome finish. In addition to these, sixty-eight impression 90 units were deployed, of which twenty wore the same chrome finish and were mounted on impression Flower stands.

(Jim Evan

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UK - Savage Marine, one of the UK's leading suppliers of lighting to the yacht market has halved the energy consumption of its ultra bright interior and exterior downlighters by adopting state of the art 10W LED technology from Marl to replace halogen lights.

According to Jon Freeman, research technician at Savage Marine: "The new 10W LED fittings offer the same warm glow as halogen, and don't have the 'ghosting' effect created by some LED lights - yet they use just half the energy of our halogen products. The LEDs last much longer too - up to 50,000 hours as against 1,000 hours for incandescent lights and 1,500 hours for halogen. That is over five years continuous use."

"Energy consumption is a significant focus for Savage Marine. Marine craft run their lighting from batteries, which are recharged from the engine, in consequence generating CO2 emissions very di

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Rehearsal Space - Aspiring British bands are being offered the chance to pursue their musical dreams in new rehearsal spaces opened by the government. The first has been unveiled in Knotty Ash Youth Centre in Liverpool, where The Beatles played in 1962. Others will follow in Bristol, Norfolk, Hastings, St Austell in Cornwall and Washington in Tyne and Wear. A total of 10 new rehearsal spaces are due to open by the end of the year using £500,000 of government money. Locations are also being sought in Manchester, Nottingham and Leicester.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said they were located in deprived areas that had few other youth facilities. "These fully-equipped spaces will make a big difference for young people who are looking for somewhere to practise, spend time and find an outlet for their creative skills," he said.

The scheme is being co-ordinated by fo

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Switzerland - The KKL in Lucerne stages approximately 400 events each year, visited by over 400.000 guests, offering a wide variety of entertainment from classical to pop/rock concerts, plus award ceremonies, product launches and conventions. To replace the 10-year old lighting rig, a new grandMA2 system has been installed, consisting of three grandMA2 light and two grandMA replay-units. This was one of the first grandMA2 theatre installation worldwide.

The new system was installed during a maintenance period at the KKL Luzern in February. The grandMA2 replay units are used as back-up for the grandMA2 light. The third console was bought for mobile productions. All parts of the MA system are connected via the MA-Net2 with 1Gbit/s. The DMX-output is realised via ELC Ethernet-nodes which are triggered via Art-Net.

"Our first impression was fantastic", says head of light

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UK - The Barbican Centre in London has recently purchased 16 PixelPar 90s. Technical manager Bob Allen explains, "We first saw the PixelPars in action when a production company brought them in to light an event. We were really impressed with their light output, smooth colour mixing and controllability. They are also engineered to a high standard making them robust - which is important for us as they are continuously in and out of flight-cases being rigged."

The PixelPars are in constant use around the Barbican Centre - lighting receptions, functions, parties and branding for conferences. The diversity of the fixtures creates more of an impact on smaller events and reduces the need for hiring in alternative lighting.

Allen continues: "We mostly use them in standalone mode as it saves on cabling in our reception and function areas, although there are occasions whe

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UK - The charity live event for Cancer Research that PLASA's Ron Bonner and L&SI's technical editor James Eade are currently pulling together for 8 August this year is coming along nicely. Known as Vibes from the Vines, the event was last held in 2006 and raised £32,000 for the charity (if you are wondering about the name, the first event was held in a vineyard!). Offers of help from all around the Industry have been already received with companies and personnel being quick to step up to the plate with huge contributions in time and kit.

Ron Bonner says: "There will be some top quality equipment and expertise on show with Steve Williams of Nippy Industries providing the stage, Martin Hawthorn of Hawthorn Theatrical promising the vast array of Clay Paky lighting and Brian Grant agreeing to provide a top-spec PA from Britannia Row. Ric Salzedo at Avolites is agai

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UK - Building on the original visitor experience created 15 years ago, Alien Wars returns to its original home at The Arches in Glasgow with the help of Zero 88 and Scottish distributer Blacklight.

Gary Gillies and John Gorman created Alien Wars in 1992, after watching a double-bill of Alien and Aliens at a local cinema, and wanting to experience the movie rather than just watch it.

Creating the right ambiance and effects for the Alien Wars/i> experience has been key to its success. Having been asked to supply and install the lighting, Phil Haldane of Blacklight needed equipment that could stand the rigours of daily use and handle the variety of lighting fixtures and effects used throughout the experience. He chose Zero 88.

The whole experience is run on Betapack dimmers and a Leap Frog 48 lighting control console. The show is controlled from 1

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USA - Elation Professional has introduced the Design Wash LED Pro, a high-output DMX-compatible LED moving head colour wash.

Although compact and affordable, the Design Wash LED Pro is bright, powered by 108 high-output 3-Watt Rebel LEDs (52 red, 22 green, 22 blue and 12 white). Its LEDs can be blended to create a palette of millions of colours through additive RGB mixing using a DMX controller. The addition of white LEDs to the usual RGB mix is an extra-value feature that allows the Design Wash LED Pro to produce more vibrant colours and pastels, and also makes it a suitable fixture for designers who want to create a true white, says the company.

This fully automated moving head can pan at either 630° or 530° and tilt 265°. And with an expansive beam angle of 39.5°, it gives a wide, even, smooth wash.

"LED moving heads are starting to have a real impa

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Romania - Romanian production company Five's, a member of the Synco Europe Network, successfully staged the country's third J&B Start A Party event in April in the unconventional location of the roof-top of the Moldova Mall in Iasi, the largest city in the Moldova region of Romania, reuniting more than 1000 guests. The production included a city-wide laser lightshow and the construction of a two-metre-high mirror ball, the symbol of the party whisky brand's promotional campaign.

Five's were first brought in for J&B Start A Party on the event's first appearance in Romania in 2007, by Ogilvy Action Romania, J&B's brand activation agency. The first party was held in the former Senate's headquarters, followed, in 2008, by an open-air party at Caro Hotel on the bank of Tei Lake. As the event has grown, Five's contribution to its success and unique atmosphere has expande

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UAE - A grandMA was the choice to run lighting for the 2009 Dubai International Poetry Festival, staged in the Rashid Hall and Hall 4 of the Dubai World Trade Centre. The event featured 100-plus regional and international writers from 45 countries. The festival is a unites poets from around the world in one city. Based on a lighting design by Sonu A.B., the show was controlled by one grandMA ultra-light with a grandMA 2Port Node PRO and grandMA onPC as backup, plus two MA Digital Dimmer racks.

Sonu A.B. explained, "It was challenging to use the same lighting setup in another venue just 15 hours later. The poetry festival started in Hall 4 exclusively for Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Fazza'a), Crown Prince of Dubai, after which the venue was shifted to the Sheikh Rashid Hall for one day, and then back to Hall 4 for the remainder of the festival. We had t

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Switzerland - Robe DigitalSpot 5000s were in action for a 360 degree projection created by lighting and media designer Matthias Kern of Kernfusion on the latest Conelli Circus season in Zurich.

The two and a half month winter season has been running in the city for the last 25 years, and is staged in the 900 capacity tented, located on a small 'Bauschänzli' island next to Lake Zurich.

It was the first year that Kernfusion was asked onboard to design lighting and visuals. The show's director Roby Gasser was very keen to show movies and images for the intro, at the end and also during some of the acts.

Staged in the round, their only option to do this so everyone in the audience could see, was onto a big sphere 5.5m in diameter and 10m high suspended in the centre of the venue. This was moved into several different positions during the show, hence the need for a video project

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UK - The Trafford Centre in Manchester is one of Europe's largest indoor shopping malls and attracted nearly 35 million visitors in 2008. The Centre is a focal point for shopping and Osram's high power Flood luminaires are used to illuminate 'The Orient' part of the mall, home to a 1,600 seat food court as well as bars and restaurants.

The Osram fittings allow the ceiling within the centre to change colour in order to reflect the changing conditions outside. From a bright blue sky to a reddish sunset sky and all conditions in between the LED technology can create these. The colour-changing aspect of the installation provides a unique ambience for those visiting the centre.

"The existing 700W fittings were obsolete, as well as being expensive to maintain and run. They utilised oil wheels for colour changing using DMX control. The RGB LED option from OSRAM provided a simple

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UK - Martin lighting has been an important visual component of the live British music experience over the years and now, with the recently opened British Music Experience (BME) exhibition, Martin is involved in lighting the retrospective experience as well.

BME is a permanent exhibition dedicated to the history of popular music in Britain. Opened in March, the exhibit is a high-tech, interactive music presentation housed across 22,000sq.ft on the top floor of The O2 bubble in London.

Lighting design for BME is by David Atkinson of David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD) who incorporated 26 Martin smartMAC colour changing luminaires - supplied by AC Lighting and installed by DES - into the exhibit's Pre Show and Exit Show areas.

Before visitors access the main BME exhibit, a Pre Show area gives a brief five minute audio visual introduction about BME and how to view the various

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South Africa - MA Lighting's South African distributor DWR Distribution ran the first of a series of grandMA Level 1 and 2 training events.

The three-day session took place at DWR's HQ in Johannesburg and was attended by working LDs and programmers who had to supply their own console or laptop running grandMA OnPC. They came from Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, and the places were limited to 10 to ensure everyone received the best attention of Nick Britz, DWR's technical manager, who instructed.

It followed on from Britz' recent visit to MA Lighting in Germany, where he refreshed his own knowledge of the grandMA Training programme, and also acquainted himself with the newly launched grandMA2 console and software. DWR has just supplied its first grandMA2 to the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town.

"It was the ideal opportunity for Nick to pass on his knowledge to the industr

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New Zealand - Air New Zealand Fashion Week is the country's main stage for highlighting the talent and collections of its major designers such as Karen Walker; Kate Sylvester and Trelise Cooper as well as providing a showcase platform for those in the 'ones to watch' fraternity.

Staged in boat sheds originally constructed for the America's Cup challenges in the 1990s Air New Zealand Fashion Week is a major production challenge undertaken since its inception by Auckland's Oceania Lighting. Simon Garrett, a former theatre technician and lighting designer leads the Oceania lighting team.

"I approach fashion shows as part live product showcase and part studio shoot," says Garrett. "The Designers invest heavily in Air NZ Fashion Week so we must deliver a memorable live show for each label with digital stills providing instant press ready material. In a few months tim

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Russia - Once again, Procon Event Engineering was the technical supplier for the Eurovision Song Contest staged in Moscow on Saturday night. The competition was won by Norway's Alexander Rybak, with Iceland second and Azerbaijan in third place.

Procon had previously worked for the event in Athens (2006) and Belgrade (2008). For this year's event, Procon deployed 40 trailer trucks with technical equipment (approximately 550 tonnes) and a team of more than 70 technical specialists. The company was contracted to provide equipment and services in the areas of lighting, sound, video/LED and rigging.

The manifest included 700 moving lights, 250 LED lights, 500 conventional lighting fixtures and 100km of cable.The main audio systems were Meyer Sound- based. In the rigging department, 4400m of trussing was utilised, together with 520 chain hoists.

Lighting designer was Al Gurdon, cr

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UK - The new i-Pix BB7 wide angle fixtures made their touring debut on the Doves recent UK tour, with a lighting design by Chris Bushell. These offer a 20 degree angle dispersion enabling an even wider and more comprehensive wash effect than the standard 10 degree version.

Bushell has used BB7s before on both Amy Winehouse and The Hoosiers, and is a big fan of the i-Pix brand, however Doves also gave him the chance to use i-Pix BB4 4-lites for the first time.

The six BB7s were attached to the top of custom VersaTube racks running along the back of the stage, just downstage of a white cyc. They were an important element of a heavily backlit show.

Bushell comments: "Their retro appearance fits perfectly with the band's style and visual requirements. And with the LED lightsource, this was exactly the right combination". The band take an active interest in the lighting

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UK - The 'musical' version of the iconic TV cartoon show SpongeBob SquarePants is touring UK theatres with a lively Technicolor show designed by David Gallo with equally funky, eye-catching lighting designed by Richard G. Jones - all controlled by a grandMA light console.

The UK tour, produced by Firey Angel, opened at Hackney Empire in East London, where the lighting was programmed on a grandMA full-size console by Chris Hirst. It was then transferred to a grandMA light for the tour, which is running with a grandMA ultra-light for backup via two MA NSPs (Network Signal Processors). A wireless access point allows MA's remote emulator software to run on both Hirst and the tour's console operator Simon Garwood's laptops.

The choice of grandMA was Hirst's. He has used grandMA on many previous occasions including for three German musicals and has completed the training cour

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Denmark - Specified by lighting designer Per Sundin, some 64sq.m of Martin Professional LC Series LED panels are being used as dynamic, movable set columns for The Visit of the Royal Physician (Livlægens Bes°g) at the Copenhagen Opera House, one of the most modern opera houses in the world.

Employed as an important element of the opera's overall scenography, the LED panels are divided into four vertical segments which can glide separately or be combined as part of a large scenic wall.

"We combined an 18th Century look with a very modern tool," Sundin stated about the modular LED panels. "We got both the historical theatre look and the latest modern look together and it works very well."

Swede P.O. Enquist's compelling book about one of the most dramatic episodes in Danish history - a love triangle involving King Christian VII - was adapted to

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Denmark - Martin Professional is running a spring promotion on Martin ShowDesigner 5 (MSD 5), the new version of the lighting and set design software package. During the promotion, Martin is offering a 10% discount on MSD 5 until 30 June.

Also, for Martin LightJockey users, MSD 5 Live LJ is now priced at 249 Euros (approx. 340 USD) -more than 50% off the standard price. MSD 5 Live LJ features a new visualiser, modeller, model libraries, new sketch-up import and more to easily create your own scenes, says the company.

(Jim Evans)

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France - Stephane Quartana, manager of the Krys Opticals store in Wattrellos, a trendy suburb of Lille in France, wanted to add a touch of special contemporary sparkle to the exterior of his store, and make it stand out from other outlets on the busy shopping street.

He chose to do this with an Anolis LED installation which was designed and supplied by Anolis' French distributor, Ambiance Lumière.

Krys Opticals is the third largest such retail operation in France, with a reputation for quality service and great flair. The look inside the shop is high-tech and Quartana wanted to match the building's exterior with something similarly eye-catching. Following extensive internet research, he called Ambiance based in Paris, asking if they could come up with an energy-efficient, creative lighting solution and also provide all the technical services needed to make his store rock.

&

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USA - The Davidson Centre For Space Exploration in Huntsville, Alabama is home to an original Saturn V rocket, the machine that launched the Apollo moon missions back in the 1960s. The massive 300ft-long craft is suspended from above, giving the museum's visitors the opportunity to walk underneath the space vehicle.

With the 68,200sq.ft museum also housing a 350-seat auditorium and commercial kitchen, the Centre has been a popular venue for events of all kinds since it opened in 2008. So when Sutherland Sight and Sound (Sheffield, Alabama) was called on to provide lighting for a presentation programme at Davidson hosted by Oakwood College, the production company wanted to make it a truly cosmic event.

Josh Johnston of Sutherland Sight and Sound employed fixtures from American DJ and its sister company Elation Professional. Inside the Davidson Centre, the lighting designer use

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Eurovision Clash - The date of the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest has been thrown into doubt. The UEFA Champions League final, the biggest match in club football, will take place on the evening of Saturday 22 May. 2010 marks the first year that the game will take place on a Saturday instead of midweek. The date is the same as the preliminary date announced by the EBU for the 55th Eurovision Song Contest. The song contest and the UEFA Champions League final are two of the most viewed television shows in the world. It would be almost impossible for the two events to take place simultaneously because many broadcasters are contractually obliged to broadcast both events.

UEFA announced that the dates for the Champions League schedule last December. Because 2010 is also a World Cup year, the Champions League final will not be moved to a later date. It is therefore most likely that the E

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