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Lighting

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Germany - ETC is getting ready for this year's ProLight+Sound trade show in Frankfurt.

Following the hugely successful launch of the Cobalt 20 desk at the PLASA trade show, ETC is expanding the range with the Cobalt 10 desk, which will be available for stand visitors to play with. The desk brings the power of Cobalt 20 to a compact, road-ready footprint, with ten motorised faders.

There is also an opportunity before the show to win a Cobalt Nomad dongle, which lets you experience Cobalt from your own PC. You can program your own show from a range of four different one-minute music tracks, and then have it reviewed by a panel of judges. Visit www.etcconnect.com/Prolight2014 for more information and to enter the contest. All entrants will receive free entry to ProLight+Sound.

ETC's stand will include a large cyclorama rigged with the Source Four LED CYC adapter, which can be a

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Germany - Ayrton delights in the creation of products to broaden the lighting designers' palette of fixtures and expand the possibilities of Light in Action. In its continued dedication to the development of powerful and exciting new tools, Ayrton will be releasing three new products for ProLight+Sound.

The second of these products is WildBeam R which will be presented at the show on the Ayrton stand, Hall 9.0, Booth E70.

WildBeam R is a spectacular new addition to the Ayrton line. It couples seven individually controlled 15W RGBW LED emitters with brand new, 67mm collimators - a world-première combination - to create an astonishingly powerful, compact luminaire with a sharp 4.5° beam.

Using less than 130W, including pan and tilt motors, WildBeam's optical output produces a 2,500 lumen shaft of light and hits a record-breaking 90% efficiency.

WildBeam R's light engine

ISE 2026 - Banner - Oct 2025

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Germany - Exhibiting for the first time at ProLight+Sound, LightGeist brings fresh ideas to the show with the introduction of its own brand of cable-free, 'cloud lighting'. The company will present the Badger, the LightStick and the Splodger for the first time in mainland Europe.

LightGeist Badger, LightStick and Splodger are semi-flexible RGB LED products encapsulated into light sticks, worn as badges or housed in freestanding units. These can be deployed en masse to form a 'living' video wall to engage audiences in a totally immersive experience. Units can be programmed to create Mexican waves at sporting events, flash to the beat during music concerts, create brand visualisation and channel video content.

"Perhaps the most exciting and fastest developing technology is that of 'cloud lighting'," explains LightGeist CEO, Liza Sutherland. "Music and sporting eve

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South Africa - Following the major investment in Philips Showline's high-output SL NITRO 510s by two of South Africa's most established rental houses, Gearhouse and MGG Productions, the super bright SL NITRO 510 strobes have proved a popular choice for some of the country's biggest events.

The punchy and dynamic SL NITRO 510s, which offer an output of 68,000 lumens and six programmable zones, facilitates a multitude of looks. Gearhouse recently invested in 140x SL NITRO 510 units and immediately supplied them to the Johannesburg International Motor Show where they were used to light Tata trucks and buses on the Tata commercial vehicles stand.

"The SL NITRO 510 is an innovative unit in that offers all the functionality of a strobe, but can also be used as a static white wash," says Gearhouse's lighting operations manager, Stuart Andrews. "It also has programming

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Record Breakers - London's major commercial and subsidised theatres have reported their 10th consecutive year of record box office takings, with more people visiting theatre in the capital in 2013 than ever before. Figures published by the Society of London Theatre - whose membership includes the 52 principal commercial and not-for-profit theatres in central London - revealed that gross box office returns rose to more than £585m, up 11% on 2012; attendances also increased, by 4%, up to 14.6m

According to SOLT, the results were down to the popularity of the shows on offer, with theatres reporting an improved percentage of tickets sold across the year. Average theatre capacity achieved was 72.7% in 2013, up from 69.21%.

Closing Number - Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest musical, Stephen Ward, will close in the West End following a run of less than four months.

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South Africa - Ultra Worldwide, the massive premier electronic music festival, hit Cape Town and Johannesburg on 14 and 15 February. While the main technical was supplied by Gearhouse, Travis Yeatman controlled certain elements of the pyrotechnics for this event using his Avolites Tiger Touch.

Fireworks for Africa were commissioned to incorporate awesome pyro effects to create the wow factor. They asked Yeatman to be part of their team for the performances held at the Ostrich Farm in Cape Town and at the Naserec Showgrounds in Johannesburg.

"On the Pyrotechnics side we ran the Avolites Tiger Touch for the control system," explained Yeatman. 12 Channel Red Back Dimmers were used for controllable hot power channels to trigger the CO2 jets and Stadium Shot streamer canons and the 6m flame units come with integrated DMX. "The Avolites allows for a variety of functio

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UK / Czech Republic - Robe Lighting s.r.o., the Czech-based entertainment lighting manufacturer, has announced the acquisition of the complete range of LiteWare portable battery LED products from UK company Global Design Solutions (GDS).

With immediate effect, the sales, marketing, manufacture and support for this award-winning range will be transferred to Robe, and be available through both the company's subsidiary offices and extensive global distributor network.

Robe CEO Josef Valchar comments: "We had planned on entering the battery LED market for some time, so when the opportunity to acquire the market leading brand came along, the die was cast!"

"GDS has done a great job in establishing the product range and I know we can develop it further and add to the global sales through our network. It's also great to instigate this at a time that fits in with the

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Brazil - Spectrun Design e Iluminação are the design masterminds behind the Brazilian TV show on Rede Globo named Clip Vem Aí. With the challenge of providing a cyclorama screen as a background, the design team previously spent many hours and multiple lighting units to obtain the right atmosphere, but by introducing the SGM P-5 LED wash light their troubles were solved.

Lighting designer from Spectrun Design e Iluminação, Marcos Olivio, quickly saw the creative potential of the P-5s, delivered by SGM's local distributor LBO, and realised this was the right fixture for the job. "We now have a lot of light - even without spots on the show. The P-5 creates perfect light uniformity around the white screen," he states.

Olivio explains that for TV recording the P-5 worked amazingly with the ARRI Alexa cameras, which displayed the colour nuances and intensity to

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The Netherlands - The historic Pieterskerk building in the Dutch city of Leiden recently installed 70 of the new, multi-purpose Chroma-Q Inspire LED fixtures to provide energy efficient, flexible lighting for the former Church's huge nave.

The Pieterskerk is a landmark of Leiden and can be seen from afar. Construction on the venue, which is a basilica in the late Gothic style, began around 1390 and continued at various intervals until the 1560s.

The deconsecrated building now serves as a major venue for TV recordings, corporate events, concerts or education, and since 2001 has undergone major restoration to convert it into a technologically advanced space.

The venue's directors wanted to upgrade the building's lighting facilities, enabling them to create a multitude of atmospheres reflecting its varying usages. To achieve this, they approached Netherlands-based Harry de Kort

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Israel - Lighting designer Ronen Najar is utilising the easy to control beam of Clay Paky's Sharpy Wash 330s to complement the huge video wall used on Israel's interactive singing contest Rising Star.

Contestants on the show - which is a ratings winner in Israel - perform to a blank 16 x 3.5m projection screen, which forms a barrier between them and the studio audience and judges. During their performing, the singers can see live images of the at-home audience, who vote on each performance, in real-time, via a smartphone app.

"Because of the interactive element we wanted to ensure that the audiences at home felt included in the program's live visibility though a variety of lighting effects, all of which were achieved with the extremely versatile Sharpy Wash 330s," explains Najar.

"The stage is only 24 x 14m and with LED fixtures there was risk of spill

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Russia - Entertaining audiences worldwide, the global Nitro Circus Live tour stopped in Russia and had the hearts of extreme sports fans racing both in Moscow and in Saint Petersburg. The stars of Nitro Circus Live put on an inspiring show for the Russian spectators, with bright effects from Martin MAC III AirFX, provided by the rental company Euroshow, adding something extra for the spectacular performances full of power, energy and adrenaline.

Professional action sports athlete Travis Pastrana founded Nitro Circus in 2009 in an attempt to unite the most fearless extreme athletes in the world. The original Nitro Circus show consisted of a variety of tricks on motocross bikes, roller skates, scooters and other vehicles like cars for dolls, toy tricycles, boogie boards for surfing, tandem scooters and many more. Some of the tricks have already achieved world record status, includ

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UK - Blackout created a bespoke fabric backdrop for Beyonce as she performed a glittering rendition of her latest single XO for the Brit Awards 2014 at London's O2.

The drapes and rigging specialists, led by project director Kevin Monks, collaborated with Brits TV and Beyonce's production team to install an 8m wide by 12m fine gauze high speed roller screen which became the centre piece of the star's simple yet glamorous performance.

In collaboration with set company, Steel Monkey, the team installed three steel boxes upstage of the screen, clad with multiple layers of white voile to create a series of projection surfaces for XL video to display creative content. At the opening of the performance, Beyonce stood between the fine gauze and a giant close up of her face was projected live onto the screen, appearing to the audience as if suspended in mid-air.

As the star b

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UK - Chauvet Professional has announced it has become Corporate Supporter of the Theatres Trust. Chauvet Professional will also provide further support to the Trust as sponsor of the delegate lunch at this year's Theatre Trust Conference, scheduled for 28 April, at the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds.

The Theatres Trust is the National Advisory Body for Theatres, protecting theatres for everyone. Operating nationally in England, Scotland and Wales, the Trust promotes the value of theatre buildings and champions their future.

General manager Michael Brooksbank commented, "As a manufacturer, we feel honoured to play a role. Theatre is the backbone of the entertainment technology industry and a natural symbiosis already exists. Having come to understand in greater detail and recognise the work of the Trust, allegiance and community support became a natural next step for C

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Germany - Le Maitre has been asked to provide the pyrotechnics as well as flame effects for this year's PRG Festhalle exhibit at Prolight & Sound. Live shows will take place 18 times a day over the course of the four day exhibition with free entry for all visitors.

The Festhalle, the main hall at the Frankfurt show, occupies over 32,000sq.ft and will be the home for PRG over the course of the four-day show. Visitors will be able to watch a spectacular live event production where they can experience PRG's integration of complex systems using state of the art light, sound and video technology. Attendees can also go on "behind the scene" tours to learn more about the services and market sectors that PRG serves.

Le Maitre will be providing over 2000 pyro products in the form of 1x35ft Gerbs and 30' Gold Glitter Mines, as well as their CometFlames for the 60 shows. Elemen

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Russia - The closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics wrapped up the most expensive games yet with an exquisite cocktail of Russian music, ballet, art, design and literature - plus a witty and inspired sprinkling of self-deprecation. Much of the action took place amongst a dynamic forest of light, which was created and built by set and stage designer, Tait Technologies, and programmed by creative UK collective, Immersive.

Throughout, the Forest of Light provided the stage architecture that gave scale and perspective for much of the action that unfolded on the huge Fisht Stadium floor. It also provided the perfect TV-picture framing vehicle for the stunning aerial and stadium TV pictures, broadcast worldwide on 23rd February 2014.

The impressive Olympics Closing Ceremony design was by Danielle Finzi Pasca. The Forest of Light comprised a custom LED product, de

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UK - Blackburn-based lighting and visuals rental company HSL supplied lighting and a new LED product to the highly acclaimed and much anticipated first full production tour by trip hop trio London Grammar.

On the tour, HSL supplied a new GoldPix 77 LED surface. This is a 500 X 500 mm panel populated with 7 x 7 warm white LEDs with very narrow beam optics, which is incredibly light, robustly built and ideal for touring and making a high visual impact.

The tour's stylish and off-beat visual design was created by Steve Bewley, who rose to the challenge of producing a scalable and flexible rig that would look good wherever they played. The heterogeneity of venues on the tour included some more unusual places and spaces, and all the kit also had to fit into one 26 tonne truck.

Bewley, well known for his innovative work with Enter Shikari, Shikari Sound System, & Dizzee Rascal sta

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UK - Artichoke reports that an artwork commissioned for the Lumiere light festival in Durham 2011 has found a permanent home in the city.

Helvetictoc by Swiss web designer Tobie Langel, will be installed in Durham this week. The work, which describes the approximate time in words, will be projected onto the wall of the Clayport Library in Millennium Square.

The piece is an affectionate tribute to both an iconic typeface and to the nation of clockmakers from where it came. The artwork's witty use of language recalls the era before smartphones and the almost forgotten act of asking someone for the time.

Helvetictoc originated as a small web application combining a number of Langel's interests: typography, minimalism, randomness, humanisation of digital user interfaces and the perception of time.

Langel's app was spotted online by Artichoke, who saw its possibil

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Turkey - The power of over 200 Clay Paky fixtures was employed to light the first-ever Turkvision Song Contest 2013 in an impressive lighting display that has been dubbed the 'temple of light'.

Turkish production house Phantom Event Engineering (Phantom) worked with lighting designer Eran Klein from Cochavi & Klein Light Architect on the show's impressive lighting solution. The team specified the 48 x Clay Paky Alpha Wash 1500s, 30 x Alpha Spot HPE 1200s, 80 x Sharpys, 36 x A.leda Wash K5s and 24 x A.leda Wash K10s to 'build' the empyrean set.

"We had to use light as a structure," explains Klein, "The show is a multi-national televised event and we wanted to find an abstract way to symbolise togetherness so we created the on-stage 'temple of light'."

To create a powerful and punchy colour scheme Klein and his team utilised the Clay Paky fixtures in a laye

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UK - London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) staged Harold Pinter's Betrayal and Cole Porter's High Society at the end of 2013 utilising the strong colours and smooth dimming of Philips Selecon's PL range of LED fixtures.

RADA runs a four-term specialist course in Stage Electrics and Lighting Design as well as a two-year foundation degree in Technical Theatre and Stage Management, which allows students to specialise in lighting in their final year.

Two of RADA's specialist lighting design students worked on each of the productions: Amy Mae for Betrayal at RADA's GBS Theatre; and Matt Leventhall for High Society at RADA's Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre.

RADA's head of lighting Matt Prentice consulted with Selecon to specify a mixture of PLprofile1s, PLfresnel1s, and PLcyc1s to the drama school, which is generally regarded as one of the most prestig

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USA - Bandit Lites has announced the hiring of Andrew Fisher as senior systems integrator. Fisher will be assisting with system specification sales, system integrations, and providing client solutions alongside Chris Barbee, Bandit's global director of sales.

While earning his BSBA in finance from UNC Charlotte and studying theatre at UNC Wilmington, Fisher worked at both a Broadway scenic house and as an LD. He spent several years at Barbizon in their systems group before his most recent position of national sales manager for The Light Source, focusing on their LED product line.

About his new position, Fisher shared his excitement saying, "I see Bandit as a leader in the entertainment industry. Chris has built an exceptionally strong team in the Bandit systems division. Custom, quality, and innovative services are everyday parts of Bandit. I'm thrilled to take that to th

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UK - To set the scene for Valentine's Day and to launch the duo of Durex Embrace sensual pleasure gels Will Glendinning from Allium, a high profile live event company, approached PRG to provide a lighting solution. PRG provided the lighting equipment and crew to lighting designer, Durham Marenghi's specification to stage a spectacular light show on London's Southbank on the evening of 13 February, at the Observation Point near the OXO Tower.

Lighting tests were carried out on the fixtures at PRG's East Molesey warehouse in South West London to gauge the length of the beams in the night sky and to see what visual effects could be used on the evening. The show was then pre-programmed for the launch by Pryderi Baskerville in conjunction with Durham Marenghi using WYSIWYG software.

Seventy-six Clay Paky Sharpy Beam lights were used and rigged on two circular trusses, the inner cir

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UK - "We really can't tell you how much this saved our home and family."

"For everybody who contributes to Behind the Scenes, thank you. You helped save my life."

"I can't thank you all enough. Light Relief does life changing work, and my life has been changed by what you do."

Without the help of either Light Relief in the UK or Behind the Scenes in the US and Canada, these people - and many more - would have been in real financial difficulties as a result of illness or injury.

A major fundraiser for both charities is By Design Day, being held this year on Thursday 24 April. You can make a personal donation, hold a collection at work or - if you are a designer - you can support the day by giving a day's royalties to one or both of these charities.

To date Light Relief has awarded more than £60,000 in grants to help lighting professiona

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UK - This year, Robe was already involved in some of the highest high profile New Year's shows around the world including Berlin, Las Vegas and New York ... and once again its moving lights were right at the centre of the action for Chinese New Year celebrations in London's Trafalgar Square, featuring an afternoon of onstage entertainment culminating in a massive son et lumière extravaganza finale show to welcome the Year of the Horse.

Organised by the London Chinatown Chinese Association and supported by the Mayor of London and Westminster City Council, the event - which lasts all afternoon and covers activities happening in the key areas of Leicester Square, Soho, Charing Cross Road and Chinatown - celebrates Chinese history culture and art, and is the biggest outside Asia.

Lighting, audio and power specialists Ethix Management run by Paul Jones supplied an all-Robe moving

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Sweden - One of Sweden's largest 'theatre show restaurants', Rondo, has upgraded its house lighting system to Chroma-Q Inspire premium performance, energy-efficient LED house lights, to transform the feel and atmosphere of the popular venue.

Situated in Scandinavia's biggest theme park, Liseberg, in the city of Gothenburg, Rondo stages high-class after-dinner entertainment shows and has featured performances from some of Sweden's leading musicians. One of the country's most historic show venues, around six million happy guests have danced, dined and celebrated here since Rondo opened sixty-five years ago. The venue is renowned for its glamour and exquisite dining experience.

Rondo wanted to upgrade their conventional tungsten house lights with a more modern and energy-efficient LED system, as well as offering an extra immersive dimension to their performances.

The existing s

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