Europe - AlphaTheta Corporation has announced the release of four new speakers in the XPRS2 Series from its Pioneer DJ brand. The 8-inch XPRS82 and 15-inch XPRS152 full-range units join the popular speaker range, along with two new upgraded active subwoofers: the 15-inch XPRS1152ST and 18-inch XPRS1182ST.

Known for their versatility, portability, and elevated sound performance, the XPRS2 Series speakers are a natural favourite for mobile DJs and are suitable for live sound settings, houses of worship, rentals, and fixed installations.

“These four new speakers in the Pioneer DJ XPRS2 Series give our customers even more choice,” said Remco van Megen, head of sales EMEA, AlphaTheta. “We’re proud of the fantastic quality and performance they offer.

Germany - The new Avolites Diamond 7 (D7) lighting console was shown publicly for the first time at PL+S in Frankfurt, with two variants on the stand – the D7-215 and the D7-330 – both running on Avolites latest Titan v17 software.

This initial product launch has enabled the Avolites team to gauge reactions and glean valuable feedback ahead of the full launch, planned for later in the summer.

The reactions were “overwhelmingly positive” stated Avolites MD Paul Wong, delighted with the comments and enthusiasm he’d received from Avo users who came

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has revealed additions to its annual awards. The ABTT Award for Costume and ABTT Award for WHAM Design aim to honour the expertise and significant contributions of industry professionals, as well as the creative collaborations they foster within the production process.

Presented at the annual ABTT Theatre Show on the 5 June, the Award for Costume has been designed to honour individuals from different disciplines of the costume sector who have achieved a command of their chosen discipline. For 2024 this awa

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ETC Ministar

ETC introduces the High End Systems Ministar, a game-changer in our automated lighting product line. Ministar brings exceptional versatility and performance at an affordable price point; with a compact footprint, punchy output, and a professional feature set, Ministar fits the spec and budget for small to medium-sized venues.

South Africa - Cape Town based Rainbow Lighting has invested in new lighting fixtures from Astera. The company was started by freelance gaffer Desmond Gqitekaya in 2020. At the time, he was working mostly on major movies and feature films being shot in South Africa and was lucky enough to also start picking up commercials and music video work through his contacts, for which there was always a demand for thinking quickly and ‘out-of-the-box’ when it came to lighting. This soon led him to Astera.

His first purchase was Astera Helios Tubes in 2022, and this has q

USA - When design group Lightswitch debuted Illumination: Tree Lights at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois, in 2012, not only did they curate a series of attractions, they ushered in a whole new kind of experience.

As one of the nation’s most beloved light displays, Lightswitch works with the arboretum each year to develop new lighting elements for the wintertime walk in the woods and all-weather Elation luminaires continue to form the foundation of the magical lighting scheme. Lightswitch works closely with Intelligent Lighting Creations (ILC) on

Spain - Brigada Tech is a new Spanish TV series presented by Luján Argüelles, directed by Eva Castillejo, and lit by Manuel Ricoy. The format sees ‘digital mentors’ and popular ‘Social Media influencers’ assisting people with limited access to the information superhighway in tackling assorted digital challenges that can benefit their day-to-day living.

Each episode was recorded at a different location around Spain, including Avilés (Asturias), Laguna de Duero (Valladolid), Tudela (Navarra), Canas de Morrazo (Galicia), Altea (Alicante), Torrelav

Europe - Last November, Obsidian Control Systems initiated Train the Trainer workshops aimed at training its European partners on the specifics of the intuitive Onyx lighting control platform. The sessions, specifically designed to springboard an Obsidian awareness campaign and grow the Onyx community, are bearing fruit as trainers across Europe amplify the platform’s reach by training other partners and end-users.

One of the youngest participants in the Train the Trainer sessions, held at Obsidian’s European headquarters in Kerkrade, The Netherlands, is 16-ye

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Strictly FX Highlights

Strictly FX was founded in 1996 by industry veterans Mark Grega and Ted Maccabee. Our expertise and knowledge of the world’s leading pyrotechnic, laser, and flame manufacturers allows us to curate astonishing live events. With over 500+ shows performed a year, there’s good chance you’ve seen some of our work!

USA/Europe - TMB has launched an initiative to help production companies in Ukraine. As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues, Zinteco Productions, a cornerstone in Ukraine's entertainment production community for over 25 years, needs help.

The ongoing conflict has brought the Ukrainian entertainment industry, like all normal life, to a standstill, and Zinteco’s operations have been severely impacted. TMB has collaborated with Main Light LLC to make some of Zinteco’s Solaris Flare Q+ fixtures available to cross-rent in the U.S. market. One hun

Poland - Originally making its name for accompanying film screenings with live music performances, the Kraków Film Music Festival has grown to become one of the most highly regarded events of its type worldwide.

Taking place at venues throughout the southern Polish city, the 16th Festival included a special immersive sound event at the Teatr Lasznia at which composer, musician and lecturer Gary Marlowe performed the world premiere of his concert Echoes of Space, and Grammy award-winning film composer Simon Franglen presented his experimental work Sunrise | Sunset,

UK - The biggest night in the UK’s televised music awards calendar was supplied by Britannia Row for the 29th year.

The multi-artist live music event - which sits within a televised awards show - requires the audio team to ensure the overall production comes together cohesively, a task Britannia Row is well versed in.

Head of engineering – event support, Josh Lloyd, who also acts as the BRITs audio designer, comments: “People like to remain involved in this show as it has always been an annual milestone in the UK music calendar and has generated some

UK - TV, broadcast and event lighting rental specialists, Version 2 Lights has announced the promotion of Joe Marter to general manager.

Marter joined V2 four years ago this week as a project manager, and has since worked on a number of high-profile productions, most notably the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

"Interestingly it was also this week, 10 years ago that Joe joined Aurora as a technician," the company says. "The progression is a testament to Joe's hard work, dedication, broad skill set and attention to detail which has seen him come thro

UK - Designed to meet the demanding need for robust yet flexible content visualisation at exhibitions, concerts, conferences, sporting events, and other commercial activities, the new Leyard LN Series LED displays deliver quality visual effects and information to any temporary event or occasion. With a user-friendly design, ‘effortless’ maintenance, and swift setup, the LN Series flexible LED displays boast a modular and lightweight structure. They are easily assembled and disassembled, offering hassle-free transportation and setup for diverse events and venues.

USA - Audinate Group has announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based Dante audio transport solution for broadcasters. New features and capabilities include remote contribution options, native Dante software integration, cloud deployment platform options, and new resellers.

Dante Connect is a suite of software applications that facilitate cloud-based broadcast production and is a powerful platform for A1s and mixing engineers, combining the familiarity, ease of use and tight synchronization of Dante audio with seamless connectivity to cent

Portugal - 512 LiveDesign, a prominent lighting design studio specialising in live events, dance, theatre, and live performances, has announced its continued dedication to using CAST Group’s WYSIWYG in their creative process.

Led by Rui Daniel and Marco Dias, the company has been at the forefront of innovative lighting design for the past decade in Portugal and abroad, consistently relying on WYSIWYG as an indispensable tool in their projects. WYSIWYG technology has significantly streamlined the workflow at 512 LiveDesign, empowering their team to deliver immers

France - Things do not always go as planned with outdoor affairs, and the Kandahar, Chamonix FIS World Ski Cup was no exception. Unseasonably warm weather caused the cancelation of the widely anticipated downhill competition that was scheduled to take place over the first two days of the three-day event.

However, not all was lost. Those who stayed for the entire three-days got to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of this resort, located at the base of Mont Blanc, the highest summit in the Alps. They also enjoyed a breathtaking bit of skiing history, at the La Verte d

Italy - Viola Park, a new modern sports centre and home to ACF Fiorentina football club, recently underwent a full AV system integration including comprehensive K-array audio systems. Nestled amidst the rolling Florentine hills, Viola Park is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of professional footballers at what is thought to be one of the best training facilities in the country.

With 26 hectares of sprawling landscape, Viola Park is the largest sports centre in Italy and one of the largest in Europe. The facilities at the site include 12 regulation pitche

Austria - Currently riding high in the Bundesliga - the top tier of Austrian football - Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub (LASK) recently relocated to Linz’s futuristic new Raiffeisen Arena. Constructed as a UEFA Category 4 venue, LASK’s new ground is now among the largest and most modern sports facilities in the country, with over 80 Genelec Smart IP loudspeakers delivering quality sound to the fans.

Key players in this project were Saw IT Consulting, Genelec distributor Audio Pro, and local integration company Contech – who were responsible for the central distri

UK - Audiences are being treated to ‘an immersive visual feast’, thanks to RCM’s approach of combining real-time 3D generative content, utilising Epic’s Unreal Engine, with live cameras.

The creative content for James Arthur’s Bitter Sweet Love World Tour, which hit the road in March 2024, was fashioned by RCM’s team, headed up by Video Designer Alex Vipond. They collaborated closely with the artist, along with Pete Hutchison and Edd Croft of design collective Mangata to bring the client’s aspirations to life. The visuals add energy to the s

UK - Brompton Technology has appointed Sebastian Kanabar as technical sales consultant, focussing on the broadcast and film industries.

Based at the company’s headquarters in Chiswick, Kanabar brings over two decades of experience in senior technical, sales and product management roles at Prokit Europe, Holdan (part of the Midwich Group), NM Productions, and Pixel Engine.

He has had the opportunity to work with many well-known companies including Panavision, Sky, NBC Universal and CNN, as well as leading lighting and camera manufacturers like ARRI. Most

USA - Disguise will showcase its latest broadcast and virtual production (VP) solutions at this year’s NAB. Show visitors will be the first to get an early preview of Disguise’s latest release of its Porta broadcast graphics controller, which has been upgraded for Unreal Engine 5.4, and get hands-on with Disguise’s end-to-end xR and VP technology at six exhibition stands across the show floor.

Disguise and its Creative Services division, Meptik, will also be part of several speaker sessions on topics including digital twins, AR graphics, virtual production a

USA - RDL has announced its latest creation, the RU-NMP44, a cost-effective, network mixing processor that delivers ‘the flexibility of network audio for any system size or budget’. Designed to be versatile, and to support a wide range of system designs, the RU-NMP44’s performance specifications make it suitable for the most demanding installations.

The RU-NMP44 can add volume control, mixing, switching, and ducking to existing network audio systems. The digital signal processing offered in the RU-NMP44 often fulfills all the requirements for an audio system

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