Germany - Clair Brothers is to launch “several unique design innovations” at Prolight + Sound 2017 (Booth 3.1, E37). Following the evolution and success Clair Brothers started with the C15 large format line array cabinet, the company will officially announce the launch of the C12 and C8 line array products. The C12 and C8 are available with Clair True Fit Technology horizontal waveguides custom tailored for any specific venue. The C12 and C8 also feature a new transducer technology that offers two solid benefits. One is significant weight reduction, the other a reduction in amplifier channel requirements. These new features come with zero technical trade-offs. In fact, these features enhance the ability for the line array to be digitally beam-steered in the vertical plane with F.I.R. processing, says the company. The C12, a double 12-inch format line array, and the
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds is back with a stellar line-up of seminar sessions and speakers for this year’s event on 9-10 May at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. The free to attend exhibition is a leading platform for the entertainment industry, offering an opportunity to discover the very latest technology including products from recent international launches. Speakers this year include James Simpson, lighting visualiser at the Royal Opera House, who will be discussing the latest technologies in use at the Royal Opera House, with a look at how some recent projects have been technically achieved. Simpson will also be talking for the first time about an exciting new R&D project being developed at the ROH which uses Augmented Reality technology to create new opportunities for design teams to visualise their ideas – the talk will include a live demonstration. The f
USA - For nearly two decades, ETC’s LDI Student Sponsorship has given students a unique way to gain experience, make connections and launch a career, and to attend the LDI tradeshow with all expenses paid. Applications for this year’s Sponsorship are now available at www.etcconnect.com/LDISponsorship, and due by 9 June 2017. ETC’s LDI Student Sponsorship includes a round trip airfare to the LDI tradeshow, which will be 17-19 November this year, along with hotel accommodation, all meals, a full conference pass, a student reception to meet people in the industry, and exclusive ETC swag. Students in their final year of undergraduate study, graduate students, and students from outside of North America who are studying at equivalent university levels at the time of the LDI show, and who are studying lighting design, theatre technology, stage machinery, or closely related fi
UK – Supporters and trustees of Backup - The Technical Entertainment Charity - gathered in London on Monday evening to help raise the profile of the charity’s new name and logo in entertainment industry. Around 80 guests attended the event, which included live entertainment from Jay Johnson. Backup exists to provide financial support to technical professionals working in live events, theatre, TV and film, helping them to get back on their feet when their lives are disrupted by illness or injury to themselves or to family members. Previously known as Behind The Scenes UK, the charity changed its name to Backup in 2016. Backup’s chairman, John Simpson, welcomed guests to The Hospital Club in London’s Covent Garden, which generously sponsored the event. He reiterated the purpose of the charity by highlighting some of its achievements to date. “We have helped a n
USA - The Long Reach Long Riders (LRLR) celebrated their upcoming ride through Southern California with a raffle and live auction to benefit Behind the Scenes during the USITT Conference in St. Louis last week. Sales of raffle tickets, some key donations, and sales of BTS and LRLR-branded swag raised over $15,000 for the charity. The LRLR 2017 ride, dubbed the Avocado Adventure, starts on 16 June in Escondido, CA. The riders cover all their own expenses so everything they raise goes to the charity. Sponsor a rider today at www.behindthescenescharity.org/lrlr. Festivities led off with the traditional kazoo parade led by Bill Sapsis and USITT executive director David Grindle and many of the LRLR. Following the parade, BTS Pledge-a-Product partners InCord (Orchestra Pit Safety Netting Systems) and ETC (irFR and aRFR application for iOS and Android devices) presented chequ
UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD), in conjunction with Royal Central Research, is hosting an afternoon of talks and panel discussions at Bankside (Central Bankside, Emerson St. SE1 9DU – Saturday 8 April, 2017 – 2pm) to celebrate the warm reception of Nick Moran’s recently published book, The Right Light (Palgrave 2016). The Right Light documents the findings of Royal Central’s Nick Moran’s project, which asked such questions as ‘How do top theatre lighting designers decide what is the right light for each moment of a live performance?’, ‘How much of the process is technical?’, ‘How much craft? And ‘How much art?’ Answers to these questions, gleaned through interviews with 19 leading UK based lighting designers, form the basis data for this fascinating research study. The event, introduced by Peter Mumford, multi-aw
UK - The Institute of Sound and Communications Engineers (ISCE) reports increased attendance and much enthusiasm for its annual exhibition and seminar day, ISCEx 2017, a one-day event held at Coombe Abbey Hotel and Country Park. Open to members and non-members, the ISCEx exhibition and seminar programme was preceded by the Institute’s annual general meeting and networking dinner events, held the previous day. The ISCEx 2017 seminar programme was kicked off by Alberto Fueyo, Acoustic Engineer from AMS Acoustics highlighting the technical considerations required when designing PA/ VA sound systems with digital amplifiers and in particular the expected maximum sound pressure levels (SPL) compared to those traditionally experienced with analogue amplifiers. The second seminar of the day, presented by Dr Peter Mapp, required the drafting of additional seating for a
Germany - To mark the third year running of the Lightconverse and High End Systems Lighting Challenge, and to celebrate the past years' imaginative entries, the organisers have decided to sweeten the pot by adding the brand-new Lightconverse Tools 2017 to the four-level Prize Pool this year. The theme is ‘Inventive and original as always!’. The contest entry deadline is 1 April 2017. The winners will be announced on 6 April at the Prolight+Sound trade show in Frankfurt Germany (Hall 3, Level 0, Booth E90). First prize is the High End HedgeHog 4X console and Lightconverse Trace (with special one year upgrade to Lightconverse Unlimited) plus Lightconverse Tool 2017. Follow this link for full rules and to enter the contest: challenge.lightconverse.com (Jim Evans)
Italy - The tenth Showlight quadrennial, the full speaker programme for which was announced last month, takes place in less than three months (20-23 May) at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Florence, Italy. It is with delight we report that all exhibitor spaces have sold out - we even managed to squeeze in a few more due to popular demand! The latest exhibitors to be welcomed on board are AED, Elation Professional BV, PRG, SGM and Music & Lights. The full list of confirmed exhibitors can be found on the Showlight website at www.showlight.org/it/exhibitor-list Exhibitors are a vital part of Showlight’s winning formula where manufacturers, distributors and lighting practitioners, from all disciplines and levels of expertise, are in the enviable position of being able to discuss ideas in a much closer, mo
UK - Power Logistics has won a competitive tender that sees its contract to deliver comprehensive temporary electrical distribution services and generator provision to several of The Jockey Club’s most prestigious racecourses extended for a further three years. Having already successfully provided electrical distribution services and generators for four and three years respectively, Power Logistics’ track record, high levels of service, investment in equipment and competitive pricing structure have resulted in the contract extension. The contract encompasses generator hire, design, consultancy, installation, maintenance and de-rig for all The Jockey Club’s temporary power requirements. Power Logistics will continue to provide generators, cabling and distribution equipment and lighting solutions to service catering, trading, display and betting areas at many of
Europe - Showlight 2017, the quadrennial lighting symposium, this year hosted in Florence, Italy, is fast approaching. To ensure plenty of time for bookings to be made, the ALD has bestowed bursaries upon three of its professional members. The bursaries, awarded to Ric Mountjoy, Sherry Coenen and Sandy McRobbie, contribute to the costs of attending the event, such as registration, travel and accommodation and encourage those lighting practitioners to attend, who may not otherwise be able to take time out from a busy schedule. Supporting its members for the fourth time in this way, entries for the Showlight Bursary Scheme were judged by members of the executive committee and assessed on the applicants’ reasons for attendance as well as how they intend to report on the event for Focus, the ALD membership magazine. Showlight chairman, John Allen, highlights the
The Netherlands - International creative design practice Painting with Light was commissioned by Panasonic to produce a high-impact multimedia live show for their stand at the 2017 ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) expo at Amsterdam RAI. Painting with Light’s creative director Luc Peumans initiated the idea of simultaneous tracking and projecting onto multiple objects. It was a mission for which no-one could calculate a potential success rate in the confined and frenetic space of an exhibition booth. Panasonic’s Hartmut Kulessa and Thomas Vertommen, both in charge of the Visual Systems Marketing, first asked the question which fired Luc’s love for creative risk and experimentation - setting a trail of events in motion. “Luc’s vision and determination plus the unwavering support from Hartmut and Thomas were real driving forces,” confirms Michael Al Far, Paint
Germany - Technically oriented theatre, film and event careers are wíde-ranging and creative. This is something that the international trade show and conference Stage|Set|Scenery, which will take place from 20-22 June in Berlin, aims to take into account by organising a special programme for young professionals. The reason is a decline in young people learning technical skills, which has led to growing competition on the home and international employment market. This is where Stage|Set|Scenery will seize the opportunity to promote a dialogue between cultural institutions and the employees of the future. Business colleges, universities and other professional training institutions will be represented in Hall 23. They include Akademie der Österreichischen Theatertechnischen Gesellschaft, Berufliche Schule Holz. Farbe. Textil, Beuth Hochschule für Technik in Berlin, DE
USA - Motion control specialist and manufacturer Kinesys will exhibit for the first time in its own right at a US trade show during the three-day USITT 2017 stage expo in St. Louis, Missouri, from 9-11 March. Stand 1404 will focus on two of the leading brand’s most popular product ranges, DigiHoist intelligent motor controllers and the Libra range of load monitoring equipment, as well as highlighting Elevation vari-speed chain hoists which will interest those looking for more advanced automation systems. David Bond of Kinesys USA comments: “The North American market is currently expanding for us and we want to nurture this growth and reach out to more potential buyers, users and specifiers.” He thinks that USITT is an ideal environment for meeting a diverse cross section of industry professionals working in the key sectors of theatre, performance, and the a
UK - Almost 300 Robe lighting fixtures were used to illuminate the 2017 Total Production International (TPi) Awards produced by TPi Magazine and staged at Evolution in Battersea, central London on Monday night. Robe used the opportunity of being in front of the entire industry to launch a brand new lighting fixture - the pixelPATT - featuring seven 30W RGBW LED multi-chips, one in the centre surrounded by a ring of six, housed in a super-slim and lightweight brushed metal frame - which extends Robe’s PATT range of elegant retro-styled light sources. 20 x pixelPATTs graced a spectacular lighting rig designed by Nathan Wan, together with other new fixtures including the Spiider LED wash beam and the Spikie, and favourites like Pointe, ColorStrobe and DL7 range profiles and fresnels. The starting point for the lighting design was the shape of the screen / set crea
UK – Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards is powering up in preparation for its luminous tenth anniversary event this September. Billed as the ultimate showcase of lighting and video design achievement in the UK, the Awards is already receiving outstanding nominations in lighting and video design as international creatives and industry supporters push to see their favourite works of 2016/17 take home a KOI sword this landmark year. Work performed or broadcast between the 1st August 2016 and 31st June 2017 in the UK in the Awards’ Television and Concert Touring & Events categories is now eligible for nomination via the official KOI website www.knight-of-illumination.com. Anyone is eligible to submit a show they feel worthy of recognition and lighting and video designers, including international designers who have worked on shows in the UK, are encouraged to sel
Europe - Imagination AV, the newly appointed Benelux distributor for Amate Audio, is counting the success of its exhibitor debut at ISE. The former rental company, taking its first confident steps into the distributor market, devoted its booth, in Hall 7, entirely to promotion of its newly acquired line of advanced engineered sound reinforcement systems from the Barcelona based sound company. The move paid dividends for the Rotterdam-based distributor, in terms of a visually arresting booth and a clear sense of market focus. Imagination AV’s founder and general manager, Jason Lupgens, expresses his satisfaction, “As a public debut for Imagination AV and Amate Audio, ISE was a big success for us. Turning over our booth exclusively to Amate Audio was an opportunity to highlight the outstanding flagship products from the high-performance sound system manufacturer.
USA - This summer marks the fourth CUE professional development conference hosted by ETC. This year, the biennial event will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, 21-23 July. The CUE conference is designed for ETC end-users of all skill levels to gain knowledge that can be used in their careers. It also gives students the opportunity to get hands-on experience with the technology they’ll use when they enter the workforce. This year’s theme reflects back to a time when many youngsters were shipped off for a week or two to summer camp. The Camp CUE programme features high-quality keynote speakers, three days of classes, and networking opportunities with industry peers and the ETC professionals behind the company’s award-winning products. Classes include day-long tracks geared toward console programmers, lighting designers, educators, and technicians. For participan
UK – Triple E, the exclusive European distributor of the ‘universal construction system’ ModTruss, is showcasing the award-winning product at this year’s Event Production Show in London. The company will exhibit the lightweight aluminium truss system, which offers practically limitless configurations and applications, on Stand F58E at London’s Olympia on 1-2 March. Often described as 'full-size Meccano' by its users, ModTruss won Engineering Product of the Year at the ABTT Theatre Awards in 2015. It has been gaining prominence in the UK and European markets after being exclusively distributed by Triple E. ModTruss was once again utilised at the SuperBowl, this time at the SuperBowl LI in Houston in February, where it was used to build 12 structures throughout the SuperBowl City, Practice Facility and inside the NRG Stadium. In Europe, it has already bee
UK - The popular PLASA Focus Leeds exhibition will return from 9 to 10 May to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. Free registration is now open for the show, which offers an unparalleled opportunity to discover the very latest technology for live events, installation, broadcast and AV, including the first UK opportunity to preview products from recent international launches. Over 175 of the industry’s leading international brands will showcase their state of the art technology at the show, from lighting products from show sponsor Chauvet (stand P-20), to audio solutions from d&b audiotechnik (stand N-A24), Nexo (stand N-B02) and Sennheiser (stand R-B18), to rigging services from UK Rigging (stand R-C19), there promises to be something for everyone. For those interested in developing their professional development, PLASA’s industry leading seminar programme wi
The Netherlands - Integrated Systems Europe is over for another year, and 2017’s record number of visitors return home with the best of the industry in mind. At the d&b stand the company’s latest amplifier monitor and control plug-ins for Peavey MediaMatrix, Beckhoff, AMX, Crestron and the update for QSC Q-SYS attracted plenty of interest, as the German loudspeaker systems manufacturer continues its drive towards ever easier third party integration. For d&b, whose System Reality principle is found on the convenience of integrated system components, complete interoperability now comes as standard. The show was also a first for the d&b Soundscape which was given a special preview in the d&b demo room. Here d&b introduced the thinking behind the next evolution in loudspeaker system design in which the concepts of sources and spaces are fully explor
UK - Hawthorn is inviting visitors to step into virtual reality as it launches its innovative virtual venue experience at this year’s Event Production Show (1-2 March 2017). The creative technical event production expert has for the first time ‘built’, in virtual reality, just some of the diverse venues it works in partnership with in real life. This will enable event planners to pop on a HTC Vive headset and explore incredible event spaces without leaving the Hawthorn stand. The venues showcased in virtual reality at the Event Production Show will include some of Hawthorn’s key partnerships from around the UK. Built by Hawthorn’s in-house 3D and visualisation team using Cinema 4D and Unreal Engine, the virtual venue experience will offer delegates a unique on-stand experience, demonstrating the versatility of virtual reality as a powerful tool to support the
Italy - Showlight is delighted to announce more illustrious speakers from across our industry who are willing to lend their time and expertise to this unique quadrennial in Florence. The following designers are now on target to entertain us in May: Andreas Huber Andreas, who works for Osram, says that in our industry there is already a lot curiosity but, at the same time, some confusion when we mention the word ‘laser’. On the contrary this kind of light source has a huge potential and there are already several projects running regarding new fixtures that employ this light-source. Durham Marenghi Durham will focus on the remarkable story of the Closing Ceremony for the Rio Olympics, rather than the oft-covered Opening Ceremony, and the challenges presented by a budget much smaller than London 2012, a limited number of rigging positions, a
The Netherlands - Seloy Live, the i new interactive glass manufacturer, has announced a partnership with Feonic at this year’s ISE. Seloy Live will be showcasing a 90” interactive touch window with embedded sound. The 90” SENSE is a state-of-the-art portrait combination of a transparent insulating glass unit and interactive touch surface, with built-in sound from Feonic, and will be demonstrated on booth 14-M270. In addition, Seloy Live will showcase an 80” SENSE in landscape; a 43” SHINE customised mirror solution for augmenting existing professional displays; and a 60 x 120cm SHADE with electronically adjustable transparency. Seloy Live will also showcase content from Finnish advertising agency TBWA and UK-based interactive visual media experts Spotted Zebra. A video demonstrating how Feonic technology works within Seloy Live’s SHADE solution can be view
