USA - Tomcat, 4 Wall and TPUS are holding an industry party on Friday, October 20, 2006. The party begins at 7pm at 4 Wall Entertainment Las Vegas - where there will be food, drinks, swag and a DJ.
The Swinging Johnsons will take the stage from 10pm - midnight. Band members include: Bruce Jordahl of Total Production US, Tommy Hall of Vari Lite, Robert Mokry of Light Parts and Scott Church of Selecon.
Australia - On Friday 17 November, Allen & Heath, 3D World Publishing, andSydney's Home Nightclub will present Australia's longest running, biggest and best dance music awards, the Australia Dance Music Awards (DMA's).
"The DMA's are all about celebrating and acknowledging Australia's achievement in the dance music industry. The artists who perform will be reflecting the industry and where it is at today," commented Hayley Conn, producer of this year's Dance Music Awards. "3D World Publishing is really excited to be once again presenting this year's event."
The event will be hosted at Sydney's superclub, Home, and the club's 2500 capacity gives the DMA's the opportunity to open the event to the public for the first time. Home will open its doors at 7:30pm for the 2006 awards ceremony, where fans and industry VIP's will witnessperformances from the co
With 30 years' industry experience, Gemini has re-aligned itself as GCI Technologies to market its own Gemini, Cortex and i-KEY branded products. The company concentrated on Cortex at the show because its Digital Music Controller represents real innovation - in the form of a digital USB controller that can manipulate files (via a CD player) held on any USB device without the need for a computer.
Color Kinetics was very much entertainment focused this year. Popular product Colorblast has been given a rubber coat, XLR connection, changeable lenses and a C-Clamp for ease of rigging, making it more robust for the touring market. CK also introduced a prototype UV LED fixture - ironic given that one of LED fixtures' USPs is they output no UV! The fixture, however, was impressively effective. Finally, CK's Flexstring, with individually addressable nodes, now comes in white.
The combined MixMash and Pioneer stand featured Pioneer's latest DJ products, the DVJ1000 DVD turntable and the DJM 800 mixer. MixMash has the biggest range of classic video compilations on DVD in Europe, and had some brand new stuff available for the first time at the show. They were concentrating on ambient visuals which has been a massive growth area, with five current titles available.
Capture showcased its real-time, low-res take on the WYSIWYG lighting visualiser. It's great for working out ideas with a designer or band on the fly, has no annual fee, and encourages on-line feedback via forums on its website.It can either be run on a computer or through a variety of lighting consoles from manufacturers including Avolites.
G-LEC's Tube - a walk-through LED system - comprises free-hanging transparent tubes that can be of differing lengths up to 6m, and with no limit on the system's width. New control software provides the capability of graphics on up to four planes, from any DMX512, MIDI or SMPTE source as well as standard video input. Individual tubes can be curved around an object to a radius of 75cm.
Introduced at PLASA was G-LEC's new fibre-optic-based data transfer technology, 100 times faster than existing copper wire cabling. This technology, plus upgraded software, has been integrated into the company's PhantomFrame system, the new system being called G-LEC Phantom II.
Cloud Electronics showed the complete range of products on stand, while promising the release of new additions in the near future. From the current range, the recently-introduced CXV-225 transformer-less 100V line two channel amplifier was on display, while the launch of the CXV-425, a four-channel 250W version, is still to come.
Stardraw announced a new range of Stardraw Control Services (SCS) to support integrators in their use of Stardraw Controls; offered both directly and in partnership with independent experts, resources are being made available for: design and consultancy, training, programming, GUI design and deployment, testing and commissioning. The company also launched a number of new features and drivers for its Stardraw Control software package (now with 4,600 users worldwide), including scheduler and calendar components.
Also debuted were enhancements to Stardraw Audio, A/V, A/V Lite and Lighting 2D - design and documentation software packages. Plus the company has introduced a downloadable range of Graphical User Interface templates, containing a selection of controls such as Play, Stop, Pause etc, menu controls such as Up, Down, Left, Right and Select and device images such as CD player,
"We can expect a micro line array by Christmas '06, or January '07", said L-Acoustics, to whet our appetite. However, already available are the new-ish self-powered speakers 108P and 112P. The 108 is just 2kg heavier than its un-powered forebear, yet offers 500W to the low end, 250W to the highs. The slightly larger 112 is rated at a total 1000W. Both boxes are two-way coaxial, both conical dispersion (100° for the smaller box, 90° for the larger). A matching sub, the SB15P completes the system. "Expect the usual high quality performance from these, but - this is not the start of a trend to self-powered systems," said a spokesman.
RJS Electronics may not be the name on everyone's lips, but they certainly are on the tip of a lot of people's fingers! The company, which supplies switches to many high-profile manufactures including Nexo, DiGiCo and Midas, was showing a couple of new ranges on its stand. The company is now distributing the Fujisoku High Brightness panel or PCB-mounted switch range. Additionally, RJS was also showing its own range of silver-finished illuminated switches with option legend.
Audica had the worldwide launch of its new range of tiny Micro Series loudspeakers at the show. The range, consisting of the ceiling mountable Microdot and wall mountable Micropoint and Microline, can all be used in conjunction with Microsub providing a frequency response from 40Hz-20kHz. The wall-mountable brackets are fully articulated, enabling the speakers to be focused easily - and used in conjunction with the Microzone digital Class D amplifier and EQ, the entire system can be controlled remotely via a hand-held remote control.
Tannoy took a bit of a backseat this year. After their live band rocking stand of 2005, the company brought out the sofas and comfy chairs in the quieter upstairs level at Earls Court. From his soft four-seater, sales director Simon Sinclair detailed the company's first foray into ceiling loudspeakers with the introduction of the CVS Ceiling. The 4" and 6" versions are available now, as are the CMS 401 Eyeball ceiling loudspeaker. The 401 is designed in the same tradition as eyeball light fixtures, allowing the speaker to be angled around the room.
Lighting Effects Distribution (LED) enjoyed a successful PLASA showcasing the Ayrton DreamPanel - an innovative 50x50cm modular video-tile designed for screen-floor, wall and ceiling applications. Comprising RGB LEDs with a viewing angle of 170° they feature a pixel resolution of 16x16 with 256 pixels per tile and an image resolution of 800x600 pixels. The DreamPanel controller is compatible with all media servers with DVI Output.
This year, 64 products were nominated for PLASA Awards for Innovation. The judging panel - audio consultants Roland Hemming and Richard Northwood, lighting designers Alastair Grant and Durham Marenghi, staging consultant Charlie Kail, theatre consultant Andy Hayles and PLASA's technical resources manager Ron Bonner - chaired by L&SI technical editor James Eade, were given the task of whittling them down to just eight . . .
A long-awaited addition, plug-in effects are now implemented on InnovaSon consoles, with direct development between InnovaSon and Wave and the slightly less well-known VB-Audio. All Sy80 and Sy48 consoles are compatible immediately, and older consoles will require a software upgrade, but otherwise are still entirely usable, making a welcome extension to their utility. Also shown, in late development prototype form, was a remote tablet-to-desk controller that enables the manipulation of two parameters simultaneously: this should be released next year.
Lasertec Showlaser from Germany is both a manufacturer and rental operation. They illustrated their DPSS 532 nm range of lasers from 1-10W, and their larger system - the Antaris - of air and water cooled units up to 20W, plus their smaller Nexus 1-3W RGB system. They also offer control and bespoke systems.
Le Maitre again provided an exciting distraction from the main floor with its Pyro demos up on Level Two.New products included the Multi Venue System Hazer - using Le Maitre's patented system. Features comprise variable high output haze - whisper to >80cc/hr, twin variable high-output haze projection fans and 90° electronically variable haze output direction.
Staging manufacturer Steeldeck had an unusual product on display at this year's PLASA. From a distance, the large lump of metal looked like any other, except the clever designers at the company have come up with a de-mountable balcony system especially created for venues who need the ultimate in flexibility. Having already installed a two-level system at the Belgrade 2 in Coventry, the product is now available off-the-shelf. So, if you have ever wanted your own box in a theatre, now you can buy one and take it with you!
A new DSP system management processor from the Audient brand (exhibited by LA Audio), DLX 2000 is suitable for sound reinforcement and installation applications. Key features of the SHARC-based DLX200 Series include 96kHz sampling rate, 20Hz - 40kHz frequency response (+/- 1dB), 8 bands of EQ on every input and output, Hardman progressive filters and 45 user and ready-made presets.
Though they declined to make any statement, Procon still chose to take a stand at PLASA where they took advantage of the opportunity to make direct contact with their many clients who visit the show.
Spotlight was sporting various new products including the Spotlight SL3 ultra-compact motorised LED spot, aimed at architectural and entertainment applications. The fixture offers high-power 3W LED with flicker-free dimming. Also highlighted was the Spotlight Figura 250 CST - a professional profile spot for 250W CST ceramic long-life discharge lamps.
At ChainMaster, the JumboLift made its PLASA debut. This BGV-C1 chain hoist features a load-bearing capacity of up to 6,000kg. It's equipped with a frequency converter, an incremental encoder, and optionally with an absolute value encoder. The controller comes in a choice of one- and two-channel versions, with a switching cabinet control system plus breakdown control available as a further option. Also debuting was a new manual control system for up to 48 chain hoists. With the remote control, which is equipped with a 5.7" touch screen, runs can be programmed, with positions and loads displayed individually. You can also conduct a group shutdown if required. ChainMaster also presented an update for its successful VarioLift, which makes it possible to run higher speeds.
Turbosound was another of the companies to enter this year's Innovation Gallery, with their new TA500DP wide dispersion box that complements the existing Aspect modular point source system. At the other end of the spectrum, Turbosound introduced a new product in a new area in the form of the TCS-C50T full-range ceiling loudspeaker. The 5" low/mid driver and 1" neodymium soft dome tweeter gives wide dispersion with high power handling and is suitable for use on 70 and 100V line systems, say the company.