South Africa - The move to IP is arguably the biggest shift in recent film and broadcast history, making it a key focus at Mediatech Africa, set for 15-17 July at the TicketPro Dome at Northgate, Johannesburg.

While a new global survey has revealed that the transition to IP broadcast infrastructure will take up to 10 years to complete for the majority of broadcasters, local film and media producers and distributors are already considering what the move to media over IP will mean for their infrastructures.

Steve Alves, managing director at Concilium Technologies, says: "All the major innovations in this space right now are IP-based. But for many stakeholders, there is a major investment in analogue infrastructure to consider too. At Mediatech Africa 2015, we will showcase solutions to enable a hybrid environment that allow you to start moving to IP, and control and manage

USA - From Friday 26 June to Sunday 28 June, more than 200 people from around the world joined ETC in Madison, Wisconsin, for lighting education, console training and certification, networking and special events. The third professional development conference that ETC has hosted, this CUE event included more classes and events - and was attended by the largest group of lighting professionals and students representing several countries and all segments of the lighting industry - than ever before.

CUE kicked off with a keynote address by CEO Fred Foster, in which he talked about the growth of ETC over the last four decades, and the company's focus on customer service and product innovation. Foster also unveiled new products, including the affordable ColorSource Spot profile LED luminaire and console programming wings that will officially debut in July.

Josh Allen, an award-winnin

Canada - The AES 59th International Conference, with an emphasis on Sound Reinforcement Engineering and Technology, will take place July 15-17, 2015, at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. This is the first AES International Conference in over 25 years dedicated to large scale sound reinforcement, public address and live sound, and the conference is being supported by an impressive list of sponsors, including some of the preeminent forces in live-sound technology. At the conference, sponsors will be displaying cutting-edge technologies with experts available to discuss and demonstrate their products.

Confirmed sponsors include Meyer Sound, Solid State Logic, Yamaha Commercial Audio, Audio-Technica, Professional Sound Magazine, KV2 Audio, Erikson Audio, McGill University's Schulich School of Music, Gerr Audio, SMAART, Solotech, Flex Acoustics, DiGiCo, Ashly Audio, Shure, Tanno

UK - Triple E is celebrating winning Engineering Product of the Year at this year's ABTT Awards at Alexandra Palace for its ModTruss universal building system.

Triple E launched ModTruss in the UK at the ABTT Theatre Show at its new London home, Alexandra Palace. ModTruss was created by US-based Patrick Santini and will be manufactured and distributed by Triple E's new construction arm, EEE-Build.

It was Triple E's most ambitious launch since the company was formed in 1984.

Commenting on ModTruss, the ABTT Awards judges said, "The manufacturers liken ModTruss to Meccano, and this is an extremely accurate description. The judges saw numerous applications for building with ModTruss, and can instantly see where it could be used. With impressive load bearing characteristics the system allows great flexibility using standard stock to create all types of stage construction. T

South Africa - During Mediatech, One of South African's leading lighting designers, Michael Broderick will present a carefully orchestrated performance using one Robe BMFL fixture and a dancer. The 15-minute shows will be held every day from 15 to 17 July at 10:30am, 12:30am, 2:30pm and 4:30pm. Bookings can be made at the DWR Distribution stand (J47).

"We are trying to push the boundaries and wanted to see what we could do with a single fixture," said Michael Broderick. "The act consists of story which paints a picture of the relationship between the light and the graceful dancer, Belinda Henwood."

David Gouldie is the choreographer and director. He worked closely with Michael Broderick, who programmed the show on a grandMA 2. Sound design is by Liam Magner, with final sound mastering by Colin Peddie form Sonic Studio.

(Jim Evans)

UK - HOG Factor, the lighting design and programming competition for HOG4 Consoles, is to enjoy its second UK outing at the PRO Show at the NEC Birmingham on Sunday 13 September.

HOG Factor, an initiative from European Master Distributor AED Distribution in partnership with High End Systems, is coming back to the UK. The competition was first held at PLASA 2014, then most recently toured to Germany for ProLight+Sound Frankfurt.

The competition is open to young students currently enrolled in a full-time UK Entertainment technology related education course, or working at the starting level in a UK lighting rental production house. There will be six teams, each with two members, competing against each other. In advance they will be presented with a lighting rig comprising High End Systems Luminaires along with a set piece of music. Teams have to design a lighting show using the l

UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) 2015 has announced the main sponsors of this year's prestigious event.

The Awards, which celebrate the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK in the sectors of TV, Theatre and Concert Touring and Events, is delighted to welcome industry heavyweights: OSRAM, Ambersphere Solutions, MA Lighting, Hawthorn, Robert Juliat, Ayrton and XL Video, who have generously supported the Awards for several years running (some since its inaugural year). Alongside them are FIX8Group and Light Initiative, who are new to the event. The ceremony will take place at East London's Troxy club on Sunday 4 October.

"We are very proud to be sponsors of the KOI Awards. It is an amazing ceremony which last year we were very happy to attend," says Valére Huart-Gyors, Ayrton. "Seeing the most

Czech Republic - Backstage Academy's BA Visual Production students have triumphed on production for The Society of British Theatre Designers' Make/Believe showcase at the Prague Quadrennial, where they created an immersive environmental projection mapping of a room in the Clam-Gallasuv Palác and won the Special PQ Jury Award.

"This has been a great collaborative process with creative and technical dialogue between professional designers, students and projection mapping experts. We are seeing the work in a completely new way," remarked Make/Believe curator Kate Burnett.

The Special PQ Jury Award, judged by a team of top international directors and designers, recognises "the richness and diversity of an exhibition that shows high quality work from across the spectrum of contemporary performance design - in a variety of venues, and embracing space, light, media an

USA - The Behind the Scenes Happy Hour, hosted by PLASA will go on sale to the public on 15 July, 2015. The biggest pre-LDI party of the year will take place on Thursday, 22 October, from 6pm-8pm at the Westgate Las Vegas. Tickets are $60 each and includes an open bar, hors d'oeuvres and music and all proceeds go to benefit the Behind the Scenes charity, the only industry charity that provides grants to ill or injured entertainment technician professionals. Following the success of the Behind the Scenes Happy Hour last year, tickets are expected to sell quickly.

Starting 15 July, tickets can be purchased online: http://behindthescenescharity.org/btshh. They can also be ordered through your LDI registration once available.

Current sponsors for the Behind the Scenes Happy Hour include: Altman Lighting (Executive), Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc. (Platinum), Ultratec (Platinum), Hea

Germany - With new opening times, a new hall layout and a new "Education and Associations" area, it's all-change for Prolight+Sound 2016. Taking place at Messe Frankfurt from 5 to 8 April 2016, the exhibition is moving to the eastern part of the expansive venue. Here it will occupy six halls, two outdoor arenas, a new indoor arena and a new, bigger outdoor area all targeting specific themes.

Organisers comment: "At last year's event more than 900 exhibitors welcomed over 42,000 visitors to their booths. In 2016, we are moving to the east of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre in order to accommodate our increase in size. Prolight+Sound is the perfect industry forum for face-to face discussions and for developing your business networks. Benefit, too, from the synergies of the parallel Musikmesse and meet the right target groups for you."

Within the framework of

USA - Following the completion of the 2015 cycle of PLASA Focus events in Orlando and Kansas City, a full review was undertaken to ascertain the progress and success of the PLASA events produced in the North American market over the last 4 years. While some progress had been achieved over this period it was decided that significant change was necessary to create an event that better satisfied the business needs of the exhibitors, creating a profitable event for all those involved.

To fully explore and understand the changes necessary the decision of the PLASA Governing Body and the PLASA Executive Management has been to take a hiatus from producing new events in 2016.

Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's Director of the Events Division comments: "Despite considerable financial investment from PLASA and a great deal of hard work from the various members of the events team in the U

The Netherlands - Monitoring specialist Bel Digital will launching "the world's first Dante audio monitor" at IBC 2015, the BM-A1-64Dante, which provides audible monitoring as well as visual signal strength indication.

Designed to provide a simple and effective way of monitoring the audio present in Dante networks, the BM-A1-64Dante provides a visual indication of signal strength on all 64 selected Dante channels. Each individual channel can also be audibly monitored, or the operator can combine up to 16 channels to provide a unique stereo monitor mix.

An on-board matrix enables access to 512 audio sources using Dante Controller software, with the audio present at the front panel mounted speakers also available via balanced analogue (2 x XLR) and AES/EBU (1 x XLR) outputs.

Housed in a rugged, compact 1U rack chassis, the BM-A1-64Dante features a redundant power sup

UK - PLASA London has announced a number of exclusive and exciting additions to its 2015 seminar sessions, including two new audio panel sessions chaired by industry journalist Phil Ward, three sessions from audio production power house Britannia Row, a further session from the Institute of Professional Sound (IPS), three demo sessions from Adobe and a keynote presentation from Pixar Animation Studios.

PLASA London is delighted to have secured some of the most informative and interesting speakers it has ever had for this year's show. Particular highlights include Britannia Row's sessions, which take a close look at education and industry in this fast maturing sector and the keynote presentation from Pixar Director of Photography Danielle Feinberg and Adobe's Niels Stevens showing off the very latest developments in their Creative Cloud content creation tools and services.

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UK - Acorn has a well-established history of providing temporary structures to prestigious motor racing events and, in June 2015, the company serviced two major sporting events . . .

First, Formula E chose Acorn to supply a range of temporary infrastructure at the inaugural London E Prix, which took place in Battersea Park. The layout of the London park, and in particular the tree-lined avenues that made up the circuit, led the organiser to choose tiered viewing platforms instead of traditional grandstand seating. Acorn provided 50 viewing platforms, totaling over 4,000m2 and providing enhanced viewing positions for 12,000 spectators.

To allow spectators across the track and into the infield, Acorn supplied six pedestrian bridges at strategic points around the circuit. Utilising the Layher Bridging System, each bridge had a unique configuration, the largest of which spanned ov

UK - A new event aimed at conference organisers and event managers is to be staged in Birmingham on 3 September by conference specialist Saville Audio Visual.

Engagement is seen as the key word at conferences and events today, as audiences become more discerning in the fast paced world of technology. Organisers looking for new and innovative ways of keeping audiences engaged can see the newest solutions here, with on-the-spot demonstrations and advice from one of the UK's leading creative technical teams.

Midlands Conference Tech Expo takes place at the CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham B1 2LF on 3 September from 9.00am to 3.00pm.

The event will allow visitors to experience the sheer impact of the latest high resolution LED display technology first hand, plus much more.

Saville event manager Vicky Fennell says, "Organisers looking to make a BIG impression at the

China - PR Lighting will again present a dynamic display at the 24th annual PALM Expo in Beijing (19-22 August).

A number of new effects - some of which are being previewed or the first time - will dominate the China International Exhibition Centre (CIEC), where they line up alongside more than 1,000 other exhibitors.

The only products that will previously have been seen by visitors are the XR 330 Framing and XR 470 Beam - both previewed at the Chinese GET Show back in April.

The XR 330 Framing is the latest in the XR 330 family. This high output (12,300 lumens) moving head has adopted PR patented technology, combining advanced 330 watts lamp technology with superb optical system. The framing system consists of four framing blades that can all individually adjusted +30° while the entire system can rotate 90°. Lightweight (at just 22.5kg) it also has an impressively f

UK - With Phase 3 of its seminar sessions finalised, PLASA Show reveals content that is both informative and a little out of the ordinary. From audio as art and colour changing lights, to safety - both electrical and aural - and the importance of apprenticeships, PLASA continues to cover key issues for the entertainment technology industry.

"It's art, not plant hire." These words from Tony Andrews, founder of loudspeaker manufacturer Funktion One, will ring true with sound designers and engineers around the world. Having spent his life exploring the higher possibilities in audio, Tony is well placed to discuss his statement further in the 'audio moment', the chosen subject for his Audio and Consciousness session at this year's PLASA Show, where he will doubtless take an audio path less travelled while considering the difference between hearing and listening.

T

UK - Named in memory of Tony Gottelier, the renowned industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the annual Gottelier Award aims to recognise those product developers who have made significant long-term contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

Sadly, the 2014 Award was presented posthumously, by the unanimous agreement of his fellow nominees, to Pasquale Quadri, the founder of Clay Paky and an admired innovator for 40 years, who passed away shortly before the 2014 show. This year, his fellow nominees will again stand in the shortlist. The nominees for 2015 are:

Richard Belliveau

As one of the co-founders of Texas-based lighting manufacturer High End Systems, and still leading the company's product developments today, Belliveau h

UK - PSCo, the trade only AV distributor and rental specialist, is showcasing the latest innovations from its leading manufacturer partners at the PLASA Show 2015 (London's Excel - 4-6 October). Visitors will be able to view PSCo's must-see 3-2-1mm LED line-up of Absen products on its 70m² stand, alongside innovative LCD displays including the new Samsung High Bright and video wall displays, and the stunning new Samsung 105" display - the largest professional display available in the world.

"Following the success of last year's PLASA, we are excited to be showcasing so many new technologies from our rental and sales portfolio for system integrators and live events partners," says Stuart Holmes, managing director of PSCo. "We will have new technologies across mu

South Africa - Philips' entertainment lighting brands Vari-Lite and Strand Lighting, along with the Showline product range, enjoyed three jam-packed and successful days at a buzzing Mediatech Africa show in Johannesburg.

Joining valued partner and leading lighting supplier for South Africa DWR Distribution on stand, Philips exhibited the award-winning new Vari-Lite VL4000 Series, industry-standard Strand Lighting NEO and 500ML Consoles and the Showline SL NITRO 510 and 510C LED strobes.

The DWR team reported a high level of interest in the Philips range, with Nick Britz, product manager for the stand, saying, "The SL NITRO 510 strobe is extremely popular in South Africa, thanks to its versatility - it acts as both a flood and strobe light and can be pixel mapped. We saw a lot of people coming up to discuss its wide range of features and wanting to see a demo."

Mart

UK - The ACC Liverpool Group's production team has experienced its busiest summer, providing full services for a series of events. The 19-strong department has led technical support for conferences including NHS Confederation, the British Contact Lens Association and Airmic. Services included providing live streaming, interactive voting and the recording of all plenary sessions for NHS Confederation. The team also provided AV for the conference dinner which took place at St George's Hall, Liverpool city centre.

Other events included Jamfest - which took place in Echo Arena - and support for the city's Rock 'n' Roll Liverpool Marathon, making it the busiest summer period since the venue opened in 2008.

Nicky Norman, senior production and technical manager, said: "We provided production for a series of conference, entertainment and sporting events during the summer which is

UK - The Knight of Illumination Awards (KOI) Theatre judging panel has announced its eagerly anticipated shortlist for this year's ceremony, which will take place at London's glamorous Troxy club on Sunday 4 October.

Organised by the ALD, STLD, The Fifth Estate Ltd and Clay Paky and now in its eighth year, the KOI Awards is a celebration of the creative talents of international lighting and digital content designers working in the UK across TV, theatre and concert touring and events.

The theatre shortlist is the first to be revealed, after a panel of senior critics from national newspapers deliberated over the finest lighting and video work from the categories of Dance, Musicals, Opera and Plays. The shortlist is as follows:

Dance - Lucy Carter for Woolf Works, Royal Ballet, Howard Harrison for Edward Scissorhands, Theatre Royal, Plymouth, Sadler's Wells

UK - This year's PLASA Rigging Conference will be held alongside the PLASA Show 2015 at ExCeL, London, in the North Hall Gallery Rooms on Monday 5 October. This perennially popular feature of the show comprises topical sessions led by leading industry figures and offers a unique opportunity for the rigging community to share industry knowledge and network.

Unusual Rigging is confirmed as the conference's Platinum sponsor for the third consecutive year, while Outback Rigging makes a welcome return as Gold sponsor.

"Rigging is an essential aspect of almost every event but, as productions increase in scale, size and complexity, so do the consequences of getting it wrong," says Alan Jacobi, managing director at Unusual Rigging. "Unusual Rigging wholeheartedly supports conferences such as this. It's imperative that we, as an industry, keep the debate fresh in order t

South Africa - One of the most popular and well-attended events during the biennial Mediatech Africa 2015, held in July, were the Lighting Designer Sessions, sponsored and organised by Italian lighting manufacturer Clay Paky.

Presented by multi award winning theatre and opera designer Paule Constable and large-scale arena spectacular lighting designer Durham Marenghi, both sessions were quickly over-subscribed from the moment they were announced and two further sessions were quickly scheduled to absorb the overflow.

Constable, who is also associate director of the National Theatre, London, talked passionately about her preferred collaborative approach to the design process and illustrated this with images of her recent designs for shows including the award winning Warhorse and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

In contrast, Marenghi focused on t

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