Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

Lighting

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UK - Avolites is highlighting new technology with its just-launched eDMX wireless control solution, making its European trade show debut this spring. The eDMX system transfers DMX data across a Wi-Fi radio link - completely removing the need for DMX data cables.

eDMX units are easily addressed and user configured, either as transmitters or receivers, allowing the fast set up of Point-to-Point, Point-to-Multipoint or Multipoint-to-Multipoint DMX data transmission systems. Each transmit/receive pair of eDMX units relays data for one DMX universe at full speed, with ranges of up to 1km.

eDMX units can be used as a free-standing device to receive data from front-of-house consoles, thus feeding all the data into an existing wired splitter, or it can be attached directly to an intelligent lighting fixture or a chain of fixtures. The deployment of eDMX is totally user definable - on

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Israel / UK - Compulite has announced new arrangements for the distribution of its lighting control and dimming products in the UK. The company has said that in order to deal effectively with the growing UK market, it has decided to strengthen its sales force. There will now be three companies engaged in selling Compulite products to the UK market, with immediate effect.

The three companies are Berkshire-based Stagetec Distribution Ltd (tel: +44 (0)1344 440507, www.stagetec.co.uk); Worcestershire-based Enlightenment Entertainment Technology (tel: +44 (0)1527 522 068, www.enlightenment.co.uk); and Kent-based Lighting Logic Ltd (tel: +44 (0)1622 684899, www.lightinglogic.co.uk.

Compulite's MD Yehuda Shukrun says: "T

Doughty - Banner - from 4 July 2025

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USA - Color Kinetics Inc has announced a string of signage installations for which its LED systems have provided a greater impact than conventionally illuminated signs. Most recently, CKI's ColorBlast units have illuminated the high-profile Washington Mutual beanstalk sign in Times Square - an 80ft tall, three-dimensional sign with a fibreglass exterior that shimmers in varying shades of green. "The visual impact . . . is extraordinary, and Color Kinetics' LED lighting technology played a significant role in bringing our vision to life," said Mike McGraw, director of spectacular development for Clear Channel Spectacolor, who designed the sign along with Washingon Mutual's advertising agency, Sedgwick Rd.

Color Kinetics reports that its LED lighting fixtures are widely used to enhance signage, storefronts, and facades of some of the USA's most recognizable brands, with

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USA - Vari-Lite has appointed Julie Smith to oversee its customer service and technical support departments, in order to keep pace with increasing levels of business. In addition to her customer service duties, Smith will also oversee re-organization of the company's internal and external technical training program. Smith reports directly to Genlyte Controls' general manager, Steve Carson.

"My main goal is to improve customer response time," Smith said. "In the live entertainment industry, end users can't afford to sit around waiting for answers. I also believe that if we strengthen our training program, we will increase the level of support we are able to provide through certified Vari-Lite technicians in the field."

Smith spent four years as business manager of Showco, followed by three years with VLPS and Vari-Lite prior to the acquisition of Vari-Lite b

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USA / Canada - Linkin' Park's lighting designer, AJ Pen, is using 24 Robe Spot 1200s on the band's massive Meteora 2004 world tour, which is completely sold-out and currently working its way through the US and Canadian legs. Pen has worked with the band for the last 12 months, and they have toured constantly since then in various configurations in support of the Meteora album, which is triple platinum in the US alone.

Pen was introduced to Robe Show Lighting's array of moving lights and the great potential of the Robe Spot 1200 in particular, by Robe America's Randy Wade through Linkin Park's production manager, Jim Digby. This is the first time Pen has used Robe, and the powerful 1200 Spots are proving to be a great creative asset for the show. Six Spot 1200s are deployed on the upstage truss for beam effects, four are used as followspots, 10 are rigged on custom trussing and u

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USA - American DJ has introduced four revolutionary new laser DMX effects: the Tri Image, Tri Beam, Tri Star and Tri Fecta. Each model is capable of generating three different colours, as each includes two 4.9mW laser diodes, one red and one green, which when combined create a yellow beam.

These affordable units can be operated from any universal DMX controller, and can also be plugged in and left to run on their own using their many built-in programs or via a sound-activation mode. For an amplified overall effect, DJs can link multiple units together in master-slave configurations. Each of the new lasers has its own distinct feature set.

The Tri Image produces red, green and yellow effects all at the same time. All effects are created using a 4.9mW red laser diode, a 4.9mW green laser diode and a reflector mirror that rotates 360°. The Tri Image is programmed with 50 pre-s

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UK - LXCO, in conjunction with DLD, created the lighting visuals for the prestigious Olivier Awards, which took place recently at London's Park Lane Hilton Hotel. The awards ceremony brought together some of today's greatest theatrical stars for a celebration of the year's productions. Clive Anderson, aided by the cast of The Rat Pack, presented the awards for the sixth consecutive year. Awards were presented to Eileen Atkins for Best Actress in Honour, Matthew Kelly for Best Actor in Of Mice and Men and Jerry Springer-The Opera for the Best New Musical. The Best Lighting Design Award went to Hugh Vanstone for Pacific Overtures and the inaugural Best Sound Design Award went to Mike Walker for Jerry Springer-The Opera.

LXCO and DLD were asked to create a lighting system based on the design already used for The Rat Pack production at the S

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UK - San-Ei Electric Co Ltd of Osaka, Japan, in conjunction with their UK distributor Cerebrum Lighting, has announce the sale of four 2kW xenon followspots to the English National Opera at the London Coliseum. Supplied were San-Ei's new Xenonspot range, purchased by the ENO to replace their old Kupo models, which gave them many years of excellent service. As Xenonspot is a modern version of the Kupo units, they were chosen because of their heritage of reliability and superior performance. After the first weeks in the refurbished London Coliseum, the followspot operators say they are very pleased with Xenonspot, commenting: "They are a new version of the Kupos and so perform to the same high standard that we require."

(Lee Baldock)

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UK - James Thomas' Pixel range LED fixtures are being used to light the stunning Toyo Ito Pavilion sculpture, in a scheme by architectural lighting designers from Cook & Associates Design Consultants (CADC). The Pavilion is a white metal construction designed by the renowned Japanese architect, originally created for an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in 2002. It's now been installed at the Battersea Power Station site.

Glass panels have been fitted to the previously open elements of the Pavilion. The eye-catching temporary building will now be utilized as the marketing suite promoting the Power Station's redevelopment. The four exterior walls of the Pavilion are now lit with five PixelPAR 90(A)s, fully weatherized architectural fittings. The fixtures are attached to poles, two washing the front wall and one each across the others, and all are positioned to minimize reflect

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UK - Audiolight has announced the launch of the Aurora, a DPSS white light laser which runs off a normal 13-amp mains socket, and projects sharp, high quality images and text messages at 1200mW output. The full spectrum of colours produced from the Aurora makes it suitable for corporate advertising, as well light shows for nightclubs, bars and outdoor events.

The system comes ready to use, with PC, Zion 3D software, laser and all necessary cables. The Zion 3D laser show software is a powerful package which provides an easy-to-use interface, enabling quick rendering of 2D, 3D and text based graphics, auto-tracing and animations, and also includes a number of pre-programmed shows. The compact Aurora can be quickly and easily set-up, and because it does not require three-phase or water, it can be rigged in virtually any location, plugged in, and running within 10 minutes. The Auror

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Australia - Entec has released the Compact Flash module for its DMXStreamer. This module is an add-on to the DMXStreamer that enables the use of standard Compact Flash cards of up to 2Gbytes to store shows and playlist information. As an indication, 2Gbytes guarantees a minimum of 30 hours of continuous recording of 512 channels of DMX at the maximum frame rate of 44 frames per second.

The data is stored in standard PC format and can be easily transferred for backup or onto other units. The module is supplied with a 64MB card and must be ordered at the same time as the DMXStreamer.

(Lee Baldock)

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China - Fujian Broadcast and Television Group is a popular Chinese television station, which broadcasts a wide range of programming and special events. Martin Professional's Shanghai office recently supplied 60 intelligent fixtures for a recent tribute show in celebration of the station's founding.

Lighting designer Zhao Vanan of Fujian Television created a spectacular, contemporary look for the show that was highly complementary to the ultra-modern set design. Behind three large set pieces hung a 12m wide by 10m high wall of lighting that included MAC moving heads, moving mirrors and conventional fixtures.

MAC 2000 Profiles served as backlighting with stage-positioned MAC 2000 Profiles used for pattern projection onto the large set pieces. MAC 600s coloured the scenery from different angles. The large, black, empty space above the stage was solved using a large triangle tru

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UK - As part of Utopium Lighting's expansion and development, the company has appointed Matthew Croft as an account manager. Croft has moved from VLPS Lighting Services and took up his role at Utopium Lighting on 1 March.

Croft started work in the stage lighting business in 1991 after graduating from Manchester University. After a couple of years' technical experience in the warehouse, he headed off on 'tour' for the next six years with Rolling Stones, Van Halen, M People and Take That, among others. The last six years, he has worked as an account handler at Vari-Lite, looking after some of the company's biggest and newest clients.

"I am really happy to be back at the sharp end of our business with a close connection to the clients, the crew and the equipment offered. Utopium Lighting is a great place to be working. There is a young and enthusiastic atmosphere with a prof

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USA - Surprise moves at Texas-based High End Systems (HES) recently have seen the departure of the company's well-known chief technology officer Mike Wood after nine years with the company, as well as other members of the R&D team, and Bill Morris, vice-president of worldwide marketing. The departure of Wood, a former chairman of PLASA in the UK and one of the industry's most respected figures, has caused the most ripples, not least because he is also the current president of ESTA - North America's Entertainment Services & Technology Association.

However, while the industry at large ponders that, High End has announced the other, more positive side of the latest restructuring, which sees the return of company co-founder Richard Belliveau to a full-time role - as chief technology officer - and HES' stated aim of focusing its energies on digital lighting, and lessening its depende

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UK - Stage Electrics has moved its Central Stores operation. To ensure the minimum disruption to customers, the stores closed at lunchtime on Saturday and re-opened at 08:00 Monday morning - by which time 4,500 product lines were moved. "I have been planning this move for eight months," said distribution manager Darren Williams, "and it has gone like clockwork, thanks to everyone's help."

Stage Electrics Central Stores is now housed in 17,000sq.ft with 5,000 linear feet of space. The building holds 320 pallet spaces as well as the store for the expanding contracting installation arm of Stage Electrics. "This new space will allow us to work more effectively," says Dave Friend, the company's central stores manager, "and will revolutionise the way we pick and process orders ensuring we improve the service to our customers. With a Central Stores Te

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UK - CCT Lighting has announced the appointment of Brian Henshall to its sales team. Henshall has a depth of product knowledge gained while working for Kelco, Lightfactor Sales and Powerhouse Distribution, and will be great asset to the growing business of CCT, the company says. He will be responsible for sales of CCT's own brand products, including the new Freedom followspot and the Freedom discharge units. He will also be involved in the sales of other brands from Europe including Futurelight, Eurolite, Anytronics and all consumables.

(Lee Baldock)

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USA - VLPS Lighting Services provided a full lighting package to Footstar's National District Managers' meetings - a corporate tour which traveled to each of the company's regional divisions (West, South, and North) with a customized set and full event production designed and provided by Available Light Productions.

"We've been working with Footstar for about eight years, but this year they brought us in at the very beginning to plan the technical and creative elements of their event, including picking out the meeting's theme and the different venues in Las Vegas, Chicago, and Orlando," said Kirk Garreans, principal of ALP. "I designed the lighting, along with Matt Lemmon of True Light Productions, to feature a variety of presentations from corporate speeches to panel discussions, award ceremonies and musical entertainment."

"I chose to use VLPS beca

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USA - More news concerning High End Systems: Florida-based Super Vision International - a leading manufacturer of fibre optic and LED lighting products - has acquired, U.S. Patent number 4,962,687 from High End Systems. The patent covers the invention of a 'Variable Color Lighting System' developed by Richard Belliveau.

The patent development dates back to pioneering inventions by Belliveau in the late 1980s which resulted in multi-colour lighting systems for entertainment applications including High End's famous Colour Pro products. Super Vision's interest in the Belliveau patent was due to the broad coverage of this patent in the use of networked, centrally controlled, addressable colour changing lighting systems incorporating pulse width modulation and variable digital control circuitry which can vary the intensity of individual lamp elements to generate unlimited colours. Su

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China - Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour was transformed during Chinese New Year with the most spectacular light extravaganza ever to have been produced for the city. Called The Symphony of Lights, the $15.5m production was staged by Australia's Laservision for the Hong Kong Tourism Commission as part of the city's exciting revitalization program to create a dramatic 'New Look' Hong Kong and increase tourism to the city.

At countdown to the New Year, the Victoria Harbour foreshores erupted into a blaze of colour as the night skies were lit by hundreds of thousands fireworks, lasers, fibre optics, flares and pulsing lights. Tall city buildings and glistening waters of the harbour were washed in multi-coloured light and the tops of buildings exploded with sprays of molten light. Harbour spectators in their millions stood breathless as they watched and listened to the shows exhilarati

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UK - UK Pop band Atomic Kitten's "Greatest Hits" arena tour is being lit by award-winning lighting designer Baz Halpin (TPi Lighting Designer of the Year 2004), with lighting equipment - and all accompanying rigging - supplied by Bandit Lites UK. Halpin's design celebrates the Kitten's farewell tour. The creative thrust was to keep it looking up-tempo with the occasional moody interlude for the Kittens, who are joined onstage by a four-piece band and six male dancers.

Halpin designed a very symmetrical 'wide look' lighting rig, his colour and movement chases introducing plenty of dynamics. This was juxtaposed with the highly asymmetrical stage set, designed and supplied by Productions North. The rig also had to be adaptable to fit into the non-arena venues on the itinerary. Club-style visual effects and props included a 5ft mirror ball, suspended on a CM Prostar motor

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UK - Lighting rental house Siyan - headed by Bryan Leitch and Nick Valdez - has been using Robe Show Lighting ColorSpot 1200s moving lights on several recent high profile shows and events. These have included The Thrills at Brixton Academy, the NME Brats tour at Brixton Academy, the NME Awards at Hammersmith Palais and a special SJM/Solo promoted show starring N-E-R-D featuring Justin Timberlake, which was recorded by MTV at Hammersmith Apollo. Siyan has also just bought a further 20 Robe ColorWash 250 XTs form Robe UK to add to existing hire stock - bringing their total to over 60.

Vince Foster was the lighting designer for N-E-R-D featuring Justin Timberlake, working with MTV director Russell Thomas, Solo's Mark Ward and MTV Europe production manager Andy Derbyshire. It was the first time Foster had worked with Siyan. They supplied the rig to his spec, and he was extremely pl

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UK / Italy - UK manufacturer Zero 88 will be launching its latest lighting console, the Diablo, at the forthcoming SIB show in Rimini. The Diablo is a new, cost-effective and flexible lighting controller suitable for controlling moving lights and generics. It is one of the easiest lighting controllers to program and operate and is aimed at users wanting a small, powerful console, say the company. Unlike many small controllers, it is not simply for club or DJ use: the Diablo can be used in a range of venues from small theatres, to schools, TV or clubs.

"During the ongoing development of the Frog range we had lots of feedback from users wanting the intuitive philosophy and ease of use of the Frogs, but in a simpler and smaller package," explains Zero's Graham Eales. "The Diablo is a powerful little desk, which will bring sophisticated moving light control to a host

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USA - Super Vision International Inc, a leading manufacturer of fibre optic and LED lighting, has announced that is has filed a law suit in the Federal District Court in Orlando, Florida, seeking past due royalties and damages in excess of $10.5 million against Color Kinetics Inc of Boston, Massachusetts, for past and current infringement violations of U.S. Patent #4,963,687 on 'Variable Color Lighting System'.

The patent, developed by inventor Richard Belliveau, provides for broad coverage in its claims for patent in the use of networked, centrally-controlled, addressable colour changing lighting systems incorporating pulse width modulation and variable digital control circuitry which can vary the intensity of individual lamp elements to generate unlimited colours.

Color Kinetics was notified by the patent owner on several occasions in the past that the owner believed that C

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UK - Entec Lighting supplied The Australian Pink Floyd Show with the lighting rig for their sold-out performance at Cardiff Arena last weekend - a precursor to their first four-week US arena tour, to be followed by another two months in the UK and Europe.

The Australian Pink Floyd Show is among the best known and most successful tribute bands in the world. David Gilmour, Pink Floyd's guitarist, is a fan of the band and has seen the show three times. In November, he joined thousands of Pink Floyd fans at the Royal Albert Hall for a show described as "Truly embracing the Floyd legacy".

This year the band step up their live performance schedule and stature with new lighting and sound production. Lighting designer Dave Hill was brought in to work with long-standing LD Steve Ellerington, and to come up with a new visual picture for the bigger venues. The new lighting rig

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