China - Ace Hong Kong have carried out an audio and lighting fit-out in Cheng Ping - a town in Guang Zhou, Southern China - having won a competitive tender for the work. After specifying the system, Ace had to meet a deadline for the opening show at the Cheng Ping Culture Centre on the second day of Chinese New Year (January 23, 2004).

The loudspeaker management system consists of four BSS Audio 9088 Soundwebs (processing the JBL AE series Left/Centre/Right cluster). Soundweb also handles the speaker delay taps and EQ processing in an auditorium which seats 1,300 people. In an all-Harman Pro line up, Crown CTs series amplifiers power the system, and the FOH mixer is a Soundcraft MH4.

Ace was also responsible for providing the theatre lighting, with the conventional lighting controlled by ADB. The generics include profiles and fresnels while Clay Paky provide the moving lights,

UK - Leading project management company Stagecraft is the first company in the UK to install an innovative new touch screen lighting system created by Zero 88. Stagecraft has been working with Salisbury nightclub The Chapel on the supply and installation of £100,000 of lighting equipment, which includes the new touch screens.

Since early 2003 Stagecraft has been involved in the massive refurbishment project at The Chapel. Project manager Martin Palmer commented: "Lighting can be used in so many different ways in clubs like The Chapel and the system we installed had to be extremely versatile. With so much new lighting technology out on the market we spent a great deal of time researching all the options available."

Linked directly to the Zero 88 Frog Box, the touch screens can be used to recall and edit lighting sequences stored in the Frog Box's memory. Through a re

UK - Tower Productions of Edinburgh has opened an hire facility just South of Oxford at Watlington to better serve an ever increasing client list in the South and Midlands. Offering a full dry hire service of; lighting, dimming, control, rigging, mains distribution, and event heating equipment, hires can be delivered at very cost effective rates, or may be collected from the warehouse just off the M40 and only an hour from North London.

Tim Shaw of Tower Productions said: "The company aim to offer the slightly less usual items like; single phase Prostar motors (run 11 from one 13a socket) and rated keder clamps for tent rigging, white minuettes and birdies, 240v exterior birdies, exterior par cans etc."

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

USA - For the third season in a row, Kieran Healy is the designer responsible for the stunning lighting display on the live hit talent show, American Idol. VLPS Lighting Services is providing the full lighting package, including the digital lighting. Utilizing the soon to be released Virtuoso EX1 media server, a combination of EX1's abstract and graphical 3D digital images are manipulated and controlled from a Virtuoso DX2 console and projected onto LED and plasma screens during each performance.

"Every season I try to make the lighting better and keep the looks different and dynamic," notes Healy. "By using the EX1, we obviously added impact because we're able to play around with the digital images and integrate them with lighting. The digital content library on the EX1 is pretty extensive so we've been able to use terrific images to light and set the back

UK - A dazzling new look for one of London's most famous icons, the BT Tower, was recenty unveiled when a brand new sign and lighting scheme at the top of the building was switched on.

The tower's new signage, which replaces the previous 'piper' design, is a three hundred and sixty degree structure featuring constantly changing illuminated colours drawn from the company's 'connected world' identity. Ben Verwaayen, BT's chief executive, said: "The BT Tower is a communications icon and a prominent landmark on the capital's skyline. It is also one of the most visible representations of the BT brand. When we launched the new identity last year we said that we would roll it out over time, so I am pleased that the time has come for the new colours to shine out from the BT Tower."

BT launched its new 'connected world' visual identity in 2003 to more accurately reflect the w

UK - The Chroma-Q Cascade colour changer is continuing to demonstrate in the theatre sector how its low maintenance CMY colour-mixing system is ideally suited to permanent house lighting rigs, say A.C. Lighting.

In addition to Cascades recently being specified for the Royal Academy of Music's annual musical double bill, leading Manchester producing theatre company, the Royal Exchange Theatre, has used Cascades for two plays at the heart of a season which celebrates the work of British dramatist Robert Holman. The two plays, Rafts & Dreams and Across Oka, show ordinary people undertaking extraordinary and epic journeys in the world so both required a challenging array of lighting states to create the changing atmospheres throughout the plays.

Richard Owen, head of lighting at the theatre, chose the Cascades for the two plays in order to overcome a specific lightin

USA - Robe Show Lighting's US operation has undergone a radical restructuring that sees Michael Carattini appointed as president, and a new HQ and warehouse opened in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Tony Perez has also been appointed as Eastern U.S. sales manager.

The existing West coast office and warehouse continues under the direction of Ron Ramirez, VP of Robe America and director of Western U.S. operations. Both East and West coast offices will carry comprehensive product stocks and run full service and support departments.

Robe Show Lighting's MD Josef Valchar stated: "The changes enable Robe America to offer the very best and most efficient sales and after sales service for the Robe brand across the US. Having bases on both East and West coasts is vital to consolidating our resources and operation, and in supporting our growing client base in all areas of the entertainme

Australia - LSC Lighting Systems has supplied Melbourne-based lighting and presentation solutions company, Resolution X Pty. Ltd. with five maXim lighting control desks, each fitted with the LSC PaTPad moving light controller. The purchase is part of an upgrade to Resolution X's control desk inventory.

Resolution X's MD Tim Hall selected a maXim MP 48 fader console with 24 Intelligent fixture control, two maXim LP's 72 fader desks with 36 Intelligent fixture control and two maXim XLP's - 96 fader with 48 Intelligent fixture control.

The new consoles will go into immediate action on Resolution X's busy schedule of fashion, exhibition, event and general production work. Hall chose the LSC brand following plenty of experience with the equipment in the past, he commented: "It was an easy choice, specially once I saw the power of the moving light controller, I knew this was th

USA - American DJ has just-released new products the Fog Storm 1200HD and Fog Storm 1700HD professional fog machines (the HD stands for heavy duty). Both products featuring major enhancements to American DJ's already-popular Fog Storm 1200 and 1700 model fog machines and now include an all-new Advanced Cut-Off System and are capable of being operated via a standard DMX-512 lighting controller.

The Advanced Cut-Off System automatically shuts off the pumping system when the fluid tank reaches a minimum level. This feature warns the user when it's time to refill and helps to maintain the life of the machines by preventing clogging and damage to the units.

American DJ's FS-DMX-T remote control/timer, which comes standard on the Fog Storm 1700HD but is available as a separate option on the Fog Storm 1200HD, can be used to connect either unit directly to a DMX-512 lighting controlle

UK - In the three short months since Christmas, Colourhouse, the White Light Group's conference and corporate lighting specialist, has found its services called upon at land and on sea, with Colourhouse's crew surviving both real storms (a force ten gale while lighting shows on board the Pride of Bilboa in the Bay of Biscay) and the potential political storms of the party conference season, during which Colourhouse provided the lighting for the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.

Other shows presented unique challenges of their own. For Heroes at the Honorable Artillery Company in East London, the Colourhouse team supplied 1200kVA of generated power, twenty-four hours a day, six days a week to 4500m2 of marquee covered event space spread across six acres. Luke Bennett of Luke Bennett Production Management was full of praise for the Colourhouse's team led by lighting designer Da

USA - Brad Schiller has returned to High End Systems in a new role as director of control systems development. Schiller left the company a year and a half ago to pursue freelance lighting programming. He says: "This new opportunity will allow me to share my knowledge and experience directly with developers. By guiding the development process for all control products, including the Wholehog line, I hope to bring a more user-led approach to systems development. High End's focus on digital lighting, and the return of Richard Belliveau, demonstrates the company's commitment to advancing the technology of automated lighting control. A great new team of control product developers has been created and I look forward to working with the team."

Robbie Bruce, director of software development, says: "Brad will be a great complement to our new team. He has a wealth of knowle

Australia - Sydney Harbour provides the perfect natural amphitheatre and one of the safest locations to stage the largest annual fireworks display in the world. The fireworks and lighting show regularly attract over one million people in, on and around the Harbour. This year's show featured a new twist when, for the first time, lighting designer Martin Kinnane and programmer Sean 'Motley' Hackett could actually see what they were creating from across the Harbour at the Sydney Opera House. In the past, programming always had to occur with the equipment on the Bridge, but this year, Strand's Australian distributor, Bytecraft Entertainment, had a better idea.

Using Strand's ShowNet nodes and WiFi wireless Ethernet they were able to connect the lighting console with all of the equipment on the bridge wirelessly across the Harbour. Strand's powerful and flexible TCP/IP Network create

USA - American DJ has introduced the Dynamic Light Pak, an all-in-one 'lightshow in a box'. Ideal for mobile DJs, small musical acts and home party hosts, the Dynamic Light Pak brings together four compact American DJ fixtures: the Trilogy lighting effect, the Double Twist lighting effect, the S45 Strobe and the F700 Fogger. The package is easy to use and assemble and requires no expertise in lighting - just plug and play.

Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of companies said: "The Dynamic Light Pak is an incredibly fun way to liven up DJ shows, band gigs and house parties, it provides virtually everything you need to add brilliant visual effects to your act."

One of the units included in the Dynamic Light Pak is the Trilogy, a popular American DJ lighting product that projects moving triangle shapes onto a wide area of the floor or ceiling. A sou

USA - Element Labs' Versa Tile continues to receive broad acclaim by receiving the Best of Category and Roeder awards this week at the Lightfair architectural lighting trade show in Las Vegas, USA. These awards follow similar awards at the PLASA and LDI shows last year.

Lighting designer Jim Benya presented the award at a special ceremony. He commented, "The New Product Showcase Committee has chosen to recognize one product which exemplifies the dedication, commitment to excellence, use of colour, and outrageous sense of fun representative of the late award-winning lighting designer, Mr. Craig A. Roeder."

Versa Tile is a glowing LED light tile controlled by video. The tiles, placed together in arrays of any size or shape, create different moods and effects. The system is extremely versatile and is suitable for use on applications ranging from architectural installati

USA - LD Howard Werner, a partner in the US-based Lightswitch lighting design consortium, is participating in the annual Kips Bay Designer Showhouse in Manhattan. The renowned springtime event invites name designers from around the US to create individual rooms within a chosen residence. The showcase kicks off with a gala event and is then open to the public, with the funds used to support the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club. Founded in 1915, Kips Bay promotes juvenile development and prevents juvenile delinquency by helping young people recognize and achieve their potential. This year's project is on Park Avenue and 64th Street and will be open from 4-31 May.

Werner is working with interior designer Theo Kalomirakisto create a deluxe screening room in the five story townhouse. The screening room is an eight-seat movie theatre designed by TK Theaters of New York City. It uses simpl

USA - Mike Wood, former chief technology officer at High End Systems Inc, has founded a consulting company, Mike Wood Consulting LLC, based in Austin, Texas. The company's main focus is to work with clients on new technology implementation and R&D strategy, new product definition and evaluation, and intellectual property (IP) specifically as it applies to the entertainment technology industry.

Wood, an industry veteran, has led technology development and has been responsible for the technology strategy, R&D, standards and IP in many different companies. His career spans more than 25 years with firms varying in size from 10 to 25,000 employees and for the past 20 of those years he has been at the senior or executive management level. During his career he has worked for both start-up and established companies and has been a member of executive teams responsible for acquisitions a

Sweden - Wireless Solution AB is Swedish based company with huge knowledge and experience in the wireless industry. The company's R&D Department is staffed by a radio engineer and a real-time programmer from a worldwide manufacturer of mobile phones and GSM base station.

Swelite W-DMX is based on the technology and thinking of GSM, with the same security of transmission including Frequency Hopping (FHSS) and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) once developed by the US Army for safe and encrypted communication during wartime. With 999 different FHSS patterns and TDMA it's more or less impossible to get interference from other equipment on the 2,4 GHz band. To make it even safer the company has included encryption on the signal from sender to receiver so that each receiver only listens to its master sender and ignores all other signals.

The system is used for both point to poi

UK - The White Light Group is the lighting supplier for the transfer of the smash-hit musical Les Misérables to the Queen's Theatre, with White Light Hire supplying the conventional lighting and The Moving Light Company the expanded automated portion of the rig.

Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Les Misérables played at London's Palace Theatre from 1985 until 27 March this year, however it has now moved along Shaftesbury Avenue to make way for The Woman in White, the new musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Though outwardly appearing as a straight transfer, the new production features an entirely new version of John Napier's acclaimed set designed to fit within the Queen's smaller stage. Given the chance to re-think and update his Tony-award winning design for the show, lighting designer David Hersey has taken the opportunity to incorporate some of the latest li

USA - A new company has been formed to chronicle, produce and distribute a shared history of production touring from the perspective of industry professionals. Roadcases, founded by Paul Dexter and Larry McNeny, is in its early stages of development, beginning with a website along with a new idea for a cable television series and a future book.

Dexter has been writing steadily in American industry magazines since early 2000. "I wrote an article early on called 'Is there Life After Rock'n'Roll Touring?'" says Dexter. "After touring, going out into the real world with rock'n'roll attitude was a huge shock. I need freakin' therapy now and I've discovered that I'm not the only one."

McNeny and Dexter met on Ozzy Osbourne's 'Diary of a Madman' Tour in 1981-82. McNeny was the tour manager, as he had been for the BeeGees and Eric Clapton, and Dexter was Ozzy's l

UK - LD Vince Foster specified 12 James Thomas Pixelline LED battens for the current Sugababes tour directed by Paul Domaine. The Pixelines are mounted vertically in pairs along the bottom deck of the set - which Foster also designed - and ensconced into the cladding to emphasize its architectural lines.

Foster has been a keen fan of Pixellines since the fixtures were first launched, and initially used them for Massive Attack's 2003 tour. He also used them recently for an MTV special at Hammersmith Apollo, starring N-E-R-D featuring Justin Timberlake, and has specified them for the upcoming Phil Collins tour.

The Sugababes tour is being operated by Stephen Abbiss, The Pixellines are used simply, sparingly and often subtly for effects in specific songs. For 'Caught In A Moment' they create blue liquid effects, mimicking the video content for that number. They also throw an elec

USA - The Ghost Bar on the 55th floor of the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas has recently upgraded its lighting with a design created by Adam Gregory of Kelly Communications. The installation features Martin Architectural Alien 05 stem mount fixtures hung from the ceiling above a series of curled acrylic photographs. Light from the Aliens penetrates the images, stretching the figure out onto the wall behind. The Alien fixtures (600mm stems) typically project a subtle blue but the Alien's palette of other colours is also integrated from time to time with six different looks programmed on a Martin 2518 controller.

The Palms is a $265 million resort just off the Strip with a diverse mix of top end entertainment venues under one roof. High above the Vegas Strip, Ghost Bar is an open-air venue with unparalleled views. The lounge boasts 12ft. glass walls and a glass floor on the ope

USA - Element Labs Inc reports that Large Screen Video Imaging has taken initial delivery of a 50sq.m order of Versa Tile. The equipment has been placed in LSV's rental inventory, and the purchase makes LSV the first rental partner for Versa Tile in the US.

John Rigney, president of Large Screen Video, commented: "We are very excited to have this product in our arsenal. Everyone who sees it goes 'Wow, that's cool!' It's clear that Versa Tile's innovative and unique nature will keep our inventory very busy."

Since its launch last year, Versa Tile has received numerous industry awards and has been featured on the Super Bowl half-time show and a variety of other events. Large Screen Video is a rental and staging company specializing in LED display products and has offices isCalifornia, Texas, and Florida.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Telectra, manufacturers of the ice lighting range announced recently that it is now available to order direct from the company. The initial product consists of eight hexagonal ice lighting tiles fixed to a batten which has its own power supply and on-board thermal management system adapted from Telectra's aerospace experience in electronic engineering.

Each tile contains 48 pixels which are individually addressable RGB LEDs featuring a Beadlight diffusion screen (patents pending). The Bead light technology (patents pending) employed within the system was originally developed for the aerospace industry to gain the advantages of LED lighting such as low power consumption and low heat emission, without the disadvantage of directional glare often associated with LED's.

The battens are connected to a controller, which are supplied with one batten communication card capable of

USA - American DJ has introduced the DJ Spot 250, a 250W DMX halogen moving head effect. Designed for mobile DJs and smaller clubs, the DJ Spot 250 substitutes a halogen lamp for the more pricey discharge lamps found in moving heads used by larger venues.

Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of companies said: "American DJ is always striving to make the latest lighting technology available to our core customers - mobile DJs, working bands and small clubs, these lighting users were telling us they wanted to join the trend to moving head effects, but without having to pay a thousand dollars or more for a fixture. So we came up with the idea of designing a moving head with a less expensive halogen lamp. The DJ Spot 250 provides sufficient brightness for the average DJ or club's needs, plus it's got 360-degree moving head rotation, DMX compatibility and all th

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