UK - Compulite's Vector Red and Blue consoles were launched at PLASA 2003, with the system officially available from March 2004, when it was immediately put into service on a number of major TV productions such as Top of the Pops and Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Vector Green, the smallest in the Vector family, was already in demand way before its launch at PLASA 2004, as many programmers could see the potential of having so much power and flexibility in such a compact console: Stagetec Distribution reports that it has just delivered six Vector Green systems to customers, one of the first to TV lighting director, Bernie Davis.

Davis is one of Britain's most successful TV lighting directors, with a long string of credits to his name. From Robot Wars to The Proms, Royal Variety Performance to the Royal Wedding and many, many more in between, he has a vast

A Flying Pig Systems Wholehog 3 console was put into play in a big way in the newly-released film, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep. Scott Barnes, California-based lighting programmer, purchased a Wholehog 3 last year and has kept it working steady ever since. Filming for Lemony Snicket began in summer of 2003 and ran through until May 2004. Barnes used the Hog 3 to control everything from the lighting of interiors and exteriors of the sets, to close-ups of the actors. He also created the daylight, dusk and nighttime looks as well.

"When you do a film, you never know what you're going to have thrown at you: whether it's adding last minute lights or creating spur of the moment effects, as the movie changes from one set to another," Barnes explains. "Hog III makes me prepared for anything. It's the better

Czech Republic - Robe Show Lighting's new ClubWash and ClubSpot 250 CT range of fixtures is now in full production, following its launch at PLASA and LDI 2004. The new Robe Club range has been specifically designed for club and discotheque applications and builds on the huge popularity of Robe's XT Series in this market. The Club Series combines the latest technology with plenty of creative scope and Robe's unparalleled reputation for "affordability without compromise".

It's also been developed after listening to feedback from VJs, lighting designers/operators and owners and operators active in this demanding, fast moving environment - which has enabled Robe to deliver the products they really want. Both Wash and Spot fixtures carry a comprehensive range of fixtures and are keenly priced, say Robe.

The ClubSpot 250 CT offers a gobo wheel with 10 static gobos includ

Finland - Robe ColorWash 1200 fixtures demonstrated their cool at a recent gig in Lapland which saw them exposed to temperatures as low as -31°C - excluding wind chill. The fixtures were run for three-and-a-half days, and worked continuously, say the company.

UK-based lighting rental company Siyan was asked to design a lighting scheme for Lynx Base 24-7, "the ultimate dating challenge", a surprise 24-hour party staged at Kiruna in the Arctic Circle, Northern Sweden for 300 lucky Lynx competition winners. Bryan Leitch devised the lighting scheme and Siyan supplied equipment and crew to production company Cake and also worked closely with TV Production Company Done & Dusted, who recorded it for a Channel 4 broadcast. Live performances included Faithless, The Thrills and Shaznay Lewis, plus an assortment of DJs, and Leitch was lighting it for the live event as well as f

USA - Super Vision International recently announced that it has signed license agreements with Illumination Management Solutions (IMS) and LED Power, both of Irvine, California, for its Variable Colour Lighting System patent # 4,962,687 and its recently acquired Laidman Technology. Illumination Management Solutions is known for it advanced applications of LED technology for the production of LED light engines for industrial and commercial applications. LED Power produces LED lighting systems for commercial applications including aerospace, automotive, commercial signage, marine, traffic control and utility control systems.

Greg Rhoads, IMS's chief technology officer, said: "It is clear to us that the Super Vision "687" Patent provides the earliest and broadest coverage in the industry for networking multiple colour changing lighting fixtures using addressable and

UK - AC Lighting recently supplied leading event lighting design company, DBN Lighitng, with a Jands Vista lighting console and 80 Chroma-Q Color Block LED fixtures for use on in-house production rentals. In addition to servicing conferences, exhibitions and corporate parties, DBN is also involved in live music events and large scale public arts projects, and in the last 12 months has undertaken projects on four continents.

AC says that DBN was not actively looking to purchase a new lighting desk, but upon reading about the Jands Vista thought it was the first really interesting desk in a long time and therefore warranted a demo to their team of lighting designers. According to DBN, the whole team was excited by the Vista, feeling that the ground breaking desk offered a new type of user interface which would allow them to either make significant savings in show programming time

USA - Color Kinetics Inc recently introduced its Video System Manager an integrated software and hardware solution designed to produce Video With Light in wide-ranging entertainment lighting applications.

Video System Manager addresses the increasingly broad intersection of lighting and video, where the disciplines of architectural and entertainment lighting converge to create dynamic visuals and backdrops for a diverse range of venues, including theatres, tradeshows, casinos, theme parks, concerts, corporate events and exterior facades.

Video System Manager allows video-based, Ethernet control of Color Kinetics' intelligent solid-state lighting systems, facilitating the reproduction of complex effects in a lighting installation. It converts standard live video signals from a variety of media sources, including media servers, DVD players, camcorders, and personal computers, a

UK - Bandit Lites UK is supplying lighting equipment to Production North for the current Busted arena tour. No rock 'n' roll testaments are left unturned in this show, which is big, bold and Loud in every visual and sonic parameter! The Busted contract is being handled by Lester Cobrin from the UK office. "It was fantastic to be awarded the contract for this tour especially amidst stiff competition" states Cobrin. Cobrin has previously serviced Busted and Production North on the band's 2003 theatre tour and their spring arena tour. Bandit also worked with the same team on the recent McFly theatre tour.

Busted's LD Graham Feast has been with the band since they started. The overall visual equation was a tripartite collaboration between Feast, Peter Barnes, who created the video playback visuals, and production manager Iain Whitehead, who developed the set concept.

The

UK - Polaron plc, (POL.L) ("Polaron", the "Company" or the "Group"), the AIM listed broad-based technology group, announced recently the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Rossula Ltd, the holding company for Lightfactor Sales Ltd and LightProcessor Ltd - two leading UK entertainment products companies. Lightfactor distributes a range of lighting and audio products and LightProcessor manufactures entertainment lighting control equipment. The total consideration of £350,000 is to be satisfied by £250,000 of cash and the balance by the issue of new Polaron shares.

Mick Hannaford, the majority owner of Rossula, will continue to operate as a managing director for entertainment lighting within Polaron's controls division. Revenues for the year ended March 2004 were approximately £2 million. Polaron also announced that trading continues in lin

USA - As of 1 January 2005 all Strand 500 series control consoles ordered after this date will ship with the latest edition of WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition. Connecting the newest version of WYSIWYG CE to a Strand ShowNet network allows users to match the full capacity of their Strand Console to WYSIWYG for the first time. Users will no longer be limited to 512 DMX addresses and will now be able to display up to 8,000 devices on a 500 series system. Automated lights are consuming DMX addresses at an ever expanding rate and the new WYSIWYG Perform Console Edition frees users to display and control lights up to the capacity of their consoles without additional cost. WYSIWYG Perform CE will also be provided on Strand 300 series Memory 125, 250, 400 and 600 channel desks.

Gil Densham of Cast Lighting has been working closely with Strand Lighting over the years in the WYSIWYG devel

UK - John Lethbridge, who has been handling sales in the Middle East for Pulsar for the past three years, will be expanding his role within the Pulsar sales team with immediate effect. Lethbridge will be supporting technical sales manager Snowy Johnson and sales manger Jon Petts in the UK, and head of sales and marketing Andy Graves in certain overseas territories, say the company.

Lethbridge, as former managing director of Cerebrum Lighting, became a Pulsar distributor soon after both companies first began trading in 1970, and was also founding president of Celco Inc in Farmingdale, NY. He brings with him a wealth of experience, gained both in the UK and overseas.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - Green Hippo and Scene Change, creator and distributor of the acclaimed Hippotizer digital media server range, have announced H-MAP, the Hippotizer Media Access Protocol. H-MAP offers the ability for any lighting console to access information from Hippotizer servers, including clip previews and corresponding DMX control values. A console could therefore show programmers thumbnails of all of the images or movie clips available in a Hippotizer allowing direct, immediate selection. The link between Hippotizer and console is via ethernet, and is dynamic and so can be automatically updated as the Hippotizer's contents change - unlike 'one off' schemes offered by some manufacturers where clips are manually transferred from media server to console.

"Until now, controlling digital media from a lighting console has involved keeping lists of which DMX value corresponds to which

UK - Software providers Stardraw.com has announced the public availability of a Beta 1 version of its award-winning application Stardraw Control. During the Beta-test period, Stardraw is inviting manufacturers and systems specialists to become test partners in this new project. In return, test partners are asked to provide as much detailed feedback as possible via the dedicated Stardraw Control forum that has been set up especially for this purpose.

Stardraw Control generates standalone, customized control programs, offering a new approach to solving the problem of controlling heterogeneous systems; for too long, systems integrators have been locked into closed architectures wherever system control, monitoring or signal routing has been required. Stardraw Control, by contrast, offers a software-based, unified control framework that can manage any type of addressable equipment fr

Denmark - Martin Architectural has added a new dimension to its Cyclo range of full colour mixing T5 fluorescent fixtures - directional track mount and surface mount versions. The Cyclo Directional provides a simple dynamic light solution for retail and other commercial applications. Easy to program, and simple to fit, the Cyclo Directional offers an almost endless variety of colour choices say Martin.

The Cyclo Directional uses RGB technology to generate both coloured and white light of variable temperature. Technically this is achieved by combining dimmable T5 fluorescent lamps in the primary colours red (R), green (G) and blue (B) in a process known as additive colour mixing. The patented optical system produces a broad, even wash of ready-mixed colour. Three 54W T5 tubes create the high output necessary to cut through the high ambient light levels typically found in retail

Europe - LA-based lighting designer Jason Deboer specified eight Martin MAC 550s for the European section of the Maroon 5 tour, which completely sold out as the band's album and singles sales continue to rocket. The 550s are the core of his rig and the basis of most scenes and looks. Four are rigged on the rear truss and four mounted upstage on vertical trussing sections. The rest of the rig otherwise comprises 60 Par cans and 11 strings of ACLs. Deboer created bold, colourful classic rock 'n' roll looks and 'beam technology' for the band's all-action set.

He likes many features of the 550s, including their intensity and power, and the functionality of the animation wheel. "They've been really consistent and reliable as moving fixtures," he says. "The colour wheels have a nice selection of very rich shades and hues and there's also a great selection of gobos.&quo

USA - Robe Show Lighting's ColorSpot 1200 AT fixtures were integral to LD Tyler Littman's eye-catching design for the 32nd International Emmy Awards Gala, staged at the New York Hilton. Lighting design and consultancy for the high profile event and TV broadcast was provided by Littman's New York based company Sholight, with equipment supplied by See Factor.

This was the first time that Littman has used these Robe moving heads, which were recommended by several people including two of his crew for the Emmys, Ed Duda and Eric Perry: both had worked with the Robe fixtures on Deep Purple's 2004 'Bananas' world tour for LD Louis Ball. Littman specified 18 ColorSpot 1200s - Robe's top-of-the-range fixtures - for the Emmys design, combined with assorted generic fixtures which he programmed and operated via a GrandMA console. Littman was highly impressed with the ColorSpot 1200's perfo

UK - For the production of the new play Fresh Kills at the Royal Court's Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, designer Ultz created a set featuring a large American truck which had to be pushed on and off stage by the performers. Once on stage it needed the internal lighting to be controlled as part of Trevor Wallace's lighting design for the show.

"In the old days, we would have fed a DMX line into the floor and then up into the truck," commented Johanna Town, the Royal Court's head of lighting. "However, having seen City Theatrical's Wireless Data System at the PLASA Show I wanted to give it a go!"

Town contacted White Light - City Theatrical dealer and it supplied a system consisting of a WDS Transmitter and a WDS Receiver.

"We have created wireless systems in a number of ways for previous productions," comments Dave Isherwood, White Light's hire

USA - The new Krypto Sync from American DJ, is a compact 4.9mW green laser, designed for smaller users who want the excitement of green laser effects, but don't have the big budgets of large clubs.

The Krypto Sync comes pre-programmed with a whole arsenal of different geometric shapes - just plug it in, and you get continuous variety of visual patterns. Users can create their own custom shapes when the unit is in the manual mode, one of three different operational modes that the Krypto Sync can be run in. The other two modes are sound active and master slave.

In the sound active mode, the Krypto Sync's will automatically move to the beat of the music, and in master slave mode multiple units can be linked together for a synchronized light show across larger areas. The Krypto Sync is fan-cooled and comes with a 4.9mW green laser diode. Compact and lightweight, it measures 8"

Denmark - A classical music past took Denmark's Uffe Savery and Morten Friis to such prestigious concert venues as the Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House. A present of dance music hasn't done them bad either. Savery and Friis formed the band Safri Duo back in the late 1980s, playing classical music in an unconventional percussionist style. By the late 1990s the band had mixed in pop, techno and trance to their signature drums to form a unique and raw energetic style all their own.

Touring in support of their latest CD, Safri Duo 3.5, the band is using a Kasper Steen-Lange designed Martin MAC rig of 26 MAC 500 profile spots and 12 MAC 600 washlights with six Atomic 3000 strobes and 100 assorted conventional lights. Equipment supplier is Seelite A/S of Denmark. "We had to design a production that would fit in both sports arenas and theatres," com

UK - This year's BBC's Sports Personality of the Year 2004 awards had a dramatic new environmental set created for them by design and communication company Imagination. Over 600 guests attended the event, which saw gold medallist Kelly Holmes scoop the 2004 Sports Personality of the Year trophy.

Working closely with the BBC executive producer Paul Davies, Imagination was able to create a visually arresting space for the awards, which not only hosted the live television programme but also a pre and post transmission party for over 600 VIP guests.

This year's environmental set included multiple interview staging areas, graphic treatments on the stage and floor as well as lighting and projection design. Imagination has a long-standing relationship with the BBC having worked with them on environmental sets for such programmes as Newsnight and Sports series On-Side

UK - Strand Lighting announced two new appointments At Strand UK. Peter Sherrington returns after an 18-month leave when he worked on a charity funded project for disadvantaged children. David Catterall European sales said: "I am delighted to announce that Peter has returned to Strand Lighting as sales representative for the East side of the UK. Peter comes back to us with a wealth of experience on Strand products, some great relationships and joins us at a very exciting time."

In Germany Walter Thomsen is also returning to Strand to manage sales in Southern Germany. He will also be responsible for Austria and Switzerland. "Walter has recently worked as a lighting consultant and brings a great deal of lighting knowledge and practice to his new position. Both of these appointments follow on a year of growth for Strand and the whole team looks forward to working wit

UK - It's not unusual for a lighting company to be supplying equipment to pantomime productions at this time of year. However, Scottish lighting specialist black light has just supplied a panto job with a big difference - it was in Ghana, Africa!

In the UK, audiences are used to pantomimes being staged in drafty halls and chilly theatres. In stark contrast, the International Players production of Cinders (a characteristically loose interpretation of the Cinderella story) was staged at the Ghana International School's outside stage in high temperatures. Although there is a roof over the stage and auditorium, its purpose is to provide shelter in case of tropical storms!

The panto was left high and dry when another UK-based lighting supplier failed to respond to its order. So, with a fairly tight turnaround time for the lighting to be shipped out via sea freight, the Players tur

USA - Andrew Nikel has joined the City Theatrical sales staff, the company reports. A well-known and well liked lighting industry veteran, Nikel most recently was an account manager at PRG Lighting in North Bergen, New Jersey, and prior to that was an account manager with VLPS in Moonachie, New Jersey. Earlier, he worked as a senior project coordinator with the Fourth Phase Systems Integration Group in North Bergen, and as a rental accounts representative for Production Arts for many years.

Nikel has worked professionally in lighting as a Master Electrician and Technical Director and holds a B.A. from Connecticut College. He will be working closely with the extensive City Theatrical network of lighting distributors as well as with consultants, designers and other lighting professionals to increase awareness and sales of the WDS Wireless Data System, CTI's accessories for Color

Canada - MDG, the Canada-based manufacturer of high quality fog generators, has appointed Andre Girard to the position of international product advisor responsible for sales and marketing. MDG president Martin Michaud says: "Andre's wealth of experience and philosophy of professionalism is consistent with our own ideals and modus operandi here at MDG. We welcome his input and creativity and it shall be a pleasure working with him to better serve our clientele worldwide."

Andre began his career in the lighting and sound industry in 1986 as a lighting designer for Montreal-based Solotech before progressing into professional lighting distribution across Canada representing such names as MA Lighting and Clay Paky. In 1997 Andre accepted an invitation to move to Germany to work directly with MA Lighting. Responsible for international training and technical support on the g

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