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

Lighting

Details
OptiLED showed its Designer Dimmable Series, offering lighting intensity control in a unit with outer dimensions identical to an ordinary halogen MR16. The Dimmable offers full performance at 12V DC or AC and dimming capability from 10V down to a 3V candle glow. The series offers a new snap-on ring mounting for the diffusers and can be used in most indoor and weather-protected outdoor fixtures and applications, including theatres and cinemas, amusement parks, architectural features, landscape accents, retail, museums and hospitality, say the company. OptiLED has supplied its lighting fixtures to a number of recent US installations and projects, including the International Spy Museum in Washington DC, Club Nero at Caesar's in Lake Tahoe, the New Hampshire Capital Centre for the Arts and the Houston Ballet.

Details
Wybron reports good business across the board - in particular with its popular Nexera dichroic colour changing fixtures (profile and wash versions, both now available with a CDM source), which are currently taking the College market by storm in America. Feedback from users has been very positive, the company says, in that increasing numbers of college venues are taking Nexera fixtures for evaluation - and not sending them back! Other news from Wybron is the company's appointment as the US distributor for Lighting Innovations' Super Beam 1200. This fixture, says Lighting Innovations, boasts near 100% light efficiency due to the parabolic and spheric double reflector optics and the use of Phillips' 80V, 1200W tungsten Halogen bulb.
PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

Details
ShowCAD's Mick Martin demo'd the latest developments for the company's Artist lighting and show control package - now fully WYSIWYG-enabled. Capable of controlling over 32,000 DMX channels as well as offering full multimedia and timecode support, Artist is a powerful and flexible system. The latest tricks in the pipeline include an impressive matrix facility which allows the simple creation of all kinds of effects and chases in banks of full-colour lighting fixtures - highly effective on any scale.

Details
Look Solutions was exhibiting at LDI for the first time under its own name and not through a distributor. Nathan Kahn, sales for the newly-opened Look Solutions USA, reported that he had so far had a very positive response from show visitors and that many of them were surprised to know that at least 50% of the Broadway shows today use Look's foggers and hazers.

Details
UK - It's been a busy inaugural season for new lighting design company, timroutledge.co.uk. To finish the year before Christmas, LD Tim Routledge recently finished two very different design projects: starting in Battersea Park's famous party venue structure, Routledge created rigs for two music stages for the testimonial of the England Rugby team's illustrious captain, Martin Johnson. On the anniversary of the historic win in last year's Rugby World Cup, this major event was produced in association with Next with all proceeds going to Johnson's nominated charities. Routledge was contracted to produce the lighting for both stages by DW Associates. Two stages were required to cope with the large number of acts, headlined by Lionel Richie.

Hawthorn Theatrical supplied the equipment required to work alongside Routledge's regular lighting team headed up by Andy Hopkins. "I chos

Details
UK - Customers of intelligent lighting controls group iLight are being assured that business remains very much as usual following the company's acquisition by Polaron plc in September. The company says that the new ownership means the group remains intact, while benefiting from the increased resources arising from being part of Polaron's control systems division. iLight group's products will continue to be marketed as before, while new products will benefit from the expanded R&D team. "Customers need have no worries about the future of the iLight brand," said John Thorne, UK sales manager at iLight. "We're still the same iLight that customers know and love, but with the advantage of greater financial and technical backing."

The focus of the enlarged group will be on developing the brands and the business, with the aim of becoming the largest lighting control

Details
UK - This year the ever-popular Barco Showcase event was held at two locations North and South of the country. The first was at The Three Mills Studios in London and the second held at the Magna Science Museum in Rotherham, Yorkshire. LSI visited the Three Mills Studios, which proved to be an ideal location for showing the huge range of Barco products.

(Jane Cockburn)

Details
UK - Details of the programme of 11 RIBA CPD seminars to take place during the ARC 05 exhibition have been finalized. All seminars taking place during the exhibition (14-15 February, Business Design Centre, Islington, London) will be RIBA-approved CPD and will all be related to lighting topics for architects. There are a number of lighting-related CPD seminars available, ranging from office and retail lighting to LEDs and lighting control. A seminar theatre seating approximately 60 people will be built on the exhibition floor and will be promoted by Mondiale Publishing as well as specifically targeted at RIBA member architects.

Joni Tyler, head of CPD, commented: "RIBA is pleased to be working with Mondiale Publishing on this event. We are delighted to be able to highlight the many excellent lighting CPD seminars from our member companies and to be able to bring their tech

Details
UK - Entec Sound & Light is supplying full lighting and sound production for the Bootleg Beatles' current UK tour, continuing a relationship with the band that has lasted for many years. One of the highlights of this tour was a sold-out performance at London's Royal Albert Hall. On this leg, FOH engineer Marc Langley is using Entec's d&b Q Series line array: Entec believes it has perfected the task of designing d&b systems for this challenging space. The Bootleg's show combined the skills and experience of Entec's systems engineers Stefano Serpagli, Tristan Johnson & Liam Halpin with help from John Taylor of d&b - plus the aid of d&b's Q-Calc line array prediction software - to help calculate the optimum set up.

They opted for a left and right array plus two side arrays instead of the conventional centre cluster for two reasons - because it seemed the most logical way to fit th

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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)

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

Details
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

  1. Robe Show Lighting at the Emmys
  2. Royal Court goes Wireless with White Light
  3. American DJ's Green Grenade
  4. Safri Duo 3.5 European Tour 2004
  5. Imagination for Sports Personality 2004
  6. Two new appointments at Strand UK
Page 605 of 1185
LSi 40th sponsors - Large MPU - July-Aug

Latest Issue. . .