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

Lighting

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UK - On 25 July, the government launched the final consultation on implementing the 'producer responsibility' aspects of the WEEE Directive - the EU-led initiative that affects all manufacturers by making them responsible for paying for the treatment and recycling of products at the end of their life.

PLASA - the main body representing the manufacturers in the sector - has been active in the consultation process and is now rallying members for the final time to feedback on the draft regulations before their full implementation in July next year.

Detailed consultation notes have been sent to all PLASA manufacturing members affected, together with guidance on how to participate in the process; PLASA is now urging members to act and feedback before the final deadline of October 17th, warning that this is the last chance to get the detail right. Further notes will be issued to mem

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USA - Arup has announced the appointment of David Taylor, an internationally known consultant for theatres, concert halls and other performing arts venues, to lead Arup's performing arts sector work in the Americas. Taylor, an associate principal based in New York, will be the primary point of contact in the Americas for performing arts clients and the linchpin for Arup's overall work in the sector.

"It's an excellent fit for both Arup and David," said Neill Woodger, principal and leader of the Arup Acoustics practice in the Americas. "He has worked with Arup for more than 20 years on key arts projects around the world. His expertise in theatre planning and design brings an important skill set to our practice, augmenting our existing acoustics, lighting, simulation, venue consulting and engineering disciplines and allowing us to provide a complete and integrated p

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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Denmark - The Exterior 1200 is the newest addition to Martin Architectural's Exterior range of outdoor luminaires. Its powerful 1200W lamp and full range colour mixing system make it ideal for dynamic illumination of tall structures, high-rises or any high-visibility architecture, says the company.

The Exterior 1200's seamless CMY system blends the primary colours Cyan, Magenta and Yellow to achieve a full spectrum of luminous colours. These, variable in hue and saturation, can be programmed to shift smoothly from shade to shade. Further options are provided on a four-colour wheel.

It houses an efficient 1200W metal halide lamp capable of reaches of nine stories and above. Intensity control is 0-100% for easy balance of brightness allowing buildings and landscapes to respond intelligently to the availability of natural light.

Narrow and Medium models provide designers with a

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UK - Thorns Group was among Europe's winners as it supplied equipment and expertise to the hospitality facilities for this year's Ryder Cup at Ireland's K Club. The group was hired by event specialist Tapenade to provide a range of equipment for over 5,000 visitors to the club. Two separate Thorns Group divisions were involved in the assignment - with Thorns Furniture and Catering Hire supplying large quantities of furniture and catering equipment and Classic Technical Services providing lighting, power and sound services.

Paul Vesper, of Surrey-based Tapenade, said: "Thorns provided an integral part to this event, including the after-event party. Everything went as planned."

The Classic team, which was headed by Account Director Paul Seeney, distributed more than 10km of cabling and installed over 300 lighting units at the K Club for Tapenade. The division also prov

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UK - Beadlight Ltd, an innovator in LED diffusion and video effect technologies, has announced the grant of Patent No. GB2392488 by the UK Patent Office entitled 'Illumination device'. The technology described in the patent provides a unique method of diffusing light, particularly directional light generated by LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).

This innovative approach to light diffusion has the effect of producing a myriad of virtual point sources of light, scattering the directional glare normally associated with LED products. This proprietary technology has been incorporated across the Beadlight range, including the ice*lighting and Light*Wand ranges of entertainment and architectural lighting.

Pat Wisby, managing director of Beadlight, was delighted with the news that the company's first patent had been granted: "This award-winning technology allows us to produce the high

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UK - Integrated Systems Europe has announced that registration is now open for ISE 2007, which will take place 30th January - 1st February 2007 at the Amsterdam RAI, with the support of the three associations; CEDIA, InfoComm International and NSCA.

An innovation at ISE 2007 will be the multimedia conferencing pavilion, which will feature the latest products and technologies in video, audio and web conferencing. Integrated Systems Europe managing director, Mike Blackman comments, "While we can boast an unprecedented number of exhibitors signed up for the show, occupying the largest floor space in the history of ISE, we want visitors to come away with a feeling of a total systems integration experience that will motivate, inspire and excite. The support from our sponsoring organisations as well as our exhibitors, has been instrumental in being able to achieve these magnifice

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Australia - RDM is the Remote Device Management add-on for DMX512, it allows 2 way communication between lights and the control system.

The ENTTEC suite consists of three applications. Controller application mimics an RDM controller device which allows the user to discover, get and set information (such as setting the DMX address) in RDM responders (devices). Responder applications mimics an RDM responder like a dimmer of moving light allowing the user to retrieve and set different parameters, for example setting the DMX address or getting the lamp hours. The RDM sniffer is an RDM diagnostics tool that monitors RDM packets travelling on a DMX line and decodes the packets into a human readable format.

The RDM controller and Responder both use the low cost DMX USB Pro interface enabling anyone in the industry to take their first steps with RDM today, says the company. The ENTTEC

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Canada - Robe moving lights have been specified for the Canadian premier of Cirque Niagara's spectacular Avaia show, staged in the 60,000 sq.ft Celestial Palace big top tent at Rapidsview Park, Niagara Falls.

Created by Russian circus impresario Mairbek Kantemirov and declared an instant classic, Avaia is one of the most anticipated and powerful productions of 2006, amalgamating rare and beautiful horses, acrobats and hair-raising theatrical performance.

The Robes were supplied to Soundbox Productions -who are co-ordinating and overseeing all the show's technical elements - by Robes Canadian distributor Intellimix Lighting and Ontario Sales Rep, Randy Segeren.

The fixtures were specified by Soundbox's lighting and design team of Tran Langford and Jeff Lavallee. A total of 18 Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs and twenty-four ColorWash 575 AT fixtures are being utilised fo

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USA - The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) held at Chicago's McCormick Center in September featured a new booth concept from Swedish manufacturer, Sandvik Coromant AB. The 5,000 square foot booth (494 sq.meters) more closely resembled a mystical ice palace bathing in the Northern Lights than a regular tool display.

IMTS is North America's largest tool show, featuring 1400 companies and attracting over 85,000 visitors. While most exhibitors relied on standard overhead fluorescent lighting and basic displays, Sandvik employed Gyromedia and Spectra Stage & Event Technologies to create a dramatic theatrical lighting scheme.

Sandvik had 22 tons of ice flown in from Sweden's famed Ice Hotel for the booth, the first time the special ice has ever been brought into the US. A 6-ton ice bar was the main attraction, and 7-foot tall ice sculptures featuring the Sandvik lo

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USA - The 2006 VMAs night broadcast by MTV from New York's Radio City Music Hall featured coverage of the movie and music stars' arrival on the red carpet outside, with Coemar's iWash Halos, ParLite LED, SuperCyc's e Panorama Cyc's performing key roles.

Lighting designer for Light Action, Tom Kenny provided an eye catching show for fans, reporters and TV cameras.

(Jim Evans)

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USA - Daystar Television Network is the second largest Christian television network in the US and broadcasts all over the world. Based out of Bedford, Texas, the network recently purchased a Martin lighting and control package for its Studio A which features the station's flagship production Celebration.

The package consists of MAC 550 profile spots, Maxxyz lighting console and a very recent purchase of Martin's Maxedia Digital Media Composer, all supplied by Gemini Stage & Lighting of Dallas. The network also plans to add MAC 700 Profiles.

Michael Cerione, television lighting director and lighting designer at Daystar, commented, "The Martin lights have done everything we have expected, and we have only touched the surface of what they can do. They give movement and really set the mood for the music portions of our productions, as well as helping create an atmosphe

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USA - The new Spectrum 575 is a quiet, exterior wash light with the wide palette of a CMY seamless colour blending system. Coverage is substantial due to a fairly wide beam angle field, between 7 and 40 degrees, via a motorised zoom.

A quality 575-watt discharge lamp provides an intense wash even in darker colours. Light intensity is 29 foot-candles at 98-foot throw using the widest angle for projection. The motorised zoom allows further manipulation of the intensity and throw distance of light.

An IP rating of 54, fast internal cooling, a solid weatherproof metal casing, thermal switch protection and water resistant cable connectors ensure dependability even in rigourous weather conditions. A full, motorised dimmer further helps maintain the consistency and precise control of selected hues when the natural light changes.

Synchronisation is possible in DMX mode as well as in

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Australia - Brisbane's North-South Bypass Tunnel (NSBT) is a massive project; a new road that will connect north-south traffic under Brisbane between Woolloongabba and Bowen Hills. This vital piece of infrastructure to the Brisbane community will open by 2010 and in the meantime a new permanent NSBT Visitors' Centre has opened in Kangaroo Point.

The Visitors' Centre is an initiative of the Brisbane City Council, Rivercity Motorway and LBBJV Consortium who, as part of Queensland's largest Public Private Partnership (PPP), has created a state-of-the-art information centre for Brisbane residents and visitors. The Centre features artist impressions, models of the finished tunnels, maps, photography throughout the construction and short construction videos.

Brisbane-based Iceworks Design was given only seven weeks to design the centre from initial concept sketch through to finished

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China - The International Audio Group (IAG) have announced that Paul Dodd has joined the company as general manager of sales, marketing and business development, Lighting Division.

Based in Shenzhen, China the IAG Lighting Division comprises the well-known and established brands of COEF, F.A.L and Apogee Lighting.

Dodd brings a lifetime of experience to IAG in all aspects of the industry having been involved at a senior level in sales, marketing, design and manufacturing for major brands worldwide.

Most relevant for IAG is the fact that for nearly ten years Dodd worked at FAL in Italy as product development and marketing manager. Working with Omar Bertani, he produced some of the most dynamic lighting products in the market today and IAG are pleased to re-establish such a winning combination.

Having spent the last five years as vice president of PR Lighting, Dodd is no str

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UK - Bandit Lites UK has once again supplied lighting and rigging systems to the British Fashion Council (BFC) main venue at London Fashion Week. Pitched in the grounds of the Natural History Museum, South Kensington, the BFC tent hosted over twenty shows - many of them back-to-back - from a spread of major international designers.

Lighting designer, Simon Tutchener has lit London Fashion Week (LFW) for the past ten years and 2006 marks Bandit's fourth season on the case, working for production company S2 Events. The production was managed by Bandit's business development manager, Lester Cobrin at the Bedford-based lighting company. The event's production manager was Tom Brunsdon and S2 Events MD, Wolter Dammers provided technical coordination.

For the 2006 autumn show, the BFC wanted the option of having a straight or u-shaped catwalk in the tent. To achieve the desired resul

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UK - Huge, life-like dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum in London appear to be feeding in water thanks to the creativity and technical knowledge of Stagecraft Theatre Services (STS). The company recently installed the Rosco X-Effects 3D projector into the Museum, as part of its new Dino Jaws exhibition. Salisbury based STS, a leading lighting, staging and sound company, was responsible for the supply and installation of the new equipment, which creates 3D moving effects.

"The Rosco X-effects is an extremely versatile piece of equipment and it has been used to great effect at the Natural History Museum. Each gobo in the X-effects rotates off-centre, which results in an image that seems to have no visible direction or pattern and the on- board potentiometers control the speed of the movement. The 3D image produced by the projector has been used to create the effec

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USA - For Shakira's Oral Fixation North American tour, lighting designer Abbey Rosen Holmes' multilayered lighting rig includes an automated and conventional lighting package supplied by PRG Lighting. The design features 34 of Clay Paky's Alpha Spot HPE 1200 luminaires, which are the only lights used for the graphic effects on the stage.

The Alpha Spot projectors offer a rich and innovative graphic section, featuring twenty gobos on three wheels, rotating prisms, an animation disc and infinite colours (CMY colour system + Linear CTO + 7-color wheel). Clay Paky created the gobos for the luminaries by following Holmes' exacting specifications.

Ben Hammett, the PRG Lighting technician who is responsible for the Shakira lights on a daily basis, adds, "The Clay Paky lights have been great; they are very reliable, and have needed very little service."

The entire crew reh

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USA - LeAnn Rimes is touring the country with a production for which the design is centred on 5 High End Systems DL.2 digital light fixtures. LD Steve Fallon, assisted by programmer Keith Hoagland, decided to use the DL.2s after touring last year with its predecessor, the DL.1. "The experience with the DL2s has been great," says Fallon. "It's like night and day: ease of use, compact and reliable and by far a much better fixture for my tour."

The show also includes 10 HES Studio Command 700 automated wash luminaires. "The Studio Commands are super. With their full beam, they're like little sky trackers. I will have them in play again next year," adds Fallon.

The production looks big but in reality is a one-truck show with a small crew. Fallon says production manager Bill Farris enjoys having the DL.2s in the show "for their cost-effectiveness&

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Germany - 3,500 blocs of ice with an overall weight of 320 tonnes were used for the world's largest Ice-Bar (300sq.m) in Schüttorf, Germany. The bar includes a discotheque, called Index, where nearly everything from furniture to walls is made of ice. To give the bar another very special touch there are about 52,000 LEDs - or 160 LED PAR-Spotlights -implemented into the building. Lighting control is done by grandMA onPC and an NSP. Index also utilizes two grandMA full-size and a grandMA light, and grandMA video is also integrated into the network.

"The grandMA consoles are easy to handle and immediately ready for action. Furthermore they're very versatile; they control everything but mainly multimedia devices like the server and LEDs. We use grandMA technology also because of its reliability and quality workmanship," explains Sven Janning of F.A.C.E., which provided pr

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UK - SDD Sound & Light has been awarded a distributorship for Bosch Security Systems. Steve Durrell, CEO for the SDD Group, said: "We are delighted that we have at last found in Bosch, a range of audio installation products that delivers everything in one package."

"Customers are increasingly requesting fully integrated digital systems that provide not only effective distribution and control of BGM along with selective paging but are also approved as emergency systems. The range of Bosch security products now allows us to supply complete solutions whereas historically we have had to 'mix and match' brands in order to achieve the desired results. We are now looking forward to supporting all of our clients, both trade and end user, with what must be the most advanced technology in this field."

SDD Communications, the installation arm in the SDD Group, already

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USA - From June to August, Bandit programmers Greg Shipley and Jeff Wilkin pushed the Compulite Vector Red and Blue consoles to their extremes. After a short time, it was evident both consoles were ready for Live TV and ready for the three weekly redesigns common to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment).

Greg Shipley, chief programmer, is running the Vector Red. Shipley says: "The console handles things very smoothly," and is "unmatched in processing power". He is driving anywhere from 8 to 16 universes worth of automated and LED fixtures. "There are very few consoles out there that can run a high volume of LED fixtures at 61 channels a piece with ease like the Vectors. I look forward to driving up to 40 universes through the one console on the next Wrestlemania."

Jeff Wilkin, lighting director and assistant programmer, is running the Vector Blue. H

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UK - A new partnership emerged at PLASA '06 between Strand Lighting Inc and Northern Light, after Strand approached Northern Light with a brief to design and build their exhibition stand at the international show. The 11 x 6.5m stand designed by Northern Light resulted in a versatile and welcoming exhibition space, ensuring that traffic throughout the four-day show was drawn in to view products and chat with Strand representatives, say Strand.

Ken Berreen, regional sales manager of Barndoor BV, representing Strand, said: "We were extremely pleased with the stand created by Northern Light for our participation in PLASA 06. The inclusion of a bar and seating area made sure that visitors felt secure enough to stay on stand as long as they wanted. The trussing and rostra enabled us to display our products to their best advantage."

Strand took the opportunity to display t

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Sweden - Wireless Solution Sweden AB is enjoying another successful post-PLASA period, after its third consecutive year exhibiting at the popular lighting and sound trade show. The company reported enormous interest in its new range of W-DMX products on display, including W-DMX T-512 Outdoor Transceiver, W-DMX D-512, the world's first wireless 3-way truss splitter, and W-DMX Micro - a mini DMX receiver with built-in battery backup of 6-8 hours use, signal display indication and battery lifetime. In addition, the RDM specification on W-DMX was shown for the first time at PLASA.

2006 has so far been a great year for W-DMX, the company says, with over 5,000 units of W-DMX being shipped worldwide in just nine months. More OEM partners have joined the wave of manufacturers offering wireless DMX in their equipment. Most recently, the Alpha Range from Clay Paky, LSC Lighting consoles f

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UK - The Effects Company has announced a supplement to its unique range of Aromatech essences for the Christmas season. These 'specials' have been specially blended to reflect the aromas that complement the season and "like all Aromatech essences, are renowned for their realism, say the company.

The 'seasonal specials' are Christmas Spice, Frankincense & Myrrh, Mince Pies and Mulled Wine. Pine and Cinnamon are also available from the standard range. The above six essences can also be ordered in a mixed box of 12 (2 x 6 essences), say the company.

(Lee Baldock)

  1. Fashionable Entec in challenging week
  2. Apollo improves on swatch-book offering
  3. Roscolux for Europe
  4. TLS hold lighting seminars
  5. HSL Supplies Atreyu Tour
  6. Color Kinetics and Osram announce agreement
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