Germany / USA - GLP has set up a new office in North America to bring them closer to the highly-influential market across the Atlantic. Heading the operation will be experienced lighting professional, Mark Ravenhill.

The Los Angeles location has been strategically selected, placing GLP in the densely populated industrial district of Torrance, a traditional West Coast heartland for show production and event staging.

Elation Professional will remain GLP's distributor for the Impression range. But this development will enable the company to offer Elation much closer support, emphasises Ravenhill, who in addition to heading up the operation will retain his position as GLP's director of global key players.

Ravenhill says he is relishing the challenge. "It is a great opportunity to further exploit the enormous success of the expanding Impression range and at the same time reu

UK - Students from all over the UK lit up some of the National Railway Museum's (NRM) most iconic locomotives in a bid to win a new lighting competition hosted by the Museum last week.

The competition was launched by the NRM to encourage students to consider the importance of lighting design in museums in the lead up to its re-development plans for the Great Hall.

Helen Ashby, acting director of the NRM, explains, "We're always looking to involve different groups of people in our various projects and we've really enjoyed watching the designs come together. It's been great to have the students bring so many new ideas to the table."

The winners of the competition were Jonathan Jewitt, Chris Farncombe, Craig Kilmartin and Oli Downton from Rose Bruford College in Kent. One of the judges, Belinda Morris, display content manager at the NRM said, "The scheme designed

UK - Tower Productions site power team ended an otherwise largely wet Summer in the sunshine of a sell out Bestival on the Isle of Wight.

A team of eight led by James Mitchelmore (days) and Kris Love (nights) installed some 16,000m of festoon, 40 generators of varying sizes and several hundred other assorted items of lighting and power distribution.

"The site is not without its challenges but good weather made all the difference and the installation was completed in record time, with the Tower daily festoon-hanging record broken," notes Mitchelmore. "It was a good conclusion to a busy summer season including Rock Ness, the Wickerman Festival, the World Mountain Bike champs, the Scottish game fair, the Tartan Heart Festiva, Edinburgh Festival and many other smaller projects."

(Jim Evans)

UK - A.C. Special Projects has supplied a cutting edge LED lighting system for Centre of the Cell, an interactive science education centre. Located at Queen Mary, University of London, one of the UK's leading research focused higher education institutions, the Centre is the first in the world to be based within a working bio-medical research laboratory.

The Centre offers children and teenagers an insight into what scientists actually do and how their work influences real life, through a series of interactive games. Visitors can try their hand at virtual experiments, observe real body parts and diagnose disease using high-power microscopes. This combination of digital technologies and real-world science creates a science education experience not available in the classroom.

Centre of the Cell is designed by Land Design Studio and lit by David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD). The

Denmark - Since the latest Maxxyz PC version 2.60 release, Martin has decided to open up two DMX universes of its flagship controller product so any owner of the Martin Universal USB/DMX box can take advantage of Maxxyz PC power.

connecting the Martin Universal USB/DMX box to any Maxxyz PC will generate 1024 DMX channels. This is an opportunity for Martin LightJockey users with larger requirements to experience all the power and benefits of Maxxyz PC, says the company. Users can download the new software from the Maxxyz support site at www.martin.com/maxxyz/support.asp

(Jiom Evans)

Brazil - Rent All Show based in the Guarujá, State of Sao Paulo recently bought the first grandMA2 in Brazil. The owner of the company, Pancho, decided on a grandMA2 light.

Pancho comments: "We chose the grandMA2 for two primary reasons. First of all the console is one of the most universally accepted worldwide as well as in Brazil, especially the grandMA2 light, which addresses all the requirements of both large and smaller tours. The other reason is because of the fantastic support offered by the local MA Lighting office in Brazil, MA Lighting Latin America.

Rent All Show is a company with 20 years experience in the market. It provides professional lighting and audio solutions for the entertainment business, mainly for the concert touring sector and already owns MA equipment.

(Jim Evans)

USA - D-Tools has announced that it is expanding its customer focus to enable systems integrators in the energy, IT, and security markets to quickly and easily generate accurate, professional looking project proposals with SI5.5 Estimator. The downloadable software is available now.

"We have provided residential and commercial AV integrators with a solution that has had a positive impact on their bottom line, and we are excited to extend our solution to Energy, IT, and Security system integrators," said Adam Stone, president and CEO of D-Tools. "In addition to establishing partnerships with leading manufacturers, we are adding significant improvements to our product line that will greatly benefit integrators in these markets."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Available now at www.prglighting.co.uk, the new PRG Lighting site has been created as a resource for customers to learn about the people and services at PRG, as well as access detailed technical information about the extensive range of equipment available.

The site is accessed through four portals, Concert Touring, Theatre, Television and Live Events, each providing access to news, services, people and equipment tailored to the market sectors that PRG Lighting's teams serve.

The site's core sections are linked together allowing the visitor to see the recent shows and events that each project manager has supported, what equipment each show featured, and browse images and videos to see what it all looks like in action.

(Jim Evans)

Singapore - Under the theme Come together, Reaching out, Reaching Upmore than 26,000 spectators were present at Singapore's Marina Bay platform to celebrate the 44th National Day Parade. Over 10,000 performers took part in the show on the world's largest floating platform.

The show itself only lasted two hours, but the preparations had been ongoing for many months. Lighting director Mac Chan opted to redesign the stage layout from previous years, bringing the actual stage much closer to the audience.

To control all the lighting fixtures, lighting programmer Low Wee Cheng specified a grandMA system consisting of two grandMA full-size consoles, two grandMA2 lights for full tracking backup, eleven MA NSPs (Network Signal Processors) expanding the processing power and 32 MA 2Port Nodes which were distributed all over the stage.

"The reason I chose grandMA for Nationa

UK - Leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light is pleased to announce its appointment as a distributor for Philips Entertainment Lamps - expanding its ability to offer end-to-end solutions for entertainment lighting, supplying anything from a single light bulb or sheet of gel to a complete lighting system, including installation. At the same time, the company has announced the appointment of David Manister as business development manager, increasing White Light's expertise in this field.

White Light's appointment as a distributor gives it access to the full range of Philips' lamp technologies, including the FastFit system which enables easy lamp replacement and adjustment while also reducing overall lamp length, and P3 technology, which offers greater heat tolerance so increasing lamp life.

For entertainment lighting, these technologies are incorporated in a wide ran

Sweden - Wireless Solution is celebrating the shipping of its 30,000th unit of W-DMX which was introduced just five years ago.

"We're extremely pleased - with this continuously rising volume, we've actually been able to reduce prices and pass the savings on to both OEM clients and lower the cost of the boxed units," says Wireless Solution CEO Niclas Arvidsson, "We now have over 20 OEM clients and a solid distribution network worldwide, proving that W-DMX has indeed become an unofficial industry standard."

The company plans to hold its popular Visionary Awards and Swedish meatball and vodka party during LDI in Orlando to celebrate the success. "The awards this year will have a special surprise," adds Arvidsson, "We want to bring focus to some very special people. It will be a celebration not to miss."

(Jim Evans)

UK - A new grandMA2 light console has been installed at Jersey Opera House, specified by technical manager Simon Francklin. Francklin has been at the venue for two and a half years, and has been an MA user and advocate for at least the last eight years, since grandMA Series 1 was released in the UK.

When he accepted the post in Jersey, a technical modernisation programme was already in the offing, and naturally, he wanted something modern and cool on the control front - to replace the existing system that had been in place since 2000.

"My ethos for the entire technical upgrade - encompassing sound, lighting and stage - was to get a future-proof system in place - something with a lifespan of at least 10 years" he confirms.

The console was supplied by Stage Electrics. Francklin had been keen to wait for the grandMA2 to come online before making the final purchasing d

China - Barco played a major role in providing total visual solutions for the opening ceremony of the 11th National Games of the People's Republic of China. The Games - often referred to as the "All China Games" - got underway last Friday night at Jinan Olympic Sports Centre Stadium in Shandong's capital city of Jinan.

The event was highlighted by a spectacular 'Super Bowl' video display show in the centre of the stadium that provided a magical experience for those in attendance. In addition to Barco's role in the opening ceremony, Barco products are being deployed by both Color Lighting and Creative Technology throughout the Games.

The Friday opening ceremony of the Games was presided by People's Republic of China President Hu Jintao and attended by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge. The All China Games will feature 33 sports and 360 discipline

France - PR Lighting's French distributors, CSI France report that a high volume of the company's LED and conventional automated spots from PR Lighting have been in use at shows and spectaculars throughout France during the summer and early Autumn.

Particularly popular has been the company's new lightweight XLED-590. Using Osram's Diamond Dragon LED, each head contains 90 high power 5W LED's (30 x Red, 30 x Green, 30 x Blue).

One company that used multiples to great effect was Peronnas-based Concept Son at the Jean Luc Habel dance school's end of term gala in Bourg en Bresse - which they have been servicing for more than 10 years.

The new XLED 590's helped to bring to life 500 dancers from different countries, including African, Indian, flamenco and rock 'n'roll. Concept Son manager, David Reydellet comments: "The XLED 590 is a very flexible, general purpose light which

UK - Control Lighting provides innovative and artistic lighting for town performance space. At the heart of Workington town centre's shopping malls and hovering in mid-air like a space ship, is The Workington Hub. The Hub is an overhead dome-shaped canopy with futuristic lighting and state of the art 3D sound technology.

The Hub is suspended by wires so it appears to float between the surrounding buildings. Allerdale Borough Council commissioned this work to create a special art piece for the performance of live and recorded sound shows. The canopy was designed by Base Structures and, working with soundscapes from Illustrious Company and SoundWave, the art work's 3D sound system delivers an immersive performance that is dramatically enhanced by the creative use of lighting.

The canopy inner dome is made of a translucent and inflated material that makes an ideal canvas for clev

Jazz News - The Bull's Head in Barnes, one of the UK's most established and respected live Jazz venues, will mark 50 years of promoting jazz and blues this November with an extraordinary programme of events to celebrate the landmark.Owner Dan Fleming has devised a month-long festival programme that will take place in The Yamaha Jazz Room. A launch party will kick off festivities on 12 November and the celebrations continue until 12 December.

The launch, to be hosted by virtuoso trumpeter and bandleader Paul Eshelby, will remarkably feature octogenarian Vic Ash, who was the headline act for the first gig and opening night of the club back in 1959. On the same bill, and with a nod to the future will be Yolanda Brown, Kit Downes and Elisa Caleb.

Throughout the Festival, an array of artists will assist Fleming to mark the occasion, including Don Weller, Peter King, Art Themen, Guy

UK - i-Pix BB4s and BB7s LED luminaires were right in the front line along with the glamour and clamour of the latest London Fashion Week (LFW), where they played an integral part in Nick Gray's lighting design for the British Fashion Council (BFC) Tent at Somerset House. This was the BFC's official show venue for the September 09 event and hosted up to eight shows a day.

Gray's design company Renegade was asked to light several venues, adding an injection of fresh new style in the visuals department to celebrate the 25th anniversary of LFW. At the BFC tent they were working for production company, Bacchus.

The tent was lower than it has been previously, and black throughout for the first time, creating a more intimate and very slick tailored vibe. Gray's rig was designed to dovetail and blend incongruously in with the venue. The 'spine' truss above the 45m long white runway w

UK - Belfast-based lighting rental company Production Services Ireland (PSI) supplied all lighting and crew to the White Sapphire Ball, a high profile gala charity event in aid of the Northern Ireland Children's Hospice, staged at the Europa Hotel in Belfast.

Asked onboard by event organiser, actress and local celebrity Séainín Brennan, PSI was challenged with a brief of creating something special for the occasion, which featured entertainment from the cast of Riverdance and other leading theatrical productions for the 400 VIP audience.

PSI's Sean Pagel presented a production design, which included the wrapping of the end of the Europa's Grand Ballroom in a combination of high and low resolution ColorWeb LED surface.

This provided a highly dynamic backdrop, making a dramatic visual impression whilst offering the practical facility of being able to run text, sp

UK - Kave Theatre Services of West Sussex, England recently supplied all lighting, sound, AV, set and crew requirements on a large-scale production for a dance school client. The show was choreographed around some of the most famous movie soundtracks in history with a set design brief to deliver something "unusual and exciting."

Kave project manager Dave Singleton created a dynamic lighting design utilising the company's staging products including 34 Martin MAC 600 and 16 MAC 700 moving heads along with assorted generic lamps. He then placed a mixture of MAC III Profiles, MAC 2000 Profiles, Atomic 3000 strobes fitted with Atomic Colors scrollers, generic lamps, and other assorted moving and LED fixtures around the set and stage floor, plus a mix of Martin MAC 575 Kryptons and MAC 250 Washes at front-of-house. The visible set frontage was covered with Martin LC Series L

UK - Stage Electrics is currently supplying all lighting equipment for the colourful new production of Disney's High School Musical 2, Live on Stage!. The story follows the Wildcats as they celebrate their last summer before starting their Senior Year. This all new stage version is based on the Disney Channel's original film, and is produced by Stage Entertainment UK who produced the London production of Hairspray the musical and Sister Act the musical.

Technical equipment includes a large number of moving lights, predominantly a mix of Martin MAC 700 Profiles and Varilite VL2000 Wash fixtures, over 50 Rainbow 6" Pro scrollers, two Ivanhoe follow spots, almost 200 generic lanterns and two 'Big Shots' compressed air confetti canons.

Lighting control for the tour comes courtesy of two MA Lighting GrandMA Lite consoles, with a further full-size GrandMA u

USA - The new Majestic LED from American DJ is "a spectacularly regal moonflower" powered by 64 red, 60 green and 60 blue brilliant 5mm LEDs. This DJ/club effect produces a shower of 184 dazzling beams that are so intense and razor-sharp they look like a laser light show, says the company.

Designed for mobile DJs, clubs and small venues, the Majestic LED offers a cost-effective, convenient alternative to expensive laser effects. "Because it has such extremely sharp and focused beams, the Majestic LED provides the exciting look of a laser aerial effect, yet at a much lower cost," said Scott Davies, general manager of the American Group of Companies. "Plus, with LEDs as its light source, you don't have to worry about a laser variance or other types of restrictions. DJs and small clubs can now add the impact of laser to their light shows without any hassle,

UK - School performing arts installer School Stage, based in Wembley North London, have installed the first batch of Showtec Indigo 250 LED moving heads into their prestigious install in the new multi-purpose lecture theatre at Gladesmore Community School, Tottenham, North London.

The installation contained mainly Showtec 3W RGB tri-coloured PAR 64 led PAR cans, Showtec 3W tri-coloured LED Studio beams and the 4 Showtec indigo 250 LED moving heads.

Chris Newton, MD of School Stage said: "I heard all of the excitement about the new Showtec LED moving lights at the recent PLASA Show 2009, but I was unable to attend the show. I wanted to try something different on this install, rather than install the usual industry movers on this project.

"The system was 90% LED anyway, to fit in with the building's design. The lighting rig had to be relatively high. I had future acc

UK - Following two years of planning, the Palladium in London's West End has installed and commissioned new ETC Sensor dimmer racks - some 670 ways - and a Unison system for the house and worklights as well as the 'independent' circuits.

"We knew we needed to replace our previous dimmers, which were installed in 1964 and were definitely at the end of their working life," says the Really Useful Group (RUG)'s operations and technical manager, Julian Rees."When we looked around for alternatives, ETC's dimmers were the clear winner. They've been proven to be reliable, with a lot of installations in the London area. We also felt that we were going to get good support and backup when we needed it. I have no doubt we made the right decision."

As the theatre was in use at the time, Rees and his colleague, Palladium chief electrician David Draude, needed to find a s

UK - Northern Light has installed a customised lighting system in three Glasgow tower blocks which are poised to bring a splash of colour to the city - and predict the weather at the same time.

The Castlemilk Lighting Project, part funded by Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), will see LED lighting technology installed in the northerly stairwell windows of each of the three, 20 storey, Dougrie Place high rises.

As well as creating a colourful landmark which will be visible right across the city, the lighting system utilises up-to-the-minute internet technology to enable residents to check the current weather conditions - and view the weather outlook for the next day.

The Castlemilk Tenants Housing Association came up with the original concept for the project after taking part in workshops with GHA and Collective Architecture and. In addition to funding from GHA's Wider Action

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