UAE - To support its strategy of expansion in the Middle East market, Proel Group organised the first Proel Middle East Conference at the Novotel World Trade Centre in Dubai, a three-day event devoted to Middle Eastern markets. The conference also hosted professionals from the Northern African countries, such as Morocco and Egypt.

Fabrizio Sorbi, president of Proel Group, took part in the event together with Massimo Signor, Proel's managing director, and Simon Sinclair, business development director. Sorbi stressed how strategically important these emerging markets are for Proel. He went on to explain what the Group's strengths are - the R&D department, logistics, and the investments in the new management system that will "lead to an even greater general efficiency in the future".

The event hosted several specific product sessions, divided by line and brand, during w

France - After missing last year's event, lighting designer Richard Knight returned to the Wella International Trend Vision Award 2010 (ITVA), held this year at Paris's Halle Freyssinet, to make his contribution to a dazzling spectacular.

Drawing on around 80 GLP impression (impression 90 and impression 120 RZ zoom) LED moving heads, the lighting designer, who specialises in theatrical and corporate events such as this, had a mission-critical role for the fixtures in each location.

Zone 2 became the location for the morning and afternoon catwalk shows and Zone 1 was used for the evening gala dinner and award presentations. These two areas were linked by a central 'hub', in the form of a 'live' TV studio, where interviews took place throughout the day, as well as four 'trend zone' exhibition spaces.

Working alongside event production company Jack Morton Worldwide's production

Europe - Back in the summer, Danish lighting designer Christian Bonde prepared to scale up the Bullet For My Valentine lighting production he had successfully taken round a US club tour, in preparation for European arenas.

Knowing the vagaries of heavy travelling and short load in times, he needed a powerful floor rig, which required no more than a one man set up. And the impressions fit the bill.

The Download Festival in the UK marked the start of the upscaling process - from an inventory of 10 original impression RGB moving heads to 44 RZ 120 Zooms - in anticipation of the Welsh rockers' current tour. The RZ 120s and 700W profile discharge moving light became the mainstays of the new rig - with the lighting support for the European leg coming from Neg Earth.

The complement of floor lights was extended, with 20 GLP impressions now deployed along with strobes and blinders, w

UK - A.C. Special Projects were approached by London's Southbank Centre to specify and supply a high power outdoor gobo projector to provide a visually impactful logo above the entrance to the Hayward Gallery's trendy Concrete cafe and late night bar, which takes its name from the building's striking 1960s architecture.

Based on the available throw distance to achieve a 6m wide projection of the logo, the company specified a Griven GoboStorm IP65 rated outdoor gobo projector with a powerful 575W metal halide lamp and high precision zoom optics to achieve the required image size, brightness level and clarity.

A.C. Special Projects were also contracted to specify and supply outdoor LED lighting to highlight an area under a railway bridge leading from the Royal Festival Hall to a restaurant and other visitor attractions along the South Bank area.

To overcome planning restrictio

The Netherlands - Visual Productions has released a tool for creating personality files for use within Cuelux. This tool - the 'Builder' - is available for Mac OS and Windows and is free for download from the company's website: www.visualproductions.nl/downloads.html

The company says the Builder offers a friendly GUI (Graphical User Interface) for creating and editing personality files. Users can amend existing fixtures or start building their own fixtures from scratch. The personality files (sometimes referred to as 'profiles') are visualised by a coloured diagram to indicate good data and to highlight typical mistakes when inputting the fixture's DMX table, such as overlapping channels and values. Personality files created with the Builder can be used directly by Cuelux; the Builder also features an upload function to send the newly created file to Visual Productions' server t

Italy / Ukraine - Coemar lighting fixtures have been employed on the X-Factor talent show, both in Italy where the fourth edition has just finished and in the Ukraine where the programme is currently achieving high audience figures.

In Italy, where the programme has been highly successful since 2008, Coemar supplied 70 Infinity Wash XL to light the audience, judges and stage perimeter. The 94 ParLite LEDs were chosen for their high light output and limited consumption.

In the Ukraine, where the programme is in its first edition, lighting designer Ievgen Tsybinogin has chosen the power of the Infinity Wash XL, the Infinity Spot M and the Testa 2500 and Testa 1200. The products were supplied by Alight, a Ukrainian rental company which in turn bought them from Lightek, the official local Coemar representative.

(Jim Evans)

Italy - L'eredità (the inheritance) is a successful quiz show on Italian television channel RAI 1, in which competitors challenge each other in various games. Contestants who make a certain number of mistakes are eliminated, and consequently their opponents win the right to their part of the 'inheritance'.

The director of photography Vittorino Piccolo comments: "The set is a sort of circular 'canister' consisting of strips of simple white plastic that house LED strips. They may also be illuminated by the studio lights. Since the show consists of six different games on a single set, the lights have to be used to try to differentiate as much as possible. My task is precisely to characterise the different sections of the game with various colour effects."

The lights include Alpha Beam 700s, Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Wash 1200s, Alpha Spot 575s, CP Color MHs and

USA - Hitachi America has announced the introduction of its CPX9 Portable Series LCD projector, designed for use in classrooms, conference rooms, on the road or anywhere a lightweight, high-quality, high-value projector is needed.

Weighing less than five pounds and measuring just 12 x 8.7 x 3 inches, the CPX9 can project images up to 300 inches (diagonal measurement) with XGA resolution, 3,200 lumens brightness and 16.7 million colours. It features a Whiteboard Mode that adjusts the projector's brightness when used with a whiteboard, to reduce glare and eye strain. Another special is its Template function that displays lines, circles or a world map, making it easier to write on an interactive whiteboard.

The CPX9 provides HDMI, S-Video and composite video inputs, an RGB computer video input and monitor output, two RCA audio inputs, and an audio output. It includes a built-in s

Germany - At the end of November, a glitzy party took place at the Schwarzwaldhalle in Karlsruhe, to celebrate financial service provider, Ascent AG's 20th anniversary. This was masterminded by Christian Moran, head of production for event technology provider, Charly's Checkpoint - who had the opportunity to specify GLP's new Volkslicht with zoom capability.

The multi-purpose facility, which was constructed in 1953, is an impressive size - but mainly it is the architecture that characterises it, and makes it suitable for corporate events such as this.

"On the one hand, we were fighting the difficult acoustic in the hall and on the other, there were few possibilities to install heavy equipment on the aesthetic, gently curved ceiling," recounted Moran. Nevertheless, the Dettenheim-based company made the best of it, and for the stage and set design, they used mainly a g

China - New Robe moving-lights have been installed into Studio 6 of the Qingdao TV Station, which broadcasts six regional channels throughout the Shangdong area.

The new fixtures are part of a recent lighting upgrade, and were specified by Studio 6's lighting designer Liu Zheng Mao and his team, and supplied via Robe's Chinese distributor, Leafun (formally known as Leifull).

The 10 ColorSpot 1200E ATs, 10 ColorWash 1200E ATs and four ColorWash 575 ATs were chosen for their functionality and reliability. It's a multi-purpose studio, hosting a wide variety of shows, so all lighting has to be as flexible as possible to cater for the different requirements of anything from a documentary to a music show.

The Studio had originally invested in Robe back in 2005 when they bought some ColorSpots. These are still going strong and have been worked extremely hard over that time.

Zheng

UK - Production Resource Group has announced that all its UK rental brands (PRG Lighting, Essential Lighting & Summit Steel) have been renamed from 1 January 2011 to Production Resource Group. "This change from the group's previous multi-brand strategy is driven by their growth and diversification into a broader range of services and technical disciplines and developments in customer requirements," the company says.

UK chief executive, Martin Locket, says: "Our name says exactly what we do. We are a Group of specialists who provide technical equipment, services and Resources to four key Production markets: Concert Touring, Theatre, Television / Event & Corporate. We have industry recognised specialists within our team in the UK, in Lighting, Rigging / Automation & Video. Within our European group we also have expertise in Audio. This is not a 'one stop shop suppli

UK - Black Light's hire team has helped a video production company achieve a dark and compelling look for its latest piece of work - a video for up-coming Scottish band Kid Adrift.

The video, which was made by Edinburgh-based Cagoule Productions, is for the band's latest single A4 in Ecstasy. It features two boxers battling it out in a down-at-heel ring.

Black Light supplied all the lighting for the video production. "The Lighting designer has worked closely with us in the past and knew he could rely on us to deliver the right equipment in a quick and efficient manner, at the high standard expected by video production companies," says Black Light's head of events, Stephen Reid. "The video is well worth a look, as it is lit with real imagination and shows that you can be creative using a relatively simple approach."

The video's lighting director, Ma

Sweden - Stockholm City Theatre, the largest drama theatre in Scandinavia with close to 30 major productions in a typical year, relied heavily upon LumenRadio's CRMX wireless technology to pull off their musical performance of Aniara by writer and Nobel prize winner Harry Martinson. It opened on the day of the theatre's 50th anniversary to acclaim from both critics and audiences.

Earlier in the year LumenRadio's CRMX wireless technology also played a major part in the spectacular production of Kristina - a piece about one of Sweden's most controversial historical queens set in a modern scenography.

"We built custom stage props and elements with integrated battery powered LED lighting controlled by CRMX Nova receivers for both these shows," says Tommy Leandersson, stage technician at Stockholm City Theatre. " Aniara featured a two-metre long

Brazil - Wireless Solution Sweden helped make Bradesco Seguros Christmas Tree a sparkling success in Rio de Janiero. According to the Guinness Book of World Records , the display is the largest lloating Christmas tree in the world.

Abel Gomes has been responsible for the Christmas tree decoration since 1996. This year's display featured 15 various cycles of light and colour from 105km of illuminated rope light (more than double than that of 2009) with 3.3m mini lamps and 2100 spotlights. To complete the show and draw the crowds, four Syncrolite 7K were placed at the base of the tree. The entire show was programmed using W-DMX.

The team needed to programme from a long distance to get the right visibility. They installed a grandMA far enough away and were able to get the best audience point of view for programming. Once programmed, all the control equipment was located in

Poland - Constitution Square in Warsaw was the venue for the Euro Vision gala, billed as "The Greatest New Year's Eve in Europe". ARAM, one of the largest Polish event engineering companies, was a one of gear suppliers for this occasion.

A giant dome stage was covered by LED Grid modules from Fourlight, with a total hang of 1,400 pieces. They were all combined into one big screen controlled by three Catalyst media servers and a Whole Hog 3. On both sides of the stage were two large LED screens and on the floor, 180 modules of Fourlight LED Floor in star formation. The lighting includes Vari*Lites and fixtures from Clay Paky.

(Jim Evans)

In The Money - Bon Jovi's The Circle show was the highest-earning tour of 2010, taking $201.1m (£130.7m) worldwide, according to music trade publication Pollstar. Australian rock band AC/DC landed at number two for the second year in a row, with tickets sales from their recent tour totalling $177m (£115m). U2, the top worldwide act in 2009, came in at third place, with ticket sales totalling $160.9m (£104.6m). Lady Gaga followed in fourth place, with Metallica at number five.

On The List - The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London - made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover - has been given Grade II listed status. The crossing - the first of its kind to be listed - is being recognised for its "cultural and historical importance" following advice from English Heritage. The Beatles were photographed on Abbey Road in I

USA - When BlizzCon 2010 opened its doors at the Anaheim Convention Centre, fans of the wildly popular video games produced by Blizzard Entertainment were treated to a serious spectacle. At the helm of the lighting design for the four-day event was designer Arnold Serame, Serame Design, who was tasked with creating a consistent yet rock-n-roll atmosphere. To bring his design to life, Serame worked with 4-Wall Los Angeles and 200 Vari*Lite luminaires.

"This was my first year with BlizzCon and right away I knew I would be in for a challenge," said Serame. "In our initial discussion about the event, Blizzard Entertainment made it clear that they wanted to really step up the production values over previous years. When BlizzCon first started it was about one-quarter of the size it is today, but the lighting, sound and video elements had not grown to support it. This ye

UK - Lighting rental company HSL, based in Blackburn, has bought 12 new Robert Juliat Lancelot 4K followspots to add to its already substantial hire stock of RJ products.

These were supplied by UK distributors White Light, and were part of a £2.5m investment that HSL has made in the last quarter of 2010 to service its ongoing work.

HSL MD Simon Stuart comments: "We have been very happy with the reliability of all the Robert Juliat products purchased over the years and with the support from RJ and White light. We know this purchase will confirm our commitment to Robert Juliat as a leading brand in this field, and we also look forward to expanding on this initial investment soon."

(Jim Evans)

UK - HSL is supplying lighting equipment and crew to Production North for the first arena tour by boyband, JLS, with lighting designed by Dave Lee and a lively, entertaining show created by artistic director Beth Honan.

HSL's project manager is Mike Oates, and this follows on from their work on the band's first theatre tour earlier in the year. He says, "It's great to be out with JLS again. Production North has really upped the production values and it's good to see the band develop and become such a success."

Lighting equipment includes 160 moving lights - a mixture of Vari*Lites and Robes - including the first of the new Robe LEDWash 600 fixtures, one of many recent new purchases by HSL. The moving lights are distributed over a series of semi-circular trusses above and to the sides of the stage, and across the stage floor and set which was designed by Peter Barnes.

UK - St. Clement's church in Finsbury, London is now lighting up the capital's skyline as a result of a project designed and specified by LED suppliers Architainment Lighting in conjunction with Islington Council. The council was looking to enhance the church's identity, which had always blended into the background of King Square, and it was keen to do this using a low-energy, low-maintenance lighting system.

Architainment Lighting specified a range of LED fittings that could meet the council's environmental and financial requirements and these were then installed by Wishbone Electrical to illuminate St. Clement's portico, church tower, spire and clock.

For the spire and portico, Architainment supplied Philips Color Kinetics eW Blast Powercore and LED floodlight with a high-intensity wash of white light. For the side recesses, Philips Color Kinetics eW Graze Powercore was fitt

Denmark - The latest software release for Martin's Maxedia media server brings the Maxedia feature set to a higher level, says the company. Aligning simplicity of use with complexity of execution, Maxedia 4.40 shows how the most powerful media server on the market can also be a user-friendly one.

Similar to lighting consoles, Maxedia now features a cuelist for automation. From simple drag and drop of cues through an intuitive user interface, cuelists are quickly built and ready to play back.

Complementary to the cuelist is new timecode input. MIDI and SMPTE timecode can be used to synchronize one or multiple Maxedia systems together.

The Maxedia engine now supports up to 8 HD SDI inputs simultaneously. Using the newly added MCC capture card, latency is kept as low as two frames per second, turning Maxedia into a super powerful video switcher. In addition to the high speed ca

Germany - As its year as the Culture Capital of Europe came to a close, the Ruhr region in Germany celebrated on 18 December with a massive multi-media show broadcast live on Germany's national WDR TV from three separate locations.

The main event was staged at the disused Nordsternplatz coal mine in Gelsenkirchen which, using the latest video technology, was transformed into a life-size paddle steamer, the MS Ruhrtopia, on which a cast of artists and musicians took a journey through 2010.

With a series of video screens formed of over 500 m2 of G-LEC Phantom Frames and supplied by Videotechnics Bär, the event made a big impression on the 30,000 strong audience.

"The build-up happened under the worst meteorological conditions" says Philip Bär, owner of Videotechnics Bär. "Heavy snowfalls and winds, kindly brought to us by Cyclone Petra, were a big problem. Th

USA - Barco is supplying integrated creative lighting and projection solutions for multiple live stage and cinematic shows presented on Allure of the Seas. The cornerstone of the deployment is a 3D digital cinema theatre - the first installation on a new cruise ship - leveraging Royal Caribbean's pioneering alliance with DreamWorks Animation to showcase first-run movies produced by the company.

Barco's DP2K 20-C digital cinema projector marked the occasion by showing a video of the Princess Fiona character, from the Shrek animated movie series, christening the ship. The projector, featuring Texas Instruments' DLP Cinema technology, will present 2D and 3D movies in the ship's 1,400-seat main theatre.

"By partnering with the best manufacturers and service providers, we've been able to offer our guests the ultimate entertainment cruise experience. Barco's help

UK / USA - FocusTrack, the production lighting documentation system, and its sister software SpotTrack, for documenting followspot cues, both enjoyed a successful 2010, helping to transfer existing shows to new productions and documenting many new shows for their successful runs and future productions.

In New York, FocusTrack provided show lighting documentation for Neil Austin's Tony Award and Drama Desk award-winning lighting for Red and his Tony-award and Drama desk nominated lighting for Hamlet, as well as for Natasha Katz's Drama Desk award nominated design for The Addams Family.

FocusTrack is currently assisting with a number of productions moving to a life beyond Broadway - the transfer of Donald Holder's lighting of Come Fly Away to Las Vegas, and the US tours featuring Kevin Adams' designs for Hair, Next to Normal and Sprin

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