UK - Lighting designer Paula Trounce is a firm fan of the Avolites Tiger Touch and Pearl Expert consoles and the latest Avolites TITAN software, having used both Avo products on tour with UK singer/songwriter Kate Nash.

Trounce is also the house LD at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire venue, where the house desk is an Avo Diamond 4.

The first show that she designed and programmed for Nash was done on a Pearl Expert running TITAN after which they asked her to tour with them. So she had a show everyone was really happy with, but an expedient budget meant the decision was taken to utilize house rigs rather than tour a production.

The opportunity arose for Trounce to try out the Tiger Touch whilst on the European leg of the tour. Above all, the ability to pluck her original design straight from the Pearl Expert and plug it directly into the Tiger Touch proved a great solution. Por

USA - ETC lighting and control products are key to illuminating the diverse exhibits, offices and architecture in the California Science Centre's new 15,300sq.m Ecosystems wing.

Nearly 10 years in the making, the new permanent exhibition in Los Angeles allows visitors to experience a blend of live animals and hands-on science experiments in 11 distinct ecosystems - each illustrating an ecological principle. The wing nearly doubles the exhibition space at the California Science Centre and is expected to raise visits above the average annual attendance of 1.4m that the facility had previously welcomed.

ETC's Unison Paradigm control system, Sensor+ dimming, SmartSwitch relays and Source Four luminaires were all part of the lighting and control package for Ecosystems. The Paradigm system provides simultaneous control of all the architectural lighting in the public areas, including

Egypt - Mobinil, Egypt's leading mobile service provider, invited over 6,000 of its employees with their families to a concert at Cairo's Smart Village, to celebrate their 12th anniversary.

Top Lebanese superstars in the Middle East and North Africa, Elisa and Fadl Shaker headlined, along with soft rock band, Wust El-Balad - all performing under 24 PR Lighting XL Beams, supplied by the company's local distributors, Hi-Lights Egypt.

CEO Hamed Arafa confirms that lighting designer Mohamed Fathy selected these as the main moving heads, suspended from the overhead truss.

These 300W moving heads offer three beam angle options while the fixture itself uses the Phillips Fast Fit MSR Gold lamp and superior optics to provide an output of 22000 lumens. The result is a versatile, variable speed projector, producing a bi-directional rainbow effect - keeping the atmosphere changing spect

Arena News - The Royal Ballet is to perform a series of shows at London's O2 Arena in June. It is the first time the ballet company has performed in a UK arena. Carlos Acosta, Tamara Rojo, Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg will dance the principal roles in the production of Romeo and Juliet. A filmed introduction will be shown on giant screens in the venue at the beginning of each act.

Director of the ballet company, Dame Monica Mason, said she was "thrilled" about the production being shown in such a huge venue as it would "introduce our work to so many new people". The 17-19 June performances are being staged in association with impresario Raymond Gubbay, who staged the first opera at the London arena earlier this year.

Half Time - The Black Eyed Peas are to perform during the interval at the Super Bowl next year, organisers have said. The Gr

UK - Paul Sadler, founder of Delstar Engineering, part of the Stage Technologies Group, and now a senior engineering consultant with the operation in Suffolk, has recently been incorporated as a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Sadler is a chartered engineer who specialises in modern theatre hydraulics and is actively involved with the running of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Eastern Area, acting as treasurer for the organisation. He is also a technical associate of the Royal National Theatre and received a Lifetime Achievement award from the Association of British Theatre Technicians in 2009.

Since 1978, Sadler has been closely involved with many industrial and theatrical projects including the stage settings for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Starlight Express and The Phantom of the Opera. He is currently working on the hydraulic systems for

Australia - For over 16 years Austage has built a reputation as one of Australia's premier corporate event companies. Managing director Joe De Abreu knows it is important to be able to offer his clients the best in lighting technology.

With this in mind, Joe began scouring the market for a new LED cyc light and when he came across the Chroma-Q Color Force LED batten he knew he had found what he was looking for.

The new Color Force LED batten is super bright and can easily wash up to eight metres. In addition, it's advanced ColorSure RGBA colour and control management technologies deliver a radically increased colour palette, enhanced colour consistency, a high CRI of 92 and theatrical grade dimming.

"They are so powerful they can turn black drapes into any colour you want," says De Abreu. "After having a good look at what is available in LED cyc lighting, I ha

France - AVAB France and LumenRadio AB launched the CRMX product portfolio in the French market at the JTSE trade show in Paris.

"France is an important market for LumenRadio and we are proud to announce that AVAB France, who has served their customers with excellent products and services for over thirty years, has been appointed distributor for the French entertainment and architectural market," says Anders Ardstål VPO at LumenRadio.

"LumenRadio has together with AVAB France installed a complete wireless CRMX system on the 270m aquaduct Pont Du Guard in southern France. The installation was a success and pioneered the use of RDM in architectural installations. We have over the last year completed several other successful reference installations with AVAB France and it is now time to offer the benefits of the award winning CRMX products to the entire French mar

Singapore - Located with magnificent panoramic views, 71 floors up on top of the luxury Swissotel The Stamford in Singapore, the New Asia Bar is one of the most exclusive club and night venues in town.

Two years ago when it re-opened after a two-month renovation, the 500 capacity venue was kitted out with Robe ClubScan 250 CTs, ColorSpot 250 ATs and ColorWash 575 ATs, to add all the necessary glitter, glamour and excitement needed for guests to fully enjoy the ongoing top DJ line up, which includes regular international artists as well as slots by the best local talent.

The moving lights were specified by Steve Rawlings of Intelligent Lighting Design, and supplied by Louis Teo from Lighting & Sound Distribution (LSD), Robe's Singaporean distributor. New Asia's manager Steve Ignatiadis was also involved in formulating a brief for what he wanted to achieve and see in the lightin

UK - UK-based A.C. Entertainment Technologies has announced the resignation of Glyn O'Donoghue from AC-ET and its sister companies.

AC-ET managing director David Leggett commented: "I would like to thank Glyn for his important contributions over the past 19 years and I wish him well and all the best for the future."

O'Donoghue himself comments: "I have a massive respect for AC-ET and am proud to have played a small part in helping it become one of the premier companies in our industry. The team at AC-ET are incredible and I have no doubt that they will handle my departure without any loss of service to customers. I would like to thank my industry colleagues for their great support over the years and look forward to meeting them again socially in the future."

Following O'Donoghue's departure, the new Chroma-Q contact at AC-ET is Thor-Andre Saether (Spantax

UK - displayLED's digiLED TILE system continues to be the screen of choice for Queen Productions Limited, with a total of eight displays being shipped for the Italian and UK tours of We Will Rock You.

The UK tour starts at Manchester Palace on 3 December 2010, with the Italian tour opening at the Palacreberg in Bergamo on 20 January 2011.

The digiLED TILE is suited to the futuristically themed production, with the screens being used to compliment the stage show, projecting a dramatic mixture of video, animation, graphics and lighting effects.

Each of the Ti10S 10mm SMD pixel pitch screens measures 2.4m wide x 2.7m high, configured from 3 x 3 'fast-rig' digiLED frames measuring 800mm (w) x 900mm (h). The same specification is applied to each We Will Rock You tour to enable productions to display uniform content without adjustment save for some localisation.

"The

Italy - Florentine singer Irene Grandi has completed her latest tour, playing material from her latest album Alle porte del sogno (At the gates of dreams) in town squares and theatres, illuminated by Coemar projectors. More than 30 Infinity series moving heads featured.

"The design of the lights in the squares was a transposition of the show in the theatres," says lighting designer Adriano Sanson. "With the addition of 12 Infinity ACL to convey the dreamlike atmosphere, taken from the album title, easy to create in the theatre, but much more difficult to communicate in an open space where, however, it is easier to express energy."

The installation was also characterised by the Infinity XL series designed for large concerts and events in open spaces. Twelve Wash XL were used, with an output of 1450 W that illuminated the stage with an infinite range o

Vietnam - Vietnam celebrated its 1000th anniversary with a 10-day party that culminated in a grand ceremony at My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on 10 October. The elaborate event illustrated the history and beauty of the country using over 1000 performers and large scale lighting visuals that included 120 Martin Professional MAC 2000 Wash XB fixtures and 30 Martin MAC III Profiles.

Showtec Group provided the design and build solution for the event and appointed Mac Chan of Stage Centre Line Associates to create a lighting design befitting such a notable occasion.

Chan chose to use the MAC 2000 Wash XB, Martin's extra bright 1500W wash light, a fixture he used on Singapore National Day Parade events in 2009 and 2010. He comments: "With such a project, where I need to cover a huge area and deal with long throw distances, the MAC 2000 Wash XB gives me the flexibility to program mult

UK - Lightfactor, distributor for Italian manufacturer Novalight, has sold more Nova-Flower 2K high powered 'flower' effect units to STL, doubling the Kent-based rental company's hire stock of these popular 'specials'.

STL first invested in Novalight products last year, when Lightfactor supplied them with both Nova-Flower and High Ground units. These have proved an enormous success, both for use on STL's own shows and as a cross hire item, necessitating the purchase of more Nova-Flowers. These were delivered just in time for the annual Fireworks Spectacular at Leeds Castle.

STL's Phil Parsons designed an environmental lighting scheme located around the main Leeds Castle building which was a vital component of the multi-layered visuals for this acclaimed event. Lasers were also involved in supporting the central pyro extravaganza designed by Alchemy Fireworks.

The soundtrack

Hong Kong - Vivienne Tam, one of Asia's most renowned fashion designers, has completed installation a new LED display by Lighthouse Technologies at its 1881 Heritage shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The screen, comprising eight R4-S 4mm SMD LED panels in a 1 x 8 configuration, forms an impressive floor-to-ceiling display that attracts visitors with its vivid, rich visuals of the latest Vivienne Tam creations at fashion shows from around the world. The 4mm pixel pitch delivers sharp visuals, important for close-distance viewing, while the 2000 nits brightness, 1000:1 contrast ratio and wide viewing angles guarantee crystal-clear visibility from anywhere.

"Vivienne Tam loves transforming traditional styles to appeal to modern consumers, and the addition of our new Lighthouse screen helps deliver that unique look with much greater impact," said Mr Scott Crolla, Vivienne Tam. &quo

UK - Cooper Controls has announced Software Version 2.5 of the LightFactory PC based lighting control software.

Version 2.5 adds considerable power to the product with a number of major enhancements, including streaming ACN support and the ability to assign colour filters to channels for easy reference.

Cue lists can now run in LTP (default), build or HTP mode; Chase and matrix (LED) effects can now run on LTP (default), Build, HTP or Inhibit mode. The track sheet supports full editing of any channel in any cue.

(Jim Evans)

Sweden / Germany - LumenRadio, the Gothenburg-based manufacturer of Award-winning wireless lighting controls, has appointed LMP Lichttechnik as exclusive distribu¬tor of CRMX products in Germany. LMP is one of the largest distributors in Europe with a 30-year track record of distributing top brands to customers all over Germany.

"LMP was our first choice for distribution in Germany and we're very happy to launch this partnership which will bring our CRMX products to customers all over Germany. LMP has impressed us with their profession¬alism and drive in establishing CRMX as the natural choice for wireless lighting controls in Germany. Work¬ing with LMP has so far been a pure pleasure," explains Anders Ardstål, vice-president of LumenRadio.

CRMX products are enjoying a surge in popularity throughout Europe in both entertainment and architec-tural installations. L

UK - BBC TV's Strictly Come Dancing is in its eighth series. Lighting designer Mark Kenyon continues to originate the show with support from Richard Martin Lighting. The RML spec includes Chroma Strips, VL3500 Wash, VL1000TS and Nova Flowers.

The VL1000TS are used predominantly for the results show. The VL3500 Wash luminaire features internal zoomable beam optics with either Fresnel or Buxom options, an interchangeable front lens system, or an aperture wheel.

"The VL3500's have an extremely strong look which is now an integral part of the design of the show," says Kenyon.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Living TV's popular reality TV series, Britain's Next Top Model, produced by Thumbs Up Productions has recently completed its sixth series.

With Elle Macpherson as its new host and executive producer, the show's production design was ramped up, too, and for the first time this year's final was broadcast live, in a 90-minute HD spectacular from BBC TV Centre's Studio 8 on 4 October.

The show was staged on a specially designed stage set with a complete set, lighting and LED video screen production package from Stage Electrics, working with Thumbs Up on the show for the third year running.

The company had earlier built the studio stage set and lighting for the pre-recorded eliminations, filmed earlier in the year with Elle Macpherson. "This was the first time a live final was planned," says Stage Electrics account manager Russell Payne, "and we were a

UK - David Atkinson Lighting Design (DALD) recently completed the lighting design for Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes exhibition at the V&A, London.

This major exhibition explores the world of the influential artistic director and impresario Serge Diaghilev and one of the most exciting dance company of the 20th century, the Ballets Russes. The exhibition features 300 objects including original costumes, set designs, scores, props, posters and film clips and celebrates Diaghilev's enduring influence on art and design.

Exhibition designers Tim Hatley and Drinkall Dean briefed DALD that the lighting was to create a sensitive yet dynamic theatrical approach to the exhibition.

The installation is set out in three main galleries. On entering the first gallery a sense of drama is created with a large angled introduction wall being up lit in red by recessed

Spain - Robe lighting has won the 2010 Produccion Audio and Production Professional Award for the Lighting Company of the Year.

The annual Awards, produced in association with IFEMA - The Fair Trade Institute of Madrid - is now in its 8th year, recognises the best creative, technological and human achievements and developments across all sectors of the professional production and installation world.

The Award was announced during a lively evening of celebrations staged at the Auditorio Sur, a large theatre at the IFEMA Convention & Congress Centre in Madrid last week. This attracted leading industry movers and shakers from Spain and other parts of southern Europe including representatives from TV channels, cinema, production companies, advertising agencies, music and concert promoters, post studios, sales, events, technical production and rental companies.

Robe

Belgium - After the successful introduction of the Pixled F-6 LED display at key exhibitions (including PLASA in the UK and LDI in the USA) Pixled and Mitsubishi Electric have announced a special cooperation.

As of now the Pixled F-6 display will be available either with a standard proprietary processor or with the latest generation of a range of processors from Mitsubishi Electric.

The Mitsubishi options will include multi input HD and DVI with super resolution technology, MPEG noise reduction and enhanced grey scale processing.

"To unite all these vital elements and achieve the standards of excellence we required, we needed to combine with the best processing, which is now a reality" says Pixled general manager Bart Van der Beken.

(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - Results of sustainability research over the course of recent months commissioned by the Dutch Association for Stage Technology (VPT - De Vereniging voor Podiumtechnologie) have shown that, in some applications, LED lamps with white light have an efficiency seven times that of conventional fittings.

Research showed as well that audience appreciation of a dance performance did not change with the use of sustainable or conventional fittings. A group of renowned theatre technicians, lighting designers, directors and stage designers headed the research.

The results of the research programme will be revealed today during the symposium VPT has organised, called Sustainability on stage! in Zwolle. There, all possible ways of making work in the cultural world more sustainable will be considered say the organisers.

In the spring of 2011, together with supplier

Italy - A group of 20 technicians from UK stage and rental companies has taken part in a three-day training event organised by Clay Paky at its Italian headquarters in Bergamo. The trip was designed to give the crews command of one of the most widely used tools in stage lighting today - the Alpha 700 range. The course was held from 9 to 11 November 2010 and was hailed as a success for its in-depth focus on a single product line.

The event was instigated by Clay Paky UK Sales Manager Ashley Lewis. "We had no problem filling places on the course, and I am sure this was partly because we chose to focus on the Alpha 700 range.

"Most courses try to cover too much, skating over the detail. Here our aim was to provide our customers with really useful, detailed information - with help from the guys that developed the Alpha range in Italy."

Clay Paky's Marco Zucchinali

USA - Rascal Flatts' managers Trey Turner and Doug Nichols turned to designer Bob Peterson and Bandit Lites for their lighting needs. The current tour, Unstoppable, is not only the name of the current album, but also seems to describe this music machine. Sold out shows, TV appearances, award shows and movies are all part of the daily life of Jay DeMarcus, Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney, otherwise known as Rascal Flatts.

To enhance the already high energy show Peterson used over 150 VL3500 Spots, VL3500 Washes, VL3000 Spots, VL500 Washes and VL2500 Spots as his battery of moving lights. Martin Atomic Strobes, Lycian M2 Spots, Thomas 4 Lights and cyc lights as well as Thomas 9 Light Maxi Brutes were all pressed into use. Peterson used a touch of LED as he engaged 40 GRNLite Washes for set and up light in various locations. His control of choice is the formidable GrandMA, run

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