USA - New York's Irving Plaza recently purchased High End Systems intellaspot and Technospot automated luminaires for installation in the live music/dance-oriented club.

In-house LD Ian Davis installed eight Technospots in early October and four intellaspots in early November. The 1,100-capacity venue was in need of a full-on lighting system for a while, Davis said.

"I hadn't had my lighting system at 100 percent in at least two years," he explained, "and High End Systems Chris McMeen was the only person who understood my plight. It was a real struggle that had been affecting my ability to do the kind of show I wanted to do." Regarding the Technospots, Davis says, "This is a great fixture at an unbelievable price. It is a small unit that competes in every way with the intellaspots, it has just about all the same attributes and super fast moving parts.

Thailand - LD Palle Palmé is the first to use Martin Professional's new MAC Aura in Thailand having incorporated 18 of the award-winning LED wash lights into his lighting design for renowned Swedish magician Joe Labero's Genesis Magic Spectacular show.

Playing at the Danze Fantasy Theatre, a 500-capacity new-built theatre in Phuket, Labero holds to a demanding schedule with performances five nights a week, two shows per night. Palmé looked across Southeast Asia for a rental company that could deliver a suitable rig for the ambitious show and eventually found Orange Events in Kuala Lumpur headed by Blurr Wong.

"It seemed to be a very professional company who worked with Martin gear and that was what I was looking for," Palmé states of the Malaysian-based company. "They had just invested in the new MAC Aura and I thought that this would

UK - Lighting and visuals rental company HSL supplied and installed a full mother grid and flying system for scenery, cloths and props, plus all the lighting equipment to stage one of the UK's highest profile pantomimes this year - Robinson Crusoe & The Caribbean Pirates - at the Clyde Auditorium in Glasgow.

The show, produced by Qdos Entertainment, stars John Barrowman who also co-directs with Jonathan Kiley. He's joined by maverick Scottish comedy duo, The Krankies, in a colourful, all-action romp from Port Glasgow to Skull Island, where good and evil battle it out in classic panto style resulting in a supersonic evening of entertainment, slapstick humour and much hilarity. Lighting is designed by Nick Richings.

HSL's project manager is Mike Docksey, who comments, "It's great to work with Nick, particularly on this production which really lends itself to dramatic

UK - On 1 January 2012 Elstree Light and Power (ELP) became the new owners of production rigging services company, Nippy Industries.

ELP has always had one foot in the rigging world as part of its mainstream lighting production offering, and has delivered various bespoke film and TV rigging projects in the past. This move sees a huge up-scaling in terms of the range of rigging equipment and expertise available from a single source.

Nippy Industries Managing Director, Steven Williams says: "Nippy will be absorbing ELP rigging, not the other way round. As such the quality standards of ELP rigging will be elevated to that of a dedicated rigging services company. Nippy Industries will remain able to supply the full range of services, as always, but with the vast addition of ELP equipment. We will remain in the same location, with the same core team, but gain additional ELP st

Sweden - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden is part of The Components Co new Smart-e, a compact wireless LED fixture, measuring approximately the size and weight of a standard bag of sugar.

The fixture offers W-DMX by Wireless Solution for wireless connectivity and has a 5 pin XLR DMX output to supply other DMX fixtures that you may wish to rig in its vicinity. With the head detached the Smart-e can be used as a battery powered DMX receiver and the detachable head leads to other exciting developments such as a complete range of interchangeable heads for use with Smart-e to complement the highly styled standard wall washer.

The lithium polymer battery driving four Luxeon Rebel RGB+W emitters lasts up to eight hours on full output and in excess of 12 hours on colour scroll. The unit has two power modes to further increase battery life with output selectable via the digital addres

The Netherlands - For the third year, Calibre UK returns to ISE 2012 with a powerful and advanced line-up of processors, scalers, switchers and scan converters. The company will also make several new channel partner announcements.

"The Pro-AV market demands high-quality, processing and display functionalities for their display needs. Our HQView and LEDView ranges ensure that this technology is accessible for any installation ranging from architectural scale projection, digital signage, corporate presentation, collaboration and lots more," says Tim Brooksbank, chairman of Calibre UK.

The company's range of scaler and processors made for small to large installations at any resolution up to 2K include advanced features such as geometry correction, projection mapping/image warping and soft edge blending. This includes the top-of-the-line HQView520 Scaler, Switcher and Sc

USA - Lighting designer Tony Fransen continues his long association with the Jands Vista lighting and media control system by going on the road with a Vista T2 console to run lighting for the Sara Bareilles US tour.

On the road since May, the tour is a mix of her own headline performances as well as some opening shows for country duo Sugarland.

Fransen's neatly designed touring package gives Bareilles her own individual stage aesthetics utilising his distinctive 'boutique' style.

Taking advantage of whatever extra lighting is available in each venue to supplement his design, he uses the Vista's powerful Fixture Swap and Cloning to swiftly integrate units into his show.

"It's extremely powerful, the software is rock solid and it is definitely the best control platform on the market" he reports.

Bareilles' floor package consists of Vari*Lite VL2500s, about 40 Mar

UK - Integrated communications firm Imagination, based in London, has a reputation for producing experiential and effective brand marketing using the latest in digital lighting technology and recently turned to Martin Professional's Exterior 400 Range of LED luminaires to illuminate its own headquarter façade.

Imagination's headquarter building lies in the heart of London's West End. It is a multi-use, award-winning facility with a visually attractive façade that has been illuminated for years in a pleasing shade of blue, a colour scheme that the company wished to keep. Yet an upgrade to more dynamic and energy-efficient luminaires was called for.

"We wanted to maintain the previous classic blue lighting scheme on the building, which was HMI lighting and which we've had for quite some time, but we also wanted the ability to do different lighting schemes, for example at

UK - As part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations, The Association of Lighting Designers has announced a new international award which honours practitioners who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the art and esteem of theatre and live performance lighting design.

The recipient of the Anniversary Medal for Sustained Excellence in Lighting Design for Live Performance is Jennifer Tipton, who has been at the top of her profession for a number of years and engenders a philosophy and practice which has inspired generations of theatre makers, especially in the world of contemporary dance, says the organisation.

Chair of the ALD, lighting designer PeterMumford, gave his view of her work. "When I first came across the work of Jennifer Tipton, it was at a time when there were not so many lighting designers in the world and the art form was relatively new and un

Sweden - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden delivered the lighting to TeliaSonera's Stockholm headquarters for the holiday season. TeliaSonera AB is Europe's fifth largest telecom operator with operations in Northern, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Spain, with a total of over 150m mobile customers. The company headquarters are located at Stureplan in the centre of Stockholm, one of the highest wireless traffic locations in the world.

The design idea seemed simple enough: display lit Blachere snowflakes in the windows of the front of the building facing the main square downtown and put on a nightly light display every evening from mid-November through 27 December. Ola Melzig of M & M Production Management was contracted by DDB Stockholm to come up with the design and logistics surrounding the concept.

The first idea was to hang the lighting on the exterior of the building belo

USA - Brad Paisley entertained more than one million fans during his H2O II: Wetter & Wilder World Tour. During each show, 25 Chauvet Professional SparkliteLED drapes created a luminous backdrop behind the country music superstar.

Lighting designer Dean Spurlock, of Dean Spurlock Lighting and Design, specified the use of SparkliteLED drape for the tour. Designed for large-scale installations like Paisley's arena performances, SparkliteLED drape measures 20 x13ft and includes built-in effects. The drapes, which are powered by 128 tri-colored LEDs and divided into eight controllable sections, gave Spurlock the flexibility to customise and control all 3,200 LEDs in the backdrop at his discretion.

Interlocked using hook-and-loop fasteners, the 25 drapes created a star-field backdrop that twinkled brightly during select song performances adding dimension to the stage.

(Jim

China - The elaborate Ordos epic, Holy Heimori, produced by the Etuoke Qianqi people of Inner Mongolia in China, premiered in September on the Grassland Stage of the Shanghai Temple in Inner Mongolia.The legendry tale, a play about drawing tribal conflict to a close and seeking lasting peace on the grassland, came to life with the aid of an elaborate set and stage design that incorporated mood-generating and decorate effects from Martin MAC 401 Dual RGB Zoom luminaires and MAC 2000 Wash moving heads. Lighting design is by Sha Xiao Lan, lighting designer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Traditional song, dance, and art, as well as ethnic customs and values are expressed on stage with the help of dynamic lighting technology to give the audience a better understanding of Mongolian Ordos culture.For example, Ordos folk songs are melodious, like the sounds o

UK - Nick Gray of UK based visual design practice Renegade, designed lighting for rockers Kasabian's live You Tube Re:Wired performance, streamed direct from London's O2 Arena, to welcome in 2012 with a big bang.

Challenges included only having eight hours on show-day to get in, rig and complete show programming before handing the rig over to Chase & Status' LD Neil Carson, so he could also squeeze in some programming time for their set. This feat was accomplished with some astute teamwork between Renegade and the crew from London-based lighting contractor, Neg Earth.

The band have just finished the first UK leg arena of their new Velociraptor! tour, and some visual elements of this show were adapted for the New Year's Eve event. Says Nick Gray, "It was great to be able to work on another technically ground breaking gig with the band, who are always up for c

Canada - wysiwyg software suite from CAST Software of Toronto was a winner at the 99th Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League's championship football game between the East Division champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the West Division champion BC Lions. The game was held on Sunday, 27 November 2011 at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver in front of a live audience of 54,313 and broadcast live to over 4.5m viewers.

The popular Vancouver-based rock band Nickelback performed for the Pepsi Max Halftime Show. Production designer for the halftime show was Robert Sondergaard and TV lighting director was Jason McKinnon, both of Electric Aura in Vancouver.

Sondergaard used wysiwyg R27 Perform during the whole design process to communicate the design look to the show producer, Patrick Roberge Productions as well as Nickelback. He explains, "In the lead up to the Grey Cup, there were a num

Serbia - Effective immediately, Philips Vari-Lite has appointed Svetlost Teatar as its new distributor for Serbia. Specialising in the installation of entertainment technology for theatres and other related venues for over 20 years, Svetlost Teatar has operations in Moscow, Skopje and Belgrade.

"Philips Vari-Lite is delighted to welcome Svetlost Teatar as our Authorized Vari-Lite Dealer for Serbia," comments Matt Hallard, Philips Vari-Lite European sales manager. "The company already has a proven track record as a longstanding distributor for Philips brands Selecon and Strand Lighting.The company's reputation for high standards in design and installation, across all sectors in its region and abroad, from theatres to schools and cinemas to arena venues, make it ideally placed to grow the Vari-Lite presence in Serbia and beyond.

" With new products now shippi

China - Martin Professional Hong Kong held three M1 lighting console seminars in Beijing and Guangzhou recently with focus on operation and application.

Product manager of Martin Professional's Asia-Pacific region, Jeffrey Ong from Martin Singapore, was on hand to lend his rich experience and thorough understanding of the popular M1, as well as Martin lighting fixtures and equipment. Senior technicians were also present from Martin's Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou offices.

The first seminar was held on 15 November at Beijing Constellation Digital Technology Ltd., the sole distributor of Martin lighting in Northern China. Participants included lighting designers from Beijing BeiAo Group Corp., Ltd and CCTV, along with technicians from the DaFeng Company of Zhejiang Province, and personnel from Beijing Constellation.

The next M1 seminar was held on 16 November 16 at the Cent

UK - The Association of Lighting Designers has announced that their former chairman, Rick Fisher, has been given the honour of becoming a Fellow of the ALD. It is the highest award the Association can give to its members and is presented in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the art and business of lighting design.

He joins the company of such luminaries as David Hersey, Robert Bryan, Andrew Bridge and Francis Reid, who presented the award to him.

Another Fellow and ALD President Richard Pilbrow sent a message from the US which was read by Mark Jonathan who hosted the event:

"We are very fortunate to be lighting designers. We explore the cutting edge of art where it bonds with technology, in aid of telling stories on the stage. We manipulate light itself to evoke the imagination. Illumination to reveal our way in the world of theatre and beyond. Rick Fisher

USA / Europe - ETC is now accepting video submissions for its 'Show us your ETC' student video contest. Student participants can post their videos to YouTube, fill out ETC's submission form at showusyouretc.com, and show off their 'ETC' - enthusiasm, talent and creativity.

ETC will give away three demo stock Eos line lighting control desk prizes: one to each of the three best student-submitted videos. The homemade videos will be judged for their 'ETC-ness' (enthusiasm, talent and creativity) and their use of ETC as a theme and motif. Each video must be under five minutes and appropriate in subject matter.

The 'Show us your ETC' challenge ends on 21 February, which is the final day for video posting/form submission. Throughout the submission period, a panel of judges - ETC's Jon Ironside (the contest's originator), as well as ETC's CEO Fred Foster, industry luminary Richard Pil

UK - The Royal Shakespeare Company's new adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda arrived in London in November after opening in Stratford last year - and the show has immediately been hailed as a five-star smash by the critics and audiences alike.

The show has been created by the long-established team of director Matthew Warchus, designer Rob Howell and lighting designer Hugh Vanstone. Vanstone described his aim as being to make the lighting "playful and colourful, to extend the wonky angled Flintstone-like quality embedded in Rob Howell's superb design."

The show was first created on the thrust stage of the RSC's Courtyard Theatre; some re-thinking was therefore required for the show's transfer into the pros-arch Cambridge Theatre. "While the spirit of the design remained the same, given the opportunity for a re-vamp I re-shaped and improved my design as we m

Germany - After the major success of X-Factor 2010, the German version of the popular talent show has just completed its second season, which ran between 30 August and 6 December.

Among those lining up for casting, the new impression Wash One appeared on all eight live televised shows for the first time, with LD Jerry Appelt and his team responsible for the show's lighting design.

Appelt had already used impression series moving heads for several projects in the past - more than 300 impression 90 and impression XL fixtures featured at the European Song Contest 2011 in Düsseldorf - and again Jerry turned to the energy-saving features of the GLP devices. At least 40 impression Wash Ones were integrated in the stage design this time around.

"The Wash One is a real all-rounder," observes Jerry Appelt. "You can use it to create crunchy beam colours, but als

USA - Philips Lumileds has announced the appointment of Pierre Yves Lesaicherre as CEO of Philips Lumileds, effective immediately. Mr. Lesaicherre succeeds Michael C. Holt and will report directly to Philips Lighting's acting CEO Frans van Houten.

"Pierre Yves' tremendous experience at NXP Semiconductors, most recently as senior vice president & general manager of the business lines Microcontrollers & Logic, make him uniquely qualified to lead Philips Lumileds into the new world of lighting," said Frans van Houten. "I'm confident Pierre Yves will drive Philips Lumileds performance and actively shape the fast changing LED illumination market.

"At the same time, I also thank Mike Holt, Lumileds' first CEO, who for more than a decade has led the company as it invented and introduced high power LEDs and opened entirely new lighting segments. Mike is retiring to

UK - Due to continued demand for its lighting console training courses Cooper Controls has increased the number of UK training sessions for 2012. Taking place every Thursday, the first six months of training sessions are now available for booking:

For ORB Series Training - based in the factory in Cwmbran: 2 February, 1 March, 5 April, 3 May, 7 June; For Solution Series Training in Cwmbran: 12 January,9 February, 8 March, 12 April, 10 May, 14 June; For Jester Series Training in Cwmbran: 19 January, 16 February, 15 March, 19 April, 17 May, 21 June; For ORB Series Training - based at the Phoenix Artist Club in London: 23 February, 22 March, 19 April, 24 May, 21 June.

Scheduled Zero 88 courses are free of charge and include a light lunch. Attendees will receive a training certificate at the end of the session. Cooper Controls also offers onsite training on request. These tailored

UK - Black Light has worked with Graham Construction and North Lanarkshire Council to install a full package of stage lighting, sound, audio visual and recording studio equipment at the new Coltness High School in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. This is the first of six similar projects Black Light is involved with.

"Black Light did an extremely professional installation," said Derek Johnston, head of music and drama at the school. "The entire system looks incredibly neat and tidy and operates in an extremely effective and flexible manner."

To achieve the required outcome for the end users at the school, Black Light developed a detailed project proposal that completely met the requirements of the Local Authority. The company's installation team then carried out the on-time and on-budget full package installation. The new facilities allow the school to make high

UK - Lighting designer Grum Leesmith recently showcased PixelRange's new SMART technology luminaires on Example's latest tour. The rig included six PixelSmarts and six SmartLines from the new intelligent range.

Grum Leesmith states:,"The new PixelSmart is special. Being able to take control of every cell on the PixelSmart allowed me to give texture to what would normally be a flat wash. The addition of the narrow beam, warm white LEDs gave me an alternative to a traditional ACL, two lights in one fixture, saving me weight and space both on the truss and the truck.

"I was also incredibly impressed with the SmartLine, having used PixelLine many times I was keen to see how PixelRange would improve on the design. The RGBW colour mixing blew me away, I was able to get a really nice warm white that worked together with my tungsten lights perfectly. Only at very low outputs

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