The Netherlands - Sales-All BV, the recently-formed division of Benelux rental giants, Rent-All, provided a vibrant showcase for the new portfolio of SGM products at the recent CUE 2012 trade fair, held at Rotterdam's Ahoy.

Theatre and concert technicians - and other performing arts professionals - turned out at this bi-annual fair to see SGM's new suite of low-energy LED solutions, which formed the centrepiece of the Dutch company's sound and light presentation.

Sales-All's Bas van der Heiden, the man responsible for SGM sales, said the decision to exhibit at CUE 2012 for the first time had been well justified. "We dedicated a large part of our stand to SGM and visitors were really excited - particularly about the new X-5 (white LED) strobe and XC-5 (colour strobe). Many customers are now interested in selling these products as part of the full SGM range."

SGM con

UK - Busy UK-based lighting designer Derek Jones recently bought a Jands Vista S1 to help service his busy autumn season, including Cliff Richard's Soulicious tour and another with equally maverick performers, The Hollies.

With both tours overlapping Jones took his new Vista S1 out on The Hollies, while he called on Lars Kristiansen to operate Cliff Richard and the Shadows on his Vista S3.

Jones bought the Vista S3 some two years ago, and it has been on the road ever since. He has been running the next generation Vista v2 software since its launch and comments, "It's brilliant."

He has worked with The Hollies for the last six years. They tour twice a year for five weeks each, playing to completely sold out audiences in theatres and concert halls nationwide.

The lighting rig, supplied by Blackburn based Lite Alternative, consisted of a front and back truss

UK - Rental company, Visual Elements has upgraded 100 Chroma-Q Color Bloc DB4 LED fixtures in its inventory to the new Color Block Plus Replacement Engine.

The new engine utilises the latest generation of LED and optics, resulting in over two and a half times the light output - an impressive 750 lumens - of the original Color Block DB4 (290 lumens) with the internal switch set to full power.

Visual Elements is headed by Mike Townsend and is a busy provider of design and equipment rental services to corporate and live events. They have over 300 Color Block DB4s in their inventory, the first of which were purchased five years ago when the product was first launched, and they are still going strong today.

Townsend explains how the replacement engines have made a huge difference. "There is no comparison - it has completely transformed the fixture, giving them a new lease of

USA - Gateway Church is a Christian megachurch in Southlake, Texas, that opened a new campus in November of 2010 with a main auditorium that seats 4000. Gateway's lighting director Kyle Russelburg had three factors in mind when looking for a lighting system for the new facility: shooting for TV/web broadcast in HD, lighting for unique services, and hosting conferences throughout the year.

"We needed a lighting system that was going to hold up to the work load as well as a system that was flexible and would give us the ability to give us multiple design options," he explains. "Once I had the overall design down, we turned to Acoustic Dimensions to carry out the majority of the infrastructure and backbone."

Russelburg found what he was looking for in a large Martin Professional lighting system made up of 12 MAC III Profile, 16 MAC III Performance, six MAC 200

USA - With its expanding business into broadcast video and lighting, Elation Professional has appointed industry veteran Mark Haney as senior market manager of broadcast video and lighting. This new position focuses on the overall sales of Elation's LED video product, support and client relations.

Haney will have direct contact with Elation designers, dealers and installers, overseeing projects for the company's products in this market. Additionally, he will collect all market feedback for further developing Elation's growing broadcast video and lighting business, specifically with the company's LED video screens and expanded video and lighting product catalogue, as well as in the live touring and production segment.

Prior to coming to Elation, Haney was a sales director for Screenworks/NEP, a large video production company headquartered in California. He has served as a stage

Germany - For 20 years production designer Manfred Voss has been with the popular German TV game show, Wetten, dass..? (which translates as Wanna bet that...?).

The Road Hog Full Boar is in control of up to 16 Showpix pixilation luminaires and 12 Showgun 2.5automated luminaires for its broadcasts on ZDF TV throughout Europe. For Wetten, dass...?, Winkler AG in Switzerland is supplying the Road Hog Full Boars, DP8000s and Road Hog Wings, while Arcus Lighting in Germany is supplying the Showgunss and Showpix.

The show travels to different European cities setting up in a variety of venues from open air theatres to outdoor theme parks for live broadcasts. Celebrity guests, including musical groups, participate in the action, placing their bets on contestants who compete in crazy tasks such as: climbing a tower using toilet paper; flipping coins with a forklift

USA - Elation Professional Lighting, has entered into a licensing agreement with Litepanels, Inc. covering the use of the latter company's patented LED technology for broadcast, photographic and motion picture lighting production.

Under the terms of the agreement, Elation has been granted the rights to use Litepanels' patented LED technology for the primary illumination of subjects for image capturing in film and video. The patented Litepanel technology will be used in Elation lighting fixtures intended for television, film and video production applications such as the TVL2000.

Under the terms of its agreement with Litepanels, Inc., Elation will be able to use the patented technology in the products it sells in all of its markets. Elation maintains a policy of respecting the valid and enforceable intellectual property rights of others.

A Vitec Company, Litepanels Inc. manufa

Qatar - Over 100 fixtures from PR Lighting were deployed recently at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) Park Inauguration in Doha. Situated alongside one of the most iconic buildings in the Qatari capital, the park offers panoramic views of the city.

The official opening was marked with a ceremony and concert in the presence of HH the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and included the launch of the world-class sculpture '7', by international artist Richard Serra. This 24m high creation is the first work of art produced by Serra to be displayed in the Arab region.

The ceremony was also attended by a number of Their Excellencies sheikhs, ministers and heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Qatar.

A temporary concert shell housed musicians from the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra who performed Hughes de Courson's The Magic Lutes and prior to that a dramatic

UK - Ambersphere Solutions, the UK supplier of Clay Paky and MA Lighting products across the UK entertainment market, has welcomed Kent-based company Automated to the growing list of Ambersphere customers.

Headed up by James Ashdown, Automated had never previously purchased Clay Paky products but has recognised that his recent purchase of Sharpys are important additions to his rental stock. "I decided to invest in the Clay Paky Sharpy as it is an increasingly popular and useful tool for my TV designer clients. They like the looks it creates from such a small footprint. We realised we needed to have these fixtures readily available for them, and the team at Ambersphere have made the whole process really easy. I know they will look after me with any product support I need for a long time to come. All in all it has made these products a sound investment for me and for my custo

Italy / Denmark - RCF Group has announced the sale of SGM, its lighting division, to a consortium headed by Danish entrepreneur Peter Johansen, with effect from 1 February 2012.

The new company, SGM A/S, which replaces the former SGM Technology for Lighting spa, will be headquartered in Aabyhøj, near Aarhus, Denmark, and will concentrate exclusively on developing LED solutions, while continuing to support SGM's current catalogue of discharge lighting.

For Peter Johansen, the man who originally founded Martin Professional, and who joined SGM in late 2010 as R&D director, the buyout provides the opportunity to spearhead his own company again, dedicated to LED development in the entertainment and architectural segments.

For RCF Group, by divesting themselves of the lighting interest they purchased in April 2009, the company can focus on its core audio brand, and build on

Live News - Madonna has announced the dates for her latest world tour, which will start in Israel in May. The 53-year-old will play two dates in the UK, while the tour will also visit South America and Australia, where she has not performed in 20 years. The announcement comes days after the singer performed during half time at the US Super Bowl. A record 111.3m people tuned in for the game. Madonna's 12 minute performance received mixed reviews.

According to Nielsen, the company that tracks TV viewing figures, the football game was the most watched show in US history. However, TV network NBC and the National Football League (NFL) apologised on behalf of rapper M.I.A, who appeared as a featured artist during Madonna's set. The British hip hop musician raised her middle finger whilst facing the camera during the performance. The picture was temporarily scrambled, but it came too l

France - LumenRadio's CRMX wireless lighting controls played a key role in a new 'green' lighting installation at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle located in the historic part of central Paris.

The monumental Grande Galerie de l'Evolution, opened in 1889, is the centrepiece of the many buildings and sites making up the expansive French national museum of natural history. Its spacious central hall features a magnificent glass canopy above an equally impressive interior. The building houses an extensive collection of artefacts dating all the way back to Louis XIII who became King of France in 1610.

Pierre de Cazenove, head of operations and planning for exhibits at the museum, and his staff have developed a new energy saving lighting concept in collaboration with LumenRadio's French distributor AVAB Transtechnik.

An ETC Unison Mosaic controller was selected for

UK - Sunday's Offies saw Howard Hudson pick up the award for best lighting designer, sponsored by ETC.

Mark White, ETC's regional Manager for UK and Ireland, joined actress Linda Marlowe on stage at the Theatre Royal Stratford East to present the award to Hudson, for his lighting of Burlesque at Jermyn Street and both Ragtime and Hired Man at the Landor.

The Off West End Theatre Awards were launched in 2010 to recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent theatres across London. The awards help raise the profile and status of independent theatres in London by giving them greater power to promote their work individually and collectively and to reward the new talent that they nurture.

ETC also sponsored the award for best sound designer, which was awarded to Neil Alexander for Snake in The Grass at The Print Room.

UK - The London broadcast studio for last year's Rugby World Cup was brought to vivid, dynamic life by Shock Solutions, making use of some of the very latest lighting and media server technology from ArKaos, Christie and LSC - all supplied to Shock by entertainment lighting specialist White Light.

To provide a punchy yet versatile background to proceedings, the set design for the World Cup broadcasts replaced a conventional printed, brightly lit backdrop with a 20m wide rear-projection screen lit using four Christie L2K1500 15,000 lumenprojectors soft-edge blended together to create a 180 degree digital canvasthat wrapped around the rostra that housed the presenters and pundit team.

"The Christie projectors provided a lot of punch and incredibly vibrant colours, really bringing the background to life and ensuring that Stuart Gain, the lighting designer, didn't have to com

Canada - CAST of Toronto has announced the wysiwyg R28 Video Challenge, effective 6 February 2012 through 14 March 2012.

Create a lighting design with wysiwyg R28, then make a video using R28's Cue List and Camera Path features. Be as creative as you want, just make your video two minutes and use R28's features only. You get to be the lighting designer, the producer and the director for this challenge, says the company.

Entries will be voted upon by two groups: CAST's pick (a small panel chosen by CAST) and the People's Choice (where your peers and friends can Twitter their vote for you to CAST). Winners will be notified in advance and announced at Prolight + Sound 2012 in Frankfurt.

For a full list of rules and details, visit www.cast-soft.com

(Jim Evans)

USA - In Indianapolis on the weekend of Super Bowl XLVI, over 135 Elation Platinum Beam 5R ACL beam effects were lighting the night sky over the city's downtown.

Dodd Technologies of Pendleton, IN used the Platinum Beams and Elation ELAR 108 PARs to create a dazzling lighting design that transformed Georgia Street into "a magical Super Bowl Village experience" for the many visitors that descended on the city for the big game.

All in all, over 600 Elation Fixtures were used in Super Bowl and Super Bowl related events over the weekend. In addition to the Platinum Beam 5Rs and ELARs, these included the ELED Tri 56, the Design Wash LED 60, the Platinum Wash LED Zoom, the TVL3000, the Flex Tape and the EPV 762MH moving head video panel.

"This was a very exciting weekend," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional who was in Indianapolis duri

France - Brittany-based lighting manufacturer, Chromlech, has been awarded a prestigious 'Etoiles du SIEL' (Stars of SIEL) award at the newly-revived SIEL show at the Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris.

The award, one of only four bestowed for lighting, went to Chromlech's new Gleamer low-voltage dimmer, which was chosen from nearly 30 contenders to receive the coveted silver star. Originally launched at PLASA 2011 where it received the PLASA Innovation Award, the Etoile du SIEL is the second award for Gleamer.

Gleamer is designed to control all low voltage lamps in professional lighting environments from theatre and large scale music tours to architectural and fixed installations.

"The arrival of Gleamer enables Chromlech to access and develop new markets such as architectural and theatre lighting," says newly appointed sales director, Lionel Garraud. "Chroml

USA - Martin Professional will have "world premiere lighting and control products in its luggage" when it arrives at the inaugural PLASA Focus exhibition in Austin, Texas.

Showcasing for the first time will be Martin's new MAC III AirFX moving head along with two new lighting controllers in the M-series, the M2GO and M2PC.

Several other products will also be on display at Martin booth 707 including the award-winning MAC Aura and popular MAC 101™ moving heads, as well as Martin's high-performance EC-10 LED display panel and Jem K1 Hazer.

The new MAC III AirFX is a highly versatile beam, effects and wash luminaire in one and is the latest high-performance 1500-watt moving head in Martin's popular MAC III family. Capable of projecting a dense, hard-edge beam with stunning mid-air aerial effects, the MAC III AirFX's unique optical system allows it to adjust from a

USA - Lighting designer Trevor Ahlstrand has been using a Martin MAC touring rig supplied by Christie Lites to help set the slightly macabre mood on hard rock band Avenged Sevenfold's last tour, which wrapped up in December.

In August, Ahlstrand created a new design for the American band's latest outing, a tour that saw them hit many of the same cities as the previous tour. "That's why we needed to change the design," Ahlstrand explains, who first started working with the band in late 2008. "We wanted to keep the look fresh so we incorporated some new looks using some new gear like the MAC III Performance."

Central to set designer Jordan Coopersmith's setup is a larger-than-life set piece of the band's logo, a 56' wide x 18' tall Death Bat. "There is a lot of pyro throughout the show and the Death Bat also catches fire in every way you could possibly i

France - Robe's new Robin DLX Spot LED moving light has won an Award for Technical Innovation at the 2012 SIEL trade exhibition in Paris - France's leading international expo for the professional lighting, sound, video and entertainment technology industry.

The DLX Spot was entered into the 'Lighting' category by Robe's French distributor, Paris-based Axente.

The Awards were judged by an independent panel of industry experts, including lighting designers, technical and creative directors and representatives from top rental companies - who closely examined each nominated product, before conferring and making their final decisions.

(Jim Evans)

China - Barco was the primary visual equipment provider for CCTV's 2012 Lunar New Year Gala. Both the stage art design and the audio-visual technology were praised in reviews of this biggest TV show for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.

The premier stage application was a huge LED screen, comprising 1,326 Barco 6 mm ILite 6 BK LED boxes and covering 273 m2. The show also used eight super-bright, 20,000 lumens FLM HD20 projectors. HD images were shot on a second supporting screen, coordinating with the programmes. Working in close cooperation with audio-video technology companies such as Raysee, CTV Technology, Garwin, HPCL, Really AV, Huelead and Bright, Barco was able to deliver a fully integrated installation for the show.

In addition, the show used a large number of high-definition video display sources, and these HD signals (HD/SDI and DVI) were generated by Barco's

UK / USA - By Design Day, the annual fundraising day for Light Relief in the UK and Behind the Scenes in the US and Canada, takes place this year on Tuesday 24 April on both sides of the Atlantic.

The main fundraising event for these charities, By Design Day focuses attention on the various ways that individuals can support the two organisations that are dedicated solely to helping entertainment technology professionals in need. Many make personal donations, some hold collections at their places of work and often designers support the day by voluntarily giving a day's royalties to one or both of these charities. Light Relief assists those involved in the UK lighting industry while Behind the Scenes aids professionals based in the US and Canada working in any area of the entertainment technology industry.

By Design Day 2012 has the full backing of a host of award-winning design

Canada - grandMA2 has proved to be a good bet for Casino Rama, Ontario's only First Nations commercial casino, which stages 150 shows a year featuring top names in music and comedy. First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. Casino Rama invested in a grandMA2 full-size late last year, and it has quickly become their "console of choice," reports lighting designer and programmer Derek Noble.

"Casino Rama purchased a grandMA2 full-size because of the size of the shows they attract," says Andrew Beck, senior account executive with PRG Canada who sold the system. "They have an extensive amount of equipment, including all their own lighting and rigs, and many acts request a grandMA. They've had a grandMA full-size for a while but in the interest of keeping their facility as c

Norway - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden is currently being used for a rigorous show schedule at the Oslo Opera House, home to the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and considered one of the landmark modern buildings in Oslo.

Director Stefan Herheim has taken on the challenge of staging La Bohème in a modern-day interpretation of Puccini's masterpiece and the most performed opera production ever in Norway.

The technical crew at the Oslo Opera House currently has a total of 24 W-DMX G4 units that they use on a regular basis. They are currently rotating the operas La Bohème and Giselle.

Lighting technician Audun Bull-Hanssen explains, "On La Bohème we use an F-1 G4 transmitter and six receivers for 5000W and 2500W HMI DMX dowser and scroller, plus it's used for the star wall. For Giselle we use an F-1 G4 transmitter and six receiv

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