USA - Back in May 2010, California-based lighting designer Matthew Shimamoto set up his rental company Volt Lites, with a view to addressing a number of different market sectors. Based north of Los Angeles, he quickly established the company in the international touring and corporate worlds, having subsequently worked on live TV shows, music videos and numerous special events.

As a designer, he had often used fixtures from GLP's LED impression range - but it was with the launch of the new impression X4 LED moving head that he took the decision to invest.

Volt Lites were quick to adopt the new head as Matthew Shimamoto confirmed. "Once [GLP president] Mark Ravenhill informed us that there was a new Impression available we immediately drove to GLP to evaluate and experiment with this fixture. We were so impressed with the performance that we decided to incorporate the X4s i

USA - The Family Church of McAllen, Texas (TFC) chose a Robe lighting system for its new 1400-capacity main worship auditorium. The Robe fixtures were specified by TFC's technical director Obed Castillo and supplied by Phil Rapp of Gear Systems Design from Edmond, Oklahoma, who partnered with TFC to supply and install the full technical production package for the new space.

The new larger sanctuary was the result of a much needed expansion to the existing premises to accommodate the popular and well-attended worship services. The stage systems for the new auditorium were designed for concerts and broadcasts in addition to the five weekly services. Currently TFC has a web-based ministry, but future plans include going to a multi-site format, so good broadcast lighting was vital to the final technical plans.

Gear Systems specified four Robin 600 LEDWashes, eight Robin 300 LEDWas

USA - American alternative metal band Stone Sour and rockers Papa Roach are coheadlining a world tour, which features Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s in a prominent role.

The bands began their tour in Europe last year, are currently playing dates across the U.S. and will finish in Australia. Stone Sour released its fourth album, House of Gold & Bones - Part 1 last fall and Papa Roach is hot off its eighth studio record, The Connection.

Lighting designer/programmer/operator Michael Smalley was a fan of the Alpha Beam 700 from the last tour he did for electronic musician Bassnectar. "I love the fixtures. They're a really punchy light," he says.

For the Stone Sour-Papa Roach tour Smalley is working with a "really clean stage with no backline - a big, white backdrop that communicates with color and patterns." He has positioned 12 Alpha Beam 700s on si

Germany - ETC is set to show a host of new and updated products at this year's Prolight+Sound exhibition, with the launch of a new ETC lighting control desk, new software and some very special new ETC lighting fixtures.

The Eos Titanium control desk, aka the Eos Ti, takes the place of Eos as the company's flagship Eos line desk, and is expected to be popular with demonstrations throughout the four day show, with new Eos v2.0 software also available to try. Eos Ti incorporates new hardware and features that make designing and programming even easier.

Also on the stand and available for demonstration will be the new 50W ETC Source Four Mini and Source Four LED Studio HD; and the new ES1 dimmer, which brings the same power control and efficiency behind ETC Source Four Dimmer to any other tungsten lamp.

Show stand visitors will also enjoy regular live presentations from ETC's La

Belgium - Luc Peumans from Genk, Belgium based creative visual design practice, Painting With Light (PWL), designed lighting and set for the recent Dutch and Belgian touring version of So You Think You Can Dance, working for producers Albert Verlinde Entertainment. Peumans worked closely on the lighting design with PWL's Dimi Theuwissen, who was executive lighting designer for this project.

They referenced the basic lighting and set design to the hit TV programme, recorded at the Crown Business Studios (CBS) in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands and noted for being a little bit different from the average glitzy ballroom replica setting.

Keeping some essential elements of dancehall like staircases and double decking stage set, this design adds a flourish of proto industrialism with the incorporation of two large factory style fans, lots of metalwork and some innovative lighting '

USA - LED Engin, Inc has announced the LZ4 flat lens family of compact, 4-die RGBW emitters for wash lamps and follow spots used in stage lighting applications. Two variants are available: LZ4 that can be driven to 1A and LZ4-Plus that can be driven to 1.5A per die, producing up to 550 and 725 lumens output respectively, some 30% more than rival products. The multi-colour LED die, which are mounted onto LED Engin's propriety, multi-later thermally efficient substrate, are capped with a flat glass primary lens.

Precise colour control is achieved via the ability to individually address each die, in conjunction with in-source colour mixing and without the added complexity and cost of attaching colour filters to lamps. The compact LZ4 emitters with flat glass windows can be used with various secondary optics, including zoom lenses and imaging optics, and are capable of delivering be

UK - Laser safety specialist LVR has announced the availability of three new products intended for users of lasers that want to perform safe audience scanning for their clients.

"Ever since the early days of laser shows, this exciting effect has caused controversy due to the ease at which it has been possible to overexpose an audience with beams that are too intense, or spend too longer time crossing the eye, each having the potential to cause harm to eyesight," says LVR.

"In order to help operators overcome these problems, on 22 April LVR will be running a new advanced laser effect design and measurement workshop at The Kent Science Par, Sittingbourne. Attendees will be able to gain hands-on experience designing a range of different types of laser effects and will be showed how to ensure the emission levels are below the specified safety limits."

The wor

South Africa - The much anticipated VW Golf 7 launch was recently hosted to South African dealerships over a two week period at Theatre on the Track, Kyalami and was beautifully lit by a range of Robe fixtures including Robin 100 LEDBeams. Satellite events were also held at Spier Wine Estate Conference Centre in Cape Town and at Zimbali in Durban.

Ogilvy South Africa, who form part of one of the largest marketing communications networks in the world, commissioned Kilowatt AV for the full technical support. Kilowatt AV designed a 40m curved screen set and then partnered with Dream Sets to manufacture and install it. Martin de Bruin of Revolution Inc took care of the lighting design.

"Theatre on the Track looked awesome, I have never seen it appear so big," commented Rhys Pughe-Pary, technical director at Kilowatt AV. The focus point was an enormous curved projection s

Greece - Constantinos Vonofakidis has joined entertainment lighting manufacturer High End Systems as regional sales manager for Southern Europe, Turkey, Russia, Africa and India. Based in Athens, Greece, Vonofakidis will be responsible for sales of the company's full range of lighting and control products in these key territories.

Prior to joining High End Systems, Vonofakidis worked for Telmaco, the company's and also Barco's distribution partner in Greece. As the brand manager for High End Systems and also as a specialist for the entertainment market, he focused on lighting equipment sales in rental companies, television studios, theatres and other entertainment venues. He first joined the industry over 20 years ago at BON Studio as an installation and service engineer, specializing in the repair and installation of automated lighting and control products. He later joined Kem

Germany - At Prolight+Sound 2013, The A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) stand (E63, hall 9.0) will feature a selection of products from the leading brands which it distributes including Chroma-Q, Jands, BroadWeigh, SGM, Columbus McKinnon and PixelRange.

The award-winning Chroma-Q Inspire LED house light and the new AutoLED II moving head fixture will both receive their EMEA tradeshow launch on the AC-ET stand.

The Inspire house light is a powerful multi-purpose creative lighting tool that provides a choice of beautiful whites, soft pastels and bold saturates - all from one fixture. With fully homogenised colour mixing and a choice of three different lens options, the Inspire provides an excellent selection of stunning mixed colours and 'true' whites, with no unsightly colour separation shadows. It also features an energy-efficient compact LED design providing reduced mai

Germany - White Light returns to Frankfurt on 10-13 April, exhibiting at Prolight Sound for the second consecutive year. The entertainment lighting specialist continues to strengthen its presence as European sales distributor, representing Altman, CITC, CORE Lighting, Galaxia, Interactive Technologies and James Thomas Trussing Systems throughout the UK and European markets.

On the White Light Stand, James Thomas Engineering will launch their new JT30 & JT40 truss systems. Visitors are invited to join White Light and James Thomas for the press launch, followed by a champagne reception on Wednesday 10 April at 4pm on stand A55 in Hall 9.0.

Paul Young of James Thomas explains the value of these new products for the market saying, "We have gone to great lengths to take all the good features of existing truss products of this size and add our own innovative edge to create a ne

Germany - Next week's Prolight+Sound exhibition in Frankfurt will see the official launch of Robert Juliat's extended TIBO range, a comprehensive range of modular fixtures that introduce the idea of the Creative Concept Light, the company says.

The Tibo range, already the recipient of an 'Etoile du SIEL' award, offers a mix-and-match choice of light source (LED, tungsten-halogen and discharge), lens type (Fresnel and profile) and body colour. Designers and technicians can choose from this wide selection of components, to find lighting solutions to suit any application - whether it is for theatre, architecture, TV studio, event, display or retail purposes, the company says.

The new additions to be launched at Prolight+Sound include two new profiles offering a choice of dynamic variable white LED or HID sources, and a Fresnel version available in all types of Tibo light s

The Netherlands - Elation Professional Europe has announced the addition of Harry De Lon to its team as a sales professional, beginning in May 2013. A 35-year industry veteran, De Lon will focus in the areas of stage, touring and theatrical lighting, and will also use his extensive background to enhance the company's customer service department and help build a sales network throughout Europe.

"We are proud and happy to have someone of Harry's professional stature become part of the European Elation team," said Dirk Kast, general manager of Elation Professional Europe. "Harry is widely known throughout our industry as a motivated and dedicated team player. His long-time experience and substantial knowledge of the lighting market will help us better serve our customers and will contribute greatly to Elation's continued growth and expansion."

De Lon's impress

UK - Calibre UK has announced the appointment of Gordon Laverick as channel sales executive for its professional and broadcast ranges of products including HQView, LEDView, PremierViewPro, VideoExcel and FoveaHD. The company has created the role with a view to strengthening support of its worldwide distribution partner programme.

With over 20 years' experience in technical sales environments, Laverick moves into the pro-AV business after working in a number of related fields such as IT, telecoms, networking, and test and measurement.

"I've been doing channel management for a number of years and have acquired a lot of experience building distribution and sales networks on an international scale," comments Laverick.

"Calibre UK is a great company with great people - and working with people is what I really like doing. This job represents a refreshing change of t

Germany - Intelligent LED lighting manufacturer Chroma-Q will be officially launching two new innovative products at Prolight+Sound on the stand of their exclusive UK distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd - E63, hall 9.0.

The AC-ET stand will provide the exclusive EMEA tradeshow unveiling of the already award-winning Chroma-Q Inspire LED house light and the new AutoLED II moving head fixture.

The Inspire house light is a powerful multi-purpose creative lighting tool that provides a choice of beautiful whites, soft pastels and bold saturates - all from one fixture. With fully homogenised colour mixing and a choice of three different lens options, the Inspire provides an excellent selection of stunning mixed colours and 'true' whites, with no unsightly colour separation shadows. It also features an energy-efficient compact LED design providing reduced maintena

USA - The US Open tennis classic hit a grand slam the first night of the tournament with an Opening Night Ceremony that dazzled guests and set a new benchmark for kicking off the iconic event. grandMA2 consoles played key roles in the dynamic ceremony.

"The USTA (United States Tennis Association) charged its entertainment group with energising its traditional US Open Opening Night Ceremony, and what fans saw this year was unprecedented, immersive and memorable", says Christien Methot of design one lighting and production design, who served as the lighting designer. "Two years ago Michael Fiur, entertainment director for the USTA, asked me to get involved, in conjunction with Overland Entertainment, in creating an Opening Ceremony spectacular. They've had singers in the past but always used stadium lights. We started talking about the creative aspects of the show -

UK - Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe delivered a stunning lighting design for the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary dates using a multifarious super rig of Clay Paky fixtures.

Assisted by stalwart Stones lighting director and programmer Dave Hill and lighting director Ethan Weber, Woodroffe created a spectacular, multi-layered super-sharp design that worked in perfect synchronicity with the visually dramatic and evocative set, designed by Mark Fisher.

Aptly contemporary, the stage design was a clever take of the famous Stones tongue and lips logo. The strikingly architectural lighting design marked out the contours of the stage set from above and from stage level, giving dimension, shape and context to the set design while pulling the band out from the backdrop with striking effect and at the same time reaching out and embracing the excited audience, ensuring they were immer

UK - The BBC's iconic Television Centre closed its doors on 31 March 2013 after 53 years of service which endeared it to viewers and celebrities alike. The 1960s building in west London was sold for £200m and will be redeveloped into a hotel, flats, a cinema and office space.

To mark the occasion the BBC staged a series of televised events and programming including a live concert by Madness outside the building (broadcast on BBC Four), a special 'outdoor' One Show on BBC One which linked live to the concert and a two hour documentary about the building where a host of stars shared their TV Centre memories.

ELP provided lighting for both outside broadcast events. The company already supplies lighting director Dave Evans for the daily (studio based) One Show broadcasts. For this outdoor special Evans specified a completely new rig which included: Arri Junior

Germany - Iluminarc, the growing architainment lighting brand of US-based Chauvet, with European headquarters in Nottingham, England, will showcase fixtures at Prolight+Sound 2013 International trade show, stand 11-B27. On display will be indoor and outdoor solutions suited for a variety of small- to large-size applications, such as Ilumipanel 40 IP, Ilumipanel 180 IP, Ilumipod 18g2 IP, Ilumiline 36 IP, Ilumiline Inground Tri 12 IP and more.

Ilumipanel 40 IP is a powerful interior/exterior fixture, designed as a mid-range wash light, suitablel for uplighting walls, and featuring a slim structure, which blends with the environment and fits in areas with tight tolerances. Ilumipanel 40 IP has 40 3-watt RGB LEDs and 30-degree lenses. Reliable in the harshest of environments, this wash light features an impact-resistant glass lens cover and a GORE® valve. The fixture's dimension

UK - Kasabian headlined Friday night of the 2013 Teenage Cancer Trust (TCT) event which featured seven action-packed days of music and comedy, staged at London's Royal Albert Hall, and this year curated by Noel Gallagher to raise money and awareness for the charity.

Kasabian's lighting designer Nick Gray from creative design practice Renegade decided to go 'all-out' to ensure that their show looked distinctive and memorable, with the installation of a floor based 'specials' package of over 90 lighting fixtures.

"Basically I took the entire lighting rig from or two warm-up dates in Doncaster and Plymouth . . . and added it to the festival style 'house' rig being supplied by PRG for the TCT shows," explains Gray.

He wanted to make a serious impact for TCT, "It's a high profile gig and I reckoned the show visuals should be imprinted on people's retinas . . . and

USA - Respected rock, event and TV lighting designer Tom Kenny recently exercised the powerful, pure beams of Clay Paky's Sharpy fixtures to add 'razor sharp looks' to the dynamic lighting mix on The Who's mammoth North American tour - Quadrophenia and More.

Kenny, who has lit tours, events and TV shows for over 30 years worldwide, has designed tours for the likes of David Byrne, Santana, Juanes, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, David Bowie and of course The Who amongst many others. He says he used the Sharpys' effects to "sculpt the stage show and add drama, dimension and high impact architecture to the multi-media set."

Kenny says: "I love the Sharpys for their small size and speedy functionality. On the Who they gave a striking sharp beam and were especially effective when we're using no haze or smoke -they really cut through the extensive vi

UK - Black Light has announced the arrival of three new members of staff, all of whom bring significance expertise and experience to the company. The three new recruits to the Black Light team are: warehouse manager, Maria Bechaalani; hire and sales desk operative, Paul de Luca; and event projects manager, David Moffat.

David Moffat joined Black Light at the end of 2012. He is a very experienced events projects manager, who has previously worked freelance all over the UK. "I worked with Black Light a lot during 2012 and it was a natural step to join the company," says Moffat, who is pleased with his first few months on the job. "We've just finished organizing the 30th Anniversary Open Day which was a great way to immerse myself in what the company is all about."

Paul de Luca started at Black Light in March of this year. He is part of the company's sales des

Germany - Philips Strand Lighting is exhibiting its versatile 250ML moving light control console at this year's Frankfurt Prolight + Sound (Hall 11, stand no D73).

The Philips team will be on stand to demo and discuss the 250ML, which is an evolution of the popular Strand series 200 console. It features four encoders and an LCD display screen for quick and easy automated lighting and LED control. Along with all the standard features found on a preset desk, the 250ML control console is ideal for smaller productions with a hybrid of lighting instruments.

"The 250ML was launched at PLASA last year and has proved an ideal lighting control solution for schools and colleges, multi-purpose venues and smaller theatres," comments Pete Borchetta, product marketing manager for Philips Entertainment.

"Since its launch we've had a great response from customers and end user

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd. will be showcasing products from a selection of the leading brands which it distributes including Chroma-Q, Jands, High End Systems, LedGo, Green Hippo, Christie Nitro, BroadWeigh, Columbus McKinnon and many more - at the 2013 PLASA Focus show (stand N-E2).

Product highlights include Chroma-Q's new Inspire high output, RGBW colour-changing LED house light and AutoLED II ultra-bright (16,430 lumens) daylight white LED moving head fixture; LedGo's range of high-quality modular LED video panels; High End Systems' new flagship lighting console, the Road Hog 4; Jands' renowned Vista lighting console range and innovative new Stage CL console "made for LEDs"; and Columbus McKinnon's range of durable, reliable electric chain hoists. Other brands represented at the show on AC-ET's stand include Green Hippo, Spotlight, SGM and Se

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