Hungary - When Budapest's National Theatre opened in 2002, it was fitted with the most advanced lighting technology available at that time. After more than a decade, the venue - which is at the forefront of dramatic theatres in Hungary and is internationally renowned - decided it was time to upgrade their lighting control system, and chose ETC Eos family desks for the job.

Zsolt Fésus, the head of lighting for the National Theatre, knew that selecting a new lighting system would be an extensive and complex undertaking, which needed very careful consideration. He didn't want the changeover to disrupt theatre operations, and he knew that factors like budget, sustainability and product longevity needed to be assessed. "The lighting system's design took more than a year and a half of meticulous planning," he says. In that time, he and his staff tested products by a

The Netherlands - The creative team behind popular Dutch dance event organisers Q-dance turned to the power of the Clay Paky Sharpy when building their latest immersive club night Qapital at Amsterdam's Ziggo Dome.

Show designer Mark Rietveld worked with the Q-dance creative team to design and build a giant 'industrial' DJ set that swept down to encompass the 12,500 strong audience.

"Our in-house stage designer Tamil van Draanen created a centre stage in the Ziggo Dome, inspired by the architecture of Paris' Eiffel Tower," explains Rietveld. "It was a creative decision to design a show that did not include the use of video/ LED-walls. In this way we were able to keep the focus on the artists performing at the center of the structure. Challenging, but ultimately better for the overall experience."

Rietveld enlisted the help of 68 x Clay Paky Sharpys from D

Portugal - PRG were contracted by Imagination, the global creative agency, to provide lighting and rigging services for the Ford Mustang Experience at the 2014 UEFA Champions League Final in Lisbon. Imagination designed and managed Ford's presence at the Lisbon Final.

Held in a custom built dome in the Portuguese capital's Praca do Comércio, the launch introduced guests to the new Ford Mustang, ahead of its official European debut in 2015.

PRG were approached by Imagination lighting designer Lucy Record and production manager Robert Wiggs back in February 2014 to help realise a creative brief; to bring to life an interactive wall - an impressive 4m high and 9m wide curved structure featuring 36 x Martin by Harman AF-2 Fans, with each fan backed by an LED fixture.

Account director Loz Wilcox comments, "The original designs featured a stunning bespoke aluminium fra

USA - The unconventional rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch is lighting up Broadway, and its lighting designer, Kevin Adams, is using Robert Juliat Victor followspots to light up the stage at the Belasco Theatre.

Neil Patrick Harris stars as Hedwig Robinson, who's described as the "internationally ignored song stylist," in John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask's musical tale of life, love and a botched operation. The show has garnered eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Lighting Design of a Musical, for Kevin Adams, Best Musical Revival and Best Actor in a Musical, for Mr. Harris.

Adams consulted with his associate Paul Toben on what followspots to use for the show, and Tobin "spoke highly" of Robert Juliat's Victor 1800W MSR followspots. "He knew the parameters and selected the Victors," Adams says. "We needed really br

USA - An awards show like none other took Tampa's Raymond James Stadium by storm when the annual International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards came to the US for the first time. The IIFA Awards honour artistic and technical excellence in Bollywood, India's famed Hindi-language film industry that sells more than 3 billion tickets every year. The show, which aired on Star World Network, used a large complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures.

"The IIFA Awards are the Indian equivalent of the Oscars with 800m viewers worldwide," says lighting designer Eugene O'Connor. "Cinema is huge there, and the awards show lasted more than five hours. It had a very big open and included production numbers with 60-70 dancers."

O'Connor knew that Clay Paky Sharpys "were always going to be the main light" for the show in a stadium that demanded "big looks"

Slovakia - Robe moving lights once again proved they had 'that special something' for the X-Factor - this time the final of the Czech and Slovak edition of the popular talent competition reality TV show, which was staged at the Incheba Expo Arena in Bratislava, Slovakia.

The lighting and visuals designers were Michal Schmidt and Tomás Lecky, and the lighting equipment included 56 x Robe Robin Pointes, 22 x ColorSpot 700E ATs and 20 x ColorSpot 1200E ATs, the supply of which was supported by Slovakian rental company Showservice, based in Bratislava.

The production company was Jam Film 1999 s.r.o and the event was broadcast live on TV channel JOJ in Slovakia and Prima in the Czech Republic. Over 1000 X-Factor fans enjoyed the action live in the arena.

Schmidt & Lecky worked closely with set designer Jaroslav Holota from Ungroup s.r.o. to create the stage environment and the l

UK - The 7th Knight of Illumination (KOI) Awards has announced a new venue for 2014: London's art deco Troxy theatre.

This year's awards ceremony, celebrating outstanding lighting design, is on Sunday 5 October, during PLASA London at ExCel, which runs 5-8 October. Troxy is situated ten minutes' drive from ExCel.

"We're thrilled that KOI will enjoy the luxurious setting of Troxy this year," says Pio Nahum of Clay Paky, which organises the event alongside the STLD, the ALD, and Ambersphere. "With beautiful surroundings comes an even more beautiful event!"

The guest list is open to all who might wish to attend ensuring that KOI continues to establish itself as a pan industry event. To find out more, and submit your entry visit the web address below.

BBC Musical Initiatives - The BBC has announced plans to open up access to the world of musical entertainment within the UK, with two new partnerships designed to train new entrants and increase the technical skills base. Director general Tony Hall, unveiling an ambitious new music strategy, said the BBC would be partnering with the National Skills Academy, which works alongside employers, to increase quality training in the technical and production areas, particularly concentrating on skills required for live performances. "Music is in our DNA just like news" he said, as the BBC gears up for a summer of festivals.

It will also co-fund, with the PRS for Music Foundation, visits for the best new British artists to attend and play at four annual showcase festivals across the United States. Both developments extend the successful BBC Introducing scheme, which dates from 2

UK - The Panalux TekTile 2 is a slimline Bi-Colour illumination solution created by Panalux exclusively for the film, television industry and entertainment media industries.

Featuring instantly variable colour temperature from 3000k to 5800k with no shift in light output throughout the transition via an on board Tektile2 controller or when used in conjunction with Panalux F-stop 8way Controller units

The impressive specification of these new high quality, high output fixtures includes: mains or battery power; local or DMX control; fully dimmable with no shift in correlated colour temperature; Panalux F-Stop® compatible; choice of mounting options; range of accessories; optional wireless control - all housed within a sleek aluminium unit weighing just 2.5kg.

Simple to operate and just 30mm deep, Tektile 2 is perfect as an effective, balanced 'solo' soft light or can be co

UK - Eclipse Presentations - the east London based technical solutions provider known for innovation and flair - collaborated with the marketing team at Central Hall Westminster (CHW) led by Maria Schuett to provide all the required technical production and infrastructure to facilitate their very successful recent one day 'Meet The Future' event.

Central Hall is one of the high profile central London event spaces at which Eclipse provides managed and technical services and Meet The Future, attended by over 300 delegates, was designed to showcase and raise awareness of a number of state-of-the-art technologies that could potentially shape the future design and production of all types of events.

Meet The Future was co-ordinated for Eclipse by key account manager Matt Green who looks after Central Hall and MD Robin Purslow.

Says Green, "We were keen to support 'Meet The Fu

USA - At this year's ULTRA Music Festival, Martin Professional lit the night with an array of lighting fixtures, including the RUSH 5x5 Strobe, RUSH MH2, RUSH PAR1, MAC III Profile, MAC Viper, MAC 101, MAC Aura, M-1 Control and M2go Console.

In preparing for a massive scale production such as ULTRA Music Festival, an epic battle takes place between the passion and dedication of the team and the challenges posed by the environment and the conditions under which the ULTRA Music Festival engine operates.

For the Miami shows, the location in downtown Miami represents one major challenge, as the festival grounds and the stage are shoehorned in between a busy street and a retaining wall. Lighting fixtures and all other technical elements of the festival and stage design are also being put to the test in this extreme environment, where excessive heat, high levels of humidity and endl

Scandinavia - Lighting designer Henrik Lundin is using a number of the triple-award winning Clay Paky B-EYE K20s to light Swedish songstress Veronica Maggio's first-ever Scandinavian arena tour.

Lundin, of Swedish production company YKNOT, says he was delighted to be able to apply the unique features of the new B-EYE K20 in combination with a strategically designed 'mirror-prop' package. "Using the B-EYE to cover the stage, both as front lights and for exposing the mirror props worked brilliantly," says Lundin. "The B-EYE's incredibly wide zoom, fast response time plus the immense power of the LEDs meant that the design process went very smoothly and we were all delighted with the result."

The B-EYE K20's, supplied to the tour by Swedish rental operation Lagom & Gott Ljud AB, have an output that is over 20% brighter than any equivalent LED wash light curren

UK - Liverpool, UK-based Sound, Light & Visual production solutions provider Adlib, has just appointed Mike Docksey as general manager to oversee its fast expanding Lighting & AV divisions. In a challenging economic climate, Adlib, headed by Andy Dockerty which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, has been steadily building an infrastructure to support and evolve its growing global portfolio of clients.

Adlib's MD Andy Dockerty said: "Mike has undertaken to work alongside the directors and managers at Adlib to help strengthen the brand across all genres and disciplines. He will be overseeing the whole lighting and AV operation with a view to implementing positive and progressive steps to fulfil the aspirations of the company."

"His role will see him forging new bonds, reinforcing existing relationships and helping the sales, rental and operations teams del

UK - When Grillstock delivered a weekend full of BBQ-flavoured treats and good old-fashioned rock'n'roll bands and DJs at Bristol's Amphitheatre, they called on Bristol-based lighting specialists, Utopium, to supply its full stage production package. This included branded graphics, stage, sound, lighting and video walls to host headliners Fun Living Criminals and Hayseed Dixie, as well as other rockabilly favourites.

Utopium's hire and sales manager Ben Knowles commented, "It was great to work with the festival organisers putting together the full scale production to ensure it translated for every element of the event.

"It was also a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our new lighting technology live for the first time. We supplied six SGM X-5 LED Strobes, 12 Chauvet Legend 419 Washlights, 16 Chauvet 230 SR Beams and 18 Chauvet Nexus 4 x 4 panels, which allow f

Russia - Novosibirsk-based production company Elkruff specified a wide range of Clay Paky fixtures for its stylish design for global product solutions company NL International's 13th Anniversary Event in Moscow's Crocus City Hall. Overseeing the project was Elkruff's chief technical officer Aleksey Bulgakov who worked with lighting designer Anton Maltsev to deliver a sharp, clean design that focused the audience's attention on the stage's large projection video element.

"Onstage we had a huge video widescreen that displayed a presentation of new online products from NL International," explains Bulgakov. "We created a clever design made up of vertical rows of plastic tubes with RGB LED fixtures mounted in the base platforms that drew audience attention to the centre of the stage and the video presentation. The event was also being filmed for broadcast so we needed

Turkey - Martin Professional has appointed SF SES vs ISIK Sistemleri A.S., also known as SF, as the exclusive distributor of Martin products in Turkey. Istanbul-based SF has been a valued member of the Harman distributor network for over 25 years and this partnership will enhance the sales, distribution, and support of Martin Professional lighting solutions throughout Turkey as well as Azerbaijan and Northern Cyprus.

"As distributors of top brands in audio, video and lighting systems, we are sure that Martin will be a valuable addition to our existing distribution lines, as our reseller and solution partners always look to offer more sophisticated and robust turnkey lighting solutions to present to their end-user customers. Samim Mutluer, CEO of SF, said: "We look forward to providing our resellers and partners with the value-added services in support of Martin's compl

USA - At InfoComm in Las Vegas, Martin Professional introduced the MAC Quantum Wash and MAC Quantum Profile, the latest solution to provide brighter and more compact LED lights.

The MAC Quantum Wash features tight beams, "beautiful wash fields, a market-leading colour palette and uniform mixing that combines to accommodate the most demanding applications with brightness and perfection". Combining an impressive 750-watt of RGBW LED power with Martin's market-leading optical system ensures Quantum's 1:5 zoom operates with maximum output and superior performance.

"By combining the lens shift possibilities first seen in the MAC Viper Quadray with the MAC Aura's ground-breaking optical system, MAC Quantum Wash sets new standards for light and colour morphing effects from a wash light," says Markus Klüsener, product manager for stage lighting, Martin Professiona

Europe - The internationally famous boy band New Kids On The Block came to Europe for a month of gigs. Their production manager Chris Roberts contacted All Access Staging with the stage design for the tour. It consisted of Versa stage risers stepping down to make various levels that spanned the stage 40' wide and 12' deep.

He also required each step to have LED on the front edge and to be controlled individually to enhance the lighting design by Joshua Koffman. This was achieved by inserting LED strip into the Versa decks extrusion. All the cable management was done in the underside of the deck with all the LED power supplies living in this space.

All the decks packed onto set carts and once unpacked required one loom to be attached each day to get them to work. This method with the LED has been used on many tours with All Access and has been very successful. It allows set edg

USA - Quite a few magical things have happened to Pentatonix since the group won first prize in NBC-TV's hit programme The Sing Off in 2011. They released a YouTube video that garnered 10m views in one week, had a number one hit on the Billboard charts, and performed before sellout crowds around the world. The real magic, though, isn't what happened to this group of five young cappella artists from Texas, it's what they create on stage, says their LD Darien Koop of Darko Design (Nashville, TN).

"It's amazing to watch them step on stage and see how they truly captivate and connect to the audience, making every single person there feel special," said Koop, who has been the LD for superstars like Sara Bareilles, Incubus and Cee Lo Green. "When I took on this project and got to know this group of very special artists, I wanted to create more than a lighting des

UK - Richard Martin Lighting has recently taken delivery of a number of the new Clay Paky K20 B-EYEs, the fixture that has won a variety of industry awards since its launch late last year.

In such a crowded market, packed with products from other manufacturers, why have RML opted to purchase the K20 B-EYEs from Ambersphere Solutions, the exclusive UK and ROI distributors and service suppliers for Clay Paky? Gemma Jaques is RML's marketing coordinator: "We have a long term relationship with Clay Paky and many of the Ambersphere team so as soon as it became clear what a popular fixture the B-EYE was going to be we decided it was essential that we invest in them. We only took delivery of the K20 version a couple of weeks ago and we've already had lots of interest in them - their first job was the Sky Sports Awards and they went out so fast we didn't have time to get them fligh

Australia - Four Robe Robin MiniMes have been supplied for use throughout the Museum of Australian Democracy (MOAD) located at the Old Parliament House Building in Canberra, ACT, by Elite Sound & Lighting, also based in the city.

The fixtures are mobile and are being used for a variety of applications involving temporary exhibitions and small events which are constantly staged in the venue.

Elite is one of Australia's leading rental companies and has a substantial number of Robe products - nearly 300 moving lights - in regular hire stock.

Elite MD Darren Russell explained that they have also enjoyed a close working relationship as the in house audiovisual provider for external clients within the venue but also as a supplier to MOAD, which includes introducing them to new, interesting and appropriate technologies as and when they come to the market.

This is exactly what hap

Sweden - Lighting design for Swedish rock band Kent has again featured a strong SGM package.

LD Uffe Jansson of Hysterical Design has taken on the task of delivering Kent's two festival shows as part of their new concept Kentfest, where the Swedish band, now celebrating its 24th anniversary, provides its vision of how a festival should be.

Kent is the festival's headline act, and Uffe Jansson was determined to create a lightshow that matched their status. "For me the important thing is to accentuate the band's music with lighting to make it a great concert. It is a fine line to use the right amount of effects for each song, when you have about 600-700 fixtures," he informs.

Besides the regular festival rig, Jansson added about 120 P-5 wash lights and 35 XC-5 colour strobes exclusively for Kent's performance. "My goal was to incorporate the entire stage,

UK - When Busted/McFly supergroup McBusted announced that it was going to tour the UK in Spring 2014 the band wanted something visually spectacular, so approached LEDsynergy, via SimS custom guitars, to build five LED encrusted guitars to be a key visual element of each stage performance.

Not content to have dot-marker LEDs positioned on the neck of their guitars, McBusted wanted the entire body of each guitar encrusted as well. The three lead and two bass guitars were developed and tested in around five weeks and delivered well before final rehearsals and the opening performance just prior to Easter.

Ultra compact SMD LEDs were used as they are both lightweight and cost effective; having all the colours within the same thin 'chip-bulbs'. These were positioned just 10mm apart and programmed to not only display a myriad of colours but also produce moving patterns and even full

UK - East Anglia-based CEG productions has added a range of Robe Robin lighting fixtures to its rental stock - with fixtures already out on dry and wet hire across the company's diverse range of customers.

CEG's recent investment from Robe includes the Robin Pointe, Robin LEDWash 600, Robin LEDBeam 100 and Robin CycFX8.

CEG's director Ben Bowles explains, "After embarking on a thorough investigation of fixtures that are available on the market, we picked the Robin range. We already own a small selection of Robe's AT series and so we had experienced the high level of customer support from the manufacturer. It was only natural to extend our product range with these new products.

"The Pointe is an in credibly flexible and useful fixture - proving very popular with our growing base of LD clients. We're most excited about the CycFX 8 - although this fixture is a punt fo

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