Robe - LEADERBOARD - Feb 2025
Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

Lighting

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USA - Dimming lighting loads can be quite tricky, especially when it comes to LEDs; many lack smooth dimming transitions and step-through from one level to the next. Testing fixtures and the driver together is an essential - and often overlooked - step to avoid unnecessary headaches associated with dimming lighting loads, particularly when it comes to architectural installations.

Longtime ETC customer and owner of Coventry Lighting John Coventry knew this all too well, which is why he called upon ETC's testing services in the middle of a big lighting installation for the newly redesigned concert hall in Gaillard Auditorium in South Carolina. "ETC responded unflappably to my frantic phone call," explains John Coventry. "They had a great response time."

The LED fixture that Coventry wanted to test was from Cooledge Lighting, a manufacturer that specialises in

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UK - TSL has announced that Martin Locket has been appointed a Director and Shareholder of the company. Martin has extensive experience in the production and rental industries, having previously been MD of Essential Lighting and CEO of PRG-UK. Sam Tamplin and Martin will now be running and developing the company together as business partners.

Tamplin, TSL's founder, commented: "Martin increasing his involvement with TSL coincides with our relocation into 12,000sq.ft of new warehouse and production space at London Gatwick this month. These developments are the foundation of our plans for TSL, as we build our customer base in the corporate, event and concert touring markets."

Martin added: "I am proud to be involved with TSL and working with Sam and the team to further develop the company. As well as lighting projects and rental, we are also focussed on rigging fr

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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Czech Republic - In an online broadcast this morning, Robe has revealed the first details of its brand new product, the BMFL - which stands for 'Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire'.

Broadcasting from the company's showroom in the Czech Republic, Josef Valchar, CEO of Robe, described the BMFL as "The best fixture we have ever made".

"We have listened to the wishes and needs of lighting designers, rental companies and technicians from every corner of the industry, all around the world. We really believe we have created a product that will deliver both good short- and long-term returns on your investment."

"It is a big, powerful light or large venues, with a big, fat front lens full of light. Because of its relatively small size, it can be used for any application in TV, theatres or concert venues."

More than three years in development, the BMFL i

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Tax Relief - The government's forthcoming theatre tax relief scheme will help to revive regional theatre and ensure the industry's success is felt across the country and not just in London's West End, Chancellor George Osborne has said. Speaking at Theatre Royal Brighton ahead of the tax scheme which came into effect yesterday (1September), Osborne said he hoped the initiative would put a stop to the decline of regional theatre and touring productions by making it easier to put on these shows.

Osborne said: "Regional productions have dropped off over many years - even though the West End has been very strong in London - and I want to change that around. I want to make sure we get the benefit of our great theatre industry and our culture felt all over the country. More job opportunities for those working in the theatre sector as well as those working in the tourist industry

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UK - Long time Avolites user and master lighting designer Yenz Nyholm ran the Main Stage lighting at Coventry's Godiva Festival this year from an Avolites Sapphire Touch, with a host of visiting LDs using the console as their acts performed.

More than 75,000 people attended Godiva 2014 to watch headline acts including Happy Mondays, Lightning Seeds, and Buzzcocks.

"The Sapphire Touch works well on a festival due to the many faders and easy to read touch screens," says Nyholm. "It's very intuitive, so any LD can use it within a few minutes of turning up. The many faders work well on a festival/busking situation, where you need to be able to grab anything very quickly."

Avolites' Sapphire Touch allows ultrafast programming with two wide screen touch monitors offering a huge workspace area, and 45 motorised master faders.

"The console features a very

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Russia - German fibre network specialists, Optocore, has appointed Audio Solutions to distribute their products in Russia.

According to manager of the Pro Audio Department, Igor Kovalev, the 12-year-old Moscow-based company will be providing Optocore solutions to their two core markets: sound reinforcement (theatres, concert halls, live events) and broadcast.

In addition to their formal distribution arrangement with Optocore, Audio Solutions say they are also working on a major project, using sister company BroaMan solutions for delivering scalable customised solutions for clients requiring SD/HD/3G video routing.

Kovalev states that adding Optocore to the company's brand portfolio was an obvious step. "It represents a good price/performance ratio when compared with other brands, along with amazing flexibility / scalability and extremely high sound quality. It will allo

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UK - PLASA Media, sponsor of the PLASA Awards, has announced the shortlist of nominees for this year's prestigious Gottelier Award. The winner will be announced at the PLASA Show in London (5-8 October, ExCeL London).

Named in honour of the late Tony Gottelier, the industry innovator and commentator who passed away in 2006, the Gottelier Award is for our industry's product developers who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of entertainment, presentation or installation technology - whether in audio, lighting, rigging, staging, or any other related field.

The nominees for 2014 are:

Richard Belliveau

As one of the co-founders of Texas-based lighting manufacturer High End Systems, and still leading the company's product developments today, Belliveau has been behind a long line of successful products from the company, from the Color Pro,

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The Netherlands - A production of The Passion was attended by thousands in the northern city of Groningen earlier this year to see Dutch actors taking on the roles of Jesus, his disciples and others in the Easter story. Staged at the Viskmart in the heart of the town, the production began with a 6m long white neon cross carried from the Groningen FC soccer stadium all the way to the square.

Handling the lighting for the project was PRG EML Productions in Utrecht. Under direction of production manager Martijn Roosen, W-DMX was used to create a wireless link between the Viskmart stage and Martini Tower, a church nearly 700m away. The network distribution was based on Art-Net with nodes and switches from ELC Lighting.

Martijn said, "ELC Lighting is always my first port of call on any job. I have been using ELC products for over seven years now - in fact we use them as

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Indonesia - Indosiar Visual Mandiri (Indosiar) is an Indonesian national television station, operating in West Jakarta since 1994 that employs around 1,550 people and is a member of PT. Elang Mahkota Teknologi Indonesia (Emtek) - Indonesia's second largest media group. Currently, Indosiar is fully owned by Emtek's subsidiary, Surya Citra Media.

The station has a strong focus on cultural programming, such as a programmes dedicated to specific types of performance like wayang puppet theatre. Recently it has been broadening its horizons with reality shows, talk programmes and drama series'. For those reality shows and singing competitions a highly reliable and powerful lighting control solution was needed - a grandMA2.

Lighting designer Hadi Suroso specified a grandMA2 light: "Having used the console for the first time during the 2011 Southeast Asian Games in Palembang, it h

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UK - The library that supports Stardraw Design 7.1 has reached a new milestone, now containing more than 70,000 symbols representing products from over 700 manufacturers.

Stardraw's symbols library has been a work in progress for over 20 years. Since the advent of the Symbols Request service in 2002, Stardraw's specialist symbols department has received almost 13,000 product requests, of which 95% have been published. On average, the company receives around 100 product requests per month.

The result is that Stardraw's symbols portfolio represents the largest, high-quality graphical library available to the professional AV industry from a single source: all symbols are generated in-house by Stardraw's Symbols Department according to an established data specification. This means that regardless of the original data or what the symbols might represent, a qualitative standard is m

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India - On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the launch of the Genelec 8000 Series, KJ Singh, one of India's foremost audio engineers at work in the film and music industry, pays tribute to this popular monitor range.

One of the distinctive features of Indian cinema is the importance given to song and dance in the plots - it is what gives the films their unique flavour and a primary reason for their popularity. Maintaining this popularity requires continuing excellence in sound track and background score production of which the audio engineering process is a key element. One of the leading figures in the field is KJ Singh (Kanwarjit Singh Sawhney), a recipient of many major industry awards for his audio engineering work.

KJ Singh is based in Mumbai and has had long and fruitful working partnerships with many figures in the Indian film industry, including A. R. Rahmann, t

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UK - Taking its inspiration from the 2013 Pukkelpop Festival in Belgium, which saw the first deployment of Blueprint Events' SGM LT-200 3D mappable LED pixel tubes, Chris Morgan's company has now delivered what he believes to be the largest SGM tube matrix ever seen in the UK - at the high profile Creamfields 2014 in the north of England, over August Bank Holiday weekend

Working for The Events Company UK, who handled the rigging and design, Blueprint decorated Size Records' Size Matters 10-pole big top with 400 x LT-200 SGM tubes and 130 x ILD controllers - spread over three separate grids.

The pixel-mappable 2m-long graphic tubes, loaded with RGB LEDs at 35mm pixel pitch, was specifically designed for Saturday night headliner, the Greek-Swedish DJ/producer, Steve Angello (of Swedish House Mafia fame) and his 'Size Records' family.

Reports Chris Morgan, "The Events Comp

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Japan - New ELE Tokyo nightclub ELE has installed a lighting system featuring CHAUVET Professional used in a stunning fashion by LD Michael Meacham ofMIami-based iDesign Productions.

ELE instantly distinguished itself by offering what one reviewer described as "a classy alternative" to the typical late night club. At the same time, though, the club sizzles with EDM energy, featuring world class DJs and appearances by celebrities like Lady Gaga. Meacham's lighting design manages to highlight the elegance of the two-story club's architecture as well as its gold and silver decorating scheme, while also serving up a healthy dose of EDM attitude to its custom-designed DJ booth and dance floor.

"I designed the lighting so it became part of the club's architecture," said Meacham. "The lights work with the building's high-end features by doing things like wrap

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Denmark - In 2011, Danish waste management company Kara/Noveren set out to replace two furnaces with a state-of-the-art waste-to-energy incineration line. Three years later the incineration line, or more popularly referred to as The Energy Tower, stands tall on the skyline of the Danish City of Roskilde, ready for its opening this week with Martin Professional lighting fixtures.

Increasing demands to reduce Co2 emissions from fossil fuels calls for alternative energy production, and implementing a modern facility will allow Kara/Noveren to utilize the energy resources from residual waste that cannot otherwise be recycled. In line with Kara/Noveren's vision was for The Energy Tower to become a new Danish landmark. Naturally they wanted an energy efficient lighting solution to go with it so 112 Martin Exterior 410 fixtures and 78 Tripix 1200 LED strips were installed, controlled b

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Latvia - This summer saw lighting designer Paul Normandale team up with Latvian rental outfit Company NA to specify 24 VL3500 Wash and seven VL3015LT Spot luminaires as the lighting solution for Kings of Leon's sold-out open-air show in Riga.

Taking place in the 20,000-capacity Mezaparks Stage, the show was Kings Of Leon's debut in the region, with a design centred on a vast 21.6m by 10.8m LED video wall which displayed a mixture of pre-made content and live camera feeds.

"As the Kings wanted a large video element I needed to consider which luminaires would be able to stand up to it," explains Normandale. "It was an easy choice - the VL3500 Wash and VL3015LT Spot are exceptionally bright and were able to offer tangible light against the wall, with the added bonus of the VL3015LT Spot's long-throw application."

With the show being outdoors, the powerful Va

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Germany - After recently introducing a new series of 1Gbit Network Nodes, MA Lighting is now launching wall mounted PoE (power over Ethernet) versions of the 1Gbit MA 2Port Node and MA 4Port Node, allowing the conversion of Ethernet data into DMX or vice versa. These latest Network Nodes fit into the MA system and its high speed MA-Net2 protocol, ensuring maximum performance and network stability.

Optimised for installations applications, the wall mount (WM) nodes feature a rugged steel housing for long life even under harsh conditions. A 2" colour TFT-Display can be found at the front whilst all DMX connectors, the USB-connector, the menu button and the status LEDs are at the bottom of the housing for ergonomic operation.

All 1Gbit MA network Nodes are fully configurable from any of the grandMA2 consoles or grandMA2 onPC software. To achieve the highest flexibility, each

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Denmark - Martin Professional has released one of the biggest software releases ever in the new M-Series, version 3.4. This latest version of the M-Series software brings a lot of new features as well as tons of improvements to make the entire system faster, more accurate, responsive and more efficient, says the company.

One of the biggest changes is the introduction of the next phase of MaxNet. This custom designed network protocol allows full workstation synchronization and can be programmed and played back from any M-Series console or M-PC client on the network. MaxNet is a plug and play system with zero setup. It does not require special training or experience in IT networking and is very user friendly. Programming and even patching can happen without interrupting the network, allowing multiple playback consoles to operate while someone is editing the show.

The M-Series ca

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UK - Swamp-dwelling ogre Shrek and his ensemble of friends, enemies and fairytale characters are currently beguiling audiences throughout the UK and Ireland on an extensive tour of Shrek The Musical Stage Electrics is ensuring that green is not the only colour . . .

Coming direct from London, where it was seen live on stage by nearly a million people, Shrek The Musical UK and Ireland Tour opened in July at the Grand Theatre in Leeds and is currently on tour until September 2015. Stage Electrics has supplied lighting equipment for the tour, which has to achieve West End results with a more compact, tour-friendly rig.

Richard Bullimore is overall production manager; lighting design is by Hugh Vanstone and Matt Daw, with lighting programmer Chris Hirst. Fraser Hall is senior production electrician, with Stage Electrics' Chris Sims as hire co-ordinator for the projec

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UK - Jonathan Rouse's programming skills continue to be in high demand, working on shows as diverse as the 'X' Factor Live Tour, Sarah Brightman, Boyzone, Ed Sheeran, the Robbie Swings Both Ways tour and most recently the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. His console of choice is the grandMA2.

"I love grandMAs. It is such an intuitive desk; it is insanely powerful without overwhelming the operator, its user-centric interface is hands-down the best that's out there."

Since 2010, Rouse's talents have been seen on shows such as Diversity and Katherine Jenkins tours, television productions such as Let's Dance for Comic Relief, and further theatre productions including Richard III at the Old Vic and the 25th Anniversary of Phantom of the Opera. "I've been really lucky to have had such a divers

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USA - With launch of the new EZ Kling interface, Elation Professional has answered the need for better pixel mapping control. The EZ Kling is an RJ45 to DMX, Kling-Net and Art-Net interface that allows users to pixel map Kling-Net fixtures through the Kling-Net mapper, which is included in ArKaos's LED Master, Media Master Express and Media Master Pro software. EZ Kling also works via Art-Net, which allows for pixel mapping of any LED pixel-controllable DMX fixture. It provides a simpler and more effective way to create visuals via pixel mapping.

Suitable for use with Elation Flex Pixel Tape and LED pixel-controllable DMX fixtures, a single EZ Kling interface will drive up to 600 Flex Pixel Tape RGB pixels using Kling-Net control protocol or 170 DMX pixels via Art-Net/DMX control.

Basically, it can take any RGB / DMX fixture and let users control it via Kling-Net or Art-Net us

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Italy / Portugal - Fabiano Besio of LDR has announced a significant change in the distribution of its product with the appointment of NAN as distributor for the entire LDR line in Portugal.

NAN was founded in 1995 with the mission to provide professional solutions for the entertainment industry. The company is a leader in the Portuguese market, offering full AVL solutions for the professional entertainment industry. With effect from August 2014, the agreement is aimed at reinforcing the presence of LDR in the country by offering local stock availability and direct support through the NAN's wide sales network.

"NAN and LDR share the same passion and attention to customer needs; moreover, we are grateful that NAN will continue to cooperate with all the companies that have contributed to the success of LDR products in Portugal," says Besio.

"We came to this agree

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Norway - The long-standing Drammens Theatre in Norway has recently replaced its entire stock of LED washlights with the multiple award-winning Clay Paky A.Leda B-EYE K20 fixture in a recent bid to modernise the venue's technological offering. The 200-year old theatre was privy to a special demonstration of the fixture's capabilities, organised by Clay Paky's official Norwegian distributor Elektrik Solutions.

"The client absolutely fell in love with the B-EYE K20 from the second they saw it," says Elektrik Solutions' project manager Peter Nilssen. "Altogether they decided to purchase 20 fixtures. As is the case with every client, the Drammens theatre team were very impressed by the B-EYE's notable amount of macros that make it easier to work with than similar products on the market. They were also excited by the possibility of pixel-mapping the fixture's LEDs."

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Germany - With his reputation for piloting the lighting at two of Europe's leading electronic music festivals - the German extravaganzas Mayday and Nature One - Thomas Gerdon is in high demand. The latter gave him the chance to use GLP's new large-format impression X4 XL for the first time in addition to the impression X4 fixtures at a sold-out event attended by 72,000 people.

In charge of the main open air floor design, Thomas Gerdon has been involved with Nature One since 2002 "We really work closely to the music, tight to the beat." He says. "We don't run timecode - everything is operated live and we can just freestyle and follow the music." Gerdon already had 64 X4 heads incorporated into the stage design, but says, "I really wanted the X4 XL to complete the design."

The X4 series lights were mounted on the open air stage floor for effect ligh

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UK - Blackburn-based lighting and visuals specialist HSL renewed its long standing working relationship with Massive Attack supplying a floor package to the European leg of the band's 2014 summer tour which kicked off in Sofia and Istanbul and played a series of headline shows and festivals.

HSL project manager Mike Oates comments, "You can rely on Massive Attack shows being provocative, different and innovative ... and this was no exception. It's almost like a piece of installation art - a production and a team with whom we are always happy to collaborate."

Lighting was designed by Tim Oliver who has worked with Massive Attack for several years, the last three as lighting designer. His starting point for lighting was the visuals set up with is vital to any Massive Attack live performance, which for this tour comprised a set of upstage rotating horizontal screens, a

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