UK - The 41st edition of PLASA Show - the worldwide event for live entertainment technologies (16-18 September) - opened the doors of London Olympia this morning along with Platinum Sponsor Robe, Silver Sponsor Infinity and Hawthorn as Technical Sponsor. The atmosphere is tangible as exhibitors and visitors waste no time in browsing new products and discussing industry trends. 200+ brands are present representing each sector across the live events and entertainment spectrum, and the seminar programme is brimming with expert sessions and enlivening talks. Plus, the all new Hands-on Rigging Area and Rigging Theatre are welcoming both aspirational and seasoned riggers. “After months of hard work, the team and I are excited to see PLASA Show 2018 in action”, says PLASA managing director Peter Heath. “Many of our industry’s leading brands are here with their iconi
USA - ADJ Group has apppointed MI veteran Raul Resendiz as product specialist for ADJ Lighting. Raul will work directly with company staff, dealers and end users with ADJ’s growing line of technical products in ADJ Products, American Audio, and Accu-Cable. Southern California native, Resendiz, has been in the MI industry nearly two decades in roles as technical specialist, field trainer and sales manager at Guitar Center, M-Audio, PreSonus, and most recently at Roland USA. Not only does he know the technical side of the audio business, but he’s also immersed himself in DMX lighting programming and installation. With his vast knowledge of audio and lighting, Resendiz is excited to take on new heights in AVL at ADJ Lighting. Resendiz’s primary responsibilities will be to work hand-in-hand with ADJ’s sales and R&D departments to help train staff members, regi
UK - Industry veteran Chris Hale has joined Chauvet as its new UK product specialist. Prior to joining Chauvet, Chris was the senior product specialist for Martin Professional UK. During his 23 years with that company and its predecessors, Chris worked with lighting products utilised in the touring, theatre, broadcast and film markets. “Chris is a valuable addition to our team,” comments Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “He has a broad and deep understanding of many different lighting applications. We’re confident he will be able to make good contributions to Chauvet as we continue to expand and serve more markets with our products.” Working out of Chauvet’s UK office, Chris is involved primarily in the company’s professional product range. “We feel there is an excellent match-up between Chris’s experience and our company’s mission,” says Michael
UK - Elation Professional is introducing TwinkLED, a new and innovative LED lens design offering creative layers of powerful light beams and elegant lens illumination. TwinkLEDs offers a prominent, patent-pending LED pixel effect using dedicated high-brightness pixels inside large front lenses to provide additional layers of creativity for the lighting designer. Shown on stand H40 for the first time anywhere is an all new visual effect - the Rayzor 760, a compact yet extremely powerful LED wash effects luminaire and the first fixture to feature Elation’s the TwinkLED system. With a wide zoom range from 8° to 77°, the Rayzor 760 provides intense and well-defined mid-air beams with over 8000 lumens, as well as an exceptionally wide and even wash coverage. The Rayzor 760 is also available in a compact and lightweight weather and dust protected IP65 version, the Prot
UK - ADB will highlight its Lexpert LED range, introduce a new theatrical washlight, and demo a version 2.0 of its Hathor lighting software. Part of the Lexpert family, the Lexpert Profile Spot and Fresnel lights feature white-LED solutions for replacing 1KW halogen lamps. The series includes the compact and versatile Lexpert Emphasy. The Oksalis is a static LED washlight for theatre, which provides control over the quality of all forms of white and coloured light. It is based on HCR (High Colour Rendering) technology, a LED light module consisting of six chips and share the same light technology of the ADB Klemantis. Together, they form a product line able to provide a very wide colour range with an extraordinary colour spectrum coverage, and different shapes and light distributions. The asymmetric cyclight Klemantis will also be on show. Extensions to the Klem
UK - Chroma-Q's new Studio Force II and Brute Force high intensity tuneable white LED fixtures will make their show debut alongside the Vista 3 by Chroma-Q lighting & media control system at PLASA 2018. The Studio Force II high intensity tuneable white wash light uses a homogenised LED source capable of delivering variable colour temperature, plus/minus green shift control and the ability to produce deep saturated colours when needed. It is ideal for TV Broadcast, film and other situations demanding high quality tuneable white light. The Brute Force LED alternative to a quarter ‘Wendy’ light was developed and rigorously tested in a variety of ‘real world’ scenarios to ensure optimal functionality across many indoor and outdoor applications; to create a true LED full colour RGB-W lamphead that draws just 15 amps @ 240V. Robustly designed, it has an extended
UK - At PLASA 2018, Claypaky will debut the new Axcor Profile 600 and Axcor Profile 400 LED profile spotlights, part of the company’s Axcor family. Featuring a 500W white LED engine, the Axcor Profile 600 stands out for its versatility, high level of performance and the superior quality of its light. According to Claypaky, the unit’s luminous efficiency is among the highest for this power category, and can be further increased by about a quarter if necessary thanks to ‘boost mode’. The Axcor Profile 400 has a compact body (65cm/25½in high) and is packed with advanced lighting, mechanical and electronic features. The Axcor 300 series comprise three powerful yet compact moving LED lights - the Axcor Spot 300, the Axcor Beam 300 and the Axcor Wash 300. With a physical size, power consumption and price-point that disguise their strength and creative potentia
UK - Data Strategy has reported that the first QC-Check workstation delivered to White Light (WL), incorporating the Out Board PAT-4 tester, is now fully employed in testing distros, power cables and electrical appliances. Furthermore, integration with inspHire, WL’s comprehensive rental software, has been completed providing a live update of the hire stock’s status. The deal between White Light and Data Strategy was announced earlier this year. Delivered in June, White Light received the first Data Strategy ‘660’ QC-Check workstation, incorporating the new configuration built for Data Strategy by long-standing partner, Datchet-based SES. The single bay ‘660’ is named for its width and provides significantly more room for test connectors whilst retaining the mobility of a 19” rack format. When Power-Check (the QC-Check distro testing module) is added to the pac
UK - White Light has been appointed as one of a group of ‘master dealers’ in the UK for the High End Systems’ Hog 4 family of products. The full range includes Hog 4, Full Boar 4 and Road Hog 4, and smaller lightweight consoles,Hoglet 4 and HedgeHog 4. All products comprise of matching intuitive and powerful operating system software for seamless compatibility and control. WL’s Stuart Porter, comments: “Having worked as a freelance programmer in the entertainment industry for many years, I am impressed by how the Hog 4 Family Software has continued to move forward. This is a great time for me to join WL as their dedicated Hog Product Manager and reinforce WL’s dedication to this product.” Associate regional sales manager Jeremy Roberts, states: “It is great to have WL as a ‘master dealer’ for the Hog4 Console line and particularly to have such
USA - Sooner Routhier and Robert Long of SRae Productions are behind the production design for Halsey’s Hopeless Fountain Kingdom world tour, with Ashley Frangipane (Halsey) herself the show’s creative director. 54 Robe Spiider LED wash beams, a new investment by DCR Nashville, lighting vendors for the US legs of the tour, are a vital part of the lighting rig. The tour started in autumn 2017, and SRae submitted their initial proposals in May of last year. At the start, Halsey suggested a Romeo & Juliet-esque romantic look, so original versions of the set were based on this. However, once SRae began to also design promo and award show performances, an alternative approach evolved. When it came to specifying lighting kit for the tour, lighting director on the road Craig Rutherford - who has worked with Halsey in this role since the latter stages of t
UK - Lighting and rigging specialist TSL Lighting has announced the appointment of respected head rigger Ali Morris to the team as rigging project manager. Morris brings a wealth of rigging experience to TSL, having worked in the live events industry since the mid-90s. His work has encompassed many disciplines, from theatre, television and rock & roll to festivals, sports, corporate and political events, both in the UK and abroad. During the 2012 Olympics, he looked after the rigging of specialist cameras in many of the venues across London including both vertical and horizontal tracks in the iconic Aquatic Centre. He has also served as head rigger at Glastonbury, Wireless and V Festivals, supervising the main stages. His most recent challenge involved touring a 4.5t custom built gantry crane for Matthew Bourne’s new production of The Red Shoes.
UK - The ProLights family of fixtures will be represented on the A.C. Entertainment Technologies stand, E30, at PLASA 2018 taking place on 16-18 September at London Olympia. ProLights will also launch new indoor and IP65-rated lighting and video solutions. Highlights include the PLASA Awards for Innovation-nominated Panorama IP WBX - an IP65 LED Moving Wash Light ideal for temporary outdoor events, the RA3000 - a 1000W fully featured moving LED profile, and the Eclipse family of theatrical LED luminaires. The Panorama IP WBX leads the extensive ProLights IP65 family, which includes Pars, Blinders, Battens, Strobes and Moving Lights all designed for temporary outdoor use for events and festivals. Increasing the creative options for outdoor shows, the ProLights OmegaPIX 3.9 is an IP65 modular LED screen with a 3.9mm pitch which delivers stunning image qualit
UK - After previewing its new Hyperion LED series earlier this year, Spotlight will showcase a six-colour Fresnel, six-colour profile and warm white Fresnel with new software at PLASA 2018, taking place at London Olympia on 16-18 September. In addition, the company will debut its tuneable white profile. Developed to celebrate 50 years of the brand's innovation, the Hyperion series has been expressly designed to meet the most discerning requirements of professional users, both for the quantity and the quality of the light output. The Hyperion six-colour LED technology adds amber, cyan and lime alongside RGB, for a wider choice of even colour-mixing, a colour temperature range from 2,700K to 8,000K, and colour rendering up to 97. As a result, it gives designers increased creative possibilities to achieve their artistic vision. The Hyperion range of Fresnels and Zoom Pro
UK - Lighting designers draw their inspiration from a variety of sources. Sometimes it may be the artwork on a client’s album. At others, the spark comes from the lyrics of a hit song. Simon Horn’s captivating design for Anastacia’s Evolution Tour grew out of the name of the tour itself, as is evidenced by the DNA-shaped double helix set pieces that run across the back of the stage. Like the evolutionary process, Horn’s design has been adaptive, allowing him to maintain the look of his show as the tour moves through a wide variety of venues, often incorporating house lights into its rig. Key to this flexibility has been his ChamSys MagicQ MQ500 Stadium console. “We started as a full production tour at theatres and small arena venues, then went to a mix of shows, including multi-band festivals this summer, often working with locally supplied rigs,” says Ho
Germany - As part of a spectacular and very emotional staged event at the Meyer shipyard in Papenburg, the first LPG-powered cruise ship, the AIDAnova, received its formal baptism. At the same time, this marked the world premiere of the full production version of GLP’s new KNV system. At first only heartbeats were heard, then powerful lasers drew the contours of the gigantic ship into the pitch-black night. Light and lasers combined to slowly bring the 337m long and 70m high ship to life. The backbone of the imposing, and slowly revealing staging, which culminated in a golden firework display, was formed by a matrix consisting of 300 GLP KNV modules. These had been placed at irregular intervals on the balcony railings of AIDAnova. The Berlin artist collective phase7, based around director Sven Sören Beyer, had already inspired the general public and professionals al
Europe - To support the growth of Luxibel, AED has announced the appointment of Damon Crisp as the new international sales manager for the Luxibel brand and for the VMB Show Lift. Damon's wealth of industry knowledge and contacts spans almost 30 years. Recently he has been running his own UK distribution company (DAC Pro-Media LTD) and prior to this he was managing director of Numark Alesis Europe LTD (now In-Music Group). Damon comments: "I have watched over the past decade the incredible growth and achievements of AED group. It is with this unique insight that it was clear to me that any development of own brand products would be as a result of demands requested from our vast rental business. It was an easy decision for me to join AED. They understand and know that dedicated and unique products are the future. It is for this reason that I wanted to be part of this e
World - Chroma-Q, who recently acquired and rebranded the Jands Vista lighting & media control system, has released the long-anticipated Vista 3 software, which introduces a large number of new features and improvements. After receiving extensive user feedback, Vista 3 has been developed to dramatically enhance existing functionality and introduce an array of intelligent new features that appeal to both existing and new users. Some of the new features include the ability to merge multiple showfiles, a new colour engine that supports up to 11 colours, improved 2D fixture visualisations, customisable workspaces, a vastly expanded command line interface, and Smart FX masters. These features all contribute to improving the entire user experience in creating and delivering fantastic looking shows, in addition to making the software even more intuitive to those users wh
New Zealand - There are plenty of jokes about changing light bulbs, but they usually don’t involve 80 fittings. However, that was the brief for Nick Abel and Mike Jones, the managing directors of New Zealand’s LS Group, when they were contacted by the management of Auckland’s Victory Convention Centre. The Centre is a house of worship that also features a timber-lined 2,200-seat, tiered auditorium, which is often used for concerts, conferences, symposiums, small exhibitions and expos. “They approached us late last year to look at options to upgrade their house lighting systems to LED from the old incandescent system, which was installed in the Eighties when the Centre was built,” says Nick. “We did some research and modelling and went back to them with a few different options using the Chroma-Q Inspire multi-purpose creative lighting range. It was th
UK - Burnley-based portable power distribution equipment supplier Bates Box is marking the first six months of trading and its latest order for one of its bespoke and innovative power distribution boxes. Entertainment industry specialists Nitelites ordered a tailor-made power distribution box to be used for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications. Bates Box offers a lightweight and efficient power distribution solution for a variety of applications across many sectors, including TV & film, catering, theatre and construction. Their weather resistant and stackable boxes can provide a multitude of outlets in a single unit, made from recycled material. Paul Bates, Bates Box founder, comments: “It’s been a fantastic six months for the business and we’re seeing great demand for Bates Boxes in a variety of sectors including, events, automotive, TV & f
USA - An annual tradition since the early 20th century, the burning of Zozobra during the Fiestas de Santa Fe is said to make all concerns and worries go up in smoke, giving everyone a fresh new start. “Zozobra is all about burning gloom away,” said John Garberson of Creative BackStage, which lit the August 31 ceremony at Santa Fe’s Fort Marcy Ballpark and Magers Field with help from Chauvet Professional Maverick and Rogue fixtures. This year, however, there was also plenty of gloom in the skies. Severe thunderstorms pounded Santa Fe during the hot late summer evening, forcing organizers to move the burning of the 50’ high marionette effigy up by 15 minutes during a clearing between two storm cells. Still, “old man gloom,” dressed in 1960s hippie garb, went up in flames over a half-hour period before the 62,460 who had gathered in the park. The inclement w
UK - The PLASA Show will open its doors this weekend (16-18 September) at London Olympia. The trade show will feature hundreds of brands across the show floor as it prepares to welcome thousands of entertainment technology professionals. Audio heavyweights L-Acoustics, Bose and Yamaha, and lighting pioneers Robe, DTS, ETC and Philips will all be present on the show floor and the seminar programme promises to deliver in-depth sessions across a wide range of topics. Product highlights Elation will be showcasing the Smarty Hybrid, their new LED lighting fixture. MA Lighting is showcasing its grandMA3 lighting console. Robe is launching a new product as well as showing its RoboSpot Multi Device Control. Robert Juliat will reveal new additions to its Dalis range. Prolight Concepts is bringing the all-weather Endura and Evora series from elu
Dutch rental company Ampco Flashlight Rentals has invested in Ayrton Ghibli and Ayrton MagicPanelFX fixtures for its rental stock to meet the rising demands of its customers. This is the first time the company has purchased Ayrton fixtures for its inventory. “Ampco Flashlight works in the live performance, theatre, broadcast and corporate markets and these Ayrton fixtures fit well into any of these environments,” says Ampco Flashlight CEO & CCO, Dennis van der Haagen. “Their versatile features and adaptability mean they also complement our existing rental portfolio well.” Ghibli is Ayrton’s first factory-equipped fixture with a 100% framing system, and an impressive 23,000 lumen output from a 600W source, with an incredible 80% efficiency that makes it powerful enough for large scale arenas.
UK - Elation Professional will show visitors to PLASA 2018 a range of innovative lighting tools with real impact that continues Elation’s efforts to bring innovation and best-in-class ROI products to the market. Lighting professionals will have the opportunity to see the company’s newest innovations September 16-18 at PLASA Stand H40 at Olympia in West London. Elation will be showcasing the Smarty Hybrid, a full-featured spot, beam and wash fixture and the most compact CMY colour mixing hybrid Elation has released to date. At the heart of the fixture is a new Platinum lamp using FLEX technology which offers a "smartly” designed discharge lamp/ballast package (6,000 hour lamp life) for high output (14,000 lumens) performance at an efficient and affordable price point. The lamp is dimmable and power to the lamp is reduced when not in use. Features include motorize
UK - City Theatrical will be demonstrating new technology on stand H50 at Plasa 2018 in London’s National Hall, Olympia from 16-18 September. Live demonstrations include bright and flexible QolorFLEX NuNeon, linear lighting, plug and play QolorPIX pixel control, ultimate colour blending and control with QolorFLEX 5-in-1 LED Tape and Dimmers, troubleshooting with DMXcat Multi Function Test Tool, and a preliminary look at revolutionary Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM products before they hit the market. While there, meet and greet Andy Voller, the creator and developer of Moving Light Assistant and learn more about other lighting software available from City Theatrical. QolorFLEX NuNeon is a flexible and bright sealed LED linear lighting product that can be used to replace traditional neon lighting. Up to 80% more flexible than similar products, QolorFLEX NuNeon was
