USA - Wilmington, Delaware-based Main Light Industries Inc, inventor of the patented Lightscape fibre optic curtain, has announced the release of its new Soft-LED dynamic drapery. To create Soft-LED, the company has incorporated a full colour LED array to its Lightscape curtain. The Soft-LED dynamic drapery allows audiences to enjoy a familiar fibre optic star field background, and then be blown away by full-colour graphics and low-res video images that seem to appear from nowhere, say Main Light.
Soft-LED takes advantage of Color Kinetics' next-generation Chromasic LED control technology, which allows precise control of the individual RGB LED sources. The Soft-LED dynamic drapery is compact, lightweight and easy to pack at the end of the show - especially when compared to other LED display technologies, say the company. Soft-LED systems are available specifically packaged for t
UK - A co-development between the Le Mark Group and the Technical & Production Arts Department of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) picked up the Widget of the Year Award at the recent ABTT Show in London.
Le Mark was presented with the award for the CAD Tag system, a simple but effective means of high level printed identification for all types of flown equipment. It utilizes a special self-adhesive tape that bonds rigid PVC laminates to form a printed 'tag' that can be secured directly to all types of lighting bars and trussing.
Commenting on the award, Le Mark's Stuart Gibbons said that the system was seen as a major breakthrough in visual awareness, both in terms of load safety and the positioning of flown equipment.
Denmark - Mach Speakers has launched a new installation series of speakers, and the first in the new range are ready to hit the market. The new series, the C-Range, embraces more than just incomparable sound quality however. Co-designed by contractors for contractors, the C-Range is a breakthrough in installation speaker design and extraordinarily easy installation.
Mach says the new range has improved sound quality, as well as other improvements such as reduced speaker size, improved functionality, ease of installation, reduced service time, increased flexibility, and improved speaker strength. Advances have also been made in range and distortion levels, say Mach, and overall speaker design has been updated, while the cabinets are available in a wide range of colours.
The CN-7 and CN-8 have been specifically developed for natural sound reproduction in near field applications
UK - Pure Distribution, a division of Stirling Audio, has recently supplied theatrical productions around Europe with the 1788 eight-channel remote-controlled microphone preamplifier, manufactured by Aphex Systems.
Chris Full, from rental company Autograph Sound Recording, chose the 1788 microphone preamp for its reliability, features and multi-channel capabilities. Several units are in use on the UK and European tour of Fosse, the Tony Award-winning musical. The Aphex 1788 are in addition to the original system design by Jonathan Deans, and have been specified to accommodate all orchestra microphones, offering extra mic inputs on the front-of-house mixing desk. Another critically-acclaimed musical, We Will Rock You, also made use of the Aphex preamp. This time the 1788 was on the Madrid production, working with four Neumann microphones in an off-stage vocal booth,
USA - According to the manufacturers the new CA-8F Easy Foot controller gives hands free control of lighting by providing DMX-512 control via three (stand by, function, mode) pedals. The CA-8F is designed for all lights that work with Chauvet CA-8 or CA-6 Easy controllers including the LegendTM moving yokes and scanners Trackscan TM, IntimidatorTM and InsigniaTM. The controller features a five-pin output to a 1/4-inch jack and is sold with a cable.
Italy - A new Class-H topology style technology has allowed RCF to manufacture the ED series of amplifiers using SMD technology which greatly reduces the number of components used, whilst still offering top class performances. The Ed series produces slew rates of 50 V/µs and high-end extended dynamic sound. The high efficiency of the ED series enables maximum efficiency with low heat generation.
The 2U amplifiers at 2 x 300W for the ED 600 or 2 x 550W for the ED1100 respectively into 4-ohms are equipped complete with temperature-controlled fan cooling, all common protective circuits such as over-temperature, short circuit, RFI and soft start. The integral soft clip limiter protects against damage to the connected loudspeakers, the activity of a protective circuit, signal and limiter are shown for each channel by LED's. Connections are provided as follows: Inputs are with two X
USA - CITC, creator of the Award-winning SnoBiz biodegradable snow and the original soundproofed snow machine, the Little Blizzard SP, has announced two new members of the Little Blizzard family, the Little Blizzard Junior and the Little Blizzard Basic.
The Junior measures just 13" x 8" x 6", weighs 10lbs, and has an on/off remote control. Stephany Crawford, the VP of CITC, says that the unit is an ideal snow effect for parties, school proms, and company celebrations. The Little Blizzard Basic is 20" x 11" x 9" and weighs 24lbs. It includes a bracket for hanging, has a two speed motor, and variable output. Both machines come in either 110V 60Hz or 230V 50Hz.
USA - ETC has announced the release of version 1.8.0 software for its Emphasis lighting control system. The release is part of the ETCNet2 Version 4 Suite, compatible and interoperable with other Net2 products. Emphasis v1.8.0 includes many new features, including added support for moving lights like ETC's Source Four Revolution.
This release boasts Dynamic Effects, allowing the user to quickly create complex effects such as ballyhoos, figure eights, colour and iris chases for moving lights, using a combination of fixture lists, dynamic templates and editable parameters. The new Source Four Revolution library files and dedicated encoder setup option will make Revolution set-up even easier, say ETC.
The new Emphasis Offline Editor (EOE) v.1.8.0 runs on a PC and provides the ability to edit show files offline. EOE does not require a Wysiwyg dongle, so anyone can use it. Wysiwyg
USA - US manufacturer Light Stream Controls (LSC) has announced that it is re-branding its lighting controllers under the name of its affiliated Elation Professional division. All LSC controllers will now bear the Elation brand name in every market where the products are sold.
The name change was implemented in light of the growing popularity its controllers have enjoyed in Europe, Australia and other areas of the world where the Elation brand is known, according to Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies, the parent company of both LSC and Elation Professional.
LSC controllers are being marketed internationally by the same distributors, to the same customers, as our Elation lighting products, so it makes sense that they should have the same brand identity," commented Davies. "This is especially true because the Elation name has become so
UK - Olmec Advanced Materials, based in Sheffield, has introduced a new product to the lighting design world. Surelight Super Bright wire is an innovative new way of providing illumination for TV, Cinema, and the Theatre industry. Surelight Super Bright is a low voltage; flexible wire, providing a 360° light source available in all the colours of the rainbow including white.
Recent users include Scottish Opera for special effect lighting on its productions of Magic Flute, The Ring Cycle, Aida and Minotaur. Ian Irvine, lighting manager at Scottish Opera said: "Surelight was a phenomenal success, we would never have been able to illuminate the stage, costumes or props in the way intended without Surelight and we keep finding new ways to use it."
London's National Theatre used Surelight for its highly successful production of Philip Pullman's novel His
UK / Japan - Asahi Kasei Microsystems Co. Ltd. (AKM) a leading supplier of audio ICs for professional and consumer markets, recently introduced a new Class-D two-channel modulator generating 110dB signal-to-noise ratio. The AK4730 marks AKM's first entry into the high-power amplifier world and is aimed at both professional and consumer products.
AKM's AK4730 exceeds Class-AB performance with Class-D efficiency. The input to AK4730 is digital and supports two-channel, 192kHz sampling. The chip combines a two-channel PWM modulator with pre-driver circuitry for external MOSFETs. Unlike other solutions that use two voltage levels for modulation (H-Bridge), AKM's Class D products utilize an advanced multi-reference E-Bridge architecture that achieves higher linearity and SNR performance for audio playback with fidelity closer to the original sound.
USA - American DJ has introduced the new Reflex 300. An updated version of its popular Reflex dual moonflower effect, the Reflex 300 uses two high-powered 150W lamps to create significantly brighter, more vibrant colours as it bounces, bends and reflects an array of beams from its twin scanning mirrors, say American DJ.
A modern, high-tech case joins together the two moonflowers of the Reflex 300. Two rotating mirrors - one on each side of the unit - reflect light beams from the 150W lamps and project 'twin' multi-dichroic colour patterns over a wide area. The beams themselves rotate to the beat of the music, resulting in even wilder pulsating movement. Another major improvement in the Reflex 300, say the company, is that it has no duty cycle and can run continuously all night. A high-velocity fan whisks heat away from the unit, so there's never any need to shut down to cool.
USA - Production and lighting designer Nathan Wilson is making full use of one of the first NEV8 systems on tour with Blink-182. Diagonal Research's NEV8 System allows Wilson, an account manager for the ArtFag design partnership, to control true video hardware using lighting control technology, without the need for a computer-based media server. "It's the best way to control the video that we've found," said Wilson. "We can speed clips up, slow them down, take it to negative and a host of other effects. Best of all, we have direct access to the drives."
Without any rehearsal time before the first show in Mexico, pre-visualization of both lighting and video was essential to the success of the initial shows. In order to achieve this, Diagonal Research's own WYSIWYG studio in Newbury Park, California, was utilized. This allowed for the pre-visualization of lig
USA - Color Kinetics Incorporated (CKI), the US manufacturer of solid-state lighting systems, today introduced iColor MR g2 - an intelligent, colour-changing lamp that applies the latest high-power LEDs to generate saturated bursts of colour from most standard MR16 fixtures and sockets. A higher intensity evolution of Color Kinetics' iColor MR, the compact lamp facilitates both new and retrofit installations - bringing the benefits of solid-state light sources to existing installations.
iColor MR g2 is well suited for wide-ranging applications that call for highly efficient light sources that can generate saturated colour and customizable effects, including architectural, display and retail environments where MR16 fixtures and track lighting are commonly used. With its higher output and wider beam distribution, iColor MR g2 extends the design possibilities of its predecessor fro
USA - Lighthouse Technologies has announced the availability of Supervisor LH, a state-of-the-art display optimizer specifically designed to convert a wide range of input formats into resizable content to fit any shape of LED video display.
The first product of its kind to be offered in the LED display market, the Supervisor LH accepts both digital and analogue formats, including standard and high-definition television and computer graphics, to create digital content for LED display screens and panels. Ideal for rental, staging and fixed installations, the Supervisor LH features an intuitive user interface, illuminated display and front panel, easy access to connectors, convenient carrying handles and rear connector protection and a lightweight aluminum chassis.
"As the content platforms and technology evolves, Lighthouse has taken steps to offer a solution that would si
UK - Lighting Effects Distribution consolidate its new relationship with UK LED manufacturer, Solar, by announcing the release of nine new products. As UK distributors, L.E.D. showcased the new products at last month's Bar.04 Show at Earls Court in preparation for full-scale distribution to the club, bar and 'architainment' markets.
The new product range features an expanded series of architectural products, including light strips, IP68-rated M80's, MR16 lamps and uplighters, featuring the latest in intelligent driver systems and high-brightness Luxeon LED's. The range also includes a series of recessed up/downlighters, wall washers and in-ground walkover lights. Most of the Solar product range is available in both colour change and single colour options, and offer varying optical spreads.
Already with heavy penetration of the bar, nightclub and retail markets, L.E.D. sales ma
USA - Techni-Lux of Orlando recently announced that it is now able to offer the popular industry standard WYSIWYG software, Console Edition version, bundled with its SGM Regia consoles and the ShowCad Artist PC based lighting control system.
This Console edition version of WYSIWYG will allow an operator to fully visualize their lighting system through an Ethernet connected computer, using no additional hardware. ShowCad Artist also allows operation of the lights within the same computer as CE, giving a full visualizer, for all in one use. Also available is an upgrade price to those who would like to add further WYSIWYG functionality to their systems.
"We felt that it was important to offer a first class visualizer with our products and wanted one that could be common through all of our lines", states Alex Gonzalez, Techni-Lux's vice president. The SGM Regia consoles,
UK - Proel's NEXT range of speakers, launched earlier this year, has now arrived in the UK and is starting to cut a significant slice of the cake for portable PA speakers, Proel (International) recently reorted.
The NEXT series represents Proel's first move into the plastic enclosure market, using sturdy polypropylene boxes fitted with the sort of quality loudspeakers usually found in more expensive ply enclosures. The result, the company says, is an exceptionally clean and dynamic sound. The speakers used include a 12" neodymium custom-designed and manufactured LF unit, fitted with an aluminium diecast basket, which enables exceptional power delivery. High frequencies are handled by a 1" compression driver mated to a 900 x 600 horn.
Powered models in the NEXT range are fully bi-amped and fitted with custom crossovers and electronic protection. They also feature onbo
Canada - Adamson Systems Engineering has announced the release of the SpekTrix Sub, designed as a companion to the SpekTrix compact line array cabinet. This is the first Adamson enclosure to introduce 'Convertible Cardioid Technology', and is a single-sided box that can be arrayed conventionally (all facing the same way) or can be arrayed in back-to-front pairs for true cardioid performance.
The SpekTrix Sub provides high SPL extended bass and is equipped with two powerful AW18 Kevlar low frequency drivers mounted in a tuned, vented enclosure. The cabinet is fully braced to minimize LF resonance and maximize efficiency. Four NL8 connectors (two front, two back) enable easy cable loop-thru regardless of the sub's orientation.
The Adamson Integrated Rigging system makes set-up quick and easy, and is comprised of four sets of captured, precision-machined, spring-loaded rigging ha
UK - Kelsey Acoustics Ltd, having recently been appointed UK distributor for Furman Sound, has begun to actively market the company's new Series II SMP (Series Mode Protection) power conditioners.
The main focus will be on the upgraded Series II products and in particular, the PL-8E where LED lamps have now replaced the old filament bulbs. In addition to Furman's new SMP technology, the product also features Linear Filter Technology (LiFT), providing highly-advanced transient voltage surge suppression. Kelsey's marketing director, Michael Whiteside, commented: "This is a real wedge of sophisticated surge and noise protection. It uses a non-sacrificeable part which stores the energy and dissipates it as heat."
Another high priority for Kelsey is the AR2306 Line Volt Regulator, which can handle up to six amps in just 1U of rack space. Additional versions are the 15-am
Denmark - Martin Architectural's Exterior Inground 200 Series is a durable range of IP 65/67-rated inground luminaires that represents a breakthrough for its ability to integrate colour-changing technology into a standard uplight luminaire. Designed for all terrains and weather, the Inground 200 offers high-performance tools for dynamic uplight illumination of facades, columns, structures, trees and landscapes.
The series offers three different colour systems for applications of varying complexity: firstly, Single Colour - designed as a simple means to creating colourful lighting schemes, the single colour system lets you choose any colour from a collection of 40 dichroic filters. Custom colours are also available. The single-colour system also provides manual intensity control for fine-tuned illumination. Secondly, Six Colours - offers a programmable colour-changing system, wit
Australia - ARX Systems announces the release of the new ARX Compo compressor/limiter, designed for use in the most demanding professional audio dynamics control applications. The Compo can be used in two different and unique modes of operation: In two channel mode, it performs as two independent compressor/limiters, with 'industry standard' variable Threshold, Ratio and Output gain controls. In stereo mode, our New Adaptive Stereo Link circuitry provides increased stereo imaging accuracy when linking both channels as a stereo pair. In either mode, the Compo features true analog computer based Program Dependant attach and release time constants and switchable 'Enhance' function, which provides frequency restoration to preserve the spectral balance of the audio signal, compensating for the sagging Low and High frequency response of compressed program material operating as a 'smart'
Sweden - W-DMX is a new wireless DMX system developed by Wireless Solution AB in Sweden. Currently, most systems for sending wireless DMX transpose the data on to a proprietary standard such 802.11 (W-LAN) and use compliant wireless equipment for the data transmission. There are inherent problems associated with this method though, interference from other competing local wireless networks including Bluetooth equipment is one problem and the user often has to go to the trouble of setting up IP and Netmask settings in order to make the system function. However, the W-DMX is a compact, plug and play unit with a competitive price, and more importantly, free from interference from other products in the 2.45GHz band.
Using the well-established mobile telephone GSM technology in the 2.45GHz licence-free band, the W-DMX avoids many of the problems associated with ordinary wireless netw
Denmark - Martin Professional has made available the first module in a new Wing System for its Maxxyz lighting control desk that expands the console's functionality and gives users the ability to customize and add more direct access. An adaptable Playback Wing, the first of several Wing Modules to be made available, expands the direct playback access of Maxxyz by three times, and allows the Maxxyz operator to navigate through even more quickly.
The Playback Wing consists of two Playback Modules in one frame, adding 20 motorized faders with 20 customizable LCD buttons and extending the playback capabilities of Maxxyz. The Playback Wing also includes 10 additional LCD buttons, also customizable for easy navigation, plus 40 conventional buttons - more advanced features than competitive equivalents, according to Martin.
The Wing System's modular design is freely configurable, all