Sweden - Blackmagic Design reports that its technology has been instrumental in allowing the creators behind ReaktLive.com to stream performances direct to audiences from its own platform.
Based out of the former EMI/Abbey Road Stockholm studio, the live content experience has built its live video capabilities around the Blackmagic URSA Min Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and Micro Studio Camera 4K with the support of Scandinavian Photo.
The full-service streaming studio and broadcast company features a studio design with six small, discreet cameras on robotic rails and jibs, reveals co-founder Nicolas Notini. “The purpose of automation for us was to ensure artists and creators have far fewer distractions and can just ‘do what they do’ more easily.
“With our background as professional musicians, this is how we feel it works, and looks, best. After a few mi

Germany - Singer-songwriter David Vidano would have imagined the launch date for his debut album Slo-Mo to be something different. However, on the release date itself, the world was in the middle of a pandemic that did not treat young artists particularly kindly.
The tour had to be postponed until autumn 2021, but the album release is an event that needs to be celebrated, and so Vidano gave a small concert, observing the strictest health guidelines, in the rehearsal hall of TTL Event Solutions in his hometown Ochtrup. The event was also recorded.
Vidano’s lighting designer, Jens Hillenkötter, works globally as a designer and creative producer. For the artist's release show, he also took on the role of DoP, and for the first time deployed the GLP Creative Light1 Plus. Forty pieces of the compact, flexible LED fixtures augmented the artist's set. “These were still

China - The BoomBoomRoom is a new fixture of the thriving nightlife scene in Liuzhou City, China, and the latest addition to the growing club empire of Singapore’s Disen Kaine Group. Looking to make a powerful statement with the extravagant 1,000-capacity nightspot, Disen Kaine invested in a production technologies package featuring a venue-wide PK Sound audio system sold and installed by Polar Audio, the Canadian manufacturer’s exclusive Chinese distributor.
“We pride ourselves on delivering an elite and luxurious nightlife experience across our growing network of clubs, and high-impact audio powered by PK Sound plays a big part in that at the BoomBoomRoom,” comments Disen Kaine Group’s Mr. Kane Lin. “Thanks to PK Sound’s technology, we’re able to very precisely direct sound to maximize clarity and impact throughout the venue, and the company’s reputation

USA - Audiovisual and lighting integrator Icon Media of Georgia is transforming a sanctuary space at Lighthouse Church in Ventura, California and has used Fuze Pendant downlights from Elation Professional for the first phase of the project.
Wanting to address their sanctuary lighting before Easter, the church initiated a house lighting overhaul as the initial step in a larger refurbishment project that will entail audio, video and lighting. Icon Media, specialists in integrated systems for houses of worship and an Elation dealer, was contacted by church leadership and strategic planning consultant’s GrowMentum to handle the project.
“We have a staff that understands the specific nuances of this market, how it operates and is structured,” states Icon Media president Brian Gore. “The HoW market requires a special approach, specific skills and sensitivities that

UK - The Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation Awards recognise and celebrate the high-quality research-led innovation at Oxford University, that is having societal or economic impact. With categories including Team Work, Building Capacity, Inspiring Leadership, Early Engagement Innovators and Policy Engagement, the Awards reflect the excellence of the innovation that takes place across the University.
Established in 2018, the first two editions of the Awards were celebrated at a live event involving around 150 delegates who enjoyed panel discussions as well as a presentation ceremony. The 2020 renewal was due to take place at the Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre at Worcester College, Oxford, but the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic rendered this impossible.
Supported by events organiser Michelle Miles of Fusion Events and Weddings, the university opted to stage a virtual event.

Germany - At the new Axel Springer Campus in the heart of Berlin, WeltN24 has commissioned two state-of-the-art TV studios for the WELT station. Both news studios are equipped with Ethernet/IP-capable lighting fixtures throughout, enabling IP-end-to-end communication and, therefore, efficient workflows that are fully integrated into the broadcast infrastructure. The ARRI System Group handled the consulting, planning, and turnkey installation of the studio lighting and control systems on behalf of the system integrator Qvest Media and in close partnership with the planning office mo2 design.
WELT’s two TV studios enable closer networking and collaboration with digital and print. This exchange is also reflected in the visual concept of the studios, each measuring 175sq.m and 5.5m high. Glass fronts in Studio 1 ensure transparency, visibility, and interaction. Challenges in t

Spain - Pixotope has enabled VideoReport Canarias, a regional news and entertainment broadcasting services provider, to expand its virtual production offering in six months.
VideoReport Canarias is the broadcasting services provider of a number of well-known media broadcasters in Spain, including RadioTelevision Canaria. VideoReport Canarias partnered with Pixotope to find a more resource-friendly and visually stimulating way of producing live TV. Working through Pixotope’s distributor Tangram and VideoReport Canarias’ supplier and system integrator Bienvenido Gil (BGL), an entirely new show format was created for RadioTelevision Canaria’s daily primetime weather show, Una Hora Menos.
“Innovation has always been at the core of VideoReport Canarias. This is why we were excited to introduce virtual reality in our sets, specifically in our prime-time show.

Cambodia - To deliver sound reinforcement with optimal clarity and coverage at the Smile Charity Concert at Aeon Mall Sen Sok City, Smart Axiata hired Nano Sound Cambodia to deploy a Harman sound reinforcement system comprised of JBL, Crown and Soundcraft solutions.
Organised by telecommunications provider Smart Axiata, the Smile Charity Concert was created to raise money for Kantha Bopha Hospital and Angkor Hospital for Children. The concert took place at Aeon Mall Sen Sok City, a shopping centre featuring a 1,500-seat performance hall that hosts concerts, weddings, trade shows, conferences and gaming competitions.
Nano Sound reported that the client requested a high-quality audio system that could be adjusted for a variety of performance types. The client also required complete coverage for two different stages, as well as the venue’s lobby. To deliver premium soun

USA - Located on the Jamul Indian Village reservation, 20 miles east of downtown San Diego, the Jamul Casino attracts visitors from across southern California. In addition to gaming, it offers multiple restaurants, bars and lounges, the newest of which is The Rooftop.
Developed on the roof of the main casino building, it provides 360° views of the surrounding valley and is used for private parties as well as regular live music performances and theme nights. Having initially rented lighting for special events, earlier this year the casino’s management invested in a permanent house rig comprised of 80 ADJ fixtures.
For a number of years, AV support for the casino has been provided by CBC Technical Inc., located in nearby Temecula, CA. The company originally rented a lighting system to the casino for live music performances and special events at The Rooftop, following

USA - Since its official opening in 1930, the stately structure that is today known as the James L. Whitten Building, home of the US Department of Agriculture, has stood out. Not only was it the first large scale example of Beaux-Arts architecture in the US capital, and the city’s first governmental structure made of reinforced concrete, it was also (and still remains) the only “working building” on the Federal Mall that is not intended for the general public.
From 18-21 April, the building held another distinction, being the only federal structure in the capital to be lit in green. Radiating in emerald against the Washington sky, the USDA home office commemorated the International Year of the Plant in stunning fashion.
Endowing the James L. Whitten Building with its green glow was a lighting design by Atmosphere, Inc.’s Sparky Hopkins that featured a collectio

USA - With the year-long Covid shutdown turning live performance on its ear, the challenges facing music venues and organisations have been relentless. Like so many orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony has been reinventing and regrouping, finding new ways to bring music to arts-starved audiences, including incorporating the recording and streaming of audio and video content.
One of the challenges, explains Jon Johannsen, audio engineer for the Symphony, is capturing the orchestra when members can’t play together as an ensemble. “With wind and brass players in particular, we can’t have that many musicians together in a common space. People still need to be isolated in individual capture rooms.” As a result, the Symphony has created literally dozens of individual capture spaces on site. “We’ve now created capture rooms everywhere – downstairs, in dressing room

USA – Northview Church, a multi-site community church serving central Indiana from nine campuses, is delivering engaging visual content for its live worship and online services using the time-saving features of a Hippotizer Boreal Media Server from Green Hippo. Located at the church’s Carmel campus, the Boreal feeds content to the 60ft x 25ft projection screen which forms a striking backdrop to services both live and streamed.
“The Boreal drives all the video content on the upstage screen, plus any overlays or synchronised video on the house IMAG screens,” says Evan Rodecap, president of Signal Productions. A long-standing full-time engineer for the church, Evan knew Hippotizer from the touring world, and consulted on the specification of the Hippotizer Boreal.
“The Hippotizer had the outputs and resources, within a single frame, needed to drive the projecti

The Bahamas - Doughty Engineering has supplied a range of custom kit for the MSC Ocean Cay Lighthouse project in the Bahamas. When White Light was approached to supply kit, crew and project management for the lighting aspects of the project, Simon Needle, WL special projects director, realised that a bespoke solution would be required for mounting the moving lights to the handrail of the lighthouse.
He explained: “We were approached by John Coman of Woodroffe Bassett Design (WBD), who we have previously worked with on several projects (including Secret Cinema, Rolling stones’ EXHIBITIONISM, Dinosaurs in the Wild to work on the MSC Ocean Cay Lighthouse.
“Our remit was to supply kit (in particular the moving light), project management, crew and associated levels of support in respect of lighting the lighthouse, including ‘local’ console hire for programming wit

Singapore - Harman Professional Solutions recently partnered with Light Collab to outfit the atrium at Parkroyal Collection, Marina Bay with a Martin Professional lighting solution.
Parkroyal is a garden hotel in the city’s central business district with close proximity to many major Singapore landmarks. The hotel offers ‘contemporary design and eco-friendly lifestyle experiences to conscious and mindful travellers’. In order to enhance the guest experience, the hotel hired Light Collab to implement a cutting-edge Martin Professional lighting solution to provide dynamic visual effects in the garden atrium.
Light Collab reported that the hotel requested an impressive lighting system for an immersive treetop experience, including a short light show that could be programmed for performances every hour on the hour. The hotel’s goal was to transform the garden atriu

USA - Artists continue to be creative and inventive in presenting themselves during these pandemic times, and musician, singer and songwriter Todd Rundgren’s new virtual ‘tour’ concept is no exception.
The 25 shows were broadcast live over a five-week period from Radius Chicago, a new 3,800 capacity live performance venue in an old Pilsen steel factory. Each day was orientated towards a particular city, complete with special locally related video content, and people living in the relevant area able to access advanced tickets before the box office was opened further.
Lighting designer Hans Shoop utilised Robe BMFL Spots, Spikies and a RoboSpot system controlling three BMFL Follow Spots to great effect on the rig – among other lights – fulfilling a brief to create as much normalcy as possible for a live band show. They specifically didn’t want the production

UAE - More than 200 Martin Audio speakers, spanning many of their front-line ranges, have been installed throughout a massive new beach club leisure complex in Dubai. Bla Bla features 20 bars, a beach club and three restaurants (as well as sound stages) all under one roof and is the first independent property in the area licensed for alcohol.
Set on 100,000sq.ft of beach-front, in the fashionable Jumeirah Beach Resort (JBR), overlooking Bluewaters and the Big Wheel, Bla Bla is the brainchild of CEO Mohammad Islam. He worked alongside co-founder Steve Taylor from Autus Partners Management Consultancy, who masterminded the design and managed the project.
The Martin Audio solution was specified by design consultant, Bengan Hovgard, from Loud and Clear Audio Visual, and installed by Pulse Middle East. Pulse operations director, Greg Brown, said, “We have worked a lot wit

Poland - Jacek Chojczak and his team from Polish creative production design company Green Beam Design (GBD) utilised 82 x Robe MegaPointes for a high-profile outdoor installation in central Warsaw marking the 29th anniversary of WOSP (Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy) – The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity – which is the biggest, non-governmental, non-profit, charity organization in Poland raising money for paediatric and elderly care.
Each year, Jacek explains, WOSP stages a major outdoor concert in central Warsaw called Light to Heaven, but this year due to Covid-19 restrictions this could not happen. Instead, the organisers decided to build a large scenic pyramid which was 21m wide and 12m high, designed by set specialist Giorgos Stylianou – in the square adjacent to the Palace of Culture and Science.
Jacek’s lighting scheme ensured that th

UK - Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Charlie Simpson (Busted, Fightstar) has been getting acquainted with his new Audient ASP4816 console, which he installed in his Surrey-based studio recently. “I love using the ASP4816. It’s the perfect size for my studio and the routing capabilities are amazing. Though the desk is fully analogue I have managed to set it up in a way that it can be used in a modern/hybrid way,” he says.
It’s that hybrid capability that really appealed to Charlie, especially when it came to recording drums. “I love playing and recording drums, so to be able to have a space where I can now record live drums through a desk has been a game changer,” he says. With the ASP4816 at the hub, he has everything running through three UAD Apollos, and asserts that the ASP4816 has “massively expanded” his creative possibilities.
Having recorde

Italy - In late January, the people of Aosta gathered, as they have every year since the start of the first millennial, to celebrate the life of their patron saint. The streets of this ancient town were lined, as they always have been on this occasion, with artisans showcasing their world-famous Valdôtain artwork.
It was one of the last such moments, the people of the Aosta Valley would enjoy, before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public gatherings were still prohibited this January when the time came for La Fiore de Sant’ Orso, but the townspeople were still able to enjoy this tradition virtually, as Fumasoli Audio and Lights Rental worked with local officials to create a livestream version of the two-day event.
Produced at the improvised warehouse studio, created by Fumasoli early in the pandemic, and broadcast on television, the livestream served up a rich

USA - Despite the pandemic, and all the restrictions it has created, Gerry Dintelman has been in a groove of late, firing up hard-hitting livestream looks for metallic heavyweights like Fister, Dead Pilgrim and Chaos Collective. Recently, he had to change gears and focus his creative vision in a softer, more romantic direction, when he lit a Valentine’s Day ‘love-stream’ for indie/rocker Le’Ponds.
He welcomed the opportunity. “It’s always fun to mix things up a bit,” said Dintelman. “Our last livestream was designed around hard angles and industrial looks. To reflect the mood Le’Ponds was after, we had to do things differently so we could arrive at a more intimate place.”
That “place” was a captivating romantic dream come to life, with sharp edges replaced by smooth flowing natural forms that seemed to spring organically out of the stage, and j

Finland - Design and production house Sun Effects offers out-of-the-box visual designs and full-service concept-to-execution solutions from offices in Helsinki and Tokyo. When the company sought a line of outdoor-rated moving head luminaires that could withstand Finland’s brutal weather conditions but also be an effective tool for creative expression, they turned to Elation’s award-winning Proteus line.
“There aren't many companies that take their gear into the types of environments we do,” said company founder and artistic director at Sun Effects, Matti Jykylä. “We’re a good benchmark and only go for top quality gear. We needed a reliable outdoor automated moving light with good design options and came to the conclusion that the Proteus is the best out there.”
Sun Effects has enjoyed consistent growth over its 25-year history, covering projects from sp

Estonia - The five-decade old Saarepeedi Cultural Centre recently sought out a new PA for its facility and brought on Heliart OÜ for the project. Priit Kivimägi, CEO of Heliart OÜ, and his team were looking for a system with high SPL, consistent coverage and exceptional vocal intelligibility. Eastern Acoustic Works’ QX300 Series speaker system along with its RL18S Active Subwoofers were selected for their audio capabilities as well as its ease of use.
The Saarepeedi Cultural Centre, located in southern Estonia near Viljandi, is often considered the heart of Estonian folk music. Serving as a multi-functional venue for the local community, the space is used for different activities and performing arts including theatrical and dance events, seminars, rehearsals, sports and musical acts including choirs and live bands.
The main PA consists of two EAW QX364’s flown

UK - Entertainments venue, Grimsby Auditorium, has recently upgraded its sound desk to an Allen & Heath Avantis.
Based in North East Lincolnshire, Grimsby Auditorium is an intimate custom designed venue. Since opening its doors in 1995, it has played host to a number of high-profile performers as well as international touring acts and shows, including: Starlight Express, Blood Brothers and Calendar Girls, Jimmy Carr, Peter Kay and Sarah Millican), and international rock acts Morrissey, Kasabian and The Stereophonics.
Shane Jackson, Grimsby Auditorium’s stage manager commented: “After having our previous sound desk for around 15 year we felt it was time to upgrade to some newer technology. We have no doubt that this will have a positive impact on upcoming productions as well as our customers experience. Having researched our options and cons

Croatia - Popular duo 2Cellos released a new music video together with a hi-energy rendition of Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer this month which was recorded in an abandoned military warehouse near the Croatian city of Pula.
Lighting was created by the band’s long-term LD Crt Birsa of Blackout using an all-Robe moving light rig. Lighting was the critical and only visual technical element for the dramatically stark, moody noir-style video directed by Kristijan Burlovic and as such it became almost a fourth band member joining Stjepan Hauser, Luka Šulić and drummer Dušan Kranjc.
Crt chose 38 x Robe MegaPointes as the key lighting fixtures, creating a tunnel effect down the length of the 33m tube like space which was pitch black inside. His design also used 16 x Robe BMFL Spots, three LEDBeam 150s and 10 x LEDWash 600+s, all supplied by Pula-based rental co

Latest Issue. . .