UK - Following a highly successful PLASA show where SES Entertainment Services received orders and enquiries for its range of 19" rack distribution, the company will now include a USB charging socket if required on its extensive range.

Several customers that placed orders at the show, insisted that we fitted USB sockets in order to charge the crews' mobile phones, as during longer shows they often run out of power and it is often difficult to find a suitable and secure place to charge them.

"This has been very well received by several crew members who need to keep in touch when away from home on tour, and does away with the need to carry different adapters for different countries, as all phones now come with a USB charger," says Gordon R Cooper. "The USB socket is available on all new racks as of 1 October, and can be retro fitted to older racks if required

Brazil - When Teatro Bradesco opened in the Bourbon Mall San Paulo, its 1,457-seat house made it one of the largest traditional theatres in Brazil. Its Italian-style proscenium stage features some of the most technologically advanced equipment used in any theatre in Brazil - including automated stage rigging designed and manufactured by J. R. Clancy.

The rigging system includes 10 PowerLift automated hoists, controlled by Clancy's SceneControl 500. Designed by Clancy's in-house team of rigging professionals, this touch-screen system shows operators a 3D representation of the stage and the scenery hanging on each batten. Operators can set simple or elaborate cues, group battens to move together, and see exactly what's moving on stage at any moment.

In addition, J. R. Clancy supplied a Zetex fire safety curtain for the theatre, which lowers automatically in the event of a fire o

UK - The Harting Han-Modular series of industrial connector inserts allows event installers in the theatre, concert and AV sectors to create high-density connectivity and cabling solutions with total signal handling flexibility - including audio, video, communications, data and power - in a range of rugged IP65/67 hoods and housings suitable for harsh handling conditions.

Multiple contact style modules can be mixed to suit particular needs. Multi-pin modules can support analogue and digital audio transfer. Various coaxial modules can handle SDI and HD-SDI video. A full range of power modules allows current handling from a few amperes through to 100 A. RJ45 data modules allow Cat 5 10/100 Mbit/s or Cat 6e 1 Gbit/s Ethernet transfer via Harting patch leads.

The integrated screening design of the HanGigabit Ethernet module allows secure signal and power modules to be densely pack

China - Milos ran a successful Technical Training & Safety Awareness workshop at its facility in Guangzhou, China, to highlight its facilities, products and services immediately available in the Asia/Australia regions.

This followed the model of the workshops that Milos runs regularly in Europe, and was attended by a selection of high profile, key decision project makers from major companies in Thailand, Indonesia, India, Macau, Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China.

The aim of the two-day event was to illustrate the quality of Milos's trussing, roofing and staging products, and emphasise the benefits of the brand's reputation for unbeatable efficiency and service worldwide in a highly competitive marketplace.

It also stressed the importance of knowledge in terms of health & safety legislation and standards and safe working practices for rigging and the building of tempora

UK - Prominent businesses from the area, including Lola, Thurlby Thandar, Solo Cup Europe and Anglia Circuits, attended the inaugural event of the Huntingdonshire Manufacturers Association last week at the Brampton Racecourse Conference Centre.

Sponsored by Huntingdonshire District Council and supported by Huntingdonshire Chamber of Commerce, Huntingdonshire Regional College and Business Link East, the group has been created to reinforce the manufacturers' role in the district's economy. It will also help them promote high standards in manufacturing and access training and funding opportunities.

The launch was personally endorsed by Lord Digby Jones of Birmingham, Minister of State for UK trade and industry and prominent champion of British manufacturing. Delegates heard key speakers from HSBC Bank, the East of England Regional Development Agency and the Institute of Manufactu

UK - Harrier and Jaguar, the Duveens Commission 2010 installation by Fiona Banner at Tate Britain features two decommissioned fighter planes.

In the incongruous setting of the Duveen Galleries, a suspended Sea Harrier is transformed into a captive bird, the markings that tattoo its surface evoking its namesake the Harrier Hawk. A Jaguar lies belly up on the floor, its posture suggestive of a submissive animal.

The planning for the rigging of the two aircraft began at the end of 2009. Unusual Rigging was asked to tender for the project following similar work at RAF Hendon and RAF Cosford although, says Robin Elias, Unusual's project manager, "the two RAF projects were very different! For those projects, we had to keep restoration and conservation in mind, but in this case, we were free to gut the planes and, because of access problems, to 'cut and shunt' them."

USA - J. R. Clancy has been selected to supply the automated rigging for the Parker Arts, Culture and Events (PACE) Centre in Parker, Colo. The centre is scheduled to open in fall 2011.

J. R. Clancy will provide 14 PowerLift automated hoists and an Altus rigging controller for the centre's 500-seat theatre. Designed for mid-level backstage rigging systems with up to 48 hoists, Altus allows operators to create up to 200 cues with different speeds and targets for each hoist. Its 12-inch graphic touch screen makes this an easy console to learn to use, even for crew members with limited backstage experience.

In addition, Altus will control the H&H draw curtain machine on the front curtain.

(Jim Evans)

UK - WiSE (Women in Stage Entertainment), the industry organization set up to address the under representation of women in the backstage, technical and design disciplines of entertainment, smashed even its own expectations during PLASA 2010.

Co-founder Sarah Rushton-Read says: "During the show we shot past the 200 barrier in terms of membership and now have over 270 members and counting! It was great to meet and greet so many of our members on our own stand and we thank our sponsor Bryan Raven of White Light, Esther Heaslip and the White Light team for making this happen. The WiSE stand was heaving every day during Tea O Clock (4pm - 6pm), where WiSE members served tea and cakes to industry colleagues and other WiSE members. Of course we could not have achieved this without all the wonderful WiSE women who were prepared to - tongue in cheek - don their pinnies, bake some fa

UK - SSE Audio has once again chosen Le Mark to produce their removable tour labels. "SSE is committed to providing excellent customer service and we pride ourselves on quality and tidiness of our equipment and cases. Maintaining this professionalism is carried all the way to the labels we use on our cases," says SSE's Stefan Phillips.

" We have been using Le Mark's removable Tour Labels for many years, allowing each road case to clearly show the SSE logo and be easily wrote on to identify the contents. An advantage of using the removable labels is how easy it is to keep the cases looking fresh and tidy. Each and every time the equipment goes out on hire we replace the label and re-identify the case contents, keeping the cases clean, tidy and its content accurately identified."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Hoist UK has recently moved to larger premises. This is the third move in Hoist UK's lifetime and again has been necessary due to the growth of the company since their last move only three years ago.

"Thanks to this relocation, Hoist UK and our sister company AJB Precision Fabrications can now be housed under one roof, this will allow us to offer seamless integration of our own manufactured products and those of our internationally renowned suppliers to our clients," says Hoist UK director Tony Dickson.

The new Hoist UK & AJB Precision fabrication facility is located at Unit 2, Wrynose Road, Old Hall Industrial Estate, Bromborough, Wirral, CH62 3QD.

"Our sister company AJB Precision Fabrications is a steel and aluminium fabrication company, with in-house CNC machining facilities. The directors of AJB are Phil Williams and Mike Nicholson who like Tony Dick

UK - Britain's biggest professional bicycle race, the Tour of Britain, is a gruelling eight days of cycling that takes place during September, with each stage hosted in a different location around the UK. It culminates in a fast-paced action-packed stage in London, this hosted by the Olympic and Para Olympic Borough of Newham. For the second year running, the organisers called upon the services of AP Security to provide stewarding and traffic management.

AP's remit included covering the course for the TfL London Stage of the Tour, and also took in the Newham Waterfront Festival, organised by Newham Council and sponsored by ExCel London. Set up to coincide with the tour, the Festival was hosted in Royal Victoria Square and featured international street theatre, a wide variety of foods and live music, culminating in a spectacular fireworks display.

With around 15,000 spectators

UK - Hoist UK has announced the formal international launch of the Concerto series of Variable Speed Concert Hoists from Niscon Inc. The Concerto has been designed and engineered using a Stagemaker hoist body and with the support and assistance of R&M Materials Handling of Springfield, Ohio, and Verlinde SA, France.

Niscon Inc.'s president, Joseph Jeremy says, "This hoist is simply the best I have seen on the market. In comparison to other chain products, the Stagemaker body was the only choice that could deliver the performance we were looking for along with consistency and accuracy throughout the manufacturing process.

"Our goal was to develop a variable speed chain hoist that was safe, practical and would complement the Raynok line of motion control solutions. In order to achieve this we added additional features to enhance safety and performance of the overall pr

USA - Visitors to the J. R. Clancybooth at LDi this week will see a special guest: a motion control system offered by Niscon.

Niscon's Raynok MK2 Motion Control System can be configured to control a virtually unlimited number of axes from a variety of manufacturers' equipment, including J. R. Clancy's PowerLift and custom hoists. Raynok simplifies the collaborative efforts of the creative and technical teams to create fluid scenic imagery - from the simplest chain hoist system to the most complex turning, pushing or pulling application. Dual processors with live backup, a solid state hard drive, and redundant power supplies provide added reliability and safety.

In addition to Raynok, J. R. Clancy will showcase its own Altus theatrical rigging controller, designed for mid-level backstage rigging systems with up to 48 hoists. Altus provides touch-screen programmable capabilities

The Netherlands - Ahead of the LDI 2010 show in Las Vegas, XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced the appointment of Hans van der Moolen as motion products consultant.

Van der Moolen was closely involved in the Research & Development process leading to the launch of XLNT's CyberHoist range and has extensive experience in the rigging market with Stagemaker. He comments, "When I was invited to join XLNT I had already taken the decision to move away from frontline sales and move more into product and brand development consultancy. As I had been familiar with CyberHoist and the whole XLNT team for many years, and they were looking for someone with experience of product development and setting up distribution networks for their motion control business, it was a perfect match.

"I see a great future at XLNT with a talented and energetic team developing a number of tremend

USA - XLNT Advanced Technologies will be showing its CyberHoist series, its new DS8 series of solid state controllers for all brands of standard entertainment chain hoists, and more at LDI this week.

On display will be the XLNT DS8 Pro and Pro Plus Series Solid State Motor Controllers for rental and install applications.

Assets include the rigging industry's highest standards of safety, protection and maintenance-free reliability. DS8 series controllers provide every essential option for controlling all brands and types (low voltage or direct controlled) standard electrical entertainment chain hoists, with advanced options in the Pro Plus version including power- and remote link through and the optional DSR8 8- or DSR8x8 64-motor hand remote, including all of the DS8's indicators and control buttons.

The DSR 8 is a new eight-channel handheld wired remote control panel for th

South Africa - One of South Africa's most established lighting and accessory suppliers Movievision has chosen to stock the full Dirty Rigger Gloves and Accessories range. "I was wowed by the durability and design of the glove, no gimmicks (apart from the logo J) just a really comfortable, durable glove. The sweat wipe is great and the dexterity of the gloves is brilliant, not like the usual heavy weight style that tends make things more difficult, with the Dirty Rigger gloves you really can use them for almost anything," comments Kim Reed, Movievision director.

The specialist rigging glove range launched only in early 2010 is now available in over 20 countries worldwide with Movievision being a great addition to the distribution network. "To have Kim and the team at Movievision to work with is a great step forward for the Dirty Rigger range, having worked with the

UK - Since its first broadcast in 2004 the X Factor has been one of the UK's most viewed TV shows. With its stunning sets, scenery and using colourful, rich lighting, every single year X Factor has used Le Mark's professional StudioTak high gloss instant studio floor to give maximum impact.

Easy to install and "even easier to remove", StudioTak has been used on some of the most watched TV programmes throughout the world, from Eurovision to Ant & Dec. Thanks to its low-tak adhesive, StudioTak Studio Flooring can be applied and removed without hassle or need for residue removers (always test first, high-tak adhesive is also available, says Le Mark). Its easy application and ability to withstand energetic physical performances time and time again makes StudioTak one of the best temporary studio floors on the market today, the company says.

(Claire Beeson)

The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced the opening of a new, dedicated CyberHoist sales, training and customer support office for North America. A West Coast office will also be announced shortly.

The CyberHoist office, based in Manheim, PA, will be handled by PJ Visser. The office will handle sales activities, product support and training to rental and install clients, and will also provide equipment support services for CyberHoist rental network members based in Canada and the USA.

XLNT commercial director Marc van der Wel said: "The new North America CyberHoist office will allow our clients in the USA to receive the same high level of technical support as they get from our headquarters in the Netherlands, and all member countries of the worldwide CyberHoist network, and will also be our focus for driving the brand forward in the USA sales market. It

The Netherlands - XLNT Advanced Technologies has announced its expansion in South America with the confirmation that Andres Chamorro Iluminacion of Bogota, Colombia, is to take a significant delivery of a complete rental-ready CyberHoist system package including 10 CyberHoist CH 1000 1 ton, 4 ultrafast CyberHoist CH 250 ΒΌ ton (37 mtr/min) and two InMotion3D CyberHoist control systems for rental clients in the entertainment and broadcast industries.

Marcel Albers, director of communications and marketing at XLNT parent company, the Ampco Flashlight Group, says the move is a key milestone in strengthening the brand's presence in South America.

"XLNT Advanced Technologies, in its current and forthcoming products ranges," said Albers, "has a great deal to offer the South America entertainment and installation technology markets, from 'high end' touring and special

UK - The Arena Group recently supported Robbie Williams Productions providing temporary event overlay for the launch of Cunard's new cruise ship, the Queen Elizabeth. Her Majesty the Queen named Cunard's new liner, Queen Elizabeth, at a prestigious naming ceremony on Southampton docks in front of invited VIP guests.

The prestigious ceremony recreated the atmosphere of the golden era of 1930s ship launches, reflecting the ships opulent interiors.

With a wealth of experience in ceremonial events, Arena Structures supplied a period 30s style grandstand roof structure. Project manager Mark Shelley oversaw the creation of bespoke 7.5m supporting leg structures, created to ensure guests all enjoyed great views on the launch within the 62m x 13m structure, complete with a 50m red carpet.

Arena Seating complimented the regal theme creating a luxurious viewing theatre with a grandsta

USA - The custom-designed chandelier in the Winspear Opera House, one of the brand-new theatres in the AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, won the 2010 Rock Our World Award from the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA).

The Winspear chandelier won in the Project category. The award winners were announced last Thursday evening, October 21, at an awards dinner at the LDI show in Las Vegas.

J. R. Clancy took the leadership role in bringing the chandelier project to fruition, working closely with lighting designer Claude Engle on the concept. The custom-built, 40-foot-high chandelier features 318 cast acrylic rods, each of which vanishes independently as the house lights dim. Clancy engineers did extensive research to determine the materials and methods required to light each rod entirely from end to end. Mike Wood Consulting and Ingham Designs execut

UK - Paperwork is increasingly not 'paperwork' but virtual paperwork carried on laptops - until actually working in the theatre when real paper printouts have often been the most convenient way to access show information while walking around the stage focusing the rig.

Now FocusTrack, the production lighting documentation system, offers Paperwork To Go - allowing you to keep your paperwork in electronic form, and carry it with you on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

With the purchase of one enabler app ($19.99 for iPhone/iPod, $39.99 for iPad), any of the FocusTrack data files - FocusTrack, containing information about the positions used by the moving lights in the rig, RigTrack, containing all of the information about the rig as a whole and the focus of conventional lights, and Cue List, containing the show cue data from the lighting console, along with all of the focus and c

World - With planning for the merger between ESTA and PLASA now in its final stages, the elections for places on the new Regional Boards, and over-arching Governing Body, are coming to a close.

The month-long ballot, which ends on 31 October, pre-empts the New Year merger date when the Associations formally unite under the PLASA name.

Members of both organizations have been actively voting to elect candidates for the new European and North American Regional Boards which will feature representatives from the following groups of members - Dealer/Retailers, Distributors, Manufacturers, Production Services, Professional Services and Rental Companies, together with a representative from both the Organizational and Individual memberships.

The Governing Body is a new concept for PLASA and is designed to ensure continuity of decision-making and strategic consistency. Whilst the Chai

UK - Having received planning permission to hold the annual month-long Garsington Opera festival at the Wormsley Estate, the home of the Getty family, Garsington Opera has commissioned an elegant pavilion to house the stage, the orchestra and auditorium.

The pavilion, which will be re-erected each year, is made from a limited palette of materials - timber, fabric and steel - and will combine transparency and lightness with a sense of intimacy. Lifted above the ground to give an appearance of 'floating' over the landscape, architect Robin Snell's design takes its cue from a traditional Japanese pavilion in its use of sliding screens, extended platforms, verandas and bridges to link it to the landscape.

Unusual Rigging, a regular supplier to Garsington Opera, has won the contract to coordinate the detailed design, procure specialist suppliers and to construct and commission the

Latest Issue. . .

Save
Cookies user preferences
We use cookies to ensure you to get the best experience on our website. If you decline the use of cookies, this website may not function as expected.
Accept all
Decline all
Analytics
Tools used to analyze the data to measure the effectiveness of a website and to understand how it works.
Google Analytics
Accept
Decline
Advertisement
If you accept, the ads on the page will be adapted to your preferences.
Google Ad
Accept
Decline