UK - Hire and events company SLX has announced the successful applicants for its 2018 bursary scheme, which sees the company supporting five students enrolled on production courses with £3000 of hire equipment as well as networking and development opportunities. Spanning the UK, the students attend different institutions and are enrolled on a variety of technical production focussed courses. Third year students and graduating this year are Ashley Holdom (Rose Bruford) and Ryan Searle (Bristol Old Vic) and the 2nd year students receiving the bursary are Alex Silvester (University of Bolton – Backstage Academy), Georgia Wren - LIPA and Ben Linwood (Guildford School of Acting). As well as receiving the £3000 bursary to support a project of the student’s choosing, the five applicants were also welcomed into SLX Avonmouth, spending two full days in May with the SLX
Europe/USA - Yamaha and Audinate are teaming up to present a free webinar titled Audio Networking For Houses Of Worship, Colleges and Universities on 23 May (Wednesday). The webinar, to be broadcast on ProSoundWeb.com, will examine Dante-enabled solutions for system design, implementation and management for carrying large numbers of audio channels around an auditorium and for distributing audio throughout a campus. Andy Cooper (manager, pro audio application engineering, Yamaha R&D Centre London) and Karl Christmas (technical marketing manager, Yamaha R&D Centre London) will feature alongside Kieran Walsh (Audinate director of application engineering, EMEA). The webinar runs from 6pm CET / 5pm BST / 12pm Eastern Time and 9am US Pacific Time.
Italy - AV technology specialist Peerless-AV has announced a distribution agreement with Milan-based AV distributor AGMultivision for the manufacturer’s complete portfolio, including outdoor displays, indoor kiosks, mounts, trolleys and stands, and accessories. Under the new agreement, AGMultivision will be responsible for sales, marketing, customer support and distribution in Italy. Melinda Von Horvath, vice president of sales and marketing - EMEA, Peerless-AV, comments: “AGMultivision is a perfect partner to help grow our brand awareness, promote our products and expand our customer base throughout Italy. They are a trusted and highly respected distributor with strong sales and support competencies that are fundamental to contributing significant growth for us as a company.” Guido Villa, managing director of AGMultivision, adds: “We are looking for lon
Slovakia - Green Hippo has appointed City Light Slovakia as its distributor in Slovakia with immediate effect. City Light Slovakia was established in 1993 and in addition to being a distributor, the company offers technology installation and post-warranty services and also has experience in providing operator training; an area in which it will work closely with Green Hippo’s highly regarded HippoSchool and in-house training division. Marek Plancar, owner of cityLight Slovakia, comments: “For us, the distribution of Green Hippo Hippotizer Media Servers opens the door of creativity and offers high-end hardware and software, for great shows. We are glad to become part of the Green Hippo family and its product line of Hippotizer Media Servers - it is the world’s best solution for real-time video playback. We hope that we can begin a positive cooperation as the exclu
USA - Austrian AV technology manufacturer AV Stumpfl has announced the launch of a US subsidiary - AV Stumpfl Inc. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, the office will be helmed by managing director Todd Liedahl and supported by a network of distributors, dealers and technology specialists. Fabian Stumpfl, AV Stumpfl GmbH CEO, comments: " The establishment of AV Stumpfl Inc. is a new chapter in our company’s history. Todd is without doubt the perfect choice for the role of managing director. Although our products are already well known in the US market, we feel that there is still a lot of growth potential for both our projection screen and media server systems. He adds: “The USA is obviously of major importance as a trend-setter territory. Professionals from all over the world look to the US for the latest technological trends in the AV and entertainment ind
USA - For the fourth consecutive year, global design and BIM software solutions provider Vectorworks will continue its partnership with the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (SILV) as part of its ongoing support for student designers. As a first-of-its-kind intensive training programme, SILV offers improved and efficient ways to train students in all areas of live entertainment in an effort to grow the next generation of practitioners in the field. Vectorworks aids in this mission by donating funds to the organisation and teaching workshops on cutting-edge entertainment technology. “The partnership that SILV has with Vectorworks has dramatically expanded our students’ experience with digital drafting and increased their pre-visualisation and console programming capabilities, making the plotting and paperwork process possible,” said Jane Childs, director at SILV.
Europe - Lighting control manufacturer Visual Productions has concluded a distribution deal for Belgium with Audio Visual Lighting. Audio Visual Lighting technical manager Luc Buytaert approached Visual Productions to discuss distribution. The timing could not have been better for Visual Productions. For the past months Visual Productions account manager for Belgium, Maarten Donath, has been successfully developing the market working directly with installers, designers and local resellers. It was clear that the interest in and usage of the core products in Belgium was rapidly growing. A full distribution deal was exactly the required next step. AVL is a well-established distribution company serving both the Dutch and French speaking markets in Belgium. Alongside sales manager Yolanda Eliano, Buytaert has built a successful distribution company which has gained an outs
USA - A complete Avolites light and video integration system featuring the brand's latest Arena lighting console and two Ai R4 Media servers, was used to drive the lighting and video content for the 21st annual D.I.C.E Awards, held at the Mandalay Bay hotel, Las Vegas. The D.I.C.E (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Awards celebrates the latest innovations in interactive entertainment in the video gaming industry. For its 2018 edition, the event's long-term lighting designer Joshua Schultz worked alongside Andre Huff, director of Limelite Design, who were tasked to deliver a light and video presentation within a set design of clean, structural lines to accompany the awards ceremony. "Chris Wu from Hatch, one of the awards' production partners, let me run with the design this year," says Schultz. "I took a lot of my inspiration from the intro video to the Awards,
UK - Full technical service provider Hawthorn has added Barco’s UDX-4K32 large-venue laser projector to its already extensive inventory of high-end projectors. Representing an investment of over £500,000, the company has added six of the units - the flagship of Barco’s UDX laser projector platform - to its fleet. Launched last year, the UDX-4K32 provides 31,000 lumens of light output, 4K resolution, and the specification and performance of high-end laser projection in a compact and easily-transportable chassis. By featuring Constant Light Output (CLO) functionality, the UDX-4K32 also guarantees peace of mind by providing constant brightness and colour reproduction over time. On top of that, the UDX platform offers the widest colour spectrum in the industry. Without compromising on brightness, the UDX colour quality matches the renowned Xenon quality and outperforms the
UK - Stage Electrics has been awarded the £2m technical contract to provide the infrastructure for production lighting, sound reinforcement and audio-visual services for the new £83.7m International Conference Centre Wales (ICCW). Set in the Coldra Woods just outside Newport, the ICCW is a joint venture between the Welsh Government and Celtic Manor Resort. The project features a state-of-the-art auditorium, main exhibition hall with capacity for around 5,000 delegates and associated meeting room as well as breakout facilities and will be capable of staging major party-political conferences. Being built by John Sisk & Son and scheduled to open in July 2019, it will be the largest facility of its kind in Wales and the South West of England. Stage Electrics has been working on the project since 2016 to develop the schemes and ensure allocated budgets are met. It wil
UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) has agreed to provide technical equipment and run training courses for live events industry education provider Backstage Academy. The partnership is part of a long-term strategy to offer Academy students the most up-to-date practical experience through AC-ET’s latest technologies from brands including ProLights, Chroma-Q, Green Hippo and BroadWeigh. Jonathan Walters, AC-ET's UK sales director, comments: "We are delighted to be able to support up and coming generations of backstage technicians and creative people. The future of the industry is all about fostering the talent of tomorrow and letting them use the technologies behind today's live events productions. “The partnership will give the Backstage Academy's students access to the latest LED lighting from popular brands such as Chroma-Q and ProLights, indust
Ireland - Entertainment equipment supplier A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has launched a new sister company, A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ireland. Registered in Dublin, the Irish branch will be helmed by County Limerick-based MD Aaron Cripps, who previously acted as AC-ET's representative for Ireland and has also worked as an account manager in the international sales division of AC-ET. AC-ET’s managing director Phill Capstick comments: "I'm delighted that Aaron will be heading up A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ireland. With his extensive local experience and contacts, and strong relationships with key suppliers, he is well equipped to oversee the development of A.C.'s Irish business." Cripps adds: "I am really looking forward to building the A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ireland business. The company has access to a fantastic portfolio of cutti
USA - Lawo has welcomed Browning McCollum, David Desrochers, and Stanley Pan to its growing North American team of customer support specialists. “Lawo’s growth in the U.S. and Canada just keeps accelerating,” says Sam Schauland, technical director, Americas. “More and more broadcasters and audio production professionals are realising that true standards-based audio and video routing and mixing are the only way to go. That’s awesome, for the industry and for us. We’re adding more positions all the time.” Browning McCollum joins Lawo after a successful tenure with Viacom, Nashville, where he held the position of remote engineer in charge. McCollum, a 2016 Emmy Award winner for his work on Grease Live, also holds the distinction of having installed the first two Lawo mc296 mixing consoles. His role at Lawo will be as a broadcast technology specialist.
Europe - Second Warehouse is again simplifying pro AV cross rental as the service debuts on mobile and tablet. Based on a Progressive Web Application, Second Warehouse for mobile can be installed on your Apple or Android device with a single tap - no App store visit required. Now, even when you’re out on a job, Second Warehouse allows you to find and hire vital equipment within minutes while keeping your own inventory busy earning you money. Dedicated to simplifying and speeding up the essential but previously time-consuming and costly activity of equipment cross-rental between pro AV rental companies, Second Warehouse allows rental companies of all sizes to trade with one another in a safe, fast, monitored and extremely cost-effective environment. A rental company searching Second Warehouse for AV equipment will find what they need in a matter of seconds, while every item
South Africa - The 12th Annual South African Film & Television Awards was hosted at Sun City’s Superbowl on 24 March with a further 2.3m viewers tuning in to watch the live SABC televised production. EPH Productions were appointed by ATTV to supply the full technical and the set for the show, as well as for the smaller Technical Awards held a couple of days prior to the main event. EPH Production’s Danie Janse van Rensburg wore three hats namely as project manager, technical director and set designer. For the proposal, with a lot of support from Leon Pheiffer (CEO, EPH Group), they came up with an idea to use suspended LED screens as the main feature, knowing that when complimented with the graphic material supplied by ATTV (Andrew Thabo Television), diverse looks would take the audience on a journey from glamour to triggering emotions with bright and patriotic colou
USA - Atlona has once again expanded its range of high dynamic range (HDR) compatible AV integration solutions. Available immediately, the AT-HDR-H2H-88MA matrix switcher provides high-performance switching of 4K/UHD signals including HDR formats in a space-efficient, 1RU design. The new switcher will be showcased at InfoComm, where the company will continue its 15th anniversary celebration in booth C3576. An 8x8 sibling to Atlona’s AT-HDR-H2H-44M matrix switcher, the HDR-H2H-88MA builds on the proven performance, reliability and integrator-friendly features of the 4x4 model with significantly expanded input and output capacity for larger-scale applications. Support for all video resolutions, audio formats, and color spaces in the HDMI 2.0b specification provides compatibility with state-of-the-art 4K/UHD and HDR sources and displays – as well as future HDR broadcast se
USA - With total album sales topping 12m and more than 35m singles sold, Imagine Dragons continue to soar – and the Las Vegas band’s epic live gigs no doubt play a significant part in its swift ascension into ‘arena filler’ status. Last year witnessed the four-piece thunder its way through North America, wowing fans on the first leg of its Evolve World Tour which started in Phoenix, Arizona and is scheduled to conclude in Kiev later this year. This opening stage of the global outing, in support of the band’s third studio album Evolve, comprised 31 North American dates and SRae Productions – owned and operated by Sooner Routhier and Robert Long – used a trio of Hippotizer Boreal Media Servers to control a stunning array of 30 LED pods. Mounting the pods on a brace of automated Axis the SRae team used four projectors to shoot on to physical roll dro
UK - Really Creative Media, digital and live production company, created live performance visuals for Friendly Fires’ one-off comeback gig at O2 Brixton Academy, 5 April. Machine Management, brought in Really Creative Media’s video expertise to ensure Friendly Fires’ first UK gig in five years delivered maximum visual impact. “Having worked with Clean Bandit since 2016, who are also with Machine Management, we knew the artist team at Machine,” commented Nick Dew from Really Creative Media. Over the course of one month, creative director Jack James brought the bands’s‘psychedelic’ content vision to life, generating original footage filmed in-house during a series of one-day shoots followed by post-production editing. Jack explains: “The band expressed a keen interest in us using practical effects such as ink droplets into water rather than
UK - Fresh from Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt, Avolites is ready for the UK debut of its range of next-level control products and integrative system developments at the PLASA Focus expo in Leeds this week. Visitors can catch up with the British brand on stand N-D01 where the team will be demonstrating the new Avolites Q3 media server, the latest updates in the Titan and Ai software and Synergy, the brand's pioneering light and video integration system. "At Prolight we were inundated with people asking us for more information about Synergy and we are looking forward to the same high-level interest at PLASA Focus," says Stephen Baird-Smith, sales manager at Avolites. "With Synergy, users will be able to control light and video from a single user interface (UI) across one networked Avolites system." Among the system's integrative features is Light Map, an update that
UK - The stand of A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd (AC-ET) will provide the UK show debuts of leading innovations across its product sales divisions, at PLASA Focus Leeds. Chroma-Q''s new Studio Force II is a powerful homogenised LED source for applications requiring high quality variable white light - complementing the multi-award-winning Color Force II RGBA LED cyclorama, wash & effects light. Also featured is the Inspire XT colour-mixing house light and Space Force variable white LED soft light. ProLights' new Panorama IP WBX LED moving light delivers a massive output and pixel ring "eye candy" effects in an IP65-rated fixture ideal for temporary outdoor events. The brand's other show debuts include the JetSpot4 powerful, fully-featured LED Spot in a compact design, and the RA3000 high precision LED Profile. Other models will be featured. Follow-Me's
UK - PLASA Focus Leeds has begun its tenth birthday celebrations on 1-2 May at the Royal Armouries, Leeds. The popular entertainment technology trade show provides a stage for over 175 global brands, and the show’s reputation attracts thought-leaders and taste-makers who share their expertise through seminars and training sessions. The show floor will feature products fresh from European launches, and the seminar programme is overflowing with enriching talks and lively debates. The show caters to everyone from lighting designers and sound engineers, to riggers and production managers. Audio enthusiasts can get under the skin of digital mixers with Soundcraft’s Andy Brown and Sound Technology’s Ben Todd, and can get to grips with Line Array systems with Harman’s Ed Jackson and Sound Technology’s Stuart Strachan. Visitors can learn about frequency response wit
UK - Peerless-AV has announced that Matt Nixon has joined the UK professional division as distribution channel sales manager. Matt is responsible for developing and implementing the long-term business strategy, broadening sales opportunities, managing distributor relationships and providing support for the ongoing growth of key accounts. “Matt is a great asset to the UK team, with the motivation, commitment and people skills needed to successfully manage and develop our distribution network,” comments Keith Dutch, managing director - EMEA, Peerless-AV. “He has demonstrated strong customer relationship skills and has a thorough understanding the AV and IT industry. His energy and experience will help us maintain our UK market leading position and explore new routes to market with our expanding portfolio.” Prior to Peerless-AV, Matt was a commercial consultant at
UK - Alton Towers Resort has turned up the heat for the new theme park season with its £16m thrill attraction, the Wicker Man, featuring real fire and stunning 'fire' effects created using a ProLights AlphaPIX video system plus various lighting supplied by A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd. (AC-ET). Wicker Man is the first wooden rollercoaster to be built in the UK for 21 years, with the thrill of fire. Burning embers light the ride's path as it speeds towards a six-story (17.55m) Wicker Man structure, who spectacularly bursts into flames as the coaster races through its chest three times. To complement real flames on the structure and get flame-like effects even closer to the riders, the resort's entertainments technical manager, Alex Tweedie approached longstanding technology vendor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies to assist with specifying and supplying a solutio
USA - When ADJ first launched the AV Series it disrupted the LED Video panel market by introducing a product that had the brightness and resolution to make a serious impact at a price point that made LED video wall technology accessible for users and applications where it had previously been cost prohibitive. Now, ADJ is ready to push the boundaries of the market once again by introducing an innovative new range of LED video panels, the Design Series, that brings a whole new level of creativity to video and production designers. Based on the same foundations as the AV Series – quality, reliability and affordability – the Design Series comprises four modular panels of different shapes that can be combined together to create video screens of “almost any conceivable size and shape”. The DS4(square), DS4T (triangle), DS4QC (quarter circle) and DS4HC (rectangle) can
