USA - Founded in 1861 with close ties to Wheaton College, College Church has achieved a reputation as one of the most influential churches in America.

The stunning Georgian Revival-style building on Washington Street that the church calls home was built around two decades ago. It's an architectural gem that boasts high glass ceilings, soaring columns, and a U-shaped wrap-around balcony. The room's acoustics provide a wonderful complement for the piano, pipe organ, and choir that typically accompany most services. But that same architecture has represented a long-standing challenge for spoken-word intelligibility. As Greg Dieckhaus, President and CEO of Bolingbrook, IL-based Practical AV Solutions explains, the church has been through more than one attempt at addressing the issue.

"It's a gorgeous building, but problems with intelligibility and consistency of coverage have

UK - Christie would like to extend its congratulations to Absolute Audio Visual Solutions managing director, Alex Parmee, and project manager Brian Cook, who recently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro for charity. With the help of Christie and other corporate sponsors the pair reached the summit and raised a considerable sum for the British Heart Foundation.

Parmee reports, "It was a truly amazing experience, but probably the hardest thing either of us have ever done. In total we raised just under £7000, and we are absolutely delighted to have achieved such a fantastic result."

The website www.global-adventures.co.uk followed their progress and achievement and still enables donations to be made.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Projection Studio, headed by visual artist Ross Ashton, designed and created the record-breaking video artwork featuring 32 animated mosaic portraits of HM The Queen that was projected onto Buckingham Palace last week.

The 'Face Britain' project was instigated by The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts and brought to life by PhotoBox. It has enabled over 200,000 children to make their faces famous on the front of one of London's most iconic landmarks.

It is also the first time that video projections have ever been used on the front of the Palace.

Ashton has previously projected onto the building three times - famously for the first time during the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002 - for which he used PIGI projectors. This time, leading UK video rental specialists Creative Technology (CT) have supplied the 24 Barco and Panasonic 18K and 20K video pr

UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies' video division has supplied lighting and visual designer, Max Conwell of Naked Eye Lighting with a Green Hippo HippoCritter and a TV One down-convertor - to help service his busy schedule of TV shows, events and world tours including Paul Weller and Morrissey.

The scope of Naked Eye's work encompasses all genres of visual design - from high profile rock 'n' roll world tours, to major events and architectural concepts. Conwell also programmes video and moving lights for a variety of high profile TV and game shows.

He has been using media servers for some time, and was an early adopter of the innovative technologies and mindsets fuelling the 'convergence' between video and lighting.

On the most recent Morrissey tour, he used the HippoCritter to playback video content for the pre-show movie, which ran for 25 minutes. The HippoCritter was al

USA - Mission Media asked Bluman Associates to help them produce a complex AV presentation alongside Nicki Minaj's performance in Times Square to launch the Nokia Lumia 900 phone.

This event saw the artist take to a stage in the square with a special remix of her hit single Starships being played live to a big audience with flash mob style dancers, pounding sound effects and a 200ft LED wall.

Bluman enabled the production to take over the American Eagle LED tower in Times Square to create a hero screen which would form the centrepiece for the event with striking content designed to move in time with the song. Other screens around the square were taken over to relay camera feeds from the live event as well as brand messages for the launch of the Nokia Lumia 900. Super high resolution CGI content was created for the screen by UK production company Glassworks.

The screen

UK - Manchester-based A to V recently supplied six Christie M Series projectors, stacked three wide and two high, to create the 31.5m x 14m visual element of a 4D projection onto the Wheelwright Building, Kirklees College, marking the rebranding of the Batley School of Art.

A to V's Mark Whitehead advised on process, content ratios and resolution, whilst all content - celebrating the history of the School of Art, which dates back to 1853 - was supplied by final year photography student, David Black.

(Jim Evans)

Chile - Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. recently helped Lumina Motion construct a stunning 10,000sq.ft video display on the facade of a round building in Santiago, Chile by providing the ideal equipment and precise development insight needed.

The AV team at Lumina Motion was tasked with creating an exciting and memorable product launch for Nokia's new Lumia 800 smartphone, and succeeded by working with Stampede to utilize "the best technology, share industry know-how and ensure patient attention to every technical detail".

According to Lumina Motion owner Gonzalo de la Barra: "We at Lumina Motion know that when you're producing a live event, everything has to be perfect. Stampede knows this too, which is why they recommended the eight Christie Full HD projectors and Geffen Fiber Optic cables to produce over 10,000 square feet of HD video display with precis

UK - West Midlands- based video and production specialist Central Presentations Ltd (CPL) supplied sound, lighting, AV, cameras and co-ordinated full technical production including set and staging - plus crew - to the Audi National Forum event staged at London's ExCel Centre.

CPL was working for production company, Twofour. The event covered eight different independent areas - Reception, Tunnel, The Hub, Leaders, People, Fans, Business and Car Showroom - in ExCel, and was one of CPL's largest projects to date in terms of total equipment supply.

Over 60 moving lights, 150 generic fixtures, 80 LED PARcans and one and a half artic's worth of trussing were deployed.

Smaller breakout rooms featured a quantity of 85" HD plasmas; Business and the Hub utilised HD Panasonic PT-DZ110X projection and over 60 d&b speakers; The Car Showroom had an NEC HD 4x4 46" flown plasma wa

UK - TechPro Events hae recently appointed Mick Gregory as sales director. Mick brings with him over 30 years of experience working within the live event industry, from rock and roll tours to film and TV shows and conference and events.

"I took a couple of years out, but once you are in this industry, I think you are in for life," quipped Mick.

"I love the way the industry constantly progresses; TechPro embrace all of the new technologies, market changes and latest kit, offering Clients the very best equipment coupled with unrivalled technical support resulting in excellent customer service and satisfaction" he said.

TechPro Events is a family-owned AV company based in the Midlands offering audio visual equipment hire and full technical support services to the live event industry throughout the U.K and Europe.

(Claire Beeson)

UAE - Exactly five years after setting up a base in Dubai, Christie has relocated its Middle East offices and showroom to the prestigious Dubai Silicon Oasis integrated technology park.

The new purpose built facility at GulfView provides a showcase for the company's products and incorporates training, state of the art demonstration rooms and warehousing on an enlarged footprint.

Formally opening with a press day on 30 April as a precursor to an Open House week, customers will be afforded an opportunity to see the latest product offerings and experience Christie's wide ranging capabilities in different market segments, which have brought them much success in the Middle East.

Features will include: Warped and blended Mirage 3D projection onto curved screen (with content delivered from a Vista Spyder), as well as simulated control room environments, MicroTiles applications and

UK - XL Video is supplying curved LED screens and special customised touring frames, video playback control, cameras/PPU, an IMAG projection system and crew for Brit Award winning Il Divo's current Wicked Game world tour which is on its first UK /European leg.

The elegant production design encompassing the three curved over-stage screens was the concept of Il Divo's artistic director, Brian Burke.

This follows on from an initial curved screen idea showcased at the group's high profile one-off shows at London's Coliseum Theatre last year - with XL also supplying video production. Central to the concept is that the screens should appear to be 'floating' in the air - with minimal or no rigging visible - a task with which XL Video was then challenged to recreate in a tourable format by tour director and production manager, Andy Proudfoot.

XL's project manager Paul 'Macca'

UK - Subfrantic, supplier of high-end sound, lighting, staging and video equipment to the events industry, recently purchased the Roland V-1600HD Multi format live video switcher in a move that will see them bring all of their video services in house. Until recently, video services had been subcontracted, but company owner Steve Davies was keen to find a way to bring video directly under his control so that he could guarantee the quality of the work matched that of the sound and lighting for which they had built up such a good reputation.

The product that they were looking for had to be suitable for use in a number of applications from festivals and tours, to house of worship and corporate events - and have the features to produce high quality results whilst coping with different video input formats. The V-1600HD ticked all of the boxes and after seeing the product at BVE and ha

UK - Lighting, sound and AV hire company Point Source Productions has appointed Amy Parks as general manager. Previously PA to managing director Stephen Capel, Parks will take over all day to day running of the company.

Parks comments, "As the company has grown over the past few years, I have been shadowing Stephen, so it made sense for an official restructuring in order to formalise my role and to allow Stephen to focus on other aspects of the business.

"My strengths lie in client liaison and people management, where Stephen's lie in his extensive lighting industry experience and business development, so it makes good business sense to capitalise on these abilities."

Capel adds, "Point Source has seen different stages of growth from start up in 1997 to the present; now we're about to start a new phase of expansion. I'm looking forward to promoting the Ev

Australia - Channel Ten has reinvented Young Talent Time after a 24-year absence from TV screens, and there's no doubt it packs a visual punch.

The lighting is designed by Francesco Calvi and supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems with Paul Collison producing and replaying the screen content for the show. Collison also acts as lighting director when Francesco is unavailable.

Integral to the look of the show is a large panorama of LED which allows the creative team to create the show's environment on a 360 degree surface. Sometimes the LED surface is treated as one single surface but this is not always possible as the LED screens are used similar to legs in the theatre to mask entrances and this leads to overlaps with the images.

"This means that often the LED screens are treated as individual surfaces rather than part of the panorama," said Collison. "It

UK - Hawthorn, one of the UK's largest suppliers of technical production services, has swelled its projection hire inventory to include six Christie Roadster HD20K-J 3-Chip DLP projectors, from of the newly launched Christie J Series. "This investment is very important, assuring we complete our offering and provide our customers with a greater range of equipment," states Hawthorn's head of video, Oliver Moores.

Moores continues, "We buy Christie because of the people we deal with there. The product is stunning but the relationship we have with them is the most important thing. The Technical support from Christie is very helpful and you can speak to someone in depth. They're always very quick to resolve issues when they do occur and Christie is a very good product. I would say it's one of the best.

"We opted for the J Series as it is packed with features, so

Switzerland - Green Hippo's Swiss distributor, IQunlimited attracted yet more people with another set of popular training sessions.

After the successful training sessions organised in conjunction with Green Hippo at Theatre Basel in the autumn of 2011, IQunlimited scheduled another two-day training seminar for an extended range of clients.

The training took place Tuesday and Wednesday 13 & 14 March in a Cultural and Community Centre close to Zurich with invitations going to IQunlimited's customers as well as potential clients.

With attendees ranging from various fields including rental companies, theatres and operas, TV/Broadcast, cultural centres, concert halls as well as freelance designers and operators, IQunlimited managed to reach a wide range of market sectors, increasing Hippotizers profile even further in Switzerland.

Once again the seminars were held by Green Hipp

USA - Analog Way is extending its range dedicated to soft edge blending applications. In addition to the Di-VentiX II, a versatile quad scaler seamless switcher with mixer, matrix and edge blending modes, Analog Way announces the release of Smart Edge FX. The STE200 is an advanced High Resolution Seamless Switcher with Dual Output Edge Blending. Also new for the show will be an improved Smart Edge upgraded to include a PIP feature and frame store memory.

These solutions will be exhibited in Analog Way's booth #N952 during InfoComm 2012, from 13-15 June in Las Vegas.

"Analog Way has a long history in the development of solutions enabling the creation of wide images, either horizontally or vertically", explains Franck Facon, marketing & communications director. "Combining this with different levels of processing capabilities, we now offer three Edge Blending syste

Norway - Manchester based lighting and visuals specialist dbn has specified and installed a custom LED lighting and control solution for the new set of the Norwegian National Lottery which is operated by Norsk Tipping AS.

dbn's project manager was Nigel Walker, and they were working for UK based Stage One Creative Services, with whom Walker has enjoyed a long and successful working relationship. Stage One in turn was commissioned by producers Fabelactiv, to deliver a set for the high profile show which is broadcast from their HD studios in Hamer via national TV channel, NRK.

Stage One appointed Nick King to design the spectacular set, and then asked dbn to interpret the prominent lighting elements of the resulting 15m wide scenic environment, a streamlined fusion of interlocking curves made from frosted acrylic material and backlit with LEDs, embracing retro and futuristic in

Australia - Visual and lighting designer Nick Gray of UK based design practice Renegade has created a video art work which is one of the highlights of the international Wool Modern exhibition, just aired in Sydney, Australia following successful shows in London and Berlin.

Gray was commissioned to create the piece by curator Charlotte Lurot. The exhibition, supported by HRH The Prince of Wales, focuses on the modern, innovative and avant garde use of wool in creative industries.

Gray's video and sound installation is fully interactive - visitors listen to a soundscape through pre-triggered headphones and look at a fully visual 'colour story' unfolding in front of them that encapsulates the diversity, chaos, symmetry and many textural possibilities of the warp and weft of the wool.

The physical installation is a frame structure with three panels of stretched wool yarns

UK - One of the UK's leading suppliers of 3D and HD technical facilities to the outside broadcast market has once again put their trust in Le Mark's PAL road case labels.

Telegenic's Rob Watt says: "We have hundreds of flight cases here at Telegenic, each housing specific and expensive items of broadcast equipment. Working in a 'live' and very unforgiving industry, we have to know exactly where our kit is at all times. Le Mark labels are an essential part of our working day, being clear to read, practical and durable."

(Jim Evans)

South Korea - Christie, official content sponsor for Expo 2012, Yeosu, reports that the Organising Committee for Expo 2012 has selected Christie Roadie HD+35K projectors for its signature multimedia night show. Set against the natural backdrop of the Yeosu Sea, the 47m high Big-O is the world's largest water curtain and the landmark installation at the expo.

Designed and directed by France-based ECA2, who were involved in shows such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1998 World Cup in France and the Eiffel Tower Millennium Show, the 'O' stands for the ocean and resembles the numerical zero to illustrate a new beginning for the sea. The show is expected to remain as a permanent centrepiece after Expo.

Two sets of triple-stacked Christie Roadie HD+35Ks project a short animated film about ocean conservation onto the water screen at the internal rim of the 'O' which is l

The Netherlands - In association with the Dutch manufacturer CLS-LED, Dutch project management company, 4Stage.net, recently completed the Energy Experience Centre for Leusden's DE Partner company. DE Partner is in cooperation with Bloemendal Bouw, which specialises in renewable energy promotion. With CLS-LED, 4Stage.net installed and programmed light, audio and video equipment in a portable storage container.

The equipment used needed to reflect the importance of energy efficiency with the project including a 10-minute video presentation that takes the visitor through all the issues that come with durable and energy efficient construction, renovation and housing. Visual Productions' CueCore proved to be the right choice for solid-state lighting control and this unit benefits from having a minimal power consumption.

The presentation takes place on four synchronized big LED scr

Poland - PGE Arena Gdansk - one of the most modern sports stadiums in Europe - is preparing for the upcoming UEFA Euro 2012 Football Championships. The stadium was equipped by TRIAS S.A. with technical and multimedia solutions. The company was responsible for design and integration of technical systems within the scope of fixed audiovisual, lighting, safety systems, IT installations as well as management systems.

TRIAS S.A. is the official technology partner of the stadium and the general contractor of the tele-technical systems. For the next five years TRIAS will also supervise the correct functioning of the installed electronic systems.

During Euro 2012 PGE Arena Gdansk will host three group games as well as a quarter final. Designed in a manner to resemble the colour of Baltic amber, the arena can seat up to 42 000 spectators.

TRIAS equipped the stadium with four diode sc

UK - The visitor's journey through Titanic Belfast starts in the giant atrium and extends through nine galleries. Each tells the story of the Titanic, from its conception in Belfast in the early 1900s, through its construction and launch, to its famous maiden voyage and tragic end, exactly 100 years ago.

Helping to tell this story is an immersive three-side 'cave' - a CGI virtual walk-through of the entire ship, constructed by Bedfordshire-based Paradigm Audio Visual, and installed by DJ Willrich to meet the design brief from Event Communications.

The Paradigm project team was led by Steve Pratt, director of engineering, who conducted several site meetings before drawing up the design for the three seamless rear projection surfaces, each 6m (wide) x 2.3m (high) and powered by Panasonic PT-DZ110 dual lamp, 10,600 lumens WUXGA resolution projectors, fitted with 0.8:1 lenses.

P

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