5 Star Cases, the Cambridgeshire-based flightcase manufacturer, has expanded its sales team with two new members. As from 1 November, Andy Harford has been appointed to look after all 5 Star's retail sales. This is Harford’s second spell at the company, having previously worked for 5 Star as a sales manager on the road. Harford will be mainly office-based, but is available to make visits to customers if required. Harford has a wide knowledge of the DJ Market, being a part-time DJ himself.

The latest addition to the sales team is Dave Peacock: based in Manchester and starting on 6 January 2003, Peacock will become 5 Star's North West sales manager. With 14 years’ experience in every aspect of the flightcase industry, having worked for BSH Transit cases and Condor, Peacock will

DPA Microphones has announced the appointment of Studer Austria GmbH as its new distributor in Austria. Over the last five years, under the leadership of Reinhold Fliedl, Studer Austria has established itself as one of the leading suppliers of professional audio equipment for broadcast and studio solutions in the country. In addition to its own-branded products, Studer distributes leading brands including Dolby, HHB, Digigram and dB Technologies.

From its HQ in Vienna, Studer Austria will be expanding the horizons for DPA Microphones. "We have strong contacts among the public and private broadcast companies in Austria," says Reinhold Fliedl, " and Studer has traditionally maintained a high profile with recording and film studios, including the smaller project studios and home studios. We expect to be able to bring DPA products to new customers in all these markets, as w

Power over Ethernet use within the entertainment lighting industry took another big step forward last month, when Pathway’s Pathport DMX management system earned its certification for compliance in the application of power over Ethernet from PowerDsine, an industry leader in power over Ethernet power applications.

Pathway is the first industry manufacturer to earn this certification. It was also the first industry adopter of the evolving IEEE 802.3af power over Ethernet standard in 2000, incorporating the concept in Pathport, their new DMX management system. Pathport went on that year to win a coveted LDI Product of the Year Award at its launch in Las Vegas. Pathport Ethernet devices provide users with a powerful and economical arrangement for managing, patching, merging, prioritizing and distributing up to 64 universes of DMX. This certification by PowerDsine validates Pathway&r

On 22 October, Orange and Microsoft announced the launch of the world’s first Windows-powered Smartphone - the SPV - at a press conference in London. Creative communications agency Park Avenue Productions developed the idea of using moving screens to communicate the key messages of the launch to the audience, and CT were contracted to provide the AV solution.

The event allowed CT to combine Dataton Watchout and QMotion screen movement. Four high-brightness Barco ilite 10mm LED screens in a portrait orientation were flown with Stage One’s Qmotion system. This enabled them to be tracked around the stage, each screen receiving input from the Dataton Watchout System. The Watchout content took the form of colourful images which set each scene, and this was supplemented with Video Stings timed to match the screen movement. The output to the i10 was pixel matched to maintain image

Philip Van Loo’s Bruges-based company, PVL Sound & Light, has purchased a second 40-channel Soundcraft MH4 desk to add to the one they acquired earlier in the year. The company has purchased no fewer than nine desks in the past year to service work in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium.

The 20-year-old sales and concert touring specialist had desperately needed a new touring desk, having sold two Soundcraft Series 5 consoles recently to the new concert hall in Bruges. Van Loo took the compact option. "The Series 5 was a little bulky for the scale of theatres we do. I was looking for a desk with the same facilities but with lower weight and dimensions. The MH4 is a perfect solution."

While their first MH4 was on active duty throughout the summer the new board will go straight out on a 38-date tour, based on a TV talk show and featuring the band Red Harmony. Philip hi

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

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XL Video, the UK's leading live video production specialists, has taken delivery of the first new Barco R18 projectors in the UK. XL has made an initial purchase of four of the new units. This brings XL's total stock of large projectors to over 50. XL director Lee Spencer comments, "It's important to stay at the cutting edge of the industry, and to keep investing in the latest technology as it comes on stream. This has always been XL's philosophy."

The Barco ELM R18 Director projector combines extreme light output, high resolution and advanced signal processing to deliver remarkable performance. It is specifically designed for large screen video projection, and is equipped with the state-of-the-art DLP technology. Combined with Barco's expertise in electronics and optics, the R18 features an impressive 17,000 ANSI lumens and SXGA resolution.

XL Video's busy autumn schedul

Elation Professional and Robe Show Lighting have announced the formation of Robe America. The new company, which is a joint venture between the two suppliers, will be the exclusive North American distributor of Robe Show Lighting products.

Based in the Czech Republic, Robe Show Lighting manufactures a variety of intelligent stage and club lighting products, including the widely acclaimed AT Series of rotating head fixtures, as well as special effects and DMX controllers. "We're very pleased to be working with Robe," said Chuck Davies, president and CEO of the American DJ Group, parent company of Elation Professional. "Our company has been very impressed with Robe's design capabilities, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, and commitment to serving the stage and club lighting markets. Robe's products have earned the company a loyal international following, and we're

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

Lighting designer Bryan Leitch and his company Siyan has invested in more new Avolites lighting control equipment to service the Coldplay world tour, currently delighting audiences in Europe. The Avo kit on the tour includes two Sapphire consoles, plus two Avolites ART2000 dimming systems.

One Sapphire is used to operate the 4-way Radlite PC-based video system, designed and operated by video director Nick Whitehouse. The RADLite footage is fed from seven black and white cameras onstage and played back onto four upstage screens. Above that is another level of video, projected onto a stunning 48ft (14.6m) wide by 10ft (3m) high semi-circular screen. This shows IMAG footage supplied by a 4-colour camera/Barco G5 system, provided to the tour by XL Video. The second Sapphire is operated by Leitch himself and runs all Coldplay's lighting.

With the expected longevity of the Coldplay tour an

Soundcraft has unveiled the latest addition to the Spirit range - the multi-format low-cost E Series. Surface-mount technology is implemented throughout, using close-tolerance components for high accuracy and repeatable settings for EQ and gain controls. The new highly-transparent mic amp features high-resolution adjustment over a wide gain range of 55dB, and provides +22dB headroom through the console. True professional 48-volt phantom power caters for condenser microphones of all types.

A unique feature of the signal monitoring is the Peak LED. This uses multipoint signal take-offs to watch for overload in several parts of the channel strip, and the LED lights more brightly as the signal approaches the peak point. For smooth and accurate channel control, the E Series has the same long-throw 100mm high quality faders as other Soundcraft desks. The E Series is available in four standar

Nocturne Productions & Vidicon are providing Barco high-performance display technology for Paul McCartney’s World Tour, which completed its 50-date North American leg on 29 October in Phoenix, having grossed over $100 million. Nocturne and Vidicon are providing approximately 1,600sq.ft of Barco’s Daylight Display LED video displays and 16 of its high brightness ELM Series DLP projectors for McCartney’s World Tour in Japan. The displays are located on both sides of the stage, each in a spectacular 60ft (18.3m) x 40ft (12.2m) display. 16 Barco ELM R12 projectors are rear-projected, side-by-side, onto eight 15ft (4.5m) x 20ft (6.1m) projection screens left and right of the stage. The stunning configuration is used to show live image magnification and video playback during the show.

Following his successful North American tour stops, McCartney then toured to Mexico City

ARX Systems has awarded its Australian distributor, The Resource Corporation P/L, the award for ‘Asia Pacific Distributor of the Year for 2002’ after the company achieved an increase in ARX sales of 225% for the 2001/2002 fiscal year.

Tony Hosking, managing director of TRC, attributes a large part of the increase in sales to their success with ARX's ZA Series of multi-channel amplifiers - especially into museum, theme park and law court installation markets - and the SPL range of powered poudspeakers. ARX's managing director, Colin Park, congratulated TRC, saying: "Tony and his team at TRC have delivered a great year for ARX, their efforts in developing new markets for ARX have achieved outstanding results, especially for our installation products. Now they'll be looking to enjoy that free holiday in Fiji or Tahiti!!"

(Lee Baldock)

Socapex has launched a new website fully dedicated to the entertainment industry. The website is complete with all the last information about Socapex inter-connection solutions, such as SL61 standard and monopiece back-shell, rectangular and audio connectors, as well as the RJ Field - the ruggedized RJ45 connection.

Socapex designs and manufactures connectors according to the highest standards of quality, safety and robustness. Socapex is part of Amphenol-Socapex (France), which designs, manufactures and markets connector products for the following the Entertainment, Industrial, military, aeronautic, fibre optic, data and telecommunication markets. Amphenol-Socapex is part of the Amphenol Corporation (USA).

(Lee Baldock)

In recent years, Duran Audio have seen a growing market demand for high power digital directivity controlled (DDC) loudspeaker columns, such as the Intellivox 1608. The 1608 was the first ‘full range’ Intellivox, with previous units being better suited to vocal reinforcement. It continues to amaze engineers, say Duran, many finding it difficult to accept that what looks like an old-fashioned column loudspeaker can offer such transparent musical reproduction at high SPLs. Applications for the 1608 have ranged from speech reinforcement, live music in theatrical shows, corporate events and classical music concerts, and in acoustic environments such as churches, sports halls and factory buildings. The Intellivox 1608 has even served as a mobile touring system!

For Duran Audio, the growing acceptance of DDC-controlled systems in theatres and live concerts has been the key reason

Scott Church joins Selecon Performance Lighting from December 2002, as regional sales manager, based in an office near Baltimore, Maryland. Church comes to Selecon with extensive sales and lighting industry experiences. His most recent position was sales manager for Baltimore Stage Lighting Inc, where he spent more than 15 years. He has also held positions in the past with Scandinavian World Cruises, US DOD/USO (Department of Defense/United Service Organization) tours and many other technical and entertainment positions.

Church said: "The innovative products, knowledgeable factory staff and excellent growth potential made it an easy decision to join. I hope to create long-term relationships with our dedicated dealers, architects, designers and many others."

Selecon's Jeremy Collins commented: "Scott joining the Selecon team is a further step in bringing to the US marke

Tom Stoppard’s trilogy The Coast of Utopia is just coming to the end of its Royal National Theatre run; not for those with short attention spans, the three sequential plays - Voyage, Shipwreck and Salvage - are set across Russia and Europe, and relate an epic story.

Set designer Bill Dudley was struck by the shortness of the play’s scenes and the frequency of location changes. His design had to allow for quick, simple scene changes, which provided the opportunity to use 3D-computer modelling: it was but a short step then to the use of computer-animated projections to provide instant scene changes.

With 75 scenes, kinetics were key to the set and lighting design. The production sees a partnership between Dudley, lighting designer David Hersey, DHA’s projection specialists Wyatt Enever and Steve Larkins, the RNT’s new video department and Dick Straker, its vide

The Marquee Club, one of London’s most high profile live music venues, has re-opened at a new location in Islington, North London. After a £4 million fit-out, the club has been transformed into a 1,200-capacity club/live music and entertainment venue. The Marquee brand is now owned by former Eurythmics star Dave Stewart of the Artist Network, and entrepreneur Mark Fuller.

The lighting and visual elements for the new Marquee have been designed and co-ordinated by Dan Cook, who vacated his post as technical manager of the Ocean Music Centre in Hackney to take up the role of lighting manager. Cook designed a flexible lighting rig to cater for a diverse range of artists.

For its rock and roll credentials, Entec Sound & Light was asked onboard by Gary McGovern, Dave Stewart’s studio maintenance manager and the club’s technical consultant. Entec supplied the lighting e

A credit card scam, using ‘electronically stolen’ credit card details, which has recently affected US companies in the entertainment industry, is now seemingly targeting UK companies. Up to a dozen US companies, members of ESTA, have been targeted by what appears to be the same individuals, operating from Indonesia. In a warning issued by ESTA to its members, one company’s experience is described as follows.

"We were contacted by email for info, stock availability, and whether we could ship internationally (to Indonesia) against payment by credit card. Relatively small dollars were represented on first contact. No shipping account could be supplied via UPS, FedEx, or DHL, so prepay and add terms were requested. The credit card company originally approved authorization for future shipment, although it was noted that the name and address on the account did not m

This year’s MOBO awards recognized both new and established artists, from Miss Dynamite and Nora Jones, to the longer-toothed Jimmy Cliff and Chaka Kahn. The production team were closer to the latter in years, but they helped this year’s awards ‘Kick Ass’, as a star-studded occasion.

The atmosphere was more like that of a gig than an awards ceremony, due in large part, to its tight production and planning. The show itself changed format considerably this year, with the guests having dinner before the show in a separate draped area before moving into the main auditorium for the awards.

The event’s production manager, Mick Kluczynski, of MJK Productions, expanded: "We changed the layout in order to keep the show fresh. I brought together my regular team of suppliers, who make a consistent and professional team for the big awards shows I run each year.

Elstree Light & Power (ELP) recently invited L&SI to an open day at its Millennium Studios home in Elstree, North London. The specialist supplier of lighting, power, rigging, transport, touring studio facilities and custom broadcast solutions to the television and film industry, was throwing open its doors to the production industry to reveal its highly resourceful, diverse and successful operation.

A number of high profile lighting designers from the worlds of television and live events attended the day, including Mark Kenyon, Vince Foster, Ian Dow, Mike LeFevre, Bernie Davis, Graham Banks, John Pope and John Fyfe.ELP had adorned the various areas of the extensive premises to provide a flavour of what they can offer: their mobile broadcast studios and production vehicles, including those returned from ITV’s coverage of the 2002 Formula 1 season, were erected by the roadside. The

The sixth annual New Horizon event on the campus of Coleraine University attracted over 20,000 visitors to the Christian-based Gospel presentation over a seven-day period. For the second year running, the sound was produced by local company Light & Sound FX (LSFX).

For the main tented area, LSFX used four stacks of Mackie Fussion, two each side of the stage configured in four Fussion 3000 mid/high boxes, four 1800 subs and four 1800A subs, all driven by Mackie M1400 amps. For the stage monitoring, Mackie C300 speakers and a Mackie SR40:8 mixer were spec’d. Around the rest of the site were 14 Mackie SRM 450s, whilst for the FOH mix, LSFX used the Crest VCA 32:4 FOH console.

Running alongside all of this, Upstream Recording had a live recording unit in action, for a forthcoming CD. The unit utilised a Mackie D8B digital mixer, a Mackie HDR 24/96 hard disc recorder and a pair of M

As we reported last week, theatrical sound design specialist Autograph Sound Recording has purchased its first DiGiCo D5 console. The 96-channel console, which was delivered by DiGiCo's sales director James Gordon to Autograph in early November, will become the first D5 in the world to be fitted with the forthcoming D5 Theatre package. The theatre software will include an enlarged output matrix and a host of other features that are specific to the theatre environment.

For almost three decades, Autograph has been known for its pioneering input into the design of many theatre-orientated products from manufacturers such as Meyer Sound, Cadac, Sennheiser, Micron and Danish Pro-Audio. Andrew Bruce, Autograph chairman and founder, will bench test the prototype software in close consultation with DiGiCo engineers to produce a console that can cater for the demands of setting up and running a

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