UK - Doughty Engineering unveiled the latest addition to its catalogue of products - a motorised lectern -at this year's ABTT show, as well as its new and stronger range of truss adaptors.

The motorised lectern is fully DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) compliant, leading many visitors to the stand to try it out 'for size'! Designed and manufactured in the UK, the black powder coated steel lectern is supplied with a reading light and fitted with anti-vibration/noise dampening microphone mounts to ensure a clear, concise sound from the user.

Mark Chorley, design engineer at Doughty Engineering said, "The motorised height adjustment makes this lectern suitable for universal use, whether it's young children in a school setting, wheelchair users or adults of different heights

USA - At InfoComm, Lab.gruppen launched its new install dedicated amplifier range, LUCIA. Addressing the specific needs of the AV contractor market for high quality, localized audio systems, the two-channel LUCIA (Localized Utility Compact Intelligent Amplification) is a compact and versatile Energy Star compliant Class D amplifier platform.

For small-scale AV applications where high quality audio is required, without the complication and additional cost of a distributed system with centralized rack-mounted amplification, matrixing and processing, LUCIA offers systems designers a more logical and cost-efficient solution, one that is ideally suited for corporate boardrooms, classrooms and small lecture theatres, museum multi-media areas and retail units.

The range comprises of four models across twopower configurations - 2 x 60 W and 2 x 120 W - each available with either 4-in,

Canada - CAST Group has released the first few details of forthcoming new release of wysiwyg R31, which is due to launch within the next few weeks.

R31 is set to deliver "an array of stunning new features, enhancements and library additions, many of which were directly requested by accomplished wysiwyg professionals". These improvements will save huge amounts time and money by solving problems and delivering brand new functionality, consistent with CAST's mantra and its steadfast determination to dramatically improve the workflow and user experience of wysiwyg - Release 31 will be testament to this philosophy, says the company.

Among the extensive list of the additions to R31 are some striking visualization enhancements - perhaps most significantly the new Material System in Shaded Views, which will allow material properties to be applied on a per-element level to an

UK - Celebrating its status as the first quadrennial UK City of Culture, the Northern Ireland city of Derry / Londonderry is staging an array of events throughout the year. The most spectacular was the finale Showdown on the Foyle of The Return of Colmcille on 8 June, where a mile of the River Foyle was the stage for a dramatic battle of good against evil. Despite immense technical challenges, Yamaha audio equipment ensured that thousands of the city's citizens had the night of their lives.

Produced by outdoor arts experts Walk the Plank, The Return of Colmcille packed in an array of performances and parades in the 30 hours preceding the unforgettable Showdown on the Foyle.

The climax concluded an epic two week journey of a traditional Irish rowing boat from the Isle of Iona, symbolically enacting the Irish saint's return back to the city he founded. Legen

UK - trackingThis, the specialist in dynamic data and collaborative asset management systems, launched new functionalities for the Technical Access Passport (TAP) system, including a Trainer Module, at ABTT show in London last week.

trackingThis is offering "an unmissable deal for training companies". They can sign up for a single user license for just 10% of the standard commercial license price, as long as they sign up before October.

Besides demonstrating TAP and the trackingThis asset management system, Chris Paul, trackingThis director, presented TAP's new features and trainer module during a seminar at ABTT.

"TAP is the must have card for freelancers and contractors," says Paul. "We've been successfully running the scheme with the ABTT for two years now. The ATG and ENO are both early supporters of the scheme. The principal aim of TAP is to mak

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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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UK - The 2013 National Stage Management Awards Ceremony was held recently at the Old Truman Brewery in London, during the ABTT Theatre Show. The award for 'Stage Management Student of the Year' is sponsored by GDS, itself an award winning manufacturer, and was won this year by Alex Bradford of Rose Bruford College.

The award honours outstanding student achievement and Alex was considered to have truly risen above the competition, fully demonstrating her ability to take responsibility and apply herself skilfully and passionately to her work.

MD of GDS, Matt Lloyd expressed great pleasure in sponsoring the award: "This is the third year that we have been the proud sponsors of this award. As manufacturers of essential stage management equipment, some of which has been developed directly in conjunction with educators in the stage-management field, we are only too well aware o

USA - Leading UK lighting designer Dave Byars has put his new Avolites Sapphire Touch to work on Brit-pop band Blur's heavily atmospheric 2013 tour, which has smouldered under the stars in venues and at festivals, including Coachella, California.

Dave Byars - who has been in charge of lighting Blur since the band first formed - had quite a challenge on his hands. Maintaining his high design values, while coping with the varying set ups of festivals, and arenas around the world is no mean feat. This is especially true in Byars' case as he is not touring his own rig but rather using festival house rigs or hiring locally at each venue. This means he often ends up with very different set ups or equipment types for each show.

"Being able to programme and design on the fly is essential for a tour like this one," stresses Byars. "I've been an Avolites console user for

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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.

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USA - Grunge rockers Alice In Chains are in the midst of a five-week national tour, and Clay Paky Sharpy Washes are shedding light on 22 dates coast-to-coast as the band plays festivals, theatres and small clubs.

The band began their spring tour in Miami and will finish in San Antonio, TX to generate buzz for their latest studio album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, their first since 2009.

Main Light provided 14 Sharpy Wash 330 units to lighting designer and director Marty Postma. "They're part of the floor package for effects," says Randy Mullican at Main Light. "We compared the Sharpy Wash to 1000-watt units and found the Sharpy's intensity, size and feature set to be better. They're a beautiful light in the right size package. This was the first rental the Sharpy Washes went out on for us, and A.C.T has been fabulous; their service and support has been s

UK - Continuing a long-standing relationship with the Rod Stewart team, that spans nearly three decades, Tait was eager to produce customised staging elements for the artist's widely- anticipated Live the Life tour. Working alongside set designer Paul Staples, production manager Lars Brogaard and lighting designer Mark Payne, the team integrated Tait's fully-optimised stock assets into the set design.

Tait supplied six custom Periaktos, which are positioned on the mainstage and manually rotated throughout the performance. Each of the three-sided Periaktos contained a multi-faceted mirror face, a 12mm CT Flyer video screen and a grill-plated surface backlit with LED PAR fixtures.

Tait's automated helical trussing provides one of the main, artistic focal points of the set design. Powered by Tait's Nav Hoist system and hung from 10 half-ton chain hoists, the elements featu

Australia - The team at ENTECH has confirmed a special presentation on the seminar programme this year: An Automation Case Study - King Kong.

Opening in Melbourne this month, King Kong has been over five years in the making. Stage Technologies, automation specialists contracted by Production Resource Group (PRG), have been working closely with animatronic experts at Global Creature Technology to breathe life into the six metre tall silverback for the production.

Sonny Tilders, creative director at Global Creature Technology commented, "King Kong reflects a real maturing for 'Global Creature Technology'. With Walking with Dinosaurs we learnt how to walk, with How to Train Your Dragon we discovered how to fly and now we have combined them both in this very sophisticated puppet. Kong represents the culmination of a raft of technologies and techniq

UK / Germany - Due to the challenge of exhibiting at two trade shows within just a few days of other Maltbury had to put ABTT on hold for the first time in order to exhibit at ShowTech in Berlin next week.

"It was a difficult decision, we love exhibiting at ABTT" explains Philip Sparkes, MD of Maltbury Staging Ltd, "However after a successful year with our work for LOCOG and the development of our new seating and staging systems, we were enticed to ShowTech for the European launch of our new range to the international market."

ShowTech is taking place at the Messe Berlin in Germany on 18-20 June 2013.

In 2012 Maltbury worked on half of the Olympic sports with standard and bespoke products, most notably the weightlifting stage and unique weightlifting back wall. Maltbury has also worked on bespoke products for Tilted Productions (an internationally touring

UK - White Light was recently chosen to supply lighting equipment and solutions for the Journey and Whitesnake 2013 UK Arena Tour. The widely popular bill featured the two superstar bands, along with musical guest Thunder, together in concert for the first time in the UK.

For the tour, which opened in Belfast and finished in London, White Light worked closely with production manager Rob Kern and lighting designer Kevin 'Deuce' Christopher, supplying a full production service including lighting fixtures, cabling, rigging, and power distribution.

The nine-venue tour in the UK is a continuation of Journey's worldwide tour with previous stops in North America, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore earlier this year. Christopher, who has been the touring LD for Journey since 2004, worked with Lester Cobrin, head of concert touring at White Light, to accommodate the addition of double h

UK - Nick Gray of London-based creative visual design practice Renegade worked his lighting magic on the latest Eddie Izzard Force Majeure arena tour which has just finished an intensive three-month tour around the UK and Europe.

It's the first time that Gray - well known for his work in the fashion world and as LD for rockers Kasabian - has designed lighting for the 'surrealist' funny-man, a task on which he collaborated closely with Izzard's artistic director, Sarah Townsend.

The stylistic theme for the tour included flourishes of classic 1960s Avengers and Austin Powers, and another important aesthetic starting point was the large portrait format LED screen onstage.

This all needed careful and thoughtful lighting.

Gray wanted to introduce depth and architecture into the performance space and also make large arena spaces with one person onstage look and feel inter

UK - Liverpool-based technical solutions provider Adlib supplied innovative singer / songwriter Lana Del Rey with an L-Acoustics K1 sound system for her on-going and highly successful UK and European tour.

Adlib's George Puttock designed the audio system, which was specified by Joe Harling and tour manager Peter Abbott. Puttock and Adlib's Sam Proctor rigged and oversaw all the equipment on the road, with Adlib's Simon Lawson as PA tech ensuring that Del Rey's FOH and monitor engineers Joe Harling and Matt Kanaris could achieve the best possible sonic results in a wide variety of venues.

The main PA hangs in their largest configuration were 12 x L-Acoustics K1 per side with three Kara downs, together with side-hangs of three L-Acoustics SB18s with 12 Kara underneath.

These were supported by 16 x SB28s subs on the floor - six left, six right and four in the centre - cleverly

UK - Harlequin Floors have released a new guide to architects highlighting the best practice for dance floor selection. The guide aims to help architects ask the right questions to ensure the needs, safety and health of dancers are considered when choosing flooring.

With a growing interest in the provision of spaces suitable for dance - for professional performance and rehearsal, private dance schools and throughout the education sector - there is increasing focus towards specifying dance floors that meet both performance aspirations as well as conforming to health and safety requirements. As world leaders in advanced technology flooring for dance and the performing arts, the release of the Specifying dance floors, a guide for architects by Harlequin Floors aims to aid architects in selecting floors that meet both of these criteria.

As no standards currently exist which

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians 2013 Annual Awards, sponsored by two of the organisation's Silver Industry Supporters Group members, Stage Electrics & Triple E, took place on Wednesday 12 June, following the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show.

With the Awards' jury judging throughout the day and final deliberations taking place late in the afternoon, winners were presented with their individually engraved hook-clamp trophies at London's Truman Brewery, in front of exhibitors, guests and ABTT members.

The winners are as follows:

ABTT 2013 Lighting Product of the Yea : PRG V276 manufactured by PRG

The judges felt this product offered a way to get high-end and high-definition results from a media server & control desk at a more budget conscious price. The PRG V276 takes the stadium style operational features of the larger PRG desks and allows users

UK - Championship water skier Jeremy (Jez) Harford commissioned 5 Star cases to design and build a custom lightweight flightcase for his slalom skis, to ensure that they can safely be transported overseas for training and competitions - without costing a small fortune in excess baggage!

Packing the skis for travel has always been a challenge explains Jez, and it was time to move permanently on from bubble-wrap, soft bags and keeping fingers crossed that they arrived in one piece ... to something more serious!

Water skis are constructed from hollow fiberglass resin materials which are brittle on the outside and a fall onto concrete, even from a short distance, can damage a ski beyond repair, so protection during transport is imperative.

UK based Jeremy was recommended to 5 Star, where he met Keith Sykes and the design team, who listened to his requirements and set to work to

UK - Unusual Rigging has forged a working relationship with Dutch company DTS2 (Dutch Theatre Systems) to introduce a new line of automation systems to the UK market.

DTS2 manufactures and installs a complete range of winch, hoist and control technology. In an announcement made at this year's ABTT show in London, the two companies have joined forces to provide permanent installations in new build and refurbished theatrical, event and exhibition venues.

Speaking about the collaboration at the show Mark Priestley, capital projects manager for Unusual, said, "This development is an extremely exciting step for Unusual, as it allows us to broaden our range of services in the installation and capital projects sector to enhance our stage engineering offer. None of our installations are off-the-shelf: rather, using DTS2's outstanding control technology, we will add the Unusual 'm

UK - Out Board have posted five TiMax SoundHub Tutorial videos at their new YouTube TiMax Media channel.

Each short video runs about 4-6 mins and the set provides a fast-track training course for the versatile PC/Mac software used to program and control the powerful TiMax SoundHub audio matrix, playback server and showcontrol unit.

Titles include The Mixer basics, through Files and Cues, Triggers and Events, Cues and The Timeline up to a final System and Utilities roundup.

Following detailed briefs from Out Board, the videos have been compiled and narrated by Canadian sound designer and post-production engineer Alan Hardiman as he demonstrates the software's comprehensive feature set.

Rendered in full HD, the videos look like the real thing when watched full-screen, and ProTools was used to help edit and balance sound effects demonstrations and also for mastering the narra

France - The nuclear blast at Hiroshima in 1945 is often described in Japanese as a flash (pika) followed by a bang (don). Last year, a performance lit with ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ fixtures aimed to represent the unexpected terror of the pika don through the medium of dance. Un Coup de Don, by dance company Ariadone and led by Carlotta Ikeda and Ko Morobushi (Japan), was part of the Festival Automne in Normandy, France.

Lighting director Eric Blosse says, "We all agreed that we needed to restart from the beginning, rather than seek to replicate the actual flash itself: we were left with a blank white space focused on the body in a trance."

The style of dance, Butoh, is traditionally performed in white body makeup with slow hyper-controlled motion, which is well suited to trance-like movements and subtle colour shifts.

Says Blosse, "The

Hungary - Christie projection is at the centre of what is believed to be the first permanent outdoor pixel mapping project ever staged in Europe.

The initiative of saving the small early 19th century Breda Castle, situated close to the eastern border of Hungary, by developing it into a new tourist attraction is the result of a collaboration between owners, the Megyeri family, and the initiator, Informax Ltd. Working with Bordos.ArtWorks and Invited Artists (run by Budapest-based 3D artist László Zsolt Bordos) and András Schmid (of Christie technical partner DNN|360) they have mapped the façade in a series of animated tableaux.

From 15 June onwards, an artistic video mapping show will be projected every day (and every hour) after dark, using the 3kW xenon light engine of a Christie Roadster HD18K (18000 ANSI lumens) projector, equipped with 1.8-2.6:1 HD zoom lens. And it is

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