UK - Projection Advertising has developed a new, proprietary projection mapping system to maximise the effectiveness of moving head projection systems. Motion Mapper custom software takes 3D objects and computes exact trajectories, ensuring a seamless marriage between projection and pathway and - thanks to the use of a bespoke transport vehicle working in tandem with moving head technology - creates 'daylight visible' performances.

One of the biggest challenges of moving head projection is image distortion, something that Motion Mapper goes a long way to resolving, so maximising the effectiveness of moving head projection technology. In addition, the constant movement generated by the moving head system and the transport vehicle, or RPV (Revolving Projection Vehicle), allows proje

UK - When faced with the overwhelming choice of lighting fixtures on the market, how can a lighting design and rental company be sure it is making the right decision for its business and its clients when investing in new products? Reading based event lighting specialist, Blinding Light has been in business since 1999 and over the last 14 years has undoubtedly made its mark in what is a fiercely competitive sector. With a diverse client base that demands a range of solutions from corporate and architectural lighting through to full stage artistic rigs at high profile events such as BBC Proms in the Park, Blinding Light has to be sure that its warehouse inventory matches exactly what the client is looking for.

Renowned as one of the industry's stalwarts, lighting designer Anthony (Turbo) Hall has been part of the Blinding Light team since 2011 and played a key role in the company'

The Netherlands - Solid State Logic has appointed Pro Audio specialist Audio Electronics Mattijsen (AEM) as its Live console distributor in The Netherlands. AEM has been serving the Dutch pro audio industry for over 30 years and is the latest addition to SSL's Live console partner network.

"SSL Live is the high-end mixer solution for which we have been looking for years to complement our portfolio," says Roland Mattijsen, applications specialist and AEM co-owner. "Being ambitious, innovative and able to exceed expectations is not an easy task for any manufacturer. With the Live console, SSL is offering its highly respected SuperAnalogue front-end, 64-bit FP DSP processing and high channel/bus counts at 96kHz throughout.

"With those specs, Live would attract the attention of top sound engineers and designers, even without the SSL badge. We are very proud and

Peru - Lima-based DBLUX S.A.C. recently debuted its new Meyer Sound Leo linear large-scale sound reinforcement system at the Pilsen Callao Festival in Lima's National Stadium (Estadio Nacional). The Leo system is the first in Peru, and it supported an all-star Latin American lineup headlined by salsa superstar RubénBlades. Covering over 120m of the concert field with no delay towers, the Leo system made a strong impression on veteran FOH mixers.

"I've worked with almost every line array from the major makers, but I've never before had that feeling of unlimited headroom, where there is always room for more, and uniformity is still preserved," recounts Guillermo "Memo" Gómez, FOH engineer for Rubén Blades. "Leo is very different from other systems. The sound quality and coverage are exceptional."

The system was purchased by Andres Cua

Germany - When we think of tragic love stories, Romeo and Juliet comes instantly to mind, together with the feud between the two families, the Montagues and the Capulets. The story has been rewritten several times over the centuries, always in new ways. This time William Shakespeare's play returns to the stage in the form of a touring rock ballet that starts out in Hamburg and stops over throughout Germany.

This rewrite is the fruit of the creative minds of Rasta Thomas and Adrienne Canterna, the duo behind the international Rock the Ballet show. The lighting was designed by Patrick Woodroffe and Roland Greil from Woodroffe Basset Design, who chose, among other equipment, sixteen Sharpy Washes made by Clay Paky, and a grandMA2 light and Network Processing Unit (NPU) made by MA Lighting.

"Clay Paky Sharpy Washes are unrivalled thanks to their compact size. T

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Germany - Dart Rigging GmbH has been handling rigging on Rammstein shows since 2005 and for the band's last two tours has been using Ron StageMaster wireless load cells by Eilon Engineering to monitor the large set up and any overload issues.

"Rammstein rigs continue to get increasingly complex," states Dart co-owner Martin Gehring, who served as head rigger on Rammstein's 2009-2011 Liebe ist für alle da tour, as well as the 2011-2013 Made in Germany tour, which ended in August.

"When you take into account the automation systems, custom set elements like the special bridge we had for the latest tour and the band's famous logo-cross, and then add in the lighting pods and sound equipment, it's a lot of weight to worry about and load cells were a must."

The Ron StageMaster system's extremely long battery life gives continuous operation for up

The Netherlands - Yamaha Music Europe GmbH will be showing its full range of products for the installation market at Integrated Systems Europe 2014, including new loudspeakers.

The show sees the launch of significant additions to Yamaha's successful Commercial Installation Solutions (CIS) series. These are EN54-24 certified versions of the VXC and VXS loudspeaker ranges, which are specifically designed for use in PA/VA voice alarm systems.

Yamaha's full CIS series will be on show, including all VXC and VXS loudspeakers, XMV multi-channel amplifiers, MTX matrix processors and DCP controllers.

The company will also be demonstrating its Commercial Installation Solutions Speaker Calculator (CISSCA) software. Available as a free download from the Yamaha Pro Audio web site, this Windows application quickly and accurately calculates the number of speakers required for optimum perfo

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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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Denmark - The design goal of The Blue Planet, Denmark's new national aquarium, was to make the aquarium's visitors feel like they had entered the world of the sea surrounding it. Using Rosco's X24 effects projector, lighting designer Jesper Garde Kongshaug created a realistic and controllable water effect to accomplish that goal as he projected that effect throughout the vast concourse areas inside the aquarium.

Aquariums are filled with the ethereal, wavy effect of light shining through or reflecting off of the various pools and tanks of water in their exhibits. Copenhagen's new Blue Planet Aquarium wanted to incorporate those effects into its 'swirling water' inspired design to bring the visitors "into the world of the fish and the life they live under the sea". Lighting designer Jesper Garde Kongshaug knew that, in order to immerse the visitors in an underwater expe

UK - Aurora Lighting Hire supplied full TV lighting facilities to the Robbie Williams One Night at The Palladium on Friday 8 November for a performance of swing songs old and new.

The evening was a one off to introduce his new album Swing Both Ways, which was released a week later.

Nick Edwards, managing director of Aurora said, "Lighting director Oli Richards approached Aurora early on with an interesting concept. Oli had the vision of creating a staggered celling sculpture out of Martin Mac Aura's. The Auras were required to be rigged on individual scaff drops to make 'sleek' 'smart' vertical drops."

He continued, "Aurora worked closely with rigging experts Actus Industries to develop these bespoke custom pipes. Richards rig also featured Martin MAC Vipers, and Clay Paky Sharpies. Aurora were also able to provide some new retro tungsten lights

UK - Manchester- based dbn Lighting are once again supplying an integrated lighting and visual design plus equipment - including lighting and LED screens - to The Warehouse Project (WHP), which has grown in popularity under the curation of founders Sacha Lord-Marchionne and Sam Kandel.

WHP operates for two regular nights each week from September to New year's eve on a timeline coinciding with the new university and college terms. It attracts all the hottest international EDM DJ's and live acts and sells out months in advance. It's the second year the club is operating out of its new Victoria Warehouse venue in Trafford Park.

dbn's Pete Robinson has been involved with WHP right from the start and this year he created the production and lighting design for all three rooms in the space.

In the Main Room he started with a new blank canvass and the intention to make it look total

Germany - At the Volkswagen Group's general meeting, an event that this year marked its fifteenth running and has become a company tradition, which this year was held on the evening preceding the opening of the 65th International Automobile Show (IAA), Frankfurt, tarm Showlaser wowed the crowd of attendees from around the world with a spectacular laser show accompanying the performance by the Pet Shop Boys.

A crowd of nearly 2,000 journalists, VIPs, and group representatives experienced at first hand an extremely complex staging that had been specially developed for the evening's show and individually highlighted every one of the group's ten makes.

(Jim Evans)

Internet - City Theatrical will be hosting the fourth free webinar in a series of five on Wireless DMX on Tuesday, 10 December 10, 2013 at 11am EST (16:00 GMT). This webinar will focus on how to set up a permanent outdoor architectural wireless DMX system using SHoW DMX Vero and Vero Net.

If you would like to learn more about this application of wireless DMX products please register for this event by simply logging on to City Theatrical's website.

(Jim Evans)

UK - XL Video is supplying dance company Sadler's Wells with a projection system for m¡longa, a new work by Belgian born choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which was inspired by the magical communication of tango dancing the intimate, almost conspiratorial social setting of the m¡longa (social tango dances).

XL Video's Ed Cooper is the project manager. XL Video have worked on several previous projects with Sadler's Wells including recent tours of Russell Maliphant's Still Current and the world tour of TeZukA, another mixed-media Cherkaoui production using the stylised imagery of Japanese Manga cartoons as a starting point.

Sadler's Wells production manager Adam Carrée once again called on the skills and expertise of XL Video to provide a video solution for the m¡longa tour - with the current tour making its UK Premiere at their north London base

USA - The Miss America pageant returned to its Atlantic City origins this year and lighting designer Allen Branton was charged with lighting the cavernous Boardwalk Hall and making sure 53 beautiful women looked their best whenever the TV camera turned their way. He was aided by grandMA2 lighting consoles from Atomic Lighting in Lititz, Pennsylvania.

Branton marked his sixth consecutive year lighting the pageant, which was televised on ABC-TV. After spending a number of years in Las Vegas the show moved back to Atlantic City where "the venue, audience and scenery doubled in size," he reports. "Given the size of the hall and way the show was set in the room, every single element of production had to be rigged from overhead - and there's no permanent rigging infrastructure. So there were 240 individual rigging points for lighting, sound, video, scenery, cable manage

USA - QSC confirms that several key components of its Q-Sys networked audio management platform, and all of the models in the CX amplifier line, have achieved IEC60945 certification. This is the final stage in the process of rendering them eligible for use at sea under the internationally recognised maritime safety conventions known collectively as SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea).

The QSC Core 1000, 3000 and 4000 processors, together with their associated Page Stations, I/O Frame audio interfaces and CX amplifiers achieved IEC60945 certification (SOLAS) by conforming to an extremely stringent set of internationally recognised standards. It is illegal to use equipment on the high seas that has not achieved SOLAS certification, and indeed a vessel's maritime insurance may be invalidated unless all equipment used on board is SOLAS-approved. Approval is not granted unless the internat

UK - Lighting designer Nick Richings has specified Showline's high-output SL PAR 150 ZOOM luminaires to create a 'jolly', bright wash for the current hit musical tour of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Richings - who has 25 years' experience working in theatre lighting in the West End and Broadway on hit shows including La Cage Aux Folles and Starlight Express - is utilising 36 of the SL PAR 150 ZOOM luminaires to wash the stage in the traditionally bright musical colours.

"The SL PAR 150 ZOOMs have only recently come onto the market so this is the first time I have ever used them and I'm really impressed with the light output," says Richings. "The lens is great - they go nice and narrow, and they offer really good colour mixing. The warm and cool whites are also surprisingly good."

Richings is using the die-cast aluminium LED SL PAR 150 ZOOM luminaires

UK - Pro Audio Stash (PAS) has launched the first in a new range of power distribution units.

The British manufactured Octopus is an entry level racking product featuring eight IEC distribution outlets, surge protection and EMI (electromagnetic interference) filters and is built to PAS's rigorous standards of quality engineering.

Suitable for all pro AV and audio applications and especially for domestic and commercial installations where reliable power supplies are vital for protecting all types of electronic equipment, the Octopus brings the consistency of British manufacturing to the market at a very competitive price.

The design and manufacturing was completed by PAS's specialist rack division, Rackz, and the metalwork is supplied by Penn Elcom, both elements reinforcing the octopus quality assurance.

This also allows products to be quickly developed, adapted and custom

USA - Chauvet Professional has added the Nexus Aw 7x7, a versatile warm white LED panel, to its Parnelli Award-winning series of Nexus LED displays. Emitting bright, narrow beams from 49 powerful 3-watt 2,800K CREE LEDs, the Nexus Aw 7x7 offers the flexibility to generate high-impact aerial effects, produce warm white washes, project outward as an audience blinder, or create vibrant text and animated graphics displays.

Designed for use in arrays, Nexus Aw 7x7 panels feature a quick rigging system with integrated alignment and load-rated interlocking hardware for easy construction of displays of all sizes. This adaptability in both configuration and function makes Nexus Aw 7x7 panels ideal for a variety of applications - from live events, touring and stage productions, to nightclubs and entertainment venues, to broadcast/studio lighting.

Using one of several control options --

UK - Mood, drama, invention and Robe moving lights were at the heart of the elegant, intricate lighting design created by Rich George from 3DL&S for jazz-pop singer and songwriter Jamie Cullum's Momentum tour, which has just completed its first UK leg and now heads to Europe.

George is based in London. This is his second tour with Cullum and his first as LD, where he works very closely with Cullum's Artistic & Visuals Director Nickin Corrigan to produce the captivating live performance aesthetic. This is based around creative, quirky and highly effective use of IMAG camera footage which was George's starting point for the lighting design.

The lighting equipment is being supplied by Leeds, UK based rental company Zig Zag Lighting who have serviced Cullum's live work for some time. His tours have also incorporated Robe products for a while.

For Momentum, the lighting design in

Europe - New York-based psychedelic rock outfit MGMT are at the core a duo comprised of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. But live, they are one of those bands that are expansive. And by all indications of reviews from their current global invasion in Europe, that axiom is reinforced nightly with the touring six-piece outfit, bring music from their current, self-titled release to the masses.

Behind the controls at monitor world for the past seven months has been Fabian Quiroga, back on his DiGiCo SD8 desk since his departure earlier in the year from a lengthy stint with The Black Keys. The SD8 was provided by Eighth Day Sound's UK shop.

"After doing a few small tours with the band's previous console, I knew I had to go back to my DiGiCo board," he muses. "When I came into this camp, management wanted the transition of a new monitor engineer to be as smooth

Spain - In Seville, Spain, a Meyer Sound Mica line array loudspeaker system has been installed in the new auditorium at FIBES Conference and Exhibition Centre (Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos). With its seating flexibility and sonic excellence, the FIBES auditorium is a popular venue for international conferences, major concerts, and musical theatre productions. The audio system was specified by Carlos García-Diéguez Acuña of Seville-based GD Consulting.

"We selected a Meyer Sound Mica solution based on its overall sound quality, high efficiency in compact enclosures, and the availability of strong technical support in Spain," explains García-Diéguez. "For conferences, it delivers high clarity and intelligibility in all seats, while for concerts, it is excellent for all music styles, including folk, classical, and rock."

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