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UK - Stage Electrics and Projected Image Digital will be demonstrating the new Pixelmad software at Stage Electrics HQ in Bristol on Wednesday 2 June and Thursday 3 June from 10am - 7pm. The software is designed to control lighting using video and still images, and has recently been used on the Radiohead tour.

PixelMad software is similar to Catalyst however it outputs DMX rather than a video signal. The software uses an Artistic Licence Ether-Lynx Interface, which links the DMX lighting controller to an Apple Mac computer on which the video clips and images are stored. With up to four layers; two outputs; video signal input i.e. cameras and DV playback; 200 DMX fixtures; and eight universes, the control system produces some amazing lighting sequences.

The demo will feature a rig comprising of 20 Thomas Pixel Line 1044 LED battens; 16 Ayrton Eyecolor LED moving-heads; and some

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USA - Warren Flynn and Brian E. Kuehne have formed a new design partnership - Spacecoast Visual, which will concentrate on the corporate theatre and concert touring markets. Flynn and Kuehne have diverse yet complementary design and programming talents along with over 40 years of experience in entertainment lighting. "This is an exciting time for Brian and me," says Flynn. "We are both recognized as programmers who also design, and this allows us to firmly state that we are lighting designers who also program."

Flynn is probably best known for his work on Broadway. The Tony Award-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Universal's new musical Wicked have both benefited from Warren's experience. Corporate theatre clients of Flynn's include Morgan Stanley, Nextel and Wendy's. Warren's design work has been seen on tour with Dashboard Confess

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Uk - At this year's ABTT show (16-17 June, London) James Thomas will show its comprehensive ranges of theatrical lanterns. Its asymmetric Cyc lights feature a high quality electrostatic paint finish and robust yoke, complete with T-bar for positive lock-off. Cyc lights can be used flown or floor-mounted - the body of the unit having an inbuilt 30 degree angle floor-mount facility - optional floor mounting plates are also offered. The units have adjustable lamp-holders and feature ventilation slots to prolong bulb and gel life.

Spot banks are available in various configurations of Par 36 lamps. Lamp changing is simple due to quick-release knobs on lamp's front retaining ring. Units can be supplied with stand-off colour frames if requires, and with two or four-way barn doors. Adapters are also made for all the major brands of colour changers. Spot Bank units can also be supplied w

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UK - UK manufacturer of advanced radio frequency products, Trantec Systems has recently supplied its innovative PT1 UHF stereo wireless Personal Trainer system to the brand new Rugeley Leisure Centre in Staffordshire - owned by Cannock Chase Council and built in partnership with Sport England. Trantec collaborated with MLEC's Mike Lowe who sourced the advanced system, which was installed by Stagecraft Systems, headed by Neil Craddock.

Trantec's Active Audio PT1 system has provided a "complete" fitness entertainment environment. The installation involved the supply of the Trantec PT-1 in ear training units and included five PT-1 transmitters, 30 PT-1 receivers and three 10-way chargers. The transmitter units were installed in a wall-mounted rack along with two Sky satellite receivers, video, DVD and four way video matrix. The supply also included three Fujitsu 42"

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USA - Sound On Stage (SOS) of Hayward, California, has been following Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger around the state for almost a year now, providing the PA system for his various speaking engagements. The company's rig of choice throughout that ongoing trek has been a dozen L-Acoustics dV-Dosc loudspeakers and two SB218 subs.

"We've had two audio engineers and a truck following the governor around the state since about six weeks before his election," says George Edwards, Sound On Stage general manager. "They've provided sound reinforcement for everything from his inauguration party to countless public appearances, including a recent stop at Boeing in Long Beach."

It was this visit to Boeing's Hangar 3 that presented several interesting challenges. Edwards explains: "The governor chose Boeing's factory as the site for signing a landmark workers comp

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UK - Lighting director Tom Kinnane used 55 James Thomas PixelPAR 90(A) LED fixtures to light the set of ITV's dating show, Love on A Saturday Night, presented by Davina McCall. Kinnane chose the fixtures to front-light the set designed by Marcus Blee. Lighting became the show's key effect on the multilayered set, shifting the colour, mood and feel of the space.

Kinnane started using Pixelline 1044 battens - of which there are also 10 on this show - at Christmas after seeing them in action on Granada's Stars In Their Eyes in Manchester. He was impressed with the power and punch, and then tested some of the new PixelPAR 90 convection cooled fittings at the first opportunity. They were run in 10-channel mode for Love, ensuring full dimmer intensity control.

"They look fantastic on camera" he declares, and likes them so much that he'll now use them w

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Greece - From the 13-16 May, planners and sound specialists from all over the world converged on Athens, the city hosting the 2004 Olympics, to inspect the sound systems in place for the games. What was most striking is that everywhere you look in Athens, there is equipment from EVI Audio.

The EVI Audio team had put together a package for a group of 100 pro audio specialists, which included planners and journalists from North America, China, Japan and all over Europe. Participants were given a questionnaire inviting them to choose from a variety of different events that most interested them. The choice included a Netmax workshop, a tour of the airport where a Dynacord paging system is installed, a tour of the clubs (stocked for the most part with EV XLCs) or the city, whilst the centrepiece of the visit to the Greek capital was a detailed inspection of a number of the stadia upo

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Spain - HK Audio's Spanish distributor, Adagio, recently staged two separate demonstrations of the Cohedra 'Coherent Dynamic Response Array' system. The May presentations were held in two separate venues, one outdoors and one indoors, to demonstrate the flexibility of the system to local PA rental companies, sound technicians, events promoters and even a politician.

The outdoor demonstration was at the Plaza de Toros de Algeciras - a circular, 50m diameter bullfighting ring with a capacity of 12,500. Here, a customer of Adagio, Sonilprof PA rental company, helped provide a system of 12 Cohedra mid/high cabinets per side - six CDR 208 Ts and CDR 208 Ss - were flown on aluminium trusses. These were supplemented with a stack of 12 Cohedra CDR 210 Sub subwoofers per side. The system was powered with two PR 16 and two PR 8 amp racks.

After putting this system through its paces, th

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UK - Zest Audio Ltd has announced that it has won the Innovation Award at the recent Shell Livewire Business Awards 2004, for the development and successful export of the company's new business music control system, Atmosphere. The awards ceremony was held in Belfast's Waterfront Hall recently.

Atmosphere automatically plays from a selection of pre-programmed music channels: 12 of these channels have been specifically programmed by Zest audio for the hospitality industry. Additional channels may be created by the customer to meet the requirements of its particular venue. Additional facilities include multi-zoning and the inclusion of advertising features.

Zest Audio is a young and quickly expanding export company, with a growing distribution network throughout Europe, and is currently expanding into the new EU countries.

(Lee Baldock)

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UK/Ireland - Duran Duran's recent UK tour this spring sold out in a matter of minutes, drawing in old fans as well as new ones. Though the band performed favourite hits from the past, they didn't stick with old technology for their stage show. The main workhorse of the rig featured some of the latest technology from High End Systems - specifically, 50 x.Spot Xtreme and 46 Studio Beam automated luminaires, with control from a Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III lighting console. All lighting equipment was supplied by Neg Earth.

Reardon was not only the lighting designer, but also the programmer and board operator. Plus, he co-designed the set with production manager Tony Gittins. Reardon explained: "I chose the Wholehog III because the show was extremely cue-intensive and I couldn't use a console that might slow down while running eight universes at full tilt. The Hog III's remo

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UK - Bandit Lites UK and US are supplying the current Incubus tour in the US and Europe. Lighting designer is Joe Paradise, who has worked with Incubus since 2001. For the tour's lengthy European leg, Paradise and his Bandit Inc crew of Geddy Kordyjaka and Jeff Archibeque took a rig out of Bedford-based Bandit UK.

The rig is all Martin Professional luminaires - a mixture of 2K Profiles, MAC 600s, 500s and 300s, plus Atomic strobes, all split between the trusses and the floor. The downstage and mid-stage trusses are straight and there's two cross-trusses running upstage/downstage which are gently angled onstage, plus a straight drapes truss upstage. This holds a fibre optic starcloth, fed with mega-bright QFX 150 colour changing fibre optic light sources. Paradise is using one of the new Martin Maxxyz consoles for control.

There's no video, so he uses the stage as a large canva

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Finland / France - FogScreen Inc, the Finnish company whose walk-through projection screen we've reported on recently, has been awarded the Laval Virtual Award in Interfaces category at the sixth International Conference on Virtual Reality in Laval, France. An international jury made up of virtual reality specialists presented awards for the year's best virtual reality creations worldwide.

FogScreen Inc, which was founded less than a year ago, has received a remarkable variety of prizes and honours, including the InnoSuomi 2003 prize from the President of Finland for the best innovation of the year. During the International Conference in Laval, FogScreen presented its new interactive fog display, which makes writing and drawing in the air possible. The innovation had its debut in San Francisco at Wired Magazine's NextFest.

FogScreen's recent demonstration at the Washington Des

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UK - Following the announcement that it is to distribute the Rolls product line in the UK, the US company has now awarded distribution of the renowned Bellari processor range to Smart Sound Direct. Specializing in analogue valve technology, the Bellari line comprises the MP105 valve microphone, the VP129 valve phono preamp and RP220 dual valve mic preamp, the RP503 valve mic processor and RP533 studio valve multi-processor, and the RP583 studio comp/limiter.

The MP105 is ideal for anyone requiring a warm, smooth analogue sound, say Smart Sound, and the VP129 is claimed to possess a more warm and musical tone than solid state preamps. The RP220 boasts smooth yet punchy characteristics that drive vocal tracks to the front and warm up any digital mix, while the RP503 is said to be ideal for any recording situation and the RP533 should prove an ideal addition to any established rig,

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UK - A new technical college has been built from the ground up in the Digbeth area of Birmingham. Described as the biggest thing to happen to education in the City for over 30 years, it forms a £17m, state-of-the-art training facility for Art, Design & Digital Media, Music & Performance, Information Technology and Trade Union Studies.

Since part of the curriculum will be teaching audio and media students, a high-grade playback and recording suite infrastructure was required. While the South Birmingham College was installing Digidesign ProTools suites on the one-hand, locally-based SSE Hire were successfully tendering for the auditorium fit-out.

"We were fortunate to get involved in the project when it was still at the pre-cast concrete stage. Therefore we were able to be involved in the specification and supply a complete turnkey package," says SSE's sales manager,

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UK / Japan - This summer, leading lighting rental company White Light and its specialist automated lighting division The Moving Light Company will be continuing their long association with the hit musical Miss Saigon by supplying lighting rigs to not one but two new productions of the show - one in Plymouth, the other in Tokyo.

White Light supplied the lighting rig to the very first production of the show, which ran at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London from 1989 until 1999. In 2001, David Hersey's design was re-conceived for a British tour which ran until late-2003; White Light and The Moving Light Company supplied the entire rig for that production, which included some of the first Vari-Lite VL2000 Spot and VL2000 Wash units used in Britain.

The entire lighting rig for that tour, including the Vari-Lites, DHA Digital Light Curtains, ETC Source Fours, VSFX cloud ef

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Germany - Since the beginning of May 2004, the US-based Blue Man Group has been in performance at Berlin's Theater am Potsdamer Platz. The cult performers' production employs MA Lighting's network signal processors (NSP) - part of a lighting equipment package that also includes MA Lighting's grandMA lighting consoles.

Originally only 4,000 DMX lines were planned for the lighting design of the Berlin show, which could have been controlled by a single lighting desk. However, during the preparations for the production, the demands on the control desk gradually increased to include 130 moving lights, integrated video control via four High End Catalyst Media Servers and eight High End Catalyst DL-1 projectors and 50 Atomic Strobes from Martin Professional with 36 Atomic Color colour changers.

Thus the maximum capacity of 4098 channels was quickly reached. The use of a second consol

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UK / Germany - Liverpool-based audio and lighting services company Adlib Audio has made a major commitment to Camco, the German amplifier manufacturer, taking delivery of more than sixty new Vortex 6 digital amplifiers for use with its JBL VerTec system. The equipment is being supplied by Camco's UK distributor Fuzion plc, and is being seen by Adlib Audio as "an initial purchase, and part of a major long-term investment."

"We really feel that the Vortex 6 is the best amplifier on the market for the VerTec," says Adlib's Dave Kay, who has spent a considerable amount of time evaluating leading brands. "The Camco shone above every other model that we tested."

Adlib Audio is sidelining its existing stock of Crown VZ-5002s, principally because of size considerations. "We needed to save weight, and to free up more space in the trucks," expla

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Finland - The Crazy Reindeer complex in Lapland is now one of the Artic Circle's most popular tourist destinations. The centre offers full hotel and conference facilities, gourmet dining, saunas, a jacuzzi as well as a 1,500-capacity club/live venue. Midas and Klark Teknik distributors Oy Hedcom have so far supplied all of the venue's audio and AV equipment, which included a 52-input Midas Legend console in 2002, along with a Nexo sound system. This year, the Crazy Reindeer has opted to install a full monitor system comprising a 48-channel Midas XL250, six Klark Teknik DN360 graphic EQs and Camco-driven Nexo PS15 wedges and side-fills.

According to Hedcom's Ari Manninen, the choice was a straightforward one. "The client had already made the decision to invest in Midas with the Legend 3000, and it's proved to be an excellent choice. However, the place is packed to the rafter

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Hungary - Martin Audio has announced a further Line Array purchase in Eastern Europe. Last month a new system helped the Slovak Republic celebrate its membership to the EU and now a W8LC/W8C combination has been ordered by Hungarian rental company, RMS.

Tibor Kiss's company has added 12 x W8LC Compact Line Array enclosures, along with eight conventional Wavefront 8 Compact (W8C), a pair of WSX subs and two DX1 system controllers to its rental inventory.

RMS specialize in providing sound reinforcement for rock and pop concerts, and count heavy metal icons such as Slayer, Manowar and Anthrax among their accounts, as well as Clawfinger, TNT, EDDA and events like the Sommer Rock Festival.

"The reason we chose the Martin line array was because of its amazing price/performance ratio," said Tibor. "We auditioned a lot of different line array systems - and always foun

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USA - The fifth annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which crammed sold-out crowds of over 50,000 onto Indio, California's Empire Polo Field for two days in early May, overwhelmed concertgoers this year with five stages boasting more than 80 bands, including Radiohead, The Cure, Kraftwerk, Beck, Flaming Lips, and the recently reunited Pixies. To handle sound reinforcement for the festival, event promoter Goldenvoice once again turned to Rat Sound Systems of Oxnard and U.S. Audio and Lighting of North Hollywood, both of whom brought out sizeable quantities of V-Dosc and dV-Dosc loudspeakers.

In particular, Rat Sound provided the system for Coachella's Main Stage, making this the third year in a row that the company's L-Acoustics rig has been flown at the giant outdoor venue. The main PA system featured left and right line arrays each comprised of 15 V-Dosc cabinets wi

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UK - Star Events Group supplied Homelands' organizers with an Orbit structure that was used as the 'Hydration Station' for the festival. Star Orbit erected a 12m, two-bay structure at the centre of the event site. With Orbit-style structures usually used for performance stages at Homelands, this year the 'Hydration Station' was created using a Star Orbit stage and became a central sales outlet for refreshments. The stage stood out from other structures with its distinctive dome shaped roof and contained a dance floor with a lighting rig and screen, together with a kiosk selling water and energy products.

The 17-hour event took place at Matterley Bowl in Hampshire, and brought together live bands and DJs for thousands of visitors. Faithless and the Scissor Sisters topped the live act bill, with the likes of Erik Morillo, Paul Van Dyk and Judge Jules taking to the decks. Star Orb

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USA - A new insight into the trends in buying and specifying habits of a broad cross-section in the entertainment industries will be revealed with the publication of a significant new study entitled How Customers Specify and Buy Expendables, Equipment and Systems in The Entertainment Industries. The study is sponsored by ESTA, North America's Entertainment Services and Technology Association, and is believed to be the first study of its type ever conducted by a non-partisan, non-profit sponsor in the entertainment industries.

The study was managed by an ESTA committee of industry volunteers supplemented by the technical skills and guidance of a well known market research firm, Stiernberg Consulting. The database of customers and specifiers prepared for this study is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging ever used: utilizing its member resources, ESTA assembled the data

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USA - After playing to an estimated 35 million people over 10 years, the popular free outdoor sea battle at Las Vegas' Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, the Battle of Buccaneer Bay, was retired to make way for an updated, sexier show - The Sirens of Treasure Island.

The show was given a fresh new storyline and set to music, resulting in a musical-meets-action spectacular that features an exhilarating clash between a group of beautiful, tempting sirens and a band of renegade pirates. The buildings of the seaside village are bathed in a cool moonlit wash, while a ghostly bleached ship with tattered sails sits nearby. Lighting the tropical city façade is a new Martin colour-changing system of Exterior 600, Exterior 600 Compact and Atomic strobe fixtures supplied by Fourth Phase.

Lighting design for the new show is by Roy Bennet with programming and assistant lighting design

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- Carnegie Hall in Dunfermline, Scotland, has recently purchased a pair of Meyer UPJ-1P powered compact VariO loudspeakers from Scotland's Meyer dealer, Apex Acoustics. Adding to the venue's existing installed sound system, the size and weight, power and versatility enables the use of their UPJ's for FOH or as foldback monitors. Carnegie Hall's Barry Young explains: "I still can't believe the clarity of the UPJ's. It's just a great speaker."

Carnegie Hall is a beautiful 1930s theatre based in the heart of Dunfermline in central Scotland. One of four Fife Council theatres, Carnegie Hall offers a popular and diverse programme of music, drama, dance, film, comedy, children's entertainment and pantomime.

(Lee Baldock)

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  4. Geni Lighting appoints Coemar UK for entertainment markets
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  6. Harman Pro UK at ABTT 2004.
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