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Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - Lighting designer Al Gurdon specified 78 James Thomas PixelLine battens as part of his lighting rig for ITV's current top-rating series of the X-Factor. 32 PixelLines are rigged inside the main scenic 'X' set piece hung above centre stage. The fixtures are behind a diffused polycarbonate covering.

On the floor below, the centre 'X' PixelLine configuration is mirrored using another 32 battens, this time set below a frosted Perspex floor. These 64 battens are being driven by video images created specially for the show by lighting operators/programmers Svend Pedersen and Ross Williams and graphic artist Chris Plant, designed to compliment the geometry of the stage and Christopher George's set. The images are stored and manipulated in a computer running PixelMAD software, and output via the WholeHog II lighting console used to run the show's lights.

The 'X' PixelLine fixtures

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USA - Arizona-based Sunbelt Scenic Studios has taken delivery of 14 of Clay Paky's new Alpha Spot HPE and Alpha Wash fixtures. Concentrating mostly on corporate productions, Sunbelt Scenic Studios added the new Clay Paky fixtures to their lighting rental inventory based on trust - trust in the Clay Paky brand and trust in the people behind the brand in the US. "I have enjoyed the Clay Paky 1200 Zooms for many years now," said David Renshaw, lighting rental manager for Sunbelt. "PJ Turpin, the general manager of Clay Paky America, and I also go way back - I trust him. When PJ told me he had these new units, and that I could rely on them, I knew that I could. I normally do not buy the first round of any new moving light."

Renshaw immediately committed his new Alpha Spot HPE and Wash fixtures to a number of large-and small-scale industrial productions. The fee

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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UK - Super Vision International, Inc. manufacturer of fiber optic and LED lighting announced today that it has signed three additional new licensees to its Variable Color Lighting System patent and its Laidman technology portfolio. The three licensees are Element Labs of Austin, Texas, TPR Enterprises of Mamaroneck, New York and Shine Lighting of West Jordan, Utah.

Nils Thorjussen, founder and president of Element Labs: "I'd like to personally thank Brett Kingstone and Supervision for taking the lead on this critically important matter and making the Belliveau patent and Laidman technology easily available to the industry. We feel that Super Vision's IP portfolio is foundational to the LED lighting industry and this licensee agreement is not only a good investment for Element Labs, but for the future of our industry." Mr. Thorjussen was a previous co-founder of Flying

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Italy - The MTV Europe Music Awards took place this year on the 18th November at the Tor di Valle in Rome. Derrick Ziebe was sound designer for the show with all live equipment being supplied by Britannia Row Productions, including all of the Sennheiser radio, mics and IEM, the choice of the large majority of artists.

Sennheiser radio and IEM was used throughout with Sennheiser SKM500N specifically used for all of the presenters and the winners. Bryan Grant for Brit Row commented, "49 channels of Sennheiser radio were used in an unfriendly RF area but the system performed flawlessly."

The majority of artists also chose Sennheiser mics including Usher and Alicia Keys (evolution 500 series wireless), The Hives (evolution wired, main vocal e 935), Franz Ferdinand (evolution wired, main vocal e840), Eminem (SKM5000), the Beastie Boys (SKM5000), Anastacia (evolution 500 s

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UK - Adlib Audio and sister company Adlite are supplying full sound and lighting production to the current UK Embrace tour. Audio includes a Nexo Alpha system and one of Adlib's new Yamaha PM5D digital consoles and lighting includes Martin MAC 550 and High End Studio Beam PC moving lights and a WholeHog II desk.

With a huge variety of venues on the itinerary, the typical stack of Nexo is eight M3 mid-highs eight B1 bass boxes and six SB2 subs, which the larger venues expanding to eight mid-highs and bass cabinets a side with a total of eight subs. The system is powered with two types of Camco amps - Tectons for the mid-highs and Vortex for the subs. The PA is zoned via BSS 366s, which are used for time alignment when they're running infills, outfills or delays in some of the more idiosyncratic rooms.

Jones mixes with a Midas H3000 FOH. For system processing, he's using 10 dbx

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UK - Leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light recently joined forces with Ashcroft Services and Zero 88 to update the facilities at the Shoestring Theatre, home of the Croydon Youth Theatre Organisation (CYTO) which provides nine to fifteen year olds a chance to experience all aspects of theatre. "The CYTO's Shoestring Theatre is a converted part of an old school run by Croydon Youth Services," explains Ian Locke, manager of Ashcroft Services and technical manager at Croydon's Fairfield Halls. "CYTO have very little money - but they urgently needed to upgrade their lighting installation. They turned to Ashcroft Services for help; working with White Light and Zero 88 we were able to considerably improve their facilities."

The upgrade saw CYTO replace three six-way Pulsar dimmer racks with what Ian describes as a "very fine ex-demonstration Chi

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USA - Rigging Seminars has announced that it will conduct three classes in 2005. These will be held in Las Vegas from 8-11 February, 2-5 May, and in Chicago from 3-6 June. Each class covers the principles and operation of both stage rigging and arena-style rigging, and will include a full day of hands-on training.

Rigging Seminars is the longest established entertainment rigging training program, and is highly respected in the industry. They are taught by Harry Donovan and Jay O. Glerum, both working professionals with more than 40 years' experience in show business. Both have written respected books on entertainment industry rigging and thousands of riggers have graduated from their courses, ay the company.

Glerum has been a stagehand, scenery and lighting designer, technical theatre instructor at several universities, and systems designer for a major theatre equipment compa

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UK - This year the ever-popular Barco Showcase event was held at two locations, in the North and South of the country. The first was at Three Mills Studios in London and the second held at the Magna Science Museum in Rotherham, Yorkshire. LSI visited the Three Mills Studios, which proved to be an ideal location for showing the huge range of Barco products.

The show included everything from their high performance display products and solutions for simulation training, to their large screen LED display and state-of-the-art projectors. One of Barco's newest products being shown was the Encore Presentation System which is a multi-layer Video Display System (comprised of a Video Processor unit and a System Controller), that combines seamless switching with a variety of flexible video effects, to provide a versatile video production tool for live event staging applications.

The huge

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UK - A.C. Lighting has been appointed authorized dealer for Clay Paky products in the UK. Clay Paky manufactures a wide range of effects fixtures, including moving body luminaires, moving mirror luminaires, colour changers, followspots and smoke machines. The company's latest innovation is the Alpha range, a series of 575W moving body projectors designed for professional, architectural and show business environments. This range includes the Alpha Spot and Alpha Spot HPE moving yoke profile fixtures and the Alpha Wash moving yoke washlight fixture.

Key range features include high brightness optics providing even distribution of light from the centre to the peripheral for a flatter curve; wide zooms (4 - 80 degrees on the Alpha Wash and 10 - 40 degrees on the Alpha Spot); colour mixing well away from the beam focal point, resulting in an even colour spread and no projection of shu

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UK - Away from the theatre and into the public domain, Stage Technologies Ltd has provided wine waiters with the power of flight. A new 6.5 tonne glass wine tower, which holds over four thousand bottles of wine, has been designed and installed by Edwin Shirley Staging for the Radisson SAS hotel at Stansted airport.

To order wine at this venue is to initiate a live aerial performance, where 'wine angels' fly up the face of the 13m tall tower and descend with your desired bottle. To achieve this Stage Technologies has supplied four BigTow winches that are controlled by radio linked operator pendants. These handheld, wireless pendants enable the wine angels to control their own movements up and down the tower. Their two-point hip harnesses allow them to turn upside-down and swing from side to side whilst performing choreographed routines. Stage Technologies' BigTow winches, origina

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UK - Vision Systems recently revealed plans to extend early warning solutions by offering its Millbank voice alarm solution to new and existing VESDA smoke detection and ADPRO video security customers.

Gordon MacSween, managing director at Vision Systems, comments: "We are already market leaders in detecting threats with our VESDA range of very early warning smoke detectors and our ADPRO range of video security systems. Our next step will be to further integrate the Millbank voice response products to complement our offering by adding a response capability. This may be the automatic announcement of a staged evacuation in the event of a fire or preventing damage or loss by telling an intruder that they have been detected, police called and for them to leave the premises."

Neil Voce, sales and business development director for voice response systems at Vision Systems,

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UK - Autograph Sales, continuing its longstanding relationship with some of the UK's leading sound rental outfits: Canegreen, Richard Nowell Sound Services (RNSS) and Sound by Design have in recent months been reinforcing their Meyer Sound loudspeaker stocks with the latest products.

Richard Nowell Sound Services is responsible for sound and communications throughout the South Bank Centre, while supplying additional systems to the various artists and events who play London's riverside venues. A Meyer Sound user for more than 20 years, RNSS added 700HPs, the ultra high-power sub woofer, to its inventory.

Meanwhile North London's Canegreen, continues to expand its extensive Meyer Sound stocks, also with the 700HPs. The first in the UK to purchase the product, Canegreen is really putting its new sub woofers to use, after several dates with The Corrs, they are now travelling the c

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USA> - Crown's Xs Series amplifiers are proving a solid, cost-effective choice for powering installed sound systems in houses of worship, the company reports. Jeff Gefke of Calvary Audio Ministry recently chose the Xs Series for Calvary Chapel churches in Visalia, California and Rio Grand, Texas, while another installation using Xs Series amps by Calvary Audio Ministry is currently underway in Oceanside, California.

The power range and versatility of the Xs Series makes it easy to match amplifier power to the requirements of the various loudspeakers used in an installation. For example, in Visalia, a single four-channel Xs 4300 and two Xs 700 amps power the JBL AE Series LCR system, with channels to spare for stage and side-fill monitors, and Xs 700 amps power the subs. Commenting on the performance of the system, Gefke said, "During the Grand Opening with over 1000 people

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UK - London-based production company John Henry's Ltd (JHL) has updated its already substantial monitor system inventory with a major purchase of 40 QSC PowerLight PL236 amplifiers. QSC's distributor, Shure Distribution UK, filled the initial order and provided the product in newly commissioned monitor racks. JHL's special projects manager Pepin Clout said: "All our front-of-house amplifiers are QSC, so it made perfect sense to maintain that continuity. That said, we conducted an extensive market evaluation of all available product, which effectively confirmed our decision that QSC amplifiers continue to be our best investment, based on sonic transparency and performance, power-to-weight ratio, and reliability."

JHL is active not only in live television broadcasts, but are well-established in the concert touring, corporate, and showcase arenas, which places rigorous

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UK - This Christmas Elumin8 was asked by the fashion house Alexander McQueen to design its Christmas windows for the London, New York and Milan stores. The brief was to create something that was high tech and used the innovative elumin8 lamps while at the same time creating an atmosphere that was romantic. Another requirement was that the display was easily transportable and simple to install. Each hanging tree banner is very thin, light and semi transparent and are simply rolled for transportation.

The panels designed by Ginco and the McQueen team are based on a hand drawn Christmas tree, but with a very cotemporary feel and have been programmed to slowly fade and increase luminosity, giving a slightly misty effect to the forest. Richard Kirk, managing director of Elumin8 said: "The Christmas trees really show the creative potential of the elumin8 product, they have transc

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Hong Kong - Hong Kong based Sound Projects agent Shalom AV recently supplied the sound equipment for a worship concert at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium for 2500 people. The 'Stream of Praise concert is performed by a famous Christian worship team that tours around Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the USA. Equipment used for the event comprised: Six SP-4 Diamond (Sound Projects' hybrid line array system) each side flown as line array, four SP-4-15 subwoofer, two SP-4 Diamond as front fill, two SP-2 as centre front fill and two SP-2 as side fills.

Shalom AV Technology successfully served the annual event for the seventh time this year and has already been asked to quote for several other projects because of the outstanding success of the event.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

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UK - The Tussauds Group have purchased two HK Audio LUCAS 1000 self-powered active systems for use in the Ma Garrita's Bar feature, part of the new Splash Landings Hotel at the world famous Alton Towers Theme Park and entertainments complex.

The client declared themselves to be very satisfied with the quality and flexibility of their existing inventory of HK Audio active enclosures, in the form of Actor AT112A 400W 12"/1" mid-high and AT115S 400W 1 x 15" subs, which are relied on to provide high performance portable sound reinforcement solutions for a wide range of applications throughout the park, the impressive performance of these units meant that Alton Towers technical manager Simon Horsley immediately looked to HK Audio to fulfil Alton Towers' requirement for further systems.

Consequently, LUCAS 1000's were selected as the ideal choice, based on their abi

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Australia - From humble beginnings as a meeting place for Italians in the Western suburbs of Sydney, Club Marconi now provides sporting, entertainment, educational and social services for a whole community of varying cultures and origins. The Club recently extended its facilities to include a 1050 capacity multi-purpose music venue - the Casa Nightclub - with an impressive sound system based around Allen & Heath's iDR DSP system.

A good sound system was high on the agenda for this new project, so Marconi appointed Sydney's leading AV contractor, Total Concept Projects (TCP), to manage the audio installation. The new music venue is a dual function auditorium, which is used as a nightclub and to stage concerts for the numerous high-profile local and international artists who perform at Club Marconi. The design brief consequently specified a split system that could be used equally

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Germany - Mercedes Benz celebrated the 100 year anniversary of its Untertürkheim plant near Stuttgart recently. A ceremony was attended by 300 of Germany's movers and shakers from the political, business and social worlds and events on the main stage were displayed on two huge systems of G-LEC ClassicFrame, which were attached to the facade on each side of the 14 story Mercedes Benz office building.

With both displays measuring 245m², the 140 frames of ClassicFrame, controlled by 12 graphic computers, were used to display live video feed from the events on the main stage. With such a large rig required, ClassicFrame was the only product for the job as owing to the lightweight façade of the building - a video wall would have brought the building down!

Richard Profe, media and lighting designer at Munich and Stuttgart based design company TLD, had been waiting to specify the

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USA - Production Resource Group (PRG) provided a combined lighting, audio, and scenic solution for the latest tour of the popular rock band, Scorpions. PRG's service package includes a conventional lighting rig with Icon control system, a V-Dosc audio system with Midas consoles, and several scenic flats for the band's stage. All of the items were packaged together in PRG's Las Vegas operations depot, which contains a full-service scenic shop and over $50 million in lighting and audio equipment.

"Being able to prep and load all of the equipment and scenic elements from a single operations facility enabled us to respond quickly to the band's needs," stated Mark Coleman, a PRG account executive for the tour. "And by co-packing the items, we were able to save the band significant shipping costs."

The first portion of Scorpion's Unbreakable tour began on October

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Europe - Tom Waits headed to Europe in November to play an eight-date sell-out tour. Monitor engineer Derek VanOrd, who was out with Waits for the first time, chose an InnovaSON 48-input console for use on stage.

VanOrd had first used an InnovaSON console on an 18-month tour with Ben Harper following a recommendation from US PA company Rat Sound. "It seems as if everything is going digital now and eventually you're going to have to make the jump," says VanOrd. "There was a month of band rehearsals prior to the Ben Harper tour so that was a great opportunity to learn to operate a new digital console."

Thanks to his intensive use of InnovaSON with Harper, VanOrd had no hesitation in specifying another board as monitor console for the Tom Waits tour. The console's small footprint, combined with onboard dynamics and EQ, perfectly suited the four venues Waits pl

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UK - The Times London Film Festival, presented by the British Film Institute, is Europe's largest public film event. This year, the 48th annual festival attracted over 116,000 admissions, 280 of which were screened from 60 countries. In addition to an impressive roster of film premieres, many of which are introduced by the film's director, producer or stars, the extensive schedule of festival activities include prestigious opening and closing night galas, after-film VIP parties, industry and public forums, education events, lectures and celebrity interviews. Premier PR, who handles many of the film premiers and after-film parties, turned to Sound Division to provide sound and lighting effects for two high profile parties.

The first was for Chinese director, Zhang Yimou's latest film, House of Flying Daggers. The exclusive after-film party for 500 guests was hosted at Lon

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USA - In order to make the most of an impossible schedule, lighting designer John LaBriola turned to Dallas-based Portal Design Services for help with the Backstreet Boys summer tour of Asia. The band was due to play a night in Beijing and one in Shanghai before moving on to five sold-out nights at the Yoyogi Gym in Tokyo, Japan. LaBriola and lighting director Jason Deboer were to have no production rehearsals for the large-scale arena and stadium-sized shows.

A portable WYSIWYG visualization system from Portal Design Services proved to be the solution to the problem. Portal shipped the self-contained system directly to LaBriola's house so that he could program the show in his home office. "I was able to complete the vast majority of the cueing at home," remarks LaBriola. "The pre-programming was all about information management. We could swap fixtures around in

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Astera - Large MPU - June 2025
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