Germany - The ARRI Academy has announced the launch of a new course designed for all levels of lighting and video production professionals. Lighting Systems Control with Richard Cadena is an 11-part video course that serves as a guide to get you up and running with digital lighting control, using DMX, RDM, Wireless DMX, and ethernet-based networks. The series consists of short, informative videos with classes ranging in length from five minutes to 34 minutes. Course attendees will gain a working knowledge of standard and emerging technologies and will be trained on the latest lighting technology. The complete list of classes is as follows: DMX, Building DMX network, Troubleshooting DMX network, RDM, Wireless DMX, Intro to ethernet-based networking, Testing ethernet-based networks: PING and IPCONGIF commands, Art-Net, sACN, Consoles, and ARRI LED Ecosystem. The s
China - Chinese industry is now back to work following the COVID-19 crisis, and Guangzhou-based PR Lighting marked the start of a new month by putting out a statement reassuring their global reseller and customer base that it is once again business as usual. China was the first country to register the outbreak of the coronavirus (on 31 December, 2019) and while production remained temporarily idle throughout the country during lockdown, PR Lighting used the first quarter of the new year not only to fine tune new products already under development but to make some strategic changes to their global sales infrastructure. “PR Lighting is back running 100% as normal,” confirmed company president, Dave Liang. “Our technical and marketing departments are fully operational, and production and shipment are back on schedule. We would like to thank everyone for their patien
Canada/USA - Audac has announced a partnership with Canadian based A.C. ProMedia as the new exclusive distributor of their audio solutions in North America. A.C. ProMedia offers a wide range of multimedia solutions aimed at the fixed installation and architainment markets, through consultants, design groups and systems integration channels. They will be managing the sales, distribution and service of the complete Audac product line in North America from their offices in Toronto. Following the agreement, A.C. ProMedia has appointed Sarah Lima to take Audac under her wing. “We are excited to introduce the Audac family of audio products to the North American market,” says Lima. “These high quality products have proved to be a reliable solution around the world, and with their Audac Touch you have an out-of-the-box application for UCI configuration. It allows you to
On The Dark Side - Andrew Lloyd Webber has warned that theatres are likely to remain closed until the end of September. He said forecasts that venues may be able to reopen in June were “ridiculous”. “The industry says theatres reopen 7 June. My opinion? Optimistic. Ridiculous. I think this peaks in June, and theatres remain closed until end of September. He told New York publication Page Six: “We need these places, many [of which] are old, [to be as] safe as possible. In South Korea, they take everyone’s temperature. We’ll self-clean handles, wipe doors, utilise every safety measure. People won’t wish to crowd into small clustered seats again. But we must reopen. Some, with leftover money to spend, need the theatre.” Lloyd Webber’s next show is Cinderella, which is due to open later this year at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre. The Soci
Europe - One of Audac’s key values is to create a personal connection between one another and being part of something more than a business relationship. To keep realising these goals in these challenging times, Audac has launched its new education platform Users will be able to follow various live webinars on the education platform. These interactive live experiences presented by an Audac expert offer the chance to get to know the brand and its solutions. During the webinars, viewers can use a chat function to ask questions that will be answered directly by an Audac representative in the chat. Audac doesn’t see the live webinars as just a temporary solution to bridge these difficult times. Instead, the audio manufacturer looks at it as a long-term strategy to trigger leads and partners in a different way. Another way to start learning is via the online trai
China - In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, PR Lighting this month reached out to its global customer base, with a letter of reassurance. Joint senior sales managers, Lawrence Mao and Bruce Tian issued the following message: “With the world currently living through the worst crisis of our generation, we at PR Lighting are striving to do everything we can to mitigate the severe impact on our industry and are here to help our customers and partners in every way possible. “As you know, the Coronavirus has spread quickly, and after living with this for nearly two months we were able to return to work on 20 February after lockdown restrictions were lifted. “We responded quickly to make up for lost time, and by the beginning of March everything was back to normal - production, R&D, sales and marketing. In fact we have been able to bring to fruition n
USA - LiteGear and Blue Planet Lighting, have found creative ways to provide employment and support Behind the Scenes, which continues to provide grants to entertainment technology professionals who are seriously ill or injured and to develop the new Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Initiative. LiteGear, a BTS Pledge-a-Product partner, has launched their Donate, Support and Save programme which includes donating N95 masks, reminding their customers that every purchase of a LiteMat Kit supports Behind the Scenes, and offering weekly specials on some of their most popular products. Considered an essential business in California because they service the media industry, LiteGear has been able to keep their staff employed and is working hard to continue their ongoing support for Behind the Scenes. Blue Planet Lighting wanted to do something to help all the freela
USA - Sensaphonics, specialist in personal monitoring and hearing wellness, is offering free email consultation with founder and president Dr. Michael Santucci for music industry professionals during the company’s COVID-19 lockdown. Each day during April, Dr. Santucci will reply personally to hearing health questions from pro audio and music industry workers who are side-lined during the coronavirus pandemic. Questions can be submitted at: sensaphonicsaudiologist@gmail.com. These will be private consultations, so questions and topics can be specific and personal. Emails will go directly to Dr. Santucci, who will reply directly and confidentially. No emails or responses will be published or made public. Availability is on a first-come/first-served basis. Dr. Santucci has committed to spending multiple hours per day on this project, and will respond to as many
South Africa - Blond Productions, based in Midrand, Johannesburg, a rental company specialising in the TV and film sector, like everyone, is grappling to survive under a national lockdown in which productions and businesses have shut down completely. Blond’s owner and MD Christiaan Ballot has retained all his full-time staff and wants to look after everyone as best as possible, which is challenging given the scenario, involving some creative thinking to try and make “the best” out of a grave situation. Something that immediately sprung to the minds of Ballot and Blond’s head of show lighting Ryan Lombard was to utilise the enforced ‘down’ time to engage the staff in various technical training. “While we all wish this was over, it has presented the perfect opportunity to do all those things we never get time for around the office,” Ballot declared.
USA - All Together Now, the online concert event helping the City of Los Angeles during the coronavirus pandemic, has been rescheduled for 25 April. The concert, organised by Rock Cellar Productions, in association with the Get Together Foundation is set to be a major and significant relief effort to help Angelenos cope with the severe restrictions imposed on everyone during this dangerous and uncertain time of the novel coronavirus crisis. The show, previously planned for 18 April, will be broadcast through Alert the Globe (www.alerttheglobe.com) and available free to anyone who wants to see it. The concert will feature an array of singers, songwriters, musicians, actors, authors, comedians, and celebrities of all sorts “coming together to perform and send positive messages out to the City of Los Angeles and the world”. A growing list of prominent en
Italy - Powersoft has committed to continue its online training drive with a pair of hour-long Deva webinars that will take place on Wednesday, 15 April at 14:00 (CEST) and 18:00 (CEST). The sessions will be led by Powersoft’s Deva unit sales manager, Cosimo Cecchi, and used to demonstrate all of the functionalities that make Deva “such a powerful safety device for modern towns, cities and companies”. Cecchi will walk attendees through all of Deva’s features such as facial recognition, queue countering, and SOS and public warning messaging – all abilities that have proven the product to be eminently useful, particularly in recent weeks, as the multimedia device proved vitally important to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic in Italy. Town and city councils such as Bergamo, Soresina in Lombardia (northern Italy), and Scandicci (Florence) originally installed
Europe - The Ravenna Educational Webinar series launches next week and all interested parties are invited to attend. The first session, hosted by Ravenna evangelist, Andreas Hildebrand of ALC NetworX, takes place on Tuesday 14 April at 15:00 CET. Entitled Ravenna and its relationship to AES67 and ST2110, it is scheduled to last around 50 minutes with time for questions and discussion afterwards. Registration is via the trade shows and events page on the Ravenna website. Seats are limited to 100 per session and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. This first session is deliberately designed to be fairly broad-spectrum, offering a brief history of audio networking in general, why Ravenna was developed in the first place and leading onto the more recent developments of AES67 and ST2110 and how they relate to Ravenna. “For those of yo
Europe - In response to’ unprecedented demand’, Nexo is making some of its most popular training and education programmes available online. Starting last week, Nexo’s Engineering Support team is using its popular Facebook channel to present e-learning sessions, part of Yamaha’s extensive Audioversity tuition resource. Led by Nexo’s primary training instructor Nicolas Poitrenaud, the presenting team includes Nexo engineers from all over the world, who will work in four different languages (English, Spanish, French and German). All tutorials are free and open to any interested party: no special knowledge of Nexo equipment is required. “We’ve carefully considered these sessions so that they will also interest engineers and venue owners/operators who may not yet be familiar with NEXO systems,” explains Poitrenaud. “We are confident that these Facebook Live sess
USA - Less than one month after announcing an effort to raise money to provide relief to eligible freelance professionals affected by the coronavirus pandemic due to event cancellations, the Roadie Rescue Campaign reports that the campaign has raised close to $70,000 in donations to date, both through direct contributions to the GoFundMe campaign started in its name and to a special Show Makers Symposium fund set up in the name of the Roadie Rescue Campaign. The contribution milestone was achieved by major contributions from three donors. Kim and Tom Scholz, multi-instrumentalist founder of the American rock band, Boston, made a $50,000 campaign contribution to Roadie Rescue managed by Show Makers Symposium. Take1 Insurance made a $10,000 contribution directly to the GoFundMe campaign. The goal of the campaign is to raise $250,000 in donations to provide relief to eligible
USA - Prolyte Group has announced details of its future operation in North America. Prolyte will now be part of the Area Four Industries Direct America offices in Knoxville and Thousand Oaks, allowing both inventory and offices to be closer to customers on both coasts. Area Four Industries Direct America East and West are now distribution outlets for Prolyte products in North America, and will be supporting existing Prolyte customers and distributors from those locations. Prolyte’s management structure has also changed, with Prolyte’s former general sales manager Keith Bohn joining the Area Four Industries Direct America team to serve as business development director for the Prolyte brand. Bohn will be working closely with Area Four Industries America vice-president Adrian Forbes-Black, who will also handle sales of Prolyte products. The Prolyte product range
UK - Genelec has appointed Audiologic to handle distribution of the brand’s growing AV loudspeaker range throughout the UK. Source Distribution will continue to distribute Genelec’s full range of studio products and systems. Based in Harlow, Essex, Audiologic offers a range of services, including system design, site surveys, help with tenders and much more. Audiologic MD, Andy Lewis, comments: “We see this as a unique opportunity for us. As a company, we feel that it’s very important to put the right products into the right place. In other words, quality first. Genelec’s philosophy perfectly matches our own in that regard - they are a high end, aspirational brand that we are very proud to represent in the UK. “Genelec fits wonderfully into the work we are doing in the corporate world and we see many further opportunities in hospital
India - Audac has announced a partnership with Sennheiser, as its exclusive distributor in the Indian market. Sennheiser will manage the sales, distribution and service of the complete Audac product line in India where they are headquartered in Gurugram, with branches in Mumbai and Bangalore. The Sennheiser team in India provides a large range of audio equipment from multiple audio brands which now will be supported by the experience and products of Audac. ‘This is an exciting partnership for us and will further help us to strengthen our distribution network. At Sennheiser, we believe in providing the best offerings to all our customers. Collaborating with Audac provides us with the platform to share our passion for innovative audio solutions with like-minded companies,” says Vipin Pungalia, director- professional. “Sennheiser has one of the largest sal
Europe - DPA Microphones is providing a variety of creative online resources and virtual entertainment in the wake of the current Covid-19 situation. DPA is also supporting its customers and industry professionals by continuing to stock and service equipment. “DPA is working diligently to maintain production and operations to ensure an uninterrupted supply of microphones; we remain committed to our employees, partners and customers around the world,” says Kalle Hvidt Nielsen, CEO, DPA Microphones. “Additionally, in the past few weeks, we have been inspired by many creative ideas and initiatives that we have seen implemented - both within the DPA organisation and the industry at large. Through our digital programme, DPA will continue to educate and inspire our online community during these difficult times.” As part of its efforts, DPA is hosting
World - Chauvet Professional has added a new Thursday Tech Talk series to its extensive training library for lighting designers and programmers. The series will be streamed every Thursday at 2 pm EST (7 pm GMT) on Facebook Live, Instagram Live, YouTube Live and LinkedIn Live. Conducted by Chauvet Professional product managers, Thursday Tech Talks will feature How To, New Tech and Design Tip formats covering a wide-range of lighting and video wall subjects. The recorded sessions will also be available anytime at www.chauvetprofessional.com/training. The April schedule of Thursday Tech Talks includes: Field Servicing For Moving Heads (9 April), which covers suggested cleaning supplies, and practical tips on checking moving parts, cleaning optics, removing dust and grime build-up, and setting up a cleaning schedule. Pixel Mapping Products Witho
South Africa - The DWR Distribution sales and training team stepped out of their comfort zone to present a joint live Facebook Q&A session, a webinar which was held on Wednesday, 8 April at 2pm. It didn’t take long for the team to get comfortable behind their screens and were soon interacting and chatting about products, training and tackling any questions the industry had to ask. Says DWR, “Since the Covid-19 Lockdown in South Africa, the DWR team have shared training videos and live seminars as provided by our suppliers. That said, DWR are known for the extensive training courses hosted over the years and with this in mind decided to personally reach out to the industry, via a webinar, for a discussion that was hosted by Jannie de Jager, head of training at DWR and a panel consisting of Olebogeng Boinamo, Robert Izzett, Dylan Jones, Kyle Robson, Richard S
USA - Adam Audio is launching the ADAM EDU webinars and videos, designed to enable everyone from audio students to novices and seasoned working professionals to further their education in audio on a variety of business and technical topics pertinent to our industry. The videos include a variety of lectures and speaking panels with engineers, acousticians, licensing and game audio specialists, studio owners, sales and marketing experts and other business leaders in the professional audio industry who share some of their insights and best practices for success. The ADAM EDU programmes have included topics such as: Acoustical Fulfillment, Game Audio Implementation, Gear Need vs. Want, How These Notable Engineers Got Their Start, Owning and Managing a Recording Studio, Testing Your Room, Sync Licensing, Careers for Engineers within the Pro Audio Industry and Adjacent Markets, an
USA - The majority of loudspeaker specialist EAW’s staff continue to work from home and the company’s website (www.eaw.com) provides a detailed contact list for clients and customers. “The Eastern Acoustic Works warehouse is classified as an essential business allowing us to continue shipping,” says EAW. “If you are able to use this time to do some maintenance in your facility, do not hesitate to contact us. Our staff continues to work from home and are ready to help you!” Meanwhile, EAW has announced the appointment of Quantum Sales and Technology as their new manufacturer’s representative for Southern California. “We chose to work with Quantum ST because of their strong reputation within their dealer network and their history of brand-building within their territory” explains Josh Garcia, western regional sales manager for EAW. “We share the
Spain - Valencia-based DAS Audio continues to operate aspects of its operation with staff, like so many in the industry, working remotely. The loudspeaker specialist says it is in a position to face industry shutdowns at least until the end of June. “At DAS Audio we have already adopted all the necessary measures so that our colleagues, distributors, suppliers and family can continue with their lives and agendas without putting your health and ours at risk,” says the company. “You can reach us by phone, mail and video-call platforms, so we can keep in touch and share our passion for this industry. “Given the current situation we are experiencing due to the coronavirus pandemic, at DAS Audio, proud of our family-business spirit, we are determined to look ahead. Getting back to normal requires collective rather than individual action, so no one can be left behi
Europe - In the 15 years since Yamaha introduced the HS series of powered studio monitors, it has become a favourite for near-field applications in both professional and home studio environments. Now, to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Yamaha Pro Audio, the company has launched the special edition HS MP (Matched Pair) models. The new, special edition HS MP powered monitors include three models - HS5 MP, HS7 MP and HS8 MP. Each pair of monitors has been manufactured using a unique process, utilising specially selected parts and with matching serial numbers, shipping in a special paired carton with an MP (Matched Pair) label. The HS MP monitors “continue the same rigorous design principles that have guided Yamaha designs ever since the legendary NS10M Studio monitors, first produced in 1977. Essentially, defining the look and sound preferred by engineers in studios a
