UK - White Light is showing products of use to architectural, event and retail lighting designers at The ARC Show 2008 in London this week.
The exclusive UK distributor for a wide range of product manufacturers from around the world, White Light's stand features images of a number of products of interest to those working in these fields of lighting, from LSC in Australia, LDDE in Austria, ELC in the Netherlands and Wireless Solutions in Sweden.
UK - Stage Electrics is supplying all lighting and electrics for the London production of Hairspray, currently playing at London's Shaftesbury Theatre. The show recently made West End history by receiving 11 Olivier Award nominations, more than any other show in the ceremony's history. The show is produced by Stage Entertainment and members of the original Broadway producing team.
Over 200 ETC Source 4's are being supplied to the UK production together with 15 VL2000 washes, six of the new VL2500 spots, 24 MAC 2000 profiles, 10 MAC 2000 performance and over 100 Rainbow Pro scrollers.
Flexibility comes from Wybron Colour Mixing CXI 'IT' Scrollers, 16 of which are employed on the show. This new product features Wybrons 'Infotrace' system allowing active feedback of all parameters of the scroller including heat, gel degradation, voltage sensing and even an aperture light s
Russia - Aziz Adilkhodjaev has joined the Avolites technical sales team. Uzbekistan born, a fluent Russian speaker and with a background in engineering, mobile telecoms and business administration, he will take care of technical support and customer care for Russia and the CIS. His duties at Avolites also include specialising in media server technology and its integration with their range of consoles, and he will also manage all of Avolites' digital assets including photo and video archives, product and training movies.
Avolites' Steve Warren says, "Aziz has already proved his value to the company in dealing with the Russian speaking countries. Having also lived there, he's familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the financial and economic systems and dealings which is a great asset."
Adilkhodjaev also has some experience and familiarity with architectural lighting as hi
UK - An elegant Anolis LED lighting installation is now in place highlighting the newly renovated tower of St Stephen's Church in Bath.
The scheme was designed and specified by Kieran Sturrock of locally based Enlightened Lighting, who also managed and installed the project for the vicar, the Reverend Jonathan Lloyd.
The old tower had previously been lit somewhat prosaically with white floodlights, so when the 18-month tower restoration scheme got underway, Lloyd took the radical step of applying to Bath & North East Somerset City Council to fund a new and contemporary lighting design.
The picturesque church was designed and built by local architect James Wilson in 1845, and the tower - always a controversial structural feature - was completed in 1847. St Stephen's is located on Lansdown Hill, one of the highest points around Bath, with a commanding view of the city and the
USA - The Up Close and Personal Tour is a star-studded concert headlined by 18 year old R&B artist Chris Brown. Lighting designer Daunte Kenner worked alongside Brown who wanted to create a futuristic look to the show. Kenner explains, "For Chris the LED look is 'in' and he insisted he wanted to use High End's new Showgun to create a young trendy vibe."
Kenner continues: "The PixelLine 1044 is the perfect complement to the LED ring on the Showgun - and its high powered output and colour-mixing capabilities could generate vibrant colour matches to Chris and his crew's stage outfits."
The PixelLines were attached at various points vertically to the set and lit up frosted Plexi Panels - creating a forever changing backdrop of colours. 16 PixelArc Rs spiced up the B stage: a 12ft tall stage that pitches 60° and rotates 360°.
UK - Nitelites, the Newcastle-based PA company specialising in sound, lighting and staging is replacing its entire hire stock of amplifiers with 44 Crown I-Tech 8000s as part of an overall upgrade of its inventory.
Director, Jamie Moore explains: "Over the past two years we have been systematically refining our entire hire stock to ensure it is all of the highest calibre. When it came to amps, we wanted something of superior quality - Crown was exactly what we were looking for.
"As the most powerful of the I-Tech series, it made sense to go for 8000s to give us greatest flexibility; our systems are used in festivals, touring and also classical concerts. They sound great, they're easy to programme, very efficient with low power consumption and particularly important to us is their compatibility with the JBL Vertec line array we have."
UK - Texas-based manufacturer High End Systems (HES) and UK-based digital solutions specialist Projected Image Digital (PID) have announced a series of free product technical training sessions running from 31 March - 4 April in London.
"The five-day session, consisting of three modules, will provide a hands-on, intense learning environment on some of today's leading consoles, lighting fixtures and digital lighting products. HES specialists from both the US and Europe will provide training," the companies say.
The training sessions will be held at PID's Headquarters, The Light Box, 111 Power Road, Chiswick, London W4 5PY, with classes running each day 9.30am to 5.30pm. Participants can register for individual modules, or for all three. Refreshments and a light lunch will be provided, along with writing materials and course handouts.
Taiwan - A substantial new ADB lighting system including luminaires, dimmers, control desks and Ethernet networking has been installed at the centrepiece of the performing arts on Taiwan (Republic of China), the National Theatre.
The National Theatre and the National Concert Hall's history is as glamorous as the two buildings themselves. Built to commemorate former ROC President Chiang Kai-Shek in 1975 at a cost of $NT7 billion (147 million), they formed one of the first large arts complexes in Asia.
Its distinctive architecture - adopted from the tradition of ancient Chinese palaces - by C.C.Yang was matched with indoor acoustics, stage facilities and lighting designed by an international group headed by G+H Company of Germany and Philips.
Large quantities of ADB luminaires and Eurodim dimmers were supplied for the complex's lighting system several years ago. In 2007, its
USA - The entertainment industry has again named Bandit Lites as 'Lighting Company of the Year'. The awards ceremony took place on 7 February, 2008 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and closed out the 2008 CIC Convention.
Bandit general manager, Dizzy Gosnell was there to accept this honour on behalf of Bandit Lites. Bandit has been named 'Lighting Company of the Year' 16 different times through the years. "This was made possible by the tremendous global Bandit family. Please accept my most sincere thank you and offer my thanks and congratulations to all the staff worldwide," commented Bandit CEO, Michael T. Strickland. "This is the perfect start to our 40th Anniversary."
UK - A.C.'s Lighting and Audio divisions have been appointed the stage equipment suppliers into the new South Bank Arts Centre at Bedford College.
A.C. Lighting's initial introduction to the Arts Centre came after on-site training for Bedford College on an existing WYSIWYG set-up. The £6 million Arts Centre, which is part of a £60 million redevelopment plan for the College, provides students with a bright and inspiring stage for their talents, and brings together all course creative disciplines under one roof.
The new state-of-the-art facility, which officially opened its doors in November, comprises of a fully equipped studio theatre, a TV studio, video and audio control, along with sound recording suites.
Lighting equipment includes Martin MAC 250 Krypton moving lights and 3000 Atomic Strobes, Robert Juliat Buxie followspots and various DTS, ETC and Spotlight c
UK - London's Arcola Theatre, one of the UK's leading independent venues, has installed a hydrogen fuel cell to power its café/bar and selected main house shows. The fuel cell operates almost silently, producing nothing but electricity and clean water.
The 5kW fuel cell system takes pride of place in the foyer of the theatre accompanied by displays describing the benefits and challenges posed by this ground breaking technology. The prominent location of the fuel cell and the challenge of relying entirely upon it provide both a powerful educational tool and a source of motivation for reducing energy use.
The first show to be powered by the fuel cell, Simple8's The Living Unknown Soldier, produced by Strawberry Vale, may well be London's premier ecologically sustainable show - the environmental impact of all aspects of the production have been minimised, including
Sweden - RC4 Wireless, a Toronto-based manufacturer of wireless low voltage dimming systems and DMX distribution, have launched a new W-DMX enabled product line called W-DIM. The W-DIM products bring W-DMX connectivity to a complete system for low voltage battery operated lighting, motors, and more, say the companies.
The first W-DIM for W-DMX product will operate from 6V to 30VDC and provide four outputs of 200W each in a small and compact package. W-DIM uses a high-efficiency switching power supply and high-frequency PWM dimming resulting in minimal heat and power loss. Dimmer outputs feature thermal and overload protection and under most fault conditions individual dimmers will disable themselves until the problem is corrected.
"We are very excited that RC4 Wireless has joined our rapidly growing W-DMX OEM programme with their W-DIM product. Battery operated low voltag
South Africa - Over 50 Robe 700 Series moving lights have been specified for the new Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City Casino in Johannesburg, South Africa by Denis 'Hutch' Hutchinson, one of the country's best known lighting designers.
The 1100 capacity Lyric Theatre is part of the new 66 million ZAR casino complex. Hutchinson was asked onboard as lighting consultant by the theatre's management team headed by Richard Loring, and he's also LD for the first production to be staged there, a run of the hit musical Hairspray.
The 24 Robe ColorWash 700E ATs, 24 ColorSpot 700E ATs and 6 ColorWash 750AT Tungsten units were supplied by Robe's South African distributor DWR Distribution.
Hutchinson first used the 700 Series and the 750Ts on Soweto Story and was very impressed with the light output, which enabled him to wash a large stage with just eight ColorWash 700E ATs
Italy - During the Notte Bianca (White Night) in Rome, monuments, historical buildings, museums, shops and theatres come to life, hosting shows and other events often at unusual times of day.
At the last edition (on 7 September 2007), over 1,000 artists from all over the world transformed the city, with poetic installations, such as that at Palazzo della Civiltà, one of the symbols of the city's EUR district.
The building hosted the Tribute to Mark Rothko in three parts; an impressive 'son et lumière' show thought up by photographer Ottavio Celestino and dedicated to the American expressionist painter. Exploiting the characteristic arches of the building as a "die", lighting designer Raffaele Cerri installed a SGM Palco 3 fixture at each window, in order to fill the interior with colour and make the outline completely visible from outside.
UK - Chris Rigden has joined Dynalite as UK sales director responsible for UK sales in the commercial, residential and custom install markets. Rigden joined Dynalite from Crestron where he worked on the residential AV business and lighting controls systems.
"This is an exciting time for lighting controls and being a key part of Dynalite's growth will be very rewarding, I'm looking forward to the challenges of the future with this great company," says Rigden.
Paul Wilmshurst, Dynalite's general manager, adds: "It's fantastic to get Chris on board at this time of growth for Dynalite Europe. His sales experience and knowledge of the lighting controls market will be a great asset as we continue to grow."
USA - When the monster is shocked to life in the current Broadway production of Young Frankenstein, no effect is spared in Peter Kaczorowski's lighting design. The stage visuals are achieved by a creative combination of projection, conventional and moving lights, with the elaborate automated rig controlled by an ETC Eos system.
Young Frankenstein's extensive light plot is based around a mix of 120 Mac 2000s - including performances, profiles and some washes. "Eos is great for handling a large rig like this," says Josh Weitzman, moving light programmer for the production. "It has new tools that help you manage that size of rig and work really quickly."
The opening scene features dramatic flashes of lightning, which involve the use of both projection and lighting. "With projection," explains Weitzman, "you can't change the colour
Germany - To complement the VisualDMX lighting control software product, Dutch manufacturing company Visual Productions will be introducing the new series of DIN Rail articles, including GPI (General Purpose Input), GPO (General Purpose Output) and the DMX splitter. There will also be a new version of the VisualTouch screen-user interface.
The newly available Frontier will be on display further demonstrating the commitment Visual Productions has taken towards designing products for fixed installations. This 19" rack-mountable interface was specially designed for fixed installations that require a standalone replay unit for pre-programmed lighting sequences.
One year on from its launch during the last ProLight&Sound, the Canvix dedicated matrix controller will be shown with a wide variety of new features. Visitors will see how this powerful lighting tool can enable them to
USA - High End Systems will introduce DL.3, the newest addition to - and the next generation of - its line of digital lighting products.
The DL.3 digital automated lighting fixture, featuring an integrated media server, takes projection possibilities to the next level with a number of new features, says the company.
DL.3 is equipped with a 6500 lumen 3-chip LCD projector. A high 2000:1 contrast ratio results in a dark 'video black'. The projection possibilities on DL.3 are expanded with new lens options for longer throw projection applications. Also new in the DL.3 is an SDI input/output for professional AV applications.
A new projection feature includes an innovative DMX-controlled vertical lens shift function. This allows the user to set the lens shift function by DMX cue and thus reduce the amount of keystone correction required to produce a normalised image.
Ireland - Over 80 Robe moving lights proved they were real winners in an eye-catching design by LD Tom Kenny for the 2008 Meteor Irish Music Awards, staged at the RDS in Dublin last weekend, produced by Caroline Downey and Louis Harte for MCD and broadcast on national TV channel RTE in a special programme directed by Niamh White. All lighting for the celebrity clad event honouring the very best in contemporary Irish music, was supplied by Dublin rental company Just Lite.
The show was presented by comedian Dara O' Briain, and featured performances by 11 leading artists including Westlife, Shane Ward, the newly reformed Boyzone, Sinead O'Connor, Scouting For Girls, Tom Baxter, Cathy Davey and others.
Robe fixtures took centre stage for the Awards, a mix of ColorSpot and ColorWash 1200E ATs and 700E ATs which were arranged across four trusses and operated by Darragh McAuliffe usi
USA - Bandit Lites recently lit the University of Tennessee 16th Annual Lead-off Banquet, which was held at the Knoxville Convention Center in front of a sold-out crowd.UT honored former UT athlete, Todd Helton, by making him the first baseball player in school history to have his jersey number retired.
Lighting designer Chris Lisle chose to use Martin MAC 600s, 500s and 300s and Color Kinetics iColor Accent 4ft tubes to light the event. Lighting was controlled by two High End Systems Whole Hog IIs.
"It was truly a pleasure to be involved with the UT Baseball Lead-Off Banquet," commented Lisle. "One of the key purposes of this event was to honor Todd as they were retiring his UT jersey at this ceremony. I used Mac 500s with custom gobos to project onto the walls with both [Helton's] UT and Colorado Rockies jersey numbers."
Germany - LDR will introduce three new versions of the well known Xpress colour scroller at ProLight & Sound.
These new models (designed around the well-known Xpress 13,18 and 25 versions) are billed as a "perfect balance between design and technology, capable of offering more than consumers expected from a colour scroller".
The Xpress MK2 differentiates from other products by its technological superiority, unique customer-driven designs and the capability to offer innovative features with a user friendly interface, say the company.
The Xpress Mk2 colour scroller claims to be the most silent scroller available on the market - producing less than 28Db when in operation - and also includes RDM industry-leading technology to provide consumers with the best possible and latest state of the art technology, the company adds.
Germany - Avolites takes its new Pearl Tiger lighting console to ProLight & Sound Frankfurt for the first time. The Pearl Tiger will be the main product highlighted on the stand of German Distributor Trendco, along with a new version the Avolites Art2000 Series touring dimmer with 3 pin mains patching connectors developed specifically for the German market.
Avolites' will also introduce Aziz Adilkhodjaev a new member of the technical sales team. A fluent Russian speaker with a background in engineering, mobile telecoms and business administration, Adilkhodjaev's presence at the show underlines Avolites commitment to Eastern European markets, says the company.
Many of the technical support documents have been translated into Russian and Adilkhodjaev is also a media server specialist, offering integration support for the constant stream of emerging video technologies.
Italy - Italian electro-rock cult band Subsonica are currently touring with a powerful PixelRange showcase - designed by lighting and stage designer Mamo Pozzoli. The rig features 18 PixelLine 110s, 21 PixelLine 1044s and 18 PixelPar 90s.
Pozzoli reports: "I imagined the show as a metropolitan jungle: music, lighting, sound, visuals, all fighting at maximum level. I needed the best LED lighting fixtures on the market - so no doubt in my choice. I first used PixelRange products in 2005, each one for their own specific characteristics. Now they are a fundamental element in all my plots."
The 110s are aligned to the two main trusses providing key lighting for the band, whilst the 1044s are rigged behind the band in seven horizontal groups creating a distinctive graphic sign. The PixelPars are positioned under the stage focusing on the musicians - all running synchronize
Germany - After a construction period of four years, the automobile delivery centre BMW Welt in Munich has opened its doors. Approximately 850,000 visitors are expected annually to the 500 million Euro building designed by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au.
At BMW Welt visitors not only experience the finest BMW automobiles first hand, they can also receive delivery of their newly purchased vehicle - a staged event worthy of music and lighting. BMW Welt also serves as an event forum and conference centre.
Since 2005, the various construction phases of BMW Welt were supervised by eventa AG in co-operation with NAT AG (Dachau) and K+B E Tech GmbH (Cham). The technical specifications of lighting designers AG Licht (Bonn), the electrical planning company Pro Elektroplan (Ottobrunn), as well as the formative specifications of Coop Himmeb(l)au (Vienna) and investor BMW AG (Munic