UK - sunDial quad, the PLASA Gold award-winning mains LED dimmer from Artistic Licence, offers smooth LED dimming with DMX512. Following a firmware upgrade, the product is now offering improvement in dimming resolution, achievable with many theatrical controllers. The latest firmware is available free-of-charge and can be uploaded using DMX-Workshop. DMX512 can control up to 512 channels and has an 8-bit native resolution. This means each channel can be set to a level between 0 and 255 and is encoded as an 8-bit number (256 levels). sunDial quad has a much higher native dimming resolution of 14-bit, so in normal operation a dimmer curve translation is used - in effect, sunDial picks 'sweet spots' on the response curve to achieve a nice fade. However, some professional lighting consoles allow two DMX512 channels to be combined to provide up to 16-bit resolution (
Italy - Claypaky has introduced the HY B-EYE K25 Teatro, a special version of the HY B-EYE K25 that is designed for venues that need silent operation without sacrificing bright colours. This fixture is designed for theatres, television studios, conference halls, showrooms, corporate events, and more. The HY B-EYE K25 TEATRO has all the same optical, electronic, and mechanical features of the HY B-EYE K25 with changes in the overall design to reduce the acoustical footprint. This luminaire has the same 37 powerful 40 Watt Osram Ostar RGBW LEDs, a zoom range of 4° to 60°, uniform light spread, a rotating front lens, an enhanced electronic engine for dynamic beam pattern design with digital accuracy and repeatability, individual control of each single LED to make spectacular kaleidoscopic projections and charming eye-catching effects. The HY B-EYE K25 TEATRO is extreme
Germany - Bei uns ist immer was los - the words are written across the top of the homepage of the Stadthalle Delbrück website. Roughly translated into English, they mean “we always have something going on”. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has put this claim to the test, forcing the popular East Westphalian cultural centre to cancel its diverse schedule of shows, Stadthalle Delbrück lived up to the spirit of this motto recently by turning its idle stage into a broadcast studio so local bands could record professional quality music videos. Taking place over a weekend, the safe, socially distant event (there was no live audience and minimal production crews), featured five different bands. Providing them with a dynamic stage setting was a power-packed fast-moving lighting rig supplied by LDT Veranstaltungsservice that featured over 25 Chauvet Professional fixtures.<
UK - London fringe theatre returned to the capital, as the first socially distanced and fully Covid-compliant live musical production of post-pandemic England 2020 was staged in a specially renovated garden space at The Eagle pub in Vauxhall. Fanny & Stella, a sharp-witted com-romp through some extraordinary events gave theatre fans a snapshot into the real lives of two eccentric Victorian Londoners - Ernest Boulton and Frederick William Park. Based on the book and lyrics by Glenn Chandler (creator of hit TV series Taggart), the show was directed by Steven Dexter and produced by Peter Bull and Richard Lambert of Lambco Productions. Richard also designed and operated the lighting using his Zero 88 FLX S24 console. “It was perfect for the job,” enthused Richard about the console, “totally portable and fitted easily onto a fold-out table, and just
USA - With live events at a slow trickle, those venues that have been able to open up, albeit with restrictions, are elated and generally selling out. Madlife Stage & Studio, a 284-capacity live music venue and recording studio in Woodstock, Georgia, which like other live venues in the U.S. was forced to close earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, re-opened in late July with a full lineup of acts on the schedule. “Madlife re-opened over a month ago at half capacity as one of the few places around holding live events,” said local lighting designer Caleb McClesky, who often helps at the venue, supporting house LD Brendon Rosenbaum and frequently supplementing the house rig with his own Elation lighting gear. “Patrons have to sit at tables so everyone is socially distanced. Staff is required to wear masks and the venue is sanitised between shows. It’s b
USA - Around 2,000 venues, places, landmarks, and monuments all over the US were lit in red for the #RedAlertRESTART campaign on 1 September to highlight the critical situation facing the live events and entertainment industry and the need for lawmaker’s support of the Restart Act (S.3814) to offer some sort of relief to the industry. This latest red day of action was part of a wider industry campaign being led by the #WeMakeEvents movement, a collective of trade organisations including PLASA (the Professional Lighting & Sound Association). The idea of lighting buildings in ‘emergency red’ started in Germany with #NightofLight in June, and the concept caught on with red days of action organised in many European countries and the UK (initiated by #LightiItInRed on 6th July, followed up by PLASA’s #WeMakeEvents action on 11 August) as well as South Africa (#
USA - Christian rock band Needtobreathe recently utilised Bandit Lites rehearsal space, Venue One, to film a series of five music videos. Their seventh studio album, Out of Body, was released 28 August and features 11 new songs that range in topic from first love to fatherhood. “This album was birthed from human experience, beliefs, and gathered inspiration along the journey,” said the band on social media. “And with time, the songs will breathe and grow into new expressions and ideas, completely dependent on the ears and hearts they land on.” In the same way the songs “breathe and grow” the same journey can be seen in the music videos filmed at Bandit’s spacious rehearsal space, featured in the first video release Hang On. “I was approached by Dustin Reynolds, production manager for Needtobreathe back in May and he asked if we mig
USA - Electronic music artists Alex Kislov and Arvi Mala pre-recorded a dynamic set to live stream at multiple festivals from the new xR Stage at LEC Event Technology. Their immersive one-hour performance featured HY B-EYE K25 LED wash lights provided by Claypaky. The duo was one of the first to use LEC’s xR Stage, Chicago’s only xR stage designed to accommodate virtual events. LEC owner and director of operations Matt Brotz and So Midwest principal and designer Robb Jibson partnered to build out the space in LEC’s new warehouse, where the stage’s standing set includes two large right-angle LED videoscreens and an LED floor. Brotz and Jibson turnkeyed Kislov and Mala’s set, supplying a five-camera shoot with drone, full lighting, control, processing and editing with background visuals provided by So Midwest. “Alex and Arvi are used to walking into a h
UK - Saturday 15 August 2020 marked 75 years since the official end of the Second World War, following the victory of Japan. To commemorate this anniversary and remember those who served in the Far East, the BBC commissioned a series of programmes, one of which was VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute which was broadcast on BBC One. Following its previous work on the BBC’s coverage of the VE Day celebrations, ELP, a trading division of White Light, was called upon to provide the lighting and power distribution for the programme. VJ Day 75: The Nation’s Tribute took place at Horse Guards Parade in London. Narrated by Joanna Lumley, whose father was an officer with the 6th Gurkha Rifles, the evening charted the crucial campaign that led to the end of the Second World War. Key moments were reflected through readings and musical performances by Sheridan Smith, Hu
Zimbabwe - Reggae superstar Jah Prayzah celebrated his 33rd birthday this summer by giving his fans a very memorable present. Unable to hold his customary live concert on the special day, the MTV Africa Music award winner took the celebration online with a Lockdown Birthday Bash that was livestreamed on the social media platforms of Nash and ZBC TV. The birthday show’s studio stage was not endowed with a great deal of space; and no fans were present during the livestream broadcasts. Nevertheless, the two-hour programme thoroughly engaged those who watched the show thanks to jolting performances by Prayzah and his guests: Ammara Brown, Tammy Moyo, and King 98. Fuelling the mix of music and dance, was a bright, colourful and fast-moving lightshow by Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Sintara of Epic Sets that featured four Intimidator Hybrid 140SR moving fixtures flown on ups
UK – London’s Palace of Westminster became a vast projection surface in May to coincide with International Nurses Day, as a series of images thanking NHS key workers were beamed onto the building from 260m away across the Thames. Projection experts at Motion Mapping deployed two Hippotizer Amba+ Media Servers to blend and warp the visual content to ensure it was beautifully displayed onto the intricate façade of the building. Motion Mapping’s Stuart Harris says he made good use of Hippotizer’s SHAPE feature to achieve great results. “We had just 45 minutes on site to get the projection right, including all alignment and blending with the framework of Parliament, to going live with the world’s press covering the event,” says Harris. “SHAPE made it simple to warp and blend the images so that they appeared correctly, even while being beamed from such a l
France - Modulo Pi has announced the immediate availability of a new multi-projector auto-calibration module. Available as an option for the Modulo Player and Modulo Kinetic media servers, the auto-calibration system allows to automatically align multiple video-projectors on planar, curved, and dome surfaces for a pixel-perfect projection. Working with Modulo Player, up to one server can be supportedfor example up to six WQXGA outputs, or four 4K outputs. Working with Modulo Kinetic, the auto-calibration option supports multi-server configuration, resulting in an unlimited number of outputs and resolution support. Modulo Pi’s auto-calibration system can handle independent calibration groups, as well-stacked video projectors. In addition, a versatile masking feature ensures a fine-tuned projection. Fully developed by Modulo Pi, the auto-calibration module relies on Po
Latvia - In the first quarter of 2020 a new Cultural Centre in Stopini, Latvia was built and Prolights products were used in the project. Two lighting equipment systems were installed in the centre in the town located on the outskirts of Riga - Great Hall and Small Hall systems. The purpose of the lighting systems was to provide quality lighting for concerts, theatre plays, amateur concerts, folk dance concerts, conferences alongside events. “Since the Great Hall serves as an acoustic hall, one of the requirements for stage lighting was to have projectors with housings that do not emit noise on cooling and heating, do not create flares, to have LED projectors without cooling fans or with especially quiet cooling fans” comments Ilgonis Punculs, director for Diogens audio, the company responsible for the project. “Other requirements were to find a device with
USA - Every June, the historic Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis bustles with the sights and sounds of the three-day music and arts festival named in its honour. But like so many other events that bring people together to celebrate their communities, the one at the former railroad-bridge-turned-pedestrian-way fell silent this summer in the wake of the pandemic. Ironically, the event site at the majestic bridge over the Mississippi, touched the people of Minneapolis again on the evening of 1 September, not with the rhythm of drums and clang of guitars, but by serving as a platform for a dramatic Red Alert display that reminded everyone of the toll the lockdown has taken on those who make occasions like the Stone Arch Festival possible. Seth Scott, owner of Monkey Wrench Productions, led the team responsible for the compelling display. Positioning three Chauvet Profession
USA - Most people call the 65-acre site just off the Ojai Freeway the ‘Ventura County Fairgrounds’. Officially, though, its name is “Seaside Park,” a reference to its location on the Pacific Ocean. It’s a setting that makes for magnificent views, but the winds blowing in off the beautiful sea can play havoc with anyone trying to set up a large LED video wall, or run fog for a lightshow. Victor Ortiz knows this first hand. The owner of Darvik Productions, he has been the production manager for Concerts In Your Car, a regular series of drive-in concerts at the fairgrounds since early June when he teamed up with the ongoing event’s producer CBF Productions. Contending with the occasional wind gust is only one of the challenges Ortiz, lighting designer Martin Castañon, and the rest of the Darvik Productions team, has had to deal with at the 700-car capacity sh
Canada - As part of their commitment to education, CAST Group of Companies has announced a free version of wysiwyg Design is now available to all students and teachers, enrolled on a full or part-time lighting design course at a university, college, post-secondary vocational or polytechnical school. Used in over 300 educational establishments worldwide, wysiwyg offers a 3D environment where productions can be planned, designed and programmed, risk free, offering students a safe virtual lab where ideas can be tested and experimented with. With wysiwyg Design, you can create professional lighting plots and paperwork, and clearly communicate design ideas through high quality renders and animations. Should you wish to connect to a lighting console to programme shows, you can upgrade your free wysiwyg Design to a 4 universe (2048 channel) or 8 universe (4096 channel ) vers
UK - The Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) will assist 68 emerging lighting designers through its Lumiere 20:20 mentorship scheme. The original format planned to match 20 emerging lighting designers with experienced mentors but due to the generosity of ALD members who waived their micro-bursary, 38 applicants will now benefit from the one-on-one scheme. The standard of applications was so high, says the ALD, that another programme -Team Lumière - has been initiated. It will welcome a further 22 applicants, who will work as a collective through an expanded version of the Lumière course programme. The scheme expansion means the ALD will help 68 emerging lighting designers in total. Participants from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, England, Italy, Poland, Malaysia, Australia and the US have been chosen. Many of them identify as being under-represented in
USA - Three key live music venues in New York City managed by The Bowery Presents - Brooklyn Steel, Webster Hall and most recently, the 2,800-capacity Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan - all feature Robe moving lights in their house rigs. The lights have been specified by Luciano Savedra, head of lighting for The Bowery Presents which is the East Coast regional partner of AEG Live and owns and operates a diverse mix of venues across NYC and in other major metropolitan centres. At Terminal 5, where Savedra also oversees and runs the lighting day-to-day, the 12 x MegaPointes and 12 x Spiider LED wash beams have greatly added to the flexibility of the existing lighting rig. The lights were supplied via BML-Blackbird. Brooklyn Steel - on the site of a former steelworks and named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone Magazine
Lityhuania - The hall of Molėtai Culture Centre is a multi-functional venue with a capacity of 330 spectators. The centre is located in a small town called Molėtai, situated around 50 km away from the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. “The stage of the hall where Prolights lighting devices are installed is 10m wide 11m deep and 5m high,” said Mindaugas Indrašius, CTO for Sonus Exsertus, Prolights distributor for Lithuania. “Prolights products were selected based on the needs of the cultural centre and the genre of events. The activities of the centre are diverse so there was a need for lighting devices that were small, reliable and versatile. On a relatively small stage it was not possible to have many specialised narrow-purpose lighting devices therefore the versatile, strong light output and well-functioning Prolights lighting fixtures fully meet the lighting need
USA - The feeling never gets old for Kenrick Fischer. It’s the one that happens at the end of every project, when all the work is done, and he gets to watch clients react to his finished lighting design for the first time. In the world of theatre, where he’s devoted much of his efforts, it is one of the highlights of an opening night. “I often refer to this as ‘giving it away,’ in theatre,” said Fischer. “It’s why I do this. I love seeing the amazement on people’s faces when you transform a space into something wonderous and unexpected.” Fischer experienced this feeling earlier this year, when he showed his completed work to the team at the Seattle Revival Centre. The church had originally contacted him about upgrading its lighting system to make it more flexible, engaging, and broadcast-friendly. Drawing on his experience in theatre, Fischer
China - Suzhou is one of the fastest growing major cities in the world, situated just 100km west of Shanghai on the lower Yangtze River. It boasts many interesting historic and modern attractions, not least its latest nightclub, the 800-capacity Vela, which opened its doors in December 2019. Lighting designer, Andy Taylor of Gasoline Design, was called in to provide the dynamic lighting for the club and chose to use 174 Ayrton MiniPanel-FX for his design. He explains his choice: “I have used Ayrton products on nightclub install designs before, most notably DreamPanelTwin in Jewel, Las Vegas, and MagicPanel-R and MagicBlade-R in Omnia at Caesar’s Palace, also in Las Vegas. The fittings worked with spectacular effect in both of those designs, so when I was looking for something different to use as the workhorse of the effect lighting for Vela, the MiniPanel-FX was a
UK - Acclaimed lighting designer Paule Constable will deliver this year's Trotter Paterson Lecture, the Society of Light and Lighting (SLL) has announced. Taking place on 10 September (Thursday) from 1pm, the event will for the first time be held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with free access to those registered. Constable will discuss her award-winning work, motivations, and experience as a lighting designer. Following the lecture, there will be a live Q&A session, where attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions. Constable is an honorary fellow of Goldsmith’s College, Rose Bruford College and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She also received an honorary doctorate from the Royal Scottish Academy and has been leading the freelance lobbying of the UK government, which contributed to securing the £1.57bn investment to protect Britain’
France - “Elation luminaires meet more and more the lighting criteria demanded by top directors of photography” was the assessment of Alain Lheriteau of Elation’s French distributor Best Audio & Lighting after working with director of photography Jean-Louis Rousseaux on a reworked set at France Television Stage 2. In spring 2019, the national broadcaster entrusted Rousseaux with the lighting design of Set 330, a virtual environment that spans 360° and covers almost the entire surface of the set. The first live broadcast from Stage 2’s redesigned set took place last fall and marked the first programme produced in a virtual setting on France Television. “It was necessary that we review all of the lighting for several reasons,” said Rousseaux, who reports that France Television wanted to equip the set entirely with LED lights. “The versatility of movin
Israel - Quiz show Who Wants to Be A Millionaire has been a TV favourite - and sometimes talking point - for years. For the 2020 Israeli edition, broadcast on Channel 12, lighting designer Ofer Jacobi was asked by producers July August Production to light the show again, 20 years after the last time he’d done so, which was the first roll out in Israel. Ofer was delighted to be working again after the coronavirus pandemic has all but shut down the entertainment and production industry worldwide. This time, he specified a Robe moving light rig and worked closely with set designer Oren Hanan and show director Amir Ukrainitz at Mizmor Petah Tikva Studios about 10km east of Tel Aviv. They studied the UK’s latest Who Wants To Be A Millionaire format (where the show originated, first broadcast in 1998) and followed some of this style book with a few
