UK - Sonosphere has welcomed the new year by remembering a busy 2021. Most significantly, the company was involved in the 5G Festival (5GF) project, central to the continuing advancements in using 5G technology in a new way for the entertainment industry. In addition, the Sonosphere management team completed a buyout of the company, with Duncan Bell joining as commercial director; this was swiftly followed by the team supplying immersive audio for the public launch of Ed Sheeran’s new album. 2022 is set to be as busy, with multiple projects in the pipeline including a major interactive multimedia exhibition that will open in Germany in the New Year, spatialising the work of a Saudi Arabian producer and composer, and an immersive audio installation into a major London venue. “The November 5GF trials were a seminal moment for the entire consortium of companies invol
USA - Solotech has acquired XR Studios, a full-service agency specialising in extended reality, including augmented reality technology for live broadcast and virtual productions. Located in Los Angeles, XR Studios serves high-end clients in multiple segments such as TV, music, Fortune 500 companies, and live events. XR Studios pioneered innovative performances such as Katy Perry’s American Idol finale and MTV’s 2020 Video Music Awards. Other notable clients include Billie Eilish, Leon Bridges, Amazon, Verizon, Twitch, and many more. Going forward, the company will continue to operate as a separate entity and brand. Through the acquisition, Solotech's Media and Entertainment Technology division will make a significant step towards realising its vision of developing new technological solutions that are at the crossroads of three markets: fans and artists, con
UK - With government advice putting the decision-making onto the shoulders of the public and consumer confidence eroding as a consequence, the live events sector is stressed to the limit, says industry organisation #WeMakeEvents (WME). Despite a devastating 2020 and a challenging 2021, businesses in the industry have worked hard to exceed revenues last recorded in November 2019 by the same month in 2021. But, says WME, the current climate has already eroded this by 80% during December 2021 and is forecast to continue through January. From the UK’s first lockdown in Spring 2020 until summer 2021, companies in this sector only received around 12% of the Cultural Recovery Fund (CRF) awards whilst many of the freelance technical specialists who work in the industry are still catching-up on their finances, having had no work for over a year. WME says in a statement:
UK - Newly-crowned MOBO Awards Best Male Act Ghetts performed an energetic, crowd-pleaser gig at London’s Roundhouse in November backed by hi-res Desay LED screens from Production AV. The audience didn’t miss a beat as the Production AV team filmed the London rapper’s high octane show, using manned cameras positioned at FOH and in the pit. These were complemented by Production AV’s Agile remote cameras placed at the end of the stage catwalk and below the audience balcony. Overseeing the visuals for Ghetts and his tour manager, Neicee Oakley, was Production AV’s project manager Nathan Dunbar, whose concert touring experience and expertise spans large scale productions such as Glastonbury and the MTV World Stage, as well as artists including Little Simz. Dunbar says: “Ghetts’ touring team approached Production AV to deliver a complete visuals solution
Spain - ISE has announced details of its 2022 programme of conferences, education offerings from AVIXA and CEDIA, and show floor stages and networking lounges. Seven conferences will target key vertical markets served by the pro AV industry. Topics that will be covered include creating safe, sustainable, smart buildings; re-shaping the workplace; the new agenda in digital signage and exploring the strategies, learning models and trends that are driving the deployment of digital learning technologies in universities, schools, corporate bodies and training facilities. Presented in Spanish, the AV Experience Zone produced by AVIXA will showcase AV projects and present customer testimonials from experienced professionals in the sector. The showcase will be of interest to end-users from major vertical markets, professional technicians, and includes sessions for students acr
UAE - Following its expansion in Israel, USA, Europe and some regions in APAC, Pixellot has announced it is now operating in the UAE. The company has partnered with CAM Plus Sport, a Dubai-based sports system integrator, to enable amateur sports clubs and schools across the United Arab Emirates to create broadcast quality live streams and on-demand recordings of sports matches. Eleven permanent systems have already been installed within months of the start of the partnership. CAM Plus Sport launched during the pandemic as local sports began to open up again after a period of lockdown. While attending a Second Division football match, the company’s founder Ismail Al Mazmi noticed that spectator numbers were limited, and there were no cameras recording the matches for those who could not attend. Additionally, many parents were unable to watch their children playing spo
France - Dushow recently helped deliver the world’s biggest concert, Global Citizen Live, as lead technical partner for the Global Citizen Live event in Paris. Serving as the main official service provider for the broadcast event which featured Ed Sheeran, Elton John, Black Eyed Peas, Christine and the Queens, Doja Cat and Måneskin, as well as special guest performances by Angélique Kidjo, Charlie Puth and Fatma Said, and raised more than US$1bn to fight climate change, famine and vaccine inequity. Dushow partnered with its video-specialist subsidiary, Alabama, and sister company Magnum to deliver a complete technical solution encompassing audio, LED, lighting, video, cabling and power. This tour de force was made possible thanks to the wider Novelty Magnum Dushow group offering organisers a single point of contact for the complex 20,000-person show. T
USA - In October, Penn State University welcomed audience members to see Simon Stephen's adaptation of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, directed by Rick Lombardo with sensory-friendly performances at the Playhouse Theatre on the University Park campus using BlackTrax Real-Time Tracking. The Tony Award-winning play is about 15-year-old Christopher, who has an extraordinary brain. Two sensory-friendly performances provided a welcoming space for all patrons with or without neurodivergent needs. The characters in this production portray that neurodivergence is when a person’s brain does not function in a way that is considered “typical”. In telling this story about a neurodivergent character, Penn State has been helped along the way by various consultants and experts who helped deepen their understanding of various aspects of the experience
USA/Belgium - Audinate, developer of the Dante media networking technology, has signed an agreement to acquire the video business of Silex Insight SA (Silex), based in Belgium. The Silex video business produces video networking products for manufacturers of AV equipment. The acquisition includes a range of AV-over-IP products, including IP Cores, the VIPER Board, Video ASSP and Design Services, as well as three Silex implementations of video codecs: Colibri, JPEG 2000 and VC-2 HQ. Audinate will also acquire a team of eight engineers with extensive video implementation expertise and remains committed to supporting the existing Silex products and customers. The acquisition of the Silex video business will “allow Audinate to accelerate its strategic vision for integrated audio and video over IP”. “Since the development of our first Dante AV product we have bee
Gremany - Prolight + Sound 2022 will offer ‘a new, interactive experience zone for companies and visitors from the fields of audio production, DJing and digital live performance’. From 26-29 April 2022, the Performance + Production Hub will feature product presentations, demos, live performances and workshops with artists and experts from well-known brands. There will also be live visual showcases. The area is being created in cooperation with the makers of the Sample Music Festival. “With extensive new offerings, we are strengthening the audio section as a mainstay of Prolight + Sound,” says Mira Wölfel, director Prolight + Sound. “We are thus underlining our commitment to making the event a hotspot for sound professionals from all fields of application: from live sound reinforcement to recording, mixing, mastering and DJing. “The premiere of the Pe
UK - White Light (WL) has joined d&b solutions, a service-focused business offering end-to-end expertise in the areas of project development, manufacturing, system planning, installation and maintenance. The move has been described as a “natural next step” for WL, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary (see more on this story in LSi December, out now), and will strengthen the development of the company’s production and venues solutions. One particular area of focus for d&b solutions is WL’s SmartStage technology, which, in combination with d&b’s Soundscape immersive audio platform, is set to “open new market potential for immersive audiovisual, lighting and media solutions”.
UK - Home to a technically advanced film production complex, Garden Studios is a one-stop-shop for a wide variety of TV and film productions, designed specifically to support the latest technologies as well as decades of future innovation. Its in-house Virtual Production stage is driven by Brompton Tessera processing. Launched this year, the facility boasts three traditional sound stages, totalling over 3,700m2, as well as an array of supporting spaces. The jewel in its crown is its Virtual Production stage, which allows filmmakers to shoot live action footage within a pre-visualised virtual world, using 3D CGI modelling and precision camera tracking to make it all look as real as possible. “Whether our clients are looking to shoot a feature film, short-form promo, commercial or music video, Virtual Production can deliver a sustainable and cost, time, and travel-effe
USA - A cornucopia of performers, including Billie Eilish, Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Nelly, descended on the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the iHeartRadio Music Festival - a live production backed by striking visuals driven exclusively by Hippotizer Tierra+ Media Servers. The Hippotizers were supplied by rental company 4Wall Entertainment and looked after by screens producer Jason Rudolph of Mobius Productions. “I’ve used Hippotizer products for a long time, since the early days of V3,” says Jason. “I’ve always gotten incredible support from the team at Green Hippo, and that's a big reason why we have continued to use them over the years.” Rudolph selected the Tierra+ model to drive high-impact visual content onto the upstage LED wall, noting the Tierra+ offerings of 4 Native Outputs, 8K playback, unlimited mixes, and 39,816 Notchmarks. “We l
UK - Tukans, the York based distributor of professional video and audio solutions, has been appointed as the exclusive distributor for Arec in the UK and Ireland. The agreement with the Taiwanese manufacturer adds to Tukans’ portfolio of meeting capture and streaming solutions for use in education, corporate, government and healthcare markets. The cornerstone of Arec’s offerings is their Media Stations; all-in-one streaming and recording appliances with i on-board control interfaces for video switching, camera control and displaying graphics. Coupled with their range of tracking camera solutions, the brand facilitates high quality video production for non-technical users. “Over the past two years we have seen the increasing importance of live streaming and media on demand,” says Tukans’ general manager, Yvonne Womersley. “With Arec, we can now offer our cu
Canada - Brompton Technology recently helped the VFX team at Pixomondo bring Star Trek: Discovery into a new era using virtual production. The new season of the Paramount+ streaming hit leveraged virtual production for the first time, filming on Pixomondo’s large volume LED stage in Toronto, Canada. Pixomondo’s Toronto stage is a 70’ x 30’ horseshoe-shaped volume equipped with ROE Visual Black Pearl 2.8mm (BP2) LED panels for the walls and ROE Visual Carbon Series 5.77mm (CB5) panels for the ceiling, each with Brompton Tessera SX40 4K LED video processors. The volume also features OptiTrack motion capture cameras to handle multi-camera tracking, and the LED walls are fed CG content in real time from Epic Games’ Unreal Engine. The Tessera SX40 offers support for full 4K screens at 60Hz with 12 bits per colour output, as well as a zero-latency up/down s
Europe - PRG Switzerland has relaunched as PRG Gear, to bring its dry rental sources under one brand. PRG Gear’s office in is located in Zurich. Within 24 hours PRG Gear will be able to serve a radius of 600 km straight from its 7,500sq.m warehouse, which is amongst the largest equipment inventories for all types of production disciplines in the event industry, says PRG. “Not only will former PRG Switzerland clients be able to rent equipment from PRG Gear in Zurich, they will also be able to count on a widened offer of support solutions for their productions. With the ever-shortening installation and dismantling schedules on-site, we want to include mobile and efficient solutions in our strategic offerings in the future.” says Martin Fischer, general manager PRG Gear Zurich. “We will be offering an additional space in our warehouse facilities for our c
China - Part of the Aochi Production Resource Platform, Moto Group is one of China’s largest commercial advertising resource platforms. It has offices and service teams in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Vancouver, as well as three large-scale production studios and a Fortune 500 clientelle and has recently announced its first Moto Stage XR in Shanghai. Brompton Technology is one of the partners that has invested its technology and technical expertise into developing this new facility. The studio focuses on the research, development and application of XR visual effects technology, creating seamless connection and a perfect immersion into physical and virtual reality across film, broadcast, TV, advertising and other areas. The studio’s opening ceremony, held on 16 October, attracted many industry leaders including TVCBOOK, Wunderman Thompson, Havas, Publ
UAE - As many as 25 Italian-made Powersoft amplifiers are handling the audio demands of the award-nominated Italy Pavilion at Expo 2020 at the recently opened world fair in Dubai. Over 28,000 people a day are expected to visit the Italy Pavilion, which centres on a spectacular 3D-printed, 1:1-scale reproduction of Michelangelo’s David created in Powersoft’s home city of Florence, over the next six months. The pavilion, based on the theme Beauty Connects People, is one of the 192 stands competing for visitors at Expo 2020, which comes to a close on 31 March 2022. The Italy Pavilion is already proving to be one of the most popular attractions, with more than 200,000 visits in October alone, including the thousands who attended concerts by celebrated pianist Ludovico Einaudi and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta. Key to that popu
The Netherlands - This year’s in-person edition of the broadcast and electronic media industry tradeshow IBC has been cancelled. The event was set to go ahead on 3-6 December at RAI Amsterdam, but a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands has forced the organisers to change their plans. The decision was made following visitor and exhibitor feedback and with the view to prevent people from travelling to the country in these uncertain ttimes. Instead of the in-person event, the organisers are set to use IBC’s online platform IBC Digital to bring the community together. Peter White, CEO of the international trade association for broadcast and media technology (IABM), comments: “IBC exists for the industry only. Unlike other events, it is entirely owned by the industry and, thanks to its success over the years, has contributed a great deal through this struct
UK - A month after collaborating on the Team GB Olympics Homecoming, Transition Video was back at London’s SSE Wembley Arena to help deliver another hybrid event, using Green Hippo’s Boreal+ Media Server for The National Lottery's Paralympics GB Homecoming (see more on the homecoming concerts in LSi November 2021). Great Britain’s Paralympic stars claimed a total of 124 podium places and were welcomed home from Tokyo with a line-up of artists that included Jamie Cullum, Birdy and Raymond Antrobus. In the live audience, NHS workers gathered for the spectacular, which ran video highlights of the Paralympians’ performances as part of a Channel 4 broadcast. Transition Video’s Kate Perring wor
UK - AV and entertainment technology company Anna Valley has announced a restructure of the corporate group, changes to the leadership team, and the appointment of new staff in key positions. The restructure will see subsidiary company Matrix UK Solutions become part of Anna Valley and the creation of new senior roles, including that of commercial director and director of events. Anna Valley board member, Nick Hart, has taken on the position of commercial director and will assume responsibility for sales across both the event and venue markets, whilst Matrix UK Solutions MD Jamie Gaskins (pictured) has been made director of events at Anna Valley. Matrix was acquired by Anna Valley in 2018 but has continued to operate as a separate business within the group under Gaskin’s leadership until now. Anna Valley’s Robin Evans and Matrix’s Ben O'Shea will now both report
UAE - Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, is up and running. The event has registered more than three million visits with attendees from 185 nationalities – a figure that almost equals the 192 countries with a dedicated pavilion at the event. As official projection and display partner for the Expo 2020 Dubai, Christie technology is used to display content and provide experiences across the event site. Creative Technology Middle East was the AV integrator for the centrepiece Al Wasl Plaza dome. A worldwide audience of millions tuned into the opening ceremony to be thrilled by some extraordinary and technologically advanced performances from a 1,000-strong cast and crew. The 90-minute immersive spectacular showcased Al Wasl Plaza’s dome – the world’s largest 360-degree projection surface which
UK - HireHop, the company behind the cloud equipment rental software of the same name, has opened agent offices in Australia and South Africa. Due to the ever-increasing number of HireHop users in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, it was felt as a necessity for HireHop to better serve their users by opening local offices to provide support, implementation and training, says the company. Since its release, HireHop has grown in popularity, with not just large rental companies moving to HireHop, but also smaller ones, as HireHop also offers a free for life version, designed for small start-ups to help them grow their business. HireHop was originally launched in 2016 in the UK to offer “future proof, powerful and affordable equipment rental software to hire companies all over the world”, and in that short space of time, it has attracted numerous large and
UK - Anna Valley subsidiary, Matrix UK Solutions is providing dynamic LED backdrops and innovative IMAG services for Genesis’ The Last Domino? Tour. Having sold an estimated 100m albums, Genesis is among the biggest selling recording artists of all time and has played to sold-out stadiums and arenas all over the world for decades. The Last Domino Tour marks over 13 years since Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford have performed together and it is expected to be the group’s last live tour. The tour kicked off in September 2021 with 37 shows planned at venues across the UK and North America between 20 September and 16 December 2021. However, the final four performances in the UK were cancelled due to positive COVID-19 tests within the band and are now planned for March 2022. The US leg of the tour will commence on 15 November 2021. With Phil Collins remaini
