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
Egypt - Green Hippo’s Taiga and Karst+ were the media servers of choice for Egyptian artist Mohamed Ramadan, whose recent outdoor performance on Egypt’s North Coast saw 85,000 fans gather for what the singer described as “the largest audience attendance in 2021”. To entertain the masses, the region’s largest ever scaffolding stage was erected, measuring 45m wide and 20m high, for a concert that commanded serious attention to detail, with the visuals quite literally taking centre stage among 800 lighting fixtures, pyrotechnics and special effects. The structure was built by event rental partner Hi-Lights Group, which also supplied the 900sq.m of LED video wall that displayed bespoke graphics on a 4K video display with a total of 230,400 pixels. Hi-Lights Group utilised two Hippotizer V4 Taiga and four Hippotizer V4 Karst+ Media Servers, with an output sp
USA - LED processor manufacturer, Brompton Technology, will be showcasing its HDR solution on booth 2335 at this year’s LDI Show in Las Vegas from 19-21 November. Brompton HDR, or High Dynamic Range, has applications across multiple sectors due to its ability to deliver images with better contrast, higher brightness levels and a wider colour palette, with details preserved in the darkest and brightest areas of a picture along with more accurate reproduction of colours. Brompton’s Hydra system which will also be in display on the stand, is an all-in-one industrial solution that incorporates all the measurement instruments and processing required for panel measurements to enable Dynamic Calibration. Additionally, visitors will be able to see Brompton’s range of Tessera LED processors, including ideal rental workhorse S8 and the flagship SX40, with the all-im
UK - Earlier this month Creative Technology (CT) supported delivery of the first-ever Earthshot Prize awards ceremony which took place at Alexandra Palace in London. This event was introduced by HRH Prince William and hosted by Clara Amfo and Dermot O’Leary with Sir David Attenborough joining as special guest. The ceremony also featured music performances from artists such as Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, KSI and Yemi Alade, and Shawn Mendes. Coldplay’s performance, from outside of Alexandra Palace, used energy powered by 60 cyclists. Working for long-standing client BBC Studios Events alongside The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, CT provided a circular, gloss LED floor to the exact design specific by the client, working with them to bring their vision to life with stunning results. The high-resolution LED floor which was made up of 446 t
UK - The leader of Dudley Council was “bowled over” with the life-changing opportunities being given to students at Resonance during a recent visit. Councillor Patrick Harley stopped by the higher education facility based within the DY5 Enterprise Zone at the Waterfront in Brierley Hill to find out how students will be working alongside global company Sports Technology (ST) at next year’s Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Game ST is the specialist major multi-sports division of Creative Technology (CT) and has been appointed official provider of large video screens and audio services. Alongside LED and PA systems in the majority of the venues, ST will provide a broad range of audio-visual services including a flexible signal distribution network in every venue, providing a fully integrated IP based solution for all non-broadcast audio, video and data distribution. As
Germany - Prolight + Sound Frankfurt is set to return from 26 to 29 April 2022, with emphasis on sustainability. With the Green Event Day on 27 April, the fair is offering for the first time a theme day all about the responsible use of natural resources. Companies and associations will present their green initiatives and underline that commitment to sustainability can also pay off economically. Among the players who have already declared their participation in PL+S 2022 are ADJ, Area Four Industries, Ayrton, B. & C. Speakers, Bosch Rexroth, Bütec, Cast, Chainmaster, Chauvet, Clay Paky, ComputerWorks, dBTechnologies, DTS, Elation, ETC, Eurotruss, FBT Elettronica, GLP, Highlite International, HOF Alutec, InEar, JB-Lighting, Kling & Freitag, König & Meyer, KS Audio, Kvant, L-Acoustics, Lawo, Layher, LEDitgo, Lightpower, Link, MA Lighting, Meyer Sound, Moveca
UK - PLASA and #WeMakeEvents have launched a survey to investigate how the live events sector is recovering with the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey aims to draw a detailed picture of the events, entertainment and installations industries following 18 months of disruption. The results are hoped to provide an insight into the challenges still facing the industry and will be used as an evidence base to better inform lobbying. The surve contains questions about the supply of components and finished goods, the availability of skilled workers, and the year-on-year changes in terms of revenue and income. Once all the data is collated and analysed, a full report will be published on both the PLASA and #WeMakeEvents websites. From freelancers and sole traders to manufacturing companies and venues, all types of industry professionals are invited to ta
UK - As the planet wrestles with global climate change, enterprises worldwide have begun incorporating green solutions into their business models. Companies are examining their emissions impact through a broader lens to achieve carbon neutrality. According to Phillipe Wetzel, CEO of streaming solutions provider Vitec, how enterprises use video applications and resources to support their operations sustainably is an essential piece of the puzzle. “The immediate challenge is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by racing toward carbon neutrality, but it will not be easy,” says Wetzel. “The video streaming sector will have to design products that utilize fewer raw materials, are easier to transport, consume less energy, and are easily recyclable. Adopting carbon-neutral energy strategies throughout the enterprise video supply chain will be necessary. In response to t
