Germany - More than 50,000 EDM fans descended on a former NATO missile base in August to experience the massive Nature One Festival. Germany-based Gerdon Design specified two Green Hippo Boreal+ media servers for the main floor, to power live IMAG feeds, Notch effects and pre-made content. This year marked the 25th anniversary of Nature One, which is held near the western town of Kastellaun. Over the years, it’s grown into one of Europe’s biggest dance music festivals. Gerdon Design has been involved with Nature One since 2011, responsible for the stage, lighting and video design as well as creating the concept, audio and visual design for the timecoded highlights show. “We were responsible for the content playback of all acts - except for those who were travelling with a VJ – so we needed a powerful and easy-to-use solution,” explains Gerdon Design’s Marek
UK - Throughout a busy summer, event production specialists Light Fantastic Production Services has been supporting a number of major UK cinema releases, includingThe Lion King, Toy Story 4, Aladdin, Yesterday, Good Omens and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Working on behalf of client Limited Edition Event Design, recent projects required custom-built solutions tailored to the associated media campaigns and movie branding. Complementing the colourful look of Toy Story 4, LFPS built a series of frames to surround the LED video walls which flanked the red carpet. Finished in a gloss blue laminate, the surrounds incorporated over 400 LED cabochons to mimic the fairground theme in the films advertising campaign. The same look extended to a 3D ‘step and repeat’ structure used for
UAE - ARX has appointed Gala Pro AV as its distributor in the United Arab Emirates. Based in Dubai, Gala is a leading pro AV and lighting solutions provider who also represents Bosch, Lavoce Italiana and Odyssey. The company is exhibiting at the upcoming Prolight+Sound Middle East expo (15-17 October) in Dubai. “Gala are ideally placed in the UAE to strengthen our brand and to build sales in a market where we see a great potential for growth,” comments Colin Park, managing director of ARX Systems. (Jim Evans)
China - Powersoft amplifier platforms have been chosen to drive the new audio system installed at Qingdao World Expo City (QWEC), a 32,000sq.m conference venue in the ancient coastal city of Qingdao. The upgrade, handled by EZ Pro, focussed on QWEC’s Great Hall, which accommodates up to 1,500 people, has an area of 3,000 sqm, and can even be divided into two parts. “We hoped to create a destination that is, in terms of scale and technology, far ahead of anything else in Northeast Asia,” says general manager Zhao Guangjun. The venue was to be equipped with world-class audio-visual equipment to meet the needs of a variety of international and domestic high-end conferences. With this forward-thinking ethos in mind, Powersoft amplifier platforms were chosen. “Powersoft products offer a traditionally amazing sound quality and reliability,” says Alan Ho
UK - Following a successful debut last year, Christie has announced that Christie RealLaser is the flagship projection technology for the 63rd BFI London Film Festival (LFF) in partnership with American Express. Once reserved for the premium cinema market, RGB pure laser is now affordable and ready for mainstream cinema adoption, making it perfect for the return of the much-loved 820-seat ‘pop-up’ Embankment Garden Cinema (EGC). Described by BFI head of technical services, Dominic Simmons as, “One of the highest quality temporary cinemas ever seen”, this year the EGC hosts its first international premiere (Martin Scorsese’s hotly anticipated The Irishman from Netflix) in a stellar line-up of gala screenings. Christie has worked with the BFI on the projection set-up since the BFI first made the bold move to build a full, state-of-the-art temporary cinem
USA - A roundtable discussion exploring the transformative effects networked AV has on learning and higher education will take place at 11am, PT on 29 October. The event includes an in-person discussion between multiple AV experts. A live Q&A, where webinar attendees can ask questions of the participants, will occur immediately after the discussion. Registration for the webinar is open now at: www.audinate.com/ddm-edu The roundtable event is hosted by Audinate, developer of the Dante AV networking technology, and brings together experts from the University of Southern California, University of Oregon, Arizona State University, University of Colorado, Denver and Brigham Young University - Idaho. “When we talk with our partners about how they are using networked AV we always come away impressed at their innovation and ingenuity,” said Joshua Rush, senior vice pre
Canada - Cast Software has released wysiwyg as a 64-bit application. Available for download from the Cast members area, the application offers noticeable stability and performance increase across all modes and can now utilise more than 4GB of memory to open files. Cast VP of product, Dino Mazza comments: “This is a special release for Cast. I am proud of the entire wysiwyg development team for getting us here, identifying the challenges along the way and finding the easy, and sometimes difficult solutions, and continuing to plug away at this project until its completion. “R43 delivers our wysiwyg in a 64-bit architecture, and along with the increased responsiveness and improved user experience, which we know the users will love. But, also included are some new features too. I know there are some happy faces around Cast, and I’m suspecting the same is true a
UK - Equipment rental supplier Visual Elements has made a substantial investment in technologies for its new video production services division, sourcing everything from A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET). Established for 20 years, Visual Elements provides wet and dry hire solutions to music festivals, theatre shows and film premieres, as well as servicing London events venue Tobacco Dock. After deciding to set up a video division alongside its existing production services, it approached AC-ET to help specify and supply a complete range of technologies from its portfolio of premier brands. Video technical sales executive Chris Beardwell worked closely with Visual Elements’ head of video, Leon O’Neill to deliver a package which met all technical needs and maximised the available budget. The order included Panasonic PT-RZ120 and 970 1-chip DLP laser
Switzerland - The Fête des Vignerons is held once every 20 years at a temporary stadium at the edge of Lake Geneva. The celebration, which features a vast troupe of performers donning elaborate costumes, as well as animals and vehicles, is held every day for a month to honour the winegrowers of the region, which stretches from Lavaux to Chablais in Switzerland. Organised by the official Brotherhood of Winegrowers - la Confrérie des Vignerons - the show represents a year in the life of the vineyard through 21 action-packed scenes. This year’s event also received a technological boost in the form of a gargantuan LED floor from Absen subsidiary VISS Display, provided by rental house, Alabama. As two decades have passed since the last Fête took place, the 200-strong technical team had to ensure that the 2019 edition lived up to expectations, as well as demonstr
UK - Filmed at Maidstone Studios and hosted by Rylan Clark-Neal, the ITV2 reboot of the daytime TV cult classic Supermarket Sweep retains a stack of elements from the original. Inflatables, loud jumpers and the legendary trolley dash are mixed with a collection of new games and challenges, all taking place among the brightly coloured aisles. Created by scenic designer Josh Grace, the gloriously bright faux supermarket set is awash with pastel shades, another subtle homage to its predecessor, mixed with an array of contemporary upgrades. Together with lighting designer Gurdip Mahal and operator Ross Williams, the team have constructed an environment which offers a fresh, modern twist on the original styling. Helping build the look, the LED Creative team supplied their Alpha Neon and Sigma LED controlled via the company’s Megabyte Pixel Drivers. LED Creati
Finland - Green Hippo has announced that the Finnish National Opera & Ballet (FNOB) has upgraded its stock of Green Hippo media servers with the company’s latest Hippotizer V4 systems. The new equipment, supplied by Green Hippo’s exclusive Finnish distributor Msonic Oy, comprises seven Hippotizer Karst+ DVI, two Hippotizer Boreal+ DP and six Hippotizer Montane+ RTX servers - all with dual SDI input cards. The new servers were specified by Johan West, video product manager at Msonic. A long-standing Hippotizer user, West has enjoyed a close relationship with the FNOB since specifying their very first Green Hippo systems back in 2008. Since then, he has been responsible for training the opera house crew, as well as advising on the use of Hippotizer on many productions. He also provides all Green Hippo training and support for the FNOB team. “A series of n
UK - Adlib supplied full technical production to the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup staged at the 11,000 capacity M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool. Adlib’s rental departments implemented a fully integrated video, lighting and audio package linking in with broadcast elements for BBC and Sky. The spectacle took place over 10 glorious days of top sporting action which delivered world class netball to an international TV audience and many thousands packing into the court-side seats which were sold out for the duration. This quadrennial event featured two distinctive criteria. First, a spectacular opening ceremony which wowed the crowds and got everyone in the mood for the sports to follow. Adlib’s technical team worked closely with curators of the ceremony Culture Liverpool and Iluminos. Adlib provided six Panasonic RZ21K 20,000 lumen laser projectors mounted v
Germany - Over 250 guests were in attendance throughout the nine-day Ambion Digital Jungle open-house event. Attendees enjoyed an hour-long sensory journey of innovative installations focused on tracking, immersive interactivity, sensor technology, realtime control and reactive, generative content using BlackTrax, disguise and Notch. Ambion is a full-service provider that plans and produces technology for concerts, sports events, trade shows and congresses around the globe. The company recently held open house days where they invited selected clients, partners, innovation agencies and event planners to attend. The Digital Jungle demonstrations focused on technology and its application in a live event scenario. OBJ.Studio the Ambion design department has been trying some interesting light and media tech projects in Berlin. The last one was a smart
USA - CP Communications has announced that it will add MultiDyne’s 22ft mobile van to its growing fleet of production vehicles. MultiDyne introduced the van in 2018 as a ‘mobile marketing van’ that doubled as an exhibition showcase for MultiDyne products at North American tradeshows, and as a mobile showroom for MultiDyne road shows and training initiatives. CP Communications, a long-time MultiDyne customer, recognised an opportunity for both companies to collaborate on smaller live productions, including high school and college sports projects. “Many high school and college sports venues have live production needs, but lack the workspace to accommodate a flypack or a large truck,” said Kurt Heitmann, CEO, CP Communications. “The MultiDyne van offers the perfect footprint for a four-to-six camera shoot, and solves our problem of carving out a workspace for
USA - Powersoft has appointed industry veteran Tom Knesel to the position of general manager, North America. Knesel, who will be located at the company’s US headquarters in Kearny, NJ and who will start on 7 October, will report directly to Luca Giorgi, sales & business development director, Powersoft. The announcement follows the successful relocation of Powersoft’s North American headquarters two years ago, and coincides with the company’s increased focus on the systems integration market and launch of the Mezzo amplifier platform earlier this year. “We are very pleased to welcome Tom into the Powersoft family,” commented Luca Giorgi. “Two years ago, we began a significant restructuring of our U.S. operations, which included relocating our headquarters to the east coast, hiring new operational and sales staff, and realigning our entire North American sales
UK - The University of Northampton has deployed a network of interconnected Harman Professional AV solutions to facilitate a cutting-edge collaborative learning environment at their new Waterside campus. The university leadership decided to build a new, centralised campus in Northampton’s Waterside district. The project allowed the school to completely rethink how to best serve their students, resulting in a radically different approach that eschewed traditional lecture halls in favour of flexible, collaborative learning spaces. In order to achieve these goals, AV distributer Midwich supplied the university with a range of AMX, JBL, Crown, BSS and AKG solutions to accommodate the complex technical demands of the ultra-modern campus. The comprehensive Harman solution was designed and deployed by Kinly, a service-led integrator specializing in the design, implementatio
Italy - RTS is well established as a go-to intercom choice for sports broadcasters all over the world. RTS equipment continues to be standard issue in OB trucks covering international competitions at every level. A recent example is Global Production’s OB coverage of the European Under-21 football championships in Italy. The Turin-based company deployed its OB-8 truck to cover the tournament - the largest and most recently-equipped member of its fleet. In addition to this, OB-8 is also Global Production’s first truck to feature RTS intercoms. “We have two other vehicles that use different systems,” recalls Luca Manfredi, OB manager at Global Production. “But when we came to making the technical choices for OB-8, we could see that the RTS system was superior.” As a result of this decision, the large and modern production environment of OB-8 features an
UK - Following on from the resounding success of its production of The Flying Dutchman in summer 2017, Theater Regensburg has once again pushed the boundaries of open-air opera with its latest offering - a version of Puccini’s semi-staged concert performance in three acts, Tosca. Like its predecessor, the event was held at the West Port of the bayernhafen business park, a freight traffic hub in the East Bavarian town of Regensburg. The stage was situated on the historic Municipal Warehouse side, while the audience of nearly 3,000 was seated opposite on the North Quay. The side of the warehouse itself served as a gigantic projection surface upon which visuals were beamed, courtesy of Digital Projection Titan laser projectors. “The video aspect was the main part of the show,” comments video operator, Wolfgang Frauendienst. “The actors and their audi
UK - The 1975’s video for new single People sees the band performing the alt rock track inside an LED cube, supplied and installed by 80six Ltd, displaying swirling lyrics and quickfire, colour-changing content. Filmed at London’s Black Island Studios, the production was an ambitious surround-video setup, powered by a Hippotizer V4 Taiga servers from Green Hippo. Directed by Warren Fu, the video featured premade content inspired by the band’s lyrics, created by Jon Emmony. Simon Harris, project manager at Bryte Design, was approached by The 1975’s tour director James Valpy to project manage the video content delivery. “Set up was simple, utilising Hippotizer’s Output Manager and VideoMapper to map the five sides of the cube, outputting six HD signals via Evision LED processors,” says Harris. “As the content was running to timecode, playback was simple
UK - ArKaos, realtime visual processing technology provider for live performance and displays, enjoyed a busy PLASA 2019 expo in London Olympia (15-17 September) on the stand of its UK and Irish Republic distributor, Entedi. ArKaos highlighted the latest version of its flagship MediaMaster Pro 5.6 realtime video control software, which is also now available with a License Rental service that enables weekly rental periods of MediaMaster Pro usage. This greatly increases flexibility and affordability for anyone involved in specific projects or events on which they want to use this award-winning platform, says the company. ArKaos CEO Agnes Wojewoda comments: “PLASA was great! A lot of buzz and activity at the show and a lot of interest in MediaMaster Pro in particular and in the new Licence Rental options for this as well as some other ArKaos products. It’s
UK - iMAG, Poole-based creative technical production and LED screen supplier, has just invested in a whopping 300 panels of ROE Visual Diamond 2mm indoor LED screen and has chosen Brompton Technology’s SX40 processors and XD 10G data distribution units as its perfect accompaniment. Working with a diverse range of clients, from well-known brands such as Dyson, Samsung and Calvin Klein, to a multitude of festivals and conferences, iMAG knows that having the best products available in its portfolio is vital. “ROE Visual is an industry leader. We’ve been using their LED screens since the very beginning and they’ve always worked really well for us,” says iMAG co-founder and director, Charli Harding. “With requests for hi res indoor screens increasing significantly, we decided that now was the time to add ROE’s Diamond 2mm to our inventory.” W
The Netherlands - As part of a 15-hour performance spread over three days, Dutch National Opera performed major parts of Karlheinz Stockhausen's aus LICHT cycle. One of the world’s top five opera companies, the Dutch National Opera opted for a combination of Christie Terra for AV distribution and processing, and Christie Pandoras Box for content management and control of the four LED video walls, cameras and projectors used throughout the performance space. The performances were produced in cooperation with the Holland Festival, the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and the Stockhausen Foundation, and held at Amsterdam’s Gashouder, a former industrial hall that now serves as an event space. The audience experienced some of the highlights from the artist's seven operas, named after weekdays, during the three-day performance. This is the first time that a summa
Europe - Panasonic has announced availability of ‘the world’s smallest 50,000 lumen laser projector with Native 4K resolution’. It delivers new levels of immersive experience at live events and entertainment venues with half the effort and twice the reliability of existing solutions, says the company. Designed for the rental and staging market and theme parks, where fast set-up and reliability are essential, the PT-RQ50K is a single body, 3-Chip DLP laser projector will be available in Europe from December 2019. “RQ50K is an all-in-one projector that allows our partners to create breath-taking experiences with ease and reassurance,” says Hartmut Kulessa, European marketing manager at Panasonic Business. “It is the combination of our finest image quality and our long proven ‘half’ and ‘dual’ concept. Partners will be able to deliver the premium exper
Australia - LED displays manufacturer Absen has welcomed Audio Visual Distributors (AVD) into its Value Added Distributor (VAD) network. Effective 18 September, AVD promotes Absen LED products across the Australasian region, provides training for local end users, and exhibits Absen products at relevant trade fairs and roadshows. “We pay particular attention to strategically aligning ourselves with quality manufacturers who deliver innovative, market-leading products,” comments Blair Terrace, business development - LED displays at AVD. “We believe that the quality range of products from Absen is well suited to the vertical markets we support. The continual R&D and technical innovation of Absen’s LED ensures that our customer base is exposed to a constant stream of fresh and exciting products.” AVD’s sales and technical team is made up of a diverse
