UK - Metro announced that it will be working with leading media and production company Blink TV at the V Festival for the second year running. The festival takes place on 19-20 August and Metro will be providing onsite editing suites, storage and support at the Chelmsford location.

The portable post-production facility will be installed at the Chelmsford site for set-up on 17 August. There will be six Avid suites with a Unity shared media network working throughout the event for daily programmes on C4. Metro has worked closely with Blink and its editors in the run up to the event and will supply on-site technical support.

"Metro's expertise with fast turnaround location-post on reality shows and other large music events allows us the experience to provide solutions for companies such as Blink TV," comments Richard Folley, Metro Broadcast. "The Metro team have be

UK - Blitz, one of the UK's leading technical staging specialists, supplied audio-visual and sound equipment for the première of United International Pictures' new film Miami Vice, in London's Leicester Square earlier this week. The film which officially opened over the weekend went straight to number one in the UK Box Office charts. Blitz, which works on over sixty percent of the prestigious movie premières that come to Leicester Square, used its comprehensive experience and knowledge of audio-visual techniques to great effect, contributing to an incredibly successful preview of the film.

Blitz was responsible for setting up two large R8 and R12 projectors inside the theatre and the construction of a frame to hold the 5m x 3m LED screen outside, above the Blue Carpet walkway. By using a live relay from the camera crews outside the event, Blitz allowed those inside the

Eastern Europe / Turkey - Integrated Systems Europe has today announced an intensive schedule of one day events in the autumn, targeted at key emerging countries in Eastern Europe as well as Turkey. ISE is bringing the AV Systems Integration experience to the furthest reaches of Europe where the market offers unlimited opportunities.

The Integrated Systems Europe 2006 Roadshow will visit four key cities over an eight-day period. In an intensive one day programme, it will offer plenary sessions with keynote speakers, supported by up to 15 sponsors who will showcase the latest in AV Systems Integration technologies through a series of presentations and an exhibition. This will offer new and existing customers the chance to discover, learn and do business in a purposeful environment right on their doorstep. The ISE 2006 Roadshow arrives in Eastern Europe on the 30 of October and w

UK / Spain - The PSL exhibitions team has received a new boost for 2007, with its appointment as one of the 'Recommended Suppliers of AV & IT' for exhibitors at the 3GSM World Congress 2007, to be held in Barcelona.

The GSM Association's 3GSM World Congress is the world's biggest mobile communications conference and exhibition. The 2007 Congress, which will take place for the second time at the Fira de Barcelona exhibition and conference centre in Spain next February, is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors from over 170 countries. Well in excess of 1000 companies are set to take part in the event.

As the crowds from across the global mobile industry descend on the Fira de Barcelona conference and exhibition centre to do business in a decisive year for new multimedia services and growing markets, PSL's exhibition team, led by Lauren Steadman, will be on

UK - PSL is now able to offer its clients a full pre-production and production service using video, after opening a new HDV video editing suite at its corporate headquarters in Potters Bar, Herts.

The new in-house studio, offering Apple Macintosh G5 with Final Cut Pro HDV, is designed to be extremely user-friendly, and fully compatible with other edit suites. It has already been used successfully by PSL clients, editing video content for the Pet Shop Boys and the European premiere of the blockbuster Poseidon.

The suite can be rented on a daily basis, with or without an operator.

(Lee Baldock)

UK - There may have been an absence of Glastonbury Festival this year, but Glastonbury Abbey delivered live music to the south west and pleased the crowds this August, with the help of That's EnTEEtainment production behind the show.

The annual three night extravaganza organised by Michael Eavis partly as a thank you to the people of Glastonbury for their acceptance of the main festival and also to raise funds for Glastonbury Abbey, this year hosted Jools Holland, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Rat Pack, performing to thousands in the beautiful surroundings of the Abbey.

Having been involved with Glastonbury Festival for eight years and Glastonbury Abbey for 11 years, Dick Tee of That's EnTEEtainment was the production manager for the show, overseeing the complete production from build up to break down.

Arriving on site five days prior to the event, Tee and his tea

Slovakia - Allen & Heath's Slovakian distributor, Rock Centrum, has supplied and installed an audio and video system for a congress hall in a new building for Zilina's regional parliament. Rock Centrum selected a MixWizard 14:4:2 mixer to manage all the audio requirements, and Martin Audio speakers.

The whole project was completed in 30 days, and the new multi-function complex is one of the most modern and technologically-advanced halls in Slovakia, providing technology to enable the running of parliament voting, as well as AV for conferences, including audio recording, and multi-lingual translation into five languages.

The Centre has been used for several main events, including Parliament meetings, voting sessions, multi-lingual conferences, and video conferences. The hall is also rented out for commercial purposes and has hosted companies including Siemens, IBM, and KIA moto

UK - The Crystal Bar carries through the Dorchester's themes of luxury, quality and high service standards to late night opening. Opening from the refined calm of the promenade, it offers relaxed drinks and discrete corporate or VIP entertainment. Following successful commissions, CGA Integration was chosen to provide an audio system reflecting the Dorchester signature values through high quality, attention to detail and intuitive operation.

The Crystal Bar is a compact, opulent venue finished to a high degree of craftsmanship. The installation had to fit with the design brief, be invisible and yet provide a dynamic audio range and usage flexibility for many different occasions. Interfacing with the hotel fire alarm and procedures was also essential.

Consultation with the Dorchester identified an extremely varied scope for events and entertainment. Routine opening required bac

UK - Hawthorns have released a unique new facility on their website to assist hire customers quickly build a specification and get an idea of budget costs. "The new online Hire shop is a fully automated system which allows customers to view each item from the thumbnail picture gallery, select individual products from our extensive hire stock, check the pricing and build up a quote," said Simon Wood, general manager of Hawthorn's. "It will make getting a budgetary quote so much easier for customers as they can do it at anytime, 24/7, 365 days a year and the system even remembers to add in the essential auxiliary components."

The system produced quotes may be saved and sent to the Hire team experts at Hawthorn's for confirmation of specification, formalisation of pricing and confirmation of equipment availability. "We are already receiving excellent feedba

Hong Kong / Thailand - Artistic Licence Hong Kong has announced its latest dealer appointment: Vichai Trading has been appointed as main dealer for Thailand. Vichai Trading is one of the leading AV and lighting integrators in Thailand. With 23 years' experience, they are well placed to launch the Artistic Licence product range into Thailand, say Artistic.

Vichai's project credits speak for themselves, including such prestigious installations as Bangkok University and the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. The extensive range of control and data distribution products available from Artistic Licence is a perfect match with the range and complexity of projects regularly undertaken by Vichai Trading.

Patiyuth Gludnim, Vichai Trading sales manager comments: "It is an honour to be appointed as an Artistic Licence dealer for Thailand. We look forward to offering the extensive range of Ar

UK - XL Video UK is supplying Barco O-Lite tiles, Element Labs control, Chroma-Q ColorBlocks and two V4 Catalyst digital media servers for dance act Daft Punk's headline shows on their current European and Japanese festival tour. It's the band's first tour since 1997, and their distinctive pyramid shaped set was designed to maximise impact.

The set was originally conceived for a one-off at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, where it was such a success that they decided to tour the design involving four separate but linked layers of video.

The pyramid is the show's main visual device, and is reliant on all the video technologies working in unison with the lighting cues. LD Martin Phillips is looking after the general visual aesthetics, and he suggested that the tour needed a dedicated video partner, hence XL Video UK's involvement in the project. Project manager Phil Mercer s

UK - For the second year running, large format projection specialists E//T//C UK are projecting giant images onto the castle walls for the 2006 Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

E//T//C's Ross Ashton was asked back after last year's show that introduced projection into the visual mix for the first time in the event's 57 year history. The dramatic 60 metre wide by 30 metre tall moving pictures are covering the Castle battlements and Gatehouse.

This year the theme for a specially produced six minute projection show was a tribute to 370 years of Scottish soldiery, performed by the Bands of the Coldstream and Scots Guards. It was also marked the end of a 12-year reign by the Tattoo's chief executive and producer, Brigadier Melville Jameson CBE DL.

In conjunction with Jameson, 2006 Tattoo director of music, Lt. Col. Robert Owen and Major Graham Jones, director of music for the Co

Germany - Protonic Software, developer of the Easyjob rental management system, has introduced what it calls "an easier way to make informed business decisions" - The Easyjob Business Information Center (BIC). This new tool critically analyzes data from an existing Easyjob database and displays key figures on one easy-to-read screen. Users can quickly and easily determine the profitability of projects, the return on investment for purchases, the cost-effectiveness of employees and freelancers, plus much more. Full-colour reports and statistics can be saved and distributed in a variety of formats such as PDF and Microsoft Excel files.

Protonic Software representatives will conduct live demonstrations of the new Easyjob BIC at the 2006 PLASA Show (10-13 September, Earl's Court, London). Protonic software GmbH/Corporation is the leading manufacturer of software solutions

Belgium - Barco are showing the all new MiStrip at PLASA 06, which is making its debut on the Mesh City Bon Jovi tour. At the show, Barco demonstrates that LED no longer has to be rectangular or flat. With the whole portfolio of creative LED solutions on show it is easy to see that the only limits are those of the imagination.

MiStrip, entered in the PLASA awards for innovation competition, sets a new standard for LED display technology in a wide variety of applications. From large free-form video displays to architectural visual design.

High brightness and high pixel density in a slim and lightweight yet rugged package make MiStrip a true all-round performer.The possibilities with this product include not only bright video displays of any size, shape or form but also lighting-type effects, in one package.

Also on show is the MiSphere which pens up the door to new, bold and

UK - Sound Leisure Retail (SLR) has completed another high-profile installation at the innovative Xscape mixed-use retail and leisure destination, this time in Braehead. This follows the successful installation of various bubble screens at the Castleford Xscape centre last year. All the Xscape venues in Braehead, Castleford and Milton Keynes feature a 200m real snow slope and extreme sports facilities, as well as cinemas, bowling alleys, restaurants, bars and shops.

Given the unusual layout and leisure offering, Xscape required a creative screen solution and in both Castleford and Braehead, they invested in large 32in 'Bubble' screens from SLR. The Bubbles look particularly eye-catching as they glow brightly in an array of neon colours. Xscape has used the Bubbles to show footage of extreme sports interspersed with in-house Xscape offers, promotions and adverts.

SLR's touch-sc

UK - After a major restoration project by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow's City Halls has re-emerged as a state-of-the-art music complex. Managed and operated by Glasgow Cultural Enterprises (GCE), it is the new permanent base of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Wave Integrated Systems - a division of the Eastlake Group - were chosen by GCE and BBC Scotland to supply and install audio visual solutions to a specific design built around enhancing visitors and audience experience of the Halls' new music and education facilities. Ewen Grimes, Head of Wave Integrated Systems explains the issues that posed a challenge: "The installation requirements were complex, with 16 different areas within City Hall each having its own communication objectives. For example, there are pavement facing areas, which capture the attention of the public passing the building. Then there are recep

Hong Kong - LED video screen manufacturer Lighthouse Technologies has introduced its new video processor, the X-Drive One, which provides an all-in-one image processor and a fully integrated LIP SX/DX (Lighthouse Interface Processor) LED video display controller in a single rack-mountable unit. The unit features offers execellent image quality and scaling of video and computer graphics, say Lighthouse, and is aimed at rental, staging and fixed installations.

The minimum screen size of 128 x 96 pixels considerably exceeds that of previous models and is therefore capable of fitting a much wider range of screens, the company says, while the 6.5" (16.5cm) TFT LCD analogue VGA monitor dispenses with the need for a separate preview screen and is capable of Dual Identical Output, thus allowing the same image to be sent to two identical screens, where previously only Single Output

UAE / Saudi Arabia - Multisell announced today that it has appointed AEC as its distributor to boost sales in the Saudi Arabian market. AEC will be responsible for distributing the Multisell Technology range of MIM (Motion Interactive Media) solutions, including MultiFx, iPoint and Lumin projection screens to system integrators and up-market end-user clients.

"We have studied the Saudi market for more than a year, proactively looking for a reliable partner able to offer our line of products and provide unmatched client support and servicing," Said David Holm-Glad, managing director MultiSell Technology ME.

AEC's systems solution division will be the system integrator and the link between the two companies, with more than 100 managers, engineers and technicians amongst them. Focus on vertical markets such as retail, events, advertising and security will be key success

USA - Production Resource Group (PRG) has named Darren DeVerna president of the company's east coast operations. He will work out of PRG's offices in New York City, Mount Vernon and New Windsor, NY, and North Bergen, NJ.

DeVerna most recently served as PRG's senior vice-president of business development. He also managed the company's lighting, audio, and video operations in the northeastern US and oversaw PRG's support for theatrical productions on Broadway and on tour throughout North America.

He began his career with Four Star Lighting, which he was instrumental in growing into one of the major lighting companies serving the Broadway market. He was president of Four Star when the company merged with PRG in 2001.

"Darren literally grew up in the entertainment industry and his range and depth of experience give him an unparalleled ability to understand a client's needs

UK - Northern Light has recently won the tender to install state-of-the-art AV equipment in 12 of the University of Stirling's teaching rooms. Working directly for the main contactor, Hadden Construction, Northern Light's AV team will complete the installation in mid-September 2006.

Stephen Dishon, AV manager at Northern Light, said: "Northern Light has had a long working partnership with the University of Stirling. As well as carrying out this current project, we were previously responsible for kitting out 20 other lecture theatres, including the Pathfoot and Logie, with capacity for 210 and 350 respectively."

This project utilises the most up to date technology. Each teaching room, which can hold up to 50 students or corporate delegates, will be equipped with a data projector, sound system and IR system. These will be controlled via a Crestron system which interfac

UK - Technical staging specialist Blitz, part of the Blitz Charter Group, was recently commissioned by fashion label Lacoste to provide AV design, equipment and support at the showcase event for the launch of its Spring 2007 shoe collection, which took place at the Science Museum in London.

Blitz, which has a long-standing relationship with the Science Museum and is a preferred supplier, designed and implemented a total AV solution on behalf of Lacoste. Using a combination of Encore - a multi-layered video display system, and Watchout - a multi-display production and presentation system, alongside its full graphics suite, Blitz provided "a presentation with maximum impact for the whole audience", the company says.

Carol Gibbs, director of Blitz Graphics, explains: "Lacoste had given us a beautiful product to work with and it was therefore imperative that we tran

USA - XL Touring Video was chosen as video contactor for Kelly Clarkson's U.S. Tour. Production designer Ray Woodbury worked with XL to create a design which utilised 10 Barco O-lite screens that tracked horizontally and vertically across the stage, allowing the design to achieve as many as eight different looks or one converged look.

Woodbury says: "This design was integrated with motion control to allow for a unique video design and capability. The possibilities were limitless with creative ideas and I was very happy with the outcome. XL worked directly with myself and Christian Lamb, Chris Kantrowitz and Petro Papahadipoulos of Frank the Plumber, who provided the video content, to facilitate everything to accomplish the end result."

Touring on behalf of XL Video was lead led tech Robert "Bo" Crowell and led tech George Keim.

(Chris Henry)

UK - The Robin Hood Foundation is a New York City based organisation that fights poverty. This year, the group's gala benefit focussed on children.

As the 4,000 guests entered the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on 14 June they were encompassed in a meticulously designed décor reflecting Robin Hood's New York City base and the evening's theme of children and education. High-definition video content was created by Idyll Hands Imagery, whose principals include Patrick Dierson and Rodd McLaughlin. Lighting design for the entire event was done by Doug 'Spike' Brant of Artfag.

Dierson wore two hats, not only providing content creation but also as the video content director for Artfag. The 400+ dinner tables were surrounded by 20 high-definition screens in a 360° configuration. "We had four quadrants, each with five screens," says Dierson. "Each of the sc

UK - XL Video's specialist theatre and arts department is supplying Grass Valley Turbo media servers, three Sony broadcast cameras, vision mixing and video integration facilities for Michael Grandage's acclaimed production of Frost Nixon at the Donmar Warehouse.

XL is again collaborating with cinematographer/projection designer Jon Driscoll who created the show's film footage design in conjunction with scenic designer Christopher Oram and LD Neil Austin. It evokes a classic 1970s retro look, based around a large video monitor-wall backdrop - made up from 36 'near antique' Barco 2850 video monitors - hanging behind the two main characters sitting in the TV studio.

From an A/V point of view says XL's Malcolm Mellows, Frost Nixon is "completely different to any other recent stage production because of the aged nature of much of the specified equipment." Th

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