UK - 5 Star Cases has invested in another Thermwood Model 40 CNC machining centre to help keep pace with its healthy order book, which has experienced "phenomenal sales" in 2010 following a consistent year in 2009.

Phil Bailey, 5 Star's chief engineer explains: "Once we'd made the decision to invest in a third machine, plans were initiated to ensure the smoothest possible installation with the minimum disruption to production - which took some logistical juggling as we have been absolutely flat out busy throughout the summer."

The existing two machines were moved, along with the necessary electrical and air services, allowing the third Thermwood to be secured in place.

Bailey concludes: "Having completed the installation and commissioning of the latest machine, 5 Star now has even further capacity to produce cases and foam inserts that require CNC ma

UK - Le Mark's heavy duty PAL Road Case Labels fare being utilised by Cambridgeshire-based lighting and support service, Elstree Light & Power.

"We've been using Le Mark's labels on all our kit for more years than I can remember," says ELP's Jon Smith. "They stick to almost anything and they stay there too. Our flight and road cases are transported throughout the world and as with most things in this industry, the labels need to be incredibly heavy duty otherwise they just don't last.

"Being able to re-use them is essential, we just write on the contents of the case and the production they heading for, when we're done Le Mark's Label cleaner wipes away the ink and they're ready to go again."

UK - White Light teamed up once again with lighting designer Phil Supple and Midas Productions for The Mill Project, which used lighting to bring life to the landmark Tower at Cranfield's Mill in Ipswich in Suffolk.

The Mill Project was part of the Ip-Art 2010 arts festival organised by Ipswich Borough Council. As part of the festival, Midas Productions asked Phil Supple to develop a centrepiece lighting project, building on the collaboration the two have enjoyed over three years of the Northumberland Lights project as well as the Iconic Burns project in Scotland, both of which were also supplied by White Light. Phil Supple comments, "The only parameters offered were a desire by the Council to create a focus of interest on the town and the festival, and on the waterfront in particular."

Supple's proposed scheme involved using lighting to animate and draw attention to

USA - BSR E1.32 - 201x, Guide for the Inspection of Entertainment Industry Luminaires, is available for public review at http://www.esta.org/tsp/documents/public_review_docs.php through 25 October 2010. The document is intended to provide guidance in the inspection of stage and studio luminaires used in the entertainment industry to evaluate their safety and any needed maintenance.

An employer could write his own safety inspection procedures from scratch as part of his duty to provide a safe workplace, but borrowing from or adopting the final version of this document might be easier and lead to a better set of procedures.

The public review is over when the 'Review End Date' shown on the website of October 26, 2010 starts. Comments should be submitted before then.

Reviewers also are requested to look for protected intellectual property in the document. ESTA does not in

Germany - Lighting designer Marcus Krömer specified 330 Chroma-Q Color Block 2 LED fixtures to provide stage scenic elements backlighting for a large corporate event featuring some of Germany's most popular bands.

The event was held at Cologne's LANXESS arena, one of Europe's largest all-purpose venues and host to concerts by an impressive range of international music stars.

Production management for the event was by Placet Die Veranstaltungsgesellschaft. Stage lighting, audio and video supply was by PRG Cologne, with set design by John Stillwell. For the third year running, Marcus Krömer and Marcus Bossdorf provided the lighting and video content design for the all-day event, which featured a conference in the morning, an awards show in the afternoon and a concert in the evening. Splitting into two teams, programming was 24/7 for a whole week in the arena.

Krömer needed

UK - MilTec (UK) will be celebrating its 10th Birthday at PLASA 2010 next month. MilTec has been successfully supplying professional lighting and sound equipment to the entertainment industry from its base near Maidstone in Kent since July 2000. This year at the show they will be showing several new audio and LED products to add to their existing catalogue.

Making their debut will be a range of lightweight multi-channel amps, three new 1U installation mixers/zoners a processor and a 15 inch 600W sub bass cabinet. All of these products were designed by MilTec's technical director, Graham Gosden.

In the lighting products section there will be two new IP65 LED pars fitted with 48x 3W RGBW or tricolour LEDs. There will also be new LED battens featuring 1W and tricolour LEDs, both featuring multi-zone operation.

The new LEDHead 50P is a 50W LED moving head profile with eight colo

UK - Robe launches a major new green initiative - Think of the Future - Consider Nature- at PLASA 2010 to underline its ongoing commitment to developing and producing genuinely cutting-edge, innovative and energy saving products.

Using Robe's latest products, the booth lightshow will consume 30% less power than before, and look equally impressive, says the company.

There will also be no less than seven newly launched environmentally friendly moving light and LED products on stand 1-F47 from the Czech Republic based manufacturer.

Says MD Josef Valchar, "Robe has already been operating a strong green policy for several years, we are not just jumping onboard a current trend, and now is the time to push this philosophy to the next level". He adds that Robe intends to keep at the forefront of developing sustainable technologies and encouraging everyone to think s

Canada/UK - CAST Software and AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions, both of Toronto, have announced that after a very exhaustive search and evaluation, AVW-TELAV has chosen a replacement for MeetingMatrix: Vivien from CAST. AVW-TELAV will commence the rollout to all of its offices of the Vivien Standard effective immediately. CAST will also supply training and tech support.

CAST Software will be demonstrating Vivien during PLASA2010. In addition to Vivien, CAST will also be showing their groundbreaking industry products wysiwyg, BlackBox and the new BlackTrax.

Vivien2010 is an intuitive, 3D event design and sales software designed for the full spectrum of event professionals who work in the special events and meetings industry. Computer skills can range from novice to highly advanced. It empowers users to conceive, design, sell, manage, and produce stunning events.

Derek Anderso

UK - A strong upsurge in PLASA 2010 visitor registrations has taken the total soaring past last year's pre-registered figure, with over two weeks still to go before the show opens.

Over 2,000 chairmen, 800 lighting designers, 1,000 engineers, 900 technicians / programmers and 500 installers are among them - with concert & touring, live events and theatre the fastest growing sectors and impressive growth coming from the AV visitor figures too. Confirming that PLASA 2010 continues to be viewed as a truly international event, 30% of registrations are from non-UK visitors.

Interest has been high as organiser PLASA Events has announced a stream of over 60 new and returning exhibitors over the summer, joining the show's regular cast of hundreds of key international brands, between them preparing to launch an estimated 500 new audio, video, lighting and stage technology products.

A

UK - At PLASA 2010, Wireless Solution Sweden will be showing the newest revolution of Wireless DMX control, W-DMX Generation 4. In addition to showcasing the new product line, Wireless Solution will hold a Wireless University seminar and for the first time at PLASA, bring the popular Swedish vodka and meatball party to the venue.

The new G4 product line includes Adaptive Frequency Hopping technology to avoid interference from Wi-fi, Intercom and other radio products, W-DMX invisi-wire and data-safe technologies for unparalleled fidelity, and support of RDM (Remote Device Management) so units can be configured remotely with no fuss or cables. W-DMX G4 is the only product on the market to support the 5.8GHz band as standard, ensuring that even if the 2.4GHz band becomes too crowded with other users, your lighting control remains rock solid. G4 also has the highest output power, up

UK - Experimental theatre group Punchdrunk joined forces with English National Opera to present a version of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, with a little help from Stage Electrics.

The play was performed in a three-storey office and warehouse complex in the Royal Albert Basin, East London. Stage Electrics' London Bridge branch supplied large quantities of equipment which included cabling, distro, dimming, lanterns and haze machines for this extraordinary production.

"We knew from the start that this was going be a massive project. With a particularly short lead-time and a huge amount of space to cover, it was vital that we could depend on our suppliers. Stage were able to provide us with all the kit and more importantly the backup we needed throughout the project," commented Euan Maybank, technical director, Punchdrunk.

Business development manager Pau

UK - Martin Professional is bringing its latest range of professional luminaries, creative LED panels, atmospheric effects, sophisticated control systems, and "a revolutionary surprise" to PLASA 2010.

The Martin stand will display an innovative line that includes "a product certain to be a springboard for revolutionary lighting designs".

The MAC 350 Entour is a cutting edge LED profile fixture. Featuring proprietary LED technology, it is the market's first real alternative to traditional HID-based profile fixtures. In a package smaller and lighter than market leading 250 watt fixtures, the MAC 350 Entour exceeds even 300 watt fixtures in brightness, says the company.

The MAC III Performance is a high-output profile moving head with a new interleaved framing system with full crossover of each blade and industry-first continuous rotation for new projection,

Fringe Records - The Edinburgh Fringe has broken last year's box office record by selling almost two million tickets. The three-week long arts festival sold 1,955,913 tickets, up more than 5% on last year. Festival organisers calculated that there were 40,254 performances of 2,453 shows in 259 venues across the city.

Fringe Society chief executive Kath Mainland said: "Edinburgh is without doubt the world's leading festival destination." In addition to official venues, the Fringe High Street Events team registered 662 acts from street performers to buskers and Fringe artists. An estimated 21,148 performers took to the stage during Fringe 2010 and 558 shows were absolutely free. Comedy made up 35% of the Fringe programme, followed closely by Theatre with 29%. Music 16%, Musicals & Opera 5%, Dance & Physical Theatre 4.5%, and Children's shows 4%, made up the rest o

Portugal - Jands Vista I3 lighting consoles have provided show lighting control for the latest tours of high-profile Portuguese artists Blasted Mechanism and João Pedro Pais.

Portuguese lighting design company, Lamp On! Creative Solutions has three Vista I3 lighting consoles in its rental stock for use by its team of lighting designers - Vitor Azevedo, brother Pedro Azevedo and Rui Rodrigues. The company chose the mid-range Vista I3 model due to its combination of affordability and built-in Linux operating system.

LD Vitor Azevedo used one of the Vista consoles on the recent João Pedro Pais Portuguese tour to launch their latest album, A Palma E A Mão. The wide variety of venue sizes, ranging from small clubs to large outdoor arenas, necessitated using different local suppliers and rigs on a daily basis. As with his previous tours using the Vista, Azevedo found that the con

USA - Longtime grandMA user Chris Kuroda, who's marking his 22nd year as the lighting designer for the rock band Phish, has taken a pair of grandMA2 full-size consoles along on the musicians' cross-country summer tour. Lighting programmer Andrew Giffin suggested using the grandMA2 for lighting control, and Kuroda reports that the two desks have been "a 100 percent complete and utter success. They've been incredibly wonderful - I'm very happy with them".

"Phish is a jam band. There's no set list and you never know what song is coming next, so you have to pay attention," Kuroda explains. "We need to programme the lighting so we can grab anything very quickly. So I have the grandMA2 broken up into two worlds: one is a punter mode than runs on the fly and follows the music as it goes, and the other is a cue stack. Sometimes we're changing cue times by hundre

Sweden - LumenRadio has in cooperation with the Swedish Department of Energy, the University of Lund, Sweden's largest property manager Riksbyggen, and leading European fixture manufacturer Fagerhult completed two large scale exterior lighting installations with a scientific twist.

These systems pioneer the application of mixed protocol wireless lighting controls and fixture feedback, as well as motion and environmental sensor inputs, in large outdoor public areas. All outdoor fixtures in the targeted residential areas were replaced with modern energy efficient LED fixtures and a unified infrastructure for wireless controls and sensors was installed. Fagerhult supplied the lighting fixtures, Riksbyggen managed the practical and legal matters, and LumenRadio provided custom CRMX wireless lighting control and monitoring systems.

The effort was part of a larger scientific project

UK - Wimbledon-based White Light is one of six companies shortlisted in the Best Green Business category of the Merton Business Awards 2010.

Organised by Merton Council, the local council covering White Light's south Wimbledon base, along with South London Business and the Merton Chamber of Commerce, the awards are designed to reward and celebrate the many dynamic and innovative businesses in the borough.

White Light's nomination is in the Best Green Business category, intended to "reward companies with an environmental conscience". The nomination reflects White Light's work over the last few years both to reduce White Light's own environmental impact and to promote improved techniques, practices and equipment for reducing the environmental impact of the shows and events it supplies.

This has seen White Light involved in a wide range of activities, from investing h

USA - Barco has announced the release of a fully optimized digital lighting package that harnesses the high brightness and DLP-quality video capabilities of the DML-1200 digital light and combines it with Axon Media Server. This improved solution offers tour companies, corporate events managers and fixed installations, such as houses of worship, expanded opportunities for creating dynamic, multi-faceted shows in a variety of rental and fixed applications, says the company.

The DML-1200 was originally designed as a dual moving digital luminaire and high-quality video projector, offering unlimited image selection with the ability to seamlessly switch between video projection and light mode, cue by cue. The Axon provides lighting designers with a full complement of digital lighting features, including collage and curved surface support, warping and edge blending, and access to thou

USA - Tomcat USA has announced an expanded partnership with 4Wall Entertainment as an official Tomcat Master Stocking Distributor. 4Wall Entertainment is a full-service lighting company with locations nationwide that specializes in providing entertainment lighting systems.

"4Wall has been a key client for many years. Similar to Tomcat, 4Wall is a company that values integrity, quality and performance," commented Don Dimitroff, sales and marketing director for Tomcat USA. "And through the Master Stocking Distributor programme, together we will be able to better serve our customers on the East and West Coasts and throughout North America."

In its role as a Master Stocking Distributor, 4Wall will carry a full stock of Tomcat truss at their Las Vegas, Nevada and Moonachie, New Jersey locations.

(Jim Evans)

UK - The Saturday night TV show Tonight's The Night is back for its second series and Richard Martin Lighting hotly anticipated which fixtures lighting designer Roger Williams would opt for this time. Tom Sutherland programmed the show.

This season, the lighting rig incorporated a heavy variety of the Clay Paky range including Alpha Spot 575 HPE, Alpha Beam 700 and Alpha Wash 300.

"It's the first time I have used the 700 beams which were astonishingly bright and so versatile. I used just the 700 beams for quite a few numbers throughout the series, they really made the show," says Williams.

The rig also included Martin LC Panels with P3 Controller. Various LED Lights completed the look - including LED Par 36, 2 Lights, iCove QL and Chroma Strips.

(Jim Evans)

USA - The growth and success of Australian lighting solutions company ENTTEC has led to the opening of its first North American office and factory this summer: ENTTEC Americas, LLC.

Located in Durham, N.C., ENTTEC Americas houses the US sales and warehousing operations for the Melbourne-based ENTTEC. The US operation's large showroom displays its variety of lighting control systems for both training and demonstration purposes.

"We started our US operation five years ago. Since then we have seen steady growth every year," says Nicolas Moreau, ENTTEC's founder and managing director. "The next logical step was to open an office and factory space to further support our North American customers; a location where we would offer training for our existing product line and our new LED-based products. I'm really excited by this new project and confident our customers will

UK - Han-Yellock is a new industrial connector series from Harting which incorporates a number of features that make it suited to use in stage automation, concert lighting and power distribution systems.

In addition to offering an IP67 mated degree of protection, the connector features an integrated 'seat-belt' style latched locking mechanism that ensures damage limitation under harsh handling conditions. The new connector also allows single-handed mating or unmating, making it suitable for fitting in awkward access areas - often the case for theatre installations.

The locking facility is a key function of the Han-Yellock connector. When locked, the connection is resistant to vibration and shock. When unmated, a red ring is visible around the perimeter of the locking pushbutton. When fully mated, this ring disappears as soon as the internally protected stainless-steel springs

UK - The first shipment of the new Chroma-Q Color Force coloured LED fixture range has gone straight into the rental stocks of UK production companies in the event, broadcast and performance lighting sectors. Early adopters include Colour Sound Experiment, DBN Lighting and White Light.

Colour Sound Experiment managing director, Haydn Cruickshank comments, "I've used various LED battens before, but in my experience, none of them have been bright enough to adequately light large stage backdrops. The Color Force fills this need perfectly. I expect it to do really well on our clients' productions needing a powerful stage theatrical style cyc light."

DBN lighting designer, Stephen Page notes, "The Color Force batten offers exceptional brightness and versatility. There's ample output to uplight or downlight stage backdrops, plus the RGBA optics deliver a full range of

Argentina - Teatro Colón, the main opera house in Buenos Aires and considered one of the best five opera houses in the world, was recently refurbished with a grandMA2 full-size console and a grandMA2 replay unit.

The city government's original 'master plan' in 2006 involved structural restoration, but Mayor Mauricio Macri decided on a total facelift across the board costing US$ 100 million - the most expensive heritage restoration in Argentina's history - in order to improve both the building's structure and to bring it up to date technologically.

Ernesto Diz was in charge of the lighting system's bid specification. Diz, founder of Estudio Diz, was a professor of lighting design at the Buenos Aires University, and is the lighting and stage designer of several buildings in Argentina and around the world, including Teatro Argentino de la Plata, Teatro Municipal de Bahia Blanca,

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