UK - Production Light and Sound, a leading UK live events production company, has announced the acquisition of 14 Robe Robin 600 spotlights, making them one of the first businesses in the UK to stock and deploy this new technology. This investment is just part of a major overhaul of Production Light and Sound's inventory, as they scale up operations to meet the increased demands of larger projects.

Jason Salvin, director of Production Light and Sound explained why credit provided by Azule Finance was so vital: "Having pitched and won a series of large scale events contracts we needed to rapidly grow our business. In the fast paced events production industry, it's critical that we remain at the cutting edge of new technology developments, to ensure that are services are the best in the industry. Thankfully, Azule Finance, who came highly recommended by Robe, was able to prov

UK - The current Kings of Leon world tour features an innovative design by LD Paul Normandale with all lighting controlled by a grandMA full-size console. The lighting is being operated and looked after on the road by director Ali Bale - using a grandMA for the first time. Another grandMA light is being supplied by XL Video to run the Catalyst media server playing back video content.

Normandale has worked with the band since 2004. The conceptual look of the latest show features a large and battered, messed-up looking back wall made up of 640 PAR, nook and raylite fixtures, an idea that came to Normandale because the band like fast cars, so the wall of lights resembles a giant metallic wall of retro headlights in a tribute to American muscle car culture. He also wanted to have a complete departure from a large or dominant video screen or wall at the back.

The 640 'headlights' a

Denmark - Martin Professional has announced the latest addition to its Tripix range of products - the Tripix Wash.

The Tripix Wash is a IP66 lighting fixture that features pre-mixed LEDs and custom lenses, which eliminate unwanted colour separation. The result is no colour shadows and a broad palette, including "stunning whites, subtle pastels and vibrant saturated colours".

The Tripix Wash is suitable for installations such as flood lighting the sides of buildings or uplighting applications requiring high output (1400 lumens) from a narrow source. Available in very narrow, narrow, medium or wide beam angles, the Tripix Wash also works seamlessly with the existing Tripix linear fixtures - Tripix 300 and 1200.

All Tripix fixtures can run in parallel on the same line of slim and robust cabling from a choice of indoor or outdoor IP66 power supplies. Control is via eit

USA - American DJ has introduced two remote control LED colour par cans, PRO38B LED RC and PRO64B LED RC, and two remote control LED colour bars, Mega Bar 50RGB RC and Mega Bar LED RC, which can be operated from distances as far as 15ft away (direct line of sight).

Each of the four fixtures comes packaged with a hand-held wireless infrared American DJ LED RC remote controller that gives users command over functions that would normally require a DMX controller or the operation of an onboard control panel by hand.

"All you do is aim the infrared remote at the fixture, and total control is at your fingertips," said Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of Companies. "You can change colours via RGB mixing, change the DMX addressing, or even designate a fixture as a 'slave' in a Master/Slave configuration - all from a distance of 15ft.

"Freedo

UK - The very first batch of the new Robe Robin LEDWash 600 LED Wash fixtures off the production line in the Czech Republic were delivered to UK lighting rental company HSL, with 40 of them going straight out on JLS's UK arena tour, specified by lighting designer Dave Lee.

JLS' career kicking off after being runners up on the 2008 X-Factor talent show. Since then they have sold 1.3m albums worldwide - including their new and second studio release Outta This World.

The show for this, their second major tour, has been created by artistic director Beth Honan with a set and stage design by Peter Barnes, with all the technical production co-ordinated by Production North, overseen on the road by production manager Karen Ringland.

When Dave Lee was choosing his fixtures, he specifically needed some very bright and lightweight units to do certain jobs. When HSL's proje

China - The refurbishment of 77 Des Voeux Road (now known as the Nexxus Building), transformed a 1960s curtain wall relic into an 'A' grade modern and efficient commercial building in the heart of central Hong Kong.

The refurbishment entailed the replacement of the curtain wall which provided a more efficient and sustainable building. The retention of the concrete structure meant that the refurbishment was vastly more sustainable in terms of the carbon that might have been produced had the owners decided to demolish the structure completely and re-build from scratch. Architects AEDAS, lead by David Clayton, envisaged a rapid and efficient plan to transform the asset for their clients, Pamfleet Limited.

The sustainable theme was continued in the lighting design. Nexxus needed to make a statement, something that would stand out when viewed in the two parallel 'concrete canyons'

UK - With the official public opening of the new Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) on 24 November, Stage Electrics has completed its five-year-long role at the technical heart of this visionary transformation project.

The transformation was designed to create, in RSC artistic director Michael Boyd's words, "the best theatre in the world to perform the works of Shakespeare". It involved a massive reconstruction that created a new RST auditorium with a thrust stage and embraced the adjacent Swan Theatre, with a colonnade connecting the two and extensively upgraded public facilities throughout.

Stage Electrics, as specialist theatre contractor and technical coordinator, was contracted to provide and install the Theatre Electrics Package, including every electrical, audio and lighting system within both the RST

USA - When production meetings began for the Bob Dylan fall tour, a few challenges for the lighting design would become evident. First, the tour would be playing venues that varied greatly in size and location; and second, at a Bob Dylan show one thing is clear; it's all about the music. While many tours may rely heavily on colour changes, strobe effects, columns of light or intense video, this tour would rely on the opposite, simplicity. To overcome these challenges, the production team turned to their longtime tour provider TMS who brought in 35 Vari*Lite luminaires.

Fully understanding the necessities for this design, TMS began working with the design team to provide the ideal lighting tools and decided to use 21 VL3000 Spot, six VL3500 Wash, and eight VL3500 Spot fixtures.

Now on the road, the VL3000 Spot luminaires are being used for key light on the band, gobo breakups t

Czech Republic - The 12th Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, the largest scenography / performance design event in the world, held once every four years, returns to Prague, Czech Republic, in June 2011. Coming to Prague will allow visitors to discover a unique outdoor performing exhibition, Intersection: Intimacy & Spectacle, presenting 30 internationally acclaimed artists within an architectural environment/installation specially designed for this occasion.

Additionally, a large number of projects will be on display in outdoor public spaces throughout the city - a unique occasion to discover Prague through the eyes of the world's contemporary artists. Visitors will also be able to explore various disciplines essential to the performing arts thanks to special projects focused on lighting and sound design, architect

The Netherlands / South Africa - Philips Entertainment Lighting (PEL) has appointed DWR Distribution as the exclusive distributor in South Africa for its Selecon and Strand brands. DWR Distribution is already the exclusive distributor in the region for another PEL-owned brand, Vari-Lite.

Michael Goldberg, sales director for PEL Europe, says: "Now that the brands of Selecon, Strand and Vari-Lite are all under the Philips Entertainment Lighting umbrella, it's a logical step to offer DWR Distribution exclusive distribution for all the Philips Entertainment Lighting brands. DWR has very successfully distributed Vari-Lite products for the last year. The company's reputation in the South African market place is exemplary and it's renowned for its excellent service and product support. These are all excellent reasons for moving exclusive distribution to DWR."

Since DWR Dist

Italy - Nearly 90 Clay Paky motorised spotlights were used in the Italian television variety show I Migliori Anni (The Best Years). The programme is directed by Maurizio Pagnussat and hosted by Carlo Conti, and consists of a tele-voting competition between pieces of music from different decades.

The elaborate set designed by Riccardo Bocchini consists of a double stage, connected with a wide central gangway on which the competing artists move. All around this is the orchestra, whereas the jury and VIP guests are inside six 'windows' on several levels. The audience is seated on stands at the end of the studio and in two ranks of balconies. There is a total of 400 seats, which makes it one of the largest RAI production studios in Rome.

The Clay Paky effect lights include Alpha Profile 1200s, Alpha Spot HPE 1200s and Alpha Wash 575s. Their arrangement was designed by the d

Singapore - Wireless Solution Sweden was a proud participant at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games this summer held in Singapore. The event hosted youth athletes from 204 countries competing in 26 events - all hopefuls to compete in the following year's Summer Olympics.

The opening ceremony was held on 14 August 14 at the Float @ Marina Bay Platform, the world's largest floating stage located in the heart of Singapore. The Singapore skyline served as a backdrop, which required a display of lighting, lasers and fireworks.

The set involved a ring of shipping containers to symbolize Singapore being the biggest harbour in South East Asia. A 5000sq.m lake was created in front of the scenography. In the middle stood a 32m high lighthouse, which held the cauldron for the Olympic flame. In a very different approach to typical Games ceremonies, the Singapore skyline was used as a backgr

UK - Entertainment lighting supplier White Light is currently in the middle of a very busy run up to the Christmas holiday season, with theatre shows and many other festive events making use of the company's extensive lighting hire and sales stock and production services.

Many of these shows are traditional pantomimes. This year's count has seen White Light supply four Aladdins, six Cinderellas, two Dick Whittingtons, two Jack and the Beanstalks, four Peter Pans, three Sleeping Beautys, four Snow Whites and just the one Robin Hood.

White Light is also once again providing the lighting equipment for two shows that have established themselves as perennial Christmas favourites - White Christmas and The Snowman. White Christmas this year appears at the Sunderland Empire, with lighting designed by Ken Bill

UK - Liverpool- based Adlib is supplying its new Pixled F30 LED screen, a Catalyst media server, full production lighting, FOH and monitor sound consoles and a stage monitor system, plus crew for the BRIT Award winner Ellie Goulding's UK tour. For selected shows, including the London showcase at Hammersmith Apollo, they also supplied the full PA, as required by Jamie Butterworth - Goulding's production manager.

Adlib's Ian Tomlinson designed the lightshow for Goulding, which was developed in close collaboration with Goulding's drummer and musical director Joe Clegg, who produced all of the show's video content through his design agency Artclub.

Taking these visuals as an overall creative starting point, he and Tomlinson looked at the options on screens, which resulted in Adlib's purchase of the Pixled F30, which is configured for the tour as an 8m wide by 4m deep back wall ups

USA - The historic showroom in the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas boasts a 12-unit Martin MaxModules lighting control system, the largest MaxModules console ever assembled in the world and the latest in a string of Martin controller installations in the city.

The system consists of two MaxModule Cerebrums, two MaxModule Playbacks, two MaxModule Buttons, one MaxModule Programmer, and five MaxModule Submasters, all mounted in a completely customised frame.

The man responsible for integration of the extensive setup is Matthew Paupst, system design engineer at FBP Systems of Las Vegas. Paupst brought in Hilton lighting director Mark Broedling to programme the system.

"The showroom underwent a facelift and needed a new lighting control solution," Paupst stated. "I've used the Maxxyz system for a long time and am familiar with its many benefits, but the modular concept o

UK - Rotherham Civic Theatre and Arts Centre has addressed a number of ongoing issues: Health and Safety, turnaround times, carbon footprint as well as energy and labour costs, in one fell swoop with the purchase of 16 PixelRange RGBA PixelPars, featuring high intensity CREE LEDs.

Working at height to change the lamps and gels for static lights is common practice in UK theatres, but the PixelPars have brought a dramatic change of circumstance to the theatre. For the first time, operators have instant control over the lighting colour via DMX control. The PixelPars are fitted with 40 degree diffusers to give good coverage and are zoned to spread colour evenly across the stage.

Technical manager Steve Smith comments: "We looked closely at the marketplace to see what was available and the PixelPar won the vote of th

UK - ETC has released new software for its SmartFade range of lighting control desks, including a number of new features - such as native support for LED fixtures with up to seven colours.

Previously, if an entry-level lighting desk was able to control LED fixtures at all, it provided only the most basic support for red, green and blue. As manufacturers add further LED colours, more advanced control is necessary - this means that a SmartFade ML desk is now able to control ETC Selador LED fixtures, which contain up to seven different colours.

Other updates in SmartFade v3 include: a completely redesigned stack, in which cues can be recorded in any order, then played back in the correct sequence; over 3000 personalities, more than double than in previous versions; when the stack is on, the displays in SmartFade ML now include the step name and the running times; consoles are now

The Netherlands - On 15 November, 809,000 Dutch viewers were tuned to RTL5 for the live broadcast of Benelux Next Top Model Final Show 2010. The staff of Visual Productions tuned in too, supporting Cuelux, débuting on live TV as the choice controller from DutchView for the control of the laser show.

The show, produced by Endemol Nederland BV, was broadcast from the Lichtfabriek in Haarlem, a venue now well known for cultural and corporate events that was once responsible for providing energy to the homes in Haarlem. The simple, elegant setting and clever light design transformed the venue from a spacious factory into a stylish, intimate catwalk studio. The models were complemented by a lighting design from James van Someren of DutchView.

The Laser operator for the event was DutchView's Jeroen van der Velden who chose to use Cuelux for the control of three green l

UK - Martin Professional has announced that longtime Martin UK sales manager Clive Bailey has assumed the position of product manager - smoke, working for the company's Danish-based global headquarters.

Bailey's new responsibilities include globally overseeing the company's complete range of Jem and Magnum brand haze, fog and heavy fog machines. A past recipient of Martin's Subsidiary Sales Rep of the Year award, Bailey began in the new position in September and continues to work from his base in the UK.

"Having worked for Martin Professional for many years as sales manager - commercial whilst dealing with a high calibre customer base from hire to installers, including architects, designers and consultants, I know how important our smoke product range is to them," says Bailey. "I'm confident we will remain as the preferred partner within the industry."

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South Africa - Gearhouse South Africa supplied technical production, including sound, lighting, video equipment and a stage/roof system plus crew for the South African leg of Indian singer/musician A R Rahman's Jai Ho world tour.

Gearhouse SA's project manager was Bill Lawford, who started work two months in advance, collaborating closely with the tour's US-based production manager, Nick Jeen.

Three venues - Sun City Superbowl, the Grand West Casino in Cape Town and the Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban - were visited over a 12 day period.

The tour brought its full monitor rig and control consoles for sound, lighting and video to SA - the production sound elements came from Sirius Show Equipment Germany for this section. At the first two venues, they hooked into the house racks-and-stacks for audio, with Gearhouse supplementing a quantity of Kudo and dV-DOSC cabinets, a

UK - Technical Performance & Presentation, based in Sussex, has been appointed exclusive UK reseller for RC4Magic Series 2 wireless transmitters and receiver/dimmers for the stage and entertainment industry.

Beverley Grover first saw the product demonstrated at ABTT and says she immediately knew this would be a product that would fit into the company portfolio and one they would be happy to support and promote.

James Smith, president and chief product designer at RC4 Wireless in Toronto, Canada, comments: "I have been cautiously and selectively building a worldwide network of partners over the past year, and TPP is the perfect combination of technical expertise and sales experience, in a boutique format that really focuses on customer satisfaction."

The RC4 Magic Series 2 wireless DMX and wireless dimming system consists of a transmitter, the DMXio, and receiver/di

UK - Black Light has teamed up with a number of its key suppliers and the Federation of Scottish Theatre (FST) to help deliver three days of technical training at Pitlochry Festival Theatre on the 22-24 February 2011.

Among the courses being run by Black Light are sessions on the Safe Use of Pyrotechnics, on the operation of ETC Ion Lighting Desks, Rosco Lighting and Scenic Products and Avolites Titan Software.

"Our courses will be a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on some of the most exciting technology in the business and learn how to use it from the professionals," says Black Light's Phil Haldane. "They'll also be a great chance to meet others in the industry and to catch up with colleagues."

A wide range of other training courses will be running over the three-day event and participants can book to come along to one session or many. There will

Monaco - Clay Paky exhibited at recent Monaco International Clubbing Show (MICS). Presenting a mixture of lighting, sound and design booths, the show gathered club owners, investors, DJs and designers from all quarters of the industry.

In addition to a stand, Clay Paky also designed and supplied the lighting system for the temporary 2,000sq.m MICS Club that was built in one of the exhibition halls. This club space was used as a demo room by day and as an evening venue for large events such as the award ceremonies and DJ competitions.

Clay Paky received an Award from the organisers for its 'important contribution to the development of the club industry'. Monte Carlo made a very attractive location for the trade show, not least because of the glamour associated with the Mediterranean principality and its resident VIP population.

Clay Paky is still highly regarded as one of the

UK White Light took part in TheatreCraft 2010, a careers fair for those interested in a career behind-the-scenes in theatre which took place at the London Coliseum on 22 November.

Organised by Masterclass, a programme providing those interested in the worlds of theatre, film and television with expert guidance and support, TheatreCraft was open to anyone aged 17-25 interested in working backstage, giving them a chance to learn more about the career paths available - from stage management to wig-making to lighting to writing to designing - and meet and learn from those already working in the industry.

Those attending the event, which was a sold-out hit, got to meet representatives from organisations including English National Opera, the National Youth Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Stage Management

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