UK - Lighting Partners is now the exclusive distributor for Hazebase Products in the UK and Ireland. The distribution agreement, having been under discussion for a number of months, was finalised during ProLight&Sound in Frankfurt.
"The move to Hazebase was a logical decision for the company," commented Lighting Partners director, Iain Dennis. "Hazebase products share technology, components, and consumables with Smoke Factory so we already have huge experience in selling and supporting the range."
Uta Raabe, owner of Hazebase in Germany explained: "This collaboration with Lighting Partners in the UK marks a significant milestone in the development of the Hazebase brand worldwide. The UK Market is an important one for any manufacturer and finding a company which shares our ethos of first class customer service has taken us some time."
Coinciding with the distribution announcement is the launch of Base-Cap, Hazebase's first 650W smoke machine. Iain Dennis notes: "This is the machine that has always been missing from the range. It's a cost effective solution for those only needing a smaller machine but while maintaining the pedigree of quality. This will be a machine which can be locked away for 10 months and will work first time when called upon. Furthermore, common fluids across the range make sense for rental companies with requirements for small and large machines."
See Lighting Partners at the forthcoming PLASA Focus - Leeds 2009 (28 - 29 April).
(Jim Evans)
Sweden - CAST Software was behind-the-scenes at the recent Elle Galan 2009 - one of the most illustrious fashion events in Sweden, held at the Grand Hotel in Stockholm.
CAST Software is the maker of two popular software suites in the entertainment and event industries - Vivien-Virtual Event Designer and wysiwyg. These tools were used to create the design for the show.
Three key designers worked on the project, lighting designer Mats Andreasson, production manager Ola Melzig and set designer Åse Persson, sharing wysiwygand Vivien files with each other to meet the demands of a challenging layout, creating a striking design while saving time and money.
The venue presented a few obstacles for the team, as Grand Hotel, which opened in 1874, was never designed for the range of events to be held within its walls. Automated lights, strobe lighting, electric guitars and mirror catwalks were just not foreseen in 1874. It required advance planning and a deliberate strategy to create the illusion of an ultra hip set design showcasing the latest in fashion inside a 135-year-old building.
"Actually one of my biggest challenges was a very strict chair count that had to be aesthetically pleasing as an overall design that integrated seamlessly with the catwalk and stage," said Melzig, "This event caters to a long list of VIPs, and we had to have exactly 855 chairs, all with good views of the catwalk. I also didn't have a choice of chairs - I had to use the ones the hotel had. So it was extremely helpful to be able to use Vivi
UK - Hawthorn has announced the appointment of Karen Riley, Mark Russell, Max Nembhard and May Lee to its London sales team, joining Suzanne Allis, who has been working in the business development team for the past eight months. The new team bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm to the business.
Prior to joining Hawthorn, Russell worked in senior sales and marketing roles with British Airways for 12 years followed by seven years working for high end corporate event agency, Attention To Detail.
Riley joins Hawthorn with over eight years experience working for live event technical production companies. Most recently she was sales & marketing manager for PSL Events.
Formerly sales manager for lighting console manufacturer Avolites, Lee's experience working with lighting buyers will be invaluable in selling the full Hawthorn portfolio, says the company.
Russell and Riley will be focusing on account management and new business development to further strengthen Hawthorns position in both new and existing markets, whilst Lee will be concentrating on theatrical, film & TV clients.
Nembhard has spent the last four years in the AV industry, most recently with PSL Events working as business development manager for its exhibitions team. His new role with Hawthorn will be working with the exhibition sector, presenting Hawthorns inventory of AV, lighting and rigging systems to stand designers, consultants and exhibition organisers.
MD Martin Hawthorn comments: "Our success at Hawthorn has been generated by the quality of our employees, that's why
UK - Avolites launched the new ART 2000 PowerCube at the 2009 Prolight & Sound exhibition in Frankfurt during last week. Avolites says this new range is the latest step in its portable dimmer, mains and data distribution systems which includes its popular ART Dimmer Range.
Based on the technology of the ART 2000 Touring range, the ART PowerCube features 12 dimmer circuits, 6 combined dimmer and fixed mains circuits, 6 dedicated fixed mains and two 16A utility circuits, all contained in a compact flightcase that can be lifted by one person and securely stacked. It also includes two outlets on each circuit, and Ethernet input with ARTnet support to cover the varied control situations that this system will encounter, say Avolites.
18 local control fades allow for quick access to lights and provide for 12 memories to be replayed.The familiar ART2000 operating system features Softpatch, separate Channel Curve, Limit and pre-heat attributes and remote memory functions, while an intuitive web-interface allows for remote setup and monitoring.
Look out for a full report on the Frankfurt ProLight&Sound exhibition in the forthcoming May issue of Lighting&Sound International.
(Lee Baldock)
Italy - In one of the major announcements to be made at last week's ProLight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, two of Italy's best-known manufacturers have joined forces. RCF Group announced at the show that it had finalised the agreement to purchase 51% of SGM Technology for Lighting SpA. SGM is a well-known manufacturer serving the entertainment and architectural lighting industry, with 30 years of experience and many prestigious reference projects around the world.
Gabriele Giorgi, president of SGM, said: "It is a great opportunity to for us to become one of the companies of the RCF Group. Ove the years we have built a very dedicated team and, together with our worldwide distribution partners, we have significantly expanded our international sales. Looking ahead we felt it was time to structure our company for a more demanding market and being part of a larger group will provide SGM with immediate access to additional technical and financial resources. This will represent an important step forward to consolidate our leadership position, increase SGM brand visibility and assist our team in achieving future goals."
Commenting on the purchase, RCF Group's managing director Arturo Vicari said: "We are extremely pleased that Gabriele and his team are joining our Group . . . [we] share the same commitment towards high quality solutions, constant innovation and long-term business relationships. SGM will continue to be focussed on its existing business model, developing its own products, defining its sales and marketing strategies while benefiting
Germany - Lighting manufacturer OSRAM now offers two high-performance HMI metal halide lamps. The stars on the set - OSRAM HMI 24000W/DXS and OSRAM HMI 1800W/SE XS - are being shown at ProLight + Sound in Frankfurt this week.
The new HMI 24000W/DXS displays its strengths especially in large-scale location shots. The double-base HMI 24000W/DXS owes its high performance of more than two million lumens to the recently developed sealing foil system with four molybdenum foils, which is also implemented in the current HMI 18000W/DXS. Together with OSRAM's eXtreme Seal technology the lamp's thermal resistance is especially impressive: the maximum permitted pinch temperature in the lamp is 450?C. The average lifespan of the HMI 24000W/DXS is around 375 hours.
The Single-base OSRAM HMI 1800W/SE XS are suitable for use as spotlights in TV and photo studios as well as in stagecraft. With the robust G38 base it enables new higher performance and compact spotlights to be developed with considerable efficiency in this power class. The eXtreme Seal technology in the HMI 1800W/SE XS also provides for a maximum permitted pinch temperature of 450?C.
(Jim Evans)
USA - Rosco Laboratories and The ESTA Foundation have announced the presentation by Mark Engel, president of Rosco, of a cheque for the first annual royalty payment to Behind the Scenes from sales of the colour Roscolux 359 Medium Violet. Engel presented the cheque for $2,876 in front of a large gathering on the show floor at USITT in Cincinnati just prior to the annual Behind the Scenes / Long Reach Long Rider raffle.
Engel stated, "These challenging economic times require both imaginative solutions -- and compassion for those in need. That's one of the reasons Rosco is so pleased to be involved in The ESTA Foundation's Behind The Scenes programme. We contribute a part of the proceeds from sales of one of the most popular colours in Roscolux, 359 Medium Violet, to Behind The Scenes. More and more people throughout the industries we serve are choosing this colour both for moonlight and many other effects. As they do, our contribution to this immensely worthy cause grows."
Tobin Neis, a longtime member of the Behind the Scenes Committee and a new member of The ESTA Foundation Board of Directors, accepted the cheque and commented, "On behalf of the ESTA Foundation's Board of Directors we thank all those that purchased Roscolux 359 Medium Violet in the last year and especially Rosco, who is generously supporting Behind the Scenes on an ongoing basis with this programme."
(Jim Evans)
The Netherlands/New Zealand - Royal Philips has announced today that it has acquired New Zealand-based Selecon. Under the terms of the agreement, Philips will acquire the business assets of Selecon New Zealand Limited, Selecon UK Limited, Selecon North America LLC and Aureol Lighting Limited. No financial details on the transaction were disclosed.
"Selecon's highly acclaimed luminaires for the theatrical and architectural markets will further strengthen the breadth of solutions Philips can offer to important professional customers such as performing arts centres, churches, convention centres and hotels," said Rudy Provoost, chief executive of Philips' Lighting sector. "Today we are further strengthening the product portfolio of our globally leading entertainment lighting business, building on the foundation provided by the acquisition of Genlyte in 2008."
Headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, Selecon was founded in 1969 and employs approximately 95 people throughout Australasia, Europe and North America. Landmarks as diverse as the American Museum of Natural History, Hong Kong Science Museum, the Sydney Opera House and the Opera Bastille in Paris all use Selecon lighting. The company has delivered a double digit annual revenue growth rate over the last four years, a performance which is expected to continue in years to come. Selecon has become part of the Entertainment Group within the Philips Professional Luminaires business, which also encompasses the Vari-Lite and Strand Lighting business operations.
The acquisition of Selecon follows t
UK - When the Bird College in Sidcup, a leading training centre for dance and theatre performance, needed to adapt one of their dance studios to allow it to be easily transformed into a performance space and back, it was to entertainment lighting supplier White Light that they turned.
"The college required us to provide a versatile rig that would allow the space to be transformed from a dance studio into a theatre space and back again" notes Matt Stridgen, White Light's projects co-ordinator responsible for the Bird College installation. "This required the installation of a new lighting grid and lighting infrastructure together with tracking and drapes to allow the space itself to be varied."
The new installation is based around an 8m by 7.5m internally-wired lighting grid featuring 20 15A sockets as well as a DMX outlet for control of automated lighting or other lighting accessories, plus additional plain bars for rigging, new boom positions and a front-of-house lighting bar, all hung from the studio's existing wooden roof. The lighting sockets were wired back to a new dimmer position fitted with two Zero Chilli 10-amp dimmer packs, one 24-way and one 12-way. The dimmers are controlled by an ETC SmartFade ML console located in a control position at the rear of the studio. As part of the installation, White Light cleaned and PAT-tested the existing lantern stock as well as supplying six new Selecon Acclaim Fresnels, 12 Acclaim Zoomspots and 12 Par Cans.
"For the tracks and drapes, we used the Hall Stage T60 system, with tracks installed
Denmark - Available now is the LC Plus Series from Martin Professional, a modular system of LED video panels with new generation technology that closely integrates light, video and set design for new possibilities in indoor and outdoor staging. Designed for the demanding rental and staging market, yet equally suitable for fixed installations such as retail environments and outdoor architecture, the LC Plus is an easy-to-use, all-in-one video solution, says the company.
The LC Plus is built around Martin's new P3 technology platform (Pixel Push Protocol) for video signal processing and distribution. Based on Gigabit Ethernet and Ca t5e wiring, the P3 technology removes the inherent limitations of video-type protocols for easy connectivity and speed of set-up.
The Ethernet based system is true plug and play, eliminating the limitations of DVI, fibre optic and coax (SDI) cable connections. Fast and easy to assemble, any cable can be up to 100m in length and up to 50 panels can be daisy chained.
The LC Plus uses RJ45 connectors and the Gigabit Ethernet technology enables 500,000 pixels with 48 bit data to be updated 60 times per second for broadcast quality, smooth, step free images. Latency (delay) is virtually undetectable meaning the image on the LC Plus screen is in perfect sync with the live performer.
(Jim Evans)
Show Time - The lighting, sound and production industries head to Frankfurt this week for ProLight+Sound 2009 and judging by the flood of pre-show product information - and launch party invitations - received by LSI, there will be much new to see and hear. Not surprisingly, then, the organisers are anticipating healthy attendance figures.
Woodstock Reprise - Michael Lang, the co-founder of the legendary 1969 Woodstock festival, is reportedly seeking sponsors for a 40th anniversary reprise in New York City. "The chances that something will happen are probable," he told the Times. "But I don't really have the answer yet as to what that will be." Central Park has been suggested as a possible location for the event. The Who were among the acts who played at the original concert, which took place in Bethel, New York State. A 30th anniversary concert held in 1999 at a former air force base outside New York ended in looting and violence. According to Billboard magazine, Lang hopes the concert would be "a free event" leaving "as small a carbon imprint as we can." To this end, he is seeking raise $10m (£6.8m) in sponsorship money.
Web News - A new website designed for songwriters to post their views on protecting their music on the web has been launched. The Performing Rights Society has set up Fairplayforcreators.com to highlight the "issues of online earnings." This follows the row between YouTube and PRS over royalty rates, which resulted in the removal of thousands of music videos from
Denmark - In May, the Martin MAC 250 Krypton will celebrate its six-year anniversary. Martin Professional is celebrating by offering a 10% price discount on the MAC 250 Krypton. The campaign will run from 1 April until the end of June.
Six years on and the MAC 250 Krypton is still going strong, says the company, having been specified on a huge variety of clubs, special events, television shows, restaurants, houses of worship, cruise ships, and more.
(Jim Evans)
Event lighting specialist, Matthieu Larivée, who has been honoured with international awards for his special event lighting designs at the Pyramids in Egypt, will deliver the keynote at the lighting solutions conference taking place at this year's PALME Middle East expo which takes place 26-28 April at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.
During his presentation entitled, Transforming One of the Seven Wonders of the World - Live at the Pyramids, Larivée will discuss the need to push the boundaries of lighting and audio visual technologies for events. Using his own creative work as an example, specifically he will examine future trends and review the latest technology available.
"Larivée has earned a solid reputation for his multi-dimensional artistic approach and global vision of a show," said Alex Heuff, exhibition director, PALME.
In 2007, he claimed the prestigious Middle East Lighting Design Award for his work on Chantal Chamandy's A Night at the Pyramids concert in Egypt. He has also played integral roles with lighting productions as diverse as the rock group REM to the Cirque du Soleil. "I think it is fair to say that Larivée's credentials are beyond reproach," added Heuff.
Sustainability, aesthetics and safety are the other key topics that feature prominently on the lighting solutions conference agenda.
To address industry audio visual issues, PALME will host the Integrators Round Table Forum which will examine the current economic constraints, the relationship between new technologies creating ne
UK - Lighting control and automation group, Dynalite, has drawn on its extensive expertise in the residential and hospitality sectors to secure contracts with four prestigious hotel projects in England. The installations--at the Rockliffe Hotel in County Durham, the Hilton Hotel in Liverpool, the Bridges Wharf Hotel in London, and the Berners Hotel in London - all of which are expected to be completed by year-end 2009.
Dynalite's involvement in these hotel installations will span from the design phase through to commissioning. In each case, the company will supply an automated lighting solution comprising a range of Dynalite controllers, wall panels, touch-screens, interfaces, sensors, and software.
At the heart of the Dynalite systems are the modular DIN rail-mountable DDMC802 multipurpose controllers. These support large quantities of small loads in hotel and high-density residential applications. By providing the ability to use load-specific modules--whether for luminaire dimming or automation of blinds, curtains or fans--there's a huge reduction in the waste caused by unused channels in conventional control approaches. This makes them ideally suited to meet the growing trend for advanced levels of lighting and automation control in hotel guest rooms.
The new lighting control systems at each of the four hotels will provide lighting for all major hotel areas, and will encompass energy-saving technologies. For the Rockliffe and Berners hotels, the projects will further include landscaping and exterior illumination. Hotel guest comfort will be assured by the in
World - After an eight year absence from the stage, Tina Turner is back with a world tour spanning North America and Europe. Based on a production design by Baz Halpin and a set design by Mark Fisher of Stufish, Turner is backed by some of today's finest lighting technology.
Two grandMA full-size, one as a back-up, and six MA NSPs, (Network Signal Processor) including two spares, form the heart of the lighting control for a rig that comprises 80 Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300s, 64 Vari*Lite VL 3000 spots, eight VL3500 washes as well as Coemar, Syncrolite and Martin fixtures. In total, the lighting consumes 16 DMX universes.
Lighting designer Baz Halpin explains his design, "The show is a recap of the last 50 years of the career of one of the most stunning female artists in history. We tried to create a system that was versatile enough to cope with not only the stylistic changes but also the physical changes as the set transforms during the show. The design went through several versions before we settled on the current one. Tina Turner is heavily involved in all aspects of her show. She will have specific ideas on how something should be treated and has a clear vision of how her shows should look.
"The show is divided by a 30 minute interval", continues Halpin, "The first section starts off with some older uptempo pop tunes with basic lighting and the focus on the music rather than the production. The second act in the first half is a more production heavy section with songs like Private Dancer and We Don't Need Another Hero. After th
UK - To celebrate the launch of the new Chroma-Q Color Block 2 LED fixture and the growing success of the lighting brand worldwide, www.chroma-q.com has been launched.
Dealers and end users are provided with easy access to a dedicated online portal for the latest Chroma-Q product news, user applications, support and reseller information.
The site includes product information, extensive application case studies and testimonials from a diverse range of clients including lighting designers, technicians, venues, rental and production companies, plus access to full 360° product views, high resolution colour photos, brochures, detailed technical specification sheets, manuals and exploded diagrams.
(Jim Evans)
UK - A/V services company PSP has continued its rolling investment programme with the addition of more state-of-the-art equipment to its inventory.
The recent purchase of a Panasonic AVS-400 multi-format live vision mixer, Christie S+20K Roadster projector, Barco DCS 200 dual channel seamless switcher and additional Grass Valley Turbo iDDR digital media recorder/players has reinforced the company's commitment to quality.
"High definition is becoming more and more of a client requirement and so we have to ensure that we can deliver it whenever requested," says PSP's David Woodcock.
"The AVS-400 and DCS-200 are both tremendously versatile. With great input and output flexibility for all formats, they provide the ultimate in vision mixing and switching capabilities and are also remarkably cost effective.
"We aim to deliver the ultimate in visual quality and, to achieve that, our systems need to comprise the ultimate in what is available," adds Woodcock.
(Jim Evans)
Switzerland - Lighting for the majority of shows of the 2008 AVO Session indoor music festival in Basel was controlled by a grandMA full-size lighting console. The event featured 13 evenings of sold-out musical performances, including appearances by international artists including Zucchero, Kelly Rowland, Michael Bolton, Jethro Tull and Gary Moore.
In addition to the main grandMA at the FOH lighting position, grandMA programmer/operator Patrick Rakus had a laptop running grandMA onPC software and a 12-channel DMX desk that was triggering one page on the grandMA, giving an additional twelve faders for TV and band key lighting.
Werner Kokott, CEO of Five K Lighting & Video Design, who supplied lighting equipment for the Session, said: "Most Lighting Designers - including Günter Jäckle, Billy Bigliardi, Geoff Hall and Marco Zepeda - were happy to use the grandMA for their show. All shows were broadcast live, so it was vital they had a completely stable system - that's why grandMA was specified."
Lighting fixtures included 24 Vari*Lite VL3500 Spots, 14 VL3000 Washes, 24 VL500, eight VL2500 Spots and 18 DTS Delta R. Kokott adds: "The DTS fixtures are really bright and perfect for TV shows, especially with a design containing VL3000 and VL3500s, where you need an LED fixture powerful enough to compete, and one that enhances good close-ups for the cameras."
Production lighting designer for the 2008 Session was Ronny Widuch, who collaborated with Werner Kokott on the overall show look and design. Cast Switzerland is the exclusive distributor of
USA - In addition to its home on the web at www.tomcatglobal.com, Tomcat USA has a new page on Facebook. Those who visit the page will find photos of products, workshops and projects. In addition, anyone with an account can stop by and become a fan of the staging and lighting equipment company.
"We encourage everyone to stop by and check it out," said Lisa Jebsen, marketing assistant for Tomcat USA. "We see this as another great opportunity to interact with industry professionals and show off our work. In the near future, we plan to offer special giveaways to our 'fans.'"
(Jim Evans)
USA - One of the biggest stars in country music, literally, is the 6' 7" Trace Adkins. The newest addition to the resume for Trace is star of the TV show The Celebrity Apprentice, with Donald Trump. Adkins is currently touring in support of his newest work, X (Ten).
Tour manager Jeff Gossett, production manager Benny Durham and lighting designer Jeff Lavallee have worked with Bandit for some time with Trace. Lavalle has captured the rock-n-roll sprit of Adkins with his up-tempo lighting presentation, using MAC 2000 wash and spot fixtures, along with High End Studio Beams, Maxedia Media Servers and a Jands Vista Console.
Brent Barrett at Bandit handles the daily needs of the Adkins tour. The tour has programmed twice at Bandit Lites rehearsal facility, Venue One, in Nashville, a full service facility that allows an entire show to be flown with band gear and stage set installed for a complete rehearsal.
(Jim Evans)
World - This Saturday (28 March) at 8.30pm local time, the world is being encouraged to act with their light switches to combat climate change. Organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the worldwide blackout is described as an election between Earth and global warming. "For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote - Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming," says the Earth Hour website.
WWF are attempting to reach a target of 1 billion "votes for Earth", which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009.
In London, the famous Coca Cola sign in Piccadilly Circus will be switched off for only the third time since the Second World War. Other famous London landmarks taking part in Earth Hour include Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square; the London Eye; the National Gallery; the V&A Museum and the National Theatre. There will be a demonstration of the eco friendly wind powered lights on Primrose Hill, and countless other people, businesses and schools will be joining in too.
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome's Coliseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Tim
South Africa - Rosco has confirmed a new partnership between Rosco and South African lighting design company Congo Blue Design. After being appointed as a new Rosco distributor for South Africa, Congo Blue Design can now offer South African customers the full range of all Rosco colours and products. Having been regular users of Rosco products on many of their projects previously, Congo Blue Design will now stock Rosco products themselves and distribute them throughout South Africa.
Congo Blue Design specialises in lighting design and consulting for both theatrical and architectural environments. They are headed by lighting designer Declan Randall, who has worked on projects all over the world especially in South Africa and Europe, and they are joined by Dave Whitehouse as senior lighting designer and Rosco's product manager.
See the March issue of Lighting&Sound Magazine for a profile of Congo Blue Design's Declan Randall.
(Jim Evans)
Germany - Entertainment Equipment Supplies is exhibiting Tinhao, their range of dimmers and distros, for the first time at Prolight&Sound.
The company produce a wide range of reliable products, ideal for use in conjunction with each other to ensure safe installations of dimming and power distribution, making them suited to TV productions, theatres and touring.
EES's product lines offer different options to meet a variety of needs, as will be shown during the exhibition where samples will be displayed for visitors to take a closer look at.
As well as presenting their Tinhao equipment, EES will display a new member of their product family, the Flygeko wall rack for fixed installation, which will launch and be introduced to the market at the exhibition.
(Claire Beeson)
Germany - Martin Professional's expanding range of LED lighting solutions will feature prominently at the upcoming ProLight&Sound exhibition. On display will be the LC Plus Series of LED video panels with new generation technology and an IP65 rating; EvenLED, a modular LED system for extremely even field projection; and FlexDOT, a lightweight yet bright string of LED pixels for customized video solutions.
Also on display will be Martin's first LED moving heads, the MAC 401 Dual, a powerful LED washlight with a unique double-sided design that gives it dual functionality; and the MAC 301 Wash, a compact, high-power LED washlight with powerfully fast zoom. Another innovative launch will be Martin easyStrip, a simple yet highly capable plug-and-play LED striplight for interior enhancement. Martin's successful 1500 watt MAC III Profile will also be shown.
Several new control solutions in the Maxxyz and Maxedia ranges will feature, as will ColorFox, the first lighting controller specifically designed for architectural use with dynamic colour changing fixtures. A full complement of Jem and Magnum smoke machines will also be on display. Martin will also feature a new type of high intensity plasma light.
(Jim Evans)