USA - Bold, animated washes of colour are being used to add visual excitement to an ever-growing array of events and venues -- from corporate meetings and mid-size productions, to neighbourhood taverns and restaurants. Now Chauvet Professional is answering the demand for a mid-range multi-purpose high-power colour-mixing luminaire that's as fast, bright and electrifying as it is versatile and value-driven.

The company has introduced the Q-Wash 419Z LED, a high-output RGBW moving head wash fixture that provides the power and design tools to adapt to a wide range of projects - including a flexible 7°-25° zoom and zonal LED control -- yet also fits comfortably into the budgets of lighting pros and their clients.

Designed for the production, touring, theatre, nightclub, inst

UK - Avolites and Avolites Media have announced that teams from both brands will be demoing products being shown in the UK for the first time at PLASA Focus, Leeds, 29-30 April.

Avolites - on stand R-B10 - will be exhibiting the Sapphire Touch and new Wing, offering an additional 30 Motorised Faders and third hi res touch screen. The entire Titan range, two Titan Network Processor systems and the Tiger Touch II with Wireless Remote will also be available for demo and hands-on experience.

Avolites' Titan Mobile Fader Wing - which enables expansion of every Avolites Titan console, giving direct access to extra handy features - makes its UK debut.

Avolites Media - on stand R-A08 - will be showcasing Ai's video mapping capabilities, demoing interactive video controls using RFID, and discussing a number of high profile projects such as the recent Peter Pan theatre production, as

Italy - Elisa's L'anima vola (my soul flies) tour is a three-hour-plus marathon, during which the Italian singer-songwriter entertains her audience with the naturalness she has got us used to. It is a sort of long journey that covers all stages of her career, from her début in English and her victory at the Sanremo Music Festival, right up to her total conversion to the Italian language, which features throughout her latest CD.

Elisa is one of the few artists who love to supervise the whole design and creative process involved in artistic/musical projects. She came up with the original tour concept and then handed it over to a well-established creative team, consisting of lighting and show designer Mamo Pozzoli, set designer Igor Ronchese, and artistic director Mauro Simionato, with Edit Art in charge of the visual art.

The stage looks deceptively simple and uncluttered

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Case Study: Hans Zimmer Live

When award winning film composer Hans Zimmer brought his smash-hit tour Hans Zimmer Live to North America fall 2024, the show's audio team sought out to bring infrafrequency bass to the show to add new depth to the show's audio experience. The team chose Danley Sound Labs.

Europe - 'Striking, stylish and slightly strange' are the words that established lighting designer Rob Sinclair uses to describe his eerie lighting design for musical duo Goldfrapp's latest tour. Similar words could also describe the effects that he gets from the Philips Showline SL NITRO 510 strobe luminaires, which Sinclair has specified to deliver cinematic, crisp, cross stage washes alongside stark, ice white strobe effects.

Inspired by the 'film noir' artistry of Goldfrapp's latest album Tales of Us, Sinclair's high contrast lighting design uses 10 x Philips Showline SL NITRO 510's to create unadulterated up-lit washes and acid-flash strobe effects that accompany some of the band's most haunting tracks.

"We worked hard to create a lighting design that would complement Alison Goldfrapp's double exposure photography, which is currently used as the artwork for th

The Show Goes On - AC/DC have said they will not retire following news that guitarist and founding member Malcolm Young is taking a break "due to ill health". It had been rumoured the Australian band would split after a career spanning more than 40 years. However, a statement on AC/DC's website confirmed: "The band will continue to make music."

The band are one of the highest-grossing rock acts of all time, selling more than 200m albums. A message on the band's website confirmed that Young would be taking a break after "forty years of life dedicated to AC/DC", but did not reveal details of his illness.

On Tape - One in 10 young people has bought a music cassette tape in the last month, a new survey done to coincide with Record Store Day suggests. The research suggests that physical formats are still more popular than digital downloads. In t

UK - Commissioned by the National Trust, designer Mike Blacker of East Grinstead- based Blacker Design was asked to mastermind a refurbishment plan for lighting in the museum area of Bateman's - for over 30 years from 1902, the home of author Rudyard Kipling, near Burwash in the Sussex Weald.

Bateman's is now dedicated to the memories of Kipling's life and work. When Blacker Design needed a neat, energy efficient lighting solution to complete the modernisation of a number of period exhibition display cases in one of the upstairs rooms ... they approached Hastings based lighting specialist CLD Distribution for assistance.

The collaboration saw CLD design and install a bespoke slimline warm white LED strip, made from Osram LEDs into each of the cabinets of varying sizes. This illuminates the contents in a fabulous crisp, clear high CRI lightsource that looks really natural and i

Belgium - Belgian-based automation and engineering specialists Wicreations supplied specialist flying and movement system for the recent Reverze event staged simultaneously at Antwerp's Sportpalais venue and the adjacent Lotto Arena, accommodating upwards of 20,000 hard dance music fans.

The event, produced by Bass Events is the largest indoor hardstyle event, and this year's theme was 'Guardians of Time'. The centrepiece of the set - designed by Peter Vervloesem for Amaze Productions - was a 4.5 by 4.5 by 5m high scenic clock.

This was required to move approximately 50m from backstage to the rear of the Sportpalais arena.

Peter contacted Wicreations in the early planning stages of the event. The two have collaborated on many previous projects - including several Reverzes - and Amaze asked WI to apply their engineering genius to make the giant timepiece fly.

The clock had

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OPUS X4 PROFILE – the most powerful LED moving head from Cameo to date

The OPUS® X4 PROFILE is the new flagship model from Cameo and is among the most powerful LED moving heads on the market. Equipped with a 1,400-watt LED white light engine, this spot profile moving head produces an enormous light output of 50,000 lm, providing powerful spot and gobo projections on even the largest stages and much more.
www.cameolight.com

UK - As PLASA Focus: Leeds 2014 fast approaches, exhibitors are preparing to fill the show floor with the latest entertainment technology. Having grown its reputation over the last five years, the north of England edition of PLASA Focus has cemented its importance in the industry as a platform for building relationships and showcasing new products.

Chris Toulmin, director of PLASA Events, comments, "We're looking forward to welcoming exhibitors and visitors to both exhibition halls, as well as to the extensive seminar programme. The show is known for its vibrant atmosphere and with such a strong line-up of exhibitors, showcasing so many innovative products, we're certain that legacy will continue."

On Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 April, The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, UK will come alive with the latest audio, lighting, video and rigging technologies. With the sho

UK - The ETC's Source Four LED Series 2 luminaire, ETC Source Four Mini LED fixtures and ETC Nomad lighting control, along with SmartPack ThruPower products, are set feature at this year's PLASA Focus Leeds show (New Dock Hall, stand number C06).

The Source Four LED Series 2 fixture were first seen in public at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, where they got a great reception. ETC fixtures product manager Jim Uphoff and his colleagues were busy throughout the show giving demonstrations on the new luminaires and their incredible output. By adding lime green emitters, the gaps in the visual spectrum are evened out, which means that a greater range of colours and more powerful output are achievable.

The Source Four Mini LED is now available in addition to the tungsten version of the Source Four Mini and provides greater energy efficiency for lighting architectural details and in si

UK - After a successful call for papers and many suggestions and proposals, the Editorial Board of the International Theatre Engineering and Architecture Conference has confirmed over 30 topics for ITEAC 2014: The Future of Performance Spaces, 8-10 June, London.

Each day of the three-day event starts with a significant keynote address and concludes with a stimulating collective wrap up session. Between, the topics will run in three or four parallel streams, presented as lectures, quick fire sessions, specialised micro sessions and panel discussions.

David Staples, chair of the Editorial Board said, "Fine-tuning, developing and enriching the format of the three previous Conferences, has assisted with the Editorial Board's goal to create a lively animated challenging Conference Programme, with diverse views and opinions about theatres and their technology.

"As

Germany - When a venue with multiple spaces needs to update its audio system, nowadays a networked solution considerably enhances the usefulness and flexibility of the entire building. This is exactly what has happened in the German city of Velbert, where a Dante-based Yamaha/Nexo system has recently been installed.

Renowned for its long history of lock manufacturing, Velbert is located at the centre of Germany's industrial heartland, surrounded by the cities of Bochum, Dortmund, Duisberg, Dusseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal. Built in 1979, Forum Niederberg is the city's main venue for entertainment and business gatherings. With a theatre and congress hall adjacent to each other, the venue hosts live music, drama, comedy, dance, conferences, exhibitions, other corporate events and private parties.

By last year, Forum Niederberg's old, mainly analogue audio system was in serious ne

UK - As one of the UK's major trade distributors of professional audio, lighting, video and special effects, Leighton Buzzard-based Leisuretec invests considerable time in training, seminars, product demonstrations and meetings with both clients and suppliers. The company has recently opened the TecZone, a new in-house space to facilitate all these and more, with Yamaha's CIS series chosen for its 7.1 surround system.

The TecZone is a flexible, multi-purpose facility, designed so that seating and desks can be easily changed to facilitate different layouts, or removed completely for maximum floor area.

"We had a very good idea of what we wanted. Our designer came back with a few options which, after a couple of revisions, became the final specification of the room design, layout and so on," says Leisuretec managing director Cliff Dounting.

Leisuretec then worked clo

South Africa - DWR Distribution is to host an Avolites User Training Course for operators of Titan One, Titan Mobile and Tiger Touch consoles.

The three day course, from beginners to advanced training, will be presented by Nick Britz from DWR.

The dates are: Johannesburg (6 - 8 May), DWR, Block C, Unit 1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew; Durban (13 - 15 May), Vineyard Church, 22 Salisbury Road, Durban, and Cape Town (20 - 22 May) DWR, Unit 74D, Platinum Junction Business Park, Marconi Beam, Milnerton, Cape Town.

Delegates are requested to bring their own console and a laptop. The cost is R2250.00 - delegates will be requested to pay a 50% deposit to secure their booking.

www.dwrdistribution.co.za

(Jim Evans)

USA - With more and more houses of worship incorporating contemporary style services into their worship programmes as a means of engaging youth, the ability of the sound reinforcement system to deliver a high level of speech intelligibility and music reproduction becomes increasingly important.

If the congregation can't understand what's being said or relate to the music, it's very difficult to engage them. That's why Mountain Springs Church in Colorado Springs recently upgraded their sound system - drawing upon loudspeakers from the Convert series catalogue of Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.

Colorado Springs, CO-based Sight and Sound Technologies was contracted to design and deploy the church's new sound system. Kris Johnson, the company's C.O.O. was involved in all aspects of the project. He discussed the challenges of the job and his reason for deploying D.A.S. Audio's Convert 15

Germany - Sommer Cable is adding new family members in their popular Sysboxx product line. The Sysboxx system is one of the most widespread modular housing systems in the installation and entertainment sector and already in use in a great many installations and on many of the world's stages. The free scalability in all three dimensions opens up virtually endless combination options.

Over 50 different sheet steel modules for various connectors and many connector modules with quick connection technology for AF, AES/EBU, DMX and network signals may be used in all models of the line.

"No more drilling or milling, no more expensive custom-made articles, never again long and unpredictable delivery times - these are the customer statements on our Sysboxx system", says Peter Rieck, key account & distribution manager with Sommer Cable. "And the user can also draw on a co

USA - Combining technology from Elation Professional's successful Platinum and Rayzor series of professional moving heads comes the Rayzor Beam 2R, a small and speedy beam luminaire with an intense and extremely narrow long-throw beam for spectacular mid-air looks and effects.

The Rayzor Beam 2R houses the powerful yet efficient 132W Platinum 2R lamp with high precision reflector for a bright, compact and efficient light beam. Its sharp and ultra-narrow 3-degree beam is powerful enough to work alongside larger fixtures and won't get lost in ambient lighting from LED backdrops.

Capable of projecting 49,470 Lux @ 42.9' (15m), light output is comparable to an MSD lamp of 300W for an energy savings of more than 50%. Average lamp life is 6,000 hours in an energy efficient package that consumes a maximum of 210W.

The Rayzor Beam 2R punches out a variety of colours and effects usin

UK - Panasonic has announced the PT-EZ580 Series of 5,000 to 6,200 lumens, exchangeable lens LCD projectors.

Sharing many common features with its brighter big brother the EZ770 Series, including DIGITAL LINK single cable solution, a common lens platform and a low maintenance ECO filter, the PT-EZ580 series delivers bright, flexible, and economical projection to mid-sized classrooms and corporate boardrooms.

Consisting of five models, the PT-EZ580 (WUXGA, 5,400lm), PT-EW640 (WXGA, 5800lm), PT-EX610 (XGA, 6,200lm), PT-EW540 (WXGA, 5,000lm) and PT-EX510 (XGA, 5,300lm), the projectors have been designed with quiet operation in mind, to avoid any disturbing noise in lectures and meetings. WUXGA resolution and 5,000:1 high contrast ratio give the PT-EZ580 high picture quality.

Tom Gibson, marketing manager at Panasonic, said, "Easy maintenance and low total cost of ownership

USA - When Pollstar announced the ticket sales for the first quarter of 2014, the number one most attended concert wasn't a pop star or a rock god, but instead a tour that makes ministry its main focus. The Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, or Winter Jam as it is popularly known, just capped off its most successful year ever, with more attendees than ever before and included performances by NewSong, Newsboys, Lecrae, Tenth Avenue North, Thousand Foot Krutch and Plumb.

Bandit Lites worked with production manager and lighting designer Jerry Holcomb to illuminate the event.

"I tried to create an in the round end stage design, trying to leave as much line if sight as possible," explained Holcomb. "I used one 60ft diameter circle truss, but I broke it into several sections and flew them at different heights. Because all the trusses were covered in LED strips on both the f

UK / USA - Raising money for industry charities both sides of the Atlantic, By Design Day returns this year supported by a galaxy of well-known champions.

Neil Austin; Gregg Barnes; Ken Billington; Paule Constable; Rick Fisher; Wendall Harrington; Howard Harrison; Don Holder; David Korins; Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen; Ken Posner; Jennifer Tipton; and Hugh Vanstone have all put their name behind the one day in the year when our industry gets together to raise money for Light Relief in the UK and Behind The Scenes in North America.

To date Light Relief has awarded more than £60,000 in grants to help lighting professionals and their families, while Behind the Scenes has issued over $450,000 in grants to professionals working in all disciplines. And calls for our assistance are increasing on a daily basis. Without your support, our work would not be possible.

By Design Da

South Africa - A Robe MiniMe starred alongside Scrooge, played by Marc Lottering, in Lara Foot's adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol held at the Baxter Theatre, which forms part of the University of Cape Town.

On a visit to Johannesburg, Patrick Curtis, production manager at the Baxter Theatre Centre, enquired about a fixture that would assist him to create a phantom effect. "I asked Rob Izzett from DWR Distribution what I could use to project a ghost-like image that could move around the set," explained Curtis. "He suggested the MiniMe which at that stage had not yet arrived in South Africa."

Curtis felt this was a very well-priced moving head projector compared to the larger, more powerful units already in the Robe armoury.

The unit arrived days before the set-up, and with the assistance of Gerda and Philip Kruger, lighting designer

UK - Pioneer is set to showcase its impressive range of professional audio speakers at this year's PLASA Focus in Leeds.

Since launching last summer, word has been spreading about the new range of speakers from Pioneer that have been designed for nightclubs. The XY series will be on demonstration on the Pioneer stand along with experts to talk through what makes the range along with the GS-WAVE series such exciting systems.

Currently installed various Ibiza hot spots including legendary nightclub Booom!, Pikes, KM5 and the Ushuaia Tower, the range has been designed specifically to get the best sound possible on the dance floor.

To create the ultimate club sound system, Pioneer partnered with Gary Stewart of Gary Stewart Audio (GSA), whose sound systems have roused clubbers in the world's most iconic venues, including Singapore's Zouk and Club Vertigo in Costa Rica. The team

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