USA - On Wednesday 13 May 2015 at the Cinespace Chicago Film Studios Ballroom on the west side of downtown Chicago, DPA Microphones, Lectrosonics and Sound Devices will host the Sound Summit, Chicago (www.thesoundsummit.org/chicago), the second of many being planned throughout the US as an informal mixing and discussion event for the audio community.

These three manufacturers are on the cutting edge of professional location audio capture, with leading products commonly used in the field, including DPA's d:screet 4061 and 4071 Miniature Microphones, d:screet Necklace Microphone and d:dicate 4017B Shotgun Microphone; Lectrosonics' new L Series units, SSM 'Super Slight' micro transmitter and SR Series receivers with SuperSlot compatibility; Sound Devices 688 Field Production Mixer wi

Australia - The original Australian Outback Spectacular was the first show of its kind in Australia and the newest production High Country Legends takes the exciting evening dinner show to a new level.

In the new multi-million dollar production, guests experience a captivating journey to the snow peaked mountains of the high country where enchanted whispers and legendary yarns come alive.

"High Country Legends will be the most breathtaking arena show ever produced under the Australian Outback Spectacular roof," says Shane Phillips, Australian Outback Spectacular general manager. "The bravery, beauty and courage of the greatest Australian stories never told are brought to life through the biggest display of special effects ever implemented."

With lighting upgrades to be made, Clint Dulieu, lighting and technology supervisor for Village Roadshow Theme Parks

UK - Specialist widescreen projection was one of several video elements supplied by west Midlands based Central Presentations Ltd. (CPL) to show producers Inteva Productions for an annual sales conference staged at Telford International Centre.

It was the eighth year that CPL has worked on this impressive event for utility supplier Telecom Plus which has grown year-on-year and now accommodates over 8000 guests across two days. CPL also supplied HD cameras / PPU and crew to the main auditorium / plenary sessions, with Lee Gruszeckyj leading the team.

As in previous years, they worked closely with Inteva and their production manager Jeff Whiteley who imagined the overall design concept and stage layout.

The event has expanded along with the business and commercial success of Telecom Plus, and with that, the associated production values have also steadily increased. This year's

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LD Systems ICOA PRO series – high-performance coaxial PA speakers for professional demands

The popular ICOA PA systems have been further developed to include two active full-range coaxial speakers – ICOA PRO 12 A and ICOA PRO 15 A – as well as the active 21″ bass-reflex PA subwoofer ICOA PRO SUB 21 A. With its professional features and high output power, the ICOA PRO series is aimed at ambitious bands, musicians and DJs as well as hire companies and commercial customers looking for a compact, robust and powerful PA sound system. The ICOA PRO series is rounded off with modern connection and control options via Bluetooth 5.1 and the specially developed ICOA PRO app, for use on smartphones and tablets.

ld-systems.com/icoapro

Germany - Over 40 Elation Professional DW Fresnel white light LED fixtures along with 170 Elation Opti Tri White LED PAR lights were used by electronica event technologies GmbH to illuminate bathroom furnishings company Duravit's booth at ISH 2015, the world's biggest showcase for innovative bathroom design and technology.

electronica event technologies GmbH, a lighting and technical services company based in Hofheim near Frankfurt, has partnered with Duravit for some time, having provided light, sound and video for Duravit trade show booths worldwide since 2000. This was the first time however that they have incorporated Elation lighting into the booth design.

ISH 2015 was held at Messe Frankfurt and ran from 10-14 March. Lighting design for the Duravit booth was by Peter Völker of electronica event technologies GmbH, who tested several fixtures in a shootout in their compan

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ETC Halcyon Silent

High End Systems Halcyon Silent builds on ETC’s legacy of fanless automated fixtures by incorporating features from the highly sought-after Halcyon family. Halcyon Silent perfectly balances silent operation with brilliant output of 18,400 lumens and high-impact features. 

For more information visit us at www.etcconnect.com

USA - All eyes were on the Worldwide Stage at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and why not? With a superstar studded line-up of the crème de la crème of the EDM world performing, plus a surprise two-song appearance by Ariana Grande, the thousands of fans at the Worldwide Stage pavilion were transfixed by the scene on stage. This year, the awestruck crowd did more than look at the stage, they had their collective vision funnelled into it, thanks to a commanding lighting and truss design by Steve Lieberman of SJ Lighting.

Lieberman's design concept was developed around a massive double winged truss structure that resembled an arched bridge. The abutment at one end of this bridge started at the edge of the concert pavilion; the other end was anchored behind the stage itself. This end of the bridge ran across the entire 60ft width of the stage.

A line of 12 intense Nexus Aw 7x

USA - Martin Professional will be hosting exclusive open house events in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Martin will be showcasing both its recent and classic lighting products for the entertainment and installation markets. Available for demonstration will be Martin's MAC Quantum series, MAC Viper series, and RUSH by Martin series as well as Martin's creative LED video solutions, lighting consoles, and haze/smoke machines.

Lighting and staging professionals from around the United States are cordially invited to attend any of the following events (please RSVP in advance):

Chicago, 7-8 April, Four Points by Sheraton O-Hare Airport; New York, 23-24 April, New World Stages (Stage 1); Los Angeles, 6-7 May, Swing House Studios.

Guests are encouraged to stop by the events at any time during open hours. Complementary food and drinks will be available throughout the day.

(Jim

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Create new traditions – Cameo P6 - High Output Full-Spectrum Ellipsoidal

Cameo's P6 is a future-proof LED profiler with a powerful 600 W RGBACL engine and 16,000 lumens. It’s an energy-efficient replacement for 2.5 kW halogen profile lights in theatres and venues. With excellent light quality and natural colour rendering, it fits perfectly in theatres, musicals, TV studios, congresses, and live events.

With an LED life of 50,000 hours and low power use, the P6 cuts energy costs and supports the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ goals for climate neutrality by 2050. It also meets updated eco-design rules for lighting.

www.cameolight.com/p6profile

USA - WrestleMania 31 was held on 29 March at the new Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Billed as the "Grandest Stage of Them All" WWE employs the latest entertainment technology to produce its annual WrestleMania event.

Syncrolite has a long history with WWE and the WrestleMania event. This year lighting designer Jason Robinson chose to place 62 XL and 42 SXL fixtures in his rig. Programming the show for him was Troy Eckerman. Both are very familiar with the Syncrolite product and know well that the Syncrolite tag line - "the brightest lights for the biggest nights" - was most appropriate for this annual pinnacle of professional wrestling.

TJ Benton was the Syncrolite crew chief responsible for ensuring that the 104 fixtures spread across the stadium functioned perfectly during the live pay-per-view show that was witnessed by the WWE's largest aud

USA - Avolites will appear on the popular US TV series World's Greatest!... next week after having been recently selected and filmed to appear on the show by its creators, How2Media.

Avolites, which works with New York-based Group One as its exclusive US distribution partner for lighting, was chosen for the show thanks to its innovative Titan and Ai range of lighting and video control products.

"Avolites was a true pioneer in the field of portable lighting control systems, founded in 1978 and soon providing to the likes of the Rolling Stones, Rush, and Queen. The Avolites Titan operating system is now the world's favourite lighting control interface with more than 300,000 specialist users, and Avolites 'Ai' video control interface produced the world's largest landscape video surface at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and the world's largest hologram effect in Madis

Japan - For two nights in October 2014 one of the largest projection mapping events in the history of Japan was realised, using the famous Kanazawa Castle in Ishikawa Prefecture as the event's historic backdrop. "The content of the projection mapping was conceived to be an enchanting digital art fantasy, combining sound and light," say organisers.

The event was part of the celebrations surrounding the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train service, which goes all the way to Kanazawa, as of March of this year.

The creative agency responsible for bringing it all together was Drawing and Manual. Creative director Seiichi Hishikawa and Art Director Yutaka Obara were able to draw on the talent of a large crew of inspired artists and craftsmen from a great number of different companies, including CENDO Inc., Invisible Designs Lab, Diorama and Radix Corporation a

UK - There's another tool in the Source Four LED toolbox. ETC is announcing a new optic, the Source Four LED Fresnel adapter, which attaches to the front end of a Source Four LED Series 2 or Series 1 light engine, turning it into a superior washlight.

The Source Four LED fresnel adapter's highly tuned optics help create smooth light with soft edges. Its light blends evenly and uniformly from fixture to fixture. And it allows barn-dooring and the addition of 7.5-inch accessories, so even the most discerning designer can sculpt the light to the right specifications.

Because the Source Four LED light engines benefit from the extensive colour-mixing research ETC has done, the Source Four LED Fresnel can output tuneable white light that flawlessly illuminates people or objects, or the most expansive range of bold colour possible from an LED source.

"The Source Four LED Fresn

Brazil - As of 1 April, Clay Paky products will be distributed in Brazil by HPL. A company with a firm market reputation, HPL is a leader in the lighting, audio and professional show product distribution sector. Established in 2000, the company has always pursued and distinguished itself for providing quality service in addition to tailor-made customer support.

HPL has always strived to provide its customers with the latest lighting and audio equipment line. Various European brands are already included amongst those distributed on the Brazilian market by HPL, also thanks to its capillary domestic coverage with numerous dealers spread throughout the country.

Francesco Romagnoli, area manager for the Americas and Adalberto Silva, HPL owner, reached the agreement after reciprocally visiting each other's headquarters. Francesco Romagnoli stated, "We were able to personally ob

Argentina - Bailando por un Sueno (Dancing For a Dream), a segment inside the wider Showmatch programme on El Trece (Channel 13), is one of the most popular reality / talent series on Argentinian TV.

For the latest series, lighting designers Pablo Leguizamon AKA 'La Nutria' and Esteban Leguizamon specified Robe Robin Pointes to help capture the action.

The series ran its ninth season in 2014, produced by Ideas del Sur, it was recorded in Romina Yan Studio in downtown Buenos Aires in front of a very enthusiastic live audience of 500. Non celebrity amateur dance 'dreamers' are paired with celebrities and have to demonstrate their talents in various dances, which have included K-POP and Aquadance. In addition to their dancefloor skills they also have a chance to interest viewers and the cameras with various extra-curricular activities of their choice. This is a rand

Keeping Music Live - Small music venues are "operating under significant pressures, both financial and regulatory", a new report has found. The report, called Understanding Small Music Venues, also highlights concerns over the negative public perception of small venues. It has been created by the Music Venue Trust, which was established in 2014 to protect and support independent music venues in the UK.

Chief executive of the MVT Mark Davyd said that the research would contribute to the MVT's understanding of "what we can do to ensure we act together to protect, secure and improve the UK's grassroots music venues". In total, 109 venues across the UK responded to a survey as part of the research, of which almost 80% were dedicated music venues. The report said that small music venues were suffering from a negative image as well as from financial pressure

UK - When the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End opened in December 1905, Las Vegas was only six months old, the Wright Brothers had just made the first aeroplane flight lasting more than half an hour and Albert Einstein had just proposed that E =MC2.

Staging a theatrical production weighing in excess of 12 tonnes, with a set of automated sliders that weigh two tonnes alone, was not envisaged by William Sprague when he designed the moderately sized Georgian style theatre, which is now a Grade II listed building.

Turn the clock forward by 109 years and this was exactly the challenge that faced Unusual Rigging when they were brought on board by Matt Towell, production manager behind the latest West End hit Beautiful - The Carol King Musical, to figure out how to hang 12,813kg over stage from the original timber roof structure designed to take half that load.

Unusual's

UK - Aurora Lighting Hire has been working once again with award winning lighting director Chris Rigby on the latest series of Alan Carr's Chatty Man.

Now in its 14th season, the show has gained a host of industry accolades including wins at the National Television Awards and BAFTA. Continuing these winning ways, LD Chris was also recently honoured by the Royal Television Society with a Craft and Design Award for his work on the show.

For this latest season, recorded in front of a live audience at the ITV London Studios, Aurora provided an extensive LED package for ambience across the interview area. A selection of floor mounted Pulsar Chromabatten 300 and Chromastrip X3s light up the set pieces with additional wash added to the set flats using Martin Aura Wash units hung above.

Aurora also armed Chris with a more 'rock and roll' selection of fixtures including Martin

USA - Barry Manilow is in the midst of a memorable and extensive 'Farewell' US tour for which creative director Seth Jackson specified 12 x Robe BMFL Spots as part of an elegant and stylish design to help ensure the legendary artist exits an incredible performance career on a high note.

Manilow, one of the most prolific and successful singer/songwriters and producers is also celebrating 40 years at the top in show business.

Seth has enjoyed a long-standing working relationship with the artist dating back to 1998 when he started as a 'fill-in guy'. Over that remarkable 27 years, he's also taken on the lighting, set and production designer roles, and has enjoyed the various challenges of creating fresh and invigorating performance environments each time.

Knowing the tour was approaching, Seth 'auditioned' 10 x BMFL Spots during the Austin City Limits Music Festival towards the

UK - Central Hall Westminster has appointed White Light as its new production service partner following a competitive tender. The new contract will commence on 1 July 2015, following a three month transition period.

Central Hall Westminster (CHW) is central London's largest purpose built conference centre, combining historical elegance with cutting-edge technical capabilities. The Edwardian landmark building situated adjacent to Westminster Abbey has engaged high profile conferences, special events and local business meetings since 1912. The architectural features of the building include the iconic dome, spacious entrance foyers and hallways, marble flooring and a sweeping grand staircase, the design of which is based on the Paris Opera House.

Central Hall Westminster offers 22 event spaces, including The Great Hall which seats up to 2,200 delegates and features Europe's large

Germany - Dutch audio innovators Alcons Audio will be showing its latest pro-ribbon sound systems at Prolight+Sound 2015, and demonstrating new evolutionary audio solutions.

Alcons Audio is exhibiting on stand G60, Hall 8.0 and will be presenting her latest audio innovations, based around the company's patented Pro-Ribbon technology and its ongoing pursuit of audio perfection.

Highlight of the show is the presentation of two new pro-ribbon line-array systems.

The LR28 larger-format line-array is the result of five years of development, with the last two years dedicated to beta-testing for the "proof of concept". Together with continued extensive R&D, which has led to another two patents pending on the already four existing patents, the valuable user-input of world's top engineers has led to the final design of the LR28. This flagship system marks an important advan

China - Software developer Nemetschek Vectorworks has released the Chinese-language version of the Vectorworks 2015 line of design software, including Vectorworks Designer, Architect, Landmark, Spotlight, Fundamentals and Renderworks.

The Vectorworks 2015 software contains more than 100 updates and new features in the areas of architecture, BIM, urban planning and entertainment design. In previous versions, the power of 64-bit was only available in the platform's photorealistic rendering engine, Renderworks, but has now been integrated throughout the entire Vectorworks 2015 product line, providing designers with the ability to handle larger projects, as well as better performance and stability. In addition, designers will observe a revolutionary graphical experience from advances made to the Vectorworks Graphics Module (VGM).

"Updates for the 2015 Vectorworks software hav

USA - The American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) Annual Meeting for 2015 was held 21 March, 2015 at the Duke Energy Centre in Cincinnati, Ohio in conjunction with the USITT meeting. At this meeting a new Board of Directors and officers were elected as well as the acceptance of a new ASTC full member.

The Board of Directors is the governing body of ASTC and is elected by members. The board members elect ASTC officers from the current board. Peter Rosenbaum will now serve as ASTC President with Chip Ulich serving as Vice President. Returning as Secretary/CFO is R. Duane Wilson. These officers also serve as board members with the addition of directors Scott Crossfield, Ed Kaye, Mike McMackin, and Peter Scheu.

ASTC has also announced that D. Andrew Gibbs has been admitted into membership after having demonstrated a broad range of capabilities and experience necessary to fu

Germany - ArKaos PROwill exhibit at Prolight+Sound, Frankfurt in Hall 11.0 Stand A49 and will introduce and demonstrate the latest version of its successful professional MediaMaster software.

MediaMaster 4.2 now adds an integrated cue player and 4K support to the many tools already offered by this ever-popular software.

The new Cue Player is an important addition for users who require reliable, accurate playback of visual sequences, for example, on shows or installations requiring repeated automated playback. The Cue Player is built on top of MediaMaster's Theater Mode interface and can also be driven by Time Code as required. MediaMaster 4.2 is available as a free upgrade to MediaMaster 3.x or 4.x

ArKaos PRO's complete range of media servers will be exhibited. Comprising the Stage, Studio and Stadium servers, this range offers up to two-, four- and six-outputs respectively

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