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Lab.gruppen updates CAFÉ software

CAFÉ Coach is accessible both via the Lab.gruppen website (www.labgruppen.com) and the Lab.gruppen channel on YouTube

Details: 14 March 2016

Sweded - Lab.gruppen has announced the release of version 1.2.0 of CAFÉ (Configuring Amplifiers For the Environment), incorporating new features for system design and commissioning of the company's PLM+ and D Series amplifier platforms using either Windows or Mac computers.

Ease of use has been enhanced with added help sections at the top of each view together with tool tips for all fields. Also, the user interface now supports use of imperial units on cable lengths and in other parameters.

CAFÉ's ESP (Equipment Specification Prediction) feature, which helps system designers move from specified loudspeakers to an optimal selection of amplifiers throughout the system, has been greatly improved with this second generation release. The Automap algorithm in ESP has bee

The ACL 360 BAR – one of five in the new series

Elation debuts energy-efficient ACL Series

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - With the new ACL Series, Elation Professional has taken the intensity of a tight ACL beam and repackaged it in a versatile line of Advanced Collimator Lens effects," perfect for adding those eye-catching ACL beam looks to any stage, show or venue". Five models are available - ACL PAR 200, ACL BAR, ACL Curtain, ACL 360 BAR and ACL 360 Matrix.

The ACL Series features a new highly-advanced collimator lens optic, the largest single multi-chip LED lens optic to date at the same size of a PAR 20 lamp. Using the latest high-output RGBW 15W multi-chip LED, its wide optical design emits a laser-like yet dense homogenized 4-degree colour-changing beam from each lens.

Each unit in the series offers individual pixel control for greater design options along with built-in effect / chase macros for quick programming when needed. Strobe effects and full-range dimming with dimm

The JEM ZRs feature variable output control for more subtle effects and are fully up-to-date with digital remote, DMX and RDM

Martin Professional launches JEM ZR Series at ABTT

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Martin Professional introduced its new JEM ZR fog machines at the 2015 ABTT Theatre Show.

JEM ZR is a family of powerful fog machines designed to "deliver superior and uninterrupted performance in demanding professional applications". Equipped with 1,150-2,000 W heat exchangers they deliver large amounts of fog and excessive peak output, ideal for venues of all sizes in both install and rental markets.

The JEM ZRs feature variable output control for more subtle effects and are fully up-to-date with digital remote, DMX and RDM.

The entire JEM ZR range is compatible with a wide range of JEM Pro fog fluids. As machines designed and built to last, the JEM ZRs will continue to perform with great output and low consumption.

"Over the past two years we've successfully renewed our professional range or water-based hazers, including the CO2 driven JEM Ready 365

https://www.claypaky.it/products/ultimo-hybrid/

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.

Light Falls traces Einstein's electrifying journey to the conception of his theory (photo: World Science Festival 2015/Greg Kessler)

Holographic effects augment Einstein's Theory of Relativity

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Holo-Gauze, the 3D display solution for hologram effects, has been utilised as part of the key performance presentation on the opening day of the eighth annual World Science Festival in New York. Light Falls: Space, Time & An Obsession of Einstein extensively featured Holo-Gauze to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Einstein's discovery of the general theory of relativity.

World Science Festival took place 27-31 May at venues throughout New York City. Designed by 59 Productions, Light Falls combined Holo-Gauze holographic effects animation and dramatic portrayals to trace Einstein's electrifying journey to the conception of his theory. World Science Festival founder Dr Brian Greene and an ensemble cast saw their dramatic performances enhanced by Holo-Gauze.

"It was an honour to be able to contribute to the eighth World Science Festival," says Holo

Caption Gil Densham: “It is a product built out of passion from a lot of dedicated people”

BlackTrax nears 1,500-event milestone

Details: 14 March 2016

Canada - CAST has announced that its multi-award winning BlackTrax real-time motion tracking solution has been deployed in 1,485 plus shows since late 2013.

Adding to its international presence, BlackTrax has a growing ecosystem of partners that benefit from easy on-site training and support, enabling them to push the boundaries of what can be achieved for their clients. Additional technology partners include: Mark Roberts Motion Control; AI Media Servers; Jurlights, Netherlands; The Unit, Netherlands; Production Technology LLC, Protec, Dubai; Prolight, Poland; DWP Live, Tennessee; and, Spirit Events in Toronto, with many more in the pipeline.

"It's going to be terrific to see our BlackTrax system reach this milestone," says Gil Densham from CAST. "It is a product built out of passion from a lot of dedicated people and it has proven to be an essential resource f

Rabbit Creek has always be receptive to new opportunities

Alaska's Rabbit Creek church chooses Chauvet

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - New opportunities often come when you are expecting something else. Such was the case with Rabbit Creek Community Church. A rapidly growing house of worship in the southern section of Anchorage, Rabbit Creek was looking to upgrade its audio system as part of an effort to enhance its increasingly popular video streamed services. With this in mind, its leaders called Stark Raving Solutions, a Kansas City firm well known for serving the audio, video, lighting and staging needs of churches.

The Stark Raving Solutions team provided Rabbit Creek with an audio system that enhanced the phonetics of its live and broadcast services. However, before the Stark Raving team packed and headed back to Kansas City, they suggested a small addition to the project that would have a big impact on the quality of the church's services. Drawing on their experience lighting other houses of worship

Liseberg Ice Show (photo: Johannes Rosell)

Robe takes a ride at Liseberg

Details: 14 March 2016

Sweden - Liseberg - with its giant wooden tracked 'Balder' roller-coaster that dominates Gothenburg's skyline - is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia, attracting around 3m visitors a year.

In addition to all the rides, there are four live stages, and the Park produces around 800 events a year in its two seasons - from April to September and November / December, including an award-winning ice show. Lighting for all these is overseen, co-ordinated, and for the most part also designed by Rickard Broman and Jenny Björklund, who are both big fans of Robe products.

Liseberg's main stage can accommodate up to 20,000 people and frequently hosts concerts by international touring artists. Their small stage has capacity for an audience of around 1750, and then there is the Children's Theatre and the open-air dance court, which is used for traditional - rather than ED

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

Record turnover at Saville Audio Visual

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - AV systems integrator Saville Audio Visual has announced a set of record breaking results for 2014, with turnover increasing 12% to top £40m for the first time in the company's long history.

Group finance director Colin Nixey said, "Our major emphasis has been a planned strategy for growth alongside improvements in business efficiency. The most pleasing aspect is that both of the company's key trading arms have played a major part in this success.

"With 14% growth, the AV Systems division has improved its share of the growing, competitive audio visual and unified communications installation market in the UK. This has been strongly supported by a 10% growth in turnover for our Conference & Live Events division, winning new business nationally and internationally."

The company has recently demonstrated its confidence in the conference industry with an

Songsong Town incorporates a host of attractions alongside relaxation areas, educational spaces, catering and entertainment

Symetrix adds audio edge to leading Chinese theme park

Details: 14 March 2016

China - Flexibility and reliability topped the list of requirements when systems supply and integration specialist EZPro International was engaged to design an advanced audio processing system for a popular indoor children's theme park in China's Heilongjiang Province. Located in Lesong Plaza in Harbin, Songsong Town was developed by Thinkwell Group and incorporates a host of attractions alongside relaxation areas, educational spaces, catering and entertainment.

A long-time Symetrix DSP user, EZPro was aware that products from the highly scalable SymNet range would be able to handle audio processing duties across two expansive floors. Taking advantage of the SymNet devices' ability to support robust, Audinate Dante media networking, the resulting design covers no fewer than 11 sound reinforcement zones and specific tasks including: performances on two compact stages; background

White Light has a long history of working at the Royal Courts of Justice (photo: Greg Allen)

End of an era for White Light at Royal Courts of Justice

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - For over a decade, the Royal Courts of Justice have built a reputation as a Central London venue which provides historic spaces for corporate hire and external events. Although this is a service they have provided since 2000, the Courts announced last year that they would no longer be offering their spaces for such occasions. As a result, on 6 June, when White Light supplied the lighting and sound equipment on a corporate dinner organised by the TFI Group, it would be doing so for the last ever corporate event held at the venue.

White Light has a long history of working at the Royal Courts of Justice. In 2007, Seasoned Events was awarded the events management and catering contract at the venue and, following this appointment, developed a close working relationship with White Light; regularly using the complete production solution specialist for a series of events. White Lig

Chris Young on the road with Bandit Lites

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Grammy nominated country singer Chris Young is on the road, bringing his show winning sounds to fans around the country with lighting provided by Bandit Lites.

Production manager and lighting director Mike Stanley worked with lighting designer Chris Lisle to create a rig that kept the day-to-day building at a minimum, with nine main sections locking together to create a stunning visual array of lights and video. Bandit supplied the lighting package, which includes Robe Pointes, Bandit 5x5s, and Martin MAC Auras.

"Auras were the perfect combo of wash and eye candy, along with the great zoom feature to get punchy beams," shared Stanley. "There are also a good mix of Chauvet strobes, as well as Colorado battens that provide a glow through the catwalk of the set and underneath the risers. We've also got a line of Colorado's downstage in front of the band, whic

The Cloud DCM-1 provides contractors with ‘user-friendly' analogue signal paths but with the added flexibility of digital control

Marriott Leeds upgrades with Definition and Cloud

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Definition Audio Visual has completed an audio installation at the Marriott Hotel, Trevelyan Square, Leeds to upgrade existing audio-visual equipment in the hotel ballroom. The upgrade includes localised control and localised input options for the installed audio system in the main ballroom in addition to a centralised system located in the control room.

The ballroom at the Marriott Hotel is a multi-function event room at the hotel which can be used as a single room or divided into three separate rooms, Ambler 1, Ambler 2 and Ambler 3 with the use of partitions. The division of the room requires the ability to treat the rooms as three separate, one single or any combination of audio zones, both as far as audio control and localised inputs of audio sources and radio microphones are concerned, to maximise the flexibility of the function room for the hotel.

Mark Blackwell of

Meet the Future - Event Technology Challenged

White Light meets the future in Westminster

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - Meet the Future - Event Technology Challenged took place on 9 June at Central Hall Westminster. Now in its second year, this event offered those in attendance the chance to experience new event technology as well as engage with influential people in the events industry. It encouraged organisers to think about the growth of modern-day technology and how this will ultimately shape the future of events. White Light not only acted as one of the sponsors for this year but also provided all of the production elements for the conference.

With 350 senior event organisers in attendance, Meet the Future - Event Technology Challenged featured keynote speakers from across the globe. The first, Dr Beau Lotto, a globally renowned neuroscientist, looked at augmented reality and how the crossing of the virtual world into reality is becoming increasingly popular in the world o

Bob McCarthy is a leading educator in sound system measurement and tuning

Meyer Sound's McCarthy to deliver AES keynote speech

Details: 14 March 2016

Canada - The AES has announced Meyer Sound's director of system optimization, Bob McCarthy, as the keynote speaker for the 59th International AES Conference at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, taking place July 15-17, 2015, with an emphasis on sound reinforcement engineering and technology.

Known as an international authority on sound system design and optimization, McCarthy is also an educator and published author. His keynote speech, Sound Systems Tuning and Optimization Made Simple and Affordable, will take place on the first day of the Conference, Wednesday, 15 July at 2:00 PM.

McCarthy has been a pivotal figure in the development of all three generations of Meyer's Source Independent Measurement system (SIM) and a leading educator in sound system measurement and tuning. McCarthy's book, Sound Systems: Design and Optimization (Focal Press), is considere

T-PRO is designed to fulfil specific requirements for ever more compact high powered speaker cabinets

Pascal introduces T-PRO Series amplifier modules

Details: 14 March 2016

Denmark - Pascal has announced the launch of its new T-PRO Series amplifier modules, a dedicated design - optimized for ultra-compact high SPL integrated power applications - including asymmetrically rated 2-way power channels.

T-PRO is designed to fulfil specific requirements for ever more compact high powered speaker cabinets, and for integration within low profile applications such as sub bass cabinets and other compact amplifier components. The series boasts a unique feature set and ultra-compact form factor, relative to its power ratings.

The T-PRO2's 500 W + 150 W two channel asymmetrical power rating is configured for high performance 2-way loudspeakers in this power range. While, at just 42 mm high, the 500 W single channel T-PRO1 is intended for applications where a low assembly profile is required or preferred, such as compact hi-fi amplifiers or other AV system comp

The new recording/editing studios use two complete RAVENNA networked systems with two Horus units

Polish orchestral studios upgrade with Merging systems

Details: 14 March 2016

Poland - The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra has recently moved into new premises in Katowice. The NOSPR originally purchased Pyramix with a Sphynx DSD converter in 2005. A decision was made in 2011 to continue with Pyramix despite pressures to change. The impressive new building provided the perfect opportunity to increase the investment in Merging equipment by adding Horus units and more Pyramix units. Furthermore, to increase the productivity, two 8 fader Smart AV Tango 2 units were added to the installation.

The new recording/editing studios use two complete RAVENNA networked systems with two Horus units fitted with 32 inputs with AD8DP cards and 16 analogue outputs with DA8P - one installed in a server room and the second in a mobile rack for local and outside recordings. Two Pyramix MassCore 128 DAWs for PCM as well as DSD/DXD sessions, two Tango 2 controllers and

The Tabernacle of Praise has switched from incandescent to LED fixtures

Chauvet energizes Georgia mega church

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Like all worshippers at the Tabernacle of Praise, members of the church's choir have been thrilled with the warm rich colours and engaging looks that the new all-LED lighting system from Chauvet Professional has brought to their services. Going beyond visual aesthetics, however, choir members have an added reason to celebrate, as the switch from incandescent to LED fixtures has greatly increased their comfort level.

"It's amazing how the temperature on the stage has been lowered, especially in the choir loft, which sits in the back of the stage," said Brad Lyons, systems advisor for dB Audio & Video, which installed the LED system. "Recently when I was at the church, I had one choir member come up to me and ask if we installed a new air conditioning system! That's how dramatically different it feels on the stage, not only for the choir members, but for the p

Winners of the ABTT 2015 Engineering Product of the Year Theatre Award Patrick Santini, CEO ModTruss and David Edelstein, MD Triple E, with ABTT chairman Louise Jeffreys (photo: Sam Shrimpton)

ABTT 2015 Annual Theatre Awards

Details: 14 March 2016

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians 2015 Theatre Awards took place on 24 June alongside the Stage Management Association's National Awards, after the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show in its new London home, Alexandra Palace.

The experienced jury for the ABTT Awards, comprising of working practitioners and industry peers, judged nominations meeting the entry criteria that had been previously submitted or which were brought to their attention on the day.

Commenting on the event, ABTT CEO Robin Townley said, "The Awards ceremony held in the Londesborough Room was a great event to round off the first day of the ABTT Theatre Show.

"Held at Alexandra Palace for the first time, the ABTT Theatre Show was very pleased to host the presentation of both the ABTT Theatre Awards and the SMA National Stage Management Awards.

"A great atmosphere in the Lon

TMB is exclusive worldwide distributor of the Solaris LED Mozart

Solaris LED Mozarts sparkle on The Voice

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - For eight seasons of NBC's The Voice, Emmy Award winning lighting designer Oscar Dominguez of Darkfire Lighting Design has created scintillating lighting and sets worthy of tomorrow's superstars. The production designs are a major part of the show's success, and each year Dominquez raises the bar looking for ways to top himself.

Enter Solaris LED Mozart, the compact and versatile pixel-mapping RGBW fixture. Already a "fan" of the Solaris LED Flare and Flare Jr., Dominguez recognized Mozart's versatility and potential for foot lighting, uplighting, eye candy, and many other uses. The Voice now features up to 120 Mozarts in an ongoing succession of unique, creative iterations, week after week.

"Without question Mozart will be in our arsenal going forward," explains Dominguez. "First, the light quality is spectacular; a frosty angelic

Philips Entertainment sponsors Las Vegas university

Details: 14 March 2016

USA - Philips Entertainment has chosen the University of Nevada Las Vegas as a partner in its Educational Outreach and Sponsorship Programme. As part of the sponsorship, Philips Entertainment has donated Philips Vari-Lite VL3015 Spot, VLX Wash and VL770 Spot luminaires, along with Showline SL NITRO 510 LED strobe luminaires and a Philips Strand Lighting NEO lighting control console to UNLV for use in its educational programs and theatrical productions.

"We've dealt with Philips Vari-Lite and Philips Strand Lighting several times in the past so when we were approached about the sponsorship program, we jumped at the opportunity to participate," said Brackley Frayer, chair and executive director of the UNLV Department of Theatre and the Nevada Conservatory Theatre. "This sponsorship truly means a lot to us, but it's not only about the gear, it's also about the suppor

Copa América determines the continental football champions of South America and is staged every four years

Mythos has a ball at Copa América opening ceremony

Details: 14 March 2016

Chile - South America's biggest sporting event, the Copa América international football tournament, has kicked off with a spectacular opening ceremony in host country Chile. The event saw stunning firework displays and musical performances, with an array of Clay Paky Mythos delivering spectacular wash and aerial effects to the proceedings.

Lighting designer Toni Amoros worked alongside choreographer Hansel Cereza to specify 24 of the award-winning Clay Paky luminaire from leading Chilean event production house Producciones Icardi. The company purchased its Mythos stock from distributor Iluminacion Profesional Valook S.A., with one of Valook's senior technical specialists Francisco Yañez covering the ceremony.

"Toni chose the Mythos on account of it being a fantastically multi-purpose fixture," explains Yanez. "He used them to wash the entire field of the