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disguise powers Illuminarium Experiences

Details: 01 July 2021

USA - disguise has been selected among the technology partners for Illuminarium Experiences, an immersive entertainment initiative transporting you to the wildest corners of the world, from one location. The first venue opening on 1 July 2021 in Atlanta will take visitors on African Safari via a multi-sensory journey brought to life with the help of technology, including the latest disguise hardware.
Illuminarium’s immersive venues will transport millions to places they can only dream of by placing them “inside” another world with techniques used in traditional motion picture production and virtual reality. Visitors can experience real-world, filmed content (like a safari) and authentic, re-created worlds in an immersive environment.
Illuminarium has chosen disguis

Showtime At The Drive In (Jeffrey Socha Photography)

Showtime At The Drive In continues with Chauvet

Details: 01 July 2021

USA - Will drive-in concerts fade away now that COVID-19 restrictions are easing? Anyone who automatically responds 'yes' to this question might want to drop by the Frederick Fairgrounds, MD on a weekend night this summer.
There, they’ll find a large drive-in stage featuring the likes of The Disco Biscuits, Goose, Grace Potter, and Umphrey’s McGee, to name a few. It’s all part of Showtime At The Drive In, a series of outdoor shows sponsored by Showtime Sound and Auto Flex Entertainment.
“We began this series last year as a way of bringing our community together through a socially distant movie and concert sets,” says Marc Chauvin, director of technical operations for Showtime Sound. “Based on the feedback we received from fans last year we’ve continued the concept this year.”
Although continuing to operate under state and county guidelin

The team announcement was broadcast via 40 worldwide sports networks

SmartStage makes the cut for Lions tour squad

Details: 01 July 2021

UK - The British and Irish Lions rugby squad taking on reigning World Champions South Africa in an upcoming summer tour was recently announced via live stream, across multiple global broadcast networks. Global integrated marketing agency, CSM Sport & Entertainment produced and directed the full show and appointed technical solutions specialist White Light (WL) to deliver the broadcast services, via their SmartStage XR studio in London.
Working in close collaboration with FRAY Studio, a custom set was created using the Lions’ digital assets and imported into the Unreal Pre-Visualisation tool. This enabled the creative team to see exactly which shots could be achieved and make changes as needed to sponsor logos and other content, in advance of the live show.
WL’s strategic partner SFL captured outside broadcast footage from Cardiff, which included the full-body t

Island in the stream (photo: Michael Grimm)

Elation over New York’s Little Island oasis

Details: 01 July 2021

USA - An island oasis in the Hudson River west of Manhattan, Little Island @Pier55 is receiving praise as an arts area and green getaway from the hustle and bustle of urban life. Made up of 132 pot-shaped planters suspended above the water, the park’s topography holds a lush landscape of rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns. Nestled among the island’s more than 390 species of flowers, trees and shrubs are performance spaces outfitted with Elation Professional IP-rated automated luminaires.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio and landscape architecture firm MNLA, the 2.4-acre artificial island park, funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, is a new public park with performing art as an integrated component. A 687-seat amphitheatre with views across the Hudson, a smaller stage for 200 visitors, and an open plaza, are all designed to host a range of progra

TIG appoints Crestron sale manager for Denmark

Details: 30 June 2021

Denmark - Technological Innovations Group (TIG) has appointed Ben Lund as its new regional sales manager for Crestron in Denmark.
Representing Crestron's portfolio of commercial solutions, Lund's responsibilities will include assisting integrators, specifiers and end-users in deploying fully integrated, futureproof smart spaces with Crestron technology.
Stein Ramsli, TIG's regional sales director for Crestron in the Nordics, comments: "We're very excited to welcome Ben to the team. From his 30 years of experience supporting integrators and specifiers in the AV industry, Ben brings invaluable sales leadership skills, an advanced technical knowledge and superb project management skills. This ties in perfectly with our strategy of remaining the No.1 end-to-end AV and IT solution portfolio provider, preferred by the majority of ver

Joachim Ringstad, Ian Puszet and Karoline Storbråten

Pixotope announces senior hires and promotions

Details: 30 June 2021

Norway - Pixotope has announced two senior promotions and a new hire within its leadership team. The appointments follow the continued expansion of the company’s global staff.
Ian Puszet joins Pixotope as its chief customer success officer after a decade working at Avid, where as vice president he led the global customer care team. Ian will drive customer success initiatives, align departments with a customer-centric culture and continue to construct relationships between Pixotope and its current and potential customers.
Already a key player at Pixotope, Karoline Storbråten has been promoted to regional sales manager for Southern Europe. Karoline’s new role will oversee the daily and long-term sales operations across key European hubs such as France, Spain, Italy and Portugal.
Another Pixotope veteran, Joachim Ringstad celebrates his fifth year in the compa

The DPRO Controller gives users remote control of device functions

Neutrik updates Dante interface device control

Details: 30 June 2021

UK - Neutrik has issued an update of its FOC Controller app for its compact, NA2-IO-DPRO I/O Dante interface device, that enables connectivity of legacy analogue and non-networked digital audio equipment within Dante audio networks, in the most demanding application environments.
The DPRO Controller gives users remote control of device functions such as level, mute, gain, phantom power, input signal (including patching input signals to either output) and low-cut filter; as well as monitoring the status of the device and providing the ability to change the its network settings.
DPRO also enables save, recall and loading of user presets. V2.0 introduces a completely new device discovery mechanism that dramatically improves the response speed of the software and enhances the user experience by separating online and offline devices. For optimal performance DPRO Controller

Polar Park - the home field for the Worcester Red Sox

Fulcrum Acoustic reinforces Polar Park

Details: 30 June 2021

USA - When the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, relocated from Rhode Island to Massachusetts, the city of Worcester built Polar Park as the home field for the now Worcester Red Sox. The Polar Park design team hired consulting firm WJHW to design the needed sound system. Central Communications was awarded the installation contract and they selected Fulcrum Acoustic products for the bulk of the project.
Polar Park requested an efficient system with a full range of sound and strong intelligibility. WJHW created a distributed design, requiring high output, high fidelity, and good pattern control from a compact system.
Central Communications mounted 17 of Fulcrum Acoustic’s FH1566 Full-Range Coaxial Horns along the sunshade, wrapping around the stands from first base to third base. The FH15s produce high output using a single amplifier chan

L-Acoustics L-ISA brings sound and stage together

Details: 30 June 2021

USA - Orchard Hill Church, located north of Pittsburgh in Wexford, offers a striking architectural design around its 1,200-seat auditorium. And just as modern is the church’s new sound technology, L-ISA by L-Acoustics, integrated as part of a $1.3m design-build renovation of the main worship centre.
“It’s been clearly shown that when we can connect what we see with what we hear, the technology disappears,” says Josh Maichele, L-Acoustics application manager, house of worship. Specifically, he says, our eyes want to watch a pastor on stage but our ears draw our vision towards the PA speakers reinforcing their voice.
L-ISA technology effectively disconnects the sound from the sound source, allowing audience members to focus their attention on the stage, immersing themselves in the content. “L-ISA makes the connection between sight and sound more natural, and i

All set for March Madness in Indianapolis

Robe BMFLs play March Madness basketball

Details: 30 June 2021

USA - The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 2021 March Madness tournament is a single-elimination college basketball tournament played each spring with 68 teams competing for the national championship. It has been lit - seven courts across six venues in total - for the last three years (preceding 2020 which was cancelled due to COVID-19) by broadcast live events specialist, Bill Brennan.
The 2021 Final Four was staged at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Bill specified 60 x Robe BMFLs - a combination of BMFL Spots and BMFL Blades - for the supplemental rig this year, which were supplied, together with other lights, by Nashville-based Pulse Lighting, whose Paul Hoffman was also the event’s lead lighting programmer.
Pulse has been working with Bill since 2007 on a diversity of sporting events. Naturally, everyone was delighted to be b

Austrian Audio products are now distributed in over 60 countries

Austrian Audio grows international distribution

Details: 30 June 2021

Austria - Austrian Audio reports ‘making big strides in the last year’, thanks partly to the ‘excellent cooperation’ with their distributors. The company which started in 1917 following the closure of AKG’s Vienna offices, has seen growth not only in the US, where the distributor Group One has opened a large number of stores for Austrian Audio, but also internationally.
In the past six months, the company has added new distributors in Chile, Mexico, India, Singapore and Thailand. Additionally, Austrian Audio products will start shipping to Iceland, Malaysia, Brazil, Malta, South Africa and Russia this summer.
“We are very excited to work with each of our amazing partners worldwide. Of course, we are supporting their efforts by providing education and sales materials for our products. But ultimately, they know their markets best,” says Martin Seidl, CEO o

The best idea for the year will be awarded initial stage seed funding

ABTT announces Virtual Ideas Platform

Details: 30 June 2021

UK - The ABTT has announced the Virtual Ideas Platform. Set up in collaboration with Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the platform will serve as an informal introduction service between independent creative innovators and commercial developers behind the sectors’ leading brands, products and services.
The platform is open “to anyone and everyone with an idea” and aims to recognise and help realise new ways of making theatre work.
The ABTT says: “We know when backstage people are faced with a technical challenge, they get inventive and creative, cook up ideas and find solutions. The Platform is here to recognise, salute and honour those innovators in our midst.
“By its very nature, theatre is a dynamic working environment in which to invent and develop new and better ways of doing things - in special effects, costume and wardrobe, wigs, make-up and

The Week in Light & Sound

Details: 29 June 2021

Survival Course - The Womad music festival has been cancelled "to guarantee its survival", co-founder Peter Gabriel has announced. Earlier this month, the former Genesis singer warned that the three-day event might not go ahead without government-backed insurance or test event status. Confirming the cancellation, he said waiting for either would "put Womad's long-term future at risk".
In a statement, Gabriel said the decision to cancel his world music festival, which was launched almost 40 years ago and attracts about 40,000 people each year, was made "with great regret". "We feel that our audience, artists, staff, and contractors, who have been amazingly supportive throughout all this, will understand the need for us to act to guarantee our survival," he wrote.
Gabriel said the decision to grant test event status to some festivals due to be held on the same 22-25 July

the open days have been designed to coincide with the return of the PLASA Show in London

Martin Audio 50th anniversary celebrations continue

Details: 29 June 2021

UK - Martin Audio is gearing up for two ‘action packed days’ in early September, which will see them combine the latest in open day programme - and their first in two years - with a party to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
Held on 7 and 8 September, the open days have been designed to coincide with the return of the PLASA Show in London, when the international light and sound community descends on the capital.
The events will rigidly follow COVID rules for both staff and visitors, with appropriate protocols put in place. Sessions will be held at 09:30, 12.30 and 15:30 on September 7th, and at 10.00 and 13:00 on September 8th. Each session will run for two hours.
For the active demonstrations, guests will have the opportunity to sample the Adorn series, including the latest ceiling additions, as well as BlacklineX, CDD, Torus and SXCF118 subwoofer. The Wavef

Main Light opens location in Las Vegas

Details: 29 June 2021

USA - Main Light, LLC. has announced that it will be expanding its operations with a location in Las Vegas, NV as of August 23, 2021. The new 40,000sq.ft shop, at 6435 South Valley View in Las Vegas will allow the dry hire service to better support the western US
Pairing with Main Light’s Delaware shop, the Las Vegas operation will duplicate the depth of new and well-maintained equipment available.
“Having a west coast shop is something that our clients have been asking about for some time,” states Randy Mullican, general manager of Main Light, LLC. “As the entertainment and event industries are re-opening, many of clients are asking us to step-in and support them across the country. Though we always would provide gear wherever needed, the Las Vegas location will allow us to respond to those needs more efficiently, and very-importantly, cost effectively.”

Bespoke virtual worlds, and overall storyline were seamlessly integrated into the SmartStage environment

WL’s XR SmartStage hosts Deutsche Börse debut

Details: 29 June 2021

Germany/UK - Last month, SUSE made its initial public offering debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In response to the limitations of physical events brought on by the pandemic and in lieu of being at the Deutsche Börse in person, SUSE reinvented the entire listing day experience with a digital-first approach.
SUSE collaborated with Deloitte Digital, using technical solutions specialist White Light (WL’s) SmartStage in London, to create an entirely virtual experience that could reach its global audience.
Bespoke virtual worlds, and overall storyline, created by Deloitte Digital / ACNE, together with their production partner NSYNK, using Unreal Engine, were seamlessly integrated into the SmartStage environment and remotely edited via VPN from Frankfurt.
The environment was further enhanced with extended reality (XR) features, such as a virtual drone to visual

The planetarium is the largest in New Zealand

Harman enhances Auckland’s Stardome

Details: 29 June 2021

New Zealand - The Stardome Observatory and Planetarium recently upgraded its cinema and live performance venue with a complete Harman Professional networked surround sound system comprised of JBL Professional, Crown, BSS and Soundcraft solutions.
The Stardome’s observatory opened to the public in 1967, while the planetarium - the largest in New Zealand - launched in 1997. The venue features a panoramic theatre with a full-dome concave screen, laser projectors and IMAX angled seating for an immersive 360-degree viewing experience. Doubling as both a cinema and live performance venue, the Stardome needed a versatile sound system to support a wide range of events. Additionally, since a range of staff members and volunteers operate the facility, ease of use was a top priority.
Stardome organisers hired AV Integration company Avid Automation and Harman distributor JPRO t

The Follow-Me 3D SIX remote tracking system was used to keep the performers in the spotlight

Follow-Me tracks at the Ahoy for Eurovision’21

Details: 29 June 2021

The Netherlands - This year’s Eurovision Song Contest has been recognised as a pivotal moment in the return of large-scale entertainment events in a post-COVID world. Performed in front of a live audience of 3,500 plus delegates in the Greenroom on the arena floor, ESC captivated both the live audience and the 183m watching on television from 234 countries worldwide.
The entire event was under the supervision of Eurovision’s head of production, Erwin Rintjema.
At the heart of lighting designer, Henk-Jan van Beek’s dynamic design were the tools to guarantee that the Multi-camera directors received all the key lighting required to bring the performers to the small screen exactly as they would wish.
The Netherlands-based Follow-Me 3D SIX remote tracking system (as part of the lighting specification delivered by the official technical supplier, Ampco Flashli

Jared Moore used a variety of Hog control products

Jared Moore keeps Hogs in TV spotlight

Details: 29 June 2021

USA - For all six seasons of Fox’s award-winning television series Empire, lighting programmer Jared Moore used a variety of Hog control products for the show’s diverse performance settings and other scenes. The American musical drama was one of the most-watched series during its long run through 2020. After a quick run on the US shoot for Warner Brothers The Batman, Moore next turned his focus to work on Power Book IV: Force, Starz's spin-off based on original Power character Tommy Egan.
Jared began his career in 2002 as a freelance LD in Chicago, coming of age through the theater scene and designing for a modern dance company on ETC desks. In 2013 he transitioned into television and film work, where he learned of the Hog platform. He says, “I was told by another programmer that all the film guys used Hog. I worked on the ABC show Mind Games where

Part of the new look is an Anolis exterior LED lighting scheme (Photo: Louise Stickland)

Anolis shows Nottingham Castle in new light

Details: 29 June 2021

UK The landmark Nottingham Castle reopens this month following a £30m refurbishment which started in 2018. Part of the new look is an Anolis exterior LED lighting scheme illuminating all four sides of the building, comprising 17 x Anolis Divine 160 fixtures which was designed by Ian Forrow of IJF Lighting and commissioned by On Event Production from Castle Donnington.
Electrical installation and fixtures were supplied by Amptron Electrical Services who were the appointed electrical contractor for the whole project which included the external lighting.
The original fortified castle dates to Medieval times but that structure was largely demolished by the mid-17th century, with a mansion built on the site in the 1670s by the first and second Dukes of Newcastle. This was burnt down by rioters in 1831 and rebuilt in the 1870s to house an art gallery and museum which remain

Before (left) and after (right) gridworks at Her Majesty’s

Unusual prepares Her Majesty’s for Phantom return

Details: 29 June 2021

UK - Unusual Rigging has completed a major refurbishment of the grid at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End ahead of the much-anticipated reopening of Phantom of the Opera next month.
When the Covid-19 pandemic forced the production to close its doors in March 2020, it opened a bitter-sweet opportunity to get some essential work done on the magnificent old theatre’s roof space, ensuring it could continue to stage the elaborate aspects of Phantom that audiences across the world know and love, including the famous hanging chandelier.
Jeremy Featherstone, Unusual Rigging explained: “Her Majesty’s Theatre is a wonderful building, but as with all old theatres, they need maintenance and continuous improvements to their structure in order to preserve them and allow them to continue hosting productions.
“Phantom is a heavy show and the gr

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