UK - Panto is one of the most fun and also one of the most demanding genres of performance to light, requiring busy cueing, lots of bold and fast moving multiple scene and location changes and several touches of visual magic to help the action flow, all with simultaneous split-second timing - a challenge that lighting designer Andy Webb fully embraced for the Qdos production of Dick Whittington at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe, where he chose Robe for all the moving and LED elements of his design.

Actor, comedian and singer Shane Richie - best known for his role as Alfie Moon in the long running BBC 1 soap EastEnders - was back in the lead role at The Swan due to popular demand after his success as Buttons in last year's Cinderella.

Andy, a freelance LD b

USA / Germany - Christie, the specialist in visual displays and audio technologies, has announced that it has acquired Cologne, Germany-based coolux GmbH, the developer and supplier of 3D compositing and rendering systems, best known for its Pandoras Box product family. coolux will be integrated into Christie's Global Market Solutions team, maintaining its office in Cologne, Germany.

Jennifer Smith, Christie's executive vice-president, Global Market Solutions, said: "Christie is committed to deepen its marketplace lead in supplying a total solution for advanced applications such as projection mapping, broadcast delivery and all manner of large-scale digital canvas creation, so the fit between our products and services and those of coolux is a natural one."

Continuing, Smith said: "Pre-visualization capability when creating stunning, experiential events - includi

UK - The city of Bristol marked the start of its year as European Green Capital, by lighting up the 150 year old Clifton Suspension Bridge green on New Year's Eve 2014 into New Year's Day 2015

The innovative architectural lighting system was creatively designed by Utopium's MD Colin Bodenham, who also masterminded the complex logistics for the installation in just one day, by 12 local based technicians. The bridge lit up the city's skyline, going through a series of colour changes culminating in it being green at midnight. The image promoted the city's Green capital status and the bridge's 150th anniversary through local and national media on New Year's Day.

Colin said, "We were proud to be asked to work with the event's organisers Richmond Event Management (REM) and The Bristol Green Capital Partnership on this prestigious launch event.

"The Green Capital initiati

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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

USA - Founded in the late 1960s, Avcom is a multi-line AV manufacturers' representative company covering the states of Ohio and West Virginia as well as Western Pennsylvania and Northern Kentucky.

Avcom prides itself on providing quality products and building long-lasting and profitable relationships with the AV integrators, engineers, acoustical consultants and end users in their territory.

President Jim Umstead emphasized the importance of a constant presence in the field including regular business meetings with integrators and consultants and frequent product demonstrations. He commented, "We are proud to represent Community in our four-state territory. Community's reputation for high-quality products, expert application assistance and great customer service fits well with our desire to provide each of our business partners with the best possible solutions to their par

UK - 2014 has been a full-tilt year for UK rock band Kasabian with a massive homecoming gig in Victoria Park, Leicester in the summer followed by their acclaimed Sunday night headliner slot at Glasto. The year ended with equal style and gusto with a sold out European and UK arena tour, complete with a daring and ambitious show design by Nick Gray from Renegade whose creative magic ensured something radical.

Kasabian's reputation for spectacular live performance continued with this maelstrom of shows, storming their way thought a set action-packed with energy, hits and material from their newest album, 48:13.

Nick Gray's starting point for the stage, lighting and visual design was in developing a video aesthetic. He and Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno discussed the initial concepts based on wanting something that was related to the band's performance, non-conventional, innovat

USA - Calling the Pebble Beach Auctions an "automobile auction" is akin to describing a Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider as a mere "sports car". The annual event, which has been part of the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance since 1990, is to the luxury auto world what the Cannes Film Festival is to the movie industry. Featuring some of the more valuable automobiles in the world - a 1961 edition of the aforementioned Ferrari fetched over $15m at this year's auction - the five-day event draws celebrities like Jay Leno and A-List collectors from around the world.

An elegant setting is essential to showcasing these automotive jewels, which is why LD James Schipper of Kinetic Lighting deployed 36 COLORado Batten 72 Tour fixtures from Chauvet Professional to wash the lavish drapery on the auction's stage. "This show is all about the cars, but our focus with

USA - Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) one of the world's leading providers of entertainment and event technology solutions, has acquired Chaos Visual Productions. Headquartered in Burbank, CA, with an office in Bedfordshire, UK, Chaos provides full service video production for live events. Both PRG and Chaos have built a solid reputation in the industry for combining innovative technology with an international team of highly experienced industry professionals.

"Chaos Visual Productions will be joining forces with PRG Nocturne," says Mickey Curbishley, CEO, PRG Concert Touring. "It is very exciting to consider the creative and technical solutions that will result from this acquisition which brings together the world's two most innovative touring video companies. It also creates a single team of the most respected; experienced; and talented minds working in vid

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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.

USA - Audinate has announced new enhancements to the Dante Ultimo low-channel chipsets, now shipping.

The new revision of Dante Ultimo incorporates support for Marvell 88E6320 gigabit switch, enabling robust daisy chaining of Dante devices with multicast filtering capability.

Audinate has also released new Ultimo 2.1 firmware, adding several new features for Audio Video (AV) equipment manufacturers building low channel-count products with Dante Ultimo. The new Release 2.1 firmware adds device control capabilities enabled by the Dante Device Protocol (DDP). DDP allows Ultimo messages and commands to be sent via SPI/UART from the host processor, accessing parameters such as channel subscriptions, clock status and more. DDP is ideal for integration of routing pre-sets and front panel displays in Ultimo products. Additionally, Ultimo now supports 16-, 24- and 32-bit PCM audio, sel

USA - At NAMM this month, D.A.S. is set to launch the new Vantec series of portable systems. The Vantec series is comprised of four models available in both powered and passive configurations. The completely new series incorporates 12", 15" powered two-way systems, a double 15" powered three-way system employing a "dual-band" configuration and a single 18" powered subwoofer system.

The Vantec series is equipped with the new 'F' series loudspeakers, developed by D.A.S. to provide exceptional performance and reliability. The new M-28 compression driver features a FEM (Finite Element Modeling) optimized motor, phase-plug and diaphragm. Attached to the D.A.S. designed CD-horn, the assembly provides brilliant high frequency reproduction and optimum control of dispersion with 90º x 50º coverage angles.

The Vantec 12A is a 12" biamplified system p

USA - Whether Danny Michael is working on the set of a television pilot or the next box-office hit, the veteran production sound mixer relies on DPA Microphones for his diverse miking needs. Using his trusted d:dicate 4017B Shotgun for traditional booming situations, Michael occasionally turns to a variety of the company's other mics for the wide range of productions he works on.

After first discovering DPA Microphones in 2011 during pre-production for Now You See Me, Michael's admiration for the company quickly grew. "I was tasked with finding a headset mic to use during the on-stage magic scenes in the movie," he says. "We received a few different samples, but the DPA d:fine stood out as it provided the best sound. Since it was ultimately an artistic decision, I left it to the director to make the final call and, luckily, he also preferred the d:fine. Tha

USA - Tightrope Media Systems' identity as a leading solutions provider across the broadcast/cable and digital signage industries has propelled year-on-year business growth since its formation as a standalone company in 2001. Looking to further bolster the company's sales and service team to support future growth across both businesses, Tightrope recently promoted five-year company veteran Kelli Smith to director of broadcast sales, and hired Richard Turner as digital signage regional sales manager.

Kelli, based in Raleigh, NC, now manages sales for ZEPLAY, Tightrope's choice for cost-efficient, multichannel instant replay servers; and the company's Cablecast portfolio of server and automation products.

"Tightrope is very well known in the digital signage space and in the local PEG broadcast community, and it's my goal to build that same recognition across a new group of

USA - Community Professional Loudspeakers has announced the appointment of David Prince as director of development engineering. Prince has over two decades of experience designing, modelling and measuring pro-audio loudspeakers and developing them for manufacturing.

He comes to Community from Knowles Electronics where he was product development manager. Previously, Prince held the position of Director of Advanced Development for Tymphany; he was senior research engineer for International Jensen and he spent seven years as an acoustic consultant with Talaske.

He is a past chair of the AES Standards Committee on Loudspeaker Modelling and Measurement, serves on technical committees of the Acoustical Society of America and is a Board of Directors Emeritus member for the loudspeaker industry association, ALMA.

"I am delighted to join Community at this important time in its h

Mexico - SGM has appointed one of Spain's most prominent lighting designers as its new representative in South America.

Ben Diaz takes up the position of area sales manager with immediate effect, in a role that also includes product training on the Continent.

Since 2000, Diaz has been involved in many creative roles within the entertainment industry, including lighting / production design and operation, video programming for media servers, cinematography and technical education.

He has worked in 16 countries as a crew member, including Europe and America, and has a deep and comprehensive understanding of all technical matters relating to show business worldwide.

Ben Diaz has spent the last 10 years touring as a lighting designer, programmer and operator, and creating visual shows for TV.

It was during one such tour - with Latin pop-rock artist Rosana - that he first met

Denmark - BroaMan's Danish distributor Danmon has been providing broadcast solutions to the country's public service broadcaster TV2 for nearly two decades.

But when last year the company decided to upgrade its SNG OB truck (DNK-47) from SD to HD, the Odense based facility moved its commentator intercom onto a Clear-Com platform and added a BroaMan Mux22 transmission device for signal routing.

This has enabled them to transport multiple data and video signals down a single fibre in the SNG truck, including 6/2 HD-SDI, RS422 and sync network, using Dante as their audio platform.

Explained TV2 workflow specialist (and project manager), Kim Hansen, "For years, the trucks have been a key component in our technical setup for major sporting events (such as Tour de France, Handball World Cup etc.) where it acted not simply as an SNG, but a small OB truck."

This latest u

Norway - The Fosnavag Cultural Centre is now the latest and largest showcase of Meyer Sound solutions in Norway. With technology covering concert sound reinforcement, cinema, and active acoustics from a Constellation acoustic system, the complex is the premium arts and entertainment destination on the Norwegian coast.

In designing the 490-seat Fosnavag Konserthus, the focal point of the FosnavagCultural Centre, the technology committee had a clear vision to create a high-performance multipurpose space. "We wanted a perfect room for acoustic music and a perfect room for amplified music, but with conventional physical acoustics we couldn't have both," says Bjørn Holum, event manager for the Municipality of Herøy and the lead of the technology committee.

Following his first experience with Constellation in Estonia's Nordea Concert Hall [formerly Nokia Conc

France - ELC Lighting's Buddy has been making waves in Paris, turning one of the world's most famous skylines orange as it helped mobile phone giant Orange celebrate its 20th anniversary. With over 1,800 guests gathered for a reception at a venue a short distance from Orange's building on Parc Des Exposition Porte de Versailles, the event's organisers wanted to illuminate their office tower with the figure 20, visible for all to see in the night sky.

Thierry Bernin, project manager at Impact Evenement, which conducted the event, was brought on board to devise a solution for lighting the windows. He selected Arcaline LED lamps from Aryton and to ensure seamless communications between the lights on different floors, he chose ELC's Buddy.

He explained, "Buddy was recommended to me by Axente who were very enthusiastic about a new product on the market that was very easy to us

Egypt - Hi-Lights Egypt are using more than 800 fixtures from the PR Lighting catalogue to build the atmosphere on one of the country's most popular TV cookery programmes, The Taste Egypt.

The largest rental company in Egypt, Hi-Lights became involved from the outset, working closely with both SYNC-MEDIA, the production company, and lighting designer Fouad Haddad of Hand Made Image (HMI).

The programme is a worldwide franchise and although the production format had been pre-arranged, according to Hi-Lights Egypt's Hamad Arafa his company had no problem in convincing the LD that PR Lighting fixtures would fulfill all his requirements - particularly after undergoing camera tests to demonstrate colour temperature, CRI etc.

The schedule of equipment deployed on the set - which was built in one of the principle studios of Al Nahar TV - included 80 of PR Lighting's recently

UK - d&b audiotechnik has restructured its UK Sales network, appointing SSE Audio and Wigwam as Sales and Installations Partners for the UK.

With d&b deciding to streamline their UK Sales network, SSE Audio Group, backed by the experience of Wigwam, are seen as ideal partners for the German manufacturer. The new Sales and Installation partnership means SSE and Wigwam are the only suppliers based in England that are able to supply d&b directly to Trade Users across the UK. SSE Audio Group has offices in the north, south and midlands, along with a highly experienced and integrated sales team.

Wigwam Acoustics, part of SSE Audio Group since 2013, has been an established d&b supplier for Hire, Sales and Installations for many years, building up a vast pool of knowledge and experience with the full d&b product range. Since the acquisition SSE has been able, via Wigwam, to provide d

UK - Orbital Sound is staging the first Flare Audio seminar on 20 January, at its dedicated training centre in Brixton, with Flare Audio's Davies Roberts presenting The Path to Better Sound. The seminar will focus on discussing the issues that have affected loudspeaker performance since its invention some 90 years ago, including a detailed technical explanation of the science behind loudspeaker design.

The half day training session is tailored to provide engineers, designers and technicians with an insight into the key issues surrounding loudspeaker technology, including: The hidden distortions inside loudspeakers; The challenges behind achieving total accuracy in loudspeaker design; Loudspeaker behaviour and its lack of predictability; A comparison between the evolution of video picture quality versus loudspeaker sound quality.

The emphasis is on providing an interacti

UK - Ashly Audio, a division of Jam Industries, based in NY, USA, a manufacturer of high-quality commercial audio signal processors and power amplifiers, has appointed Sound Directions Ltd of Chessington, Surrey as its exclusive distributor for the UK.

A specialist distributor for audio brands in the UK catering to consultants, commercial integrators and systems installers working in AV, theatre, retail and hospitality, Sound Directions was founded by Stanislas Boivin-Champeaux in 1998. The Chessington-based company sees the addition of the Ashly Audio range as integral to its continued growth plans.

"The Ashly Audio range complements our existing partner brands perfectly and with the ne and Pema range of Ashly amplifiers I think we can offer some really serious, high-end, networked commercial contracting solutions"

Stanislas adds: "We try and make life easier

UK - PLASA is delighted to announce the launch of the UK Trainee Rigger Scheme.

PLASA have developed a way in which those who wish to pursue a career in rigging can identify and record the necessary training and experience. They will also be able to demonstrate their commitment to rigging to potential employers.

The scheme will provide a way of logging experience against specific rigging tasks, building a picture of the trainee's practical rigging development and training undertaken. Over time they will be able to track their development and readiness to register for competence-based assessment at Level 2 of the National Rigging Certificate.

Training providers and trainees will have access to a syllabus of learning and the National Rigging Certificate Handbook. Each trainee will have attended a health and safety course recognised by the National Rigging Advisory Group as des

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