UK / USA - PLASA's month-long elections to determine positions on its European and North American Regional Boards, together with its central Governing Body, concluded at midnight on Wednesday 19 November. Companies and individuals from PLASA's worldwide membership voted in the elections, which were conducted via a secure online poll.

There were four positions available on the European Regional Board. Ed Pagett of Panalux was elected for a second term as Chairman, Peter James of Shure Distribution as representative to PLASA's Distributor members and Malcolm Burlow of Highlite was voted as the Dealer/Retailer representative. Robert Kronman joins the Board as the new Individual representative.

Four positions were also up for election on the North American Regional Board with Todd S

UK - The British Entertainment Industry Radio Group (BEIRG) has expressed its disappointment and concern regarding Ofcom's decision to remove Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) users from the 700MHz band of radio spectrum. Ofcom's decision is a real danger to some of the UK's most important cultural, social and economic events. Instead, this spectrum will be allocated to Mobile Network Operators.

The regulator's decision will mean that radio microphones and other wireless audio devices key to the UK's thriving creative industries, including West End and regional theatres, could be forced to operate in less than two thirds of the spectrum to which they currently have access. Every night over 1000 wireless radio microphones are used in London's West End alone, largely operating within the spectrum that is to be cleared.

Fears remain that, if appropriate mitigating steps

Hungary - The Békéscsaba Jókai Theatre, 130 years old and located in the Budapest suburbs has spent over two years developing a sound reinforcement system that meets the expectation - both in sight and sound - of a modern audience whilst preserving the traditional features of the building. Perhaps not the first place you would expect to find such a ground breaking project - so much so the theatre invited representatives from Roland Europe and Japan to visit the theatre to see - and hear - for themselves.

The idea to address the issue came from the statistical evidence that when people sit in front of a movie screen they absorb 40% of the different sound effects whilst in a theatre this figure drops below 10%.The Békéscsaba Jókai Theatre has developed a system that crosses over between cinema and theatre sound in the form of a 8.1 channel surround so

UK - Delta Sound has invested in another 43 Halo-C compact line array enclosures from UK manufacturer, EM Acoustics. This brings Delta's total inventory to over 130 units including the system installed into the Royal Albert Hall in 2013.

According to Delta's operations director, Jonathan Bell, the decision to invest in Halo-C was straightforward. "The system has already proved itself to us many times over, not least of which by winning the tender with SBD to re-equip the Royal Albert Hall. Going through that process enabled us to evaluate the system extremely thoroughly. In short, it's an extraordinary product. The clarity and detail is exceptional, but what is truly outstanding in our opinion is the level of accuracy and ability to control dispersion over significant distances.

"When the time came to increasing our inventory of rental stock, we therefore decided on

UK - The London-based design studio Immersive had a hand in creating Christmas joy this year. They 'switched on' the Christmas lights for the northern town of Wigan in a rather extraordinary way. The stunt involved some 500sq.m of panels holding more than 8m LED lights plus loads of Christmas decorations. The show was filmed for the Tesco Christmas advert, which went viral on social media soon after first airing.

The advert debuted during the season finale of Downton Abbey. Thousands of viewers across Britain saw it marking the end of a weekend of television packed with the Christmas adverts from major retailers, including John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Argos and Asda.

The Christmas advert is the most talked about commercial advert in the UK. John Munro, CEO of Immersive, comments: "During a visit to the US, I experienced the whirlwind around Super Bowl adverts . . .

featured content

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 - Following an extensive top-to-bottom renovation, the Altria Theatre in Richmond, Virginia reopened earlier this month, reintroducing the community to the elegant 1920's style and spirit that drew in millions of patrons over the course of its storied history. Now equipped with modern theatre systems, improved seating, refurbished décor, and greater amenities, the theatre is better equipped than ever to provide a bridge between the arts and the theatre-going public.

Working in collaboration with Wilson Butler Architects, Theatre Projects led the renovation of the 180,000sq.ft building's auditorium, theatre equipment, and support spaces. Nearly all of the renovations were conducted in phases, allowing the theatre to maintain its schedule of events.

Originally built as a Shriner Temple, the iconic venue opened in 1927 and became known as 'The Mosque' because of its tw

UK - The red carpet moments at the MTV EMA Awards have grown into an occasion in their own right, demanding the kind of production values usually discovered once inside the show itself. This year's event at Glasgow took the red carpet celebrations to yet another level.

Lighting specialists for the film, television and entertainment sectors, Panalux, chose to invest in the new Magic Blades from Ayrton especially for this event. Panalux gaffer for the MTV event was Mark Gardiner who explains why: "I was first made aware of the Magic Blades when I was sent a web-link to a stunningly programmed video clip of them in action on the Ayrton web site...the effects were fantastic, very original. I then saw them a few days later exhibited at PLASA London and wasn't disappointed so we placed an order."

For lighting designer, Stuart Pring, this was his first encounter with the Bl

featured content

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

France - France's National Theatre, the Hexagon, has been a challenging space for sound reinforcement since it was built in 1976. The perfectly shaped hexagonal room, with a seating capacity of 560, hosts 35 shows each season. It also regularly offers arts community training programmes, conferences and debates.

Olivier Delpeuch, sound engineer and head of the audio department at the Hexagon, recently underwent a search for a new sound reinforcement system for the theatre. After a thorough review, he opted for a distributed system made up of Adamson Point Series loudspeakers.

The solution was jointly developed by Adamson Systems' French distributor DV2 and sound company Music Plus. Antoine Maurel, project manager at Music Plus headed up the installation of the system.

The system is designed for flexibility, allowing it to adjust to the needs of the performances. Sound reinfor

Australia - The University of Sydney in Australia recently unveiled the X-Lab, a 40x20m space that houses up to eight classes using advanced live lecture streaming. Using a multipoint distribution strategy based on a Dante network from Audinate, the IP-based architecture efficiently streams lecture audio to ensure as many as 240 students receive a targeted, immersive, engaging and uninterrupted educational experience.

Similar instructional laboratories previously relied on streaming live lectures to radio headsets, which created usability and safety concerns. The University of Sydney instead chose to use Dante to stream audio to hyper-directional loudspeakers positioned above each student. The Dante network delivers ultra-low latency streams over a standard network infrastructure, maintaining signal integrity and quality across the architecture to guarantee exceptional speech in

USA - At LDI in Las Vegas, Martin Professional introduced the MAC Aura XB wash light, M-Touch lighting console, and RUSH Gobo Projector 1.

"It's an exciting time for us with so many products launched recently and so many new to be launched today at LDI in Las Vegas," said Peter Skytte, head of product management, Martin Professional. "We're bringing a variety of new products to the market across our entire product range, including controllers, atmospheric effects, LED video, lighting and Rush by Martin."

Incorporating many new features first introduced in Martin's MAC Quantum Wash, the MAC Aura XB combines a compact design and low weight with a new colour mixing system and an optimized lens design for tighter beams and more even washes The Aura XB uses a super bright, single lens wash with fully premixed colour to provide beautiful and robust colour washes.

North America - The recent partnership with industry expert Paul Rabinovitz has resulted in another strong alliance for Parasol Systems, this one with long time industry leader High End Systems.

At LDI, High End Systems showcased its latest developments with an eye-catching 40ft by 40ft booth. The STAR600 system was hung dead centre of their set-up and loaded with six Shapeshifter C2 and four SolaSpot Pro 1500 luminaries.

Shapeshifters C2's and SolaSpot Pro 1500 are the newest additions to the innovative range of luminaires designed by Richard Belliveau. Each offers "awesome power, incredible speed, and total flexibility". Each Shapeshifter has seven independently controlled modules housed in one moving fixture which basically means that these luminaires will provide a jaw-dropping visual impact to audiences everywhere. The SolaSpot Pro 1500 offers an overwhelming cr

USA - Royal Philips Electronics chose LDI in Las Vegas to launch the new compact lamp systems MSD Platinum 14 R and 17 RA. With today's growing trend of integrating LED walls in stage lighting design, a new generation of lamps with more powerful beams is required to cut through the sea of homogenous light they provide - and add additional accents to the show, says the company. This is exactly what the new Platinum lamp systems from Philips are designed to do. The new lamp system MSD Platinum 14 R provides extreme brightness of 12,000 lumens at 280W with a colour rendering of 80. The lamp is successfully designed-in in the X3-Coupe from Jolly.

Also, the new compact and lightweight MSD Platinum 17 RA lamps offer exceptional brightness with a light output of more than 20,000 lumens at 350W, plus cool white light (7000 K) and a high colour rendering of 85. This makes them suitable f

USA - Nemetschek Vectorworks has announced that the Spanish-language release of its Vectorworks 2015 software version will be available on 24 November. This release is part of a worldwide rollout that included other European-language releases earlier this month and continues into 2015 with additional localizations in Japanese and Chinese. The Vectorworks line of award-winning software products includes 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

Australia - ARX Systems has announced the Remote Switcher externally controlled stereo input signal switcher, for use in EWIS (Emergency Warning and Intercommunications System) emergency announcements, Console Switching, and remote control of signal sources in Broadcast applications.

"We developed the Remote Switcher in response to requests from integrators and installers for a unit allowing remote and external switching selection between two line level audio sources. EWIS is becoming mandatory for most new and upgraded commercial buildings and public spaces, and our Remote Switcher is a cost effective solution for noiseless and instantaneous switching between normal audio program and EWIS emergency announcements," says ARX MD, Colin Park.

"Other applications include remote switching between FOH or Monitor Consoles, Main and DJ consoles when one main loudspeaker

South Africa - Having just completed the 2014 Let the Night In European Tour, South African band Prime Circle are looking forward to playing across home soil during December.

LD Vincent van Niekerk has been with the band for the past four and a half years and in July took ownership of an Avolites Tiger Touch 2.

"During my first three years I decided to work on as many different consoles as possible to learn as many as possible," explained Vincent. "But by doing that you can only imagine the complications when you arrive at a venue and you have to do a huge show off Light Jockey or DMX creator without a wing desk."

Since acquiring the Tiger Touch 2 Vincent says touring has become a breeze. "No matter what venue or what fixtures, the Tiger Touch 2 has all the personalities and all the versatility a touring desk needs. We've also started cueing all our

Italy - Enigma is a spectacular stage-show and centrepiece at the new Cinecitta World visitor attraction in Rome - the first theme park dedicated to the rich world and history of Italian cinema - which has spawned numerous genius directors like Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Franco Zeffirelli and many more.

Lighting for the 25 minute Enigma show - produced by FilmMaster and staged in a 1200 capacity venue right in the centre of the complex - has been designed by internationally renowned LD Giovanni Pinna who specified a fully Robe moving light rig.

"'Enigma" is a highly visual show," he explains, "It's designed to illustrate the boundaries and the scope of illusion - one of the essential vehicles of filmmaking and storytelling."

It's a mixed media performance set to especially composed music featuring dancers, mapped p

UK - For this summer's Camden Roundhouse's Reverb festival, singer-songwriter Imogen Heap curated four days of events, which culminated in a headline show from Heap herself. As per the experimental theme of the festival, 12 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 fixtures were pixel-mapped for one of the first times in the UK, as part of Martir's innovative show design.

Lighting and control designer Tupac Martir specified the flexible Clay Paky fixtures, which were supplied by Richard Martin Lighting, as an integral element of the set.

"The set is based on the concept of molecules, which I wanted to mirror in the lighting design through gobos," explains Martir. "When considering which fixtures I could use to give me that kind of look, the B-EYE was an easy choice."

The theme of the show evoked the forming of a human being, with the sound of a heartbeat kicking things

Germany - d&b audiotechnik has strengthened its top management by bringing on board Sabina Berloffa as Director of Marketing. Since August this year she has been responsible for global marketing and product management, with the aim of further expanding brand awareness, developing new markets and accelerating the growth of the company. Sabina Berloffa is part of the international management team around CEO Amnon Harman.

"Sabina Berloffa has great experience in B2B marketing, brand leadership and product management. She will take a key role in the company's strategic growth over the coming years. I'm delighted to have Sabina on board", says Amnon Harman.

Sabina Berloffa adds, "I am excited to join d&b. For the last decades, the company has stood for quality in professional audio solutions. d&b has a fantastic customer base, especially in the touring and installati

USA - At LDI, ETC revealed that the Eos Titanium (Ti and Gio consoles, as well as the RPU3 (Remote Processor Unit), have become more powerful. Their motherboards have been changed, which allows currently shipping products to output up to 32,768, without co-processing. Desks with the new motherboard have three display port outputs instead of DVI ports. Any older Ti, Gio and RPU3 products (with DVI connectors) can upgrade to a total of 16,384 outputs, and both hardware variants can upgrade in 1,024, 2,048 or 4,096 increments.

"The output upgrades are now even more affordable," explains ETC Eos Controls product manager Anne Valentino. "Users needing to increase their system capacity can upgrade through a lower-cost pricing structure. Anyone wanting to expand their output can contact an ETC dealer for more information."

ETC's Nomad and Nomad Puck mini controlle

USA - Energy levels were pumped and spirits high on the Robe Lighting booth throughout the 2014 LDI Expo in Las Vegas which saw three days of constant activity, high quality visitors and high interest in all the new products, especially the new Bright Multi-Functional Luminaire (BMFL) - shown for the first time at a US trade show.

The elegant, stylish and super-cool all-white booth was designed to maximise space and provide a showcase for the power, colour and versatility of Robe's newest technologies, together with the architectural LED product ranges of sister brand Anolis, all working together with seamless synergy.

Says Bob Schacherl, CEO of Robe Lighting Inc, "This is definitely the best LDI in Robe's history based on the responses to product presentations and the number of new customers who came specifically to see BMFL, and to express their desire to start buying a

Canada - As the quality of the experience becomes an increasing priority in retail, Highstreet Fraser Valley combines an outstanding environment with the latest technology to provide a destination with a fresh new approach.

Located in Abbotsford, BC, Canada, Highstreet is a 600,000sq.ft open air shopping centre. This three-level centre features main street style shopping and dining with one and two storey buildings on the upper podium level, and a Walmart Supercentre with 1,400 covered parking stalls on the lower level. The development's compact design delivers a higher order of density than traditional regional retail projects, and is striving to become a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified project, which makes it one of the first in Canada for large scale retail projects.

The Highstreet development is by Shape Properties Corporation, one of the mos

Latest Issue. . .