UK - Saville Audio Visual has recently taken delivery of two Roland VR-5 AV mixer & recorders, supplied by Cheshire based Visual Impact Northern. Gareth Lloyd, digital events services manager from Saville had seen the VR-5 in action at Broadcast Video Expo in 2011 and had recognised that the feature set would provide a solution not only for their own webcasting requirement, but also for one of the branches of Saville who needed a compact unit for live action camera relay work at smaller conferences.

The webcast VR-5 is being used primarily to feed the Mediasite webcasting platform from Sonic Foundry but Lloyd explained that they also use the USB out to PC function of the mixer regularly. Connecting a PC to the RGB connector of the VR-5 for various applications such as PowerPoint presentations, slide shows and movie playback enables them to be recorded directly to the VR-5.

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Lebanon - Built in 1893 and located 650m above the bay of Jounieh in Lebanon, Bkerké is the See of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchate. Like many ancient religious buildings the architecture is beautiful and the acoustics challenging.

For its new sound system the Church commissioned Lebanon-based pro audio specialists, Technosound, to provide a solution that would give the highest quality audio with the minimum aesthetic intrusion. A combined system was required to provide sound for both the interior of the main church and also for selected areas outside the building.

"For the main area inside the church we chose Community's Entasys three-way, full-range column line-array loudspeaker systems," said Pierre Fahed of Technosound. "Their wide horizontal and very narrow vertical dispersion gives excellent coverage with minimal overspill to the reflective surfac

UK - Following a busy February being named 'Godlike Genius' at NME's 2012 awards and performing with guest pianist Chris Martin at the Brit Awards, Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds have headed out on a UK & European tour, with other international dates and a range of summer festival appearances to follow.

Working with PRG's Robin Wain, lighting designer David 'Fuji' Convertino, is touring a system that utilises a selection of PRG's proprietary products and on the European dates marks the touring debut of PRG's new Best Boy 4000 Spot Luminaire.

Recently launched at LDI, the Best Boy 4000 is a physically smaller, lighter brother to PRG's Bad Boy Spot Luminaire, but remains a precision-engineered automated light with an all-inclusive feature set.

The UK & Ireland arena tour used PRG's BAT Truss and Series 400 Power and Data Distribution System to allow fixtures to trave

Spain - Listed as one of the finest restaurants in Spain, the Maher Hotel in Cintruénigo on the banks of the Ebro just one hour south of Pamplona, is renowned for its ability to mix unlikely ingredients and conspire to make them sumptuous, satisfying, delicious and daring.

When the owners approached Jesús Lavilla of Gradual Event to design and install a PA system at Maher, his thoughts, once he had recovered from the shock, turned immediately to ingredients. "This was to be no 'background music' system. The owners were single minded; the quality and definition of the system needed to be on a parallel with the food."

Gradual Event has the skills and experience to address such demands, the company provides both installation and rental service to the Basque region, specialising in sound and light. "All the many valuable lessons we learn in servicing special

USA - Located in the heart of Chicago's downtown, St. John Cantius is one of the city's oldest Roman Catholic churches, with roots that date back to the influx of Polish immigrants in the 19th century. But the church's parish, which once numbered in the tens of thousands, has waned over the years, and when Reverend Frank Phillips was appointed pastor in 1988 he found a church in neglect and extreme disrepair.

Over the ensuing years Rev. Phillips has led community efforts to renovate the church and restore it to its former glory. Recently the church replaced an aging, ineffective sound system dating back many decades, installing an Iconyx IC16-R digitally steerable array system from Renkus-Heinz. As Erik Saari of Wheaton, IL-based Sound Planning Associates explains, the Iconyx system brought much-needed improved intelligibility to the sanctuary.

"Like many older sanctuarie

USA - Located in the heart of Chicago's downtown, St. John Cantius is one of the city's oldest Roman Catholic churches, with roots that date back to the influx of Polish immigrants in the 19th century. But the church's parish, which once numbered in the tens of thousands, has waned over the years, and when Reverend Frank Phillips was appointed pastor in 1988 he found a church in neglect and extreme disrepair.

Over the ensuing years Rev. Phillips has led community efforts to renovate the church and restore it to its former glory. Recently the church replaced an aging, ineffective sound system dating back many decades, installing an Iconyx IC16-R digitally steerable array system from Renkus-Heinz. As Erik Saari of Wheaton, IL-based Sound Planning Associates explains, the Iconyx system brought much-needed improved intelligibility to the sanctuary.

"Like many older sanctuarie

Ukraine - Star Factory, the hit talent show on Ukrainian television, is shining brighter than ever in its fourth season thanks to a complement of Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures. Adapted from the French series, Star Academy, the Ukraine version (Fabrika Zvezd) features 16 contestants who live together in a penthouse apartment and showcase their talents in a weekly elimination-match concert. The productions are full-blown with stage design and lighting, dancers and participation by some of the country's most popular singers.

Maxim Balashov, technical director, leading lighting designer and one of the founders of ALIGHT, selected Clay Paky Sharpys for season four of Star Factory which aims to raise the lighting design bar and put TV lighting on a par with the show's high-end video elements and production design.

"Our company always goes with the times,

USA - Technomad enables sustainable AV with a new partnership that brings solar technology to its already-green plastic loudspeaker manufacturing process. The move slices production costs up to 30 percent while reducing the company's carbon footprint - and introduces a revolutionary process to the professional audio and AV space., says the company.

Technomad has long been associated with sustainable manufacturing, producing durable, weatherproof MilSpec loudspeakers using recycled plastic. As a result, Technomad loudspeakers are often specified into AV projects with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements.

Technomad recently teamed up with LightManufacturing LLC, which developed a patent-pending method of moulding plastic with solar heat. The company's Solar Rotational Molding (SRM) systems eliminate greenhouse gasses associated with traditional rotat

In The Money - Country star Taylor Swift has beaten Adele and Lady Gaga to be named the highest-earning pop artist of 2011 by trade publication Billboard. The 22-year-old earned $35,719,902 (£22.7m) in 2011 from a combination of music sales, royalties and touring. U2 took second place with $32m (£20m) thanks to their 360 tour, seen by more than seven million people. Kenny Chesney came third, followed by last year's highest earner, Lady Gaga, while Adele came 10th. The British singer had the biggest-selling album of the year, but her earnings were affected by the cancellation of her North American tour for throat surgery.

Olympic Countdown - The London Olympics and Paralympics could boost West End box offices, according to a survey of theatre-goers. In the Whatsonstage.com poll of more than 32,000 theatre-goers, 70% said they would attend as much

Iceland - Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik is a keystone element in Iceland's bid to become a first-tier destination for both business meetings and arts events. Harpa expects to attract increased bookings with its striking architecture and cutting-edge AV systems - notably incorporating more than 160 Meyer Sound self-powered loudspeakers.

Harpa's crown jewel is the Eldborg hall, a resplendent new home for the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Icelandic Opera with a capacity of up to 1,800 seats. Designed by Artec Consultants of New York, the hall features an elaborate system of adaptable physical acoustics, which adjusts hall reverberation using moveable soft goods, overhead canopies, and doors to hidden reverberation chambers.

For amplified concerts, the hall relies on an equally adaptable Meyer Sound reinforcement system. Based on an initial design from

UK - RGB Communications is holding a two day new product showcase (21-22 March) to "demonstrate to its channel partners the full potential of the leading edge products its has recently added to its solution portfolio".

"We have always understood the importance of providing our channel partners with the highest levels of technical expertise and advice around which of our products best fit the individual requirements of their end user customers," explained Gordon Innocent, chairman, RGB Communications. "In today's tough economic climate this has become even more of a crucial tool in helping them to win more business."

Using RGB's demonstration suites the product showcase will highlight RGB's latest additions to its portfolio of which two, the Barco Image PRO-II an advanced all-in-one video processor and the Premier Mounts Ceiling Tile Projector Moun

UK - High House Production Park in Purfleet has been created to provide state-of-the-art facilities for practitioners in the creative and technical theatre industries. The Production Park is home to organisations including the Royal Opera House and the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural.

Recently, the Production Park launched their display of a series of sculptures across the 14-acre site. The sculptures on show have been supplied by the Cass Sculpture Foundation, a charitable organisation which aims to commission and display the very best contemporary outdoor sculptures. The pieces on show have been created by five international artists: Antony Gormley, Steven Gregory, Marcus Kleinfeld, Tim Morgan and Jilly Sutton.

For the launch event of the exhibition, the sculptures were lit by entertainment lighting specialist White Light. The project was delivered by White

UK - The extraordinary story of Susan Boyle is brought to life in I Dreamed A Dream, a new touring musical which boasts Susan's personal endorsement.

Stage Electrics is supplying a full video production for the tour, featuring a 6 x 5m high definition 6mm pixel pitch LED video screen that forms an upstage backdrop, as well as full video production.

The rig includes two Hothead cameras controlled by a Catalyst V4 media server, a Grand MA2 Lite console for programming, and the latest Grand MA 2 on PC command wing for show operation.

The tour is the second on which Stage Electrics has provided live video production for producer Michael Harrison Entertainment, along with video designer Jack James, the same creative team behind the highly-successful musical Chess, and lighting designer Ben Cracknell. Mark Sherwood is production manager for the tour, which opens at N

UK - Saville Audio Visual has recently taken delivery of two Roland VR-5 AV mixer & recorders, supplied by Cheshire based Visual Impact Northern. Gareth Lloyd, digital events services manager from Saville had seen the VR-5 in action at Broadcast Video Expo in 2011 and had recognised that the feature set would provide a solution not only for their own webcasting requirement, but also for one of the branches of Saville who needed a compact unit for live action camera relay work at smaller conferences.

The webcast VR-5 is being used primarily to feed the Mediasite webcasting platform from Sonic Foundry but Lloyd explained that they also use the USB out to PC function of the mixer regularly. Connecting a PC to the RGB connector of the VR-5 for various applications such as PowerPoint presentations, slide shows and movie playback enables them to be recorded directly to the VR-5.

&qu

UK - PRG has announced the opening of a new office in the heart of London's Covent Garden.

Serving clients in the theatre, television, concert touring, corporate and special event markets, this new location provides space for meetings, pre-production and even WYSIWYG, within a stone's throw from many of London's studios, theatres and venues.

The new office is open from this week and located at Sussex House, 143 Long Acre, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 9AD.

(Jim Evans)

USA - PLASA Focus: Nashville 2012 has launched with a new website and free online registration. The event will take place 11-12 July 2012 at the Municipal Auditorium, in Nashville, TN.

Nashville is the latest event to be launched under the PLASA Focus banner, and follows the hugely successful PLASA Focus: Austin, held in February of this year. The current series of North American regional events are modelled after PLASA Focus: Leeds (UK), which, in its third year, topped 2500 attendees.

PLASA Focus: Nashville 2012 will bring regional entertainment technology communities together to do business and network in a relaxed and friendly setting. While regional exhibitors and visitors are set to benefit from the new event, PLASA Focus: Nashville will also give those involved the opportunity to mix with a wider audience than has ever been possible before as PLASA Focus: Nashville will

The Netherlands - In response to higher-than-expected demand from its exhibitor community, Integrated Systems Events has announced the addition of further space to the footprint of ISE 2013. Following a rebooking process that has resulted in more space than ever being reserved for the next Integrated Systems Europe, the show's organisers have decided to make a part of Hall 8 of the Amsterdam RAI available to both new and existing exhibitors.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly," comments Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events. "However, the response from exhibitors to our 2012 show has been overwhelmingly positive and, in the end, we felt we had no option but to expand our footprint for 2013.

"This extra space will allow us to accommodate those 2012 exhibitors who have not yet rebooked for next year, as well as new companies w

Australia - The Performance Centre at Matthew Flinders Anglican College in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast opened in November 2011 with a series of College events staged to celebrate completion of the new facility at the College.

Designed by Dimond Architects, built by Integral Constructions and project managed by MFAC project manager Ken Sutherland, the new Performance Centre building links to an existing Music and Drama centre to provide a truly flexible theatre that can operate in several modes to suit a variety of College requirements.

To achieve the configurations required by the College, theatre consultant Richard Stuart used a flexible flat floor model for the theatre design with the ability to have auditorium and stage at the one level with an orchestra lift that can be also used at auditorium level and with retractable seating units that store on the rear wall of the au

USA - W-DMX by Wireless Solution Sweden played a key role at Super Bowl XLVI, where Indianapolis transformed the heart of downtown into Super Bowl Village, a ten-day, three-block interactive festival of football. The Village entertained hundreds of thousands of visitors with live concerts, food and beverages, an ESPN Broadcast Studio, and even ziplines running down the main street.

Dodd Technologies of Pendleton, Indiana created a dazzling lighting design for the Village, using W-DMX by Wireless Solution to send a flawless signal to 134 Elation Platinum Beams with W-DMX cards built in. Nine W-DMX Pro Box F2500 sent signals with directional antennas.

Ninety-six of the Platinum Beams were spread out across three city blocks. At the beginning and end of each block there was a W-DMX transmitter, six in total. Each transmitter broadcast to half a block worth of lights and was fed w

UAE - PALME Middle East will demonstrate just how far production lighting has come in the Middle East when the three-day show gets underway at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre (DICEC) on 1 May, say the organisers.

The GCC region's longest-running trade convention for sound, lighting and AV professionals is expected to pack a serious visual punch as industry heavyweights, including Clay Paky, Robe and Martin Professional host dynamic theatres in an attempt to consolidate market share in the region.

Rudolph Anand, sales manager for the Informa exhibition, emphasises the significant upturn in the lighting sector this year, with TechnoPro (the PR Lighting distributors) taking a massive stand measuring around 1000sq.m. "PALME is experiencing an enormous amount of interest from lighting companies, and of course we also have LOBO once again presenting their

The Netherlands - In response to higher-than-expected demand from its exhibitor community, Integrated Systems Events has announced the addition of further space to the footprint of ISE 2013. Following a rebooking process that has resulted in more space than ever being reserved for the next Integrated Systems Europe, the show's organisers have decided to make a part of Hall 8 of the Amsterdam RAI available to both new and existing exhibitors.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly," comments Mike Blackman, managing director, Integrated Systems Events. "However, the response from exhibitors to our 2012 show has been overwhelmingly positive and, in the end, we felt we had no option but to expand our footprint for 2013.

"This extra space will allow us to accommodate those 2012 exhibitors who have not yet rebooked for next year, as well as new companies w

The Netherlands - Dutch supply, hire and installation company Lichtpunt Theatertechniek recently completed an impressive installation with Visual Productions' CueCore at the Drents Museum in North East of Netherlands. For a number of years Lichtpunt have provided lighting to the museum, so when Drents Museum approached them for a new project that would evolve around the world famous Yde Girl they were delighted with the opportunity.

Yde Girl died between 54 BC and 128 AD at an approximate age of 16 years and her body was remarkably well preserved in the peat bogs near Yde in the Netherlands. Drents Museum's new Yde Girl drama is an interactive exhibit with sound, lights & projections used to illustrate the story of this girls life all those years ago. The museum needed the installation to run automatically and be low maintenance and energy efficient. The Project Manager from Lic

UK - The University of Leicester has completely redeveloped one of its primary conference facilities in the Oadby Student Village, transforming Gilbert Murray Hall into a state-of-the-art conference venue. This comprises a large central space, four seminar and break out rooms and a hospitality area.

Tasked with designing a versatile AV infrastructure that would broaden its appeal to external companies, Quadrant Visual Solutions turned to a Harman Professional solution after winning the contract, supported by UK distributor Sound Technology.

With Ben Todd of Sound Technology's project team providing EASE modelling of the space, a system design was proposed to provide highly efficient coverage and to fulfil the technical requirement for the room to be used in two orientations (landscape and portrait format) for audio and visual projection.

On the side wall Quadrant installed t

Bahrain - With Path of Pearls, a musical production that wove Bahrain's heritage with its modern underpinnings Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012 was officially launched.

The event was held at the sea front of the Bahrain National Museum. Lighting designer Luc Peumans from Painting with Light, Belgium, specified one grandMA2 full-size, one grandMA2 light along with two MA NPU (Network Processing Unit) for the show.

For the musical, a large orchestra, 100 dancers plus nine aerial artists performed on a multilevel stage. The show used the largest low-res LED screen (300sqm) ever used in the region.

Eclipse Staging Services from Dubai supplied all the lighting and video equipment.

(Jim Evans)

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