UK - black light has played a pivotal role in bringing over 10,500 visitors into the Perthshire Big Tree Country, by designing and building a spectacular lighting and video installation for the annual Enchanted Forest project.

For seventeen consecutive nights in late October and early November, visitors enjoyed the spectacle, with black light's work recognised by an interview on prime time BBC news programme Reporting Scotland.

Several different areas of woodland were looked at as potential venues by landowner the Forestry Commission. Faskally Wood, near Pitlochry, was chosen after consultation with black light project manager Paul McGreal about the creative possibilities it offered. "The site surrounds a small loch, so there was a lot of potential for using the water as a canvas," says McGreal. "It meant visitors would see the various installation

USA - FocusTrack, the new database system for tracking and documenting the use of moving lights for theatrical productions, recently made its Broadway debut with the New York production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White. The show is previewing at the Marquis Theatre; its opening night is scheduled for 17 November.

FocusTrack was specified for the production by the show's lighting programmer, Vic Smerdon, who had successfully used FocusTrack to document the intricate moving light focuses on the show's London production. For New York, lighting designer Paul Pyant and his associate, David Howe, had adapted and expanded the rig, substituting new types of lights for some of the units used in London; the London FocusTrack allowed the team to match the focuses of the new units as well as providing all of the information needed to refocus the rig in New York.

FocusTra

USA - Martin Professional will use LDI in Orlando to give a world premiere to three new products - a prototype version of the MAC TW1, an advanced tungsten wash fixture; Maxxyz PC, a computer based version of the popular Maxxyz console; and BigLite Xenon fixtures, high powered single arm moving heads.

Other new lighting, sound and fog effects on display will be the MAC 700 Profile; Stage Cyclo; MAC 250 Wash; updated versions of Maxxyz and the Maxedia Digital Media Composer; new Mania series lights; a new fan and multi-headed fog system from Jem smoke, plus a new subwoofer from Mach speakers.

The new MAC TW1 is a 1200W tungsten wash fixture that "brings to the stage features and patent pending technology to equip the lighting designer with the broadest possibility of effects, colours and design". A twin lens zoom system, full CMY colour mixing and choice of internal o

Czech Republic - The LEDBlinder 196 LT (launched at Frankfurt this year) and the 4-lite version LEDBlinder148 which debuted at PLASA 2005, will be Robe's main new product focus at LDI. The 196 and 148 units are the brand's first entertainment based LED products. Both of these high-impact units are fitted into the industry-standard 8-lite and 4-lite casings.

LEDBlinder 196 is an LED version of the poplar 8-lite Molefey, a staple of the rock 'n' roll world, featuring 8 LED modules, each with 12 high power Luxeon RGB LEDs. Each two or four pairs of the 4 or 8-lite modules are separately controllable for additional effects and flexibility. This product is aimed at all stage lighting markets and television productions as well as arenas and venue installations of all sizes. Robe says that they are also particularly relevant for environments were space is tight, as the units emit virtu

USA - A.C. Lighting is set to stage several major new product launches at LDI, alongside displays of its extensive inventory of entertainment technology brands. Chroma-Q will launch its Color Web - a modular, transparent LED matrix. The low cost 3' 3" square (1sq.m) panels provide 16 individually addressable colour mixing LED cells with a pitch of 10" (250mm), clip together easily on all four sides and can also be joined over distances for complete control of the display area shape and size.

Chroma-Q will also unveil its new Plus colour changer - the successor to the Original which combines its core features with new electronic features, increased capacity and other enhancements to provide greater flexibility and usability from the same low cost unit. The manufacturer's Color Block multipurpose LED fixture will also be on display with its full range of mounting options

UK - Blackburn-based HSL supplied full lighting production and all lighting and video rigging for the recent Happy Mondays tour. This culminated in a massive sold-out late night show in Manchester Evening News Arena, taking the Madchester dance gurus back to their clubbing roots.

Lighting designer was Andy Liddle, who last designed for the Mondays back in the mid-eighties when they were supporting New Order. He was asked onboard to do these shows by tour manager Neil Mather. The tour was project managed for HSL by Mike Oates.

Liddle designed an adaptable rig based on four upstage/downstage 'fingers' of truss which were assembled in 10ft modules. This was for easy break down and installation into the smaller venues, whist still retaining the look and aesthetics of the stage. The fingers were raked with the upstage ends lower and the downstage ends higher points. At Manchester t

UK - JTE's new PixelEights are rocking the streets of London as part of an exciting new window display at the Levi's Flagship Store in Regent Street. The rock & roll set is being used to promote the Levi's Ones to Watch 2005 Tour campaign that supports a number of new bands on a tour across the UK in December.

In conjunction with Levi's, communications agency Logistik created and installed a window concept, recreating the atmosphere and excitement of the Barfly venue in Camden using brick walls, backline, sound system and lighting rig.

Logistik's project director, Attila Keskin explains, "I wanted to add some pizzazz to the generic par rig - something that would really wow the people in the street! The PixelEights were recommended by PRG and as I had used PixelLine 1044s in the windows last year I was confident the fixtures would provide another dimension to the di

UK - Sir Steve Redgrave is to flick the switch at 6pm on Sunday, November 20 - triggering a spectacular pyrotechnic display and more than four miles of lights across the city of Liverpool.

The five-time Olympic Gold Medallist will be joined at St George's Plateau with Everton FC's Australian ace Tim Cahill and Liverpool FC's Norwegian star John Arne Risse. Ex-Atomic Kitten singer Liz McLarnon, who tops a live music bill including X-Factor finalist Tabby, will also join them at the hour long show.

Professor Drummond Bone, Chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company, said: ''This year's switch-on will be a stunning show and is a celebration of the many successes for the city this year - not least by our two football clubs. It's fantastic that we are also ending our culture themed year Sea Liverpool, with one of the greatest watersports legends - Sir Steve Redgrave.''

The Liverpo

UK - Stage Electrics is now supplying ice rinks as well as more traditional lighting and sound kit they are known for providing. The company has become the sole UK distributor for the Dutch company Ice World, providing rinks and boots throughout the UK.

Stage Electrics is providing the ice and infrastructure, including lighting and PA equipment for venues ranging from shopping malls to parks across the UK. A more unusual location for one of the rinks is on the first floor of a shopping centre in London's Victoria.

Stage Electrics' production manager Andy Loveday last week led the team which tested the first rink to be delivered from Holland. Working in partnership with Aggreko who provide the chilling equipment, a 30m x 10m rink was constructed in an empty warehouse close to the company's branch in Avonmouth, Bristol. "It's been a new experience for us," he said, &qu

UK- Trafalgar Square 200 'The Spirit of Nelson' show was authored and created by production company Innovision and staged in London's most famous Square in front of 10,000 people. The hour-long live show celebrated the Royal Navy's role at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and at other crucial points in the history of Britain.

Innovision called in the services of leading production industry companies, including large format projection specialist E/T/C UK and rigging specialist Summit Steel. Durham Marenghi came on board as lighting designer.Projection was beamed onto a special retractable 'sail' made from Sunbaba's Austronet 204FR fabric, and rigged onto the centre of three masts depicting a symbolic version of Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.

The PIGI 6kW projector (complete with 'hot' backup) was located in a specially built hide, with a 17m throw distance, and fitted with a Ba

UK - A.C. Lighting's Special Projects Division has supplied and programmed fixtures for the new Portsmouth Spinnaker Tower, which opened this Autumn.

The 170m tower is the UK's tallest publicly accessible building outside of London and offers visitors a unique 'window on the sea' from its three observation decks. Forming the focal point of the Portsmouth Harbour Renaissance Project, the tower is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the area every year.

Main construction contractor Mowlem plc engaged Mark Hensman of Equation Lighting to create the exterior lighting design, which features two distinct elements: the white light projected onto the rear concrete legs andthe lower shaft below the cruciform to the front, and the dynamic coloured light projected within the arcs and to the front of the main spire.

Following a competitive tender, A.C.'s Special Projects Divisi

UK - Lumidrives has launched Colourdriver RF, a new low cost, simple to use, remote control lighting controller for LEDs. Colourdriver RF makes the creation of dynamic lighting effects, dimming and colour changing for example, as simple as installing ordinary light fixtures, claims the manufacturer.

Colourdriver RF is an intelligent driver system which is controlled by a radio remote control. It can be simply plugged into the mains, making the selection and control of light effects as easy as operating a CD player. Its entry level cost also means it has potential for use where current control systems would not be practical.

Radio remote control removes the need for control cables and means Colourdriver RF can be retrofitted to existing lighting installation or even integrated with track lighting systems.

Gordon Routledge managing director at Lumidrives says, "Colourdriv

UK - The Stage Electrics Plymouth production team rose to the challenge of lighting the historic Royal Albert Bridge which runs across the River Tamar near Saltash for a high profile photo shoot.

The structure was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859) and designed to carry the Cornwall Railway at a height of 100 feet across the water. It was opened in May 1859 and measures 2,187ft in length.

The bridge was lit using 24 Arena Visions and 16 Opti Visions, the resulting picture will be used as a background shot in the new ITV1 West Country Regional Newsroom during the early evening broadcast.

Stage Electrics also supplied equipment to light the studio set including Pulsar Chromaflood Pars and Strand Bambinos. During the studio refurbishment works the company helped to keep the show on the road by building a temporary set and providing studio lighting.

(Jim Evans)

USA- A recent US patent application by Color Kinetics (20050036300 - Methods and systems for illuminating household products) covers the incorporation of a processor-driven lighting apparatus for lighting, well, all kinds of household products. Or as many as they could think of, anyway.

According to Claim 6, the 'household product' might be a fluid, such as "water, ammonia, bleach, window cleaner, insect repellant, insect killer, lotion, soap, liquid soap, kitchen cleaner, bathroom cleaner, shaving gel, cleaning fluid, lighter fluid, furniture polish, wood treatment, paint, primer, drain cleaner, disinfectant, room deodorizer, carpet deodorizer, room scent, perfume, cologne, shaving foam, toilet cleaner, aerosol, skin care fluid, suntan lotion, shampoo, surface cleaner, and liquid wax."

The household product might also be an object, says Claim 8, such as "

UK - HRH Princess Alexandra officially opened the a new £1.75m Sports Hall and Performing Arts Centre at Coombe Girls School in New Malden last month, featuring separate dedicated spaces for sports, music technology, drama and recital.

Stuart Graham's fast-expanding company, Clarity in Sound, Light & Vision, has done much in the past year to bring high production values into the educational sector; their £70,000 sound, lighting and projection design and fit for Coombe Girls School was based on industry standard devices.

With a roll of 1,500 students (including 500 attending Sixth Form College) Coombe is one of the largest facilities of this kind in the country, with an excellent reputation for drama and music. Graham realized that the facilities would be heavily used, so durability and reliability were major considerations. Wherever possible, he turned to Denon's s

UK - Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, UK, have a history spanning 50,000 years and are home to many mysteries including the legendary Witch of Wookey, who is said to have lived during King Arthur's reign and to still haunt the caves to this day.

To add mystique to these suggestive surrounds, the in-house technical team decided to add atmospheric lighting in some of the underground chambers. This would have to withstand unique conditions, as the caves have a high humidity factor and are at a constant temperature of 11ºC. Gordon Smith, Wookey Hole Caves' head of technical operations, explains: "Previous lighting systems had perished in such an environment, so we needed to be certain we were installing something that lasted."

Smith decided Tryka L.E.D luminaires were the answer. A total of 14 Strip Modules IP68 in different lengths, 9 Module 36s IP68 with 25º optics and

UK - PRG Europe was contracted by Michael Hurll TV (MHTV), part of the Unique Communications Group, to provide lighting and projection solutions for ITV's 50th birthday celebrations.

With four London sites to service over a three day period, which included an outside broadcast location on HMS President, ITV's South Bank Studio 1 and Covent Garden's Avenue of the Stars, MHTV felt it needed a one stop shop to successfully coordinate the large format projection, lighting and power distribution, plus rigging and staging the entire event. Croydon-based project manager Loz Wilcox took responsibility for the projection needs, while John McEvoy from PRG Europe's Greenford branch looked after lighting for each of the locations.

As part of the celebrations, ITV unveiled its spectacular Avenue of the Stars in London's Covent Garden. A host of press and celebrity guests looked on as 100 s

USA - Look Solutions unveiled the prototype of its new Low Fogger on the Look Solutions Booth at this year's ETS-LDI trade show in Orlando.

The Low Fogger consists of a 2,000W fog machine and chilling chamber in a single, compact, roadworthy housing. The unit housing measures just 20 inches x 20 inches x 12 inches. An external dewar of liquid carbon dioxide is required to cool the fog from the Low Fogger.

"This is a great new addition to the Look Solutions range," remarked Nathan Kahn of Look Solutions USA. "Low fog is so much more convenient to use than dry ice - even after factoring in the dewar of CO2. This is an exciting new arena for us and we are looking forward to seeing what people think of the Low Fogger."

(Jim Evans)

USA - Chauvet has released the Q-Series, a range of competitively priced yet advanced intelligent fixtures designed primarily for nightclubs of all sizes and elite DJs.

"The Q-Series™ strives to bring together cutting-edge features and the value, innovation and performance you have come to expect from Chauvet," said product development manager Barry Abrams.

Featuring a consistent design and library of gobos and colors, Q-Series allows users to mix and match units across the line and still maintain a consistent look using a variety of fixtures and effects.

The initial product launch encompasses four moving yoke spot fixtures, one moving yoke wash fixture and four scanners. All nine feature a dimmer/shutter/strobe channel, speed control of pan and tilt, bi-directional colour scroll, reset via DMX, quality built in programmes, and efficient fan cooling.

(Jim Ev

UK - Avolites and dAFTdATA have supplied Huddersfield-based KD Decoratives with a bespoke wireless solution based on the Avolites eDMX system, to control the Festive Lights installation at Manchester's Trafford Centre.

The million pound installation, which includes festive reindeers and lights, spans the entire 600 metre length of the Centre. The wireless control system allows individual control of over 200 DFX's LED fixtures.A series of 30 "drop poles" are suspended from the centre's glass roof void, each pole mounted with between 5 and 15 LED fixtures.

A dAFTdATA HILDA opencase card with external antenna is mounted at the top of each pole. This handles the network selection, monitoring and data processing wirelessly to over 200 LED controllers, so the complete LED system is thus controlled - wirelessly - from one central location.

Based on WiFi technology the cus

Australia - Melbourne's lighting fraternity flocked to the opening of Show Technology's Melbourne based office last week. Show Technology is Martin Professional's sole distributor in Australia. The new location, which follows a successful Perth office opening in early 2004, will strategically place Show Technology closer to one of Australia's most important growth markets.

Show Technology managing director, Emmanuel Ziino, comments, "The market is as dynamic as ever, and as the market leader we strive to meet its needs. After years of being solely based in Sydney, the opening of our new regional offices give us several benefits - a greater reach, a greater degree of flexibility and speed, and better market feedback for example. But most importantly it gives us an improved level of market contact and allows us to better serve our customers."

The new Melbourne office w

UK - Wrap & Roll is a new sandwich shop with a difference in Cardiff city centre. Owner Dylan Reardon-Smith wanted it to stand out from the crowd in other ways apart from its reputation for serving quality food, and so he asked Chepstow-based architectural and feature lighting specialists I-Vision to design an eye-catching lighting scheme.

I-Vision's Dave Mackay undertook the task enthusiastically, "It was a great concept in a great location" he says. The venue also features the work of local and international artists, notably some specially commissioned pieces by Robert David, currently famous for his distinctive 'bar code' style.

The seated area has a wall and floor finished in polished concrete which was "just asking" to be lit explains Mackay. To add atmosphere in here, he has employed seven Lumos 3 LED down-lighters complete with 6 degree lenses, ensco

UK - This summer the Chemical Brothers toured the European Festival Circuit and for the second year running LM Productions supplied laser effects to enhance their performance. LM supplied three 5 watt DPSS green lasers which were all controlled via DMX through a lighting desk. One laser was fixed under the bands set and the remaining two lasers positioned either side of the stage all creating atmospheric beam effects co-ordinated with the music. The band will be performing at a host of UK venues this December before they take a year out in 2006 to record the next album.

Wild Fruit took its legendary club night to Preston Park in Brighton for the annual Pride celebrations. LM provided two DPSS green laser systems producing high impact beams effects became the focal point for 5,000 clubbers inside the Wild Fruit Big Top tent.

For the Top Shop & Dorothy Perkins Fashion Show, Lond

UK - Large format projection specialists E//T//C UK covered the 323 ft high Shell Centre on London's South Bank with giant projected poppies for Remembrance Day 2005.

E//T//C was working for media and production company The Bank, who produced the event for Shell UK. It's the fourth year running that E//T//C UK has illuminated this prime site with high impact projections for the event.

The 26 storey building - once the tallest in the UK - was covered by eight 6 kW PIGI projectors that were sited 100 metres away on the edge of Queen's Walkway (the corresponding riverside path), housed in a curtain-sider truck. Six of the projectors, complete with double scrollers running vertically, produced the poppies, three targeted at the top half of the tower and three at the bottom.

The stunning red on turquoise background images were overlaid to maximise brightness, and were scrolled to

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