USA - XFC, the newest form of Mixed Marshal Art has tapped Bandit Lites to provide the illumination for their PPV events. XFC is broadcast on HD NET.

Bandit VP Michael Golden works with XFC production manager Kenn Bradley to deliver the event production. Lighting designer John Lucksinger brings the violent vision to life with an octagonal truss grid to mimic the cage below.

PARs, MAC 600's, Atomic Strobes and other equipment all driven by a Hog 2 console provide the gritty crunch the event demands and Bandit delivers.

(Jim Evans)

Israel - Long-life LED luminaires in hard-to-reach recesses are providing a special viewing experience at the new Yitzhak Rabin Museum in Tel Aviv and minimising disruption to visitors from unplanned maintenance. The vision to create small, almost invisible light sources that wouldn't detract from the artifacts, was accomplished by embedding Luxeon LED based lighting solutions in walls, the floors and awkward spaces where conventional light sources wouldn't be practical.

Two luminaires manufactured by D-LED, the D-Spot and Nano, were specified for the project. Each uses Luxeon K2 LEDs driven at 700 mA to achieve the light output and lumen maintenance required for the application. D-LEDs experience with SSL solutions coupled with engineering expertise and support from Future Lighting Solutions enabled to project to come to fruition and for the museum to create a special experienc

UK - Due to popular demand, Lee Filters has now made its Lee Swatchball available as a free download from the Lee Filters website.

The company says: "The Lee Swatchball is a unique three-dimensional way of viewing and comparing all the colours in the Lee range. It has proved to be a very popular tool with lighting designers and following numerous requests for a stand-alone version, it is now available as a free download. This means that you can now enjoy and use all the functionality of the Swatchball without having to be on-line."

(Lee Baldock)

USA - ETC's flagship lighting control system, Eos was in control at the recent Golden Globes and Academy Awards shine brighter.

For the 2009 Golden Globes, an Eos lighting desk, along with a 2x20 ETC Universal Fader Wing controlled all of the conventional and practical lights. Board programmer Gil Samuelian built the entire cue and submaster contents in Blind and was then able to modify the lighting smoothly during rehearsals before the show. Once it came time to stage the whole show, everything went efficiently with Eos. Samuelian especially appreciated the 'About' function: "It's one of my favourite tools. I can quickly see exactly what is influencing the current output and it gives me detailed information on a selected target. It takes out the guesswork."

An Eos control desk also controlled 700 channels of conventional dimming and hazers, as well as house, archite

Australia - LSC Lighting Systems has released what is claimed to be the world's first field-upgradeable data splitter. The MDR range of DMX512-A based splitters can be upgraded with RDM functionality, wireless DMX receivers, Powercon input power connector or a hook clamp mounting brackets for the portable model.

A DMX splitter, being in the centre of any RDM network, must be RDM enabled. The MDR offers the possibility of adding an RDM module now or purchasing it as an upgrade at a later stage.

Likewise, wireless DMX512 modules can be fitted to the MDR splitters and both popular brands, W-DMX from Wireless Solutions and City Theatrical's SHoW-DMX are catered for. The wireless DMX512 module can work as the sole DMX512 input source for the splitter or as a back-up source to the cable input. In this scenario, if there is a failure of the cable DMX512 input, the MDR splitter has an

UK - Vaughan Sound Installations (VSI) was asked to provide specialist lighting, AV and audio consultancy, design and specification services for the performance facilities at the newly built Queen Elizabeth School in Johnstown, Carmarthen, Wales.

VSI worked directly with the electrical contractors Whitehead Building Services who undertook the installation, working for main contractor Carillion. WBS's project director was Steve Jones and VSI's project managers were Keith Fish and Tony Morruzzi. Keith Fish designed the systems after receiving an outline brief of the requirements from project consultants, Hoare Lea.

Three new areas have been created in the project - the Performance Hall, the Assembly Hall and the Drama Studio, each of which needed well thought-out stage lighting, AV and sound systems to accommodate a wide range of uses, events and performances.

VSI has consider

UK - As the year unfolds in Europe Bandit Lites reports that it is very busy with a variety of major projects. Lester Cobrin and the team in Bedford are working overtime to meet the demands.

George Thorogood is out with Ron Norvell at the helm as LD, tour manager Adam Conde and production manager Jeff Pitt. They are carrying VL2500s, Studio Beams, DL2's, a Hog 3, Colorado 3's, Pixel Micros, Color Blocks and Lycian spots.

Peter Barnes is designing Capital FM's Summertime Ball and uses MAC 2000 wash and spots, Hog 3 console, Gladiator 3K spots and Stadium Hazers as part of his kit. Steve Levitt from Production North is producing the event and Bandit is the supplier.

Simon Tutchener has two separate upcoming projects with Bandit. B.B. King and John Mayall have teamed up for a dynamic outing with a system comprising of MAC 2000 washes and spots, grandMA consoles and Lycian 1290

Russia - The recent Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most-watched television productions in the world, with estimates of some 200 million viewers. When Russia won Eurovision in Belgrade, Serbia last year, Russian show producers were immediately driven to make the 2009 production in Moscow the biggest and most breathtaking in Eurovision history.

The equipment list for the show an astounding 2,000sq.m of scenic LED and a long list of lighting fixtures, including 72 PRG Bad Boy luminaries, first seen at PLASA 2008 in London last autumn. Since the fixture hit the shelves at the beginning of this year, it has been seen on major tours from Oasis to Britney Spears and on television from the Grammy Awards to The Celebrity Apprentice, but in the words of Eurovision production manager Ola Melzig: "We got 72 - eat our dust!"

Two Virtuoso consoles controlled all of the stag

Turkey - Wireless Solution Sweden AB recently played a major role in the transformation of Genclik Park, a centrally located park in Ankara, once known for run-down restaurants and dingy atmosphere into a safe haven of light, colour and imagination in the capital's city centre.

Lighting designer Duilio Passariello approached this project in 2006 with a brief from the city mayor to transform the site from a dark, uninviting space to one that left visitors with a positive and lasting impression. He turned to Istanbul Telesine and Philips Turkey, who supplied the project with an array of equipment including 165 Martin Exterior 600 outdoor wash lights, 120 Martin Inground uplights, 120 Seasplash LED fixtures for underwater lighting and over 430 ColorBlast LED fixtures accenting the trees surrounding the park.

The fixtures were spread over 12 universes with distances up to 2.2k fro

UK - The extensive LED lighting range from Leeds-based manufacturer, Fibre Optic Systems (FOS), has rebranded as Diva. In-house custom manufacturing ensures this UK-built range suits individual needs and requirements and meets close and rapid deadlines - with full service support from the friendly FOS team, says the company.

The Diva range features either Cree or Luxeon LEDs with a spot or a wash lens, and all DMX control is manufactured in the UK. All fittings are available as RGB colour change, single colour or intelligent white, the company says.

The FOS Diva range provided the complete LED lighting requirement within the recent refurbishment of Leeds' Alea Casino, owned by London Clubs international. Supplied by LiteTask, the design specification and installation was carried out by Cannock Electrical. Cannock's Lee Garbutt commented: "The Diva range was recommended by

USA - LEDtronics has announces the latest addition to its series of high-power PAR30-style LED spotlight bulbs. The white-body, medium-beam PAR30 LED bulb is made up of five 3W LEDs and replaces filament-based PAR30 bulbs, combining advanced LED technologies, standard 26mm Edison screw-in base and light optimising design, producing 337 lumens of vivid warm-white light.

The 25-degree-beam PAR30A LED bulb runs on a voltage range of 85V to 260V AC current, and thus can be used anywhere in the world, says the company. Other voltages like 12V AC or DC are optionally available for qualifying customers. The LEDtronics PAR30A-style lamp is a direct screw-in replacement for 50W to 75W PAR30 incandescent or halogen bulbs, but typically has a maximum power draw of only 8.5W.

Designed for customers requiring the highest levels of brightness and efficacy, the new white-body PAR30A bulb has

South Africa - Robe moving lights were specified by lighting designer Robert Hoey for the 2009 South African Music Awards (SAMA), staged at the Sun City Superbowl in front of a live audience of 5000 and broadcast live on SABC1. The high profile show that honours the best of South African music was produced by Blue Moon and directed by David Bloch, with Strike Productions co-ordinating all the technical requirements.

The eye-catching set was designed by James McNamara and contained gold and silver surfaces and texturing. Hoey took this as his creative starting point and designed an equally attractive lighting show based on asymmetry to match the set. He utilised Robe ColorWash and ColorSpot 700E ATs and ColorWash 2500E ATs. These formed the core of the rig. "They worked really hard providing lots of wow factors and a wide variety of looks," says Hoey.

The Robes were h

Singapore - An extensive ADB Lighting control and dimming system, along with 12 ADB WARP Zoom Profile Spotlights, has been installed at the heart of the lighting rig at the recently-opened Genexis Theatre at Fusionopolis in Singapore.

The iconic Fusionopolis research and development complex houses an array of research organisations, high-tech companies, government agencies, retail outlets, and serviced apartments in one location. Planned by Zaha Hadid, designed by Kisho Kurokawa and developed by the JTC Corporation, Fusionopolis's Phase One contains 120,000sq.m of space, with the egg-shaped, 572-seat Genexis Theatre suspended between three multi-storey towers.

ADB's Singapore distributor, Audio Light Asia, supplied the lighting systems, for which a major requirement was flexibility to cover the many potential configurations of the multi-purpose space. Access to the lighting ri

Italy - On 8 May, a large delegation from the British association of directors of photography (STLD) visited the Italian Public television (RAI) studios, for an interesting exchange of experiences with the company management and their professional counterparts.

The STLD (Society of Television Lighting and Design) visit was made possible by Clay Paky, which has been profitably working for years with the British association and, most recently, has partnered with it in organising the annual competition called The Clay Paky Knight of Illumination. The competition gives awards to the best British LDs in the TV, theatre and live event sectors.

The professional relationship between Clay Paky and RAI is equally well consolidated. It is based on mutual respect that has built up over the years, during which the Bergamo-based company has supplied RAI with the most modern TV studio

UK - Lighting designer Kevin Adams put MA Lighting's grandMA consoles to extensive use at the Al Hirschfeld Theater when Hair reappeared on Broadway.

The production, which the New York Times called "an emotionally rich revival," is innovative from a lighting perspective because the team chose to program the conventional lights, automated lights and LEDs from a single platform, the grandMA console. This enabled the production team to have fewer consoles on site during set up and rehearsals and allowed the programmers to work on any console at any time while always having specific access to their part of the rig.

"We decided to run the whole show off the grandMA for two reasons," says Aaron Sporer, Hair's associate lighting designer. "It was more cost-effective than renting two moving light consoles and a conventional light console. And by

USA - The surviving members of The Grateful Dead have just completed their first tour in almost five years. The space themed lighting design - featured 108 rectangular PixelArc compact wash luminaires and 21 PixelLine 110 wash battens. The six-piece, which now calls itself simply The Dead - hit the road in April, playing 19 shows across 16 cities across the USA.

Lighting designer Dan English has worked with the band on and off since 1982. Over the decades, English has experienced the evolution of rock and roll lighting and toured with many pioneering fixtures. The Dead are famous for their psychedelic shows and their lighting rigs have continuously boasted the latest technology.

English reports, "The band wanted a space theme. This tour was scheduled for arenas selling 360° - so the entire scenic concept was limited to the overhead lighting rig. The design had to offe

UK - The new musical production of Oscar winning Australian movie The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert at London's Palace Theatre has a grandMA full-size console controlling the moving lighting rig.

The show's lighting design has been created by Nick Schlieper, and the stage adaptation, Priscilla Queen of the Desert - The Musical was initially premiered at the Star Casino in Sydney in late 2006. From there, it toured Australia and New Zealand before coming to London, where it is being produced by Back Row Productions and the Really Useful Group (RUG).

Lighting equipment is being supplied by PRG, and freelance programmer Stuart Porter was asked by RUG to programme the moving and intelligent lighting components on to a grandMA. Porter has a wealth of experience and many West End productions under his belt, however this is the first time he's programmed

UK/France - Rosco has announced that it has acquired Paris-based GobosFactory. Joanna Shapley, France development manager at Rosco says: "We believe in investing when times are tough. This is an excellent move on our part, in the right place at the right time. It is a perfect match to enhance synergies and values for both companies."

Rosco and GobosFactory have united their efforts and resources and, combined with its existing market share for custom gobos in France, this acquisition now gives Rosco a solid position in the French gobo-market.

GobosFactory are the French market leaders for custom gobos. Their manufacturing capabilities will now be expanded with Rosco's worldwide production processes. With the high demands of the live events- and television market, Rosco/GobosFactory are well equipped to meet these high-quality demands and significantly reduce delays f

UK - Nick Edwards, formerly of PRG Europe, has taken up a new post as project manager at Panalux, where he will be working in the Broadcast and Events Division, alongside Ed Pagett and Simon Roose.

Edwards began as a service technician for installation company Design Intervention in 2000. In 2002 he joined VLPS (PRG Lighting) at Greenford and went on to serve as a senior Vari-Lite technician working on site across the UK, Europe and the Middle East. His experience has included theatre, corporate events, television and concert touring, with highlights including the MTV Europe Awards, The Brits, The Baftas, Live Earth, The Royal Variety Performance and most recently the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow.

At Panalux, Edwards will be project managing a wide range of shows for the Broadcast & Event Division's growing portfolio of clients including studio-based and outside broa

UK - HSL supplied moving and digital lights plus LED elements to the latest series of 0 ond 1, a Welsh language travel quiz show produced by Boomerang for S4C. The rig was specified by lighting designer Martyn Rourke and the eight shows were recorded in a week at Omni Studios near Cardiff.

Rourke's rig included 30 Robe ColorWash 700E AT and four Vari*Lite VL 3000 Spot moving lights, CK iColor Tiles, ColorWeb LED panels and SoftLED cloths as well as 30 ETC Source Fours, i-Pix BB7s, JTE Pixel PARs, trussing and lighting control - all supplied by HSL.

HSL won the tender to supply the kit, and Rourke comments: "They offered all the kit at the best price - and along with that came the great HSL service as always". The account was handled by HSL's TV specialist, Sean McGlone.

The show was shot on a 360 degree set designed by Sid Scott. The 12 initial contestants w

UK - At the ABTT Show (Horticultural Halls, London, 10-11 June 2009), Avolites will show the new ART PowerCube Dimmer along with the powerful Pearl Expert Titan and the Tiger Lighting consoles.

Based on the proven technology of the ART 2000 Touring range, the ART PowerCube features 12 Dimmer circuits, six combined Dimmer and fixed mains circuits, six dedicated fixed mains and two 16A utility circuits, all contained in a compact flightcase that can be lifted by one person and securely stacked.A built-in two-outlet DMX splitter and Ethernet input with ArtNet support will cover the varied control situations that this system will encounter, say Avolites.

18 local control fades allow for quick access to lights and provide for 12 memories to be replayed. The familiar ART2000 operating system features Softpatch, separate Channel Curve, Limit and pre-heat attributes and remote memory

Australia - Robe moving lights got right into the fast lane for the 2009 Melbourne International Motor Show, where they were used on several stands for which lighting equipment was supplied by Victoria-based Clifton Productions, one of the exhibition's main technical suppliers.

Different combinations of Robe ColorSpot 1200 ATs, ColorWash 2500E ATs and ColorSpot and Wash 700E AT Series fixtures were used to illuminate a host of premium automotive brands including Toyota, Holden, Mazda, Lotus, Honda and Nissan.

Each of the stands lit by Cliftons had its own design and layout - developed with each of the individual LDs involved, complete with specially created lighting effects. These ranged dynamically from Lexus' massively impressive display with large washing effects to KIA's modernist LED screen presentation.

"Lighting effects play a huge part in having impact and makin

Russia - Martin Professional again played a starring role in the Eurovision Song Contest, this year with a remarkable 1,120 m2 Martin LC Series LED panel backdrop specified by UK lighting designer Al Gurdon of Incandescent Design.

Also involved were 400 MAC 2000 Washes, 76 MAC 600 washlights and 112 Atomic 3000 strobes with an extra 20 MAC 600s adding colour to the VIP Green Room. Main technical supplier for the Eurovision Song Contest was Procon Event Engineering. PRG served as a secondary supplier with a local Russian contractor also supplying some equipment. Supervising all of this was Rich Gorrod from Incandescent Design.

More than 750 moving heads and over 100 km of cabling were utilised. Procon sent 42 trailer trucks with technical equipment and a team of more than 70 people to this year's event at the Olimpiysky Arena Moscow.

Incandescent Design was contracted to prov

Hong Kong - Fashion and accessories brand Chanel turned to Lighthouse Technologies, for a high-tech makeover using the latest LED screen technology at its new storefront, located at the Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

For the Hong Kong showcase, which follows hot on the heels of Lighthouse's installation at Chanel's US shop in Beverly Hills, 40 6mm front access panels (P6-FA) were installed in a 5 x 8 panel configuration, 3.2m wide by 3.84m high. Adjacent to the store's staircase, the screen is visible to audiences walking down the stairs or looking in through the windows as they pass by. Lighthouse was responsible for the entire installation, which was completed in March.

"Chanel is a brand that thrives on creativity, a value that Lighthouse pursues in every project we take on," says Peter Chan, general manager of Lighthouse Technologies. "The fact

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