Singapore - MA Lighting Asia Pacific is hosting a Wireless Solution W-DMX Seminar on Monday, 11 July 2011 at their Singapore office. More details are available from infoasia@malighting.com.

"W-DMX seminars are a very valuable tool," says Niclas Arvidsson, CEO of Wireless Solution, "People can learn what to do and what not to do when it comes to wireless DMX technology, plus get hands-on experience. MA Lighting is extremely competent when it comes to W-DMX and they have a very strong presence in Asia Pacific."

"Training is very important and having a partner like W-DMX who pioneers not only wireless but also RDM at the same time, we hope to bring these two topics to a wider audience as it will impact the industry very soon," addss Jens Poehlker of MA Lighting.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Chauvet reports that UK production company VME has recently added 60 fixtures to their rental inventory of Chauvet lighting gear. The additions include 24 COLORado 1 IP, 12 COLORado2 IP, 12 COLORado Batten 72 Tour and 12 COLORdash Accent.

Sales and marketing manager for VME, Ben Hyman, commented, "The COLORado series fixtures are very adaptable and can be used on nearly every job. They are of good quality and price-appropriate. We're thrilled to have them as part of our inventory and have already seen a quick payback on the investment."

Some recent applications by VME include private parties, including a Parisian-themed event at Tatton Park , a street party held in Altrincham during the recent royal wedding, as well as one-night club events at 53 Degrees in Preston.

(Jim Evans)

Europe - Lighting designer Derek Jones recently finished the European leg of the current Yusuf Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens) world tour, finding it a good opportunity to try out the new Jands Vista v2 software running on his own Vista S3 lighting console.

Jones invested in his Vista S3 desk for a Cliff Richard & The Shadows tour about 18 months ago and it hasn't stopped working since.

"Vista v2 has definitely taken the platform to another level," says Jones, who is impressed with the new software's power and simplicity. He added, "v2 makes it even faster to get a basic show up and running. It's so quick to create your cues, yet allows you the power to control the details."

The tour rig featured Martin Professional MAC 700 Profile moving lights in the roof and MAC 2K and 250 Washes on the floor. A Catalyst media server was also triggered from the V

Canada - Martin Professional's M1 lighting console gave peace of mind to Brad Helzer, lighting designer and programmer for Christian group Starfield, at Youth Conference (YC), a large-scale three-day Christian event held at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada's largest youth convention.

Having just finished a three-week tour in May, Starfield was booked to play a set on the main stage at this year's YC, but Helzer was unclear whether he was going to be allowed to patch in the M1 to operate the rig.

With less than a week until the event, he was cleared to patch into the rig and received the plot and patch from the design firm. He then went to work drawing the rig in Martin's lighting and set design software, Martin ShowDesigner (MSD), which allowed him to visualize the programming before the event.

"Since we had just come off the tour run, the band wanted their

India - Following a highly competitive tender process, the Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust of Shirdi in Maharashtra India, has engaged Laservision to design, develop and install a large scale multi-media attraction at the Sai Garden Centre in Shirdi.

This high-tech spiritual theme park will display interactive teachings of Sai Baba's Life, drawn from the Shri Sai Saicharita, the holy book that is the basis for the life and teachings of Shri Sai Baba. The holy messages will be portrayed to the millions of devotees who complete the journey to this sacred location through an array of mediums including aqua screens, high-powered Laservision Light~Ray laser systems, HD video projectors, surround sound and a variety of special effects.

The Shrine at Shirdi is internationally renowned as being the location of the Samdhi Mandir (mausoleum) of the saint, and over 20,000,000 devotees comple

UK - Northern Light has announced the arrival of Phil O'Halloran to head up the company's hire and events division.

O'Halloran - a well known industry player who has worked in technical production all over the world - comes to Northern Light from Gilded Balloon Productions where he held the post of production manager for five years.

As well as being an iconic Edinburgh Festival Fringe venue operator, Gilded Balloon Productions is responsible for a huge variety of other events and a number of national tours. Prior to his role with Gilded Balloon, O'Halloran worked in a wide range of technical management roles, including spells with the National Theatre of Scotland, Revolutions International Theatre Festival, the Grid Iron Theatre Company and Essential Show Products.

O'Halloran comments, "I've been working within the technical theatre and event industry for more than 12 y

Australia - Innovative Production Services has been acquiring quite an arsenal of Spotlight fresnels including 18 Combi 12 F 1.2K and 12 of the Combi 05 F 650 watt models.

"The build quality of the Spotlight fresnels is fantastic especially for a fresnel at the price point that the Spotlight gear is," remarked Jeremy Koch, director of Innovative Production Services. "The barn door build is exceptional which is important as if anything is going to break over time it will be the barn door. The design is simple and very classic - they're not trying to do anything too fancy. It's a simple aluminium box that is clever with its dissipation but doesn't try too hard. It does what it does and does it well. There are no bells and whistles and sometimes that is just what you want in a lighting fixture."

Innovative's Spotlight fresnels were the only lighting fixture re

UK - Chauvet has announced the appointment of Michael Brooksbank as general manager for UK and Europe, based in Nottingham.

Brooksbank has been instrumental to the success of the Chauvet UK branch, launched in 2010. His responsibilities now include after-sales operations - shipping, technical service and inventory management - for all of Europe.

A 20-year veteran, Brooksbank has firsthand experience with specifying, installing and selling lighting fixtures as well as managing upstart businesses.

"Under Michael's stellar leadership," said Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet, "the UK venture has grown from a fledging operation into Chauvet Europe. This is only possible through the hard work, dedication, and vision of the entire U.K. team he has created and manages."

(Jim Evans)

Europe - As ETC continues to expand in Europe, the lighting, dimming and control manufacturer has recently made changes to its marketing management roles in Europe.

Sarah Clausen, who has served ETC as a controls product manager since 2004, is now the market manager for ETC GmbH. In this position, Clausen expands her focus to the full range of ETC products being sold in the German, Austrian, Swiss and Eastern European markets. She is responsible for developing market strategies and coordinating product needs and feedback from customers and dealers.

In her new role at ETC GmbH, Clausen will work closely with ETC European promotions and advertising manager Rosi Marx to plan product launches and promotions. She will also retain her responsibilities as product manager for the Congo and SmartFade control product lines.

Erik Larsen, who has been ETC's market manager for Europe sin

USA - The second leg of Martin Professional's 2011Engineered for the Eye Road Show tour kicks off in August in Atlanta and will continue until mid-December, visiting virtually every corner of the US with several stops in Canada.

The first leg of the 2011 Road Show, which wrapped up in June saw Martin hold 100 local events in 34 cities. Leg two is expected to hold an additional 70 events in 40 cities. The 2011 Road Show is expected to have logged an astounding 38,000 miles before year's end.

Leg two is as ambitious as ever with a custom Road Show trailer that is being updated with the latest Martin offerings. Joining a full range of lighting, video and control products will be new EC-10 LED panels and all new LED moving heads, as well as new LED luminaires in Martin's Exterior series.

The Martin US Road Show has proved to be highly successful since its launch in early

Israel - Blackburn UK based lighting rental company HSL supplied all stage lighting equipment for the Israeli Opera & Les Choragies d'Orange in France's production of Aida, staged in a purpose built amphitheatre at the foot of Masada Mountain at The Dead Sea in Israel.

It was the second year running that HSL has been involved in the event, working for The Design Group, Israeli based technical production suppliers, who co-ordinated all production elements. The Design Group also built the massive venue in the middle of the desert for the 2010 launch of the brand new Dead Sea & Jerusalem Opera Festival, which featured Verdi's Nabucco.

Four containers of lighting kit were dispatched by sea freight from the UK and one by road for the production, which featured a creative stage and Mountain lighting design by Avi Yono Bueno (Bambi). HSL's crew chief on site was Ian Ste

UK - It was an emotional time for many last week when Blue Peter filmed its last show from BBC Television Centre. Britain's Got Talent winners Diversity were in the mix with arguably one of the biggest rigs in the show's history.

Back in December, Richard Martin Lighting purchased 100 Clay Paky Sharpys. Lighting designer Lee Allen, who is continuously striving to bring a fresh and energetic look to the ever more contemporary show, used 50 of them on Diversity's performance to bring "a very strong statement look to the urban dance troupe".

"The light output from such a small package is amazing," says Allen. "The fast speed of movement was breathtaking. The lamps were small and discrete enough not to draw the eye in the set, but the event they produced was gigantic."

Blue Peter is now being filmed from Media City, Salford.

(

South Africa - The Sport Awards Gauteng was broadcast live from Emperors Palace on Supersport 4 on 23 June 2011. An initiative of the Gauteng Province Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, the event is designed to celebrate excellence and to inspire the South African youth.

Wayne Sproule of Pendragon Dezign was the production designer. Sproule had a spec from the client that gold was to be the main theme, and got the recipe just right: his glamorous set worked exceptionally well as a canvas for colour washes from Nic Michaletos' lighting design.

The services of MGG Productions were called in to provide the intelligent lighting, with MGG's Kevin Rieck hands-on as the lighting programmer on a grandMA. It was the first time Rieck had worked in a theatre production of this calibre. "It was a great responsibility and I was as scared as hell!" he said. "Nic Michaletos

USA - For over 25 years, Studio One Dance Theatre (SODT) has been an inspirational force in Chicago, providing not only technical dance training, but empowering young people to unleash their creativity and self-esteem so they can succeed in all aspects of life. Every June, some 400 SODT dancers, who range in age from pre-school to their 20s, put their talents on display in a spectacular theatrical production held at the 1,200-seat Centre for Performing Arts at Governors State University.

Jason Reberski of JR Lighting Design, Inc. (Orland Park, IL), who has designed and programmed the lighting for the SODT show since 2008, found a new star to dance with this year: the Design Spot 1200C DMX moving head from Elation Professional.

Reberski included seven Design Spot 1200Cs in his moving light rig, which also contained eight moving heads from another manufacturer that were original

Italy - Robe Robin LEDWash 600 moving lights are appearing onstage with Italian superstar Vasco Rossi, as part of a spectacular lighting and scenic video design by leading Italian visuals designer, Giovanni Pinna, for Rossi's Live Kom 011 stadium tour.

Pinna has been working with the artist - a prolific singer/songwriter, often controversial and the most popular live performer in Italy, for the last 20 years, each time coming up with a new, fresh and completely different look and feel to the stage and setting.

This time his dynamic 37m high, three-level, portrait format architectural set structure was based around the concept of 'verticality' designed by GioForma Set design studio. It included large quantities of scenic LED panels, some of which were moved on a Cyberhoist system and a large lighting rig, of which an integral element was the 24 Robe Robin LEDWash 600s.

UK - PLASA Events Ltd, organisers of PLASA 2011 (11-14 September, Earls Court, London) have announced the launch of this year's PLASA Awards for Innovation, which this year will include the newly named Sustainability Award - and of the 2011 Gottelier Award nomination process.

The PLASA Awards for Innovation always draw a great deal of interest from visitors to the PLASA Show, who can view all of the nominees in the specially designed 'Innovation Gallery', which will this year again be situated near the Earls Court 2 entrance to the Show. Independently judged by a panel of industry experts from lighting, audio, video and rigging & staging specialist backgrounds, the PLASA Awards for Innovation are one of the most prestigious product Awards in the business. The judges will again have eight product awards at their disposal, with the option to award a 'Gold' to a product or products

Royal Report - Prince has played his first UK festival, with a two-and-a-quarter-hour set at the Hop Farm Festival in rural Kent. The 53-year-old star came back for three encores in what was his first open-air gig in England since 1993, despite years of Glastonbury rumours. "I wish there wasn't no such thing as a curfew. Parties are supposed to go on 'til everyone's asleep," he announced. Prince now goes on to play a number of festivals across Europe, including Belgium's Sint-Puetersplein and Ireland's Malahide Castle on 30 July.

Human Rights - Sting has cancelled a concert in Kazakhstan's capital Astana over claims of human rights violations on oil workers in the Central Asian country. In a statement on his website, the singer axed Monday's planned show after Amnesty International told him of "the repression and crackdown" against them. The singer sai

Canada - CAST Software of Toronto has announced the release of wysiwyg R27, for members only, on 11 July 2011.

New features include: Beam optimization - lights respond 5X faster, keeping up with how fast you work; Native Art-Net connectivity: receive and render realtime DMX data over Art-Net directly into wysiwyg; Improved Attribute Layout: speed up your plotting and designing process; New Image Manager: Easier and faster browsing through images and textures.

As with every release, wysiwyg takes the new features and improvements from the previous release and brings them to the next level, says the company. R27 is no exception.

With the 3D mouse users can pan, zoom and rotate as if they're holding the model in their hand. Users can also operate cameras with this new powerful addition to wysiwyg, focus conventional fixtures, and create amazing flybys as well as switch camera v

UK - The new Linlithgow Burgh Halls has reopened its doors after a two year refurbishment project. Audio Light Systems have installed the full technical infrastructure, audio and lighting systems in the venue's two new performance spaces.

Strand Wallracks with Accent controllers have been installed for production and architectural lighting. "The Strand Wallrack is a great dimmer, it's just very reliable and simple to use" comments Steve Aitchison, project engineer.

Elsewhere, QSC Acoustic Design speakers and PLX amps are the backbone of the audio systems with Ampetronic low spill and cancellation induction loops providing the hearing assistive systems.

(Claire Beeson)

UK - For the fourth year running RG Jones Sound Engineering provided the audio production for Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage. The London based company, celebrating its 85th anniversary, supplied a Synco by Martin Audio PA, a custom designed Synco sub-bass array and Synco stage monitor systems. Additional crew and matching equipment came from fellow Synco Network members Ampco Flashlight of Holland, in a classic example of the network's international cooperation.

The production, for a bill headlined by U2, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Paul Simon, Elbow, Paulo Nutini, Pendulum, Plan B, Morrissey, B B King and Biffy Clyro, was based on last year's highly successful Pyramid Stage setup. It saw the team once again maximise audience sound levels while attracting virtually zero complaints from local residents, quite some achievement in Glastonbury's notoriously tricky environment.

The PA w

UK - Colour Sound Experiment continued its busy festival season supplying lighting equipment and crew to four stages in the Dance Village, several areas of The Glade and assorted other places around the vast site on Worthy Farm, Pilton, Somerset that hosts the Glastonbury Festival.

Colour Sound's Haydn Cruickshank created an overall production design for the dance areas - Dance East, Dance West, WOW and Cube Henge. Colour Sound supplied 22 crew and six trucks of equipment in total.

The Dance East and West designs featured a mix of Clay Paky Alpha Spot 1500, GLP Impression and Robe ColorSpot 700E AT moving lights, which were rigged off Supertowers at the upstage end and the tent poles further downstage and in the audience in both areas.

These were joined by Atomic strobes, Sunstrips, blinders, PARs, profiles and an assortment of other generic fixtures - with the aim being to

UK - Marl International's recently extended Colorbeam range of linear lighting solutions features a 1.6m+plus RGB colour palette, lower power consumption and a long life of 25,000 hours in a typical application depending on the product specified. They are easy to install and maintain, and many products support the DMX512 control interface, says the company. Some versions also have a built-in power supply to eliminate the need for a driver, or offer IP65 sealing for use in outdoor lighting applications.

Adrian Rawlinson, managing director of Marl International comments, "Linear LED lighting strips are growing in popularity as a way of delivering creative effects in retail, office and other environments. They are energy efficient and last so long that they are essentially maintenance free. The Colorbeam range is particularly attractive as these are high quality products that

UK - GDS has announced the appointment of two new members of its growing team. Paul Johnson has been appointed as architectural lighting consultant and Ashley Freeman as UK sales account co-ordinator.

Paul Johnson has many years' experience in the architectural field. He studied architectural technologies at Cardiff University as a mature student, graduating with a BSC with honours. After leaving university he worked for an Architectural practice, specialising in lighting design. His role will be to develop the GDS architectural brand and take it to residential and commercial markets. He will be responsible for consulting with architects and offering a customised design service.

Ashley Freeman studied sound, light and live event technology at Derby University and has been appointed in the role to support the UK sales team and to provide customer service to GDS's customer netwo

China - Barco LiveDots, a Barco company, has partnered with Beijing Fortune Investment Management Co. to embellish Beijing's Blue Island Tower with a new high-tech outdoor LED display. The 407 m2 screen is powered by the latest TF-20 outdoor display system, which "produces excellent display effects while ensuring environmental protection and safety".

The base of Blue Island Tower's LED display is a full 32m above the ground, which requires an exceptional angle of visibility to allow viewing from close range. To meet this challenge, Barco LiveDots applied "a world-exclusive LED encapsulation technology", tilting the LEDs downward towards the viewers. This technology gives the millions of LED lights a consistent downward angle of visibility and visual range, while also decreasing light pollution.

Barco LiveDots provided an integrated solution for Blue Island

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