Rigging / Staging

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14 March 2016

The all-action schedule included a 12-night residency by Bon Jovi and shows by Leona Lewis, Aerosmith, Rod Stewart, George Benson & Marti Pellow and Al Green & Michael McDonald, with the real logistics-twister presented by the dates for Leona Lewis's four shows and Aerosmith's one, all dotted within Bon Jovi's run. Leona's show entailed four separate ins and outs - three of them either side of Bon Jovi's, with Aerosmith slotted right in the middle of both of these.

In the Summit office, the technical requirements and logistics for the busy contract are co-ordinated by project manager Simon Frost and administrator Kate Parsons.

The Bon Jovi show was the most complex in terms of rigging, involving 117 points - 33

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14 March 2016

Highlights of the new site include: Comprehensive product lists and part number builders; Distributor stock checker located on product pages so visitors can check which distributors currently have stock available; application pages to showcase how Switchcraft and Conxall products have been incorporated into applications for different industries; Separate Pro Audio and Industrial sections of the website to help visitors quickly find what they are looking for; 2-D drawings for many products are now downloadable directly.

Visitors to the site can also sign up to follow Switchcraft's news and product introductions on Facebook and Twitter.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Southern regional manager Steve Reynolds reports, "Customer care was a high priority for everyone. We worked with all stakeholders to create a plan and briefed staff very thoroughly in that area. It was imperative we create a relaxed and safe environment for the 25,000 capacity crowd from the moment they arrived on site. Parents with small children had travelled for hours in warm cars, so all staff were encouraged to welcome guests courteously, familiarise themselves with all key locations for giving directions and to be patient at all times."

The team of 280 event security professionals from Showsec office

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14 March 2016

Capable of playing back multiple layers of video in all common file formats up to 4k, these networkable systems can achieve seamless, blended projections as well as synchronous multi-screen displays. As a real-time 3D compositor, Pandoras Box integrates with audio, moving scenery, lighting, and other show elements for accurate synchronisation of a total sensory experience.

Signing of the TMB distribution agreement coincides with coolux's release of Pandoras Box Software Version 4.6, with new features such as 3D server preview; dual HD-SDI / DVI inputs; curve and clip editor; and support for additional protocols such as M

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14 March 2016

The awards will provide public recognition for outstanding achievements in lighting design by UK based lighting designers, in a number of professional areas. At the same time, these awards will forge closer ties between the world of lighting design and the lighting Industry as a whole.

The awards for The Knight of the Illumination are nominated and judged by a panel of professional reviewers working in the specific categories, selected and coordinated entirely by STLD and ALD.

Television nominations

Light Entertainment

Mark Smithers for Mission 2110

Martin Kempton for Who Dares Wins

Lee Allen for Blue

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14 March 2016

Four new shows debuted at the maiden launch: Avalon, Cantare, It Takes Two and NYC. Another show on board is Garage Band, which is a re-run of a show that was debuted on the Ms Oosterdam last year.

The creative team for all five shows (which will run for approximately five years) includes show director John Charron at the helm

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14 March 2016

Steel wire rope is fed into the pulley as normal. The pulley's sheave is split in two and an electrical signal causes the two halves to move apart on demand, enabling the rope to drop through.

Ted Moore, director of rental services at Stage Technologiescomments, "For a flight out over the auditorium you need to rig two winches. In the original production of Mary Poppins, when Mary flew out over the audience in the finale, the second rope was static and taped to the side of the proscenium with a bit of gaffa tape.

"Before the flying took place, a stagehand had to cli

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14 March 2016

Gradav's Graham Threader says "We have been surprised at the genuine interest shown in the new Dirty Rigger gloves & accessories range and are delighted at the level of sales. Feedback has been positive, with all those that we have spoken to very happy to find gloves that looked so well suited to their needs, turned out to so good in practice."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Guy Kendall, head of electronic systems at the National was responsible for finding a solution. The brief was simple: provide a new control system for the three lifts and the main stage wagon to enable synchronous motion.

"Once we had the brief from the designer we knew that the existing systems could not provide the functionality required,' explains Kendall. "So we contacted Stage Technologies with a seemingly impossible challenge. They had to

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14 March 2016

The Radio Controlled Power Pack consists of a radio controlled socket and a rechargeable battery, enabling completely wireless control over any 24V appliance plugged into the socket. Other voltage outputs are available to order.

The Radio DMX Bridge Receiver eliminates the need for DMX cables when controlling any DMX enabled device. The transmitter and receiver form a wireless bridge between any wired DMX outlet and the DMX input to the device. The only requirement at the device is a mains socket or a battery to power

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14 March 2016

(Lee Baldock)

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14 March 2016

"We purchased the Cryo-Fogs to replace our previous machines, which were becoming expensive to maintain and keep in peak operating condition," says ENB's Dave Richardson. "We had seen Look's machines on the White Light stand at PLASA last year, were impressed with their performance and with the price; we've now switched over to using them entirely."

Cryo-Fog consists of a fog generator, a fan and a cooling chamber plus space for a five litre fluid container all built into a single, compact flightcase. Cryo-Fog uses liquid CO2 to cool the incoming smoke from the machine, ensuring that no smoke is emit

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14 March 2016

Smoke Factory UK celebrates its first birthday at PLASA this year as they launched at PLASA 2009 as an exclusive distributor in the UK for the German made Smoke Factory range of Fog and Haze machines.

Smoke Factory UK hold stocks of spares and fluids and spare parts in its London warehouse for immediate despatch to any UK address.

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

J. R. Clancy has supplied 20 PowerLift automated hoists - 12 fixed speed hoists for electrics, borders, legs, scrim, teaser and tormentor, and the Wenger Diva acoustical shell; and eight variable speed hoists for moving scenery. A single counterweight lineset will be used to raise and lower the house curtain.

The SceneControl 500 will control all 20 automated linesets.Designed by Clancy's in-house team of rigging professionals, this intuitive touch-screen system shows operators a 3D representation of the stage and the scenery hanging on each batten. Operators can set simple or elaborate cue

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14 March 2016

The courses are aimed at students of technical theatre, technical professionals who wish to expand their skills into automation and automation operators who would like to familiarise themselves with eChameleon techniques and the very latest in operating software.

Course 1, Introduction to Automation and the eChameleon Suite, is designed for beginners. The programme offers attendees a basic understanding of automation use and best practice, an understanding of terminology and architecture of automation systems, a basic understanding of eChameleon features and functionality, and an understanding of health and safety, as applied to stage automation.

Course 2, eChameleon Suite Plotting and Programming

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14 March 2016

This distribution and partnership agreement offers customers a complete project solution. Hoist UK can integrate products from each partner's expertise and equipment through a single dealer source. The result is a complete project solution, minimizing customers' need to select and manage many different suppliers.

"The Best of All Worlds partnership offered by Hoist UK gives customers the opportunity to find products from industry brand leaders that are seamlessly designed, conceived, manufactured and delivered with one call," said Tony Dickson at Hoist UK.

J. R. Clancy designs and manufactures off-the-shelf and custom automated and manual rigging systems, heat resistant borders, fire curtains and

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14 March 2016

The team provided staging, banners, stage management, lighting and sound production on both from 30 July to 1 August for the festival's main stage, which saw bands such as Athlete perform to crowds in excess of 1,500.

The festival was first held in 2005 and has continued to grow each year, with the drpgroup coming on board to achieve a new level of technical production in 2010. The drptechnicalservices team erected the stage, including banners, lighting and all audio equipment before the festival opened.

Ian Ruhback, senior show technician, commented, "It was a great to be able to

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14 March 2016

"Regardless of the project, Tomcat is committed to providing innovative products and innovative solutions to serve the challenging needs of our customers, and to make that happen we make sure we have the best people on board" said Stefano Rossellini, CEO.

"We are very excited to have Fernando on Tomcat's team and are confident in his leadership. He is a professional with valuable knowledge of supply chain, lean warehousing, stamping operations, welding operations, assembly operations, and human resources."

(Jim Evans)

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14 March 2016

Up to eight Awards for Innovation are available each year, as well as a special Environmental Award for a product which the judges feel contributes to the industry's quest for energy efficiency and sustainability.

This year, for the first time, all nominees will have the opportunity to present their products live to a panel of expert judges, during the Sunday of the show, on a specially-built stage on the Innovation Gallery itself, inside Earls Court 2.

The presentations and subsequent Q&A opportunities will be filmed and the winning presentations repeated on the PLASA Show's central LED screen during the Tuesday and Wednesday of the show, as well as

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14 March 2016

Digital communications allow multiple controllers to be daisy-chained together, eliminating the need for bulky multicore cables. Self-healing emergency stop connections remove the requirement for shorting plugs, and monitoring of the hoist's status means that information about hoist presence and the state of the limits can be displayed to the user, and acted upon immediately to provide Group Halting if limits are hit whilst moving, says the company.

The new website goes live on 12 September, the first day of the show, and has been built from the ground-up with both specifiers and end users in mind.

Easy to navigate product pages and an enlarged

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14 March 2016

Cuelux is a cost-effective DMX512 lighting controller for intelligent, conventional and LED lighting, says the company. It offers a darkened and touch screen optimized graphical user interface, industry-standardised cuelist system, iPhone remote control and can be used in 10 different languages. Cuelux has Plug&Play support for MIDI control surfaces that include fader wings, motorized faders and button stations.

With the new software release for Linux, Cuelux is now a multi-platform lighting software package; Cuelux was already available on Mac OSX and MS Windows (with both 32 bit and 64 bit drivers available). The advantage of a multi-platform system is that every user can choose his own preferred operating system in which he feels technically comfortable and in the case of Linux, ev

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14 March 2016

BlueBox is billed as the industry's first PC-based intelligent, integrated DMX and RDM controller software. Built from the ground-up specifically for controlling large rigs of RDM enabled products, the BlueBox RDM controller allows users to search for any RDM enabled product in a DMX/RDM Network, automatically patch the fixture, and control the fixture, as well as receive status updates on the fixture and configure settings such as fixture mode, lamp on/off and more. This makes the BlueBox RDM controller suitable for quick setup and programming of corporate and live event rigs and is ideal for autonomous monitoring of large scale lighting installations in architectural environments, says the company.

The BlueBox RDM controller is built wi

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14 March 2016

Sound console manufacturer DiGiCo's recently launched their SD9 Red Snapper digital console - which is housed in its default 5 Star flight case that will be highlighted on Stand 1-L36.

Also on display will be another set of cases, designed and manufactured specifically for Martin Audio's new MLA (Multi-Cellular Loudspeaker Array) System.

A selection of CNC-routed foam inserts will also be present, in the form of a professional tool case. This demonstrates 5 Star's flexible and dynamic machining capabilities - which also enhance the quick turnarounds and quality for which 5 Star is renowned - using three Thermwood CNC systems, says the company.

5 Star's standard ranges will include the Arena - cost effective general purpos

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14 March 2016

Featuring large user-friendly buttons, faders and data wheels, MIDIcon has the look and feel of a conventional light board. Each time you manipulate one of its controls, it sends signals to your software via standard MIDI messages, allowing you to trigger scenes and play back shows directly from its console-style panel, without requiring the use of a computer mouse, says the company.

To make things even easier, Elation has built templates for Midicon right into the CompuShow and Emulation software programmes. This means there's no need for the user to configure MIDIcon. Functions are already pre-assigned to the various but