Belgium - Luc Peumans of Genk-based international design practice Painting with Light designed the lighting The Little Mermaid as it was staged in Belgium for the first time. Lighting equipment was delivered by Benelux rental company Phlippo Showlights together with audio and rigging.
The RoboSpot system was tech’d by Ilse Witlox, also the lead operator, who is an expert in the somewhat ‘black art’ of follow spotting. Precise follow-spotting was absolutely crucial to a complex and visually rich production like this.
The 11 x BMFL Blades complete with 11 RoboSpot MotionCameras were positioned on a front truss, an advanced truss and on two side trusses.
Six on the front truss were positioned as three on the left and three on the right; the three on the advanced truss (‘behind’ the front truss and above the audience) were in the left, right and cen

Spain - Madrid-based AV distributor Video Cine Import S.A. (VCI) has been announced as Avolites' new distributor for Spain.
VCI was founded in 1999 and was originally dedicated to the film and TV markets before expanding into TV studio lighting installation in 2011 and the events sector. The company is now a major provider of lighting consoles and media servers, with offices in Madrid and Barcelona, and a subsidiary in Portugal.
"We're thrilled to be able to offer all products from a respected brand such as Avolites for the Spanish market," says Pilu Baselga, marketing assistant at VCI. "We feel that it is hugely beneficial for us as a company to carry Avolites' full range of lighting controllers, from the Titan One to the Arena console, and from dimmers to their Ai line of industry-leading media servers, to cover all market needs. We're sure they will perfectly comp

The Netherlands - Absen will introduce its NXTGEN technologies and products on stand 12C50, at this year’s ISE. The company will introduce its new COBALT (Chip-on-Board Advanced Light Technology) platform featuring Absen Chip-on-Board and NanoShield technologies alongside its HBB (High Brightness Black) with Common Cathode solutions.
Absen’s innovations underpin the product ranges unveiled this year. NXTGEN presentations will run three times daily on the stand, adding an extra knowledge layer to support the newly-unveiled Polaris Series, featuring a range of high performance products with innovative technologies for indoor and outdoor events; Altair Series, a lightweight rental system featuring advanced carbon fibre materials and the world’s lightest touring frame solution; and the Cassette Series, designed to support a direct-into-housing upgrade of existing paper ba

UK - London-based technology industry expert Paul Wong has been appointed managing director of Avolites.
Born and raised in sunny Southport, Paul is an experienced business-to-business managing director with a track record of strong growth in multiple industries with a focus on industry-leading technological innovation.
He joins Avolites with a wealth of experience, most recently as MD at Bosch Security Systems Ltd and MD of Record UK Ltd. Paul brings a Master of Business Administration (MBA) focused in Strategy & Finance from Cass Business School and a degree in Electronic Engineering, Software and Communications from The Manchester Metropolitan University.
Paul is welcomed to Avolites as an addition to existing senior management - Steve Warren, director of business development and Ric Salzedo, chairman.
"I'm thrilled to be joining Avolites

Europe - Effective immediately, German manufacturer DirectOut has extended the warranty on all audio connectivity products, networking and bridging systems for broadcast, studio live sound and installed sound applications to 36 months.
The announcement follows the company's philosophy of using only high-quality components in its products - without exception. All devices are manufactured in Germany and pass a comprehensive test and quality assurance routine before delivery. This ensures that DirectOut products run reliably under critical operating conditions, says the company.
Supporting their innate reliability, many DirectOut products are also equipped with technologies such as SNMP or GPO, enabling remote monitoring of their operating parameters.
DirectOut managing director Jan Ehrlich explains: "For almost 10 years, the DirectOut Technologies brand has been sy

UK - Symphotech has collaborated with Blue Multimedia to provide concerts with two innovative and cost-effective signing solutions to aid the deaf and hearing impaired, in a bid to ensure both inclusivity and compliance with disability access legislation.
Event health and safety company, Symphotech, is offering two forms of assistive technologies to ensure events are compliant with the equalities Act 2010. The first method involves using an Autocue operator and a downstream keyer to overlay live text onto the IMAG screens for the song lyrics. The second method uses a live signing presenter, who is situated off-stage in front of a green screen and their live signing is ‘floated’ over the live show and placed into the corner of the IMAG video screens.
This option provides the presenter with a live feed of the performance and lyrics sheets to enable them to be reactiv

USA - AWS re: Invent is an event, held annually by Amazon Web Services. It is the biggest event of the year for Amazon's cloud division, when customers and developers descend on Las Vegas. More than 30,000 delegates attended the event, held at The Sands Expo and Convention Centre at the end of 2017 to hear Amazon Web Services executives announce new tools and share the stage with representatives from big companies touting their AWS usage.
For 2017, Amazon wanted a 400ft high-resolution LED wall suspended as their primary design and backdrop. Production company ZED Ink knew that with LED dimensions like these, the weight quickly adds up, so they brought Cassidyrig on board to assist with the project and monitor the loads.
The Sands Convention Centre is historically known as a weight restrictive venue, despite being the second largest convention centre in the wor

UK - As fine a reputation in edgy relevance as you could wish for, Kasabian continue to confront their fans with an ever-evolving musical output. “It’s a totally different dynamic,” said their long-time director of video, Paul Eggy Eggerton. And well he might; while other bands join the expanding club of content-driven video backdrops, Kasabian take the braver route, relying on their live stage energy to carry the crowd.
“So often a lot of content tends to be stock graphics or just splodge,” continued Eggerton. “For these guys we have big side screens in portrait orientation.” The two six-metre tall 7mm LED screens and a four camera PPU are supplied by Video Design.
“With that screen format, there is no standard mid-shot - it just doesn’t work, you’d end up with lots of either limbs or instruments missing. So you are constantly having to keep it wid

UK - CPL, working for event producers Bright, supplied lighting, sound and video equipment for Bristol Vision 2017, a networking event held at the University of Bristol Students’ Union building and organised by Bristol Media for individuals and companies engaged in media and communications sectors.
Mike Radford project-managed for CPL, working with a crew of four and closely with Bright’s production manager Fleur Saynor. The team covered several different areas including a main plenary space, associated break-out rooms in the Pegg Theatre and AR Bar, reception / check-in and a café / open / meeting space complete with a number of exhibition display booths.
It was a busy day for the 200 delegates who could catch 18 keynote speakers and engage in a range of digital and media-related commercial and business activities.
In the main plenary room, CPL rigg

Europe - Lawo has appointed Tibor Tamas to the position of senior sales manager for Austria and Switzerland.
Tamas brings with him over 35 years’ experience in technical development and sales positions in the field of audio mixing consoles, plus extensive broadcasting know-how. After several years of international experience during which he established and organized service and sales infrastructures for Studer in North America, Tamas also worked as business development manager for Studer’s Professional Audio division.
“Lawo is a forward-thinking company that understands applications and customers, and can map the complete broadcast workflow with its IP-based systems and solutions,” says Tamas.
Lawo sales director Martin Blum says, “We are very pleased that Tibor is now a member of our Lawo family. He brings a lot of industry experience and has excellent

Germany - Absen Europe has announced the appointment of Thomas Klukas to the position of business development manager for Germany, Switzerland and Austria (DACH).
Thomas joined Absen in January 2018 and is based at Absen Europe HQ in Rüsselsheim, Germany, travelling to spend time with customers and prospects in the DACH region
In his role as business development manager, he will oversee the development of the retail, corporate and DOOH sectors across the three markets, plus sports and rental in Austria and Switzerland – building the Absen brand to increase specification of its innovative and award-winning LED display products in the region.
Prior to joining Absen, Thomas held a director position with audio solutions specifier and supplier Shure Distribution Gmbh, where he oversaw strategy development and partnerships with manufacturers in the AV industry. Oth

UK - S+H Technical, specialists for LED visual effects, drapes and starcloths, supplied an array of high profile television shows including Strictly Come Dancing, Children in Need and the final of X Factor UK 2017.
S+H’s Terry Murtha comments: “It was great to be working again with many of our regular clients like Strictly and Children In Need, and also with some exciting new ones – it was the first time we have supplied anything to X-Factor, so we were delighted to be offered the opportunity”.
S+H again supplied starcloth for the main hub of the BBC’s 2017 Children in Need live telethon at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. The broadcast was directed by John L Spencer and was the culmination of an action-packed year of fundraising activities.
Production designer Alex Craig utilised 350sq.m of S+H animati

UK - Illumination specialists LED Creative provided their Alpha 60 RGB LED system as part of the recent upgrade to the Sky Sports Studios at the broadcaster’s West London Headquarters.
Working closely with scenic designer Peter Aston for Jago Design, LED Creative’s project manager Ges Smith and on-site team leader Tony Mayor assisted in the successful deployment of the company’s Alpha RGB, which has been used extensively throughout the re-launched Studios One, Two and Three.
Featuring the work of lighting directors Richard Bowles, Andrew Louca and Malcom Reed, all three studios have a highly polished, smart, modern feel which can be easily adapted to a suit a broad variety of moods. The end-result is a suite of flexible spaces that can be tailored to reflect the nature of the broadcast content. Studio One the largest of the three is the all-important football hub

UK - Creative Technology’s London operation has recently recruited Richard Rogers and Chris Jordan to work as senior project managers in their audio team. Richard and Chris have long careers stretching back to the early 80s, spending most of that time working together on a wide range of audio projects in corporate events and theatre.
“Having worked with Richard and Chris many years ago I am really excited to be working with them both again, bringing with them yet more experience and knowledge to an ever-growing audio team,” says Mark Boden, director of audio.
Richard comments: “It’s great for Chris and I to be joining Creative Technology and becoming part of the team. CT has a fantastic inventory, backed up by a team of experts with a real passion for delivering high quality audio for all kinds of events.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - For the dance anthem generation, it seems there’s nothing in the musical universe that cannot be enhanced by the augmentation of a classic orchestral string section.
Pete Tong, with conductor Jules Buckley leading the New Heritage Orchestra, have just completed a triumphant campaign that saw them present Ibiza Classics through the major arenas of the UK. Whereas once the dance rave genre relied heavily upon the use of light and laser to animate what is essentially a static DJ performance, now the combination of live video and the addition of so many musicians makes for a heady concoction.
The stage was dominated by visceral images portrayed upon a set of moving LED screens immediately upstage of the musicians and Tong. Veteran concert director Mark Davies was shooting the show with all video equipment and camera system provided by Video Design.
“B

Europe - Feeling the heat and helping create the energy and industrial-strength visuals for award winning Swedish heavy metal band In Flames, lighting and production designer Fredrik Stormby of creative practice Greenwall Designs AB used 156 x Robe BMFLs - a mix of 102 x BMFL WashBeams and 54 x BMFL Spots for their most recent tour.
The band was founded in Stockholm in 1990, since when it has been highly successful and prolific, steaming through a full-on career that’s seen them produce multiple best-selling albums and be credited for founding the nuanced metal sub-genre ‘Swedish melodic death metal’. They have built up a loyal international fan-base over time and tour extensively, known for the passion and vitality of their live performances.
This tour is still part of the 2016 Battles album cycle, and the very latest autumn-winter European arena section

UK - In December 2017 SXS Events provided the technical aspects for the official X Factor VIP after party as appointed by experiential agency, Experience. The longstanding events company was in charge of creating a backstage style experience while sticking to the designs and format of the main television show. SXS provided audio, lighting, rigging and LED video walls for the event held at London’s Excel centre.
Throughout the evening guests were immersed in a full wardrobe, makeup and photo shoot experience before heading to the main stage for performances from previous X Factor contestants. A Sennheiser MMK-965 was the mic capsule of choice for the evening which George Shelley used to present the party and later used by X Factor 2017 winners, RAK-SU.
The front of house audio seamlessly ran through a Martin Audio system consisting of W8LM line array, W8LMD downfill p

Dominican Republic - More than 50,000 fans packed the Dominican Republic's Olympic Stadium in November to experience The Festival Presidente, the Caribbean's largest international music festival.
On the festival's opening night, Latin music star Gabriel performed in front of epic LED screens displaying florid, fast-paced graphics, powered by Avolites' Ai R8 media servers.
Yamil Charif of YC3 Lighting Design worked with a team of South American creatives, including lighting design partner Richard Vincens, to create the vivid Gabriel set. He initially programmed it using an Ai template at his Miami studio using dummy content before the real content, designed by a team of animators, was delivered just days before the event.
With a team of people inputting ideas and many last-minute developments, Charif needed to continue programming the R8 servers right up u

South Africa - Staging and set company Dream Sets has purchased the Vectorworks 2018 design software from DWR Distribution.
Mauritz Jacobs, lighting designer at Dream Sets, reports: “As a lighting designer, I have been using Vectorworks since 2014. Vectorworks has all the needed built-in features that I need to create and manipulate plans from start to finish (set and technical wise).”
Jacobs continues: “As you know, our industry is very fast-paced and time is not always on our side. With the new Vectorworks 2018 they have really gone out of their way to make it as easy and quick as possible to get designs out in limited time. Once you know your way around it, it’s easy to do large designs in a limited time period. Also, the set side of the programme has many new features like the event design which speeds designing up on another level.”
(Jim Evans)

UK - Powersoft Quattrocanali amplifiers are providing the beating heart of a new entertainment experience in the UK.
Created by the award-winning producers behind the BBC series and arena show Walking With Dinosaurs, the Dinosaurs In The Wild production (read a detailed report in LSi September 2017) uses the latest in AV and animatronic technology to generate a realistic, interactive walk-through back to the Late Cretaceous period.
Central to the successful creation of TimeBase 67 (built by Chronotex Enterprises) is the sound and lighting design along with the animatronics and the latest in 3D AV technology. The accent is on authenticity and accuracy.
There are three elements to this mix of t

USA - Located in New Middleton, Ohio, Hitch-Hiker Mfg. leads the way in design innovations for the mobile food concession industry. When approached by Chicken Charlie’s in San Diego, California, they were asked to help create a LED video display for the new FryBQ mobile concession stand.
Needing a solution that could overcome the challenges associated with an outdoor, traveling environment, they called upon Nashville-based PixelFLEX who provided a completely IP65-rated FLEXStorm 6mm LED video system.
“I’ve been in the restaurant business for 34 years and we’ve had the mobile concession stand for 23 years now,” began Charlie Boghosian, Chicken Charlie’s owner. “We have a season every year that last about 5 months where we travel across Southern California, and I first put LED video on a stand about 10 years ago.
“This year, as we were building thi

Europe - GearSource has added Jeroen Knol to its business development team. Jeroen is based in Europe and well networked in the European markets, having worked the last 12 years with two of the world’s largest industry-related companies. He will bring his network and relationship management skills to GearSource Europe.
Along with Jeroen in Europe, the company’s US-based business development and operations teams will support everything from listings to orders, logistics and more.
GearSourceEurope.com now operates as a fully integrated and secure e-commerce platform, built on the company’s redeveloped engine, G-Suite offering users even more power than ever before.
“In developing G-Suite, our technology team has once again raised the bar. G-Suite will help us remain the largest name in used gear – globally,” says Marcel Fairbairn, CEO of GearSource.

The Netherlands - At the upcoming ISE 2018 conference in Amsterdam, Audio over IP pioneer Barix will introduce the third generation of AudioPoint, the company’s audio signage platform that brings digital signage and TV content together with today’s BYOD trends. AudioPoint helps end users deliver audio associated with video content to mobile devices over a local Wi-Fi connection, driving a more intimate connection with consumers and lending a voice to the screen.
AudioPoint 3.0 increases the value proposition for systems integrators and end users with an all-in-one integrated solution that removes the need for an external channel server. AudioPoint 3.0 is based on a new hardware platform, engineered by Barix, that builds the channel server into the Barix Audio Signage Encoder to significantly reduce cost and integration time. The encoder supports both single- and multi-c

UK - Thousands of festival-goers experienced the interactive AV environment of the Samsung Hypercube as part of the Samsung Galaxy S8 UK launch this summer. The Samsung Hypercube toured its 360 Infinity Selfie' Experience to Boardmasters, Bestival and Reading festivals, with Avolites' Ai media control at the heart of its complex technical infrastructure.
Containing a reflective panelled interior separated by strips of colour changing LED and a 27m x 1m continuous wrap-around LED video screen, the Hypercube immersed audiences into a 360° infinite display of light and colour. Samsung's new Galaxy S8 smartphone acted as a control interface allowing visitors to influence the cube's audio and infinite visual effects created through its multiple reflective surfaces.
"We were tasked with delivering the technology and functionality to make the concept of the project's

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