UK - A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) has been appointed as a Panasonic Solutions partner for the Panasonic range of professional projectors and large format display screens. The product range will bolster the line-up of technologies available from AC-ET’s video sales division. Stuart Burdett, sales manager for AC-ET's video sales division, commented: “We're delighted to add Panasonic to our video portfolio. The brand and its products are synonymous with innovation, first-class image performance and excellent build quality, and we are excited to be able to make the full range available to our customers.” AC-ET has access to Panasonic’s visual solutions, including popular models such as the PT-RZ970 laser projector, which is designed for intensive usage and maintenance-free, long-lasting brightness (9,400 lumens) in permanent installations. Panas
USA - UK manufacturer Avolites will be joining with its US distributor Group One to show visitors the latest developments from the Avolites control and Ai media server product ranges at LDI 2017 in Las Vegas. LDI 2017 will see the official release of the latest version of Avolites Ai media server software. Ai v10.1 continues to build on the freshly redesigned Ai user interface and introduces a variety of powerful new features for all Ai users. The new features of Ai v10.1 include updates to Notch live effects integration, native 3D projection mapping and simultaneous timecode playback and live improvisation - all with effortless compatibility with the rest of the show system. The Avolites booth will showcase Ai's close integration with Notch, the providers of real-time, interactive, creative video tools. Visitors can meet with members of the Notch team and see a
UK - Southampton Solent University has upgraded its performance studios as part of a £100m facilities improvement programme running up to 2020, with VDC supplying the cabling infrastructure. The university’s TV, Film and Media Technology department already boasts a number of professional-standard facilities including 4K-ready broadcast studios, radio suites and newsrooms, and the decision was made to invest in similarly high-quality facilities for the Music and Performance students. The department has nine rooms in total, five full studios and four smaller workstations which can be used for mixing. Studio 1 was upgraded in 2016 but the remaining studios hadn’t been touched for around ten years so much of the kit was showing signs of wear and tear. When the decision was made to redevelop Studio 1, Technical Instructor Jon Wills contacted VDC to provide the cabling
Europe - Production manager Will Wilkinson engaged the services of Video Design, Negative Earth lighting and SSE for sound during Lady Antebellum’s recent European tour. The band visited the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Ireland during the European leg of the tour comprising six dates between 1 October and 10 October, with the crew and band arriving on the continent on 27 September. Wilkison says: “When you tour with such a tight schedule at an arena level, the key is being able to source close what we use in the US. In that sense of matched equipment, it was a very smooth transition from the US into Europe. As far as Video Design was concerned, our biggest concern was over the video content. With almost no time for production prep ahead of our first show in Amsterdam we needed to send our content over before we arrived and have it loaded onto the server.
UK - Rental company Ian Livie Concert & Corporate Lighting helped set up Paul Rodgers’ Free Spirit Tour with a minimalist rig of moving light and Leko fixtures and video content on Resolume controlled from a grandMA2 console. Ian Livie and LD Jared Trinnaman are committed MA Lighting control aficionados. Livie says: “I had worked with Warren Cracknell for many years on Joe Bonamassa, the US blues guitarist so when he discussed the option of working with Paul Rodgers on the Free Spirit Tour I knew I had to invest in a console I was confident would stand the test of touring time both now and into the future. The LD, Jared Trinnaman felt the same way; I saw the show at the Royal Albert Hall and was so impressed with what he did with the console.” Trinnaman himself had already invested in MA control. He says: “I’ve been an MA user since 2012. I
USA - As Atlona prepares to celebrate its 15th year in business, the company has launched a series of Launch & Learn events for partners, including Atlona distributors and systems integrators. The goal of each event is to bring attendees up to speed on how recent Atlona innovations correlate with today’s most important industry trends, including AV over IP and networked control. The first event, which took place October 19-20 at Atlona’s international headquarters near Zurich, Switzerland, offered two distinct educational tracks: Networked AV and Modern Meeting Spaces. Attendees from 50 companies were provided with hands-on demonstrations of Atlona’s now-shipping OmniStream AV over IP and Velocity networked control platforms, along with detailed case studies on early installations. The event was rounded out with informative Q&A sessio
Europe - Chilean composer Nicolas Jaar brought in Colourblind to design the lighting and video on his European tour. The tour made its way through a host of venues and famous festivals, including Glasgow’s Barrowlands and Barcelona’s Sonar. Colourblind, headed by Lynden Gare, designed a show to compliment the Chilean’s explorative music creations, and centre to the operation was a Hippotizer Media Server. The Karst unit used both SDI outputs, as well as splitting the DP to feed the LED strips. Running Hippotizer, it also fed IMAG screens at a number of the festival appearances. Scenarios covered during the run included projection at front of house on to a special 3m reflection surface (replaced with upstage LED at festivals); rear projection through smoke; LED strips by Light Initiative; and IMAG were present at festivals. The lighting team also used Marshall SDI
USA - A cosmetology salon with 26 stations isn’t something you normally find at a high school. Neither are an industrial certified welding shop, nor a fully scaled commercial kitchen, but the $28m Career Education Centre opened this year by the Wichita Falls Independent School District is clearly not your ordinary high school. Dedicated to providing its 1,300 students with real-world experience in everything from microbiology to farming, the 123,000 sq. ft. school provides students with realistic learning centres in 26 different career pathways. To round out the hands-on educational process, the school gives students an opportunity to market their newly developed skills. So, the cosmetology centre welcomes visitors who want their hair and nails done. The culinary centre operates a thriving bistro. And students in the AV programme get to showcase their work on a giant video
UK - Specialists illumination company LED Creative supported the Infinity Creative Events production crew with a variety of products at the 2017 Best FIFA Football Awards filmed live at the London Palladium. Featuring a set designed by Dominic Tolfts built using clean, modern lines that added a dynamic sense of perspective and depth, the design created a tunnel like effect that cleverly drew viewers inwards, beyond the iconic theatre’s proscenium arch. The sci-fi stylish installation included almost 400m of LED Creative Sigma flex controlled using the company’s proprietary BYTE Controllers. The designer’s smart utilisation of LC Sigma, which included framing the entire width of the stepped stage front, allowed the team full creative control of colour, intensity and movement over a host of key elements throughout the ceremony. The flexibility of the LED inst
UK - Technology with Heart was the theme of Jaguar and Land Rover's inaugural Tech Fest which took place at Central Saint Martins in London in September. Organised by London-based creative agency Imagination, the event explored how technology contributes to the auto industry and was packed full of innovative displays which demonstrated how technology is being used to make a positive difference. Jay Plomer, senior production manager, Imagination commented: "The venue for this event is a fantastic space but it is a listed building and right from the start we were told that it would not be possible to install any fixing points in to the walls and ceiling. This posed the challenge of how to light all exhibits in a big area within the space – and so we brought Unusual Rigging on board to help us solve that problem." Paul Rhodes, senior rigging supervisor, Un
USA - SRae Productions and Clear All Visuals were responsible for the video & lighting production design for Lady Antebellum’s world tour. Matt Geasy of Clear All Visuals specified two separate setups, each with a pair of Hippotizer Boreal Media Servers. Both setups were used to feed the LED screens and each one was triggered depending on the performer, switching between two or three outputs. During the global event, the SRae team ran Hippotizer in conjunction with an automation system. The Kinesys motor control system fed PSN data to the servers, so that they could live-track the screen positions in real-time. The end-result was the content tracking of the screens as they moved throughout the show. For Lady Antebellum’s automated screens, the system provided information regarding the vertical position of the two motors for each truss. This was a challeng
UK - S+H Technical supplied a 12mm LED surface for the 2017 TV Choice Awards. The award ceremony brought together over 400 TV and entertainment celebrities at a gala dinner evening in The Ballroom at the Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane in central London. Stoneapple Productions designed and produced the ceremony for many years and S+H has been supplying screen for the last three. This year, four columns – two per side - of the S+H’s 12mm LED product flanked a main projection screen positioned upstage centre. The LED columns each measured 7m high by 1m wide, and in between each of these was a vertical row of blinder lights. The LED columns were used to display a variety of video content produced by Stoneapple for the event, including Awards graphics and aminations, for which they were highly effective. The 12 mm is an ideal product for events like this.
Germany - Absen has celebrated an industry award for its flagship M2.9 rental staging panel with the introduction of the new Absen M2.9 Pro. Since its introduction in September last year, the M2.9 has taken the rental staging industry by storm with its innovative and patented locking system which allows technicians to mount and lock cabinets in as fast as three seconds, and a self-cooling module design and high-refresh rate which make it the perfect solution for indoor staging. In keeping with its mission to provide the most advanced LED solutions, Absen Europe announced the availability of the M2.9 Pro – a new version of the M2.9 – taking the product a further step ahead of the competition. The M2.9 Pro is a sub-3mvm pitch LED solution which features a patented fast locking system that typically saves up 50% of building time compared to standard LED panels,
UK - Returning from a 25-year haitus, Matt and Luke Goss - Bros - headlined two shows at London’s O2 Arena, giving a fresh airing to their back catalogue of 80s pop hits. Working alongside Jamie Thompson and David Cohen at innovative show and lighting design outfit MIRRAD, the team at VER London provided the crew with an extensive LED, video, lighting and camera package to help build the suitably vibrant installation. Featuring a 6m upstage wall created using over 160sq.m of Everbrighten 15mm LED, angled for added depth, the performance area was stepped front to back across two levels. The band were positioned directly below the screens on the first ‘step’, overlooking the main stage floor, with the drum riser rigged centre stage. VER provided over 200 lighting fixtures, rigged using 400ft of HUD trussing in a double halo configuration with a classic mirro
Austria - AV technology manufacturer AV Stumpfl will present a projection screen accessory prototype, a line-up of projection screens and media server products at this year’s LDI exhibition in Las Vegas. The T-32 Shift projection screen leg allows an easy adjustment of the height of a a mobile projection screen without the need of disassembly. T-32 Shift is compatible with all AV Stumpfl 32mm projection screen frames. It will be officially released at the beginning of 2018, but LDI visitors have the opportunity to experience the latest prototype hands-on at the AV Stumpfl booth. The company will also present their latest media server hardware and software products, including Wings Vioso RX 2.0, which will feature the Hot-Backup option, allowing users to specify hot backup clients for multiple playout clients. The Wings Engine RAW 8K server will also be shown a
Denmark - A Kinesys automation system with Vector control is a key player in the production of Green Day’s American Idiot staged in Copenhagen at Den Grå Hal (The Grey Hall). Benjamin La Cour’s acclaimed raw, stark scenography features three large scenic ‘slabs’ of concrete which lift, tilt and elevate to change the shape and architecture of the stage throughout the performance. They form a floor, a ceiling and several other shapes and spaces as the punky attitudinal sung-through action unfolds. In terms of visuality, these three set pieces fundamentally define the look and feel of the piece directed and choreographed by Tim Zimmerman. The three slabs each measure 8 x 4m and are suspended by four half-tonne Liftket vari-speed hoists fitted with Kinesys Elevation 1+ drives - capable of running up to 24 metres-a-minute. Each piece weighs around 900
UK - Cardiff-based event and project management specialist 11th Hour has recruited three new full-time team members to help meet growing demand for its services. Project manager Kirstie Evans joins from Cardiff Council's events team where she gained a wide variety of production experience. A graduate of The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Kirstie also has experience in TV and film production management. She is joined by assistant project manager, Pete Morgan who studied Live Event Technology at The University of Glamorgan before gaining experience working as a senior technician in television technology supply, as well as freelancing in the wider events industry. In an increasingly busy warehouse, Sarah Everson takes on the role of assistant warehouse manager. With a degree in Music Technology, Sarah was apprenticed at The Wales Millennium Centre where she
Europe - Panasonic has launched a digitally operated Mirror Head solution capable of creating “dynamic, eye catching moving projections”. Designed for professional show integrators, the series is available in four models (ET-MH14, ET-MH15, ET-MH17 and ET-MH18) suitable for Panasonic projectors from 6,200 to 30,000 lumens, making it ideal for both rental and touring events. The extendable Mirror Head has a maximum pan rotation of 180 degrees and a tilt rotation of 90 degrees. It can be set to move either rapidly or slowly to project pictures, animations, videos and text on to any surface, whether it be moving or static. “Static projection belongs in the past,” says European projector marketing manager Hartmut Kulessa. “The journey into a new visual experience begins here. The technology paves the way to unprecedented possibilities in lighting, projection
UK - CPL returned to the attractive leafy environs of Ragley Hall in Warwickshire to provide a full video production package for the Main Stage at the 2017 Camper Calling festival - a new event staged by Jazz Events, part of the Jazz Publishing Group. Building on the success of last year’s inaugural two-day Camper Calling, this year the capacity was doubled from 3000 to 6000 and another day of fun and entertainment for all the family was added, making it three days, which allowed people to enjoy some rare and endangered glorious late August bank holiday weekend weather – apparently the hottest on record. Main Stage headliners included Cast, The Lightning Seeds and the Flying Swordfish, and CPL was working for Urban Audio, with a team on site led by Simon Haydon. Fifty panels of Roe 3.4 mm LED screen was installed onstage, flown off a mid-stage truss and confi
USA - NanoLumens, creators of interactive LED visualisation solutions, reports that Nashville-based PixelFLEX has joined the NanoLumens partner programme. Now able to exclusively market the NanoLumens' Nixel SeriesTM flexible LED under the name TrueFLEX visualised by NanoLumens, the partner agreement coincides with the settlement of the corresponding NanoLumens patent infringement lawsuit. Monty Rains, president and COO of PixelFLEX said: "We are pleased to have reached this agreement with NanoLumens, and are happy to have joined the NanoLumens Partner Programme. Through this joint effort, we believe that our customers will benefit greatly from the technology, and we are excited to now offer the TrueFLEX visualized by NanoLumens LED video solution.” "We welcome PixelFLEX to the NanoLumens partner programme and we look forward to working with them as they roll out the
USA - US retailer Macy’s has installed a LED video display from PixelFLEX at its Brooklyn department store. The company contacted provider of digital brand media solutions Reflect, who installed a new FLEXLite NXG 3.9mm LED video display from PixelFLEX. “Looking to add digital media to the new Brooklyn store design, the executives at Macy’s brought us on early in the project where they were originally concepting a large video wall composed of 55” LCD displays,” began Chas Thornhill, CTS, Reflect’s senior systems engineer. “I took one look at that and immediately started working to change the design from LCD to LED. In the end, we were successful in proving that LED would look better while being more cost-effective when considering the full installation and maintenance costs, and the FLEXLite NXG looks great in the new space.” Now with fully fron
USA - Switzerland-based mixer and recorder manufacturer Sonosax has become part of Sennheiser's AMBEO for VR partnership programme. Launched at IBC 2017, the programme has been created to ensure seamless production workflows and interoperability for VR and AR productions. It encompasses collaborations with manufacturers of field recorders, VR live cameras and live streaming software, mixing plug-ins and VR platforms. A leading manufacturer of professional audio mixers and recorders for 40 years, Sonosax has joined the AMBEO for VR programme with its SX-R4+ 16-track recorder. As well as including the Sennheiser A-to-B converter to enable simultaneous recording of the A and B formats or B Format only from the Sennheiser AMBEO VR Mic, the recorder is also available with an optional, dedicated 12-pin socket for connecting the microphone. This eliminates the need for
UK - PRG has appointed Caroline Hill and Mark Davies to its UK TV & Film account management team. Caroline joins from Panalux Broadcast and Events where, for five years, she oversaw the delivery of a diverse range of events including fashion shows, television series, rigging for feature films, and, most recently, the lighting and rigging elements of the factual show World War One Remembered: Passchendaele for the BBC. She is now based in PRG’s Covent Garden, London office. Caroline is an addition to the already bolstered TV & Film account management team that welcomed Mark Davies earlier this year. Since joining PRG as a lighting project manager over 10 years ago, Mark went on to head up his department before moving into this current account management role. TV & Film market leader Kelly Cornfield commented: “Caroline and Mark are great ad
UK - More than 45,000 music fans attended this year’s Wild Life Festival and Digital Insanity used Hippotizer Media Servers to help direct visuals throughout the two-day run. The resulting ‘all-LED wall’ seamlessly integrated with performances from acts including Fatboy Slim, Hannah Wants, David Rodigan, Disclosure, Maya Jane Coles and Gorgon City. Launched in 2015 by Disclosure and Rudimental, Wild Life has quickly become one of the South East’s most highly anticipated music gatherings. Occupying the open expanse at Brighton City Airport – formerly Shoreham Airport – the venue offers the organisers plenty of space in which to create, as well as host thousands of revellers. Digital Insanity secured the welcomed task and for a third year provided playback for the festival. The UK-based video solutions provider called on Hippotizer’s playback power
