UK - UK - London live music venue KOKO has invested in an Avolites Arena console to offer more live lighting control than ever before for its impressive roster of bands.

Since the club's restoration and reopening in 2004, transforming it from the Camden Palace into KOKO, some of the music world's biggest names have performed in the space, including Madonna, Amy Winehouse and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The venue continues to attract a diverse mix of emerging musicians and global superstars.

KOKO's head of lighting, Hannu Finnila, has been using Avolites consoles for more than 15 years and is now using the new Arena console on a nightly basis.

"The Arena console is the best desk for what we need to do at KOKO, because we have different bands in every night, meaning I have to do a lot of busking," he says. "As every gig is different, the Arena is already making my life much

USA - Production Resource Group LLC, (PRG) has announced a new brand for their creative LED special projects team, formerly a subsidiary of XL Video. Now known as PRG Projects, the team, led by Frederic Opsomer, is renowned for creating and providing innovative custom video solutions.

Frederic's team are based at PRG's location in Ostend, Belgium. The new PRG Projects team will also incorporate, and work more closely with, the former XL Video research and development team based in Shenzhen, China. The combined expertise of the team has already been responsible for realizing some of the most technology forward designs and custom installations in concert touring, large-scale spectacles, television, and sporting events, including ceremonies in Athens, London, and Sochi over the last several years.

In addition to working with the team in Ostend, PRG Projects in Shenzhen will c

Belgium - Barco has announced that Mr. Eric Van Zele, CEO, plans to retire later this year. In anticipation of Mr. Van Zele's retirement, the Board appointed Mr. Jan De Witte, a former corporate officer of the General Electric Company, as CEO-designate. Mr. Jan De Witte will join Barco's Core Leadership Team in June 2016 to effectively take over as CEO as of 1 October 2016.

Mr. Van Zele will continue to serve on the Board of Directors to ensure continuity of leadership and strategic focus for the company.

Mr. Charles Beauduin, Chairman of the Board, commented, "Under Eric's leadership, Barco became a global market and technology leader as well as a more focused and leaner organization. His drive for strategic innovation and customer intimacy has helped to harness Barco's entrepreneurial culture and shift the company's strategic direction towards more value-added software-e

USA - Originally founded in 1984, the Bethel World Outreach Church has seen its ministry grow to where they currently hold worship services in six locations nationwide.

As part of this growth, the worship family located in Brentwood, TN, recently underwent a building campaign to expand their ministry even further and in doing so they wished to make LED video a part of their worship services. While attending the WFX tradeshow in Nashville, Senior Pastor James Lowe found his solution for the new facility which was FLEXLite 6.9mm LED video tiles from PixelFLEX.

"With our Bethel Build Campaign underway, we were also about to undertake a month-long sermon series where our pastor wanted to show HD video elements during the message," began Technical Director Garrett Hestla. "This was something entirely new for us and since we wanted to bring LED video into the new facility as wel

UK - Visual production expert FIX8Group is expanding its dry hire division with the addition of a wealth of new products under the direction of the company's technical director, Nick Charalampidis.

Charalampidis, who has been with FIX8Group since early 2013, is now responsible for enhancing the division's dry hire inventory with industry-leading products, carefully selected to suit almost all requirements.

"Before joining FIX8Group I worked with Green Hippo for five years, so my knowledge of Hippotizer servers and software is second to none," says Charalampidis. "I am adding an array of Green Hippo kit to our stock, including the Boreal, Karst and Amba servers, with the new, powerful, v4 software."

FIX8Group's technical mission is to always give the best service possible - to supply servers set up in the correct way and loaded with the right software to suit the user's

Germany - Lasers are becoming more and more popular and especially mobile DJs and smaller nightclubs often request a product that is easy to operate, is capable of projecting tunnel effects, layers and some basic shapes and figures, and most importantly can write custom messages as running text. And of course the laser should be RGB and white light for being able to make the projection fit in with the lighting design.

This is quite demanding, but the new Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX offers all these features. Besides being a normal laser system that can be run stand-alone, in sound-to-light mode or controlled by DMX, it also comes with a remote control plus a keyboard for entering text, animating it and doing colour changes. The Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX is the successor of the Laserworld ES-400RGB, as it has all the features seen previously in the ES-400RGB - but adds much m

UK - A new advert for online British retailer VERY's Spring 2016 fashion collection has gone live, featuring an LED cube pixel mapped and powered by an Avolites Ai S6 server.

VERY, through their ad agency, St Luke's, commissioned London-based creative think tank Prettybird to conceptualise the commercial, which features a fast moving array of dancers surrounding the cube. The LED cube glows in bright neon pink colours to reflect the VERY branding and displays a variety of Spring-related visuals.

Ai expert RES worked closely with Prettybird's Dori Oskowitz, who directed the advert, through the initial stages, creating technical renders at pitch stage. Once the job was commissioned, RES took on the role of advisor for all technical aspects of pixel mapping and media playback for the cube in pre-production and onsite.

"As the show included three different HD outputs for t

USA - The Staples Centre in downtown LA is one of the world's prime sporting and entertainments venues, hosting over 250 events and some 4m guests every year. The venue is home to four professional sports franchises including the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers production team has recently invested in a sophisticated 360-degree video installation to further enhance the spectator experience. At the heart of the system is a powerful Octo media server from Picturall.

The company responsible for the installation was Benchmark Productions, a full service live event production company based in Lake Forest, Southern California, who worked in conjunction with Picturall US's Dylan Ankney in order to deliver the Lakers' ambitious AV project.

The Picturall Octo is housed in the video booth. Four outputs from the Octo are sent to four 1-in/2-out HDMI distribution amplifiers from

USA - Inspiring the next generation of space explorers and scientists at Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex, one of America's most-loved visitor attractions, thousands of visitors were taken on a first of its kind, high-tech journey into space for Spirit of Exploration held during the Holidays in Space festive season from December 2015 through January 2016.

Originally commissioned by NASA for the Apollo programme, the 223ft long Saturn 1B rocket located in the open air Rocket Garden was transformed for the very first time into a giant projection surface comprising an eye-watering 6,528 by 1,050-pixel image that used 80,000 lumens of projected light. Visuals were accompanied by a dramatic musical score, actual launch audio, and other sound effects, in conjunction with a Rocket Garden Light Show that uses moveable lights to illuminate rockets throughout the Rocket Garden, comp

UK - Dimension, the audio arm of Creative Technology, has unveiled its new identity which is part of a series of changes intended to relaunch the business in the UK and build upon the groups specialist audio services.

In April, Dimension moved to new larger premises in Crawley, allowing for further inventory development, better prep and programming facilities and, ultimately, allowing CT and Dimension to be reunited under one roof.

Mark Boden, director of audio for Creative Technology and heading up Dimension Audio, commented, "Our new logo kicks-off a new chapter for Dimension Audio, retaining the Dimension name whilst providing an immediate and unmistakeable link to Creative Technology. Our clients will be visually aware of that link however, where appropriate, we can maintain separation providing the specialist audio service that Dimension has become known for throughou

UK - On Saturday 23 April 2016 the world celebrated the life and work of William Shakespeare, on the 400th anniversary of his death. The commemorative events included Shakespeare Live! From the RSC - a live production including music, drama and comedy, which took place at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate who, as well as appearing together in Doctor Who Shakespeare Live! was also broadcast live on BBC2 in the UK, and was recorded for later screenings on TV and in cinemas worldwide.

Working with RSC production manager, David Tanqueray, production designer Robert Jones, llighting designer Vi

UK - The current tour by Jeff Lynne's ELO features show design by Tim Routledge. "To create a beautiful show you have to have balance," he says, "and a big part of that, in technology terms, is the critical relationship between all the visual elements of the show and the music."

The video system for the tour is supplied by Video Design. "Unusually for an arena tour, all the video is LED; not just the twelve-metre circular central screen and the large floor surface ellipse, even the two IMAG screens to the sides are LED," explains company MD Alex Leinster. "Tim has commissioned some beautiful graphical animation from Ben IB, that's one good reason why Richard Shipman, an expert in running content for live shows, was engaged for the tour."

For this tour Shipman's skill was in working dynamically throughout the show to ensure the balance Routledge desired. "The key is output

USA - Video display manufacturer PixelFLEX has announced a West Coast open house designed to showcase of its innovative line of LED technologies.

Highlighted by the FLEXLite Plus, FLEXLite NXG, reFLEXion, trueFLEX, and FLEXCurtain HD, the open house will take place at INVENT (Institute of Venue and Entertainment Technology) in Los Angeles, CA, on 26-27 May, 2016. The event is free and open to all video designers, integrators and production rental houses throughout the area who may be interested in taking an in-depth look into the latest in LED video technology.

"With Los Angeles being at the epicenter for touring on the West coast, we know how important this market is for our continued growth," said David Venus, PixelFLEX Director of Marketing. "Through our headquarters in Nashville, we are able to routinely visit with clients on the East coast, but we also understand how

USA - LED video display manufacturer PixelFLEX has announced Intellasound Productions as its newest production rental partner. With its headquarters in Verona, Wisconsin, Intellasound Productions has been supplying audio, lighting, staging, backline and touring support for a wide variety of live events, and they have now added FLEXCurve 6mm LED video technology from PixelFLEX to their rental inventory to strengthen their client support nationwide.

"Our decision to make the investment into the FLEXCurve technology was really driven by the fact that many of our clients have been requesting an LED wall for their events," says Tim Woodworth, Intellasound Productions. "As this started to happen more often, we would sometimes have difficulty finding an LED wall to rent in our area, and would have to typically bring one in from Chicago. Ultimately, we decided that if we were to make

Europe - The production that underpins A-ha's Cast in Steel tour has been driven by the band's predilection for steering the use of entirely contemporary technology, as video director Julien Hogg explains.

"The one thing they didn't want was clean camera images. The show is a mix of carefully chosen content and IMAG, though not the style of IMAG most concertgoers are accustomed to. There are a couple of numbers that are clean, the big crowd friendly songs that everyone would expect and the band realise you have to do that sometimes. But otherwise we work the images hard."

The video system is supplied by Video Design, a total of seven LED screens, all 4.8m square, three across the stage, a pair stacked each side, and a camera package of four operated cameras, minicams and robocams to feed the IMAG.

"I put the tour out to tender and received bids from all over Europe," s

UK - When the PR and communications team needed to promote the importance of voting in the 2016 London Mayoral Elections they came to SXS for an exciting solution.

"It was vital that the message of the 5 May vote for Mayor was communicated through social media, mainstream media and by passers-by seeing the message," says project director Tim Curwen.

"Working with the client we decided that a projection and lighting installation onto the iconic London city hall would be ideal," He reports. "This constituted a powerful colour wash and HD projection of the key message. The response on the night was fantastic with many photographers and interview teams from major news networks coming to see the installation."

The installation required both high-impact lighting and some easily-readable text images. In order to achieve both in a way that could compete with high levels of amb

Sweden - Barco was the technical event supplier for the Eurovision Song Contest. During the semi-finals and finals in Stockholm, a full stack of high-brightness Barco projectors, 10 of which are equipped with Barco's High End Systems' MMS-200 moving mirror systems, and Barco's E2 screen management system helped create the audiovisual experience in crisp, clear detail.

The stage of the 2016 edition has been described as "rock 'n roll meets Eurovision". Through its highly-defined scenography with straight lines, strong perspectives and a background in different geometrical patterns, the set-up enabled dramatic effects and optical illusions, and gave each performance a different look.

Barco provided a total of 13 HDQ-2K40 projectors - complete with XLD 2.8-5.5 lenses - through its rental partner Mediatec. Ten of the HDQ-2K40 projectors - four flown on an FOH truss and six sta

UK - PRG XL Video, the UK operation of Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG), has announced a new member in its Music and Touring team.

Gordon Torrington has been with PRG for several years, gaining a wealth of experience and industry contacts during his time as a senior member of the Event Services team.

Gordon will now take up the role of account manager, focusing on lighting and rigging, and working alongside Yvonne Donnelly Smith, director Music Group, and Roy Hunt, senior account manager. He will also collaborate closely with the Music video team led by Phil Mercer.

Yvonne Donnelly Smith commented, "We're delighted to have Gordon join the Music Group team. His enthusiasm for our industry is infectious, and with the wide range of contacts he has made during his time onsite with the Event Services team, he will be an excellent asset to the team."

"I'm very please

UK - Lighting and visuals rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment has invested in new Barco 30K projectors which immediately went out on two tours, one being UB40 - featuring Ali Campbell, Astro & Mickey - for which Colour Sound supplied a projection system, LED screens, lighting equipment and crew.

The UB40 tour's show design was a collaboration between Bryan Leitch and Jamie Thompson from creative practice MIRRAD. Jamie was also out on the road operating the lighting alongside Francis Clegg from MIRRAD who co-ordinated and ran the video elements live.

Large format projection is an area that Colour Sound has been considering for some time. The company has already invested steadily over the last five years in LED screen and has its own proprietary BT brand.

MD Haydn Cruickshank (H) commented, "Projection was a logical next step to complement the growing amounts of di

Austria - AV Stumpfl won the award for best family business in UpperAustria at a ceremony organised by the financial newspaper, Wirtschaftsblatt at the Aula der Wissenschaften in Vienna on 17 May 2016. Ironically, the ceremony was presented using none other than AV Stumpfl Monoblox screens!

Austria's AV Stumpfl is "a wholly owned family business that nurtures vibrancy, creativity innovation and brings stability to the local Austrian economy".

"The award is recognition of our growth and success and we're delighted to have won," said Tobias Stumpfl, CEO.

The company was started 40 years ago by innovators Ulli and Reinhold Stumpfl. This modest beginning created an idea that emerged from the ground up. Today it is managed by next generation leadership, Tobias Stumpfl, CEO and Fabian Stumpfl, project management sales and HR.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Last week saw the Theatre 2016 Conference take place in Central London. Bringing together over 1,000 delegates from across all areas of UK theatre, it was the largest event of its kind and the first time since 2005 that the sector has come together for a major industry-wide conference. With its reputation as the leading lighting supplier to both West End and UK theatre, White Light (WL) was asked to provide the production support. Yet rather than supply the lighting equipment, the company was approached to provide the entire AV support.

Theatre 2016 took place from 12-13 May and was held across three West End venues: The Piccadilly, Lyric and Arts Theatres. The programme looked at new challenges facing the industry and what organisations needed to do to ensure future success. Bryan Raven, WL's managing director, comments, "This is the first time that a theatre conference

Portugal - Production Resource Group (PRG) is working with entertainment design software developer Vectorworks, Inc. to ensure a seamless Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal.

The Rock in Rio festival collaboration between PRG and Vectorworks will demonstrate the realisation of workflows using ESP Vision software to previsualise each lighting designer's concept. PRG, now in its 13th year of working with Rock in Rio, is supplying lighting technology and all related rigging for the festival.

"We started working with Rock in Rio back in 2004; during this time, we were able to supply lighting and video technology at festivals in Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Las Vegas and Lisbon," said Christoph Hahnl, senior account manager at PRG. "This year's festival marks the 30th anniversary of Rock in Rio, and we are excited to be on board."

Now owne

Spain - Christie is providing all the projection for Spain's first permanent dome to showcase 360° and other immersive environments including a second dome dedicated to virtual reality. Held in Madrid, the Immersive Festival Madrid 2016 runs from 18 to 21 May at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) and is free to attend.

The festival is organised by NewMedia Creative Technology Studio, FDDB.ORG (The Fulldome Database) and UCM with the goal of nurturing creative applications of 360° projections, virtual reality and other immersive environments.

Visitors can attend the event at U-Dome, the university's360°, 21m diameter dome and the only permanent projection dome in Spain.

The dome is fitted out with six 3DLP technology projectors with 20,000 lumens from the Christie J Series with 1.1:1 HD lens. Using blending and warping capabilities, the projectors will

Sweden - Visual production expert FIX8Group was part of the team operating the stunning video content for all 43 competing acts as well as pop megastar Justin Timberlake's performance at the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 (ESC 2016).

The 61st edition themed 'Come Together' was held at Stockholm's Globe arena and hosted by last year's Swedish champion M

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