Australia - With less than one week to go until the lights ignite Vivid Sydney 2016, TDC - Technical Direction Company is working closely with organisers to deliver record-breaking technical production.

After 11 months of planning and research into new technology and trends, TDC is finalizing their design for city-wide multimedia that will be deployed across the festival's footprint and brought together with participating local and international artists and designers.

Some fun facts about what goes on behind the scenes includes: TDC employs 35 staff working full-time to produce a massive 11,500sq.m of video projection in excess of 120m pixels. Over 70 projectors will be deployed in custom-made projection towers located in and around Sydney.

TDC's work will be found on some of Sydney's most iconic buildings and locations including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australi

USA - InfoComm 2016 will see a completely redesigned AV Stumpfl booth that will enable visitors to interact with real-life applications and productivity tools including large-format and mobile screens, high-resolution multimedia management and control! Additionally, AV Stumpfl will use InfoComm as the platform to make several new global product announcements.

The multi-award winning super media server, Wings Engine Raw 8K will be shown in the Americas for the very first time. "We're the first to create a product that manages uncompressed 8K content out of a single machine," enthuses Fabian Stumpfl. It produces an unrivalled four streams of full 4K uncompressed content at 60hz plus media overlays, text generation and show control on top."

On the AV Stumpfl booth, Wings Engine Raw 8K will be integrated with four large-format projectors from Digital Projection International a

The Netherlands - Vivitek has announced the expansion of its successful D3000 series of projectors with the launch of its new DH3331, a full HD 1080P projection solution, offering a rich feature set and capable of delivering "outstanding image quality". The D3000 series is suitable for corporate and education applications - including boardrooms, conference rooms and teaching spaces - and the DH3331 is set to further expand the range's appeal.

Boasting a Full HD 1080p resolution, 5,000 ANSI lumens and a 10,000:1 contrast ratio, the DH3331 is designed to offer a high quality, sharp and bright image. In addition, the projector features new DICOM Simulation Mode making it ideal for viewing grayscale medical images - such as X-rays - for medical training and seminars. The dual-7W built-in speakers and the microphone input ensure clear sound in a meeting room.

"We have designed

UK - LED, visual effects, drapes and starcloth specialist, S+H Technical has boosted its stock of LED screen with the addition of 182 panels of Glux's 10mm outdoor BAtn product in readiness for a busy summer events season.

S+H already has a substantial stock of LED video with over 1000 panels of Glux LED including 12mm, 3.9 indoor and both 10 & 20 mm floor tiles, and this latest addition of the outdoor screen was a logical extension to the range.

Having a wide range of LED screen stock - plus several other LED technologies - ensures that S+H has the flexibility to service its wide and eclectic range of projects.

"We're getting asked ever more frequently to supply LED screens to various projects many of which are outdoor, so we need to have a solution in stock," comments S+H's MD Terry Murtha. "It made sense to keep with the same manufacturer for continuity and quality

USA - A 4,400sq.ft video wall boasting over 65m pixels and comprising 1,640 2.5mm Christie Velvet LED tiles at the Westgate Sports SuperBook is keeping visitors to the Las Vegas casino up-to-date on everything from the rugby world cup to tennis. This enormous video wall spans the length of the world's largest sports book creating a stadium-like experience where every seat in the newly renovated Westgate Superbook is a "front-row" experience.

Westgate Resorts teamed with RP Visual Solutions (RPV) and Christie to build the world's largest LED Video wall inside the Westgate Superbook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. Working with HB Communications, RPV and Christie created an enormous curved array measuring 20ft tall and 220ft wide.

Along with the construction of this screen, the Westgate Superbook was completely transformed to create a stadium-like experience, inclu

UK - Research from Panasonic has found that 3D mapping, the technique of using projection to illuminate building facades, is replacing traditional types of event entertainment such as fireworks. A survey of design agencies, events companies, end users and manufacturers, commissioned by Panasonic and carried out by Installation Magazine, shows that over the past three years both the number of projection mapping projects and the revenue they have generated has grown.

Survey respondents were clear that driving this growth is the way that audiences expect more and have higher expectations when it comes to being entertained and informed, 75% of those surveyed agreed that 3D mapping was being used instead of traditional approaches like fireworks.

The evidence shows that projection mapping has the ability to attract visitors, create employment, fill hotel rooms, sell resta

USA - BrightSign reports that its players are driving a prominent video wall at The Grand Hyatt Hotel, located in the heart of San Francisco's Union Square. The wall was needed to replace an existing video wall that had been temperamental for nearly two years. The challenges included budget; that the 3x8 array of screens was mounted 20ft above the lobby floor; and that installation of the new videowall needed to happen during the holiday shopping season to reach completion by the 24 December deadline.

AV Structural was awarded the project, and quickly went to work constructing a 20ft -high, 34ft-long scaffolding apparatus that enabled the team to work virtually around the clock, while maintaining safety for their crew and for the guests walking beneath the scaffolding at all hours of the day and night. The new video wall also required a unique installation to provide easy acce

UK - Global flightcase hardware and 19" racking manufacturer Penn Elcom is launching three new climate control products for 19" racking systems.

The CRC02-DTC, the FT-DTC and the FT01-Q-DTC - are all thermostatically controlled for optimised heat management in 19" racking installations.

Digital control gives refined and super accurate heat management via continuous temperature minoring and 'set-and-forget' fan control. All the products are optimised for quiet running, have over-temperature alarms and benefit from running off a universal power supply.

The units are engineered to the robust and reliable specifications common to all Penn Elcom products

The CRC02 thermo exhaust blower is a completely new 2U virtually silent (22.5 dBA) fan exhaust unit designed especially for use with 19" equipment rack units, to expel air from the front of the rack unit.

It can be

Belgium - Today, Barco will cut the ribbon to officially open its new headquarters in Belgium. Located at the Beneluxpark in Kortrijk, the 230,000sq.m 'One Campus' is a landmark for the region - an all-glass, circular building surrounded by green spaces and connected to three other state-of-the-art Barco facilities.

The campus will be home to Barco's 1,250 Belgian employees and serve as an open house for customers, partners, foreign colleagues and other stakeholders. One Campus marks also a new way of working, centred around dialogue, collaboration and, consequently, innovation. Barco is convinced that its new operating base will be of great support in the future evolution of the company.

The new One Campus, which replaces Barco's older premises in Kuurne and Kortrijk, includes 48,000m2 of general facilities, surrounded by a pound and grass. Standing proudly, at the heart

Europe - Peerless-AV has announced a new addition to its growing export sales team with the appointment of Dan LY as director of sales for France and Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal and Italy). Dan's extensive background in the IT and telecommunication sector will prove beneficial in his new role focused on business development, team management, customer satisfaction and channel partnerships.

"As we continue to grow our presence in EMEA, we need to keep up with rising demand in key territories by bringing new talent on board," comments Gordon Dutch, managing director, Peerless-AV. "Dan LY brings excellent market development and leadership experience to our Export team and will be valuable addition to the company and our customers."

Dan has more than 15 years' experience in implementing international business strategy. In his previous position, he was Head of Region Southe

UK - Continuing a long running relationship with Teenage Cancer Trust, producer Des Murphy, and production team, Steve Allen, Julie Chennells, and Nancy Skipper, PRG XL Video have once again supported the charity's annual run of fundraising live shows at the Royal Albert Hall.

PRG XL Video supplied lighting, rigging and video technology for the week-long run of shows which included a comedy evening hosted by John Bishop, as well as concerts by The Vaccines, Simply Red, Bring Me The Horizon, and New Order.

Supplementing the in-house lighting rig at the Royal Albert Hall, PRG XL Video director Music Group, Yvonne Donnelly Smith worked with in-house lighting designer, Gordon Torrington, to specify a combination of PRG Icon Beams rigged on to a Kinesys automation system, and Ayrton Magic Blades as part of the floor package.

The design created a dynamic and versatile look w

Italy - With less than 12 months until the tenth Showlight 2017 lighting quadrennial (Florence, Italy, 20-23 May 2017) over 50% of exhibitor spaces have already been filled.

"We are delighted to see Showlight off to such a flying start," says Showlight chairman John Allen. "It's hardly surprising as Showlight is a unique, cross-industry showcase and networking opportunity which offers the chance to spend quality time with designers, manufacturers, practitioners and fellow enthusiasts - many of whom fit into all categories."

Those already signed up to join main sponsor, Clay Paky, at Florence's Palazzo dei Congressi are: AC Entertainment Technologies, Ambersphere, Arri, Avolites, Canara Lighting, Coemar, Chauvet, d3 Technologies, DTS, ETC, GDS, GLP, Hawthorns, HSL, Lee Filters, LSC, MA Lighting, RC4, Robe, Robert Juliat, Tait Stage Technologies and White Light.

Showligh

UK - Merlin Entertainments has chosen Illuminate Design to work with their Technical Show-AV department to carry out a range of upgrades to both the London Eye 4D Cinema Experience and Sea Life London Aquarium's new Penguin Point attraction.

The 4D Cinema Experience received new technical infrastructure throughout the pre-show area to enable the creative team to develop a more immersive experience from start to finish. A custom relay rack was developed in conjunction with David Cattrell from Eaton lighting systems that provide 48 channels of 32A DMX controlled relay switching.

Within the cinema itself, on top of the infrastructure package, Illuminate Design chose Chauvet Illuminarc Ilumipod Logic TRI-4 as house lighting, enabling the fixtures to be integrated with the video content.

Penguin Point, Sea Life London Aquarium's new home for their Gentoo penguin colony, has

Sweden - The 61st Eurovision Song Contest has come and gone once again, but not without setting a whole host of firsts, one of which was the biggest international audience to date to witness the acclaimed TourPro LightSky Aquabeam.

Supplied by Litecom, 67 Aquabeam fixtures were used to illuminate the high-tech stage and interior of the Globe Arena in Stockholm.

The production featured the work of technical director Ola Melzig, with lighting design by Fredrik J

UK - PRG XL Video, the UK operation of Production Resource Group, LLC has announced that media server and creative video technology expert Patrick Verhey has joined its team.

Patrick Verhey has taken on the newly created role of director media/creative, reporting directly to UK CEO, Lucas Covers. With media servers and control technology taking on ever-increasing importance, especially in the field of interactive and experiential events, this role is a key one within the video side of PRG XL Video's business.

Before joining PRG XL, Patrick worked as a freelance media server programmer and technical specialist, and prior to that was project manager and head of technical support at Coolux Media Systems GmbH. During his time with Coolux, he gained extensive knowledge of Pandora's Box media servers, and in more recent years has extended his expertise to include a variety of ot

UK - Lighting and visuals rental specialist HSL has invested again in more Martin Pro MAC Viper Wash DXs and MAC Aura XB moving lights, also more grandMA2 consoles for the latest Il Divo UK and European tour.

The tour sees the band present their smouldering Amor & Pasi

Germany - LaserAnimation's Lasergraph DSP is a laser show control solution that is in the market for many years already. The Lasergraph DSP got its reputation as a fail-safe controller and was mainly used by high end professional companies. As the Lasergraph DSP is designed as a de-central processing unit, it does not transmit demanding system control data, but can run on its own or only triggered by low-density control signals.

The Laserworld Group started the distribution of Lasergraph DSP in April 2016, and a new licensing model made the DSP show control systems more affordable. Due to "Master-Slave" licensing it is possible to combine several low priced slave-units with one master unit.

The Lasergraph DSP was known in the industry for a special user interface which may look a bit "old school". This has changed a lot with the latest release of the LG-Remote remote contr

Germany - Green Hippo has announced that Denis Hessberger, has joined Green Hippo as freelance product specialist from June 2016.

Denis has a strong background in the world of lighting and video programming & design. "As a long time Hippotizer user I am excited to pursue this new challenge and am looking forward to support existing and new users from a user perspective, while bridging the gap between users and development," he says.

Denis's role will be product specialist, meeting and engaging with both current and potential German users; liaising with both development and the marketing team to ensure that the Hippotizer media server range and all its newest features are bought directly to German customers.

Green Hippo product manager Ryan Brown states, "The German market is important to us and we're delighted to have someone of Denis's experience and knowledge. He has

UK - With 2016 marking the Diamond Anniversary of The Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the charity is undertaking a variety of special fundraising events and initiatives during the year. The charity, which aims to transform the lives of young people through volunteering, physical, expedition, skill and residential challenges, held a gala event in early June at Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire.

Celebrating the 60th anniversary, the Diamonds Are Forever Gala was held in the presence of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, and Their Royal Highnesses The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and included a dinner and entertainment including a performance from Sir Tom Jones.

The event was produced by Jeremy Hartley of Entertainment Industries, with production design by Nicoline L. Refsing of Rockart Design, who has previously delivered stage designs for major events such as The BRIT Awards, League of Lege

Canada - Barco has acquired MTT Innovation Inc., based in Vancouver, Canada. MTT is a developer of next-generation projection technology with expertise in high dynamic range, applied imaging algorithms, advanced colour science and specialized hardware development.

"With this investment, we are augmenting our expertise in the field of High Dynamic Range technology. This underpins our long-term leadership in projection technology." said Eric Van Zele, president and CEO at Barco. "MTT's technology is still in a research phase and will need further de-risking and development over the years to come. We welcome MTT's team to Barco and look forward to many years of successful collaboration as applications for high dynamic range & new illumination technologies spread to end markets such as Cinema, ProAV, simulation, automotive, and virtual reality."

Commented Anders Ballestad, CEO

South Africa - Blackmagic Design reports that Sowing the Seeds 2016, a music and lifestyle festival in Jo'burg, South Africa relied on Blackmagic Design's ATEM 1 M/E Production Studio 4K and Micro Studio Camera 4K to produce the live to screen visuals for festival performers, including headline acts Of Monsters and Men (OMAM) and Jungle.

The portable production unit (PPU), crew and IMAG projection used during the festival were supplied by rental and staging specialist Militia Broadcast. The fully customizable PPU is built around optical fibre and also features Blackmagic Design's range of studio cameras, ATEM Talkback Converter 4K and HyperDeck Studio Pro.

Six cameras were used to cover all of the live performances during Sowing the Seeds 2016. Acquisition consisted of two cameras front of house and two more dolly mounted cameras in the pits. With another Blackmagic Studio

The Netherlands - PRG ProShop will hold a used equipment sale from 15-17 June. The PRG ProShop 'Garage Sale' will open its doors to users, and customers at PRG in Utrecht.

The special sale will take place on all three days from 10:00 am to 06:00 pm. The sale is offering a wide selection of high-quality event technology from lighting, audio, video, rigging, LED, to broadcast technology and accessories.

The portfolio includes moving lights, lighting consoles, video consoles, daylight fixtures, speaker systems, microphones, video cameras, network technology, computers and trusses. A detailed list of the equipment available for sale in can be accessed through the PRG XL Video website

All products are fully tested prior to being put up for sale, and are sold as s

Canada - Telemiracle, the annual telethon in Saskatchewan, Canada that benefits the Kinsmen Foundation, celebrated its 40th anniversary with a 21-hour, commercial-free live broadcast on the province's CTV affiliates.

This year lighting designer Linus MacDonald stepped up the show's look with Clay Paky Scenius moving head spotlights.

The Kinsmen Foundation is a Canadian non-profit organization that assists Saskatchewan people to acquire special needs equipment and access to medical treatment. The telethon was staged at Conexus Arts Centre in Regina, Saskatchewan; the production alternates between Regina and Saskatoon annually.

Linus MacDonald marked his fifth consecutive turn as lighting designer for Telemiracle, which continues to increase its production values year to year. "This time we had new Sony cameras and the fabulous Scenius fixtures," he notes. "The show has

UK - Hawthorn has been awarded the contract to supply lighting and video equipment for New Order's festival tour, which kicked off at Sonar Music Festival in Barcelona on Saturday 18 June. The band are continuing their tour, consisting of 11 dates, visiting festivals such as Glastonbury, Latitude and Electric Picnic.

The concert touring division in Hawthorn is drawing upon its wide range of hire equipment, supplying lighting to specification, including Martin MAC Viper Profile, Clay Paky Sharpy and ETC Source 4 Profile fixtures.

Lighting is controlled using an Avolites Arena console. Glux 10mm LED panels and a 30-inch mirror ball will also feature in the package, along with two Hawthorn technicians who will accompany the tour.

The kit provided by Hawthorn supplements the existing equipment provided by the festivals.

Mick Freer, head of concert touring at Hawthorn,

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