UK - Sound, light and audio-visual integration specialists, PA Installations Ltd (PAI), has promoted Carl Sergeant from project manager to customer support manager following the departure of Peter Troke, who has been called up for military duties in Iraq.

Troke, a Captain with the Royal Engineers TA, based in Swansea, will be spending eight or ninemonths in Southern Iraq, helping with civil infrastructure reconstruction. Paul Adams, managing director of PAI, commented: "Peter is a valuable member of our team, and has formed solid relationships with our customers. However, ensuring our customers continue to receive high levels of service and support, meant that we need to identify an individual who could hit the ground running in this pivotal position. We wish Peter all the best and look forward to his safe return during 2004."

Carl Sergeant will continue delivering a

UK - TESA UK, a leading manufacturer of high quality self-adhesive tapes, has appointed the Le Mark Group as its 'entertainment technology specialist'. The appointment represents the long-term commitment of the giant German-owned company to develop products specifically for the entertainment industry.

The announcement concludes nearly 12 months of negotiations between the two companies and sees Le Mark become a 'focused distributor' for TESA. Le Mark's managing director, Stuart Gibbons, told PLASA Media: "This is very much a two-way partnership. It will enable Le Mark's design ability and award-winning flair to be developed further. It also ensures that Le Mark's clients have a direct channel to a multi-national manufacturer who recognizes that the entertainment industry is a growing sector which should be given special attention."

One of the first areas of collabora

Greece - A massive AV installation on board the Thomson Spirit cruise liner, owned by Lewis Cruise Lines of Greece, has just been completed. With 1,400 passengers, and a crew of 520, it is one of the largest ships operating out of Palma offering cruises around the Mediterranean.

Now 18 years old, the ship has recently undergone an extensive refurbishment, which has seen major changes across the entire ship, from cabins to kitchens through to entertainment systems. Thomson's consultants provided the specifications and a list of equipment to Live Business International (LBI) who were brought in to provide system design and schematics, installation, commissioning and ongoing maintenance. The LBI team, with Gerry Logue as technical project manager, thus either fitted from scratch, or refitted, 12 entertainment areas.

The Broadway (main show lounge) features a full theatre sound, l

UK - While millions queued for their copies of J.K. Rowling's latest addition to the Hogwarts adventure, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 5,000 lucky children already knew they were in for the treat of their lives. Bloomsbury Publishing (plc) called upon Clear Channel Entertainments to stage a special event at London's Royal Albert Hall, an event which gifted these avid fans an opportunity to quiz Rowling herself.

No simple question and answer session, the confines of the Albert Hall were converted into a magical rendition of Hogwarts school, replete with flying ghosts, for a spectacular simultaneous webcast on the MSN network. Naturally, this called for the specialist talents of the UK's presentation industry; amidst a burgeoning production team can be found the names of Britannia Row Productions, Light&Sound Design, Creative Technology, Hand Held Audio, Unusu

Australia - When museums in Australia and New Zealand needed lighting animation effects it was to the other side of the world and DHA that they turned. For the new Puke Ariki Museum in New Zealand, a combined library and museum, DHA has supplied 15 Indexing Gobo Rotators, along with 15 power supplies, allowing the museum to create dynamic lighting effects. MJF Lighting in New Zealand supplied the Indexing Rotators.

Another of DHA's products, the Digital Light Curtain (DLC), has been used in Australia regularly, most recently on productions of Mamma Mia and Oliver. The DLC will soon make another appearance in Australia, as part of the new Melbourne production of the hit musical We Will Rock You.

(Sarah Rushton-Read)

Germany - Iridas, a leading innovator of high-performance digital playback solutions for the film, broadcast and digital content creation industries, today announced the release of SequencePublisher, a powerful application which converts frame sequences to any industry standard format, including video formats. It supplies a crucial missing link in the postproduction workflow by automating file conversions and other frame sequence functions while maintaining a high degree of user control.

The command line interface allows for scripted batch processing, which simplifies key tasks such as automating the collection of frame sequences from render farms and generating low-resolution proxy files for distribution. SequencePublisher reads and writes all standard industry formats.

"We wanted to make life easier for our customers," said Iridas CEO Lin Kayser. "It was just

USA - American DJ's new DMX Penta Beam features five lasers, each of which produces a different geometric pattern. An intelligent 4.9mW red laser effect, the Penta Beam will send stars, ellipses, circles and other geometric shapes across a club's walls, floor and surfaces. Its five laser beams project out over a wide area, making it a great effect for even large-size venues.

"The Penta Beam is a unique effect, because it incorporates five separate lasers into one compact unit," says Scott Davies, general manager of the American DJ Group of companies. "Plus, it's an intelligent laser, so you can do a lot of creative things with it. With its DMX programmability, five separate lasers and wide beam spread, it's a really great effect for clubs that want the excitement of a multi-pattern laser light show, yet also want the ease and economy of a single affordable fixture

UK - When Scottish Opera was seeking to incorporate projection into a set for the first time, they knew that triggering different images from DVD onto black surfaces would be inherently difficult. Seeking professional advice, they contacted Cameron Presentations. Trying to balance high light output against cost, the Glasgow-based specialists recommended purchasing Christie's RoadRunner LX65 projector - an extension to Christie's RoadRunner range of high brightness LCD multimedia projectors, building on the success of the RoadRunner L6.

The LX65 provides 6500 ANSI lumens brightness from a dual-lamp light engine for bright, realistic images. New 3D digital video processing produces sharp video images from analogue and digital sources, 90% brightness uniformity and an 1100:1 contrast ratio. The Fast Lens Change (FLC) mount is a robust lens mount system designed for no-fuss lens cha

UK - Avesco has announced that it will be relocating its Creative Technology, MCL London and Screenco businesses, together with Avesco plc head office, to a new building in the London Gatwick area.

David Nicholson, chief executive of Avesco plc, told PLASA Media: "Since we merged the sales, project management and operations teams of CT, MCL London and Screenco, we have been looking for one building so that the businesses could be fully integrated with the people and equipment under one roof. This will allow us to provide our customers with a more complete service where necessary, whilst retaining the specialist skills within these companies.

"It has taken us a while to find the right premises and to negotiate an acceptable deal. This building is larger than we require immediately, but provides for future growth as market conditions start to improve."

(Ruth Ros

UK - The Amptown Cases SiP-Plasma Screen insert will make its UK debut at the PLASA Show this September. The insert represents the latest concept in professional flightcase technology for plasma screens. The name SiP represents an innovative development, produced in-house and only available from Amptown Cases.

Each plasma screen is held securely in an innovative moulded rubber insert. The combination of a durable rubber surface and a softer shock-absorbing foam kernel protects the delicate plasma screens during transportation, especially in the event of an unpredictable or extreme impact. Provision within the flightcase can be made for associated accessories such as stands, wall brackets and even speakers where practicable, making it a convenient way of moving these often awkward pieces of equipment around.

Amptown can be found on stand L52 at PLASA.

(Ruth Rossington)

UK / Germany - Brown Box AV, one of the key wholesalers of quality AV and lighting solutions, has signed a dealership agreement for Germany with Soundcheck GmbH, one of Germany's leading AV providers to the health and fitness industry. Soundcheck has installed AV solutions into top name clubs across Germany, including Reebok, 24 Hour Fitness and Fitness First to name but a few.

Dave Goody, European business development manager, commented: "Soundcheck first saw Audeon [Brown Box's wireless entertainment system for health clubs and gyms] at FIBO and were impressed with the product. Their managing director, Denis Nessler, immediately identified that it was exactly what the German market has been waiting for. I am delighted that we have joined forces with Soundcheck GmbH and am sure that they are an ideal professional partner for our first foray into Germany. Soundcheck GmbH ha

UK - Having supplied Lighthouse Technologies' latest LPV1650 16mm LED display to Endemol UK for the 10-week run of Big Brother at Elstree Film Studios, CT Screenco were then asked to provide a second Lighthouse display for the grand finale, which saw 32-year-old Orkney fish trader, Cameron Stout, emerge victorious. The announcement was made by presenter Davina McCall in an explosion of pyrotechnics, as crowds assembled outside the purpose-built house on the Elstree lot at Borehamwood, to witness the action on a 28sq.m (6x6) 16mm LED display.

The screen was used as the main backdrop to the outdoor stage for the finale, beaming live pictures of the housemates out to the awaiting audience. The structure was supplied by Elstree Light & Power. The show's production staff - and director Tony Gregory - commented that the screen delivered the best transmission they had experienced on an

UK - The National Trust has invested £500,000 to refurbish Buckland Abbey, the Cistercian Monastery and home of Sir Francis Drake, using the latest audio-visual technology from Integrated Circles.

Tucked away in its own secluded valley above the River Tavy, Buckland was originally a small but influential Cistercian Monastery. The house, which incorporates the remains of the 13th century abbey church, has rich associations with Sir Francis Drake and his seafaring rival, Sir Richard Grenville, containing much interesting memorabilia from their time.

The three main exhibition spaces have been overhauled to feature several new displays, including an auditorium built in the shape of the castle of a Tudor sailing ship, with the story of Sir Francis Drake's life projected onto the ship's sail. Integrated Circles installed a Sanyo video projector, plus the company's own show-control

UK - Building on their new slogan of CRT Forever, Barco has appointed Owl Video Systems as its exclusive distributor of CRT projectors for the leisure industry. The leading unit will be the Barco Cine 5, which offers high performance brightness, reliability and the long life expectancy that CRT projectors produce. The unit offers a highly efficient cooling system with no fans, which means that it is ideal for use in environments prone to smoke and dust. The Cine 5 incorporates 7" high performance CRTs to optimize picture geometry and sharpness, to give greater detail and extended durability. Optically coupled lenses give contrast and automatically correct colour deviations. Auto-diagnose LEDs indicate when maintenance is required and 'Mean time between failure' is greater than 20,000 hours.

Commenting on the partnership, Peter Dangerfield, managing director of Owl said: &qu

UK - CT Screenco collaborated closely with Chris Bird of United Visual Artists (UVA) to produce a huge and original interactive data display for Massive Attack on their latest international tour. During the course of the show, current newspaper articles and e-mails to the band's website were progressively relayed to the 15mm LED screen.

This required a unique use of technology: under normal circumstances graphic output would be sent to the screen as a video signal and then be converted to data. But the use of scan conversion on a standard 640 x 480 VGA resolution display would have failed to align the pixels correctly. "When the signal gets converted to video and back to data the processor simply doesn't recognize how to line this up," explained CT Screenco's Mike Walker.

The answer lay in the SACO processor. "At the time, this was the only processor that would

UK - XL Video just experienced one of its busiest weekends yet, supplying over 500sq.m of LED screens to five very diverse events.

For Robbie Williams at Knebworth, XL Video UK supplied four extra delay screens - a mix of Barco and Saco - allowing over 125,000 people per night to at least get to see some of Williams' impressive show. This was in addition to supplying the Williams' 'Escapology' European tour with the spectacular 448-tile Barco D10 LED moving screen. This measures 13.4m x 7.7m, when configured as a 16:9 ratio solid block, and splits into eight columns and tracks downstage to upstage. Each column also rotates 360° and rises and falls in the vertical plane. Side screens for the event were two 45sq.m Saco 15mm flown in portrait. The live video director for the event was Ruary MacPhie, who utilized six of XL's new Sony E10 broadcast cameras, mixing from XL's OB truck

Germany - London-based Park Avenue Productions collaborated with German sister company Citigate SEA to produce a spectacular live show for the launch of the newly-formed HSH-Nordbank in Hamburg. The event, staged at the city's Colour Line Arena, celebrated the merger of two of North Germany's main financial institutions - Hamburgische Landesbank and LB Kiel.

Whilst the event's logistics were handled by Citigate, it fell to Park Avenue to co-ordinate all the technical and creative aspects of the show, one of the highlights of which, was a dramatic 20-minute aerial display of colour and movement artistically directed by lighting designer Simon Tapping and choreographed by Micha Bergese- well known for his work on the Millennium Dome's Central show.

Park Avenue realized an ambitious immersive environment, which included the tasteful branding of all Colour Line's foyer, public an

France - With the 'Midnight Sun' summer festival tour dates now confirmed, Jamiroquai got into the swing early by playing an unpublicized free concert to race-goers at the legendary Le Mans 24-hour race, on the evening of Saturday 14 June. An audience of 40,000 revelled as Jay Kay and the band gave an unbroken 135 minutes of seriously good entertainment.

The performance was the highlight of an Audi UK-sponsored mini-festival (which lasted considerably longer than their racing car!) with further performances being provided by French and Italian bands throughout the weekend. The event was managed by Indeprod, a live event, video and new media solutions provider, commissioned by Audi UK. The company was assisted by Le Mans-based companies Bebop and Acropolis.

Indeprod's Nigel Dean became France-based, taking on the onerous task of converting a tree-strewn, rubble-covered field in

UK - We're seated in a large sitting room with an impressive mantled fireplace at its centre. Built of massive stone blocks, the room contains small, familiar details. Framed paintings on the walls appear to be in motion; the gargoyles are both terrifying and friendly. Yes, it's the spooky, cosy world of Hogwarts and the 5,000 lucky children surrounding it are in a state of high excitement for the latest Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, including an appearance by author JK Rowling.

Lighting & Video

Sponsored by Bloomsbury Publishing, and taking place at London's Royal Albert Hall, the event is driven by Clear Channel, as LD Mark Cunniffe explained. "Graham Pullen as executive producer and Katherine Allen from Initial were pivotal to making it work, while Phil Christianson in the production manager's seat did a fantastic job. There were

UK - This year's Festival of Speed, the 10th anniversary event at the Earl of March's idyllic Goodwood estate, was dominated by a stunning structure built for Ford by Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS). Designed by Gerry Judah of Judah Design and turned into reality by ESS's Steve Colley and Graham Turner, the spectacularly sloping structure presented replicas of the three Ford GT40s which won the historic 1st, 2nd and 3rd place victory at the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race.

"The project was all about 100 years of Ford," said ESS project manager Rob Smalldon, "and was one of the most challenging projects I've been involved with for some time."

From the ground, the structure rose 34m with a width of 25m. Edwin Shirley Trucking (EST) shipped in 217m of regular roof truss, 126m of LT Tower Truss, 604m of cabling and 102 bespoke purlins in a total of 16 trucks. The ESS tea

UK - Steve Warren - the well-known sales director of Avolites Ltd - made a rare live appearance as RADlite digital media server operator for last week's Hadley vs Cox gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire. He was hired for the show by lighting designer Dave Gibbon.

Warren is more usually seen at trade shows and on sales missions around the world, flying the flag for the Avolites sales team. He comments: "It's great to get hands-on with actual show operation. I have to admit I was nervous before the show, as this is the first time I've been hired professionally as a RADlite operator, but once it got going, I got into my stride."

Hadley vs Cox was an epic - and unique - show devised by 1980s superstars Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet and Pete Cox of Go West, featuring all the hits and more from the era of New Romantic and Electronica. The two artists have worked together on many

UK - CT Screenco returned to the Ross Theatre bandstand at Edinburgh's Princes Street Gardens to fulfil a vast array of technical requirements at this year's Edinburgh Festival - billed as 'The UK's biggest free arts event of the year'. Their contract with Sean Rourke's Arts For Life is one of Screenco's most unusual, since a lot of their work is done 'on the fly' as they come into contact with a vast array of cultural content. Screenco also integrates broadcast students and volunteers into the team, who are sent out with ENG equipment to gather news, which is then edited in real time and relayed live to the 4 x 415mm LED daylight display.

The three weeks of he Festival Fringe are enough to keep Screenco's representative Jon Baverstock on his toes around the clock. The highlight of this year was undoubtedly the scheduled appearance of Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, Chrissie Hynde, B

UK - This year the education programme has been relaunched to meet the changing demands of the PLASA visitor and will be hosted by the PLASA Professional Development Programme (PLASA PDP), the Association's new training initiative. A full timetable is now online and taking bookings - check out the website below.

This extended educational platform will examine current trends and issues across the wide range of the industry and provide visitors with the opportunity to broaden their knowledge and learn from the experts. The format has been revised with four different types of sessions - Technical Workshops; Business Seminars; Industry Seminars and Masterclasses.

Many of the sessions are supported by associations, trade bodies and publications and for the first time RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) are also supporting the programme. Their endorsement is clear recognit

UK - With just three weeks to go to PLASA, G-LEC Europe has signed an agreement with Fourth Phase London, for it to act as G-LEC's representative office in the UK. G-LEC Europe manufactures an innovative system of LED curtains utilizing clear rods to house the LEDs, the resulting transparency and low wind resistance making the system ideal for use in the theatre, as well as for concerts, corporate events and architectural use. Weighing just 10kg per square metre, the G-LEC LED curtain is also lightweight, so can be flown effortlessly.

Lars Wolf, managing director of G-LEC, told PLASA Media: "This business is about people - trust and confidence - and before appointing anyone I wanted to be sure they would be absolutely right for us. Having met Alan Thomson and his team, I know that with Fourth Phase London we will be doing great things in the UK." Thomson, the managing

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