USA - Entertainment lighting and video specialist ADJ will use LDI 2019 to unveil multiple additions across its product range. These will include a new series of LED video panels, a Hydro Series IP65-rated moving head wash and a high power moving head beam fixture, as well as LED-powered follow spot and strobe fixtures.
ADJ’s new ‘VS’ Vision Series of LED video panels offers a versatile modular solution that has been developed to make life easier for video professionals installing LED walls on either a temporary or permanent basis. Each model in the range features four individual modules, which are front and rear serviceable, making it ideal for both temporary hanging and permanent wall mounting. The modules are all mounted to the same frame, allowing panels of different resolutions to be used together and meaning that the same rigging bar and road case can be used for all VS models.
The Hydro Series is ADJ’s flagship IP65-rated moving head range, offering lighting professionals high quality, yet affordable, fixtures that are sealed from liquid, humidity, dust and dirt. LDI 2019 will see the official debut of the new Hydro Wash X19, which is the latest model to join the range.
LDI 2019 will also see the official unveiling of the latest addition to ADJ’s Vizi Series of moving head fixtures. The new Vizi Beam 12RX is a high-powered unit designed to generate crisp mid-air beam effects at concerts, dance events and in large nightclubs.
The Focus Series is ADJ’s range of compact LED-powered moving head fixtures. The new Focus Spot 5Z

USA - Wireless LED lighting manufacturer Astera will exhibiting on the stand of its exclusive USA distributor, Inner Circle Distribution, on Booth 1205.
V11, a major upgrade of the flexible AsteraApp, is launched at the show; there will be a preview of the new Wireless PixelBar wall washer to be launched in 2020 and Astera will show its popular Titan Tube range of LED battens – Helios, Titan & Hyperion Tube – together with all their accessories.
Other flagship products will include the AX1 PixelTube, the AX3 LightDrop, the AX5 TriplePAR and the AX10 SpotMax.
The AsteraApp offers quick and intuitive control of complex lighting setups and a range of fully customizable programmes and effects.
New in V11 is Layer Effects. This gives full control over all the pixels in the Astera fixtures which can be used to create fluid, kinetic effects.
This works on rows or ‘bars’ of pixels which can be selected and have various parameters adjusted like the size and position of the bar, which can then be assigned colours and effects.
Another feature of V11 is Optional New Targets: this displays the targets as a list, so users can see the previous effects sent to each target and edit it directly from there, allowing a new and fully optimized workflow. Even parameters like brightness can be changed directly in the Targets list.
The AsteraApp is designed to work seamlessly with other control methods and can be used to set up DMX addresses and CRMX control footprints. Astera’s IR remote can be used to send App commands to single li

USA - City Theatrical will be launching and demonstrating new technology in Booth 435 at the LDI Show 2019.
Nominated as an LDI Show 2019 Best Debuting Product, City Theatrical’s newest QolorFLEX 5x2.5A 900MHz/2.4GHz Multiverse Dimmers will be launching at the show. Available in dual band 900MHz/2.4GHz (P/N 5942) or 2.4GHz band only (P/N 5943), this new product is a constant voltage, five-output dimmer that can be controlled wirelessly with Multiverse wireless DMX/RDM technology or with wired DMX.
City Theatrical will also be presenting new QolorFLEX 2x2.5A Multiverse Dimmers and Multiverse Receiver Cards. The QolorFLEX 2x2.5A Multiverse Dimmers (P/N 5916 for 2.4GHz band or P/N 5917 for 900MHz band) are tiny two-channel low voltage dimmers, each with a Multiverse wireless DMX receiver built in. These receiver/dimmers are designed to be mounted in the smallest spaces, such as props, costumes, wands, and candles.
Other live demonstrations by City Theatrical will include LDI Show 2018 Best Debuting Product award winner Multiverse Transmitter with its ability to broadcast up to ten universes of DMX data from a single transmitter, QolorFLEX NuNeon as an incredibly flexible and bright alternative to traditional neon lighting, QolorPIX Pixel Controlled LED Tape for plug and play pixel control, QolorPoint Wireless LED Uplighters for high quality wireless event lighting, and Lightwright 6 software for entertainment lighting data management.
June Abernathy, 30-year spotlight operator veteran and author of The Spotlight Operator’s Handbook,

UK - Warner Leisure Hotels owns a chain of 14 rural and costal hotels around the UK. It boasts luxury breaks in Grade I & II listed manors with bespoke packages that include famous faces from the stage, screen and radio in West End-quality performances at Warner’s venues.
With increasingly bigger productions, Warner’s focus is on providing an outstanding guest experience. To this end, it recently undertook a major upgrade to the sound system in the ballroom at its Cricket St. Thomas Manor Hotel in Somerset – reputed haunt of Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton and the setting for much of 1980s TV comedy To The Manor Born - selecting an L-Acoustics Kiva II system to improve audio coverage and fulfil rider expectations for the venue’s busy entertainment programme.
“Billy Ocean, Aswad, 10CC and Jane McDonald have previously performed here, and we have an exciting line up for the coming months. All of these bigger acts, their engineers and production teams, expect to have a top calibre PA system. We used to hire in and ground stack systems, which served the purpose but as a temporary installation, you can’t cover the room comprehensively and there are aesthetic sightline issues with two big stacks of PA,” explains David Hall, head of technical at Cricket St Thomas. “We also always struggled to deliver even coverage throughout the room - with the house or hired system - to ensure all guests have the same audio experience.”
Hall appointed AVL specialists, Adlib, to carry out the refurbishment led by installations project manager,

South Africa - Olive Tree Church in Florida Road, Berea, established in 2008, has a vision not to build a big church, but to pastor a big city and they have various branches scattered throughout Durban. The church recently invested in a DiGiCo SD9 with D2 rack and an Orange Box, purchased from DWR Distribution.
Stephen Bagwell, technical director at Olive Tree has been with the church since 2014.
Kyle Robson of DWR recalls “When I started working at DWR Distribution in 2016, we did our first DiGiCo training sessions around the country and Stephen was there. He was so determined that he would one day have a DiGiCo console, and now his dream has become a reality.”
The new gear, consisting of an SD9, D2 rack and Orange Box, was initially sent down to Durban, where DWR’s Nicholas Barnes got the system up and running. It was followed up with training by Kyle. “Olive Tree seats around five hundred people and it’s a very family orientated environment,” Kyle describes. “From what I’ve seen, the band is incredible, and they have some really good musos. Stephen himself is a talented engineer. The DiGiCo system compliments everything the church already has in place and is trying to achieve.”
A former student at Performing Arts Technologies, and having worked in the entertainment industry before joining the church, Stephen could see how lighting, audio and AV played a major role in enhancing the worship experience. “Our worship experiences are honest and authentic, which was one of the things that drew me to Olive Tree,” Stephen no

Taiwan - The 3201 Multi Hall in the Taiwan Traditional Theatre Centre (TTTC) at the National Centre for Traditional Arts (NCFTA) in Taipei became the first theatre in the country to use moving heads and be equipped with all-LED lighting with the installation of a complement of Claypaky and ADB products.
The NCFTA’s mission is to cultivate talents in the traditional arts and to conduct investigation, research, conservation, transmission and development of the traditional arts. The GuoGuang Opera Company, Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan and Taiwan Music Institute operate under its authority. NCFTA oversees the TTTC, which is also known as the Xiqu Centre of Taiwan.
The Multi Hall is a small venue seating about 130 people. It hosts traditional Chinese and Taiwanese opera and Palmadrama (Taiwanese hand-puppet theatre) as well as press conferences and speaking engagements. The Multi Hall offers performing groups and others a well-equipped, cost-effective theatre space with a reduced need for technical equipment rentals and technical staffing.
Taipei-based Acropro worked with Xiqu on the installation as part of a renovation of the Multi Hall. The new lighting complement featured five Claypaky Axcor Profile 400HCs, six Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K10s and an ADB Eurodim Twin Tech dimmer cabinet. Two years ago NCFTA purchased 40 Claypaky Scenius Profiles for the Main Hall of Xiqu.
“Claypaky lighting instruments are always stable, reliable and of excellent quality,” says Huai-min Jen, section chief of NCFTA. “They are a

USA - Rock band Sum 41 embarked on their US and Canadian Order In Decline Tour with a JRLX touring lighting package onboard. Lighting designer Nick Stabile of Helm Projects specified a rig of Elation Professional Dartz 360s, ACL BAR 360s, Cuepix WW2 Blinders, and GLP JDC1 Strobes.
Nick Stabile Explains, “Sum 41 has moved past their pop-punk days. Their set is a lot of straightforward rock - quick and heavy songs with slow and beautiful moments peppered in. There is a lot of dynamism in the show, so I needed a lighting rig that was super punchy, yet able to accommodate the more theatrical points in the show.
“The fixtures I selected are small, yet powerful and multifaceted. The Cuepix WW2s have been my go-to for years now for stage blinders. The ACL BAR 360s can give me utter madness on stage for those crazy moments -and pixels. But it is the Dartz 360s that are really the workhorse fixtures for me. The options onboard the Dartz are a must for all of the looks and changes that this show requires and they are an incredibly reliable fixture.”
Jason Reberski, CEO of JRLX notes, “The Elation Dartz 360 has been a great addition to our inventory – It has the intensity to directly compete with (and in some cases even outperform) traditional lamp-source beam fixtures, but with all of the benefits of colour mixing, overlaying prisms, frost, and 360 rotation, and an LED source.”
Nick Continues, “The GLP JDC1s are intense. I use them as colour-blinders, strobes, and pixel fixtures and really get a lot of looks out of them.”
(Jim Evan

USA - Las Vegas will be the first US exhibition for Robe’s new Esprite LED profile moving light. This will be shown alongside other new Robe technologies including Tetra 2.
This year’s live show presents the next chapter in Robe’s Return to The Future trilogy, inspired by classic movie moments and a bit of car geekery
In addition to Esprite and Tetra2, Robe showcases several other new and current product ranges.
Esprite is the first in a new series of Robe luminaires that will feature fully replaceable / transferable white source LED engines. This high-performance luminaire can potentially replace old and entire fleets of workhorse discharge fixtures. Offering a cost-effective and easily changeable LED engine, Robe has eliminated the white source problems of unpredictable life and performance inconsistency.
Design innovations include a new cooling system that removes any airflow over the optics, resulting in reduced residue deposits and vastly extending the periods between cleaning.
Tetra2 (from Tetragnatha) is a new linear bar fixture that builds on Robe’s Spiider and Tarrantula LED technology.
Utilising the same LEDs, with an ultra-tight 4.5° beam from each of the 18 pixels, these can be combined to produce a bright, highly defined "sheet" of light or Svoboda-style light curtain and fixtures can be positioned end-to-end for longer seamless curtains of light or washing effects.
Other current and popular Robe technologies featuring on the booth will include the SilverScan, the T1 Family (T1 Profile, T1 Prof

USA - This year at LDI, TMB’s signature hospitality will be offered in a revised booth setting.
The 80-plus products and growing ProPlex Devices and Drives range now features new ProPlex Software V2, a real step forward in Node and RDM management. While still ProPlex user-friendly, the new software allows management of all ProPlex IQ Nodes with one powerful, yet simple to use, and easy to navigate, system. Allowing effective, yet surprisingly simple, management of even the largest lighting networks, the many features and benefits of ProPlex Software V2 are legion. Hands-on demos will be available for everyone.
Also new to the ProPlex range is the GBS Network Selector, a unique Ethernet source selector offering instantaneous selection of up to two of four input sources. Intended primarily as a lighting console switcher, the GBS Network Selector is ideal for redundant backup connection, preventing any networking delays when switching sources.
New additions to the Pro Cables range of quality cables, connectors, and assemblies include the new ProPlex Cat 5e Ultra, combining renowned ProPlex reliability and performance with both improved data integrity and class-leading noise protection. With reduced transmission degradation and full Gigabit performance up to 90 meters, plus many more improvements, ProPlex Cat 5e Ultra proves that perfection can be improved.
The new ProPlex RG-11 12G coax video cable is designed for ultra-high definition video in touring applications, with enhanced flexibility, crush resistance, and overall durability, making i

USA - Brown Note Productions, a full service production company based in Thornton, Colorado, has purchased a large fleet of Elation Professional IP-rated outdoor lighting fixtures and immediately had the gear out on a fall run of music festivals.
“We chose to go with IP rated fixtures to be part of the solution for our industry,” stated Ryan Knutson, president of Brown Note Productions. “With the changing climate and the desire to be outdoors listening and seeing your favourite performers, the stakes in the game have changed. The visual designs now call for non-traditional stage layouts to complement the artists’ performances. These visual platforms require lighting and other production technology to be directly exposed to the elements.”
Knutson says that Brown Note’s historical approach was to bag fixtures with bulky, expensive weather domes but that was not an optimal solution. “With the shrinking labour budgets and build times on these shows, adding in extra gear means more time, more trucks, more crew, more everything. We know that this is not sustainable.”
Brown Note’s acquisition includes Elation’s 50,000-lumen Proteus Maximus, a full featured LED profile framing fixture; Proteus Rayzor 760, a compact IP65-rated LED wash luminaire with SparkLED background illumination system; Protron Eclypse hybrid LED luminaires; and variable white DTW Blinder 700 IP LED blinders. “With this combo of lights we can do most events with an all IP-rated system giving our clients the full show rain or shine,” Knutson stated.
Brown N

Belgium - Painting with Light (PWL), working for television producers Dedsit, supplied lighting and video content design, creation and control for De Battle – a co-production between Belgium’s SBS and Netherlands broadcaster, RTL – which was recorded at the Pop Up Theatre in Puurs.
The TV series is billed as ‘the next level of studio entertainment’. Four celebrity contestants, divided into two Belgian and Dutch teams faced brain-teasing quizzes, gravity-defying stunts – from drifting cars to traversing a high wire plus a host of manual dexterity and physical exercise skill tasks – testing them to the max in front of a live audience.
Studio 100’s Pop Up Theatre includes eight moving seating tribunes to fit 1600 people and eight remote-controlled LED screens which can be moved into any position and configuration.
These large moving assets enabled the production team to build the multiple locations needed within the venue to stage the different challenges. The speed at which these turnarounds were possible enabled series director Kevin Houben to achieve the results he needed for all four episodes that were recorded during two intense weeks.
PWL’s creative director Luc Peumans designed lighting for each different scenario, utilising the substantial ‘house’ lighting rig in the Pop Up Theatre (also home of the 40-45 musical spectacular, as a base, and adding around 140 moving lights).
Luc’s extensive experience as a lighting and visual designer in television and theatre was a huge asset to the production as was

France - The French Open tennis tournament is held in Paris at Roland Garros Stadium, a complex of three main courts with a total capacity of over 30,000 spectators. The largest of the courts, Court Philippe-Chatrier, was rebuilt between the 2018 and 2019 tournaments and now accommodates over 15,000 spectators.
For the 2019 tournament, two Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn supported by four Danley THmini15 subwoofers covered Court Philippe-Chatrier’s seating cleanly and with unprecedented intelligibility.
“The sound reinforcement system at Roland Garros is used mainly for speech reinforcement for the referee, players and organizers, as well as for advertising and the national anthem,” explained Etienne Bérard, director of Demoa, a French AV distribution company. The AV consultant on the project, Creaprag, asked Demoa to find an efficient, high-intelligibility sound reinforcement system for the rebuilt stadium. Bérard modelled a Danley point-source system, relying on Danley’s full-fidelity, phase-coherent output to deliver the requested intelligibility.
“The client wanted a system that could fit into the relatively small niche that had been given for loudspeaker placement,” Bérard continued. “In addition, it had to be highly directional so as not to disturb the press room located just below the loudspeaker niche. I used Bose modelling software to propose a system using a Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn, and we offered proof-of-concept with a demo up against a high-end line array. The Danley J3-94 Jericho Horn showed vastly better intelligibility

USA - Premier Productions’ stellar 2019 Worship Tour is running across the USA this fall. Earlier this year, Seth Jackson was approached by Josh Chambless of Premier Productions to create a unifying design for a tour that would feature three of worship music’s most prominent groups: Casting Crowns, Elevation Worship and Hillsong Worship. Multiple Dove Award nominees all, and in two case Dove and Grammy winners, each band has its own distinct look on stage, created by its own talented production team.
Jackson’s mission was to come up with a design that would pull together each band’s stage persona, while still presenting a smoothly flowing and harmoniously balanced look on stage.
Working with his partner Nate Alves, Jackson met this challenge, creating a sweeping panorama that embraces the visuals of each band, while also projecting a unified image that is unique to the tour. Included in the rig that he used to accomplish this feat are 21 Chauvet Professional Maverick MK3 Spot fixtures supplied by Bandit Lites.
“The MK3s are the workhorse of the rig,” said Jackson. “We are relying on them for illumination one minute, and graphics the next.”
Jackson is also using the high output MK3 Maverick Spot fixtures as follow spots. “It was terribly important to each artist to be able to see and respond to the crowd. Follow spots would be too blinding,” he said. “There was no way, short of just having everything turned on, that we could pull off this show without a legion of follow spots. The course we selected with the MK3s was muc

Spain - Fantek International, a company that specialises in manufacturing tower lifts, trusses and stage platforms, played a key role in the success of this year's San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF) by providing a custom-made truss frame for the festival's main projection screen.
Inaugurated in 1953 and held annually at the Kursaal Palace in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, SSIFF attracts numerous A list actors and directors whose presence brings star appeal and glamour to this week-long homage to celluloid. This year's top names included Penélope Cruz, Donald Sutherland and the director Costa-Gavras.
Over the course of the festival, approximately 200 films are scrutinised by judging panels who award different prizes in various sections. On the final night the winning actors and directors attend a closing gala at the Kursaal Palace, immediately followed by personal appearances at the Antonio Elorza velodrome where members of the public can watch the award-winning films on a massive screen.
In previous years, this screen was mounted on an old iron frame, but in 2019 the organisers asked Spanish installation company Loyola 21 to replace it with something lighter, more versatile and more functional. They, in turn, approached Fantek with an order for a 26 x 12m truss frame that could safely support the large screen and ensure that it stayed perfectly flat and smooth.
Carlos Verdú, from Fantek's technical department, says, "For this project we used a Fantek accessory that added a form of tubing that made it possible to lift a tarp wi

Europe - LiteCAD Evolution is a dedicated cloud-based truss configuration software with intuitive drag & drop architecture. It is a tool that allows for the quick and easy creation of technical layouts and visualisations of Litec truss structures.
Users can select from a wide database of products enhanced with a continuous expansion programme that provides access to the greatest range of truss solutions, so all of your creative and technical needs are met.
Automatic updates to the system library on each login gives access to the widest and latest range of products and accessories. The system also features a custom parts configurator for special set-ups. To ensure complete and valid information, the software features real-time processing of all Litec parts required for constructing your creative truss structures, such as truss, corners, connections and accessories.
LITEC’s configurator currently supports the following “American” LITEC products: QX25SA, QX30SA, QX40SA, QH30SA, QH40SA, RH40SA, L-Wall and Towerlift 3.
(Jim Evans)

The Netherlands - AV solutions manufacturer Peerless-AV has announced the opening of a new warehouse in Weert.
This is the latest step in the company’s European expansion and Brexit strategy. Located on the Netherlands and Belgium border, Weert is strategically positioned with sea and land transport links.
“The opening of our new warehouse in Weert means we can continue to exceed customer service levels with reduced delivery times and increased flexibility to fulfil the continued growth and demand we are seeing for our products in Europe,” comments Keith Dutch, managing director for EMEA at Peerless-AV. “There will be no change to the operation of our UK warehouse. We’re pleased to say that both the warehouse in UK and Jebel Ali Freezone in Dubai have been stocked heavily this year owing to ongoing growth across EMEA generally.”
(Jim Evans)

South Africa - DWR Distribution is co-hosting the Robe Roadshow South Africa. Present at the event will be Josef Valchar, CEO of Robe Lighting, and Harry von den Stemmen, international sales director, who will be introducing the new Esprite and Tetra this December.
The roadshow kicks off in Cape Town at the Roxy Revue Bar at the Grand West Casino on 2 December. Those living in Durban are welcome to pop in at the Grace Family Church in Umhlanga on 4 December. The last stop will be at DWR Distribution Johannesburg on 6 December. Demonstrations will be held on the hour from 10am to 4pm each day.
While the event is free of charge, attendees are asked to RSVP at the DWR Distribution website.
(Jim Evans)

USA - The new Maverick Storm 1 Spot just introduced by Chauvet Professional, will be showcased at the company’s LDI booth (9370).
The Maverick Storm 1 Spot delivers a flat even field of light with variable CMY + CTO colour mixing to create a wide palette of colours. Creative featuress include its 8° to 48° zoom angle and field angle, 16-bit dimming for smooth control of fades, five-facet motorized and rotating prism, animation wheel, iris for beam control, and independently controlled light and medium frosts.
In keeping with its flexible design, the versatile Maverick Storm 1 Spot offers a wide array of gobo options. The fixture has seven glass rotating and indexable gobos on Wheel 1 and nine metal static gobos on Wheel 2.
Compact enough to allow easy installation on any rig (it weighs in at just 38.19 kg or 84.2 lbs.), the Maverick Storm 1 Spot is powerful enough to punch through the light from other fixtures or video panels on stage. The fixture’s 32,000 lumen source and illuminance of up to 28,829 lux (at 5 meters) ensure that it can makes its presence known on stage even during daylight hours.
A user-friendly fixture, Maverick Storm 1 Spot offers a variety of control options, including DMX, RDM, WDMX. ArtNet and sACN. Its easily accessible menu system makes it simple to adjust control protocol, as well as features like fan control, pan and tilt, and dimming mode.
“We have developed the Maverick Storm 1 Spot with real world applications in mind,” says Albert Chauvet, CEO of Chauvet. “In designing this fixture, we didn

UK - Lighting designer Steve Cameron utilised Vista by Chroma-Q’s Vista 3 lighting & media control system to deliver full concert production values for the Wella 2019 TrendVision Awards, held at London’s Roundhouse.
The Awards are the pinnacle of the annual contest, which recognises some of the UK and Ireland’s most impressive hairdressing talent. Hosted by TV’s Vernon Kay and hairdresser Patrick Cameron, it was attended by 800 industry peers.
With the event putting creative talent centre-stage in a venue steeped in rock ‘n’ roll history, and music’s inescapable influence on the fashion world, the occasion called for a concert-style lighting rig to give it an energetic, theatrical look and feel, whilst at the same time still delivering for its corporate AV requirements.
As a long-time Vista user, Steve knew the control system would deliver his vision, and be able to produce both corporate and rock ‘n’ roll aspects.
He comments: “Vista’s creative visual workflow and graphical interface make complete sense. I can use my time more productively by getting the design into the desk quickly and, in combination with the fantastic FX Engine, keep my attention on the show itself.”
Taking advantage of the Roundhouse’s circular space, Steve’s design was based on the clock face, with 12 spines splaying from a circular truss above the stage and guests.
He utilised Vista 3 to provide lighting & media control for a rig of over 300 fixtures and over 16 universes. In addition to over 130 Martin VDO Sceptron 10 pi

Czech Republic - Prague-based Elvia-Pro has taken on the distribution of German fibre network specialists BroaMan in the Czech Republic, following a request from private commercial station, TV Nova.
Formed in 1993, Elvia-Pro specialises in management, engineering and project work within the broadcast sector, and manufactures and installs equipment for OB and DSNG trucks, specialising in main broadcast organisations such as Czech TV, TV Nova, TV Prima, TV Barrandov and production houses.
It was TV Nova who were largely responsible for the new distribution arrangement. “They came to us with a request for BroaMan devices,” recalls Tomáš Kocáb, Elvia-Pro’s sales product specialist. BroaMan technical sales manager Maciek Janiszewski made a professional presentation at TV Nova, leading to the new distribution deal, which was formalised on the BroaMan stand at the IBC Show in Amsterdam.
“Aside from TV Nova, we had also received further BroaMan inquiries from TV Prima, while a film school requested a Repeat48,” Tomáš continues.
The company will now embark on an aggressive marketing campaign, as Tomáš Kocáb explains. “We have shown our Mux22 demo units to all the main broadcasters, and we also have Repeat48 in our professional ProfiCam Centrum showroom in Prague. We also present all BroaMan products on our professional web page (e-shop).”
(Jim Evans)