Pharos - Leaderboard - May 2024

Business

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USA - Since premiering as an unassuming rave back in 1997 in LA, the adult playground that is today's Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) has spread across the U.S. and indeed the world.

Orlando has hosted its own version since 2011 and LD Steve Lieberman has been lighting it ever since. This year, he designed a remarkable megastructure for the Circuit Grounds stage plus the accompanying lighting scheme that was just as impressive, teaming Elation Platinum Spot 35 Pro moving heads with Colour Chorus LED strip lights, among other Elation gear and other lighting. Production was by AG Production Services.

Produced by Insomniac Events, the fifth incarnation of EDC Orlando took place at Tinker Field on 6 and 7 November with three different stages hosting 50 DJs, among them headliners Tiesto, Kaskade and Calvin Harris.

The combination of Platinum Spot 35 Pro's and Colour Chorus 72's

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USA - When the time came for Cornerstone Church in San Antonio to go digital in its 4,700-seat sanctuary, there were three targets that had to be hit: Freedom for the ministers' and musicians' visions, financial responsibility for proper stewardship, and foundational planning for the future. With a church that ministers to 20,000 members locally and reaches every country on the planet, the genesis of where that ministering signal starts is crucial to the success of everything that follows.

Planning the renovation of the church's audio system covered a period of a year and a half and was completed in late summer with the installation of two new DiGiCo mixing consoles: the SD5 at FOH and the SD10 for monitors. These desks act as the hub of a new fibre-based signal transport system that has transformed the church's signal flow and vastly improved the sonic quality of both live and

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Germany - Reporting an extraordinarily successful year in the Middle East, Lawo has seen its pioneering IP-based broadcast production video, audio and control technologies and systems adopted by the region's leading TV and radio broadcasters, including installations in Qatar, Jordan and Oman.

Installations across the region reflect the growing number and size of broadcast installations in the region's Arab territories, as well as their increasingly demanding workflow requirements. Lawo's involvement is also an indication of the continued success of the German company's developments in TV and radio broadcast production. It also demonstrates that broadcasters in this expanding and technically demanding market are ready to adopt new approaches and future-facing technologies, and have found a strong partner in Lawo.

"We are becoming more and more recognized in the Middle Ea

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UK - Manchester based dbn Lighting has returned to the Store Street car park beneath the arches at Manchester's Piccadilly station for the current Warehouse Project season, with a new lighting and visual design. The venue layout is essentially the same as for previous seasons, however the brief to dbn's project manager Pete Robinson was to give it a new vibe with a fresh design.

The main room stage still has a video truss at the back, but forward of that, Pete transformed the look and feel of the stage space by installing a 10m diameter half circle of trussing (open ends downstage) which fits really snugly into the width. It's also raked to harmonize it with the curvature of the arch. This has replaced the previous year's overhead trusses that were straight. Further segments of curved trussing have been flown above the dancefloor.

While the section over the stage is effectiv

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USA - Bands often inspire one another musically, but on some occasions their power of persuasion extends into the realm of lighting too. Such was the case recently on the popular coast-to-coast US tour co-headlined by post-hardcore heavies Senses Fail and Silverstein that featured a stage- transforming rig created by Squeek Lights using Chauvet Professional fixtures.

Prior to signing up for this joint venture, Senses Fail had never toured with their own light show before; though they certainly performed with some killer rigs on the Taste of Chaos Tour. Still when the band hooked up with Silverstein, they were lighting newcomers. After talking to their touring partners however, Sense Fail had a change of heart and decided that the time had come to engage their fans with lighting.

For their part, Silverstein felt comfortable recommending that their punk rock partners leap into

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UK - A scalable QSC Q-Sys digital audio network has been installed at London's Excel Exhibition Centre by experienced installation specialists Paul Todd and Eddie Thomas of SSE Audio. Based around a Core 1100 processor, the new QSC system replaces Excel's ageing background music system, and is used in conjunction with an existing Ateis voice alarm. All of the QSC equipment was provided by Shure Distribution UK.

Having struggled with the daily management of the previous system, Excel gave SSE a brief to create a fully redundant network with a bespoke, user-friendly graphical user interface. Q-Sys has been integrated into Excel's existing fibre network ring, and now distributes up to 256 x 256 digital audio channels from 18 racks, each with fibre network connectivity and full redundancy.

Excel is one of London's largest exhibition centres, offering a total of 100,000sq.m of us

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UK - A.C. Video, a division of A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET) Ltd, has been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor for Draper Projection Group's new StageScreen and FocalPoint projector screen solutions - bolstering the company's line-up of leading-brand complementary video system technologies.

AC-ET has been a reseller for Draper's popular Ultimate Folding Screen systems for three years, but following the introduction of the StageScreen and FocalPoint systems, Draper appointed the company as their exclusive distributor for these flagship product ranges, due to the A.C. Video division's specialist knowledge, expertise and infrastructure in place to support their brand.

Based in North America, Draper has been manufacturing quality projection screens since 1957. Well-known for their innovation and build quality, Draper produces a wide range of manual and motorised

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USA - Syncrolite, LLC and Ballantyne Strong Inc. announced that the assets associated with Ballantyne Strong's lighting business have been sold to Syncrolite. With effect from 21 December 2015, Syncrolite will assume all operations, sales and support associated with the well-known family of followspots.

The Super Trouper and Gladiator products will now be manufactured at Syncrolite's headquarters along with the Skytracker family of outdoor advertising and architectural lighting products. Strong product support and repairs will be provided by Syncrolite's team of Xenon lighting experts while parts and replacement lamps will be shipped from their own centrally located facility in Dallas, TX.

"The Strong name is familiar to everyone in the entertainment lighting industry and Syncrolite is proud to be in a position to carry that tradition forward and take Strong lighting pr

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UK - The team at LSiOnline is taking a break for the Christmas holidays and will be back with more industry news on 4 January 2016.

From all of us at PLASA Media, a thank you to all our readers around the world for your support through 2015, and we wish you all a very happy holiday season and a prosperous new year.

See you in 2016!

Best wishes from Lee, Claire, Andrew, Greg, Sheila & Sonja . . .

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USA - Motion control systems manufacturer Kinesys is opening the doors and welcoming guests to its dedicated training facility in Atlanta, Georgia, in an event that will run from 25-28 January 2016, offering both product awareness and free operator training for those who want to know more about automated rigging for the entertainment industry.

This event has been designed to cover the operation and implementation of Kinesys equipment and will showcase a broad range of products that will appeal to individuals and companies involved in the increasingly popular discipline of automation / motion control.

The invitation is open to lighting and show designers, automation operators, rental suppliers and rigging service providers - anyone with an interest in this dynamic element of modern show production.

The training workshop will provide structured learning in the theory, progr

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UK - Lighting and visuals rental company HSL supplied lighting kit - over 300 fixtures - and crew to the UK arena leg of big beat hard-dance electro rockers Prodigy's The Day is My Enemy tour, working in close collaboration with lighting and show designer Andy Hurst, and also with live video specialists Video Illusions who supplied cameras and LED screens.

The set and visuals have maintained some base common elements as they have evolved throughout the tour which started in Australia in February 2015 shortly before the album dropped, and continued with festivals and headliner shows worldwide, culminating in this sold-out UK arena spree.

Andy wanted a bit of an abstract and urban look to the stage, one that was open to interpretation in a number of different ways. "I didn't want something that was too literal and certainly not too predictable," he explained, "a

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UK - London-based projection, digital art and son et lumiere specialists, The Projection Studio (TPS) has produced two high profile festive installations this year - at Windsor Castle and in the Welsh seaside town of Barry in Glamorgan.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council invited TPS back to rock the town of Barry again this year following the massive success of last year's inaugural festive son et lumiere created from scratch by Ross Ashton and the TPS team and marking the town's festive light switch-on.

The humorous, fun and spectacular 10-minute large format video show - with seasonal artwork and an array of animated images like dancing penguins and Santa Claus' elf-powered present factory production line - was beamed on to the front of the municipal library building in King Square, Barry, getting everyone vibed up for Christmas.

The biggest physical challenge was dealing wi

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USA - Most houses of worship also strive to remain relevant to the people in their immediate communities. For the Sunnyvale Seventh-day Adventist Church, which is located less than a 15-minute drive from the world headquarters of Apple, Google, Intel, Cisco and a host of other Silicon Valley powerhouses, this commitment helped prompt a technological upgrade that included the installation of LED fixtures from Chauvet Professional.

"Being located in Silicon Valley, the church serves people who are surrounded by technology every day," said Matt Gordon of Legend Theatrical (Scotts Valley, CA), which managed the lighting and video upgrades of the remodelling project. "The new lighting system and other enhancements have given the church a more contemporary look, which connects to worshippers."

Sunnyvale Seventh-day Adventist's technical director Greg Richmond d

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UK - Allen & Heath's new dLive mixing system made its debut appearance at London's O2 arena recently, with King Charles supporting Mumford & Sons on their UK tour.

King Charles front-of-house engineer Jon Lewis employed a dLive S3000 console with an A&H DM64 mixrack for FOH, with an Allen & Heath GLD Chrome mixer handling monitor duties. The 20 fader, 12" touch-screen equipped S3000 allows for up to 120 fader strips and extremely fast workflow.

With credits including Roni Size, The Feeling and Clean Cut Kid, Lewis is a fast-rising UK FOH engineer, with extensive experience of Allen & Heath's existing iLive mixing system. And he describes the dLive as being "on another level. From the build quality to the GUI to the flexibility of the console, everything's taken a huge step up. But it's also extremely intuitive - we only had a day's rehearsal with the console before

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Latvia - 3S SIA, the Latvian distributor for Portuguese manufacturer NEXT-proaudio, recently installed a NEXT-proaudio LA122 line-array system in Vecpuisu parka paviljons in Valmiera, Latvia. The complex was built in 1914 and after an eventful history completely rebuilt as an event hall for corporate parties, small scale concerts, and medium size parties.

General tech company SIA Decibel, represented by general manager Aivis Balodis, contracted SIA 3S to supply and install the PA system. The calculations and room simulations with Ease Focus were made by Arturs Cintins, technical director of 3S SIA. He also developed and implemented FIR filters for that system.

"SIA Decibel is long term customer of ours and he was sure it has to be a NEXT-proaudio system, so he called me. The choice was LA122 line array system, maybe a bit massive for the room, but it can handle anything

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USA - Chicago-based production company Intelligent Lighting Creations has invested in Elation Professional's Volt Q5 uplight, a versatile go-anywhere RGBW LED wash light that runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery.

Scott Falbe, founder and CEO at Intelligent Lighting Creations (ILC), explains the reasons behind the purchase. "Several of our productions occur in older venues with very few power receptacles and outdoors where there is no power run out to the grass. This product gives our clients a level of flexibility that was not possible in the past. In addition, the costs are reduced since personnel do not need to be hired to run cables from other locations to the fixtures. They can roll the powered cases to a convenient receptacle for recharging."

An all-weather IP65 housing and built-in battery that lasts up to 12 hours between charges allows the Volt Q5 to

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UK - Dubai-based event production specialist Maestra has announced the launch of a new independently owned London venture, which will be headed by Justin Hammond, well known in the event industry for his energetic style of management.

Maestra London has a new office and warehouse premises at the high-profile riverside Royal Arsenal development and has made an initial half a million pound investment in new technology, which has included the purchase of premium brand audio and video equipment.

A full-time staff of 10, plus Justin makes the company immediately operational from 4 January 2016, with further equipment and personnel to be announced in the New Year.

Combined with the resources of the Dubai office - headed by Thomas Clements - this will establish Maestra as an international creative production resource based in two vibrant international cities, with a reach that f

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Australia - Gladstone's multipurpose Entertainment Convention Centre boasts a flat floor event space that can service 1,700 standing, and an auditorium seating 674 for theatrical productions, concerts and presentations. Situated 100 kilometres south of the next major centre, Rockhampton, the GECC services community and business groups from the coast to the hinterland, and is equally at home staging a musical or a trade fair.

With a busy end-of-year schedule ahead in the theatre, operations supervisor Simon Mai was looking for ways to create unique stage effects and looks quickly and easily. Adding a media server to the GECC's arsenal looked like a solution, but choosing the right product was the challenge.

Graeme Hicks of Entertainment Production Supplies provided Simon with a Green Hippo Amba to evaluate, and the GECC liked what they saw. "Simon and the crew are using

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France - Four nights of enchantment were planned in December for Lyon's most famous festival to date, broadcasting the heritage of the city. However, due to the recent tragic events in Paris, the Festival of Lights was cut short to a one-day tribute to the victims of 8 December, inviting people to stand united and light candles while the city became illuminated for that one evening at La Colline de Fourvière.

Rental company GL events Audiovisual was tasked as supplier of lighting, while also being an official partner of the light festival. "We were very surprised and honoured to be the only company selected for this year's edition. Both the project and the site has worked wonders in our favour," says project manager Frédéric Fuentes.

Together with lighting designer Daniel Knipper, the two men used solely SGM LED lighting equipment for the show. A mix

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USA - Like many audio system design projects, the biggest challenge in specifying sound for a house of worship is often overcoming the limitations of the physical space. That was the situation that Ft. Wayne, IN-based Custom Sound Designs (CSD) Group, Inc. faced in a recent project for First Assembly Church of Raleigh, NC, and a system based on L-Acoustics' Kiva and ARCS WiFo product lines controlled by a Yamaha CL5 digital audio console was its solution.

"This is not just a case of it being a large and acoustically unfriendly space," explains CSD President Doug Hood. "In some ways it was closer to a new-construction project than a typical renovation, but the nature of the construction limited what could be done. The site was originally a manufacturing facility, so it was a large and almost completely open environment. Things like support beams are central to the

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Germany - Danish electro rockers Carpark North are on the road most of the year and have just finished a recent stint playing German clubs, taking their fusion of the raw edgy rock and cerebral electro beats to their many fans.

Creating an ever interesting, evolving and innovative lightshow is LD Johnny Thinggaard Lydiksen from CMY, based in Arhuus, who has worked with the band since 2013. He loves Robe's Pointes and BMFLs - among other fixtures.

Both types of fixture have been at the heart of the various versions of the lighting design to stem from Johnny's central concept, which was created to be flexible and scalable.

Underpinning the aesthetic was the goal to make the band look powerful and dramatic for which "Darkness and timing is a key" explained Johnny.

Pointes first appeared on the Carpark North lighting rig in summer 2014 when Johnny specified 40 to

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World - Continuing its tradition of celebrating sci-fi motion picture premieres, ETC closed down its offices worldwide and smuggled some 1,000 employees off to see Star Wars - The Force Awakens as it opened in the US, Europe and China.

First was Wisconsin, where 19 buses were brought in to transport 800 people from Middleton and Mazomanie to fill 10 screens at a local cinema. An exhilarating buzz permeated the rumbling buses as employees, many adorned in Star Wars costumes, chattered about their hopes and expectations.

"I've been waiting for this movie since before I was born," said Mike Tarman, a lifelong Star Wars enthusiast from ETC's marketing department. "I've kept my expectations in check, but I'm feeling something I've not felt since." Tarman, an aspiring filmmaker, helped create a Star Wars-themed video to announce the company outing at ETC

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India - Digital signal processing specialist Symetrix has furthered its commitment to the Indian systems integration market with the appointment of Miyakawa Drives & Controls Pvt Ltd as sub-distributor for the Maharashtra region, working under the aegis of main distributor AWAN India Pvt Ltd.

Home to more than 110m people - 18m of them alone in the capital city of Mumbai - Maharashtra is India's third largest state and is located in the western region of the country. Going forward AWAN will work with sub-distributor Miyakawa Drives & Controls Pvt Ltd to optimize the reach of the Symetrix range in this pivotal area.

Established in 1999, Miyakawa Drives & Controls has matured into one of India's most in-demand distributors and importers of pro-audio products and control technology. Alongside Symetrix, its distribution portfolio includes Belden, Neutrik, Community Professional,

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The Netherlands - The world famous Royal Concertgebouw Concert Hall in Amsterdam has become the latest concert hall to update its lighting system to LED, with help from ETC and their Dutch dealer Ampco Flashlight Sales.

The decision on which fixtures to specify was not taken lightly: it took around a year of testing and discussions before deciding on 84 Desire D60XTI Studio HD fixtures, controlled by an ETC Unison Paradigm system. Says Flashlight Sales' lighting sales manager Bas van Schelven, "In such a prestigious venue, maintaining its famously superb acoustics was a huge concern for the staff and performers. So even though the XTI fixtures were designed for external use, we specified them since they have no fans to make a noise."

Other tests included making sure the orchestra and choir members could easily read their music sheets under an unfamiliar light; and

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  3. Colour Sound Experiment goes public
  4. Bandit helps Nashville celebrate in style
  5. Chauvet strikes right note in Richards Bay
  6. The Week in Lighting & Sound
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