UK - At PLASA2011 Out Board will preview iPad and iPhone apps developed to control the TiMax2 SoundHub mix matrix, playback server and audio showcontrol matrix. Simple factory-default setups are user-configurable, and a custom programming service provides bespoke GUI's specifically tailored to individual systems and sound effects control projects.

Also demonstrated will be powerful new S-Version software features for the TiMax2 SoundHub - the PanSpace effects map and TimeLine Editor for in-depth sound-effects programming, featuring multi-channel waveform-based editing, looping, panning, volume profiling and versatile showcontrol trigger management.

TiMax2 SoundHub is a scaleable mix-engine, sound effects playback server and delay-matrix platform which offers up to 64 channels of analogue or AES I/O - with MADI, Ethersound, Cobranet and Dante networking options - all in a singl

Czech Republic - Moving light and LED manufacturer Robe lighting will sponsor and co-organise the 2013 Showlight conference, which will be held in ?eský Krumlov in south Bohemia.

Staged every four years, Showlight is an international symposium organised by and for professionals working in all areas of lighting and the visual arts including video and projections, stage and set design.

Open to all, from the most experienced practitioners to the most enthusiastic aspirants across all sectors of the performing arts and entertainment industries, the four-day colloquium is supported by an exhibition and a full social programme for networking.

A diverse range of individuals attend Showlight. It is a forum for discussion, debate and exchange of knowledge and ideas, as well as an opportunity for approximately 400 guests to see a selection of the latest technology available. Companie

UK - Canford is providing a PLASA debuts for the new 'enhanced' Tecpro Wireless handsets and TW403 wired to wireless interface, the new RTS BTR-240 wireless comms system, Cat 5e stageboxes and multicore cables in several lengths up to 75m and last but not least the EMO E810 LED racklight that interfaces with comms systems to flash, letting the operator know of a call inbound.

Canford will also show a selection from their comprehensive range of cables including the D'n'A series which redesigned all their most popular audio cables to handle both analogue and AES digital audio. Also being featured by Canford will be the latest products from Cloud and Databay.

The new enhanced Tecpro Wireless beltpacks offer full Duplex Operation and licence-free operation in the UHF frequency band. The powerful new handsets can supply up to 200mW with a 400m max Range and now benefit from a range

UK - News of another interactive new feature area at PLASA 2011 has been announced. The Theatres Trust will return to PLASA 2011 with an expanded version of its innovative Ecovenue feature, the area that gives visitors the chance to see how 48 pioneering London theatres are putting sustainability into practice.

Located in Earls Court 2, the feature takes the form of a theatre-in-miniature, complete with 'auditorium', 'stage', 'backstage', 'foyer' and 'box office'. In each area The Theatres Trust will demonstrate proven sustainability techniques, as well as featuring technologies from PLASA 2011 exhibitors.

Tim Atkinson, theatre building services advisor to The Theatres Trust, comments, "The larger space means our stage will be able to accommodate a greater variety of presentations and events. Another key development is that, whereas last year we had only signed up half of

UK - The CueCore is a lighting controller for permanent installations. The device is completely solid-state, with no moving parts; it is an extremely secure and low-maintenance installation control solution with minimal power consumption.

The Hardware connectivity includes 1024 DMX Out, 512 DMX In, MIDI, MTC, SMPTE Real-time Clock, Astronomical Clock, GPI Contact-closures, Ethernet, Art-Net, OSC, VisualTouch Compliant, Link Multiple CueCores.

All operating and programming is done through its dynamic web 2.0 interface. Connected to a browser, the CueCore unfolds into a lighting console, show controller, RDM Manager, DMX/Art-Net recorder and Protocol Converter, making it standout as a cost-effective, feature-rich control solution.

Visit Visual Productions @ PLASA 2011 on Stand 1-G23

(Claire Beeson)

Australia - Industry members from all over Australia flocked to Darling Harbour in the thousands last week to visit ENTECH 2011, the trade show for the latest pro audio, lighting and audio visual equipment.

Unaudited figures released this week by ETF, the show organiSers, indicate that there were 4562 unique visitors to ENTECH 2011 with 393 of them coming back for a second look during the three day tradeshow.

"We are very pleased with these recording breaking results, they surpass our previous best show in 2004", stated ENTECH's event director Robby Clark. "The co-location with SMPTE was a huge success with exhibitors at both shows seeing the positive impact on visitor numbers."

The value of ENTECH as a must-attend industry event is clearly recognized both nationally and overseas. Approximately 20% of visitors to the show were from interstate and a furthe

South Africa - One of South Africa's leading professional lighting sales operations, DWR Distribution, enjoyed a successful Mediatech Africa 2011 exhibition, the country's biennial trade show for the professional live events and production technology industry.

It is the third time that DWR has participated in the 3 day exhibition, for the second time staged at the Coca Cola Dome venue in Northgate, Johannesburg. The show presented a diverse set of related seminars and discussions running in parallel, and on the Thursday evening, the annual TPSA Awards, presented by South Africa's Technical Production Services Association.

DWR won a Mediatech Platinum Award for the Best Booth Design, with the panel of independent judges hand-picked from international media attendees noting that they had made very efficient use of the space, creating an action-packed environment that highlighted

Austria - The Donauinselfest - or Danube Island Festival - is a huge, free annual event that attracts millions of visitors to Vienna each June. This year, rental company Concept Solutions provided two DiGiCo SD8s for the Festival's Front of House and monitor duties, supplied to them by DiGiCo's Austrian distributor, TON Eichinger.

Concept Solution's Raphael Rupprecht explains what was involved at this truly massive event. "This is a three-day festival featuring open-air stages around the island," he says. "We started working at 9am every day, bands arrived at 10am for soundcheck and the show itself ran from 3pm to 12pm. It was a huge workload - we had to set up our standard backline, plus the individual amps and instruments for each band and sometimes there were as many as four drum kits on stage waiting to be miked up - but all acts ran smoothly and the overall m

South Africa - Stage Audio Works exhibited for the fourth consecutive time at Mediatech, which took place from the 20th to 22nd July at The Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg. The stand's impressive aluminium double tier design showcased Stage Audio Works' manufacturing division - Stage Plus Engineering, Total Fabrication trussing and the impressive Tour Step staircase with all the components designed and machined and fabricated in-house and proudly South African.

Total Fabrications is manufactured under licence by Stage Audio Works in Africa, making this world-renowned truss design more easily available to the local market. The obvious benefits for local customers with local manufacture and back-up service, is that expensive international freight costs will be eliminated and time delays will be all but eradicated.

Members of the team were also spinning Black and White on the stan

UK - Pixled will launch its new F-9 LED surface at the 2011 PLASA Light & Sound show at London's Earls Court Exhibition Centre in September.

This capitalises on the "phenomenal success" of the fully flexible - bends both ways - Pixled F-6 surface that was launched at last year's PLASA.

The design and architecture for the 9mm pitch F-9 features all the same dynamic characteristics that have proved so popular with the F-6 - high resolution, light weight, very easy to build and set up, curvable in both directions - both concave and convex.

F-6 and F-9 modules can be mixed and fitted together if desired in the same quick-lock touring frames. These utilise the rapid hanging and footprint system that has proved such a winner for touring and temporary installation environments.

Like the F-6, F-9 is also available with standard Pixled or super-HD resolution Mitsubishi pr

UK - British mixer manufacturer Allen & Heath, will be exhibiting on stand 1-E9 at the forthcoming PLASA show in London.

The company will be showing various control surface and MixRack components from its iLive digital mixing family, as well as the range of audio networking possibilities such as MADI and Dante, and additional control options including the Allen & Heath PL Series remote controllers, iLive Editor software, iLive Tweak app for iPhone and the MixPad app for iPad.

Also on display will be models from the Xone DJ range - including the Xone:PB patchbay, Xone:S2 installation mixer and Xone:DB4 FX mixer - as well as the ZED USB compact mixers and GS-R24 recording mixer.

(Jim Evans)

UK - At next month's PLASA Show, with the introduction of its latest model, the SL50, Stageline launches a new range of mobile stages, the Light Series. The Light Series will add other cost-effective and light-weight mobile stage solutions to Stageline's product range.

The Stageline SL50 portable stage measures 6.1m by 4.9m (20' by 16') and features a fiberglass roof, light & sound rigging, full banner capability and an option of two roof heights. It can be towed by a SUV or pickup and sets up in 30 minutes, says Stageline.

"The reduced trailer dimensions make it very easy to park in tight locations. With the new SL50, owning a Stageline mobile stage is within everyone's reach and delivers a fast return on investment."

(Claire Beeson)

UK - GDS is to launch the highly anticipated LiteWare G3 at this year's PLASA show and will exhibit a number of other new products.

GDS will exhibit its "most exciting product range to date" at PLASA 2011. A recent teaser-ad campaign for the new LiteWare G3 has caused quite a stir within the industry.

PLASA will see GDS showcase all seven of its i brands: LiteWare the original Wireless battery uplighter incorporating LiteWare G3, HO and UL, the SMConsole, CueSystem TCPIP programmable ethernet based cue light systems, MOBAL tester the original and award winning automated Socapex tester, the BluesSystem utilising BlueBeam and Dome and MainsSystem.

In addition to this GDS will show its new ARCSystem a retro-fit, fully dimmable LED auditorium house light system that replaces incandescent fittings for any size of venue using a control system that can integrate with any

UK - Line 6 returns to the PLASA Show to showcase its new XD-V digital wireless microphone systems, further demonstrating the company's commitment to serving the professional audio industry.

Exhibiting on stand 1-J12, Line 6 will be showcasing the expansion of the microphone family, which now includes two new models, XD-V30HS and XD-V70HS headset microphone systems. These augment the award-winning XD-V30 and XD-V70 handheld and lavalier systems.

XD-V70HS digital wireless system consists of a lightweight, discreet and fully adjustable headset with an omni-directional condenser microphone.

XD-V30HS digital wireless system features a robust uni-directional condenser microphone attached to a durable headset, which is ideal for fitness instructors, business presentations and environments with high levels of ambient noise.

As the switchover to channel 38 fast approaches, Line 6

UK - This year, Oran Burns and Steve Jones from d&b audiotechnik's Education and Application Support team will present two one hour seminars at the Technologies for Worship Pavilion, Stand 2-M10, Earls Court 2.

Oran Burns will present Can you hear me at the back? on Monday 12 September at 3pm. How do you get the sound you've lovingly nurtured through the console to every member of the congregation? He will take a look at the acoustic signal path from loudspeaker to the listener's ear, considering what part the room plays and how to minimize its potentially detrimental effect .

Steve Jones will present Theatre sound source, a virtual shoot out on Tuesday 13 September at 11am. As a theatre sound professional, what do you want your audience to perceive and what characteristics does your sound system need to achieve that goal? By taking a close look at the anatomy of

UK - Artistic Licence Engineering has announced Multi-Play, a lighting show record-playback unit with "outstanding memory capacity and Ethernet protocol versatility".

The time-saving offered by such a device is in great demand, as demonstrated by the popularity of the company's sister product, Two-Play - a dedicated Art-Net controller capable of recording up to two universes.

Now, Multi-Play takes the concept to a much bigger and broader arena. The disk-based product allows the user to record up to 12 universes from any lighting console running Art-Net. For flexibility, playback is supported through multiple protocols, including Art-Net, ShowNet, KiNet and ACN Lite (E1.31).

"The ability to record from an Art-Net device but then playback to pretty much anything is a unique feature," enthuses Artistic Licence Engineering MD, Simon Hobday."We anticipate

UK - SES Entertainment Services on Stand number 1J-11, are running a competition at this year's PLASA show, with one lucky winner walking away with a holiday in Sunny Florida.

For every order placed on the stand this year, an entry will be placed into the competition to win a two week stay in a five-bed luxury villa in Kissimmee, Florida in 2012.

Just 10 minutes drive from the Gates of the Walt Disney resort in Orlando, Florida, the home sleeps up to 10 people and has a very large pool. Just off the highway 192, you will be in the heart of all the major attractions within a few minutes drive. The home benefits from four bathrooms, full air conditioning and a games room. Dates for the stay are subject to availability (Summer dates are still available) and the prize does not include flights or car hire. The value for entry is subject to a minimum spend of £250.00, but mult

UK - InfoComm International will continue its programme of support for the UK's AV rental and staging community when it hosts a range of education sessions at this year's PLASA show next month.

The sessions will take place at London's Earl's Court on Monday 12 and Tuesday 13 September. They will be led by Andre LeJeune, CTS, InfoComm's rental & staging staff instructor, who has more than 30 years' experience of staging and presentation and has been responsible for many large-scale productions for corporate clients around the world.

Topics covered will include 'Lighting for Video in the Large Meeting Environment', 'Audio Techniques for Corporate AV Events', and 'Project Management for Stage Labour'. Each session will last 90 minutes and will earn attendees 1.5 RUs (Renewal Units) towards continued InfoComm CTS certification. All sessions are free to attend.

Chris Lavel

USA - PLASA Events has announced its first ever PLASA Focus: Tech, a three-day audio/video/lighting workshop and live concert to be held 20-22 February 2012 alongside the recently announced PLASA Focus: Austin 2012 event.

PLASA Focus: Tech will bring together industry experts Richard Cadena (Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light), Brad Schiller (The Automated Lighting Programmer's Handbook), Chad Yeary of Portal Designs, Damon Lang of Nomad Sound, and Coolux USA for a hands-on learning programme.

The workshop will include a lighting track with design, visualisation, and programming; a video track with video content design media server programming; and an audio track with audio system design live mixing. Each attendee will programme and/or operate the lighting, audio, or video for a portion of a live concert before an audience on the final night.

UK - SGM's CC-4 is a four-bank high-powered multiple LED washlight with an enviable power output. With its IP65 rating it is designed for architectural use.

Each of the four chassis contains 44 of the LZ4 RGB Cool White Emitter LED's and thanks to its new light engine it can deliver 21,000 lumens - providing more than three and a half times that of SGM's original Palco 5 LED, which was designed for the same purpose.

The CC-4 offers CTC and white balance control. Power consumption is just 4 x 400W and the lamp life is rated at 50,000 hours.

Housed in a black slim aluminium chassis lenses are interchangeable (via the Narrow, Medium and Wide lens kit) and the fixture boasts eight or 17 DMX channels. Set up is via an OLED graphic five-button display.

Other features include: Simple menu structure; upgradeable software (via DMX); IP65 rated; standard Neutrik powerCON connectors

UK - Batmink Distribution, one of the largest UK distributors of professional audio, lighting and effects equipment, will introduce a number of new products at PLASA 2011. New brands on show include Visage Lighting, Vector Audio, Pro-Flite Flightcases, Pro-Stage Portable Staging and Lumaform LED Illuminated Furniture.

Of particular interest is the Visage LED Multipar RGBAW - a new PAR unit that delivers a truly impressive light output from 18 x 8w LEDs. 12 x RGBW and 6 x RGBA 4 in 1 LEDs produce full spectrum colour mixing and control is achieved through DMX, auto programs, sound to light or master slave functions. The black multipar housing is more robust than conventional PARcan bodies and completes this tough, powerful unit.

Another brand making its PLASA debut is Lumaform. Offering a range of LED illuminated furniture in a variety of styles; Lumaform is at the cutting edge

UK - QSC Audio Products will feature their new KLA Series Active Line Array System at PLASA 2011. KLA is latest addition to the House of K Family of active loudspeakers, joining the ranks of the successful K Series and KW Series. With similar user interfaces and sonic performance characteristics throughout the family, the K Family models can easily be mixed and matched to suit a wide range of applications for installed sound, as well as rental and portable PA, says the company.

"With the House of K line, system integrators, designers and installers have an incredible arsenal of tools that they can utilize to meet the requirements of contemporary sound applications," says Ray van Straten, QSC marketing communications manager.

"Since their introduction, the K Family of products has continually exceeded our customers' expectations in terms of sonic performance, eas

UK - PLASA 2011 will mark the official debut of the newest control desk in ETC's award winning Eos line - Gio.

Gio is designed to fill the mid range position in the Eos family, sitting between the Eos and Ion. It will offer the power of full Eos functionality, in a tidy footprint. Features include integrated, articulating multi touch displays, helpful backlit buttons and unique tactile response direct selects and encoders.

The look of the desk itself is elegantly polished and minimalist. ETC is set to release further in depth information in early September, as part of the international product reveal. Initial response from ETC's CUE end user conference attendees - who were the first to have a sneak preview in July - confirms that it will be a popular draw at the PLASA stand.

ETC is also showing for the first time at PLASA its new ultra bright, high colour, energy efficient S

UK - PixelRange has announced that in addition to its major presence on the stand of master European distributor, A.C. Entertainment Technologies , the company will also showcase its new SmartRange of Intelligent LED fixtures at the STLD-hosted LED Shoot Out which is a central feature of this year's PLASA Show.

The Society of Television Lighting Designers (STLD) has arranged a 240sq.m space where LED lighting fixtures can be directly compared across three different areas. The first lighting shootout area features a specially built 8m-wide cyclorama, the second a practical hands-on 'mini TV studio', and the third section is a lecture and presentation theatre where LED fixtures from different categories are compared side-by-side with their traditional Tungsten or Discharge equivalent.

PixelRange will demonstrate three newly released lighting fixtures - QPar, PixelSmart and Smart

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