USA - In the tri-state area where Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio meet, just north of Cincinnati, lies Citygate Church’s new campus, Forest Park. The church, which originated in Cincinnati and was once mobile, has grown from a small congregation into a thriving, multi-site ministry that enhances services for live and broadcast audiences using customisable lighting from Elation Professional specified and installed by integration company S&L Integrated Systems.
Citygate is a multi-ethnic, outreach-driven church with a vision to positively impact the community and share the word in a creative and dynamic way. “Pastors Eric and Kim Petree have always had a vision to become a multiple campus church - one church, multiple locations,” says Dustan White, production director at Citygate Church. “We know that our success and our blessings come from how we impact other people’s lives, and the opening of the Forest Park campus has opened the door to an even broader community.”
As Citygate operates an existing campus in Lebanon, Ohio, further north, the Forest Park campus gives the church a broader reach into the Cincinnati area. The ministry also administers outreach in downtown Dayton, as well as downtown Cincinnati.
Although expansion into a new community was a long-time vision of the church, an expensive new build wasn’t necessarily on the agenda. The Forest Park property - an existing church space that had become available under auction in early 2021 - was an opportunity that the church couldn’t pass up.
Nathan Tomberlin, an account ex

UK - Reading-based television lighting rental specialist Version 2 Lights has made a large investment in Robe’s new Forte moving lights with the purchase of 50 fixtures.
These have been supplied with both the HCF (high colour fidelity) and the HP (high performance) LED engines - to service V2’s upcoming projects.
Versions 2’s managing director Nick Edwards stated, “We needed a high-powered, high-quality fixture to meet the demands of the big shows, so explored a number of options and selected Forte as the best fixture with optimum quality output for camera.”
The Fortes - among the first in the UK - will be working hard this winter, including on ITV’s new talent show, Walk the Line which is being lit by LD Tim Routledge. The show is produced by Simon Cowell and due to be aired in December.
For Nick and V2, a product like Forte has all the finesse needed for working with camera systems and in HD filming environments using the high CRI engine to effortlessly create amazing skin tones, plus the power, punch and effects required for more rock ‘n roll lighting treatments - and also for dry hires.
V2’s first Robe purchase was two years ago for the 2020 edition of The Brits Are Coming at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, a broadcast announcing the nominations for that year’s Brit Awards. Tim Routledge also designed lighting.
“With LDs - especially in the LE (light entertainment) sphere - increasingly specifying Robe and a string of great new products coming to market, Robe had clearly been listening to

Saudi Arabia - Visitors to 1Rebel in Riyadh might easily think they’ve entered an upscale club were it not for the rows of treadmills, bikes and other exercise equipment that reveal its identity as a fitness centre. This is precisely the sort of image, management of the London-based gym hoped to create when they opened their two Saudi Arabian locations.
Their vision for their Middle East expansion was based on the success they had in the UK, offering guests a total experience.
AV designer Toby Jones worked with lighting designer Durham Marenghi, who he had also collaborated with in the UK. Together they endowed the new Saudi centres with the engaging look and feel that have become a signature of 1Rebel.
Helping them accomplish this was a collection of Chauvet Professional fixtures. The team positioned Ovation, COLORado and ÉPIX strip fixtures within the four main concept spaces that define the 1Rebel experience: Reshape, Ride, Rumble, and Reflex.
“Our lighting brief from Marenghi was simple: stay consistent with the London venues and take it to the next level,” commented Jones. To execute this vision, lighting and video were employed within each of the gym’s studio/spaces to support the 1Rebel theme with energetic visuals.
In the Ride studio, for example, a total of 41 COLORado 1 Solo wash lights were positioned from the ceiling to illuminate the exercise bikes from above. Thanks to the generous zoom of the fixtures coupled with vivid colour rendering, a number of dynamic effects could be achieved within the space to heighten

Europe - Robe lighting s.r.o has launched the full-form product video for its new T11 luminaire, the latest in its T series.
T11 is a static fixture – available in three versions (Profile, Fresnel and PC) - is designed to be “a perfect investment for any venue - especially theatres and performance spaces - seeking to renew their existing ‘generic’ lighting rigs and upgrade to the latest LED technology with all Robe’s guaranteed reliability and quality”.
This genuine three-in-one solution in a single fixture housing alleviates the additional cost of separate ‘generic’ purchases and looks forward to a more sustainable future, says Robe.
The MSL-TE 350W LED engine itself generates 16,760 Lumens, giving 9,500 lumens from the T11 Profile, 9,600 lumens out of the T11 Fresnel and 9,400 lumens for the T11 PC, and being a TE light source, brings all the advantages of straightforward exchange or replacement.
Building on Robe’s MSL (Multi-Spectral Light) colour ideas and TE (Transferable Engine) technology, the T11 offers the colour finesse that has made the entire T series so successful.
This concept first developed by Robe enables different and interchangeable LED engines in the same fixture hardware, which can be quickly changed / ‘transferred’ in 5 to 7 minutes.
The LED technology also provides identical colour characteristics, responses, and ultimate control of all T series luminaires for precise colour consistency across any Robe lighting installation.
A rapid-change front lens system transforms the T11

Germany - Anolis Eminere 1 RGBA LED wall washing lighting fixtures were specified to create mood lighting in a series of breakout rooms in the newest extension to the Estrel Congress Centre (ECC) in Berlin, with the Czech manufacturer also producing some specially adapted ceiling mounting versions of the fixture to suit this project.
The 10 breakout rooms are part of a new 5000sq.m extension project which opened last summer having been under construction for nearly two years, adding an 800 seat auditorium / presentation space and 10 event rooms to ECC’s substantial multi-purpose conference, exhibition and hotel complex which first opened in 1999. It occupies a massive site in the south of Berlin city.
Each of the new rooms can accommodate up to 50 - 240 people, and Estrel’s owner and technical management teams planned mood lighting from the early stages of the design and planning process explains ECC’s technical manager for AV, Thomas Herzberg.
“People in general are much more aware of the power and reach of lighting now, how it can affect thinking and attitude, so we wanted to provide this facility as part of our standard lighting and AV packages,” he explains.
Herzberg and his team chose the Eminere RGBA as the optimum fixture, complete with wide angle lenses as the fixtures had to be mounted close to the wall in each of the rooms.
As Estrel’s requirement was for ceiling mounting units, the factory was willing and able to provide a custom solution for the standard wall mounting

UK - Prolight Concepts has announced the release of The VersiLED 6 Wireless from LEDJ - a universal DMX controller designed for controlling multi colour LED fixtures.
Suitable for use with RGB, RGBW/RGBA, RGBWA or RGBWAUV products, with or without dimmer channels the controller may be used for LED par cans, panels or even LED strip lights. The on-board W-DMX transmitter allows for wireless DMX control.

USA - Indie/emo band Foxing entitled their fourth studio album Draw Down The Moon. For the album release show at the Pageant theatre in St Louis, designer Gerry Dintleman reflected the mood of the music with a redolent, theatrical lightshow that drew on a collection of over 45 Chauvet Professional fixtures from the venue’s house rig as well as ten Nexus panels rented from Arch City AV.
“I wanted things to have this emotional power, with very dramatic highs and lows, using as little front light as possible, with the exception of specials,” explained Dintleman. “Since the album is called Draw Down The Moon, I added a moon gobo with my Ovation ellipsoidal for the backdrop. Overall, I just wanted to match the wide dynamics of the record and bring Foxing’s live show to a whole new level.”
Back, key and side lighting were critical to Dintleman’s plans to realise this vision for his lightshow. “I’m grateful to Foxing for giving me creative freedom,” he said. “Before I had any plans for this show, I knew I wanted tons of backlight and key light to set the desired mood. I used lots of hard saturated blues, red, and purples with accents of white. The dark monochromatic looks helped the white burst punch even harder; and the choruses, I used with multiple colours to make them look even bigger.
“The side lighting really wound up being the foundation of the rig,” continued Dintleman. “I supplemented most of my front light with side light, sometimes only using one side to get sharp shadows on the artists. They were in ev

France - PlugFest, the technical event for entertainment lighting interoperability, returns to Lille in France from 29-31 March 2022 following a two-year hiatus. Organised by PLASA, the popular event welcomes manufacturers, developers and technicians from across Europe to test their products and learn about the latest protocols.
PlugFest is an opportunity for participants to collectively test and demonstrate device and system interoperability with the aim of improving reliability, resolving compatibility issues and ultimately improving connectivity between all entertainment lighting and related technologies.
The event’s expert hosts, Hamish Dumbreck (JESE Ltd), Peter Willis (Howard Eaton Lighting) and Wayne Howell (Artistic Licence) will host a series of workshops and technical break-out sessions and will also provide individual support and guidance. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about a wide array of protocols and technical standards, including the ESTA TSC developments.
The 2020 edition of the event sold out well in advance, with leading manufacturers such as GLP, Luminex, Highlite International, Robert Juliat, TMB, Claypaky, ChamSys, ETC, Chauvet and Eaton. Those interested in attending in 2022 are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment.
PlugFest takes place in the city of Lille, France which is directly connected to London with the Eurostar and all major European cities via a mainline train station. Furthermore, attendees can take advantage of specially discounted rooms in the hotel that PlugFest takes place in

USA - Designer and programmer Keith Hoagland and co-designer Steve Leopard of Leopard Production recently lit a corporate event livestream for country band Sixwire with special guest Steve Augeri, the lead singer of Journey from 1998 to 2006.
Accounting for the small studio space that the livestream was shot in, the two designers deliberately kept their video wall backdrop simple. “In some instances, it’s better to approach video with the less is more mindset, especially when space is an issue,” said Hoagland. “In this case, having a quite backdrop with a series of smaller video walls, allowed us to paint the area between those walls with rich colours. This gave us depth of field for the cameras to read.”
The duo lined the walls of their set with seven video panels in a U-shaped configuration. Rather that show the same images on each, they devoted one or two sections to IMAG images and displayed breakout patterns on the rest.
The multiple images worked to make the space seem larger. Then to give it texture, they covered the floor in vivid washes and a wide range of gobo patterns created with 24 Chauvet Professional Rogue RH1 Hybrid fixtures supplied by MP Productions. (Leopard Production supplied the rest of the gear.)
“We wanted to fill space, not only on the floor, but in the air as well,” said Hoagland. “Given the size of the space, we used a lot of RH1 Hybrids, and we spread them out as much as possible too. Since the space for this shoot was quite small, I wanted to have as much spread on fixtures to cover not only the air

Austria - For the two million Austrians who tuned in every Monday to watch the country’s 2021 Ninja Warrior championships, keeping pace with the gifted young athletes as they raced across unstable bridges, swung along series of hanging rings, and hauled heavy weights up a ‘salmon ladder’, would have seemed like an impossible task. But, for Bernhard Endl, it was a matter of routine.
Endl didn’t physically run through the new show’s gruelling obstacle course, but he did keep pace with its athletic participants, when lighting the programme on Austria’s Puls4 network. Powering his 89-universe 936-fixture lighting design was a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M console.
“This was a fun project with a different set of challenges than you typically face on a tour or other kind of show,” said Endl. “We had to create an even illumination over the entire parkour with all its obstacles. The big thing is that these obstacles changed daily. So, we had to build a flexible design to be able to adjust rapidly to the changes.”
Endl positioned his keylighting from five or six different points along the parkour course, depending how the obstacles were configured for the day. His principal light source were floodlights mounted at the trussing of the obstacles, downside, frontside, backside. He also had profile fixtures on truss oriented in the same direction as the cameras, as well as two to four wash lights focused on each obstacle.
Most of his show was timecoded, but some cues were manually called up. At pivitol moments of victory or defeat, selected cue

South Africa - Faith Broadcasting Network has consolidated a vast following of approximately 264m viewers worldwide since its inception two decades ago, with satellite, terrestrial and digital broadcasts reaching worshippers all around the world. With headquarters in South Africa, and studios in the USA and the UK, MyFaithTV is the largest religious broadcaster on the African continent.
To accommodate such growth, the Faith Dome - the ministry’s base in East London, South Africa - has been undergoing renovations for many years. Parts of the premises have been refurbished to house different aspects of the ministry’s work: including a number of television studios, humanitarian aid warehouses, activity spaces as well as their main broadcasting studio.
In 2015, work commenced on the ceiling to replace it with the dome we see today. Stage Audio Works were called upon to design and integrate a sophisticated audio, lighting and rigging solution for the main arena based on d&b’s A-Series loudspeakers, Cameo and Hog4 lighting with Stage Plus truss.
In early 2021, the ultimate round of renovations to the main broadcast studio was concluded, and the Faith Dome was officially completed. At maximum capacity, the indoor arena holds a staggering 10,500 live attendees, making it the largest in the Eastern Cape.
SAW’s brief was to provide the Faith Dome with audio and lighting solutions to support their existing broadcasting channels, as well as live events. Dr Andre Robert, founder and CEO of the River Group, comments: “It was important for us

Norway - Stavanger Concert Hall is a glass and steel architectural building occupying a waterfront location in Norway’s ‘oil capital’, where the hustle of marine-based industries fuse with a passion for culture and live performance.
The venue - busy reopening for an action-packed autumn - has not been quiet during the pandemic period, which has seen the delivery of 66 x Robe Esprite moving lights and 24 ParFect 150s, all part of an ongoing technical upgrade overseen by head of lighting, Nils Foss.
The new fixtures are rigged in the 1,200 seat Fartein Valen concert hall, named after the Norwegian composer Fartein Valen and featuring a magnificent organ made of 65,000 parts. Fartein Valen is home to the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
They are also in the fully flexible multi-purpose Zetlitz hall which has capacities of 850 seated and 1,900 standing and is used for a wide range of performance - from rock concerts to contemporary opera. It is named after poet, Lutheran pastor and Stavanger native, Jens Zetlitz.
The Concert Hall has some large highly attractive foyer areas which become flooded with natural light and are also used for various events, and there is a large outdoor amphitheatre for summer shows.
The 48 Robe Esprite Profiles and 18 Esprite PCs are distributed between the two main rooms and have replaced a quantity of older moving lights purchased when the building opened in 2012.
The ParFect 150s have superseded older conventional LED side lights as part of Zetlitz’s permanent house rig.
“It was time for

USA - As the first of its kind, the 1DayLA event saw 20,000 members mobilised between 18 and 24 July to offer communities across the county of Los Angeles help and hope. It culminated in a massive concert named The Freedom Experience, which was hosted at the new SoFi Stadium and subsequently aired on YouTube, where volunteers and contributors from across the Los Angeles region gathered to give one final cheer to this celebration of humanity, and enjoy the experience.
The concert featured a star-studded line-up, with performances from headliner Justin Bieber, Tori Kelly, Chandler Moore, Chance the Rapper, Jaden Smith, and Grammy Award-winning artist, Kari Jobe. 4Wall Entertainment provided lighting, video and rigging, including Brompton 4K Tessera SX40 LED processors and ROE Visual LED panels.
“That weekend was just unbelievable for the 4Wall team, and we were so thrilled to provide our service coast-to-coast at The Freedom Experience in Inglewood and Rolling Loud Miami, as well as at the Latitude Festival in the UK,” says Wayne Romanowski, 4Wall account executive/video production.
ROE LED screens adorned the stage powered by Brompton LED processing, ensuring superb image quality. In addition, disguise media servers, Sony camera flypacks, engineering, switching, and recorders were also used.
The centre screen comprised 168 flown ROE Carbon CB5 LED panels in airframes, measuring 24ft wide by 7ft high, driven by a Brompton Tessera SX40 processor with three Tessera XD 10G data distribution units keeping cable runs to a minimum. 4Wall opted for

USA - PRG has made two senior appointments. Stephan Paridaen (pictured, right) has been named CEO. He currently holds the role of president & COO at PRG, leading its operations in EMEA & APAC since 2010, and will step into his new position from 3 January 2022.
PRG has also appointed Jeremiah J. (Jere) Harris (left) as the company’s executive chairman and CCO.
“There’s no one better prepared and able to lead the company than Stephan Paridaen,” Harris said. “Since arriving at PRG 12 years ago, he has demonstrated an exceptional passion for our mission and has focused on the continual growth of our business in the EMEA and APAC regions, while improving our operations and expanding our offerings.”
As executive chairman & chief creative officer, Harris will work with and support Paridaen and the leadership team. Harris felt that the timing was right for the CEO transition. He said, “We are at an inflection point for the company, the industry and indeed the world. After leading the company through the most difficult period in our history, we are now on solid footing. There is still much work to do, and I am confident in Stephan’s ability to realize the tremendous opportunity ahead.”
Speaking on behalf of the PRG Board of Directors, Lauren Krueger, managing director, KKR, said, “We thank Jere for his exceptional leadership of PRG and look forward to his contributions in his new roles. We are confident that Stephan brings the strategic vision and operational focus needed to accelerate growth and profitability at PRG.

USA - The Proteus Rayzor Edge and Proteus Rayzor Blade are billed as a striking visual combination of linear wash, high-intensity strobe line and SparkLED FX inside a compact IP65 linear fixture design. Envisioned to provide the designer ‘unlimited creative control of powerful colours’ and high-powered strobe effects from a single unit, they allow unlimited placement in any outdoor and indoor environment, greatly enhancing their capabilities, says Elation.
Protected from dust and water ingress, they are part of Elation’s industry-leading Proteus range of outdoor luminaires, matching colours and SparkLED effects with the popular Proteus Rayzor 760.
Driven by six or 12 independently controlled 60W RGBW LEDs, Proteus Rayzor Edge and Blade provide a powerful beam. The oversized front lenses create a large visual surface on the fixture that is enhanced by the epatent-pending SparkLED technology. SparkLED consists of individual white LEDs strategically placed inside the lens itself to create an additional layer, allowing designers access to a new and innovative way of creating interest on stage.

In addition, the Proteus Rayzor Edge and Blade emphasize the RGBW lenses with two seamless high-intensity strobe lines with a total of up to 256 cool white strobe LED dots. Flanking the Rayzor lenses across the entire length of the fixture, these dual strobe arrays offer incredible visual effects with a multitude of integrated FX or precise pixel control from the lighting console.

South Africa - Idols SA 2021 became the first television show in South Africa to use a fully grandMA3 - software and hardware - lighting control platform, chosen by Joshua Cutts and Andre Siebrits from Visual Frontier to run their lighting design for the final televised segments of the popular and high-profile singing competition.
Other ground-breaking aspects for this year’s broadcast shows included a move away from the State Theatre venue in Pretoria after several years, decamping to Studio 10 at the Urban Brew Studios in Johannesburg. With that came the need for a completely different aesthetic approach and treatment.
“The objective was to ensure it looked amazing from all camera angles,” explained Josh, adding that his own Idols expertise - this is his 17th series - plus Andre’s fresh eyes as an LD has been “a great combination”.
Knowing the show and its demands and challenges very well, and being experienced grandMA users, the two felt it was the right time to deep dive into the power of grandMA3. Over 200 moving lights plus other LED fixtures and some conventionals, all adding up to 17,000 parameters and 34 universes of lighting control, were run using one grandMA3 light console with a grandMA3 XT as tracking backup. These were running over a fibre network comprising one grandMA3 processing unit L, three grandMA3 4Port Nodes, one grandMA3 8Port Node and two MA Network Switches.
Andre likes the fact that the grandMA3 system needs considerably less physical hardware to control larger numbers of parameters, and they only

Europe/USA - With fellow General Device Type Format (GDTF) founders MA Lighting and Robe Lighting, global design and BIM software provider Vectorworks has revealed several updates to GDTF - the standard for describing the hierarchical and logical structure and controls of any type of controllable device in the lighting and entertainment industry.
The GDTF file format has continued to evolve with input and involvement from manufacturers across the globe and critical feedback from its many adopters, resulting in a newly published update to DIN SPEC 15800:2021.
“Receiving recognition in the form of a published update to DIN SPEC 15800:2021 is a testament to the continued evolution and success of GDTF,” comments Vectorworks CEO, Dr. Biplab Sarkar. “The necessary work will continue to take place to ensure GDTF’s bright future so that its benefits can not only advance the work of the designers utilizing it, but the entertainment industry as a whole.”
DIN, the German Institute for Standardization, is the independent platform for standardization in Germany and worldwide. A DIN SPEC is a document that specifies requirements for products, services and/or processes. It’s a trusted strategic instrument for quickly and easily establishing and disseminating innovative solutions that do not conflict with any existing standards or rules of procedure.
“The update to DIN SPEC 15800:2021 is a good example of how DIN SPECs can evolve and stay current with specifications that meet the needs of the market,” said Michael Bahr, project manager at D

UK - Live music venue, Rock City in Nottingham boosted its house lighting rig for October this year - a busy period including some lively university Freshers Week events - with a rig of 60 Robe moving lights, with extras supplied via rental and production company Zeal.
Rock City’s lead project lighting designer Will Brown explained that with the post Covid re-opening of live shows, they wanted to make a big impression, especially to make up for last year when everything had to be cancelled!
Will designed lighting to cover an array of events, from popular bands to heaving club nights, as people from all over the city celebrated being able to congregate, have fun together and enjoy live music again.
While many bands will bring their own productions and floor packages, historically for crew the venue is famous for band productions loading out while the disco is pumping full tilt, full of ravers - so the house lighting rig is smartly designed to work with this on both functional and creative levels.
The 18 x Robe Pointes are owned by Rock City and were in residence before Will arrived six years ago.
“They are a perfect fixture for us - fast, very versatile, robust - and we use them all the time,” he stated. “It’s hard to find another light of its class that can do as much as a Pointe.”
They get moved around a bit - rigged and re-rigged according to the event schedule - with a typical set up being 10 in the roof and eight on the stage and are frequently used as side stage washes for shows.
For Freedom Week (

Europe - This month sees LED lighting solutions manufacturer Ayrton celebrate its 20th anniversary.
“When Ayrton was created, we didn't know at the time, but we were going to revolutionize the world of lighting with a totally disruptive concept, digital lighting,” says Ayrton founder, Yvan Péard. “Over the past 20 years we have created more than 70 extraordinary digital luminaires that are as innovative as they are effective. We are very proud of our achievements and the way we continue to lead the way, pushing technology and design to the limits. This year we are celebrating 20 years of passion, creation and design; 20 years of working with the world's greatest lighting designers, who have placed their trust in us to make the tools they want to use; 20 years of innovation to bring the wildest projects to life.”
Péard first brought Ayrton to life in 2001, naming his company after the Brazilian racing driver, Ayrton Senna, whom he admired for his brilliance, ingenuity and drive in the pursuit of perfection.
The company has become a respected industry player, delivering technical innovations and original ideas in creative effects lighting and classical lighting fixtures through to the company’s first IP65-rated fixtures.
The company’s initial reputation for unique effects lighting accelerated in 2013 with the advent of MagicPanel 602 - the first-born in the Creative Solutions family - a modular LED luminaire equipped with continuous unlimited rotation in pan and tilt, and a unique square face that could deliver a broad range of visu

USA - Spotrack has appointed Apex Technologies as its exclusive North American distributor.
Liam Feeney, CEO of Spotrack, explains: “When you take into account the far-reaching knowledge and experience of the Apex team, it’s easy to understand why we are so excited by the prospect of working with them in the United States. The North American market already has a highly distinguished Spotrack client base, and there is huge demand for our products into other market verticals. We are confident that we have found the perfect partner to help release the full potential of Spotrack for the benefit of the US entertainment production community.”
Bill Morris, general manager at Apex Technologies, adds: “Spotrack has developed some incredible technologies for follow-spot control that we haven’t seen here in the American market. The ability to interface with fixtures and controllers from various manufacturers, as well as the multiple modes of steering really set it apart from the other options. The potential for increased utilization of existing rental inventory is a big benefit, especially in these times of supply shortages. We’re proud to bring these products to market over here and look forward to helping establish Spotrack as the industry standard.”
Visitors to this year’s LDI conference and tradeshow in Las Vegas can explore Spotrack’s products by stopping by stand 2745, where Apex Technologies team-members are also present.

Europe - A new F-Drive accessory is now available, simplifying installation and vastly increasing compatibility with third-party LED fixtures. The B-Box4 uses the RJ45 output of an F-Drive card to position up to four channels of Molex, terminal, or RJ45 connections at any location in your installation.
With the addition of B-Box, the F-Drive LED power system offers more flexibility to meet each facility’s installation needs. Whether using third-party or ETC-manufactured fixtures, specifiers can simplify the wiring required to connect to the F-Drive unit.
F-Drive is a modular, centralized solution for controlling LED luminaires. With easy access to swappable driver cards and power supplies, all critical components are readily accessible for maintenance and updates. F-Drive is available as an R12 rack-mounted solution or a W1 wall-mounted solution.
A variety of connection options allow facilities to use a wide range of luminaires with B-Box, while taking advantage of ETC’s superior dimming and control technology. ETC’s new F-Drive System Design Tool helps confirm third-party functionality. In addition, our integration test lab is set up and ready to receive general market fixtures for testing and performance grading.

UK - Video technology rental company and technical creative production specialists, 80six, recently hosted a series of virtual production Discovery Days at its new virtual production studio facility in Slough.
The events were staged in response to the growing appetite for information about virtual production technology and techniques, and allowed those in attendance to gain insights into the world of virtual production. Directors of photography, film and TV producers, cinematographers, and representatives of production and post production houses, all took advantage of the opportunity to explore the workflow and real-time technologies required to power both live and on-set productions.
3LR Lighting Ltd, representative for international manufacturers of architectural, film, entertainment and broadcast lighting and control, was an event partner, alongside ROE Visual, Brompton Technology, Cooke Optics and Mo-sys. US manufacturer of LED lighting and control, ETC, represented in the U.K. by 3LR, was present to demonstrate its fos/4 LED fixtures in a working virtual production environment.
Barry Grubb, 3LR business development manager for broadcast, television and film lighting, comments: “It was great to see ETC present the fos/4 range to an audience of directors, DoPs and other key players in the film and broadcast sectors. It’s historically very difficult to gather all the right people in one place at one time, and this event gave us a unique opportunity to meet with, and spend some focused time, talking to key players and decision makers in the ind

Austria - Located close to The Graben, one of Vienna’s most famous streets, renowned architect Matteo Thun created the design and atmosphere of Bar Campari, Campari Austria’s flagship location. An Alcons Audio pro-ribbon system delivers the audio.
Bar Campari is owned by Peter Friese, of Vienna’s Zum Schwarzen Kameel (The Black Camel), one of the city’s highest profile restaurants.
The owners contacted Wolfgang Sauter, founder of Vienna-based systems integrator Pro Performance, with a brief for an audio system that had to deliver quality sound, performance and reliability. It also had to blend in with Bar Campari’s décor, which is based on the lively aesthetics of Italian cafés and the graphics designed by futurist artist Fortunato Depero for Campari in the first half of the 20th century.
As well as sound quality, containment was also important, as there are strict laws in Vienna regarding maximum sound levels, especially in the city centre. The Alcons VR5 pro-ribbon mini monitor was chosen for Bar Campari, the RBN202 pro-ribbon HF driver delivering intelligibility and dynamic output, while the horizontal and patent-pending vertical dispersion ensured very accurate coverage.
Nine single 5” VR5 monitors were mounted on custom-made brackets, with an Alcons 4x2.5kW Sentinel10 amplified loudspeaker controller chosen to manage the system.
“Planning, quotation, execution and the result convinced us that we found the right sound partner,” says Peter. “This audio system has allowed Bar Campari to enhance the high-quality amb

USA - Lighting designer Jeff Croiter and set designer Beowulf Boritt engendered the connection between actors and audience in their work for the current (and fourth) iteration of Freestyle Love Supreme at Broadway’s Booth Theatre by creating an immersive atmosphere that enveloped both the stage and the venue itself.
“We want to have a club-like look and feel throughout the theatre as the audience enters,” said Croiter, who was also responsible for lighting the three previous productions of the show. “At times throughout the show, it’s important to be able to have a connection between the audience and stage.”
Helping Croiter accomplish this is a collection of Chauvet Professional COLORado 1 Solo and COLORado 2 Solo fixtures supplied by 4Wall Entertainment. The RGBW washes connect to the audience, the moment people begin to enter the theatre.
Drawing on the fixtures’ zooming capabilities, Crotier has tight beams directed at the entrance, creating the desired club-like atmosphere for arriving guests and heightening their sense of expectation. Later as the show begins, the beams widen to wash broader areas in colour.
“We have about 60 of the COLORado fixtures in our rig,” said Croiter. “They are the first thing the audience sees when they enter. We have them hung all over the theatre, focused every which way. They hit the ceiling, walls, an audience from behind. There’s also a system hanging around the first truss portal that points at the audience.”
According to Croiter, the colour rendering capabilities of th