USA - Barco is enhancing the magic of Roger Waters' The Wall tour as it continues around the world, providing a combination of video and lighting equipment including 15 FLM HD20 projectors, five FLM R22+ projectors, five Encore presentation systems, and from High End Systems, 32 Cyberlight 2.0 units and a Road Hog Full Boar console.

Show creative directors set out with the ambitious goal to authentically reproduce the concert venue and show created 30 years ago for Pink Floyd, including building an exact replica of the 1980 set. Fabricating the wall each night, brick-by-brick in sync with the video projection, is a laborious, yet essential task to maintain the integrity of the projections which display rotating scenery, dynamic backdrops and optical illusions. Barco's integrated lighting and video solutions enable the vivid, seamless projections to visualize the concepts

Italy / Germany - At last week's Prolight&Sound exhibition in Frankfurt, SGM unveiled the first fruits of the new R&D team headed by the former founder of Martin Professional, Peter Johansen. A total of seven new products were launched, all based on LED lighting technology. Johansen believes that the new products will revolutionise all fields of LED application - from fixed architectural to mobile concert touring.

In all its stylish new LED models, the company says cooling methods have been improved via rectangular heatsinks, set-up and address procedures improved with the aid of internal diagnostics, and control procedures implemented to ensure that lamps run flicker-free.

First up, the MP-5 is a full-colour moving LED wash light. In a notable change from its conventional round-can form, this IP65-rated fixture retains the same LED structure but adopts a more compact rectangu

China - Late March saw Hong Kong host the 35th annual Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens tournament, at which 24 international rugby teams competed in front of thousands of fans for the event's Cup, Plate, Bowl and Shield. For the sixth year, Lighthouse provided LED screens to bring all the action in detail to the Hong Kong Stadium North Stand and Sevens Village at the Indian Recreation Club.

The Lighthouse North Stand and Sevens Village screens have become a familiar part of the tournament. This year each screen comprised 7 x 6 panels (7.11 x 4.57m) of R7-ER 7mm screen and relayed real-time playback, action replays, match facts and sponsorship information with the unsurpassed quality, colour accuracy and resolution that Lighthouse screens are renowned for.

"The Lighthouse screens have become an important part of this tournament, with such a fast-moving sport t

UK - LITE, UK distributor for Philips Solid State Lighting Solutions, has put a splash of color on the historical Tyne Bridge in Newcastle using Philips ColorReach PowerCore fixtures and LumenRadio's CRMX wireless lighting controls.

"A typical challenge with older structures is the lack of available wire ways for the control required to take full advantage of the features offered by color mixing LED fixtures. That problem was solved by integrating LumenRadio's CRMX wireless OEM modules into the Philips ColorReach PowerCore power supplies; eliminating the need for any control wiring", explains Andrew Milestone sales director at LITE. "Integrating the CRMX OEM modules was easy, the system worked out-of-the-box, and the reliability was rock solid. LumenRadio's CRMX wireless signal distribution is a true project enabler that we will use on a regular basis in a wide va

France Naotek has launched Lineo wash bar. With 48 high power LED, Lineo has an impressive power, a sleek design and is very easy to use, says the company. Lineo generates a powerful and directive lighting more than 5000 lumens.

The colour temperature is adjustable on a wide range from cool white 2700K to warm white 7300K. The light intensity and the colour temperature can be adjusted from a lighting control desk or directly from IR remote control.

Additionally, Lineo is flicker free and has several gradation curves (linear, logarithmic, incandescent).

You can select between a yoke mounting or footlight carter mounting to create your own Lineo system. Mounting and changing the various elements is very easy, adds the company.

Lineo is sold with 63° reflector or 40° optics for a more precise light beam. The extra-compact design enables simple integration even in very

USA - Austin City Limits, the longest running live music television series in America, has a new home - a modern studio at ACL Live at the Moody Theatre. Designed for a variety of live music performances KLRU-TV produces the PBS series there approximately 20 days a year. The mixed-use entertainment venue boasts has a commitment to green building standards. This commitment to greening the project, enabled the facility an opportunity to apply for LEED certification.

Walter Olden, the lighting director for the Austin City Limits television show since 1982, shared some insight into why Wybron's Cygnus LED fixtures were the first choice for the project. "During the planning and design phase of the space, there was always talk of LED lighting because of wanting to be a green project, trying to make it as green as possible."

"We wanted to go with a minimum numbe

UK - In the next few months all BBC sports and children's shows - including the long-running Blue Peter are being moved from the BBC London Television Centre to the new studios- MediaCityUK.

Located at Salford Quays on the banks of Manchester's historic ship canal, Peel Media's bespoke community features one of the biggest HD studio developments in Europe. MediaCityUK has been designed around the specific needs of the media and creative industries with the vision to become a 'world class hub for innovation and content creation'.

Richard Martin Lighting (RML) continues to support Blue Peter lighting designer Lee Allen on the show. The rig includes Colour Block 2, VL3000 Spot and PixelPar 90's.

(Jim Evans)

Singapore - JM Rental and Showtec Group started working together for the first time during IDEX 2009, International Defense Exhibition and Conference, by providing more than 700 panels of Lighthouse R16 and again in IDEX 2011 by using R7-ER panels.

After the success of IDEX 2011, the show sentiment has led to a new collaboration talk between JM Rental and Showtec Group. Showtec Group decided to spend their investment budget on R7-ER from JM Rental which creates market expansion and a stronger bond between two companies.

"The image quality of R7-ER is more than just outstanding. There's no way to select any other outdoor panels besides R7-ER." Henry Ang, managing director and the founder of Showtech Group, explained. "We actually didn't just invest 70sq.m. to keep in our stock. Together with JM Rental, we have approximately 700sq.m R7-ER available which is actual

UK - How do you imagine colours that don't exist? Tanya Burns, lighting designer at global communications agency Imagination, knows after inventing five new colours for LEE Filters, one of the world's leading manufacturer of lighting and camera filters.

Tanya was invited to the LEE Filters factory in Andover, Hampshire to work alongside LEE's R&D team to create her own unique range of colours.

The colours have now been added to the LEE Designer Series and were launched at the the recent Prolight&Sound exhibition.

Tanya's inspiration came from her days working in theatre and opera. Over the years she has been mentally storing ideas of colours she wished existed for certain projects, without having to layer gels and lose light to create the effect, says Imagination.

"In lighting, colour is one of the most important elements. Everyone uses light fixtures, but it's how yo

UK - The Pioneer Lighting and Sound Activists page on Facebook - run by John Lethbridge and Iain Price-Smith - aims to develop and maintain contacts between lighting and sound professionals both past and present who have worked in the entertainment technology industry from the 1960s to the present day. The P.L.A.S.A page aims to help users search for old colleagues who have left the industry and re-establish contact.

"We are also seeking to look back and celebrate the technical developments and the designers behind them as we moved forward from being a cottage industry in the early days of lighting and sound, to the super sophistication of today's technology," comments Price-Smith.

Be sure to "Like" the Pioneers page if you've ever wondered what became of your long lost industry contacts and to ad

UK - WiSE (Women in Stage Entertainment), will be gracing the show floor at PLASA Focus 2011 with its own stand which will be lit by GDS LED up-lighters and decorated with WiSE sponsor logos.

This year's WiSE sponsors include: Lee Filters, Charcoalblue Theatre Consultants, White Light, Rosco and Avolites, which between them are gorgeously, fabulously and wonderfully generous. (WiSE is not being sycophantic here, these words describe the various sponsorship levels. This means, for a relatively small donation, you too could be labelled gorgeous, fabulous or wonderful! If this is something you aspire to and you would like more information about how WiSE will spend your money please see WiSE fundraising co-ordinator Caz Williamson on stand.)

Accompanying Williamson will be co-founder of WiSE, Sarah Rushton-Read. Both will be on hand - at stand RA-C7, just to the left of the PLASA informa

UK - Entertainment lighting specialist White Light will be at the PLASA Focus show at the Royal Armouries in Leeds next week, allowing visitors hands-on experience with a range of the very latest lighting tools - and some long-standing favourites, too - from the White Light family of products that the company distributes in the UK.

With so many products on display, White Light will be spread across two stands, S-A2 in the Saviles Hall and RA-C4 in the Royal Armouries Museum.

Lanterns will include some of the latest developments in LED fixtures: the Galaxia LED softlight, proving enormously popular with those working in television; the award-winning Prism RevEAL family with output feedback giving consistent colour rendering and output over the fixture's life; the A7 wash fixtures from JB-Lighting, the powerful Stage Wash LED batten and Stage Spot washlight from Leader Light; th

UK - Black Light has stepped in to help one of Scotland's most iconic theatres come back to life. The company has provided practical sponsorship support to the Cottier Theatre, which re-opened its doors in March, after a five-year break for restoration.

To help the Cottier launch its 2011 come-back season, Black Light provided the theatre with a ground support truss system. This assistance underlines Black Light's support for small- and medium-scale, innovative venues.

"Black light have always been a great supporter of Scottish theatre, now they are helping us to reopen a great Scottish theatre," says Pete Sneddon technical director from SCENEgineering, who is the Cottier's venue manger and artistic director. "The Cottier is a venue like no other and holds a special place in Scottish theatre's heart. It's not just the physical, nuts and bolts help from Black Lig

UK - GDS has announced that Nick Read has joined the company as head of its newly created special projects division - GDS Specials. Read has over 22 years experience in the entertainments industry and brings with him wide range of skills, working recently as the head of hire and events for Northern Light and previously running his own successful hire company.

With an electrical engineering background he also boasts experience as a project manager, overseeing the €1m technical-build of Wexford opera house. He has worked around the UK and Europe as a freelance engineer and lighting designer, toured with and brought numerous shows into the West End and worked as a production electrician for major theatre companies, on many of the largest show in London.

His roll will be to develop the GDS brand into the specials market in entertainment, special event and permanent installation.<

UK - Blinding Light Ltd has announced that industry-renowned lighting designer Anthony Hall ("Turbo") will be joining its team this April. The addition of Turbo to Blinding Light's team will help to enhance the company's already established in-house design capability to offer its clients a comprehensive service, says Blinding Light.

"2010 was a milestone year for Blinding Light," commented managing director, Patrick Stacey. "In August, as a result of the company's growth, we moved into brand new premises that met our requirements for increased warehouse and pre-production space to support the projects that we have been working on."

Turbo has over 25 years' of experience in the industry and has had a successful career working for a number of industry leading lighting design companies as well as operating as a freelancer. His recent projects include

UAE - Education Without Borders 2011 opened on Burj Khalifa Island, Dubai, with a spectacular laser show in front of the world's tallest building.

Responding to an invitation from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, more than 1,000 students from 130 countries attended a stupendous opening ceremony.

Six high-power lasers from tarm Showlaser and sixty precision deflecting mirrors transformed the open-air arena into a network of laser beams.

(Jim Evans)

Germany - Robe lighting held its fourth International Distributor's Conference (IDC) in Frankfurt at the Kempinski Hotel in Gravenbruch. This was attended by nearly 200 people from over 60 companies representing 80 countries, and a major segment of Robe's International distributor and dealer network.

The timing was chosen to coincide with the 2011 Prolight+Sound Exhibition in Frankfurt, at which Robe launched five new products - the Robin 600 PureWhite, the Robin 300 LED Wash, the Robin MMX Spot - the first of a new generation of 1200 Series luminaires, the DigitalSpot 3500DT and the versatile CityFlex 48.

The fast moving format of the 2011 IDC included a full presentation and overview of all the new feature-packed products, giving the distributors a preview ahead of the exhibition.

Robe's sales director Harry von den Stemmen kicked off the Conference, updating everyone with

Denmark - Nordic Rentals of Denmark, has become an L-Acoustics K1/Kudo/Kara rental network agent with the purchase of 48 x K1, 36 x Kudo and 36 x Kara WST line source cabinets, with 24 x K1-SB, 40 x SB28 and 12 x SB18 subwoofers. The system, supplied by L-Acoustics' Danish distributor Moto Audio Sales, comes complete with LA-8 amplified controllers in LA-RAKs with LA-AES3 cards.

Nordic, a new WST user, has moved increasingly into digital technology, with the decision to purchase K1, according to Nordic Rentals director audio-logistics-stage Jens Elsborg. "V-Dosc has been the reference since the early nineties, and L-Acoustics is the brand all technicians have on their rider and the brand all other manufacturers relate to.

"With the K1 package, that heritage is very well preserved. Buying a speaker system nowadays is also a choice of 'family'. By careful choice of age

Italy - Back on tour following the departure of drummer Stefano D'Orazio, Pooh continue to work closely with Clay Paky.

Lighting designer Fabrizio 'Fab' Crico has worked for the Pooh during several periods dating back to 1978. He explained that the tour consists of a first stage in halls and a second, in theatres. In the halls, he used 11 battens assembled in a kitesurfing wing shape, and a large background LED screen that traced the history of the Pooh, and showed music clips. The trusses were coloured by the lights, so there was no need for screens to enclose the scenery.

In the theatres, the lighting design had to be adapted to the different spaces in order to maintain the basic characteristic ideas, which meant redistributing the lights. The backdrop consisted of a translucent sheet, reproducing the arabesque of the disc cover, partially illuminated by the wash lights. Thi

UK - Walkers from Architainment UK are once again walking to raise money for the charity, Maggie's Centres.

"We've done a couple of sponsored walks raising money for this great cause over the last couple of years, and this year we're doing 40Km and 60Km 'hikes' across the South Downs in May again under our team name EasilyLED," says managing director Nic Tolkein. "Myself and some of the team are doing the 40Km walk, and the others are really pushing the boat out and doing the 60Km.

"If you're able to make a donation to help our cause it will be much appreciated whether it be large or small. Every little bit will help bring us closer to our £3,000.00 target."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Al Murray's new show Compete For The Meat is coming to the comedy channel Dave!

The game show designed by established LD Chris Kempton and supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML) comprises of numerous raucous rounds. A frozen chicken is the prize for the winning team, economy sausages for the runners up.

Kempton's lighting specification includes Pixel Par 90, GLP Impressions, Stage Bar 54, MAC 700, MAC 600, VL1000TS, Alpha Beam 700, Alpha Was 1200, Alpha Wash 700 and VL3000 Spots.

(Jim Evans)

UK - Martin Professional heads to Leeds this week for PLASA Focus 2011 where the latest Martin LED lighting fixtures, video screens and processors, lighting consoles and media server products will be on display (Stand S-E16).

The EC-10 is a high performance, true 10 mm pixel pitch LED display panel that teams with Martin's EC-20 to form a fully compatible EC family of LED displays that can be mixed and matched for design creativity. Featuring the same award-winning, lightweight and cable-free design for rapid deployment, the EC-10 is 100% compatible with the EC-20 in terms of brightness, colour, setup, curving, control and processing, even accessories, allowing for seamless, mixed resolution visuals in one system.

The ultra-compact MAC 101 moving head comes with a low price tag for revolutionary stage, dance floor and decorative lighting designs.

The MAC 101 is available in

UK - Similar to last year's exhibition, will have two stands at PLASA Focus in Leeds which are adjacent to each other.

The action-packed 2011 stand will feature a selection of products from top brands including new moving and LED luminaires from Italian lighting manufacturer DTS, for which Lightfactor is the exclusive UK distributor; lighting control from LightProcessor and Cogent; architectural LED fixtures from Cogent and theatrical fixtures and spotlights from LDR.

The DTS section of the Lightfactor stand will show the new Nick 600 Wash Zoom, a high-output LED moving head projector with a 13° - 35° variable motorized zoom and the latest in the 'Nick' series. It is available in RGBW, RGBA or white versions.

The new Delta 10 Wash Zoom from DTS is a very bright 1200 series type fixture with the same spec as the Nick 600 series. It offers 5,000 Lux at 5m and is made u

UK - The A.C. Entertainment Technologies stand (S-C3) at PLASA Focus 2011 will feature new lighting solutions from Jands, Chroma-Q, GLP and Anytronics, with many of the innovations making their UK tradeshow debut.

In addition, staff from the AC-ET's specialist lighting, audio, rigging and video sales divisions will be on hand to discuss the vast, multi-million pound stockholding of over 200 leading brands available from the company's High Wycombe and Leeds offices.

Exclusively distributed in Europe and the Middle East by AC-ET, the show sees the UK launch of the new Jands Vista v2 software. After three years of intense development, extensive testing and finally, use on several major shows and events by beta-testers worldwide, the software is now factory-standard with new Vista consoles and available as a free upgrade to existing users.

There's also a preview of the new Chrom

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