Design and Drafting showed the latest version of its award-winning LD Assistant software, which allows you to quickly create comprehensive lighting, sound, and video plots in 2D and 3D and now has an advanced visual library.
Compulite's Yehuda Shukrun explained that the latest Vector Orange control console, launched successfully (with orders taken) at PLASA in London in September, has completed the Vector range, which now includes the Red, Blue, Green, Orange (or 'Lite') and a playback wing - offering a flexible, expandable suite of control options. The company will now concentrate on complementing the range with accessories, such as nodes and additional universes. The Vector Orange, the compact console in the range, offers control of four DMX512 universes (2048 attributes).
Also on show was the company's lower-cost Dlite range of consoles. Shukrun said that Compulite now has around 20 different consoles in full production, including the Vector, Dlite, 4D and Spark products, and stressed the importance that the company places on developing products that will be expandable and offer value for money to the purchaser.
Sharing a stand with A.C.T Lighting was MA Lighting, showing the release version of its media server for the grandMA console - grandMA Video. A reasonably priced product that uses standard PC hardware, it has support for four USB camera inputs and blind programming. grandMA Video also shares content details with any connected grandMA console.
High End Systems' newly debuted Studio Command wash fixture - a moving version of the Color Command dichroic colour-mixing fixture - drew large crowds. Making its official debut was the new Catalyst V4, with full support for high-definition (HD) content and LED fixtures, as well as a new GUI and a stand-alone playback option.
Ocean Optics showed its Sea Changer, which adds CMY to any ETC Source Four. Its patented "extreme green" filter technology, which allows for deeper reds, greens, and blues than traditional CYM, drew much attention.
Spain - The Gran Casino Aranjuez, 40km south of the Spanish capital Madrid, is the latest venture by Spain's leading casino operator Comar. Situated at the heart of a huge residential and leisure development, the casino is, its operator boasts, one of the finest in Europe.
The main contractor for the entertainment aspects of the venue was Stonex, one of Spain's leading specialists in the field. Given equal footing with construction company Ferrovial and architectural specialist Sigarci, Stonex completed the entire 3million contract in just four-and-a-half months, under the guidance of joint project managers Carlos Garcia-Diéguez and Javier Latorre.
Stonex's involvement included interior and exterior lighting, audio, electrical installation and stage engineering. The main building itself consists of the casino and a show theatre. The 400-capacity auditorium is just one of four multipurpose rooms with moveable walls; at full capacity, the space can seat up to 2,000 people, making it the largest such showroom in Spain.
Starting outside, the design of the architectural lighting - which uses over 2000 channels, or four universes, of DMX - was undertaken by French lighting designer Daniel Fayolle, with support from Stonex engineers. To achieve the result he was after, Fayolle chose fixtures almost exclusively from the product range of Italian manufacturer, Clay Paky.
Fayolle explained that he had opted for Clay Paky after a contest between several leading manufacturers, and in the end the choice was based on the combination of features, exterior capability
New from Robert Juliat was the Super Korrigan 1149 followspot, with a high-performance double condenser optical system, 'A' size gobo handle, large ergonomic handle, and four-blade dimming shutter. Also shown were the Jalousie digital HMI shutters and the Lutin 1,000W Fresnel unit.
Wireless Solution showed the W-DMX, which offers wireless transmission of DMX512. It is a compact, plug-and-play system, which the manufacturer says is free from interference from other wireless devices in the 2.45GHz band, such as W-LAN. It uses adaptive FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) technologies.
Selecon showed the Rama range of 6" and 7" 750/1,000W Fresnels and PCs and two followspots - the Rua 9-16° unit and the Tahi 18-24° model.
Super Vision's new SaVi SHO (Super High Output) LED flood was prominently displayed. This architectural 90W RGB LED floodlight, Super Vision says, is twice as bright as its competitors, has a sealed cast-aluminum housing, and is DMX-512-controlled.
Literally pedalling his technology, Doug Fleenor, of Doug Fleenor Design could be seen on an exercise bike. DFD created a DMXersizer for the modification of each aspect of a DMX-512 signal - and it was pedal-powered. It showed how DFD's new Gizmo DMX512 tester handled problems with DMX512 signals.
A.C.T Lighting had a number of new products, plus upgrades to existing lines. The ELC range of DMX-512 tools has recently come under A.C.T's umbrella. For MA Lighting and Zero 88, see below.
Sharing space with Strong was Italian manufacturer LDR, whose complementary products Strong distributes in the US: new for LDI was the Canto 575 medium throw discharge followspot. Currently in the process of gaining UL approval, the Canto 575 also now features reference marking on the mechanical dimmer control.
France - ETC distributor ATF (Avab Transtechnik France) will be showing a range of ETC products on its stand at the forthcoming SIEL exhibition in Paris (12-15 February), including the newly launched ETC Source Four EDLT option, which is being seen in France for the first time. A Source Four equipped with the EDLT (Enhanced Definition Lens Tube) option competes with the optical power of a condenser-optics system but comes at a more affordable price. For crisper projections with greater acuity and higher contrast, only one thing can outperform the Source Four - the Source Four with the new EDLT.
Also debuting in the Source Four family are three new field angles, giving "a Source Four for every lighting throw distance", say the company. ETC's new Source Four 14° gives a powerful alternative for front-of-house positions where a 10° field would be too small or 19° too big. The new 70º and 90° field angles give ultra-wide spotlighting for positions with low trim heights, like low ceilings or back of the set specials.
ETC's acclaimed IES Matrix Mk II technology will also be on show, with its Swing Frame Racks format. Most popular is the 180 dimmer rack, but custom-built racks are available on request, including SCR Basic, SCR Advanced and IES' pioneering SineWave dimmer modules from ETC, say the company.
ATF can be found on stand L51/KO52, Hall 5.2/5.3.
(Lee Baldock)
Philips introduced a new multi-functional solution for Ceramic ST fixtures. By simply changing the bulb, Ceramic ST fixtures can now create daylight with the MSR 250 HR bulb or create cool and cost-effective light with the Ceramic ST 250 HR lamp. The company introduced a new 1,200W single-ended MSR Gold for SSTV applications. The new bulb, a compact single-ended lamp with a very short arc, creates up to 30% higher brightness compared to current available light sources, the company says.
SGM, exhibiting on the Techni-Lux stand, showed a number of products, including Synthesis - the first of a new generation of moving-head fixtures, with two types of interchangeable 70W lamps, automatic hot restrike, colour-mixing, and what the company calls an "unbeatably precise" linear dimmer. Also new were the Palco 3 colour-changing LED projector for indoor and outdoor applications; the Palco 3 Mobile, which comes with pan and tilt; and the Ribalta colour-changing projector with 90 Luxeon LEDs, which allows you to cover large areas.
Barco showed OLite 510, the company's indoor/outdoor SMD LED display, with 5,000 NIT light output, 10mm pixel pitch, 15-bit processing, IP65 rating, and full TUV approval, as well as the LC-42 and LC-47 high-definition LCD displays. Also shown were MiPIX Creativity Packs, for creating display solutions without time-consuming and expensive custom manufacturing.
Swisson showed the 12-channel, rack-mountable, sinewave dimmer 12 x 2.5kW and its high-speed five-to-one DMX merger, as well the single-channel, DMX-addressable/ manual 2.4kW dimmer.
New from Lee Filters were holders and louvres in silver or black for MR16 fixtures. The screw-on holder fits directly on to the lamp and can hold any two accessories (colour, diffusion, or louver). The honeycomb louvres come in 45° and 60° versions.
ESP Vision's pre-visualisation software has reached V2.0. It includes physically correct light-field rendering, true rigid-body simulation for moving truss and set pieces, and reflective and translucent surfaces. To celebrate this new release, ESP Vision's world-wide distributor, Zzyzk, Inc., announced that it is sponsoring a contest to find the best lighting design to a song.
Pulsar had recently appointed Jerry Colmenero as their dedicated sales manager for the Americas, and LDI was our first opportunity to meet him. Based in Texas, he will help to develop Pulsar's business in the Americas and also offer support for the company's distributors in Canada, USA, Mexico, and South America.
UK - Lighting designer Dan Hardiman (above) is no shrinking violet when it comes to embracing new technology. An Engineering graduate, he has been pushing at the boundaries of the possible from the moment he joined the touring fraternity.
For his most recent endeavour with UB40, he presented himself with one of his biggest challenges yet; how to run an arena-sized light show complete with followspots, and call a four -camera video team, single-handed? The solution he's evolved will be more than a useful tool; to many it will be a salvation.
"I told the band what I had in mind, and that it might not work, so we had a touring video director on standby, but six weeks in it's working fine." It's no trick: Hardiman has harnessed technology to his needs, but in solving one problem he has also addressed another: "It's founded on an idea I've had for a long time. On my first tour of Russia with Moby I had a translator to call the local followspot operators, but he had no idea how lighting worked and it was a nightmare, expressions like 'Focus' or 'Tighten Up' were often lost in translation." All familiar so far.
"It occurred to me that if I could trigger samples from the lighting desk, then I could record followspot commands as WAV files." It's just a short jump from there to translating spot commands into different languages; but then there's the camera direction. "What's great about the D-Mix Pro is I can use it as a video mixer and router. I do have to do some heavy programming in the Hog III to mix between the three hand-operated
Wyatt Enever left DHA Lighting, the company he helped build for 25 years, at the end of March 2005. Julie Harper catches up with him and his new venture, Studio Wyatt . . .
UK - Wyatt Enever, photographer, projection specialist and one-time managing director of DHA Lighting Ltd, has since spent the last nine months developing Studio Wyatt. In doing so he is returning to his roots as a photographer and exercising over 30 years of accumulated experience in innovative and traditional projection techniques.
Based near Guildford, Studio Wyatt offers consultancy and in-house production of all formats of projection slides - from 35mm through 18cm x 18cm for Pani and E/T/C Pigi projectors, to the 240mm x 240mm required for Pani 12k projectors - using both photographic and computer graphics.
It may have come as a surprise to some that Enever decided to take this route after so many years at DHA Lighting. "When I entered the lighting industry 25 years ago, DHA Lighting was a three-person operation which rose to become the market leader in the gobo business. This phenomenal growth was largely due to customer focus and meticulous attention to detail," he explains. "Establishing a relationship with the client and taking time to understand precisely what a customer needs in advance of any production are key factors to success and allow me to decide or create solutions to answer a need."
Enever himself became a major figure in the development and design of metal and glass gobos and many of the techniques used today were developed and honed by him. Howeve
Something new in LEDs is Selador's X7, which uses seven colours - red, green, blue, amber, red-orange, cyan, and indigo - for a more sophisticated form of colour mixing. The company offers its LEDs in a number of strip and block configurations for different uses.