Dubai - Protec, the one of Dubai's largest event rental companies used its BlackTrax real-time motion tracking system and its d3 Technologies' 4x4pro media servers to deliver some complex projection mapping for the grand opening ceremony for the World Air Games 2015 held at Sky Dive Dubai.

Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) ushered in the 4th FAI World Air Games (WAG) at an impressive and colourful opening ceremony on December 3, 2015 in front of an appreciative audience of nearly 5,000 spectators, which included officials and contestants from over 50 countries.

"It was great," said Polish microlight team member Kajetan Ruks. "I've never seen anything like it before. And now, I want to see it again." Joao Franciso, who came from Portugal to compete in the air navigation race said, "O

UK - This year saw the live TV ceremony, hosted by Dermot O'Leary, award EastEnders Best Serial Drama, Suranne Jones scooped Drama Performance, Best Newcomer went to Shayne Ward and Ant & Dec won Best Presenter for a 15th year running.

Arena Seating co-sponsored the 21st year of the star-studded event to supply 678 fully upholstered flat tip-up Diplomat seats with arms, which were installed in the front stalls section of London's O2 Arena, reserved for the VIP TV personality nominees and winners

Martin Clark, Arena Seating project manager and his 12-strong team, took just one day to install the prime view seats close to the stage, as well as the indoor and outdoor glittering red carpet. The build was completed in two halves, first the red carpet under the VIP seating was laid followed by the seat installation, then finally completed once the outdoor VIP red carpet had

Ireland - Croke Park in Dublin has been at the heart of Irish sporting life for over 100 years. Boasting a capacity of more than 82,000 people, the stadium is home to the Gaelic Games and the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The venue is also a prime location for meetings and events, so when its flagship Hogan Suite recently underwent refurbishment, Doughty Engineering was called upon by Cine Electric to supply all the new facility panels.

David McKeown, project manager at Cine Electric explained: "This is an extremely prestigious job for us - Croke Park isn't just a stadium, it's Ireland's national stadium and is held in very high regard both by those of us who live here and visitors from around the world. We were initially brought on board by the electrical contractor, CJ Ryder Lawlor, to facilitate all the specialist infrastructure, LED lighting and rigg

UK - Disney and Cameron Mackintosh's musical Mary Poppins originally opened in 2004 and ran in the West End for three years. Since then over 11m people worldwide have seen the show, which has just returned to the UK, opening in October at Curve in Leicester. The musical will tour the country until the start of 2017.

The demanding tour is packed from start to finish with stunning special effects and in order to be able to re-create the exact same magic in every venue, senior production manager Chris Boone enlisted the help of Unusual Rigging.

"I have a long running relationship with Unusual Rigging - they're my go-to company for all my rigging needs. The last job we worked on together was the Barnum tour, which in comparison to Mary Poppins was far less complex. Unusual Rigging has supplied over 60 chain hoists to suspend the Mary Poppins tour

UK - Triple E's universal building system, ModTruss, has provided a strong and versatile solution to fly a powerfully bright 18kW Arrimax HMI head in an arc over the stage for the world premiere performances of Morgen und Abend at London's Royal Opera House.

The production team approached Hertfordshire-based 'theatre magicians' Lamp & Pencil to devise a solution for flying the Arrimax HMI head in a moving yoke across the stage to represent the path of the sun.

The vertical movement of the lamp is achieved with the existing flying system at the venues. The horizontal movement is realised with tracks on a frame with a carriage driven by existing point hoists.

The ModTruss sections were combined with Triple E's Unibeam, carriers and other standard components and required very little custom metalwork. Triple E managed the project, designed and built the mechanical elem

The Netherlands - Showlogix, a developer of show and media control software, will be introducing their version 2 which offers a real-time 3D rendering engine, along with a tool to project on complex objects.

Content creation can be entirely separated from the positions of the projectors. Showlogix can use content rendered as unwrapped UV-texture of the 3D model, or also accept any 2D video, images, external inputs or text which will appear non-distorted, using projective texture mapping.

By dragging the projector point, the outputs are calibrated in real-time. Edge-blend masks are automatically calculated.

Optionally, warping and masking can be done manually on each projector to compensate for any model problems.

Interactivity can be added to the 3D projected object by using the built-in tracking module. You can use cameras to detect motion for visualizing mouse & mult

UK - Unusual Rigging has been highly commended for its efforts in implementing a circular economy in The Circulars 2016 Awards. The Circulars, the world's premier circular economy award programme, offers recognition to individuals and organisations across the world that have made a notable contribution to driving circular economy principles - where growth doesn't depend on the use of scarce natural resources. Unusual Rigging has been shortlisted from thousands of entries to receive the commendation in the 'Ecolab Award for Circular Economy Enterprise'.

Tom Harper, who heads the drive towards a circular economy at Unusual, said: "This is a huge deal for us as we are in our first year of implementing these changes to our business. The past twelve months have seen us become 55% renewably driven, having just received OFGEM status as a generating site for 100% renewable electri

UK - With an increase of 26% of floorspace, the second edition of PLASA Focus Glasgow has been hailed a success with 50% more brands showcasing the latest in live entertainment technology and attendees increased by 32% since the inaugural show in 2014.

Cementing itself as the industry's essential meeting place for the region, the show - which opened its doors at the SECC from 20-21 January - offered live product demonstrations, two days of high quality seminar sessions and over 75 brands in an environment ideal for networking and generating business face-to-face. Attracting visitors with a combined spending power of £130m, the development of the show reflects the continued expansion of the industry in the region.

David Steedsy Stevenson from Ward Steedsy Audio, distributor of Funktion-One in Scotland comments: "It's the first time we've had a trade stand at a PLAS

UK - Behind the Scenes UK Golf Day will take place on 13 April at The Drift Golf Course in West Horsley, Surrey. This extremely popular event to raise funds for the charity is almost sold out so register your team now and don't miss out. Teams already signed up include Autograph, Crewsaders, Creative Technology, Delta Sound, Media Lease, Meyer Sound, Shure, Stage Technologies/Tait, White Light, and Wonder Works.

"We have a fantastic day planned based around a very competitive 18-hole team game. Bring your best shots for a day of fun, food, networking, competition and fund raising for the industry's charity. Once the golf is done, we roll into evening with a BBQ, raffles, prizes and the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues. Set in the beautiful surroundings of The Drift Golf Club, this is the only BTS golf day for 2016 so make sure you are registered with your tea

UK - Global flightcase hardware and 19 inch racking manufacturer Penn Elcom has launched Penn Elcom Online, a new all-encompassing online portal offering a comprehensive and convenient sales outlet for over 4000 product lines - http://www.pennelcomonline.com/

This includes the latest innovations from premium 'umbrella' brands, 19 inch rack specialist Pro Audio Stash and LED lighting solutions provider CLD distribution, which have merged with Penn Elcom Online in a dynamic fusion of all three popular and successful marques.

CLD Distribution and Pro Audio Stash joined the Penn Elcom Group in 2014, bringing additional diversity and options to the wide range of quality products.

Penn Elcom Online will consolidate the choice offered by all three brands in one commercial sales outlet, with one of the most extensive selections for flightcase hardware, 19 inch racking systems cab

UK - TSG Policing has recruited former Avon & Somerset and Metropolitan Police Superintendent, Kevin Instance, as a task commander.

Kevin Instance was a Gold and Silver firearms and public or-der commander. He oversaw policing at the likes of international cricket matches, Glastonbury Festival and Bristol International Balloon Fiesta, as well as leading the UK police delegation for England football matches overseas.

In his role with TSG, Instance is tasked with assessing risk and making sure the right resources from the company are properly deployed at events.

David Boswell, managing director at TSG Policing, says, "Kevin's wealth of experience as a senior police officer, looking at event safety, assessing safety officers and stewards and raising standards, is an absolute fit with TSG. I'm delighted to have him on the team."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Specialist rigging and chain hoist service and inspection centre, The Hoistpital, recently hosted an official EXE Rise Training session at their premises in Bedford for the maintenance team from Neg Earth, which owns a substantial quantity of EXE Rise chain hoists in both 1120kg and 2000kg Capacity.

With EXE Rise Hoists now being used on many of Neg Earths major shows, the team were keen to have official training to enable them to properly service and maintain their growing fleet. The Hoispital handle the annual inspection and certification for all of Neg Earth's motors and have recently serviced nearly 200 EXE Rise hoists, ready for a long stint of touring work coming up over the next 12 months.

The training session was presented by Adam Beaumont from Area Four Industries UK, Fabio Prada from Area Four Industries / Litec Italy and Giovanni Rebeschin from RWM Italy, and

UK - Award-winning acoustics and theatre consultants, Sound Space Design and Anne Minors Performance Consultants have combined to form Sound Space Vision. The move formalises their long-standing working relationship and will continue to build on their success in performance, education and assembly spaces, as well as broadening their reach within the built environment.

Sound Space Vision enhances the rapport between performers and audiences, combining excellent spatial and technical design by AMPC with superb acoustics from SSD. Popular with audiences and operators, their performance environments are held in high esteem by artists. The creative, dynamic team includes specialists in acoustics, lighting, sound, stage engineering and audio-visual design to provide a complete acoustics and theatre consultancy service that touches all the senses.

Anne Minors Performance Consultant

USA - J. R. Clancy has added two people to its technical and project management staff.

Felix Garcia has joined JRC as a controls engineer. In this position, he designs and draws electrical circuits for control systems, and tests and troubleshoots the circuits, processors and communications networks of installed equipment. Garcia tests equipment including motors and starters before they are shipped to the customer, and he trains end users in the operation of JRC's control systems.

Originally from Cuba, Garcia earned his degree in electrical engineering in Cuba, and worked for an oil and gas manufacturer in Mexico before moving to upstate New York.

Joe Sheppard returns to his native Auburn, New York, to take the position of standard systems project manager at JRC. Most recently, he served as technical supervisor at the Centre of the Arts at George Mason University, where he

South Africa - A 'Fall Arrest & Basic Rescue' course will be hosted at DWR Distribution from 22-24 February 2016. This will be of interest to riggers and technicians, tower climbers, workers on elevated platforms and site managers - any person who may share in conducting a possible rescue, the company says.

The three day course has been approved by SETA, SAQA, DOL, Eskom, Vodacom, Cell C, MTN, MSN, Huawei Technologies Africa, ZTE, Anglo Coal & Platinum and Exxaro. Delegates who pass this course will receive a certificate valid for three years.

Delegate requirements include: A certified copy of ID document; Valid Medical Certificate stating fitness for work at height (valid for at least 3 months from training date); Learners must be proficient in English Reading and writing, up to the level of Grade 10; Delegates are welcome to bring their own harnesses and rigging gear.

T

UK - One of world's largest temporary power generation companies was recently (25 January 2016) fined a total of £36,000 for failing to ensure that workers were not exposed to risk. The company, Aggreko PLC, appeared before Westminster Magistrates' Court to plead guilty to two charges, one under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the other under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. They also agreed to pay the Royal Borough's costs of £90,000.

The charges followed an electrical incident where a man suffered electrical burns during the fitting out of the Earl's Court Exhibition Centre in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games. Aggreko PLC had been appointed as the main contractor to provide a temporary electricity supply to the Exhibition Centre which was to host the Olympic volleyball tournament.

In order to carry out this work the company engaged a numb

UK - The O2 London has purchased Mojo Barriers to keep concert and event audiences safe.

The Mojo Barriers UK office has sold front of stage crowd barrier systems to the The O2, extending its long term relationship with the venue.

UK manager Kevin Thorborn states, "This flagship UK venue is passionate about the safety and wellbeing of its audiences. We have rented barriers to them for many years, but this purchase reinforces its commitment to their patrons and artists.

"Having delivered the barriers to The O2, we then trained its staff in the installation and dismantling of the system enabling them to deploy their in-house systems for their clients when required. If ever the arena needs to extend the barriers configuration we can supply additional compatible barriers, including our wide range of special pieces, such as curves or gates."

Operations direct

UK - Cable specialists VDC Trading have recently supplied essential cabling assemblies to Paul Hatt at CS Audio for the 2016 Massive Attack Tour.

Paul explains, "I've worked with Massive Attack for the past few years mixing monitors, and also supplied equipment for their 2014 festival tour via my company, CS Audio. VDC Trading manufactured a new 64 channel splitter and line system for that tour, which I was very happy with.

"I was invited to work with the group again for the current European tour, for which again CS Audio are providing the monitor system & stage package.

I felt the time was right this time to invest in a new multicore system, and so approached Adam Jafrabati at VDC to assist with this."

The band is visiting a wide variety of venues on this leg of the tour, using house PAs in the smaller places and bringing in PA for the bigger rooms, and

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