UK - Battersea Power Station was the iconic background for part of this year's Totally Thames festival organised by the Thames Festival Trust featuring Carabosse, a French Fire Art company who deliver picturesque installations for audiences and passers-by throughout the world.

Illuminate Design hasworked with the Thames Festival Trust for the past eight years, helping to deliver a variety of events, predominantly the annual Mayor's Thames Festival in London.

This year, Jonathan Bartlett, production manager for the Trust contracted Illuminate Design to provide a complete service for the Fire Garden by Carabosse at the Battersea Power Station. The project brief included Site management, PA, and lighting the famous chimneys.

To tackle the task, Robin Shephard-Blandy, director for Illuminate Design chose the new SGM G-Spot. Robin said, "The G-spot was a perfect solution for

UK - Realtime Environment Systems Ltd - to be known as 'RES' - is a new technical solutions company offering services to help designers, creative agencies and artists "achieve their wildest visual dreams". Mark Calvert and Dave Green have formed RES to provide "technical consultation and project-wide integration of all things visual in stage shows, corporate campaigns and permanent installations". The company will utilise the Ai Media Server - one the world's most powerful media server platforms, manufactured and developed in the UK by Avolites Media Ltd. RES Ltd is a global reseller of the Ai product, and has also been named as the first 'Ai Centre of Excellence'. RES continues to work very closely with the Avolites family, Calvert says.

Together over the past 10 years, Calvert and Green have worked closely with designers, artists and corporate bodies on a b

UK - ArKaos PRO will exhibit at PLASA 2014 in conjunction with its exclusive UK distributor, White Light (Stand F50). There they will demonstrate the new MediaMaster 4.1 the latest, ever-more powerful version of ArKaos PRO's media server software. A plethora of new features includes new aspect ratio and cropping tools, new hue, saturation and lightness tools, layer-based volume control and a redesigned interface.

MediaMaster 4.1 brings more flexible protection via an optional dongle and many additional features, yet retains the simplicity of operation familiar to its users.

MediaMaster 4.1 is no longer restricted to use on only one machine. A completely redesigned licensing system allows the user to register and deregister any machine remotely from their own account.

Also making its PLASA debut is LEDMaster, the new all-in-one solution delivering LEDshow control in three eas

Belgium - Barco has announced the launch of the RLM-W14 - a three-chip DLP projector offering Active Stereo 3D, WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution, and a brightness level of 14,500 center lumens.

This is the first three-chip DLP Barco projector that's equipped with HDBaseT technology to provide video over a single Cat 5 cable. The RLM-W14 is designed for fixed installation in small- to medium-sized venues; but its rugged chassis, extended warping and blending functionalities, and optional rental frame make it equally suited for the rental and staging market as well. The new projector will be commercially available from October 2014 onwards.

"With the launch of our new RLM-W14 projector, we're not only expanding the brightness spectrum of our three-chip DLP RLM family - now ranging from 6,000 up to 14,500 lumens - but we're also meeting customer demands for brighter projecto

UK - Holotronica Ltd has announced the official launch of Holo-Gauze, a ground-breaking 3D display solution that aims "to revolutionise the 3D projection market". More affordable than traditional Pepper's Ghost systems and easier to transport, Holo-Gauze comprises a metallic highly transparent gauze and is designed to be used with 3D polarised projection systems and can also achieve believable 2D hologram effects, says the company.

The brainchild of audiovisual artist and composer Stuart Warren-Hill, founder of Hexstatic and co-founder of the Big Chill festival in the early 90s, Holo-Gauze was developed when Stuart required a new type of portable holographic 3D display to tour his new 3D Blu-ray and CD project, Holotronica. He needed it to be easy to tour and more affordable than Peppers Ghost holographic solutions - it costs £350 per metre.

"It is often s

UK - As the deadline for entries approaches, nominations for the PLASA Awards for Innovation are rolling in. Examples of all the nominated products will be exhibited at the PLASA Show's Innovation Gallery at the centre of the PLASA show (ExCeL London, 5-8 October), forming a focal point for visitors to the exhibition keen to view the latest technologies.

The products will be judged against one another on the strength of their innovation alone. All nominees will have the opportunity to make a 5-minute presentation, during the show, to a team of independent expert judges, who will have eight awards of equal standing at their disposal - plus the option to give a 'Gold' Award to one or more products which they feel reach a particularly high standard of Innovation.

The judges are tasked with making their decisions based on the PLASA Awards criteria for Innovation. The winners will

UK - Ambersphere Solutions has been appointed the exclusive UK distributor for the Ayrton range of LED Luminaires and creative LED imaging solutions. The appointment enables Ambersphere Solutions to extend its sales, service, support and training facilities to cover Ayrton products in the UK.

The Ayrton collection of LED lighting solutions offers lighting designers creative lighting tools built to withstand the tough demands of touring and installations. The innovative range includes indoor and outdoor fixtures, static and moving yoke fixtures including the signature Magicpanel range.

Ambersphere Solutions is the exclusive UK distributor for Clay Paky, MA Lighting and Robert Juliat. "Ayrton offer a high quality range of modular creative LED products which perfectly complement the existing Ambersphere product range," says Ambersphere managing director Glyn O'Donoghue.

UK - Digital AV designer and manufacturer Smart-e has announced a distribution agreement with specialist distributor The Change Organisation, bringing Smart-e audio visual products and solutions to a wider audience.

As Jon Lane, founder and managing director of Smart-e says, "Our products are well-known and proven within the AV sector and we hope this new partnership will open up new markets and extend our reach."

He added, "We were very impressed with The Change Organisation's business strategy and the enthusiasm of its sales teams, and believe we have found a distributor whose ambition and drive will help strengthen the Smart-e brand."

The Change Organisation's sales director Owain Williams commented, "As an IT distributor, The Change Organisation saw Smart-e as an ideal fit to capitalise on the converging AV and IT markets. We were impressed with

USA - Axente is looking forward to optimising the market potential of Symetrix digital processing solutions in its new role as the US manufacturer's French distribution partner. Based in Longjumeau, in the south of Paris, Axente was established in 1994 to serve lighting and truss manufacturers. Following its diversification into audio in 2003, the company has progressed to represent some of the biggest brands in the business, including fellow Dante-enabled lines Televic, EAW and Powersoft.

"The addition of Symetrix to its portfolio arrives at an opportune moment for both Axente and France's AV market in general. Demand for processing solutions integrating support for Audinate's industry-leading Dante media networking technology continues to grow - and these requirements are catered to abundantly in the Symetrix range with products including SymNet Edge, Radius 12x8 and Radi

UK - Creative Technology's London operation has contracted business development professional Ben Philpott, specialising in broadcast media.

Having initially trained at the BBC, Ben spent many years as a freelance lighting cameraman for all the major international broadcasters and production companies. Ben then moved in to international sales and marketing, successfully developing the market for cutting edge LED lighting technology and subsequently with a variety of technology, audio visual and media companies.

Ben said, "I am absolutely delighted to have joined the broadcast team at Creative Technology. With my experience of working at the sharp end of production and LED technology, coupled with the class-leading expertise and technology that Creative Technology brings to the sector, we are committed more than ever to providing the best solutions and services to our broad

UK - Holo-Gauze, the 3D display solution from Holotronica Ltd, made its West End debut in September as part of Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games, a spectacular new staging of the traditional masterpiece. Premiering at the London Palladium with an exclusive and limited run starting on 3 September, ahead of a world tour,

Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games boasts serious holographic effects from Holo-Gauze, including a dance battle featuring a holographic triptych of Michael Flatley.

Other effects utilising Holo-Gauze include fire, burning trees, sunbeams, an exploding clock, giant floating head and The Matrix-style text appearing to float in front of performers. Holo-Gauze will be utilised for the duration of the world tour, with the producers looking into new and different ways of deploying the metallic, highly transparent gauze throughout the r

UK - PLASA London opened its doors at 10am this morning and welcomed a surge of visitors in the first few hours of the show. Hundreds of people skipped their typical Sunday activities in favour of a vibrant exhibition floor and an education programme packed with the world's biggest names in entertainment technology.

Here are some of the highlights from today's show:

World Class Exhibitors

Every year, PLASA London brings together the most important audio, lighting, video and staging companies, filling the show floor with a feast of exhibitors. This year is certainly no different, with more than 250 companies exhibiting. Looking around ExCeL London's first class exhibition space, we see companies like Robe, Clay Paky, Shure, Polar Audio, Autograph, SSE Audio, FBT, Philips Entertainment, White Light, Highlite, Chauvet, MA Lighting, SGM, Prolyte, A.C Entertainment Technol

UK - Creative Technology's London operation has announced the expansion of its account management team with the return of Mick Jones.

Starting his career at Mediatech AV in the late 80s, Mick has been a well-known figure in the live events industry ever since.

During his career, Mick has had stints as a freelancer working with some of the leading technical companies in the live events sector, including Blitz Communications and Production Resource Group. Most recently Mick worked for Chaos Visual Productions where he was responsible for the development and delivery of the corporate live events market.

Having worked at Creative Technology in the late nineties, Mick is returning at an exciting period of change and growth within the company.

Mick said, "I am thrilled to be back at Creative Technology. I have always held it in the highest regard, not just as a global leade

UK - The buzz around the aisles and stands of PLASA London 2014 has created an incredible atmosphere for visitors and exhibitors alike. The entertainment technology industry is full of brilliant characters, giving the industry its special personality. While the social side of the show has flourished, so has business, as exhibitors continue to launch new products and make important connections.

Green Hippo has chosen PLASA London 2014 for the launch of the Hippotizer v4. The company has taken the award-winning features of the Hippotizer v3, such as UberPan, Cross-Fade on Layer, Presets and Region Mapper success, and added new hardware and an array of key software features that will make the user experience better than ever before.

Raycom is exhibiting at PLASA London for the first time, using the show as a platform for moving into the live market. The company has built up an ex

UK - The 2014 Ryder Cup, held at Gleneagles, Scotland, marked Creative Technology's eighth European Ryder Cup and, by some margin, the largest and most complex in its 29 year relationship with the event.

The most visible element of Creative Technology's (CT) package was the numerous large screens positioned around the course, on the Opening and Closing Ceremony stages and in the three park and ride centres. A total of 21 screens ranging in size from 8m2 to 100m2 were installed; many in extremely inaccessible locations. The overall screen area totalled 750 m2, an increase of over 50% compared to the 2010 event held at Celtic Manor in Wales.

Pixel pitches of 8, 12 and 16mm, LED products were selected to match the display size and viewing distances, providing a consistent overall resolution, character size and subsequent text legibility. Independent feedback and switching of sour

Romania - More than 100 Panasonic projectors have been used to create one of the world's largest architectural video mapping shows to commemorate the 555th anniversary of Bucharest.

The iMapp Bucharest 555 years anniversary event saw the 270m wide, 23.000m2 facade of the Bucharest Parliament Palace transformed into a giant outdoor theatre for the celebrations, which mark 555 years since the first documented mention of the Romanian capital.

The Panasonic PT-DZ21K projectors created the huge display by using edge blending and geometric mapping software to create a single seamless image.

"We chose the DZ21K mostly because of its size, and being so robust we were able to make stacks with lots of projectors," said Adrian Pochiscan, technical director of 360 Revolution, the company that produced the show. "We liked its resolution, its remote control capabilities fro

Romania - With a floor surface of 350,000 sq.m, the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, is the second world's largest administrative building. To celebrate the 555th anniversary of the capital city, the city cultural centre mesmerised a crowd of 100,000 with the world's largest videomapping projection ever made on an administrative building, using over 100 digital projectors.

Projection mapping specialist Maxin10sity was called in by local rental stager 360 Revolution to handle the colossal task of creating a videomapping as well as organising all content, acting as a curator for this artistic performance.

Each animation was a symbolic 5'55'', and boasted a staggering 23,000 sqm projection area. "For a project of this scale, 8K resolution quickly became obvious. We wanted the audience to experience this wow factor while at the same time create some emotion,&qu

Europe - Panasonic has unveiled an ultra-narrow, 3.5mm bezel display for video walls, promising high picture quality and high reliability.

The new 55" TH-55LFV70 display, available next month (November), has been designed with the industry's narrowest bezel, allowing configurations of powerful and natural images with the screen borders barely visible.

The TH-55LFV70 series features a 'failover system'. With two DVI-D ports, HDMI, DisplayPort, DIGITAL LINK, and USB, if the main video and audio signals are interrupted, the system immediately switches to alternative signals, making it suitable for critical applications in control rooms and surveillance centres.

The TH-55LFV70 is also capable of continuous 24/7 operation and supports portrait installation.

Enrique Robledo, marketing manager at Panasonic, said, "Because of the in-plane switching (IPS) panel, the displ

UK - PSCo, the trade-only AV distributor and rental specialist has confirmed that it has officially partnered with Green Hippo in the UK.

PSCo will be a key distributor for Green Hippo's AViary video tools, a partnership which joins together two companies at the forefront of their respective fields; large format, video wall and LED display solutions, and real-time video playback tools. For systems integration and live event customers, the combined expertise opens a new era in display solutions.

"Green Hippo is the pioneer in real-time video playback and AViary video tools are the perfect complement to our display offering," says Stuart Holmes, CEO of PSCo. "We are excited to be combining forces. Going forward our customers will see the benefits that our joint offering can deliver in terms of creating innovative, cutting-edge solutions that push the boundaries of

UK - leading supplier of Hybrid Power Generators (HPGs) for the events sector, Firefly reports that its Cygnus HPG has saved over 1m litres of diesel since its launch in April 2013.

With increasing requirements from event organisers to power events with a more sustainable, environmentally friendly approach, Firefly creates the appropriate renewable energy solution for any event, whilst significantly reducing fuel costs.

As an experienced and trusted supplier of affordable sustainable power, Firefly has been powering festivals and live events since 2007. Firefly provide turnkey low emission temporary power, technical and creative services. Working with festival organisers, from conception to implementation; Firefly provides power that doesn't cost the earth.

Andy Mead, director comments: "The 2014 summer season has been the company's best yet, as more and more events are

UK - Manchester based rental and staging firm AtoV are amongst the first in the UK to purchase Panasonic's new PT-RZ670 laser light projectors. AtoV has purchased six of the high brightness, 6,500 lumen 1-chip DLP laser projectors which will be delivered this month.

Allan Hindley, Partner at AtoV, said: "These projectors hold a number of benefits over lamp based projectors; a wider colour gamut and better lumen maintenance, ease of installation and less maintenance. They'll prove to be a valuable asset to our inventory."

Panasonic product marketing specialist, Tom Gibson, said: "There has been a truly phenomenal response to Solid Shine laser light source projectors since we launched the first in the series at ISE2013.

"The PT-RZ670 compliments the company's existing line-up of projectors, and features 20,000 hours of working life without lamp replacement

UK - PLASA London 2014 welcomed visitors and exhibitors to ExCeL, London for the second consecutive year on 5-8 October and impressed with a ground-breaking show floor, an inspiring education programme and a host of important announcements. While exhibitors revealed their latest product innovations, the organisers uncovered plans for the future of the show.

Speaking at the PLASA Awards for Innovation and Sustainability 2014, held on the penultimate day of the show, PLASA's CEO Matthew Griffiths revealed some of the changes for 2015, which will redevelop the scope and delivery of the event. Under the leadership of Christopher Toulmin, PLASA's Director of the Events Division, the show is being remodelled to become a PLASA Member-focused event: developments will include moving from four days to three days, introducing a new floor plan concept, expanding the education offering and i

UK - Edinburgh-based Black Light has continued its work with one of the UK's leading football clubs by outfitting Arsenal's flagship shop with the latest in sound and AV technology. The success of the project at the Armoury store showcases Black Light's technical expertise and creativity and the fact that its team can deliver exceptional installations that bring interactivity and excitement to the retail environment.

"This project was the second time that we have worked on a retail project for the club," said Phil Haldane, who led Black Light's installation team. "Our client for the job was 442 Design and, as we'd worked with them before on the club's shop at Brent Cross Shopping Centre, they were confident in our technical and creative abilities."

The brief for the project was to install sound and AV systems throughout the newly refurbished Armoury store.

UK - UK projection specialists QED Productions have outdone themselves once again by taking on one of the most challenging projection mapping projects to date for the Branchage Festival, held on 24-28 September in Jersey.

For this ambitious film festival finale, QED Productions teamed up with Radiophonic Workshop, who performed a specially commissioned live score, and NOVAK, who provided the animations. In keeping with the theme of this year's festival 'Make Your Own Island', QED Productions decided to make their own island using projection mapping, with the iconic St. Aubin's Fort as its centre-piece.

Said QED Director Paul Wigfield: "From start to finish the challenge was extreme. At first we didn't even know whether it would be possible. We had to cover the whole island otherwise it would not have looked impressive enough when viewed from such a distance and at high ti

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