UK - Avolites and Avolites Media (Hall 1, booths F18 and G15) are set to launch three new products and new Titan Operating system at PLASA 2012. It will see Avolites Ltd presenting the launch of the Titan One virtual console and Titan Version 6, while Avolites Media will showcase the Ai Infinity Media Servers and launch the ground breaking Sapphire Media console.

Known for their professional and friendly approach, the team from Avolites will be on hand to offer individual demonstrations and detailed technical information about the fully comprehensive visual control range.

Avolites T

UK - Following three successful years at XL Video in the US where he oversaw the Los Angeles office, Phil Mercer has returned to his native UK to take up the role of group head of concert touring.

Mercer's brief is to develop the Concert Touring division of XL Video globally, by working with XL's offices in the US and mainland Europe to provide artists with a seamless touring solution across multiple continents.

"I'm hugely excited by my new role within XL Video," says Marcer, "and the responsibility that comes with keeping us visionary in our approach to the industry

UK - Green Hippo will demonstrate "that the industry's easiest media server has just got easier". Previewing a host of new and innovative features on their PLASA stand, Hippotizer has been given a functionality and user interface makeover, allowing operators to create and programme with improved simplicity and ease.

Following on from a year of expansion in staff and premises Green Hippo Ltd are pleased to focus on making one of the world's favourite media servers simpler, improving work-flow and production times, says the company.

And once you've experienced the product co

UK - Nearly New AV, a company which concentrates on the buying and selling of used audio-visual equipment, is exhibiting at PLASA on stand 1F35, giving production, AV rental and installation companies the chance to find out more about the service.

The company offers a new service to the live event and permanent AV installation industry, buying and selling used AV equipment. The company provides a platform for all to access a large array of used audio-visual equipment available in the industry. Equipment is available at much reduced rates, giving rental companies the chance to suppleme

UK - International screen specialist displayLED has launched a new generation of the flexible LED tile, digiFLEX. The new digiFLEX is a more robust version of displayLED's previous award winning flexible screen, upgraded to be production friendly in concert touring environments while simultaneously providing camera friendly imagery in television studios. The product also opens up creative and dramatic opportunities for architectural applications and for creating stunning displays for the conference and exhibition market.

"The new digiFLEX is a rugged, rental-friendly product with

UK - On Friday the 27 of July the London 2012 Olympic Games were officially opened with a spectacular Opening Ceremony which took place in the Olympic Stadium located at the London 2012 Olympic Park. Prior to the parade of more than 200 competing nations, visitors seated in the vast stadium, which has an 80,000 person capacity, along with millions of television viewers worldwide were witnesses to 'Isles of Wonder'. A spectacular show unfolded that reflected the key themes and priorities of the London 2012 Games, based on sport, inspiration, youth and urban transformation. 'Isles of Wond

UK - XL Events, working with Premier PR, supplied LED for the London premiere of Total Recall starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel.

Premier PR designed a 'red carpet' experience which complemented the futuristic look of the movie. To achieve the right look, Premier called on the expertise of XL project manager, Mark Rooney, to specify and supply the LED.

Pixled's versatile FX-11 LED was chosen due to its high brightness, and suitability for outdoor use - a must given the unpredictable British weather.

In total 150 tiles of FX-11 LED were used. 128 tiles

UK - On the eve of PLASA 2012, PLASA has announced a new home and dateline for the PLASA Show in 2013. The UK's only international event for entertainment and installation technology will take place at ExCeL London from 6-9 October 2013.

"After 21 years at Earls Court & Olympia, the time is now right for the PLASA Show to leave its current home," said PLASA CEO Matthew Griffiths. "We have hugely ambitious plans for the future of the event, and the state-of-the-art facilities at ExCeL support this vision. ExCeL is a cutting-edge, purpose-built exhibition venue with the i

USA - Bring Elvis to life - That was the main video projection mission for Pete's Big TVs for the Elvis 35th anniversary concert, 16 August at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The event was a fan favourite at the end of Elvis Week, a weeklong celebration of The King and on the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death in 1977.

Pete's Big TVs has worked on many past Elvis in concert tours and anniversary shows - again with producer Stig Edgren Productions.

This year, Pete's Big TVs supplied 324 panels of the new digiLED MC7 high resolution video tiles to comprise all video s

Spain - Continuing their work with The Shop Ibiza, XL Video are supplying LED screens for Paradise at DC10 every Thursday throughout the 2012 season.

Paradise, presented by Hot Creations, is one of the coolest club nights on the island and includes a residency by Hot Creations label owner, Jamie Jones, along with guest appearances from some of the best names in electronic music, including DJ Harvey, Soul Clap and Damian Lazarus.

XL Video is supplying a backdrop for the DJ booth constructed from Martin LC 2140 transparent LED, to complement the look of this unique club night.<

Chile - Stampede Presentation Products, Inc. recently helped Lumina Motion construct a stunning 10,000sq.ft video display on the facade of a round building in Santiago, Chile by providing the ideal equipment and precise development insight needed.

The AV team at Lumina Motion was tasked with creating an exciting and memorable product launch for Nokia's new Lumia 800 smartphone, and they succeeded by "working with Stampede to utilise the best technology, share industry know-how and ensure patient attention to every technical detail."

According to Lumina Motion owner Gonzalo

Spain - The Congress Palace (Ciudad de Oviedo), which has opened in the heart of Spain's Asturian capital, has already become a new symbol for its spectacular architecture.

Designed by Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava, this visually stunning exhibition and convention centre has left its own indelible footprint on the local landscape.

Set on three floors, and elliptical in shape, the 15,530sq.m Congress Palace consists of several different function room and exhibition spaces - but without doubt the most spectacular is the main auditorium. This unusually shaped 2500m2 hall h

UK - Ross Ashton's The Projection Studio once again entertained the sold-out crowds at Edinburgh Castle with stunning projected visuals for the spectacular 2012 Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

The show action featuring a cast of nearly 1000 performers took place on the Esplanade down below the Castle walls in the centre of the Tattoo's new, purpose-built state-of-the-art amphitheatre, which includes a special climate controlled projection room.

The Tattoo's chief executive and producer for the second year running was Brigadier David Allfrey, a big fan of large format projections, a

UK - d3, the integrated production toolkit for video production professionals, will introduce its software only version, d3 Designer, to the UK press and public on stand 1-G46 during PLASA 2012.

The new d3 Designer is a software only solution that has all the powerful features of d3 but with the outputs water marked. Made especially for show creators; content designers; projectionists; project managers and other video production professionals, d3 Designer is the most advanced integrated production platform in the market. Created to design and simulate your show from concept design to

South Africa - A two day Protocol Training course was hosted at DWR Distribution in Strijdom Park, Randburg on 3 and 4 September.

This year, Nick Britz from DWR has taken Training under his wing and is running with sessions that will benefit technicians and interested parties in the industry.

The Protocol Training covers everything from the basic DMX 512, RMD, Artnet, Ethernet and Wireless Networking. It includes fault-finding techniques, addressing fixtures, monitoring units in the rig, configuring networks and the ins and outs of some of the most commonly used protocols.

Septemb

UK - At the end of an unrivalled summer of success, PLASA 2012 opens its doors for the very last time at the Earls Court Exhibition Centre on Sunday 9 September and with pre-registration figures already way ahead of last years, it's time to celebrate!

As PLASA announce a new home for the PLASA Show, the final event at Earls Court promises to be a glorious celebration of the industry's involvement in the Diamond Jubilee and London 2012 Olympics. The Olympics Uncovered sector of the Professional Development Programme is close to a sell-out and joining Backstage at the London 2012 Cer

UK - Building on the ever-converging technologies of lighting and video, Blitz has seized the opportunity to greatly expand its offering to clients through a £320,000 investment in new lighting stock and the recruitment of a full- time lighting designer.

Blitz welcomed Simon Brockwell to its team at the beginning of August as a full-time lighting designer. He has a wealth of experience as a freelance engineer, having graduated from Rose Bruford. Brockwell is developing Blitz's lighting design and project management offering so it can offer a more bespoke service to both direct c

Switzerland - XL Video supplied LED screens, media servers and control for the special Freak Out All Night Dance Party event at this year's Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

Curated by producers Nile Rodgers and Mark Ronson, the show's theme traced the evolution of disco music into today's electronic dance music.

The line-up included both Rodgers and Ronson, who were joined by a host of stars including Grace Jones, Anita Baker, Alison Moyet, Johnny Marr, Elly Jackson from La Roux, Chic, and Dimitri from Paris.

For the show, XL Video specified their versatile Pixled F-1

UK - The BFI restoration of Alfred Hitchcock's silent masterpiece Blackmail was shown for the first time at a special outdoor screening at the British Museum, the location of the film's chilling chase sequence. The film was accompanied by an ensemble of 18 musicians, conducted by Timothy Brock, performing Neil Brand's specially arranged score.

With the programme commencing before sunset the projection challenge was to ensure that the screen images were sufficiently bright to be seen in almost full daylight conditions, and also that this glorious BFI restoration could be fully a

UK - Prism Projection is expanding its RevEAL line of LED products with the debut of three new luminaires - Profile Jr., Studio.3 Fresnel, and Studio.UV Fresnel. With its largest product launch to date, Prism will be debuting the fixtures in Europe at both the PLASA 2012 show in London as well as at IBC 2012 in Amsterdam.

Prism Projection will be on Stand 2-P16 in the White Light Zone at PLASA 2012. For the IBC show, Prism will be on stand 9.C15 in Hall 9 along with Mac Tech LED.

The RevEAL Profile Jr. is a new compact LED profile spot that offers the strengths of Prism's award-winn

UK - As part of an ongoing commitment to provide customers with the best in cutting edge presentation technology, Saville Audio Visual has just placed an order for 22 Christie LHD700 projectors. The investment is a major step in enhancing the hire stock available through the company's twelve branches nationwide.

The new LHD700 is a single lamp LCD projector featuring a huge 7000 ANSI lumen output for high contrast and vivid colours at full HD resolution.

Saville conference and live events divisional manager Ben Voisey said, "We were looking for a replacement workhorse projector

UK - Examples from Christie's huge projection portfolio can be seen at PLASA 2012 - both on the show floor and at the high profile collateral event, The Knights of Illumination.

AC Entertainment Technologies is showing the Christie Nitro integrated motorised yoke and projector system (in the shape of a YK50 harnessing a Christie LHD700 projector) on stand # 1-E10.

Coolux GmbH is also be using Christie 3-chip DLP HD projection on stand # 1-C17, where a pair of Roadster HD10K-M 3-chip DLP® 1080 HD projectors will be soft-edge blended and warped to project onto a geometrical shaped

UK - After 12 months of intensive research and planning, UK-based VirtualXpo, a new, highly innovative digital media brand, is going public with its plans to radically change the way that technology manufacturers and service companies do business, not only in the entertainment production field but across a broad spectrum of industries worldwide.

Says the company, "An elegantly simple companion to trade shows and general promotion, VirtualXpo's beautifully crafted VX 'Super App' provides a multimedia market place in which any company can exhibit and anyone can attend wherever they

UK - The PLASA Awards for Innovation, sponsored by AED Rent and Lighting&Sound, were presented at the PLASA Show in London yesterday evening, along with the announcement of the prestigious Gottelier Award.

During the show's opening two days, 47 products were judged 'live' in front of a crowd of show visitors and camera crew by an independent panel of expert judges who toured the show floor to view each product presentation.

John Meyer of iconic pro audio brand Meyer Sound was honoured with this year's Gottelier Award in recognition of his life as one of the pioneers of the mo

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