Brazil - Immersive today produces Adidas' unveiling party for the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament ball, Brazuca, complete with 3D projection mapping on a 2m ball and on the historic mansion in the Parque Lage, in Rio de Janeiro.

The party is set to attract some of Brazil's highest profile celebrities as well as international football stars Cafu, Hernane and Clarence Seedorf; who are also giving speeches during the live broadcast event. ESPN, FOX and GLOBO will all be airing the unveiling alongside 47 other broadcasters.

This is the first large-scale football launch party for Adidas and the first detailed video mapping of the Parque Lage mansion.

Adidas have created special 'FIFA tournament balls' since 1970. The name "brazuca" is an informal term that describes the Brazilian way of life.

The visual narrative for the 3D projection was developed through creat

South Africa - Gearhouse Group, South Africa's largest rental staging company, has increased their audio visual projection stockholding with the recent purchase of sixteen 20K projectors - eight Christie Roadster HD20K-J 3-chip DLP and eight Panasonic PT-DZ21K 3-chip DLP units.

The Group services a very wide range of event types from a 50 pax conference in a hotel boardroom to a globally-broadcast closing ceremony in a stadium and the Group stocks an equally diverse range of brands to meet client preferences and service the various applications using the most suitable product.

Although there are already more than 50 HD projection systems in operation around the Group, these two machines are the latest arrivals within their particular fields of application. Gearhouse is well known for providing its clients with the very latest technology and this acquisition takes the organizat

UK - Projection Advertising has developed a new, proprietary projection mapping system to maximise the effectiveness of moving head projection systems. Motion Mapper custom software takes 3D objects and computes exact trajectories, ensuring a seamless marriage between projection and pathway and - thanks to the use of a bespoke transport vehicle working in tandem with moving head technology - creates 'daylight visible' performances.

One of the biggest challenges of moving head projection is image distortion, something that Motion Mapper goes a long way to resolving, so maximising the effectiveness of moving head projection technology. In addition, the constant movement generated by the moving head system and the transport vehicle, or RPV (Revolving Projection Vehicle), allows projections to cover larger surface areas, making it easier for projections to be seen during daylight ho

UK - XL Video is supplying dance company Sadler's Wells with a projection system for m¡longa, a new work by Belgian born choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which was inspired by the magical communication of tango dancing the intimate, almost conspiratorial social setting of the m¡longa (social tango dances).

XL Video's Ed Cooper is the project manager. XL Video have worked on several previous projects with Sadler's Wells including recent tours of Russell Maliphant's Still Current and the world tour of TeZukA, another mixed-media Cherkaoui production using the stylised imagery of Japanese Manga cartoons as a starting point.

Sadler's Wells production manager Adam Carrée once again called on the skills and expertise of XL Video to provide a video solution for the m¡longa tour - with the current tour making its UK Premiere at their north London base

UK - Engage Production Ltd, specialist in interactive technologies for branded environments, has announced the distribution of Holo, a development of the 400 year old 'Pepper's Ghost' illusion. A broadcast product offering the biggest 360° floating optical experience on the market, and controlled by simple hand gestures, the 2.4m high, diamond-shaped Holo was designed by Conran and devised by London-based innovation company Beagle Media.

Launched in October at Sir Terence Conran's apartment in London, Holo is available in a bespoke range of colours and materials to achieve a unique minimalist design, including wafer-thin German engineered glass, brushed aluminium and chrome.

"Holo is the biggest hologram product on the market using projection and projectors," explains Steve Blyth, managing director of Engage. "But there's more to Holo than sheer size. It's a

UK - With London enjoying the busiest time of the year during the Christmas and New Year period, Westminster City Council have taken the decision to install a giant 'snow globe' to protect the Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros statue in Piccadilly Circus.

The replica snow globe, designed by Wildstone, and constructed by fabric structure experts Architen Landrell, includes an 11m inflatable PVC membrane that adds festive sparkle to the area whilst keeping the statue and monument safe from excitable revellers.

The base of the globe, formed into an octagon shape, features eight high resolution LED screens supplied by XL Video. The screens, formed from tiles of high-brightness Pixled F-6, are covered by 6mm of acrylic to protect the LED from the elements. The screens display a range of content including Christmas greetings and sponsor messages from Microsoft, Fiat, JD Sports, Canon, a

South Africa - AV Unlimited was again appointed by Mela events to supply full technical for the South African leg of the Samsung Note3 World Tour launch. The event was held in Cape Town at the CTICC on 26 September where invited guests were flown in to attend the launch. The technical set up included over 240 moving lights and a truss count of more than 800m.

Earlier this year AVU provided the full technical at the Samsung S4 Launch and their new brief was clear: To create something absolutely different from the S4 Launch as the same press and celebrities would be in attendance. With a background in interior design, AVU's in-house creative designer, Garrith Castelyn, worked closely with colleagues Victor Vermaak (project manager) and Renaldo van der Berg (lighting designer) to come up with a concept that would work in that venue given it needed multiple guest experience areas an

USA - Donny and Marie Osmond are spreading their holiday spirit in song and dance around the US on their 15-city Christmas tour. Pete's Big TVs is again supplying a full video HD production system for the show, and enhanced its production values over last year's tour.

"This is the third season we've worked with Donny and Marie's Christmas shows and tours," says Guy Benjamin, VP at Pete's Big TVs. "This design is similar to their past designs, including their Broadway Christmas shows, but the production has gotten bigger this year. We're using newer LED technology in the three main screens, which are also larger than last year, and we've added two extra LED video screens just for the IMAG."

Based in New Castle, Delaware, video equipment rental company Pete's Big TVs is providing a full HD production system with 3 new digiLED MK7 HB LED screens, 2 digiLED MC7

UK - As part of the recently returned UK and Ireland tour with X-Factor singer/songwriter Lucy Spraggan, Event Production Services provided a Yamaha LS9-32 and Senheiser EW300 In-Ear Monitor system to Element Audio, who also supplied their own Midas Pro2c to the tour party.

James Apperley of Element Audio said of EPS: "The kit was great, reliable and performed well. It was great working closely with Rob again and we've got a good working relationship. I hope that this continues in the coming years."

Event Production Services Robert Nisbet was mixing monitors for the duration of the tour, which took in venues of around 1500 capacity, though Rob's own highlight of the tour was the intimate venue in Galway. "The staff and punters at the Roisin Dubh were friendly, fun and really into it. The atmosphere was great and we were made very welcome. We had a lot of fun at

South Africa - AV Unlimited was again appointed by Mela events to supply full technical for the South African leg of the Samsung Note3 World Tour launch. The event was held in Cape Town at the CTICC on September 26th where invited guests were flown in to the beautiful mother city to attend the launch of the Galaxy Note 3.The technical set up included over 240 moving lights and a truss count of more than 800m.

Earlier this year AVU provided the full technical at the Samsung S4 Launch and their new brief was clear: To create something absolutely different from the S4 Launch as the same press and celebrities would be in attendance.

With a background in interior design, AVU's In-house Creative Designer, Garrith Castelyn, worked closely with colleagues Victor Vermaak (Project Manager) and Renaldo van der Berg (Lighting Designer) to come up with a concept that would work in that ven

UK - Hot on the heels of his European tour, Bryan Ferry toured the UK with his 'Jazz Age' tour - with production managed by OneBigStar Limited. The set featured a video wall backdrop comprised of 36 CHAUVET Professional PVP S7 video panels.

Six separate 1m wide by 1.5m high screens, each made from six individual PVP S7 panels, were exploded across the stage. The content, designed and created by Anna Boburg, was relayed via a Catalyst media server, controlled from the desk of Ferry's lighting designer, Rod Clay.

"The image on the Chauvet Professional screens has been super-crisp at all times - even when the space is tight. I've been throwing a lot of light across the screens too and still the image is bright and true. I'm really impressed with the quality of the screens and the image itself - the panels have been perfect for this tour," said Clay.

Chauvet Profession

USA - Industry veteran Anne Johnston has joined Pete's Big TVs as an account rep. Based in the New York/Tri-State area, Johnston will serve the company's video equipment rental clients in the concert touring, TV and special/corporate events market.

Johnston has worked in these same markets most recently as VP of marketing at Production Resource Group (PRG). Her role since 2007 was over the "big picture," which encompassed lighting, video, audio, LEDs, rigging and automation. Previous roles at PRG were VP Systems Installation and prior to that, VP and Sales Manager.

Johnston came to PRG via Production Arts Lighting in the late 1980s. In 1990 she took on the role of VP Image Systems - a title she held through 2002, even while PRG acquired the company in 1999.

For Johnston, the move to Pete's Big TVs takes her full circle back to her early days in projection, when fri

USA - Cool music and modern art combined at New York's iconic Guggenheim Museum for a special set by electronic music pioneer Richie Hawtin, who swapped his more usual club backdrop to play as Plastikman alongside his brother Matthew, as part of a high profile fundraiser hosted by the Guggenheim's Young Collectors Council.

XL Video was asked to build a striking LED monolith on the ground floor of the Guggenheim Museum's impressive atrium to provide a kinetic sculpture and visual centerpiece for the event which was sponsored by Dior.

The gig was project managed for XL Video by Paul 'Macca' McCauley from the UK office who was asked to produce a video solution for the visual concept created by Ali Demirel & Hawtin. Mark Ward from London-based Proper Productions oversaw the technical design and production for Hawtin's set. XL and Ward have a relationship stretching back many years

Germany - Daktronicshas announced the appointments of Reece A. Kurtenbach as Chief Executive Officer and president of Daktronics, and Peter Egart as vice president of Daktronics international regions in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Egart will be at ISE 2014 to talk to visitors and partners and give insight of the company's vision.

Based in Wiesbaden, Germany, Egart is in charge of all sales and service operations for international customers EMEA and Latin America. He is responsible for strategic development of new business, management of Daktronics subsidiary offices, and strengthening international relationships.

Egart began his career at Daktronics in the USA in 1993, after more than fifteen years of experience in network television as a director, producer and manager. He played a key role in establishing the business communications market niche for Daktron

UK - West London based rental specialist Colour Sound Experiment supplied lighting, LED screen, media servers and LED draping for the recent Major Lazer UK and European tour, working with New York based lighting & visual designer Kyle Kegan from Voyage Productions.

Kegan has designed, programmed and operated all of the popular Major Lazer's shows, tours and festival appearances worldwide since the middle of 2012.

This was his fourth experience working with Colour Sound in the last 18 months and he comments, "H (Haydn Cruickshank, Colour Sound's MD) always treats us great, and as a touring LD himself understands the importance of every detail being correct and all the aspects of what we need being in place."

The creative starting point for the lighting and visual design was the idea of a clean and simple style that could offer those big, beautiful iconic looks and y

Thailand - Laserworld and its subsidiary RTI implemented a huge permanent laser show installation on Rama VIII Bridge in Bangkok. The project was set up by Lighting & Equipment Bangkok. The major challenge was to handle the high humidity, the extreme temperatures and the permanent vibrations from traffic on the bridge. That's why special professional laser show equipment was necessary.

Laser show systems, one RTI NANO 4 RYGB 22 with around 20W power and two RTI PIKO G10, with around 10W power each, were chosen. All systems were mounted inside a RTI COCOON climate housing to protect them against environmental impact and keep the laser systems at correct operating temperature.

The laser installation on the bridge was the central part of an illumination project to provide another attraction to people in Bangkok City and the many tourists coming to the city every year.

The whole

UK - XL Video is supplying a high powered projection system, Pandora's Box mapping and media server control, cameras and PPU to the current #willpower tour by will.i.am, which originated in the US and is currently in Europe.

The tour's all-white stage and production design was created by will.i.am and is heavily video orientated with minimal lighting. The tech savvy artist is involved with all aspects of his visual presentation - overseen by production manager Neil Porter - as well as bringing his innovative musicology and techniques to the stage.

The set features three large inflatable heads - a larger central one which moves on and offstage throughout the show - flanked by two smaller ones. All three have a DJ set up on top and were constructed by All Access, together with three roll-down projection screens upstage of the heads.

The projection system design was crea

USA - PLASA Focus: Nashville 2014 is set for success with organizer PLASA Events confirming new exhibitors and seminar speakers. The event is taking place on 18-19 February 2014, at the Nashville Municipal Auditorium.

The latest exhibitors to sign up include AC Lighting, Apollo Design Technology, Doug Fleenor Design, ETC, LSC America, Philips Entertainment Lighting, Show Sage and Link. They will share the show floor with other industry leaders including; Aeson, ETC, Bandit Lites, Group One, Chauvet Professional, Lightronics, Elation Professional, Creative Stage Lighting, and Applied Electronics, to name a few.

Three new sessions have been added to the PLASA Focus: Nashville 2014 Professional Development Programme, a two-day programme of free educational seminars and workshops running alongside the event.

Ben Jumper, the owner of Soundcheck, will present After the Flood

USA - Elite Multimedia Productions (EMP), a Nashville-based professional sound, lighting and video company, recently completed the major acquisition of live production equipment from TMB to accommodate the company's expected growth in 2014.

With a number of large acts already on board for the 2014 year, including American Country Music's 2013 Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan, EMP purchased five ProPower Lighting Distros, 20 ProPlex Data Distribution splitters, and miles of ProPlex cable outfitted with Neutrik's Ethercon connectors to handle the increased workload.

"Since moving our operation to Nashville earlier this year, we've experienced an influx of touring projects," said Tom Wilson, vice president of event production for Elite. "We expect that growth to continue throughout the year, so we are making the necessary investments today to ensure we exceed our

Switzerland - Panasonic System Communications Company Europe has announced a new development in the long-standing partnership with the IOC, as the official Opening Ceremony on 21 December 2013 marked the re-opening of the IOC Olympic Museum to the general public.

Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, the museum houses permanent and temporary exhibits relating to sport and the Olympic Games movement. With more than 1,500 exhibit pieces in addition to audio-visuals, multimedia and other speech mediums, the museum is the largest Olympic Games archive in the world and one of Lausanne's prime tourist sites, attracting more than 200,000 visitors each year.

After 20 years of existence, the institution closed last year on 29 January 2012 for renovations to be completed by the end of 2013. The break in public opening has allowed the museum to look ahead to the 21st century and evaluate how i

The Netherlands - Projecta has revealed details of The Elpro Concept - a stylishly designed electric projection screen for wall or ceiling installation, which is available in a tab-tensioned and a non-tensioned version up to a width of 340cm.

The entire range of Elpro Concept products now also comes with a five year limited warranty to match the high quality of the products. The Tensioned Elpro Concept has a tab-tensioning system for a perfectly flat screen surface with the new Smooth Roll Technology: A patent pending roller technology to keep your screen perfectly flat.

"The new Elpro Concept range of Projecta is perfect for every installation where the case of the projection screen remains in sight," said Melinda von Horvath, Sr. director of sales and marketing, EMEA. "The new five year limited warranty for this entire range is to express our confidence in the

UK - Creative Technology (CT) has supplied a video control system and LED screens package, crew and pre-programming services for Jessie J's epic diva-style tour Alive!. Complementing the pop sensation's considerable stage presence, Vince Foster's set and lighting design offered a vivid mix of stunning lighting looks, and pyrotechnics, while Paul Caslin's mix of video production delivered sparkling video effects.

The look and size of the show was ambitious. Caslin's pre-recorded content was mixed with live camera feeds, directed by Steve Price, and broadcast across three portrait hung Flyer 12 touring LED screens positioned centre stage. In addition, two portrait I-Mag screens, also using Flyer 12, were hung either side of the stage taking care of the live camera close ups of Jessie J. All screens were provided from CT's inventory in London.

Over 300 of Barco MiStrips se

Australia - The team at Technical Direction Company (TDC) delivered spectacular projections at multiple iconic locations during December 2013 including St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, Melbourne Town Hall and the Old Post Office, Newcastle.

"We are delighted to have the opportunity to transform and bring these beautiful buildings to life to celebrate the festive season", says Kain Jones, TDC's special projects manager. "TDC are the video projection experts who work behind the VIVID festival so are familiar with lighting up and transforming Australia's most famous landmarks."

In total, TDC supplied a total of over 30 high brightness Barco digital video projectors incorporating Barco's latest 26,000 lumen HD projectors, in addition to Barco 22K and 20K projectors along with all control and media server equipment and expert technical support.

"TDC's painsta

UK - London-based design company Immersive has signed to 'creative excellence' production company Partizan - twice listed over the past decade as the Gunn Report's 'Best production Company in the World'.

Immersive has become part of Partizan's 'Darkroom' stable, an imprint of the company which offers creative, integrated and digital production through a variety of bespoke platforms including: immersive and experiential events, app design and activation alongside brand partnered short films and online content. Collaborating with clients to develop both their consumer interaction and engagement Partizan works seamlessly across fashion, film, events, and digital content.

Immersive will initially be bringing its expertise in 'experiential marketing' to the company's repertoire.

"A mutual friend introduced us, and the rest fell seamlessly into place," explains Immersive

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