Austria - London-based motion graphics studio The Darkroom brought Bacardi's new Together worldwide brand campaign to life through light and sound in Vienna.

Bacardi's brief asked for experiences incorporating Cuban heritage and the iconic Bacardi Mojito drink as well as the Social Culture.

The Darkroom creatives Emma Wolf and Bruce Ferguson realised Bacardi's vision through an engaging mapping projection - the first public displays of the technology seen in Vienna, Austria.

Projected onto the Kursalon building in Vienna, the five minute public light show masterfully transformed the heritage building into a colourful, vibrant yet weathered Cuba-style building.

Sound was integrated into the projection to help viewers experience Cuba through swelling Cuban drumming, which then grows into a giant jamming session at a traditional Cuban club. Mint leaves and lime trees t

UK - Helen Ward has rejoined Saville Audio Visual as North West area sales manager for conference and live events operations.

Ward joined the sales team at the company's Leeds office in 1987 and later transferred to the Saville Manchester centre and progressed to hire manager before leaving in 2004 for a spell outside the company.

She has returned to take up a newly created role as part of the company's drive to strengthen its national profile and comments, "I'm delighted to be back and looking forward to renewing acquaintances and making new ones. The conference and events sector is feeling the effects of the recession but I'm confident that we can continue to progress, particularly in view of the growing demand for web streaming and the developing range of other Saville Digital Event Services."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Le Maitre have introduced a new range to their Prostage II brand of pyrotechnics. The "VS" - Virtually Smokeless range has the distinct advantage of a very low smoke output, greatly enhancing the resulting visual effect, says the company.

"We are absolutely delighted with the result" says Rick Wilson, sales director of Le Maitre. "The VS range is in line with our continuous strategy of introducing the best range of visually stunning pyrotechnics in the market. The drastically reduced smoke levels ensure that spectators get to see the effects at their very best"

"We have introduced three products to date - VS Flames, VS Flares and VS Starbursts, and there will be more to follow over the coming months".

The VS Flares produce an intensely coloured 1-2ft flare that burns for a maximum duration of 30 seconds and are available in red, g

UK - Saville Audio Visual has announced the appointment of Paul Riddell as North East operations supervisor at the Saville Gateshead conference production centre.

Durham-born Riddell has worked in the live events sector of the audio visual industry for 16years, starting as an AV technician at British Airways' conference centre and later working with WH Smith, the Currys/Dixons rebrand roadshow and with NCJ Media.

Speaking about his new role, he said, "I'm really happy to be working with Saville in the north east. It's a difficult time for the events industry but I'm looking forward to the challenge, particularly introducing our developing range of digital event services. Being able to engage and collaborate with delegates live or on-line adds enormous benefits for conference organisers."

(Jim Evans)

UK - out post distribution, the exclusive UK distributor of Mediaport?s Punchlight automated cue light and timecode display system is now stocking the new Studio Display XXL.

Coming in at 1.72m long by 33cm wide, the XXL display is billed as the largest automated timecode display system in the world.

Aimed at large post production houses or anywhere that needs to display timecode from a long distance, the Studio Display XXL is compatible with all existing Punchlight hardware allowing automated display of MIDI timecode from Pro Tools LE & HD, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic Pro, Digital Performer and Samplitude.

Combine the system with a MIDI to SMPTE timecode convertor and the display will also show timecode from other systems.

The Studio Display XXL will, like the smaller Studio Display XD, Studio Display XT and Studio Display USB, also show bars and beats, feet and frames and samp

UK / USA - PLASA will update its members on a significant 12 months when it meets for its AGM and Members Lunch in a couple of weeks' time in central London.

It's just a year since members of PLASA and ESTA voted to merge the two Associations, and in the intervening 12 months, PLASA has reinvented key elements of its operations introducing a new membership structure, a new Governance system and election process, granting the vote to Organizational and Individual members, and launching a complete new PLASA logo and identity.

Whilst the day will reflect on the achievements of the last year, it will also invite members to feedback on what they'd like to see PLASA doing for their specific business sectors, additional services they feel should be offered and the role they'd like to see PLASA taking in the wider industry.

The formalities however, are a relatively small part of the

UK - PLASA has revealed that Ruth Rossington, a former editor of LSi magazine and now Executive Director EU and COO at PLASA, is to leave the association at the end of 2011. Ruth joined the organisation in 1988, working initially as assistant editor on LSi, and becoming editor in June 1997.At the start of 2004, she left LSi to become a Director of PLASA, working alongside the events, media, membership, skills and technical teams. In the last 18 months, she has led the operational side of PLASA's merger with ESTA, working closely with Lori Rubinstein in North America to steer the first phase of operational integration and to put in place the new Governance systems for the organisation. PLASA's CEO Matthew Griffiths said: "Ruth is not just a colleague, but a good friend. During her time with the organisation she has made a significant contribution and PLASA has benefitted hugel

UK - XL Video supplied 119 panels of Pixled F-30 LED screen - totalling 114sq.m of surface area - plus crew for DJ and music producer David Guetta's recent UK tour - his first carrying a full technical production.

The F-30 was specified by Guetta's show/visuals designer and vibe engineer Ben Brett, who has developed a special piece of control software - Pilot - which is used to run the screen visuals. For this tour, in addition to the screen content, Pilot was running a back wall of 60 x LED moving lights positioned upstage of the rear section of F-30 screen.

The back screen comprised 105 panels of F-30 and in front of the DJ booth was a smaller one made up of 14 panels. With visuals flowing across both surfaces simultaneously, it became a genuine three dimensional digital set.

(Jim Evans)

Belgium - ArKaos has announced the release of GrandVJ 1.5, which includes major new features and enhancements.

GrandVJ is a real-time video mixer software allowing VJs to compose up to eight layers of video on the fly.

The new GrandVJ 1.5 brings video mixing to the next level with the addition of two major new features: Transitions and ArKaos Connect VST plus several other great enhancements, says the company.

With the addition of 37 transitions, it's "even more fun to mix with GrandVJ 1.5". The transitions are distributed across the following groups: eight Fades - three Blinds - six Masks - four Distortions - three 3Ds - two Pixelisations - seven Rectangles - one Slide - one Swipe - two Waves.

Each transition can have up to four parameters plus a fade time, all of which can be controlled through MIDI. In Synth Mode, the new transitions add fade in/fade out betwe

UK - Christie has extended its Mirage Series projector line with the launch of the Christie Mirage WU-L.

The Christie Mirage WU-L delivers "high resolution and rich pixel density, as well as continuous system calibration, in a small footprint unit capable of advanced 2D-3D visualisations". Targeted to the professional market, the Christie Mirage WU-L is suitable for all applications from entertainment, to museums and education, scientific research, manufacturing, and oil and gas exploration facilities, says the company.

The 1-chip DLP with RGB LED is the first Mirage Series projector to use solid-state LED illumination, providing precise, lifelike, vibrant colours and consistent performance over an estimated 60,000-hours (approximately 6.5 years) life cycle.

"The Christie Mirage WU-L is an ideal solution for visualisation professionals whose prime concern is t

UK - XL Video has announced the tragic loss of company director Des Fallon. Des was a key figure in the history of XL Video and a well known and respected character in the live event production industry.

XL Video has this afternoon issued a statement which reads: "With great sadness we announce the death of Des Fallon, XL Video director, production industry legend and incredible personality.

"Des passed away in his sleep on Wednesday night. Des's passion and dedication to his work, love of people and life, and incisive wit and humour was an inspiration to all who knew him. His individuality and unique style brought a vibrance and energy to any situation, and he was valued and respected by so many as a truly unique human being.

"Des will be remembered for numerous things - for embracing foresight and innovation in his work, for making people laugh whatever the

Recycling Sets - Theatre companies can now advertise and recycle old sets and costumes on a new Freecycle-style website specifically designed for the sector. With the tag line "giving your unwanted set a new home", Set-exchange.co.uk has been launched with the aim of encouraging production companies to share unwanted sets, costumes and props with other theatre organisations across the UK for free. Companies including the Royal Court, Glyndebourne and the Lyric Hammersmith have already pledged their support to the website.

Set-exchange was set up by lighting designer and production electrician Peter Harrison. He told The Stage, "The idea came from me working with some of the small companies as well as the big companies and seeing waste in one and scrimping and saving from the other, so it came out of trying to share resources."

Set-exchange is structu

World - PLASA has released a draft voluntary code of practice on Artificial Optical Radiation (AOR) for comments or observations from the global professional lighting industry.

The background to the document lies in the introduction of new EU Directive and national legislation regarding AOR, and the subsequent agreement, by manufacturers attending a presentation that PLASA's Ron Bonner and the Health Protection Agency gave at the PLASA 2010, that guidance should be created.

In short, the new legislation requires employers to assess the exposure to the workforce of AOR and if the exposure is believed to be above permitted levels, the employer will need to measure the levels and take action to reduce the exposure. Manufacturers will also have a duty to supply relevant safety information. In the UK this is enshrined in health and safety law, but will also be part of the conformit

Benelux - Over 100 axes of Kinesys automation were utilised to move a host of scenic and visual elements for Dutch megastar Marco Borsato's recent all-action 3Dimensies (3Dimensions) shows. He played to over 210,000 people during a two- week period across multiple nights at the Gelredome stadium in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and the Sportpalais in Antwerp, Belgium.

The total count of 107 Kinesys motion controlled elements on this production beats the previously held record of 80 by the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest final in Oslo.

Borsato's set and lighting was designed by Ignace D'haese from Arf & Yes who worked closely with show producers John Mulder and Flip Van Ommeren from Mojo Concerts who also did the production management.

WImotion - part of the Belgium based WIcreations Group - were asked onboard to co-ordinate and engineer all the automation design and specify t

Germany - It's easy to hide behind a wall of superlatives: bigger, heavier, brighter, bolder, sharper; and for Creative Technology this years' Eurovision Song Contest was all those things and more; but it's the little details that put the polish on this project, says CT.

"The spectacular creative design from Florian Wieder and Jerry Appelt stretched us in places we'd never been stretched before," said head of CT's Dusseldorf Office, Alex Klaus, and the man responsible for running the project.

The Wieder/Appelt design was dominated by a 1250sq.m expanse of Spider 30 LED screen. At twice the size of the infamous U2 Pop Mart screen, it completely filled one end of the Esprit football stadium in Dusseldorf. "That's almost the entire worldwide inventory of Spider30," said CT's MD Dave Crump, over from England to witness the event.

"We've pulled in resourc

Macau - Opened in May 2011, Galaxy Macau was billed as Macau's first integrated leisure and entertainment resort, designed to help the region achieve its aim of becoming a diversified 'Global Centre of Tourism and Recreation'. LED screen manufacturer Lighthouse Technologies had successfully acquired the contract for the provision to the resort with a series of visual elements.

Lighthouse's first involvement with owner Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) was at the beginning of 2008, when it supplied two LED screens to GEG's flagship StarWorld Hotel and Casino in Macau Peninsula.

Lighthouse provided the 550,000sq.m Galaxy Macau, the newest integrated destination resort in the Special Administrative Region's Cotai entertainment area, with six LED screens.

Two Pi10-ER 10mm screens are situated at the entrance to resort, each measuring 12.8m (w) x 9.6m (h) (10 x 10 panels), display

UK - Calibre UK's HQView520 is a scaler/switcher/scan convertor designed to "address the very latest trends in AV system design and integration".

The HQView520 switches, scales, scan-converts and edge-blends multiple images - also performs warp mapping so that those images can be projected onto curved screens.

The new HQView520 will also perform sub-pixel precise image alignment for stacked pairs of projectors used for 3D applications.

Like the other products in the HQView500 series, the HQView520 has a 3G-SDI input and output capability, as well as backwards compatibility with HD-SDI and SD-SDI formats.

The processor will accept a wide range of HD, SD and computer inputs including DVI, HDMI, YPbPr/RGBS, VGA/RGBHV, S-Video, and Composite PAL, NTSC, and SECAM.

Tim Brooksbank, chairman, Calibre UK, says, "Curved-screen and 3D projection is now entering the m

UK - Le Maitre created a spectacular finale to the 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley. As Eric Abidal lifted the cup for Barcelona, the skies above the arch lit up as a host of gold and silver mines and comets were fired some 220m into the air above the 90,000 capacity stadium below. This was the first time pyrotechnics have ever been fired from the famous arch and Le Maitre were "delighted to have been chosen".

The pyro display was the culmination of months of hard work for Karen Haddon, events director at Le Maitre and her team.

"The size of the task cannot be underestimated. The arch itself is the longest unsupported roof structure in the world, and at 133m high and with a 7m diameter lattice arch, we knew this was never going to be straightforward. Add to that the wind and British weather in general and you have a pyrotechnician's worst nightmare. T

UK - Contracted by production manager Richard Bullimore and Playful Productions, Creative Technology (CT) has been chosen to provide full video solutions for the London West End production of Shrek The Musical.

CT's Barco 20K FLM R20 projector is located on the front of the Circle and positioned side on to ensure the audience's view is not restricted. With the beam deflected 90° via a mirror, the images are projected onto various stage elements providing life and texture to the set components and props. A 13m2 10mm LED screen, also provided by CT, is flown upstage to add to the visual elements of the show representing the passage of the sun and the moon, an integral part of Shrek and Princess Fiona's story.

The entire video system is based around a pair of CT's Hippotizer HDs and ultimately controlled from the show's lighting desk.

Working with creative partner La

UK - Goboland UK has chosen ABTT 2011 to launch its new website. The new user-friendly layout gives easy access to "all the information you need about Goboland gobos and products including the Black Steel Gobos, the famed Credit Crunch Gobo, GoboSlides, film slides, Black Holes, Tweakers and its bespoke etching service, Gobo Creative". Details of Goboland UK's specialist services for image size calculation, keystone distortion and pincushion correction and its Green Scene gobo recycling scheme are also to be found here.

To coincide with the new website, Goboland UK is also presenting a new catalogue at the show which can be downloaded directly from the website. Choose between Black Steel, Premier, Designer and Glass Gobo Collections.

Following its launch at PLASA 2010, Goboland UK will be promoting its GoboSlides, the economical film-based alternative to full colour

Belgium - ArKaos has announced its new hardware A30 media server. Built for the MediaMaster software, the A30 is the result of the latest research made by ArKaos in terms of raw performance but also structural strength, vibration protection and heat tolerance, says the company.

The case has been designed to allow a very efficient air flow. Several fans, protected by a dust filter, are located at the front of the case and can be easily serviced without opening the rest of the case. This is done through a special door that gives access to both the fans and the filter without exposing any cables or electrical connections. This is very handy when working on long tours.

The custom-made case provides a convenient display on the front which allows the server to be used without the need to connect to an external display. The front cover also provides a large LED strip that gives feedb

USA - Liberty AV Solutions, a division of WESCO Distribution has acquired Middleton, Wisconsin-based Intelix, a manufacturer of AV components and software. The move follows a successful conclusion to negotiations between Intelix and WESCO Distribution - Liberty's parent company - to acquire Intelix outright for an undisclosed sum. Liberty joined WESCO in 2006 as part of WESCO's acquisition of Communications Supply Corporation, of which Liberty is a subsidiary.

Liberty is an audio/visual (AV) supplier of solutions-based products ranging from bulk wire and cable to equipment enclosures and mounts to power distribution products and more.

"Intelix has built a fine reputation among AV professionals over the last decade," John Dace, who leads the Liberty operation within WESCO, remarked following news of the WESCO acquisition. "The company will enable the analogue-to-

UK - The Point at Lancashire County Cricket Club recently teamed up with one of their preferred AV partners, Blitz Communications, to bring a complimentary training course for professional event organisers to the North West for the first time.

The day was dedicated to introducing a range of bespoke Blitz products and new technologies that assist organisers in making their events more cost effective, sustainable, interactive and innovative, and at the same time creating opportunities to generate additional revenue.

Commenting on the masterclass, sales manager at The Point Peter Ash said, " We have appointed Blitz as one of our preferred partners of choice for our event staging and were delighted to be able to host this technology masterclass on their behalf."

Hosted by ITV weather presenter and news features reporter, Emma Jesson, the masterclass was introduced by B

UK - Saville Audio Visual provided the staging and AV facilities for the Premier League 2011 National Youth Development Conference at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton. Keynote speakers included Sir Alex Ferguson and Everton's David Moyes plus guests including Sir Trevor Brooking. The event also incorporated the annual Premier League Youth Awards.

The 90ft-wide stage set featured three 16'x 9' screens, with video projection mapping in the centre section. This created a versatile branding solution which changed throughout the event. A newly installed production and edit suite at Saville Manchester was used to build the 3D Premier League logo plus event specific branding and Premier League club logos, which were all projected onto the set.

The centre section utilised another of Saville's newest purchases, a Christie Roadster HD18K full HD 18K lumen projector. Audio was via a d&b Q1 L

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