Audinate is running a free, day-long event about its Dante audio networking solutions in Amsterdam prior to ISE 2015. As a major Dante user with its CL and QL digital mixing systems, among other products, the event is being co-sponsored and supported by Yamaha Commercial Audio.

Taking place on 9^th February at the Amsterdam Holiday Inn, the event will feature presentations, training workshops and interactive panel discussions led by industry design consultants, AV installation contractors and IT networking experts. It will also feature a major interoperability networking demonstration of Dante-enabled products and systems.

Dante has developed into a de facto standard for networked audio and is a fundamental part of Yamaha CL and QL series digital mixing systems. Together with the R-series i/o units and other products, exceptionally flexible and powerful audio systems can be assembled, which can be precisely tailored for each application – from the smallest bar up to the biggest stadium or festival.

For further information and to pre-register for the event, please visit https://www.audinate.com/webmail/AVNW_Feb_2015/AVNW_Feb_2015_register.html

The Amsterdam Holiday Inn is close to the city’s RAI, where ISE 2015 takes place from 10^th – 12^th February. Yamaha is exhibiting on Stand 2-A40 at ISE 2015, where the company’s Dante-based digital consoles and installation products will be on show.

Christie, the specialist in visual displays and audio technologies, has announced that it has acquired Cologne, Germany-based coolux GmbH, the developer and supplier of 3D compositing and rendering systems, best known for its Pandoras Box product family.

coolux will be integrated into Christie’s Global Market Solutions team, maintaining its office in Cologne, Germany. 

Jennifer Smith, Christie’s executive vice-president, Global Market Solutions, said : “Christie is committed to deepen its marketplace lead in supplying a total solution for advanced applications such as projection mapping, broadcast delivery and all manner of large-scale digital canvas creation, so the fit between our products and services and those of coolux is a natural one.”

Continuing, Smith said: “Pre-visualization capability when creating stunning, experiential events – including real-time rendering of same – is increasingly important in the creative plans of entertainment designer and creative visionaries. The acquisition is a boon to those who need multiple display technologies to come together to create both continuous and non-continuous digital canvases, but most importantly, to be able to create and manage the content that flows onto these canvases,” added Smith.

coolux CEO Jan Huewel, who will report to Jennifer Smith in his new position of senior director, Processing Solutions, commented : “In a world where visual and audio experiences are assuming new importance in inspiring and moving audiences, content orchestration and synchronized content delivery is paramount and with

today’s news, Christie, with its already impressive presence in this arena, has gained another leading-edge product line and development team to ensure it keeps its lead.”

More informations : http://www.christiedigital.com/ et http://www.coolux.de/

German lighting designer Manfred ‘Vossi’ Voss used 100 x Robe BMFL Spots to light the 2014 “Ein Herz für Kinder” (A Heart for Children) show, a high profile charity fund-raiser, produced by Schwartzkopff tv staged at the new and trendy Tempelhof airport, Berlin, and broadcast live on German national public services channel, ZDF.
Technical Provider was the Berlin based PRO LIGHT Lichttechnik Vermietung GmbH.  The BMFL Spot fixtures were supplied by NicLen.

Sixty of the BMFL Spots were used to light the audience and 40 were dotted around the stage – all hung on trusses in the roof. They were used throughout the show for a variety of tasks including creating general lighting ambience and scenes as well as spectacular effects for the cameras and the live audience.

The show featured special live performances from The Voice Kids, Norske Talenter star Angelina Jordan, award winning international singer / songwriter James Blunt, folk musician Andreas Gabalier, maverick German musician Peter Maffay and superstar Chris de Burgh, while the guests included a glittering array of A-list celebrities and VIPs from the worlds of business and politics plus social and community activists.

Voss chose Robe‘s BMFL for  its low weight –  under 36 kg – its fantastic  zoom range from 5 to 55° as well as its incredibly bright light output. The lighting crew were extremely impressed because the highly innovative BMFL offers many advantages over existing 1500 Watt lightsource class fixtures and is fast becoming a ’benchmark‘ product in terms of the power vs. weight ratio.
They loved the gobo projections combined with colour mixing. Due to the fixture’s intensity, audience backlighting in blue with the use of gobos didn’t need any additional wash lighting.

Zoomed right in, the BMFL excelled in producing tight collimated beams, satisfying the current trend for those much-used beam effects popular with smaller fully optimized beam lights. All of this – and much more – makes the BMFL a hugely flexible choice.

Frank Hofmann und Andreas Haslbeck operated the event’s lighting using a GrandMA 1 console. The set was designed by Hassler Made GmbH and the programme directed by Ladislaus Kiraly.

The event raised over 16 million Euros for the “Ein Herz für Kinder” organization. It was founded in 1978 by publisher Axel Spinger and the BILD newspaper, originally to promote traffic safety for children. Now “A Heart for Children” raises large sums of money year-round which is dedicated to helping children living tough and challenging lives, supporting non-profit organizations, projects and children’s hospitals, kindergartens, schools and food banks. In collaboration with hospitals, the organization also enables life-saving treatments and surgeries for overseas children and help for children and young people caught in war and conflict zones and disaster areas. 

More information : www.robe.cz

Effective 1 December 2014, NEEC Audio Barcelona acquired the Ecler pro audio brand and business including the personnel and management team under the leadership of Enric Casimiro who will continue to manage the business. 

Luis Hinojar (sales director), Domingo Melé (I+D director), Enric Casimiro, (managing director), Joan Rius (production director) and Daniel González (marketing director)

The Ecler business is known for its focus on technology. The brand is also well known by its creative design of Audeo speaker cabinets, in collaboration with the Italian company Italdesign Giugiaro.

NEEC intends to invest in innovation in the pro audio field and to ensure that the Ecler brand is associated with both advanced technology and excellent design.

Over the last decade Ecler has focused its efforts in commercial audio solutions, always striving to improve sound quality, innovation and sustainability.

Its main markets include retail shop fitting, education, corporate, hospitality and sports & fitness. ECLER product solutions can be found in wellknown universities like Bristol (UK), Paris Descartes (France) or Università di Roma (Italy), in five star hotels like Le Fouquet’s (Paris- France) or Fullerton Bay Hotel (Singapore), as well as in luxury retail outlets like Louis Vuitton or Burberry. Based in Barcelona, Ecler exports 80% of its production.

As it approaches its 50th anniversary, as result of its acquisition by NEEC, Ecler has received a capital injection of 1m euros to carry out an ambitious programme of product development which will be evident at the ISE exhibition in Amsterdam.

The iconic rock band Fleetwood Mac never stops thinking about tomorrow – and planning their next tour to delight fans.  For their current “On With the Show” tour a complement of Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K20 LED-based moving lights and Sharpy Wash lights have been specified by lighting designer/production designer Paul “Arlo” Guthrie. 

The band launched the 40-city North American tour September 30 and, after playing to packed houses, added at least 28 more dates in a second leg, which will begin in January 2015.  “On With the Show” marks the first full-member tour for Fleetwood Mac since 1997.

“Designing for Fleetwood Mac is always a challenge since you’re dealing with five different personalities,” says Guthrie.  He began by giving them “the biggest, cleanest, most open stage set up I could, so every single seat in the house gets a clear view of the stage.  I made sure to remove clutter so everyone can see the band members.”
Guthrie added a big upstage videowall, three above-the-head ribbon videowalls and 12 lighting pods.
A dozen B-EYE K20s are on the audience side of the pods to light the fans.  “They do pixel effects and perform very quick, easy and huge washes from 12 watts – they can light the entire audience,” Guthrie says.  “We don’t use smoke or haze so we don’t really use beam effects.  But we do use a lot of pixel animation.  For some songs the fixtures replicate what’s happening on the videowall.”

Guthrie was introduced to B-EYE K20s at LDI last year.  “This is the first time I’m using them.  The colors, dimming and patterns are great.  The idea that we have 12 lights we can switch on and then light up the entire arena is great!”
Lighting Director Chris Lose adds, “The things that impressed me the most about the B-EYEs was their ability to act like an LED fixture and then with a simple flip of a channel behave just like an incandescent fixture. Most LED fixtures on the market are missing that warmth and glow.

Three Sharpy Washes are mounted on each pod for a total of 36 fixtures.  “They serve as the workhorse overhead wash light,” Guthrie explains.  “Because of their brightness we get a little bit of a beam effect even with no smoke.  That’s a real bonus.” 
Guthrie first used Sharpy Washes for Fleetwood Mac last year then subsequently deployed them for Nine Inch Nails.  “I like the fact that they don’t dim like an LED: Their mechanical dimmer is fantastic.  I like the size, speed and colors – it’s a great little workhorse light.  There’s still room in my shows for lights that actually light stuff, and with Fleetwood Mac, we have to see the band and the stage, not just millions of pixels in your eyes.”

George Masek, A.C.T Lighting Vice President – Automated Lighting, (the exclusive North American distributor for Clay Paky) commented “We really enjoy working with Arlo on his projects, and I’m very proud that he has chosen Clay Paky products to support his visions.”
Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, added, “It’s great to see our newere lights employed for such an iconic band.  Arlo and Chris are great talents and have truly put the fixtures to great use.”

More informations : www.claypaky.it

The 15^th Annual Latin Grammy Awards took place in a blaze of glamour at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and was attended by some of the biggest names in Latin music and a sold-out audience of nearly 17,000.  Almost 10 million television viewers – the highest figures to date – tuned in for some or all of the three-hour live broadcast on the Univision network.

Photo Louise Stickland

For the fifth consecutive year, the lighting was designed by Carlos Colina, LD for all of Univision’s major shows and events. After using Robe’s Pointes for a successful show-stopping ‘special moment’ last year, he chose Pointes again this year to add extra elements of magic to key moments in an evening of great entertainment, unique collaborations and landmark live performances, plus a string of Awards.

Colina worked closely with Set Designer Jorge Dominguez to create the aesthetic for the show.  They took full advantage of the increased headroom and width of the MGM Garden Arena as the show moved there for the first time from Mandalay Bay.  The set was heavily video-based, and divided up into three separate performance areas – stage left, stage right and stage centre – which alternated as the next bands playing live were set up masked by LED screens that flew in and out.

Photo Louise Stickland

Following the great impact of using Pointes to highlight a Ricky Martin and Draco Rosa duet last year, Colina once again used 24 of the fixtures as Ricky Martin performed “Perdon” with Mexican duo Camila – the first of two amazing live performances by the Puerto Rican megastar at this year’s Awards.

The Camila / Martin action took place on the central section of the stage, with the Pointes positioned upstage of the ‘house’ orchestra’s string section, two feet higher than the artists, enabling the beams to cut through the band and right into the cameras with a selection of gobos and beams. The effect added great drama and intensity to an already powerful ballad.

During the Pepe Aguilar and Miguel Bose musical number, the Pointes were used in a similar fashion on the stage left live stage. The concept for this piece was an old barn look, with wooden slats cladding all the band risers and wood crates strewn around the stage. Colina’s first thoughts on lighting were that Pointe beams behind the band could cut through, replicating sunlight, which looked amazing on camera.

 “I needed an extremely bright and powerful beam fixture that was also small to help quick set up / removal by the stage crew,” explained Colina, “And Pointes met every requirement.”
LD Tom Kenny initially urged him to look at Pointes last year (Kenny was the first US-based LD to use Pointes), leading to Colina specifying the lights for the 2013 Latin Grammy Awards.

Colina likes many Pointe features including “the sheer variety of effects they can produce, the fantastic beam which goes on forever, the prisms, the breakups, etc.  Basically, it’s a light I can place anywhere and do anything with – ultra versatile”.
He now uses them on various other Univision shows, both in the main studio located in Miami, Florida and on other outside broadcasts.

Photo Louise Stickland

Working alongside Colina on the event was a highly dedicated and talented crew including Lighting Directors John Daniels and Darren Langer; LD/Programmers Felix Peralta and Kevin Lawson and Floor LD Kevin Harvey.  The video content was programmed by Laura Frank, the Head Gaffer was Brett Puwalski and the Gaffer was Alex Flores. They were joined by four lighting techs – John Ellar, David George, Tony Garcia and Daniel McDonough. 

show Camila & Ricky Martin onstage for a special collaboration.

In celebration of its 35th anniversary in October, Hong Kong Ballet presented three dance showcases, titled A Celebration of Dance, in the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Center. Lighting designer and director of C’est Bon Projects, Kwok Fai Mak, employed numerous ETC Source Four® LED CYC and Selador® Desire® luminaires to light up this ballet trio.

Serenade |Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust | Photo ©Cheung Wai Lok | 2014 Courtesy of The Hong Kong Ballet

The showcases included George Balanchine’s masterpiece Serenade, Nacho Duato’s provocative contemporary ballet Castrati, and Natalia Conus’ staging of Swan Lake’s third act, which is based on Marius Petipa’s 1895 original.

Programme: Swan Lake (Act III) | Guest Dancer: Artem Ovcharenko | Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco | Courtesy of The Hong Kong Ballet

Programme: Swan Lake (Act III) | Guest Dancer: Kristina Kretova | Photographer: Conrad Dy-Liacco | Courtesy of The Hong Kong Ballet

Mak sought to maintain the original lighting mood of Serenade and Castrati, with a touch of his own interpretation, and he took a new approach for Swan Lake. When he discovered that the venue’s new LED cyc lights didn’t fit his initial lighting proposal for the project, he replaced them with 12 ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr® luminaires outfitted with Source Four LED CYC adapters.

He was very impressed with the Source Four LED CYC units: “This was the first time I used the Source Four LED CYC units on stage. They just do their job, with good colour capabilities and even coverage. In fact, it surprised me a bit that the vertical coverage is so good.” 

Says Mak: “The venue’s original RGBA cyc lights made it impossible to create the L200 (Double C.T. Blue) that I needed for Castrati.” And in Serenade, an expansive range of blue was necessary to portray the beauty and mystery of the ballet. Mak was able to bring various blues to the stage, thanks to the flexibility of the x7 Color System in the Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr array. “The whole piece is about blue, based on the vision of the choreographer,” describes Mak. “The x7 Color System really helps deliver the widest range of colour available from LED fixtures.”

Serenade |Choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust | Photo ©Cheung Wai Lok | 2014 Courtesy of The Hong Kong Ballet

To add drama to the show, Mak lit up the performances with Selador Desire D40 Lustr+ LED luminaires positioned on sidelight towers and Selador Desire D60 Lustr+ units on ladders. “They are just lovely, giving me the right colour and intensity for all three pieces: different blues for Serenade, cool white for Castrati and warm amber for Swan Lake. The Selador Desire fixtures are just great!” says Mak.

For more information on Source Four LED and Desire luminaires, visit www.etcconnect.com

Lighting designer, Jason Bullock of Infinity Point Design, Inc., brought a wealth of new Ayrton lighting fixtures to Wiz Khalifa’s Under the Influence of Music Tour this year. Under the Influence of Music is an annual event which brings the biggest new names in hip-hop to venues across America.

Bullock was amongst the first to use Ayrton’s MagicPanel™ 602 last year and has returned to it this year incorporating 48 of the units in his design. To these he has added fresh offerings from Ayrton’s newly released Radical™ Series, employing 36 unique MagicBlade™-R linear fixtures and 12 massive MagicRing™-R9 fixtures. Bullock, like Khalifa, is determined to expand the visual presentation of the tours using the latest technology to explore the unique design possibilities that new products present.

“After the success of the MagicPanel 602, I met with Ayrton in Europe and discussed some logical extensions of the technology they had assembled,” says Bullock. “The Radical (-R) series has incorporated some of the ideas we discussed so we spent most of our budget on the new MagicBlade-R and MagicRing-R9 units. Luckily Upstaging, Inc, who supplied this tour, already has a large stock of MagicPanel 602 now that everyone wants to use them!”
The MagicPanel 602 units – each a 6×6 matrix of 15W LED RGBW modules fitted with high-output 7° 45mm optics – were rigged on the back wall and side trusses to form the signature feature of Bullock’s geometric design.

The MagicRing-R9 fixtures were mounted either side of the stage and used both for illumination and for effects. MagicRing-R9 has sixty-one 4.5° 15W RGBW LED sources arranged on a 60cm diameter face, and can be operated in various modes using from 18 to 256 channels.

Ayrton MagicRing-R9 show. LD: Stéphane Migné. Operator: Arnaud Pierrel

AYRTON – MagicRing-R9 – Seven Unit Demo from Ayrton on Vimeo.

Bullock chose the 256 channel mode, although there are multiple macros on offer to control colour, chase etc. “Once you configure it for full resolution mode the channel count starts to add up, so it takes a little extra time to figure out how you’re going to use them and assess how to configure your console,” he says. “However, with 2 fixtures per universe you start understand the vast number of parameters at your fingertips.”

Bullock had another function in mind for the MagicBlade-R – unique fixtures with seven 4.5° 15W RGBW LED emitters arranged in-line and continuous pan and tilt capabilities – mounting eighteen on the rear wall, eight outlining the top ramp and four more set into side trusses. “It’s very easy to create asymmetry with the MagicBlade units,” he noted in an interview with PLSN. “They lend themselves to the weird avant-garde stuff and, because the light is incredibly fast, it can do incredibly cool things like flips and pans and fly-ins with this big flat beam of light.” 

Ayrton MagicBlade-R show, LD: Stéphane Migné. Operator: Arnaud Pierrel

AYRTON – MagicBlade-R – Twenty Four Unit Demo from Ayrton on Vimeo.

“Ayrton’s whole Radical series is forging a new direction,” he says. “Early generations of LED moving heads were lacking definition. You could bitmap the face for cool designs but not project the effect in a beam. Ayrton’s lights are the perfect combination of a beam projector and effect light, and bright enough to beat out most hard-edged fixtures.
The -R series has condensed each pixel down to 4.5 degrees which allow fixtures like the MagicRIng-R9 to become, in essence, a large beam projector with the output power of a large format fixture, but at a fraction of the weight and cabling need.”

In terms of tour-worthiness, Bullock is full of praise for the Ayrton fixtures: “The Ayrton kit has been fantastic on the road,” he says. “They’ve been rained on, dropped, plugged in wrongly – and they just keep working! Unless someone has physically broken the body, these lights WORK. 

More information :  www.ayrton.eu and www.infinitypointdesign.com

In recent months, three major amusement parks in the USA have all installed the G-Spot for their main attractions: Cedar Point in Ohio, Kings Island in Ohio and Carowinds in North Carolina.

Weather conditions have always been the overall challenge and concern for outdoor event providers. Aside from its impact on visitor attendance, adverse weather conditions impose huge additional costs on lighting equipment deployment – or rather it did.

SGM’s LED G-Spot moving head, is not only IP65 rated, making it weather resistant, but also includes an active dehumidification device. This reduces the risk of internal condensation while allowing lighting designers to unleash their creativity to the full — in whatever weather is thrown at them during an outdoor event.

Cedar Point (photographer Edward Pottorff)

Behind these installations is Andrew Strain from Blue Haze Entertainment, whose passion is the entertainment business. Initially a lighting designer at Knotts Berry Farm in California he then worked for Cedar Fair before establishing his own company Blue Haze Entertainment together with business partner Foxton. Now his company is an outside contractor to Cedar Fair, engaged in lighting design, technical consultation and management.

“The first thing that caught my eye about the G-Spot was its name and catchy slogan,” says Andrew Strain. “After seeing what it was capable of, I realised that it was more than just a gimmick. The G-Spot provides the full capabilities of a moving light while still being able to withstand harsh weather conditions. It can survive a storm – literally not figuratively. It has proven to be an extremely reliable fixture and we could not be happier. When working in installation and architectural lighting, having the advanced features of a moving light is huge, but the IP rating is always a must.”

At Cedar Point, the G-Spots are used principally for luminosity—with a live family entertainment show performed outdoor nightly on a massive stage by aerialist acrobatics and singers, transforming into a dance party at the end of the night.

Cedar Point (photographer Edward-Pottorff)

At Kings Island, the G-Spots illuminate the cue line of the new roller coaster Banshee, which follows the story of a Banshee ghost. The cue line is composed of LED-lit grave stones leading up to the old Celtic style train station, and for this purpose Blue Haze produced custom gobos for the G-Spots to carry through the Banshee theme.

kings island banshee G-Spot

Finally, at Carowinds, nine G-Spots are used for the Snoopy Starlight Spectacular, which is an evening experience light show composed of popular trending music. The G-Spot moving heads are spread out along the trail in the park for dynamics in the classic Peanut character theme.

Andrew comments: “For Blue Haze, and the theme park installations, IP65 is a very powerful asset.  These installs, whether they are up for three months or three years, are considered permanent installs and having such a feature in a light definitely affects our design perspective and quoting.  We love to push the boundaries of design, but we also want to push the best and most reliable products for our clients. 

As a specialist in event planning and design work, Blue Haze keeps growing and adding young and enthusiastic members to its team, enabling the company to provide the best support in their field of expertise. To assisting in this mission, the company needs the most reliable lighting equipment. “Outdoor events are a popular and high grossing business. We believe that IP65 will be, if not already, a necessity for the installation and architectural lighting designers,” Andrew concludes. 

For the Lady Gaga World Tour ArtRave, Roy Bennet, chose to include in his Lighting kit 120 Clay Paky’s A.leda B-EYE K20 and more than 100 Sharpys provided by PRG and performed with three full-size grandMA2s and 10 NPUs.

“Production and lighting designer Roy Bennett’s approach to the show was to make it an immersive rave that reflected Gaga’s non-stop party aesthetic,” says programmer Jason Baeri.  “That means active, alive, vibrant and high energy — it requires us to be just as active on stage as in the crowd.  The audience is every bit as much a set piece as they are a room of spectators, so we had to include them as part of Gaga’s same party not just watching the spectacle from afar.  Cue wise, that’s almost like programming two shows at once: Both had to behave as one cohesive element.”

Bennett describes the set as three stages connected by Lucite catwalks over the audience so the crowd can dance while watching Gaga perform above them.  “It’s very interactive.  She plays off the audience with her dancing and a big rave vibe,” he says.  Bennett had previously used B-EYEs for Lady Gaga’s gig at the Roseland Ballroom.  On this tour they are mounted above the upstage video wall, which measures 3×40 feet.  “They mainly act as eye candy,” he explains.  “They’re working great; they’ve been very reliable.”
For the ArtRave tour the lighting designer has deployed the Sharpy rig “all over the place: the main stage, front, rear, side, as well as on the pods over the audience.  The Sharpys act as our other main effects light.  I always have at least 100 if not 200 hundred on shows.” 

Baeri cites the data management challenge the tour poses given “the immense amount of pixels we’re controlling.  There are about 120 B-EYEs on the show, all in full-tilt mode, which adds up to over 4,500 pixels of just B-EYEs — and we use them in every configuration possible.  Gaga’s music is extremely detailed, so we’re using every part of that light for the various tones and inflections in every song.”

Francesco Romagnoli, Clay Paky Area Manager for North and Latin America, commented, “It’s great to once again be a part of a Lady Gaga project and it’s always a pleasure to work with the very talented Roy Bennett.  He and Jason are doing a great job on this tour.”

Solotech is the video contractor and 8th Day Sound the audio contractor for the show.
A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive North American distributor for Clay Paky.
For more informations www.claypaky.it

French LED lighting innovator, Ayrton, loves to spring last minute surprises on its clients with the introduction of a stream of new products.

Having already released the Radical Series at Prolight+Sound earlier this year, Ayrton has just announced a new addition to its Radical Series which will receive its world premiere at PLASA London: MagicRing-R1™.

MagicRing-R1™ is the latest to receive the Radical treatment. Identical in size and form to WildBeam-R™, MagicRing-R1™ possesses all the features of the former but with the Magical speciality of Ayrton’s unique continuous pan and tilt features.

One of the smallest of the Radical range alongside its brother WildBeam-R™, MagicRing-R1™ offers seven 15W LED RGBW sources with 67mm optics to produce 3200 lumens with a centre beam intensity of 380,000 candela from a mere 130W of power.

Highly compact, lightweight, super-fast and powerful, MagicRing-R1™ benefits from improved thermal management and a fast 32-bit circuit board for rapid response to signals which can be delivered via DMX or RDM. Its tight 4.5° beams present a reduced visual footprint and can be controlled individually or in groups to form fabulous visuals and effects.

To see these for yourself, visit the Ayrton Stand at PLASA London (R70) where the team will be happy to show you MagicRing-R1™ and the rest of the Radical range which appears for the first time in the UK.

Radical Series features in a nutshell:

• 67mm collimated optics
• 4.5° beam
• Continuous PAN and TILT rotation
• Fast 32-bit circuit board
• Improved thermal management
• Control protocols : DMX, RDM, ArtNet, KlingNet and Lumen Radio DMX-RDM wireless receiver.

For more information, visit www.ayrton.eu

About Ayrton:

Specialises in developing intelligent LED light products for entertainment and architectural applications. Based south of Paris, France, the AYRTON Headquarters and Research & Development centre combine and organize the highest competence in engineering, software, electronics and optics, with the creation of highly innovative fixtures.
AYRTON fixtures are created to answer any demanding installation and criteria, and are distributed through devoted and exclusive worldwide teams. AYRTON uses reliable, flexible and avant-garde technologies linked to innovative design, to provide AYRTON customers with a wide range of pioneer lighting solutions for installation in Stages, TV Studios, Show-venues and Architectural schemes.

Ambersphere Solutions have 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 unique sales, service, support and training facilities to cover Ayrton products in the UK.

From left to right, Yvan Peard (Ayrton Managing Director ), Lee House and Matt Cowles (Amberspher Technical sales) et Valère Huart-Gyors (Ayrton sales Director).

Featuring exceptional quality and attention to detail, the Ayrton collection of LED lighting solutions offer lighting designers truly 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.
“I believe our clients will really enjoy getting to know the Ayrton product range, it’s full of really clever and impressive creative solutions, perfectly suited for the touring, TV and architectural markets.”

Ayrton Sales Director Valère Huart-Gyors comments, “Our product are designed for creative lighting professionals and Ambersphere are uniquely placed to access these clients in the UK. Ambersphere Solutions offer the quality support and services to complement our products which will be essential as we build our position in the important UK market”.
See the full Ayrton range at PLASA London on stand R70

Or contact Ambersphere Solutions to arrange a demo : www.ambersphere.co.uk et www.ayrton.eu

There has been a theatre on the site of Sadler’s Wells since 1683. Christian Wallace is the Technical Manager for this, the sixth incarnation to bear the name of the original proprietor along with a nod to the health giving spring that still lie beneath the theatre.

He explains the theatre’s current remit: “Sadler’s Wells presents all sorts of dance from Britain and from international companies, including tango, hip hop, ballet, flamenco, and contemporary dance. We present high profile and internationally recognised works so we need to provide the best possible equipment, which of course includes our lighting stock.”

The current building was opened in 1998 and the majority of the lighting stock is now sixteen years old.  Wallace freely admits that, despite sustaining a rigorous maintenance programme, it was time to explore the newer, more advanced fixtures now on the market.  The time had come for an update.  “Our budget for lighting is only part of a huge upgrade of facilities and technical improvements. 

We’re upgrading our flying system, converting the house lights to LEDs, replacing the dimmer racks, modernising our network as well as providing a more comfortable auditorium for our audiences with new carpets and seating.  None of this would have been possible without the funding support from several supporters of Sadler’s Wells and in particular with regard to the lighting, The Wolfson Foundation.”

So why Robert Juliat fixtures?  “For our fresnel stock, we originally had a number of Strand Alto 2k PCs and Robert Juliat 1.2k 310s,” continues Wallace.  “The RJs have been great with only one unit breaking in 16 years and we’ve retained these. 

We house a lot of European dance companies; they always ask for Robert Juliat or ADB and we were finding that no one really wanted to use the Altos anymore.  We opted to purchase some more Robert Juliat 1.2k 310s and some 2.5k 329s so we now have just Robert Juliat both on the main stage and in our Lilian Baylis Studio space.”

Alongside the fresnel order was a purchase of new profiles.  With so many models on the market and with so many new innovations since Sadler’s original investment in 1998, this was a harder call to make. “With this in mind, we did a shootout with all the leading zoom profiles,” explains Wallace.  “The 600s shone (literally!) the brightest. The shuttering on the units is the best I’ve seen, they are the easiest to use, they have the best focus on them, plus you also have the additional options of locking the shutters off and also adding further shutters if needed.”

Ambersphere Solutions are the UK’s exclusive supplier of Robert Juliat fixtures and it was Matt Cowles of Technical Sales who facilitated the demonstrations of kit.  “Matt was key to our decision to re-invest in R J profiles both during the shootout and in discussions afterwards.  Knowing we have their constant service and support after sales definitely played a part in our final decision.
We’ve seen the improvements made by Robert Juliat and we believe the 600 1.2k profiles are the best zoom profiles on the market today.  It is the mark of a premier manufacturer that they listen to suggestions from their clients and always continue to improve their product.”

And Wallace’s concluding thoughts?  They seem to be fairly unequivocal.  “I believe Robert Juliat is one of the leading manufacturers of tungsten lanterns. The build quality is superb on every fixture (profile and wash units) plus all units are very easy to focus. We used to be mainly a Strand house but now we’re a mainly Robert Juliat house with some Parcans thrown in!”

More information  : www.robertjuliat.com

About Robert Juliat:
Robert Juliat was founded in 1919 and is still a 100% family-owned company today. The company is the renowned manufacturer of top quality lighting fixtures based around superb optics and ergonomic design.  All Robert Juliat luminaires are designed and built in France. 

LD Steve Stemac puts new, one-of-a-kind effect light and laser simulator through its paces on rockers’ latest outing Elation Professional’s new high-energy Sniper multi-effect light and laser simulator, which launched recently at the PRO trade show in England, is enjoying its touring debut with the lightind Designer Steve Stemac on American rock band A Day to Remember’s (ADTR) “Parks & Devastation” U.S. tour with lighting design by Steve “Cowboy” Stemac.

ADTR is a passionate band with Steve running 10 of the powerful hybrid effect lights through their paces as specials on the hard-driving show. “We took the band and put them in a national park environment and then, as we do, make it jocular and surreal,” Steve states of the show’s tongue-in-cheek yet highly entertaining set theme that has each Sniper representing a band member’s eye in the set’s large Mt. Rushmore-inspired backdrop. “It’s more like a cosmic circus of sorts with lots of sounds and staccato noise. For the eyeballs in our set piece we needed something that looked like a laser without actually having lasers and the Sniper stepped in perfectly. We’re breaking the Sniper ribbon so to speak and are very excited to have a very new product out on our tour.” 

Powered by the new 132W Philips™ MSD Platinum lamp, the Sniper delivers an intense 45,010 lux @ 16.4’ (5m) and gives designers 14 dichroic colors and 17 static gobos to choose from. “It’s a perfect little fixture, it’s compact, it’s not very hot and it’s bright,” Steve says. “And it has all the laser dance floor effects that are exactly what we were looking for on this show.

The most surprising thing though was how bright it is. I have 1200-watt lights in the rig, key lighting as well as lighting behind it, and other lights, and it plays along with everybody in holding up its weight. Also, heat was prohibitive with some of the other fixtures but the Sniper keeps cool.” 

Steve has been with ADTR for five years and has seen the band grow with each tour and CD release. The band’s somewhat eccentric yet original ideas—like the laser effects shooting out of the backdrop’s eyeballs—start with the band members who then come to Steve for refinement.

“I put those ideas in a lighting frame keeping in mind that ADTR is a very active band on stage that puts on a great show in their own right. I just accentuate what they do,” he says. “It’s an amazing gig to be on and a great place to be. The creativity that we have together, I’m very, very proud of that.”

Playing an infectious genre blend of pop punk and post hardcore, and known for their energetic live performances, the Sniper fits in with that enterprising spirit perfectly, its ultra-quick movement and barrage of high-powered looks a good match for the band’s bold disposition.

A unique beam, scanner and laser simulator in one, the Sniper allows Steve to project a variety of looks from a single fixture. It emits a narrow 3° beam from a high-speed mirror system to spread a multitude of effects, including laser-like effects without having to deal with laser regulations. “Sometimes we use them in just a simple ‘on’ look with a slow pan over the stage. Sometimes we use the dance floor laser effect vertically, sometimes the strobe, and sometimes a prismed gobo look.” Steve, who initially heard about the Sniper from Ken Gay, video production designer for the show, adds “I like them so much we’re trying to find an excuse to use them more.”

A Day to Remember’s U.S. tour launched in early September and is consistently selling out at every stop. Specifying a brand new lighting fixture for a tour can sometimes be a dubious proposition but Steve has had few issues with the Sniper and is appreciative of the support he’s received. “John Dunn [Elation Sales Manager] has been so helpful and patient in midwifing this to us and has been so attentive to our necessary fixes, especially in the bustle and turmoil of the beginning of the tour,” he concludes.

“Parks & Devastation” runs through mid-October in the U.S. before playing several dates in Europe starting in November.

More information : www.elationlighting.com and www.adtr.com

When the famous Rock in Rio returned to Lisbon (Portugal) this summer, and crowds of up to 350,000 swarmed to the Parque da Bela Vista, they zeroed in on the main Palco Mundo stage, the façade of which was spectacularly lit by 120 GLP impression X4 LED heads.
This provided the perfect setting for top tier acts such as the Rolling Stones, Arcade Fire, Justin Timberlake, Linkin Park, Queens of the Stone Age and many more to perform over the four days.

Having worked with Rock in Rio, one of the largest festivals in the world, for the last decade, lighting design company, bright! again turned to GLP’s successful impression platform.

Thomas Giegerich, who runs the German lighting company with brother Michael, confirmed that they had successfully built on the legacy of the original impression 90s. “We used all the X4 to bring the metal stage structure to life — something we had done with the Impression 90 years before. It really highlighted the façade.”
He noted that in addition to being compact, light weight and low on consumption — ideal for festivals — there were many other attributes. “They are rugged, produce very good colours and are extremely fast,” he stated. “In the end the price was part of the decision too.” He had first become involved in the event back in 2004 when bright! were asked to handle the complete WYSIWYG on-site preprogramming. “We were hired by Procon, which is now PRG Germany, for the first European Rock in Rio — and now I am the festival’s lighting designer, ” Giegerich continued.

Founded by Brazilian entrepreneur Roberto Medina, the event itself is a series of festivals that take place in Rio (Brazil), Lisbon (Portugal) and Madrid (Spain). It had been his decision to move the event to Lisbon in 2004 before it returned to its original location, Rio de Janeiro, with a new line-up in 2011 (which also saw bright! handle the lighting design).

Working this year alongside Gabisom, who provided the sound, Thomas Giegerich and co-LD Tobias ‘Toto’ Bröcking designed all the lighting and video sets (assisted by WYSIWYG specialist Matthias Reuhl), trading on their long relationship with GLP.

They had first been introduced to the Karlsbad-based company many years ago when one of their employees (Denis Hessberger) moved to the manufacturer.
Since then they have developed ever closer ties, with bright! specifying every generation of impression fixtures and handling the manufacturer’s trade fair booth designs to this day. Meanwhile Hessberger has returned to bright! but continues to work closely with GLP.

As for the X4, they also proved popular in Lisbon with the influx of visiting LDs who found them easy to programme and build cues. “They are just so easy to work with,” concluded the lighting designer. “All the incoming bands’ LDs know these fixtures and can easily implement them in their shows.”
More information : www.glp.de