Martin smartMACs provide Function Flexibility at Dockside
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Dockside & L’Aqua have undergone a complete transformation, with exquisitely decorated interiors designed by award-winning and renowned interior designer Michael McCann of Dreamtime Australia Design.
In the absence of a stark, clinical feel often achieved by some large venues, McCann has created three highly desirable stylish, world-class venues, creating an atmosphere with a competitive edge. All venues offer variable set-up styles, spacious balcony breakout areas and state-of-the art audiovisual facilities, and are poised to welcome the first guests to experience the glamour and luxury in the beautifully redecorated venues.
A beautiful venue needs atmosphere and that can be achieved with clever use of intelligent lighting but no one wants to see big, black fixtures hanging from the ceiling. Fortunately Silas Creel, managing director of the Dockside’s in-house audio visual company Impact AV, knew just the solution: the white smartMAC that blends into it’s setting with ease.
The smartMAC is a 150 watt moving head profile that outperforms many of its 250 watt rivals and offers unprecedented reliability, longer service intervals, total silence and smaller power bills. The smartMAC is an extremely bright profile light and image projector, the most efficient profile luminaire available in its class.
”Another important reason why we chose the smartMAC is because of the low three-metre high ceiling,” remarked Silas. “As the smartMAC comes with a 25 degree lens, you get a nice wide spread despite the short throw.”
Silas was also impressed by the smartMAC’s ability to perform silently without fan noise.
“They are super quiet and as we have forty smartMAC’s - often all on at the same time – just above people’s heads that’s important!” he said. “They are a pricey light but they are well worth the money.
”I also like the gobo set up – the ability to pull a card in and out is quite a handy piece of technology.”
With the smartMAC you change colour filters and gobos easily without tools simply by lifting the dedicated cover – this is a unique, patent pending Martin solution that lets you customize gobos for events, create your own unique mood, or throw your logo or name on any surface.
Silas favours the smartMACs ability to conduct heat away from the head, keeping the front of the luminaire cool and also the fact that it comes with a long-life lamp.
”The smartMAC offers a lot of flexibility from projecting corporate logos around the room to table washes and also it is very effective for doing show performances.”
www.showtech.com.au

The Haymarket Hotel awash with Pro Shop and Pulsar LED’s
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Situated in Sydney’s China Town, the Haymarket Hotel is a refreshing and opulent venue crafted within a heritage listed building that was once a bank.
The main bar on the ground floor features the original bank teller counter to form the framework for the centre piece bar. A light and airy feel embodies this area with beautifully restored marble paneling and six-metre high leadlight, detailed ceilings offset with simple elegant furniture. Dry bars frame the main bar for those wanting a casual gathering space, whilst gorgeously decadent brass bead drapes and bronze mirror ceilings encase intimate alcove booth seating.
Saltec was commissioned to design and install all audio visual components and the highlight of their installation has to be the massive amount of LED lighting used within the venue including an amazing 520 x Pro Shop LED Strips! The LED strips are artfully located within tracks located inside the ornate cornices from where they very slowly scroll through eight chosen colours. So slowly you can imagine having a few drinks and swearing you came into a green venue not a blue one! Only one colour is used at a time reflecting the classic ambience of the interiors. Rather than clashing with the heritage building, the LED lighting actually brings out the character of the building in a successful case of new technology enhancing something old.
“It’s really designed to create a mood not to be flashy,” said Stephen. “Mark McInnes from Show Technology worked very hard with us on this project and must have been on site at least thirty times during the design phase and installation.”
Seven Pulsar ChromaLights are used to highlight beams across the ceiling as well as columns and are programmed to match the main LED colours. A Pulsar ChromaZone controls the ChromaLights whilst eight LED controllers/drivers with power supplies take care of the LED strips.
Attention to detail is carried outside where two Studio Due ArchiLEDs are used to colour wash the back entrance of the hotel. The front entrance needs nothing else as being glass the colourful venue is like a beacon to passing traffic on busy George Street.
One of the wall panels within the Haymarket Hotel has been turned into moving art by the use of MOODTV projected by an Epson G5350 projector chosen because it can shoot off-centre. Combined with the LED lighting the resulting effect is tasteful and interesting yet not distracting.
www.showtech.com.au

Brisbane’s Skyneedle is revived with light



The Skyneedle, a prominent feature of the Brisbane skyline, was constructed especially for World Expo 88.
The 88 metre tall landmark was earmarked for relocation to Tokyo Disneyland (following the completion of Expo '88). However, hairdresser Stefan Ackerie stepped in and purchased the Skyneedle, which was then relocated to the Stefan HQ at South Brisbane. After purchase, Stefan added his firm's signature rainbow rings logo to the top of the tower with the aid of neon.
However on 4 November 2006, the Skyneedle was fire damaged due to an electrical fault, this incident being the second of its kind after a similar fire had broken out in 1988. Subsequent investigations have found that the fault was most likely caused by bird droppings.
Earlier this year Stefan began action to repair and revitalize the Skyneedle with plans to produce a fabulous light show. He approached Chameleon Touring Systems in Brisbane who in turn asked Adam White, Show Technology’s Queensland Branch Manager, for his expert advice.
After consultation, it was decided that Pro Shop LED Strips and Studio Due ArchiLEDs were the ideal solution. Consequently fifty Pro Shop LED Strips ring the top of the structure and are programmed to run eighteen hours a day. The eight ArchiLEDs are placed above that from where they can light up the sphere on top of the structure. The automated control is by a pair of ELC showStore XLan controllers with the show programmed by a grandMA console.
”There are a few different programs including a couple using just a single colour around the entire top ring,” explained Adam. “From a far distance, say a few kilometers away, you couldn’t really see the finer stuff and it just looked like a coloured blob. So we decided upon a single colour look for about fifteen minutes followed by a rainbow show which looks better to the people closer to it.”
www.showtech.com.au

Studio Due Shark 150’s transform venue
The Shelbourne is a hybrid venue comprised of four bars, a courtyard, lounge and the newly refurbished Linq Restaurant on the third level. Following a classy refurbishment, this third level venue has been launched as a stylish corporate lunch spot, known as Linq Bar & Restaurant. It's an elegant space for networking indeed, with its fashionable brick feature walls, dark carpets, black tables and white couches. And of course there are fabulous harbour views panning over Cockle Bay Wharf, too.
Those familiar with that level pre-makeover won’t recognise the space. Textured walls, dark carpet and leather couches combine to create an immediately more comfortable room which is also available for parties and events in the evening.
Beyond AV were asked to bring the space to life with unparalleled audio and lighting. For when the venue morphs from a chic restaurant into party central, there are two Studio Due Shark 150 moving heads bringing the dance floor to life.
These small fixtures are big on performance and fast. Completely manufactured in light alloy and plastic material, the Shark 150 is ideal for small-medium nightclubs supplying a myriad of colours and effects. A custom made gobo of the Linq Bar & Resaurant logo has been made one for each of the Sharks and these are projected around the room. Two Geni Colour Changers add some more colour whilst an ELC wall mounted 12 button controller supplies an easy control option.
www.showtech.com.au

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Goes Robe
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The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre has increased their moving light inventory investing in Robe ColorSpot 700E AT's and Robe ColorWash 700E AT's.
Located riverside at Southbank, The BCEC is a world-class purpose-built venue renowned for its operational and service excellence. The Centre is located in a unique urban cultural and entertainment precinct in the heart of Brisbane’s famous Southbank precinct. With numerous awards, the Centre is officially ranked among the top three convention centres worldwide by the Association Internationale des Palais de Congres (AIPC).
The BCEC has a comprehensive inventory of equipment and range of services, with one of the largest in house production companies in Queensland. When the BCEC was given the ‘go a head’ to purchase the latest technology for their moving light inventory, the choice was easy says Michael Kelly, Lighting Supervisor from the BCEC. “We could see that the popularity of the Robe fixtures in the market – particularly the 700 series - was growing, and they are great value for money.
Michael’s first impression of the Robe ColorSpot 700E AT fixtures - ‘Geez Their Bright!’ Continuing he says “The 700’s are a great design, especially the way the menus are set up on the screen with ease of use. We found the 700’s to be a quiet fixture compared to others and we were impressed with the innovative dual road cases supplied also.”
Left to Right : Robert Fraser, Mathew Burke, Michael Hughes, Michael Kelly, Blair Terrace (ULA Group), Ryan Codner
The technical staff at the BCEC said they have been very impressed with the Robe ColorSpot 700E AT. In particular, the colour wheel and colour mixing with amber and red are quite strong with clean colours produced. The Robe ColorWash 700E AT has a great frost over and above the 200mm Fresnel lens, giving a nice even diffusion of light. The BCEC staff have found that the beam control seem a lot smoother and pronounced, when compared to other fixtures.
The BCEC use these fixtures mostly for event staging. “The Robe fixtures were purchased so we truly had a professional entertainment lighting rig that is versatile, and can be moved around our larger venues such as the Great Hall, Ballroom or Exhibition Halls”, says Michael.
Michael continues, “The level of service and support has been excellent throughout the whole process of our Robe purchase. All enquires have been dealt with in a fast and efficient manner”.
The BCEC’s first event using their complete Robe ColorSpot and Wash 700E AT rig was for the Zig Zag Charity Ball in the Great Hall. At the rear of the stage, there were 8 Robe ColorSpots 700E AT's – 4 along the rear truss and 4 placed on stage. Further Robe ColorWashes were placed on the FOH Truss to cover the room and for Cyc Wash. “It was amazing the impact of just two lights projecting on a 25mx9m rear Cyc!” says Michael. A circle truss was also positioned in the centre of the room with 700 Washes, along with mirror balls and other moving lights. "During the night the Robe ColorWash 700E AT's from the circle truss would project on the dance floor during acts making it easily with one wash, when we were use to putting up 4 Fresnel’s to do the same area”, said Michael.
Lighting Operator, Michael Hughes says “The wide zooms, bright output and variable CTO function from the Robe ColorSpot and Wash 700E AT's will really be a great addition to our rig”.
www.ulagroup.com

Pro Shop LED Tubes light the way to SOHO
Sydney’s latest hip nightspot SOHO is gaining attention for its’ lively and colourful interior design but the creativity actually starts at the club’s entrance thanks to an amazing installation of Pro Shop LED Tubes.
Dave Coxon, managing director of DJW Projects, was the man behind this innovative display. The entrance to the club had to provide an acoustic solution and so Dave did so in a stunning manner.
“We had three and a half kilometers of timber milled to exactly the same diametre as the Pro Shop LED Tubes,” he explained. “The timber was then painted with high gloss black enamel and put on wall as slats running top to bottom of the wall. A Pro Shop LED Tube was sunk into each slat.”
The entrance features black carpet, black roof, and black walls with one single seventeen-metre run of Pro Shop LED Tubes running down the stairs just above eye height.
More Pro Shop LED Tubes are placed inside the main bar, over the bar and above some seating opposite the bar. These are mounted within acoustic panels that have slits in them and through the middle of each a Pro Shop LED Tube is recessed. These LED tubes sit behind frosted acrylic resulting in a strip that lights up through the middle of each panel.
www.showtech.com.au

Staging Connections & The Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast Choose Anolis to Brighten Their Horizons
Staging Connections, in partnership with the Sheraton Mirage Gold Coast, has recently chosen Anolis to upgrade the intimate ‘Horizons Function Room’ at what is renowned as one of the worlds leading hotels.
Event Staging Manager with Staging Connections, Darren Ottery says, “The Sheraton Mirage wanted to add warmth and mood to the function room, with a product that is easy to use for not only our staff, but for hotel staff as well.
We had also been asked to provide a product of robust quality and ease of use, so the decision was made to go with a premium solution like Anolis.
With Anolis’ industry reputation and the products standard dichroic downlight footprint [MR-16] the decision was made even easier).” 27 Anolis ArcSource 6 RGBs downlights were installed around the room projecting light on the tables. These are controlled with a simple wall controller and ArcPower Drivers.
ULA’s National Sales Manager Blair Terrace says, “We recommended Anolis ArcSource 6’s as the fixture is recessed with clean lines when installed, and has high output for such a small light. The wall panel is simple to operate - one touch mood settings, meaning the lights are literally controlled by anyone.”
And Darren’s first impression of the Anolis ArcSource 6 - ‘Wow they’re bright’- he was impressed with the intensity of the colour produced. The banquet staff at the Sheraton Mirage have also commented on how impressive the room looks now, and love the flexibility of having full control over the colour of the room, saying that this really adds value. The Anolis ArcSource range provides the highest quality LED source with a range of optical systems ensuring that a desired effect can be achieved in the widest range of applications possible. Utilising high powered Luxeon Emitters the Anolis ArcSource range is unsurpassed in performance, reliability and quality.
Darren concludes saying, “Staging Connections has a long and successful relationship with the Sheraton Mirage. We are committed to providing the highest quality state of the art audio visual, styling and design at the hotel. My team and I pride ourselves on delivering spectacular events to the Sheraton Mirage and its clientele. We are so impressed with the effect in the Horizons function room, we have plans underway to install more Anolis in other function rooms”.
www.ulagroup.com

JVG Transforms the Exchange Hotel
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The Exchange Hotel – simply known to Brisbane party-goers as ‘The Stocky’ has a long and colorful history, from enduring the floods of the last 100 years to the most recent multi-million dollar overhaul of the entire venue, designed by Brand & Slater. JVG Sound Lighting & Visual supplied a combination of SDV, Visio and e:cue to the transformation of one of Brisbane’s most iconic luxurious two level venues.
JVG’s Managing Director, Jade Golar says ‘We were approached by The Exchange Hotel as they wanted to refurbish their nineteenth century CBD venue to something more modern and stylish to attract a younger corporate crowd as Brisbane’s nightlife is constantly changing.”
“We wanted to create mood and ambience to the venue, especially around the bars. The best way to illuminate its 4 bars within the venue was with Visio Flexi LED tape as it gives the bars a clean colour changing effect and is great value for money” says Jade. This is controlled by an e:cue Excite with touch screens. SDV iMove Spot 250 and iMove Wash 250 were used around the dance floor as well as iRock 7 Spot MSD fixtures which are also controlled by e:cue from the DJ’s booth. The iMove Wash 250W is very popular and great value for money and is packed with features. The iRock 7 Spot MSD are a great looking moving mirror, that can work in conjunction with the iMove 250S Spot yokes, featuring 7 rotating indexible gobos and 9 trapezoid dirchoric colours. Jade also specified an e:cue multimedia dongle for their AMX touch screen in each bar for ease of use.
With tasteful designed prints greeting patrons on entry, and colorful wall hugging luxurious couches, the Exchange Hotel has created a relaxing modern atmosphere, while keeping in touch and much loved original charm. The hotel has a large open plan design and boasts real class and style. “The roof top bar is by far one of the most biggest and striking features to the hotel with views of Brisbane’s CBD”, says Jade. “We specified Visio Flexi LED on this bar as well due to its high intensity and its flexibility.” Visio Flexi LED can also be cut or connected every 5 LEDs (140mm) which is great for any length of area.
“The Exchange Hotel is extremely happy with the renovation. They are very happy with all the lighting products supplied and have had such great feedback on their renovation. They now have the power to control their own scenes and moods with lighting effects, which plays a large role when operating the venue. At JVG we are pleased to have played our part in transforming a Brisbane icon,” says Jade.
www.ulagroup.com

Paradise Lost for Martin
Paradise Lost, the latest swanky nightclub to open at Surfer’s Paradise, features VIP lounges and an action packed dance floor thanks to a host of Martin lighting gear.
Nathan Pugh, owner of One Productions, was responsible for the lighting design and installation. As soon as he saw how high the space was between the dance floor and the ceiling – six metres - he knew just the product to specify.
”I knew that the Martin Mania SCX600 scanners would be ideal due to their incredible speed and brightness,” he said. “Plus the price is really good! I have sixteen SCX scanners situated all around the dance floor and they are so punchy and crisp. I’ve been installing them into quite a few venues recently.”
As the SCX600 features separate colour and gobo wheels it can produce a multitude of effects onto the dance floor and its surrounds. The Mania SCX600 is an extremely flexible effect light, designed for both installation and portable use and is appreciated by DJs, live performers and club owners alike.
Centred to the dance floor and rigged to a suspended pole is a massive 3ft mirror ball, flanked by smaller ones, a couple of 4 way DMX blinders and two DMX Golden Strobes. A Martin Haze machine pumps out the atmospherics.
Control is by a Martin LightJockey, an Easy to use and logical PC-based system favoured by Nathan.
“I’ve used it many times and found it to be easy to operate,” he reported. “LightJockey is perfect for clubs, after basic programming is complete, music and light shows can literally be up and running in minutes.”
www.showtech.com.au

LSC to the rescue at Bondi
The iconic Bondi Pavilion building set on the edge of Sydney’s world famous Bondi Beach, has recently had a refurbishment to its theatre that included lighting control, acoustic upgrades and new seating. Australian manufacturer, LSC Lighting Systems, supplied the lighting control system including a maXim XL lighting desk plus four 12 channel iPRO dimmers. Equipment was supplied through Herkes Professional Lighting.
The Bondi Pavilion was originally constructed in 1928 and included “dressing accommodation,” Turkish Baths, shops and a Ballroom. Revitalised by the Waverley Council in the 1950s and reopened in 1978 as the Bondi Pavilion Community Centre, it is now a vibrant arts and entertainment venue and includes an art gallery as well as the Bondi Pavilion Theatre. The theatre seats 230 in raked format onto an end stage that can also work as a proscenium.
The Bondi Pavilion precinct presents an extraordinary range of public entertainment, visual arts and community events including professional and community theatre, Theatresports, Dance School concerts, a Schools’ Shakespeare festival, open air cinema, a South American cultural festival, and a vast array of music and craft programmes.
The theatre falls under the careful watch of well known Sydney lighting designer, educator and consultant Tony Youlden. In his role as Venue Technician, Tony had to solve a major dilemma as the control room has the dimmers mounted immediately behind the lighting operator. The existing dimmers were far too noisy and the audible sounds spilled to nearby audiences when the control room window was left open during performances. Following the auditorium’s acoustic treatment the problem was worse and it was clear that the noise coming from the existing dimmers was unacceptable.
Tony’s first comment once the new LSC iPRO dimmers were commissioned was that he “could actually hear the show”. The added benefit was that with their pulse transformer fired dimming technology, the iPRO dimmers are capable of handling what ever load is patched in. Tony also found the front panel local channel control useful for quickly solving issues encountered in one-off events, where someone arrives at the very last minute with a practical lamp that needs immediate connection.
Tony continues, “We now have 48 x 13 Amp dimmer channels in the same wall space as we previously could only just fit 36 x 10A channels and there is room for another 24 x 13A channels when required”.
www.lsclighting.com

GLP Impressions at Questacon
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Questacon, Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre has recently upgraded its theatre with Auditoria designing the new lighting, audio visual and audio systems. Canberra-based Sound Advice carried out the installation of what is a very technologically advanced project.
In fact no visit to Questacon is complete without watching (and participating in!) a presentation by their theatre troupe The Excited Particles. You'll learn about dinosaurs, tsunamis, explosions, balloons... performed from a repertoire of more than a dozen shows.
The Centre was keen to reduce energy costs and so Ian Anderson of Auditoria recommended the use of LED lighting - in the form of GLP Impressions - on stage. As well as the Impressions there are twenty TriColour PAR64 adding splashes of colour around the auditorium.
“The Impressions were ideal for this project because they’re a small unit, are neat looking and are very bright,” said Ian Anderson.
Eight GLP Impressions are currently used to light up columns and walls onstage but Stephen Nano, Sound Advice’s project manager for the installation, has bigger plans for them.
“I’ll be using them to focus on central points so, for example, if they do a volcano experiment they can use a remote trigger to change the lighting colour to red,” he said. “They’ll help theme the presentations and give them a bit more movement. I love their German engineering! They’re really exciting lights with great punch.”
Two Martin MAC250 Kryptons, which weren’t in the original specification, were added as Stephen felt a profile / gobo fixture would be appreciated for special effects.
www.showtech.com.au

Only The Best Will Do For Mueller College
Mueller is an Independent, Co-Educational College that is situated on the Redcliffe Peninsula, 20 minutes drive north from the Brisbane airport, Queensland.
The Mueller Performing Arts Centre includes a large auditorium surrounded by music rooms and small performing spaces giving the college a large amount of flexibility. When it came to staging, audio and lighting the college wanted only the best and so have decided to fit out the venue over stages to suit their income.
Consequently Jands were called upon to supply the lighting including a Vista T4 control platform, ETC Source Fours, Spotlight Combis, ETC Dimming, and Pathway Pathport. Jands also supplied much of the staging including winch motors, drapes and tracking.
Stage 1 has just been completed and this stage includes a minimal amount of stage lighting. The forty eight fixtures comprise of ETC Source Fours, chosen for their lighting punch while keeping heat generation to a minimum, and Spotlight Combi fixtures. But by the end of Stage 3 there will be a total of 260 light fixtures including moving heads.
“Thanks to the Pathway Pathport, we have DMX control to fourteen locations; each catwalk or gantry has a DMX controller on it so we can daisy chain movers,” said Don Heazlewood, Mueller’s Project Manager. “There is also DMX control on the stage side fill areas, on the floor of the stage and at the dimmer racks which are off stage in a plant room. All strategic areas are covered by Pathport units. The venue was strategically cabled whilst the building was under construction to cater for any future needs.”
ETC IES SineWave dimmers were chosen for their exceptional quiet operation as the college frequently undertakes live recordings.
“The ETC IES SineWave dimmers have performed to our expectation and we’ve been happy with this selection,” said Don. “We have 48 channels of dimmers but that will expand up to 260 when the extra lights are installed. The dimmers are located in a plant room, where all equipment is mounted on rubber pads so there’s no vibration. They’ve operated well and we’ve been happy with them.”
For the lighting control Don didn’t hesitate to choose a Vista T4, the flagship lighting console of the Vista range. A superb example of functional design, the T4 is quite simply the most sophisticated, powerful and easy-to-use lighting console available today.
“I prefer a console that has a Linux operating system,” commented Don. “We’ll also be using it for training purposes and I feel that it’s easier to use than some other consoles on the market. The Vista can do everything that other consoles can, yet it is far more user friendly.
“Creating scenes and sequences with Vista is easy to do, as is, running a programme from it where you can build up a particular scene quite easily on it. It’s so easy to recall scenes.”
Staging
Jands manufactured and supplied the proscenium opening masking curtains, legs and borders, plus the main, midstage and upstage curtains with borders.
“The legs can be used as full drawn stage curtains and this gives us the flexibility to mask the stage to whatever size we want,” remarked Don Heazlewood, Mueller’s Project Manager. “Because we have a twenty metre wide proscenium we need to be able to narrow that down depending on what function we have operating at that time. In conjunction with that we’ve installed a 9 x 5 metre projection screen which comes down off one of the catwalks and we can mask this screen as well.”
All of the curtains are controlled with winch motors, again supplied by Jands, so there are no hand drawn curtains.
“One of the objectives behind installing an AMX control system is we wanted the flexibility to go to preset locations and store them in the system so as to accurately mask whatever function we’re doing,” explained Don. “It will all be automated through the stage management system.”
By consulting with the experts such as Jands, Don has assured the technological future of the college for many years. It may take a while to complete his dream but when he does, the college will be able to offer only the best.
www.jands.com.au

Perth’s Court Hotel gets disco fever
The Court Hotel is Perth’s only gay and lesbian tavern and after undergoing a $3m renovation, The Court is now more popular than ever. With regular drag shows, a gay and lesbian singles night, amazing food and Perth’s hottest dance, house and R&B DJ’s, The Court is an essential stopover for travelers to Perth.
The venue includes a front bar, restaurant, a pumping dance floor and separate dance bar plus an outdoor beer garden which converts into another venue within itself.
Rick Browne of Venue Technical Services was called upon to revamp the hotel’s audio visual system including installing a snazzy disco lighting system. Central to the disco display are eight Pro Shop LED Tubes arranged in a star pattern and these are suspended from the ceiling central to the dance floor. Eight powerful Martin SCX700 scanners create a multitude of brilliant effects whilst a further four Martin Mania EFX600 effect lights emit a dizzying array of razor sharp effects and patterns. For added punch, a Martin Atomic 3000 DMX strobe light has also been installed as has a robust JEM Magnum hazer.
More Pro Shop LED Tubes are positioned on a verandah colour changing some opaque, perspex shapes such as stars and circles up to a metre in diameter. Previously fluorescent tubing had been used but Rick suggested the LED Tubes and the result is stunning.
Similarly, the main bar had fluorescent tubes back lighting its’ translucent Corian façade and again, Rick replaced them with Pro Shop LED Tubes.
The lighting spreads to the Beer Gardern where a couple of Geni OBY600 moving lights are used as well as four Studio Due Shark150 profile robotics and thirty-six PAR56 par cans all controlled by a Pulsar Masterpiece 216 console.
Photos: Nigel Etherington
www.showtech.com.au

Sapphire Bar a testament to LED Lighting
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Located in the Perth suburb of Subiaco is Sapphire Bar, a sophisticated lounge bar renown for its’ immaculate decor and stunning lighting.
Catering to a sophisticated clientele, the Sapphire has some of the most sumptuous fittings of any nightclub in Perth. Plush red carpets, lounge chairs and sparkling chandelier's chararcterise this establishment. The club is a favourite among the Subiaco Hotel and corporate set who want to kick on into the night after the local pubs have shut.
It was actually in late 2007 that Sapphire Bar had a major facelift including a classy refit of lighting so why are we covering it now? Well, apart from the fact it took a while to get some photos, the bar is a testament to the longevity and durability of Show Technology’s LED lighting.
Located in a fairly nondescript building on Hay Street just north of the main restaurant strip in Subiaco, the club is marked by a creative piece of signage courtesy of blue Pro Shop LED Neon Flex
Heaps more Neon Flex can be found inside the club whilst Pro Shop LED Strips are used behind the bar and behind banquettes to light up the walls in a myriad of changing hues.
”Since installation, the LED Neon Flex and the LED Strips have provided the club owner with a low maintenance, cost effective lighting solution,” commented Gino Lombardi, Show Technology’s WA Branch Manager. “They really have been very reliable and the bar has gained a reputation for its elegant and chic lighting.”
The dance floor is serviced by eight Martin SCX700 scanners whose separate colour and gobo wheels create a multitude of brilliant effects.
www.showtech.com.au

Subiaco lights up with Studio Due ArchiLEDs
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When Joseph Mercurio took over the reins as Course Coordinator lighting to WAAPA students he promised himself it would be for only five years. Towards the end of last year he kept that promise and left his position to join forces with Perth’s Light Applications in forming another company called Light Source. Light Source will focus on LED lighting offering design, technical and sales support.
“The idea is that when people are thinking of using LED’s for a project they’ll come to me and I’ll help them design the project using my extensive knowledge of LED’s,” explained Joseph. “Then, as I have all of the connections, I can source all of the gear and then help with the installation and programming. Basically I’m there from the beginning to the end.”
One of the first projects Joseph worked on was for Subiaco Council’s Lighting Enhancement Program which aimed to light up some of the area’s prime buildings. Whilst the Council pays for the equipment install and programming, building owners pay for electricity and maintenance. The project began last May with a few buildings lit in white sources something that Joseph thought needed a serious jazzing up.
“I thought why spend all this money if you’re not going to make it really interesting and exciting,” he said. “I thought it should be dramatic and theatrical. I also didn’t see the point of using fixtures that would need a fair amount of maintenance. I suggested the use of LED’s and the council agreed. In fact they have engaged me to revisit the earlier projects to relight them.”
For three of the buildings Joseph decided to use the Studio Due ArchiLED fixtures favouring the facts that they are fully IP rated and have everything required – such as the LED driver and power transformer on board. An IP67 protection rating is achieved by clever design details such as a touch screen to allow the unit to be completely sealed furthermore its stainless steel construction ensures long term reliability in the most harsh of environments.
“I don’t have to worry about having an extra power supply which works well on these installations where everything is easy to get to,” he commented. “Their output is excellent, they’re a great size and their price point is superb. For what they deliver they’re very hard to beat. For installation work, I believe that it doesn’t have to be bright, rather it’s all about contrast ratio.”
Fourteen ArchiLEDs were used on the Rogerson Building, eight on Subi Plaza and eight on the Indian Ocean Group Building.
“With LED products such as the ArchiLEDs you may have to pay up front but then you have long life, no maintenance outgoings, low power consumption and also great functionality which is a real selling point,” said Joseph. “One light can deliver millions of colours.”
www.showtech.com.au

University Theatres Choose Vista
University Theatres, who manage the performing arts venues at The University of Western Australia, have upgraded their lighting equipment with the purchase of two Jands Vista S3s and M1 controls.
University Theatres attract a broad cross section of hirers to its seven venues, so it was essential that the new boards were highly flexible in their application. The 758 seat Octagon theatre in particular is a multipurpose venue, presenting theatre, concerts, comedy, conferences and dance school productions.
John Doyle, the Technical Manager said the Vistas were ideal because they not only had the capability to quickly enter complex theatre plots, but also because they can be used as a manual board for dance productions where lack of rehearsal time often demands spontaneous lighting design. Another advantage of the Vista is that it is used at the WA Academy of Performing Arts so all the graduating technical students are familiar with the board.
University Theatres Head Technician, Clint Balfour was also delighted to take possession of the Vistas because of their impressive programming features.
“Splitmode allows us to control up to 50 clips, and faders and buttons can be programmed to be groups, presets, clips - anything you like!”, he said. “The desk also has super playback controls - these buttons and faders are used like the “GO” buttons of other boards and the faders give real-time control of playbacks.” 
One Vista S3 and M1 will be permanently located in the Octagon theatre, while the second unit will be used either at the Dolphin theatre, New Fortune theatre, Winthrop Hall or Sunken Garden outdoor auditorium, depending on the demands of the various productions.
www.jands.com.au

LED’s slip in to Slip Inn
Slip Inn is one of Sydney’s original big-night-out destinations and remains a stylish and exciting multi-purpose venue. Apart from bars, a lounge, club area and cutting-edge cuisine, the secluded rear of the hotel houses a huge Tuscan-style, sun-drenched courtyard.
Deep beneath the garden lies Chinese Laundry, an underground night club boasting huge weekly events and infamous parties. The room combines the rustic nature of the building with strong and brilliant hues of the Chinese inspired interior.
Avsound has been looking after all of the venue’s technical requirements for several years now and when the client decided that they wanted a little extra sparkle in the night club without spending too much cash, they knew exactly what to recommend.
A couple of the Pro Shop LED tubes have been mounted behind the DJ position in a V position. Because the promoters like low levels of light in the space the LED Bars are turned toward the ceiling so as not to cast too much light and shine in people’s eyes.
A Studio Due NanoLED, the smallest LED moving head in the market, sits on top of a sub woofer at the rear of the Chinese Laundry to create some colour movement. Eight Pulsar MR16’s were also installed into the Laundry to create some cycling colour over the infamous Chinese statues for an understated effect. The Pulsar MR16’s are connected to a Pulsar Outstation which is programmed to provide features such as colour selection, fade, and strobe.
“It’s only a small install but it has made a big difference,” said Renae Stanton, Avsound’s Venue Services Manager.
www.showtech.com.au

Martin, MA and ELC for Burswood’s Astral Ballroom
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The Astral Ballroom at Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth is a venue of unsurpassed sophistication and excellence in Australia. Boasting luxurious finishes of onyx, stone, leather and the rich tones of gold and chocolate timber, it is a venue that can’t help but impress.
With its’ opulent décor, contemporary design and state-of-the art technology, the ballroom is a standout venue for corporate and private events.
Since opening nearly two years ago, the Astral has received much praise for its fifteen custom made LED chandeliers that can create a myriad of special effects. And whilst these are impressive features, infrastructure such as patching was put in place for a more comprehensive and versatile lighting system.
Finally this system has been installed upon the specification of the in-house audio visual company Staging Connections and, like all of their other major venues around the country, they turned to Show Technology. As a result a lighting package that includes seventy-six Martin MX-10 Extreme scanners, one MA Lighting NSP, an ELC Node 8 and a full-size MA Lighting grandMA console has been installed.
“The MX-10’s are the standard, preferred lighting fixture for all of our venues like this,” stated Matthew Gibbons, Technical Director at Staging Connections Perth. “In fact we probably have a couple of thousand of them spread around the country! Show Technology gives us good buying power and great back up. Plus the MX-10 is a great light with good colours and gobos. Also they’re a fast moving mirror fixture as opposed to a moving head which means they hide in the ceiling better. They’re a good shade of grey too which means they fit well into the décor.”
In the Astral Ballroom the MX-10’s are used for washing the room with light, lighting up tables, stage lighting and dance floor lighting. The MX-10 is a powerful 250 W discharge scanner with twelve replaceable colours, eight interchangeable indexed-rotating gobos and a 3-facet prism for brilliant effects.
A grandMA was chosen for control as it is such a stable system and well known by the Staging Connections crew.
“We’ve had a grandMA at the convention centre for five years and it has proven to be very stable and reliable,” said Matthew. “We’re trying to make the grandMA the console of choice in all of our venues.”
www.showtech.com.au

Engadine Tavern and Saltec turn to Show Technology for lighting solution
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When the owners of Engadine Tavern decided to renovate their bistro into a more modern restaurant, the back bars became cocktail bars with a built in DJ and a funky dance floor was created transforming a dull and dingy corner into happening weekend destination for the area’s youngsters.
Saltec were asked to design and install an audio and lighting solution and Stephen Askins, Saltec’s project manager, immediately turned to Show Technology’s Mark McInnes for some innovative lighting ideas.
Stephen readily admits he is an audio guy and so Mark’s professional input was gratefully received. However, Stephen had seen the benefits of LED lighting at other venues and was keen to use this technology.
Mark suggested using four Pro Shop LED 4 way panels behind the DJ to provide a focal point and light up the wall in an effective and unusual manner.
“It was hard to light up that wall and the LED panels were a great solution,” commented Stephen. “The 4 way panels run off their own little controller which is a nice, easy option. We then used red Pro Shop Neonflex as architectural highlights at the bottom of the DJ box.”
Six Pro Shop LED strips were used to decorate the venue adding colour, light and movement.
“We’ve found the LED strips to be very versatile and they deliver an interesting lighting effect at a minimal cost,” said Stephen.
Dance floor lighting is provided by four Martin Mania SCX600 scanners whose separate colour and gobo wheels create a multitude of brilliant effects. A moonflower effect is delivered by a couple of Geni Spyro’s that delivers an exciting twisting, spinning vortex of colour. A Pro Shop Max 2500 strobe adds flash when required.
“As this space in the venue is multipurpose, the owner requested that no roof mounted ‘disco’ lighting be used,” said Mark McInnes. “The SCX’s were perfect as they are slimmer than a moving light with really fast mirrors that can reach all areas of the dance floor. The SCX’s and effects are mounted off the support columns to ensure clean sight-lines across the ceiling.”
Control is provided by a Studio Due Control 5 lighting controller a new 16 bit remote controller with full 512 DMX channels. Easy to operate it can be smartly used anywhere and stores up to 4000 scenes. Up to 40 fixtures can be controlled.
“The Control 5 is great value for money and so simple to use,” added Stephen.
www.showtech.com.au

VuePix Electrifies Dracula’s
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Vampires do exist on Australia’s Gold Coast - Dracula’s Cabaret presents patrons with a horror themed show every evening.
A renovated Ghost Train whisks visitors through an array of optical illusions, haunted displays, with an occasional ghoul lurking behind a dark corner. The experience is Gothic Rock Opera, fast-paced comedy and creative insanity plus a dinner – all on a scale that has made Draculas a Gold Coast institution that is totally unique. The main theatre seats approximately 450 people for dining on 2 levels, with the stage set directly in front of the guests.
The main stage is 7.4m wide and a mere 2.4m deep with a 2m revolve. Off the main stage runs a 2m catwalk with a 400mm revolve motor-driven lift that elevates to 600mm. Against the back wall are fly lines carrying painted backcloths and Dracula’s latest technical addition - a VuePix P25 RGB LED screen.
Measuring 7.2m by 2.4m, the screen is full stage width and height, which was one of the criteria that had to be met. Technical Director John Taylor explains: “ The owners have been long interested in the idea of a LED screen but until recently they’ve either not been big enough, too heavy, or simply far too expensive.” John continues, “Plus, we’ve never wanted to have a screen on chain motors. The show moves at a frantic pace and even a fast chain motor can only manage 8m per minute – we have a 2.5m to move, so that’s about 18 seconds to long! - We can drop the VuePix RGB LED curtain in 2.5 seconds on our specially designed flying system. That gives incredible impact. The audience is amazed when you close the main curtain and re-open it an instant later to reveal a screen of this size. The screen weighs around 350kg so we had to upgrade our fly tower, but the whole thing sits on two flylines, which is pretty impressive.”
The VuePix RGB P25 LED panels are a modular system comprising 600mm by 600mm tiles at a pixel pitch of 25mm (24 x 24 pixels per tile), with the LEDs positioned on a lattice framework. John Taylor explains: “ The resolution of the screen is 288 by 96 pixels, but we have never had any delusions of running hi-res video. The screen is used more as an effect.”
Among the stage lighting fixtures are 5 x Robe ColorSpot 160XT, 2 x Robe ColorSpot 250AT and 3 x Robe ColorMix 250AT. “These fixtures were chosen for their color changing effects to suit the shows swiftly changing scenes”, says John Taylor.
Dracula’s boasts new renovations to the room, with a major transformation to the raising of the roof. A new lighting system installed with 70 Anolis Arcsource 3 RGB LED down lights that can be individually controlled. The Anolis RGB fixtures give the whole room a similar ambience to what is happening on stage.
John Taylor comments: “ Before installing the Anolis fixtures we were slightly concerned the coverage and brightness wouldn’t be as powerful for what we required. We were very happy with the result once they were all installed, the room light runs at only 50% of its potential brightness, the install was unique due to it being individually cabled patched throughout the roof, very impressed with the fixtures capability”.
Dracular’s current “Beasts of Burlesque” show is a four act affair. Two pre-shows and a main act with an interval. The production puts a Vampire slant on the traditional Burlesque show. The night entail’s horror displays and scary, interactive gimmicks. The theatre shows change periodically. John Taylor say: “For a venue that has been operating for 27 years, entertaining over 3 Million customers, patrons still don’t believe a venue of its size could have such unique, amazing and impactful lighting effects”.
www.ulagroup.com

LSC Lighting at the Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is an impressive building located in Australia’s capital city Canberra. The Memorial’s newest galleries “Conflicts 1945 to Today,” which opened in 2008, aims to preserve and convey the experiences of Australian servicemen and women on overseas deployments from Korea and Vietnam through to Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan. In the age of the virtual theme park it was a major challenge for the AWM to present these epic stories.
Bruce Brown from Mental Media who was heavily involved in a variety of aspects of the design and delivery of the project, says the design process selected the key elements from the Vietnam era to include an Iroquois helicopter, an Armoured Personnel Carrier, the operations bridge from the guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane and the Long Tan AV Theatre, together with a diorama and “The Trench Experience” from the Korean War. Fitting all of this and the assignments of the remaining 35 years into the confines of the existing 1200 sq metre ex-administration and ex-gallery space was another challenge.
The Iroquois comes to life only metres away and instinctively you duck your head with the wind and noise of the whirling rotors. There are 30 new AV displays of varying size and complexity, driven by 40 computers, increasing the AWM’s overall audiovisual content by around 40%.
Following the great success of the multimedia exhibits for the “Japanese mini sub” and “G for George” the Lancaster bomber, the design criteria were developed with significant involvement of the in-house AV Section to ensure the new exhibits were easily operated and supported, utilised common componentry and were designed on an infrastructure base that was flexible, reconfigurable and maintainable.
The AV Section specified a theatrical style lighting patch system with all lighting outlets returning to a pair of centralised patch panels providing “any outlet to any dimmer.” This proved very useful during the Stage 3 commissioning where a level of flexibility was available without the need for the electricians.
Two 72 way LSC “iPatch” Patch Panels were wall mounted for the patching and test functionality. In order to develop a high level of support the LSC iPRO dimmers were suspended on hook clamp mounts, like truss dimmers, but sitting against the wall, hanging from short pieces of horizontally mounted 48mm OD pipe.
The LSC iPRO dimmers, supplied by Total Concept Projects, were selected for their 13 Amp load capacity and pulse-transformer fired dimming, providing smooth and reliable dimming no matter whether the load is fluorescent, motors, transformers or extremely low wattage. With the close proximity to the 30 AV systems operational in these galleries the high quality of iPro’s inductors and filtering was essential to keep all systems clean and quiet.
Also important was the ability to program basic scenes into the dimmers as back ups, allowing the exhibits to remain dressed and open to the public should the main AV control system fail.
More information on the display can be found at http://www.awm.gov.au/visit/visit-mustsee-post45.asp
www.lsclighting.com.au

Greening the Void stretches the imagination
Green Void, a new 19-metre tall installation gracing the space of Customs House, stretches the imagination as it freely suspends between walls, ceiling and floor of the atrium. It is the creation and vision of the design team, LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture), founded by award winning architect Chris Bosse, most famous for his work on the Watercube Swimming Centre in Beijing (PTW/Arup/CSCEC).
Green Void is made with lightweight stretch fabric using the latest digital fabrication and engineering techniques, to create more with less. Inspired by the relationship between man, nature and technology, this site specific installation embraces and transforms the light within the 3000 cubic meters of atrium space using only a surface area of 300 square meters of fabric weighing just 40 kilos.
Green Void illustrates how the past and present can co-exist, and provides an intense visual contrast to the beautifully restored heritage interior of Customs House. The whole installation is immersed in a soundscape, by sound artist David Chesworth, who creates a ‘digital rainforest’.
Green Void is supported by twelve video screens showcasing the architectural visionary work of LAVA and incorporates the latest 3D screen technology by Peter Murphy, no goggles required!
Rob Runko, managing director of Showtime Productions, was asked to light the installation and he immediately recommended the GLP Impression which offers amazing output through the use of high powered LED's, plus styled housing and extreme pan and tilt speed. As a result four white GLP Impressions were installed.
”The GLP Impression offer great output for their size,” remarked Rob. “The client was very aesthetically concerned of any cumbersome, big fixture but the Impressions are neat and the colour white helps them blend into the building structure. It was also important that the product was green, as in environmentally friendly, and has low power consumption.”
According to Rob other factors in the Impression’s favour are low maintenance, cost effectiveness and their pivoting range of 660° pan and 300° tilt. A complete 660° Pan pivoting move is racy quick and just need two seconds.
Images by Peter Murphy
www.showtech.com.au

Robe in the heart of Coolangatta
Situated in the heart of Coolangatta, The Coolangatta Sands Hotel is directly across from the beach and just minutes away from the Coolangatta airport.
The Hotel has just undergone a multi-million dollar refurbishment, transforming it from a tired old pub to a stylish and busy venue.
The hotel is now a modern tavern and bistro that also offers backpacker accommodation as well as a state of the art nightclub making it a premium venue along the Coolangatta strip. The task of creating a modern and upmarket venue while still retaining the classic Queenslander exterior of the hotel fell to Hamilton Hayes Henderson Architects.
“The building was in quite a state of disrepair and basically the client wanted to create a new venue,” said Lach Henderson, Principal of Hamilton Hayes Henderson Architects. For the décor, the client wanted a clean, contemporary yet classic look. “They didn’t want anything too far out of the norm,” added Lach. “They wanted décor that would be reasonably timeless and not date quickly. It also had to have a bit of a relationship with the original building with classic colours in a contemporary form.”
The public bar favours an industrial, robust look with polished floors, tiles that have a rustic metallic look, timbers, and original, exposed brickwork. The dining room is simplistic with clean lines — a little more sophisticated than the main bar. Blown up images of Coolangatta in the 1920s are used as features. The lounge bar/nightclub is really a black box relying on the lighting for colour and decoration.
JVG Sound Lighting & Visual were given the task of installing the Sound and Lighting, and only two weeks to do it in! Lighting in the nightclub includes eight Robe 250AT spots and two Robe 250AT wash moving heads as well as a ULA Giga strobe and a mirrorball cluster above the dancefloor. Control is via an E:Cue Twilight Excite DMX to PC interface system with an LG touchscreen situated in the DJ box.
Golar states that 250’s were selected for the Coolangatta Sands because, “We needed a compact fixture that could provide versatility and high output at a reasonable price point. The 250’s have a tidy profile, and nice clean beam, as well as great colors and effects”. E:Cue has been used to set up pre-programmed profiles to allow different light shows to be called up depending on different moods in the bar.
www.ulagroup.com

Enjoy Lighting
Located in Melbourne, Enjoy Church, a fast growing, vibrant multicultural epicentre of activity, recently completed their new auditorium, capable of seating over 1200 people.
Forefront Productions were chosen by Senior Pastor Shane Baxter to design, supply and install all aspects of audio, lighting and video for the new auditorium. Forefront has a solid reputation in Australia for their supplying of total solutions for churches including staging, audio, lighting, video and acoustics.
“Right from the start it was clear that Enjoy Church were set on a path for quality whilst being conscious about cost saving and maximising every dollar invested,” commented Nick Burns, Forefront’s managing director. “Plans allow for future expansion, potentially more than doubling the initial seating capacity, and this meant that all designs and plans needed to facilitate future expansion whilst delivering exceptional quality in the initial stage.”
It was decided early on that the lighting would be a staged process, with the initial installation and design providing the complete infrastructure, with more elements like additional moving lights to be added later as finances allow.
An important consideration was Enjoy Church’s strong direction towards broadcast quality video. With almost 200 square metres of stage area, and only 8m clearance to ceiling, access to the lighting bars was potentially difficult. To solve the problem the stage lighting system was deployed on four main trusses with electronic chain motors providing automation for the truss to fly from floor level to final trim height. Four fixed trusses around the perimeter of the auditorium provide additional house lighting. A custom cable management system was designed to protect and conceal the many power and control cables that connect to each lighting truss.
DMX control is distributed via Ethernet cable, allowing for future expandability and changes in technology. Every truss and lighting point is complimented by DMX outlets, with DMX able to be distributed anywhere in the auditorium via the custom patch system located at the dimmer panel.
An array of conventional lighting fixtures provides a strong foundation of lighting for the stage and auditorium. Nick took the decision to install 38 Kupo Multipars fitted with barn doors for the house lighting and 48 Kupo Multipar HOG to colour wash the stage.
“For moving lights I went with eight Martin MAC575 profile moving heads because Mark McInnes, who is almost a good-looking guy, recommended them,” said Nick with a straight face. “I prefer MACs because of their quality, optics, brightness and great back up service. Show Technology has a great customer service philosophy. There are plans for more moving lights to be added in the future.”
A MA Lighting grandMA on PC system, with two touch screens and an external fader wing, takes care of control duties for the entire lighting system, with an MA Lighting Pro 2 Port Node providing output over two DMX universes.
”We like to specify the grandMA PC as much as possible for all of our church clients because it’s something we support very well,” commented Nick. “It offers real value for money, we’re not aware of anything else that has that amount of features for that kind of price point. It’s also very ease to learn to use.”
www.showtech.com.au

Bendigo Gallery upgrades for New Exhibition
Originally founded back in 1887, Bendigo Gallery has a long and distinguished history of presenting art and culture to the people of Bendigo. This tradition continued recently, when the world renowned exhibition ‘The Golden Age of Couture; Paris & London 1947-57,’ from the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, was announced as their latest touring exhibition. The exhibition explores one of the most glamorous and remarkable decades in fashion history starting with the impact of Christian Dior’s New Look after the Second World War.
Registrar of the gallery, Jacqui Woolf, has wanted to improve the gallery’s lighting equipment for some time, but the arrival of an exhibition of this scope made the decision a necessary one.
A number of differing lighting options were investigated, but a meeting and demonstration with Lightmoves’ Peter Gray and Selecon’s Peter McKenzie impressed the gallery with Selecon’s output, quality of manufacture and affordability. The brief from the Gallery called for the ability to have a theatrical feel if the need called for it; and with Selecon’s long established history in the theatrical market, the choice became very clear.
Lightmoves supplied, and assisted with the design and install of 20 Selecon Aureol Beamspots and 10 Aureol Beamshapers, all with the required snoots, barn doors, colour frames and filters. Given the nature of the exhibition, issues such as U/V filtering and protection of the displayed garments was paramount and Lightmoves’ Peter Gray used his many years of experience to ensure this happened; something Jacqui was very impressed with. “I cannot wax lyrical enough for the attention and assistance that has been provided, at every stage of the process from the selection, to what I was hoping to do within my budget, to the delivery of the goods.”
The exhibition opened on December 7 and will run until March 22, 2009.
www.lightmoves.com.au

Jands Vista takes control at Burdekin
The Burdekin Cultural Complex, located in Queen Street, Ayr, includes the Burdekin Theatre, music loft, foyer, plaza and the Burdekin Memorial Hall function centre.
The 500-seat theatre has played host to hundreds of national and international stars during its history and has fostered the cultural abilities of many locals through musical productions and eisteddfods.
David Bourke is the venue’s Head Lighting Technician and he has been using Jands Vista at the Burdekin Theatre and the Burdekin Memorial Hall for a couple of months now.
”The Jands Vista is a great product and I have recommended it to a number of my colleagues and am happy to recommend Jands Vista to anyone who wishes to have a versatile powerful and, most important, scalable product to place in their lighting inventory!” boldly stated David. “The ability to be so versatile has been a great improvement and we are gradually making Jands Vista the only lighting platform to be used in all our venues.”
The venue had been happily using an ETC Express 250 console but once David saw the Vista in use, he fell in love with it and just had to buy one!
“For us, Vista is not a console – it’s a system to be used across different venues,” he said. “It’s very versatile and can be used in the main venue, a smaller area of the venue or even on an outdoor application which we’re starting to do. You just throw it on a laptop and away you go. Due to the versatility of Jands Vista we are able to select the channels required and the processor (desktop, laptop etc) and the interface which suits the needs at the time.”
David started out with one dongle and a lead; today he has three dongles, two DMX leads, an S1 and a M1 as well as three laptops and two stand alone computers.
For David, the most impressive feature of the Vista is its’ speed; the speed at which you can do something and the fact that what used to be paperwork is now easily accessible on the screen.
“You just click on the icon and that’s what you’ve got, it’s that fast,” he continued. “There’s no rustling through bits of paper. We’ve actually reduced our plotting time radically – in fact I’d say by about sixty percent! That’s how quickly you can do things with a Vista.
“I also like the fact that the Vista is modular so you can have it just on a laptop with a USB to DMX or you can add a wing board or an even bigger wing board. I love the fact that when you patch moving lights it’s a simple matter of dragging and dropping the icon and everything is done for you.”
According to David the technical support offered by Jands is brilliant - in fact it’s the best technical support he has ever experienced.
“Plus the web based forum answers almost every question you’d ever have about Vista,” he added. “This is particularly important for us as we are a regional theatre a 100 kilometers south of Townsville. To have instant technical support at the end of the computer 24/7 is important.
David describes the Vista as a revolution in lighting; fast, easy and brilliant. He reports that his lighting crew also loves the Vista, so much so they have problems reverting back to conventional lighting consoles when they are occasionally required to for touring shows.
”They find conventional consoles so slow and sluggish. They think numbers, whereas the Vista thinks visually.”
www.jands.com.au

Outdoor LED Strips make Geelong venue unmissable!
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Geelong’s Westfield Bay City's $200 million redevelopment is just about complete and one venue proving to be popular is Madisson Lounge café and restaurant. The venue is located just underneath the shopping centres much hyped overpass with its frontage is on busy Yarra St. The venue owner wanted something to make his venue really stand out from the other shops around him and so Bishop Audio came to the rescue with the suggestion of LED lighting.
“We suggested using the Pro Shop LED Outdoor Strip 27 fixtures so that when people walk or drive past, the venue is very noticeable,” said Bobby Glover of Bishop Audio. “And that’s definitely happened!”
Four of the LED strips bring the venue to life at night slowly scrolling through a wide variety of colours.
“The LED strips were very simple to install,” commented Bobby. “What was especially good is that the LED strips are silver in colour as are the window frames onto which they are mounted. You can barely see the fixtures they blend in that well.
“The client is over the moon with the result, he just loves the LED strips.”
www.showtech.com.au

Pro Shop LED Strips incorporated into historic Macquarie Hotel
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Sydney’s Macquarie Hotel, an older style heritage listed hotel, is located on the corner of Goulburn Street and Wentworth Avenue, Surry Hills. It’s main bar is a retro-heritage space that some of Australia’s most contemporary artists call home. By night, it’s a relaxed live music environment is like no other in Sydney, with a friendly casual atmosphere and great music. During the day its keeps its’ laid back atmosphere catering for the locals and surrounding businesses.
For several years bands have set up in a corner of the main bar with no stage or defined area. Wall mounted speakers and a few par cans were the only clue as to the action that took place in this corner five nights a week. Luke Everingham of Everingham Audio suggested the addition of some rich, velvet curtains to help with the sound proofing and general acoustics and the project grew from there.
“The hotel had a few par can which wasn’t much of a light show but then again it’s not the sort of pub where they want a flashy light show,” he said. “They just want a bit of a mood. I had done a few jobs recently where I’d used some of the Pro Shop LED lighting which has become very affordable and very effective. In fact over the past two years the quality has improved out of sight, it’s amazing. I suggested to the pub that they upgrade the lighting system so that it’s commensurate with the reputation of the pub; it has a great reputation for good quality live music.”
Luke reports that initially the hotel owners were a bit reluctant to use LEDs, in fact Luke believes there is still some consumer-resistance to using LEDs.
“I can understand that because when they’re used badly they look too glitzy and the light may be a bit cold compared to the warmth of a conventional fixture,” added Luke. “However, if they’re used well they look as good - or better - than conventional lights. The client wanted something simple and cost was a big issue as well.”
Once the curtains were installed, Luke demonstrated how the LED Strips would work and the client was sold. Consequently five LED Strips have been installed behind pelmets from where they can supply colour wash.
“The musicians and audience have all commented on the new lighting,” said Luke. “The curtains and lighting have really helped establish a sense of theatre and have created a focal point rather than just a band on the floor in the corner.”
Luke loves the fact that the Pro Shop LED Strips are so easy to rig due to their lightness and that they emit so little heat.
“The Macquarie has high ceilings but most inner city venues have low ceilings where you can’t physically put Par 64’s,” he explained. “Plus the heat loading would be too much anyway for the musicians. That in turn affects the heat loading on the air conditioning. Add to that the fact that Par 64’s don’t change colour and you can see why the LED Strips are a far better alternative. The Pro Shop LED Strip is definitely a product that is of great use in small to medium size live venues and nightclubs.”
Luke notes that the LED Strips are also very low maintenance stating that Par 64 globes are supposed to last 1000 hours (although Luke has never got that much out of them!) whilst the LEDs have a 50,000 hour rating and use about 1% of the power.
“If you care about being green then that’s a very good reason to switch to LEDs,” he remarked.
www.showtech.com.au

CDA installs the latest European hoist technology at UTS
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In August 2007 Peter Kemp (Coemar De Sisti’s Managing Director) met with James Hurley (UTS – Media Centre Manager) to discuss the planned revamp of a space they referred to as Shooting Stage/TV Studio/blackspace.
The first consideration for the space was an efficient rigging system for lights that would suit a variety of uses for the space and also take into account the regulations etc. regarding the use of ladders etc when rigging lights. James visited the installation Coemar De Sisti Australia had done at Foxtel Studios and was very impressed with the De Sisti lighting hoists. As discussions took place Peter introduced a new version of the De Sisti lighting hoists whereby the normal stainless steel ropes have been replaced with stainless steel flat band, which due to the reduction in thickness (as compared to stainless steel rope), on a pile winding system enables a more or less constant torque during movement. And another advantage is the reduction in variation of speed from the bottom position to the top position when compared to rope systems.
In addition to the lighting hoists James wanted to install a dimming system, new lighting console and an extensive patch system for audio and video.
A submission was prepared and accepted by UTS which included Coemar De Sisti Australia, strengthening the existing grid structure for suspension of the new lighting hoist system and installation of all the equipment.
Some early installation work was carried out prior to Christmas 2007 which then allowed UTS to have the floor of the space totally resurfaced, Coemar De Sisti’s installation team then went back on-site in January 2008 to prepare for the arrival of the lighting hoists from Italy in Feb/March. All wiring and fixings for the lighting hoist was completed as well as the dimmed and hot circuit wiring, data distribution, audio and video wiring and patch system plus dimmer installation just before the hoists arrived on-site. The installation team then proceeded to install the hoists and commission the complete installation for handover to UTS.
For dimming Coemar De Sisti installed LSC Eko dimmers (a tried and proven dimming system Coemar De Sisti have installed in many studios throughout Australia) plus a Coemar De Sisti data distribution system to provide lighting data throughout the studio.
www.cdaust.com.au

TCN9 use Coemar De Sisti to changeover their dimmers
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Andrew Veitch from TCN9 Sydney had been looking for a replacement for their aging Strand dimming system in Studio 2. Overtime Andrew and the engineering department at TCN9 had been looking at ways of upgrading the dimmers, this included modifying their current dimming system. The current dimmer system had past it’s used by date and you could not get replacement parts, in addition TCN9 wanted to add RCD protection to the system.
This dimmer system is constantly in use and services many prominent TV shows including The Footy Show, Funniest Home Videos, Kerri-Anne show etc. After much searching Andrew decided on the LSC Eko wall mount dimmer racks, Coemar De Sisti organised to carry out the change-over in the down period of December-January.
The installation was quite complex, Coemar De Sisti had to disconnect and remove the existing Strand dimmer system and install 24 new dimmer racks, this involved disconnecting and re-connecting over 2000 wires.  One very important aspect was that TCN9 did not want any new cabling done (except for a DMX network) so we had to ensure we could use the existing mains supplies and load cabling straight into the new LSC Eko racks. Coemar De Sisti worked very closely with LSC to ensure that this was possible and TCN9 installed a unistrut frame (designed by CDA/LSC) to mount the LSC Eko racks up high to utilise the existing cabling.
Coemar De Sisti installed 24 LSC Eko dimmer racks, close to 600 channels of dimming and when they went to commission the system not one wire had been installed in the wrong place, quite a feat with so many wires (see photos). The installation went very smoothly, in fact Andrew had the following to say about Coemar De Sisti’s work “The installation work by Coemar De Sisti was brilliant”.
In addition to the dimmers, TCN9 also purchased a LSC Houston remote monitoring software system which enables TCN to monitor all of the dimmers from a remote location, this system has proved to be invaluable to Andrew recently when they had a problem with the air conditioning system in the dimmer room, yet they could easily see how the dimmers where performing from the control room (the dimmers worked faultlessly even without the air conditioner working).
Also added to the system a few months after the dimmer installation were some custom software to allow remote upload/download of the dimmers configuration data (ie. Dimmer curves, DMX soft-patch, Max levels, min levels) over the LSCnet connection.
This installation in now added to the long list of TV studios Coemar De Sisti have been installing LSC Eko dimmer systems in, and further strengthens these dimmers as a “standard” in the Australian TV lighting industry.
www.cdaust.com.au

Rundle Lantern – a beacon of innovation in Adelaide
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When the city fathers (and mothers) of Adelaide, capital of South Australia, wanted to enliven their city precinct by night, they conducted a design competition to see what might be offered. Local design firm Fusion, knocked them out with a proposal to permanently wrap an eight-story car park building with a moving illuminated canvas.
Fusion’s concept was not for yet another giant video screen suitable for watching football, motor racing or music videos. According to designer Damien Mair: “The vision for the Lantern was to create an experience that would capture the imagination of the city and add beauty to people’s lives.”
Wrapping more than a thousand square metres of display around a car park building that relies entirely on natural ventilation to clear away the exhaust fumes from its occupants, calls for an unusual screen format. Mair’s solution was to construct the display from 754 individual anodized aluminium “tiles” individually angled to allow maximum viewing from the streets below, but offering minimal impediment to the building’s natural air flow.
Each of the 714 active tiles is illuminated from below by a pair of custom-built Space Cannon Bisquit LED luminaries, for a total of 1428 “pixels”. The Bisquit luminaires deployed on the Rundle lantern are IP66 rated exterior fixtures containing12 high-efficiency LED sources (4 x red, 4 x green and 4 x blue). They are configured for full-spectrum RGB colour mixing via DMX512A, and remote addressing using the RDM protocol.
Images are fed over Ethernet to the Rundle Lantern from a Hippotizer V3 Stage media server in the bottom of the building, and distributed by Enttec’s Datagate and Ethergate decoders via banks of Technical Art Solution DMX splitters. System design and configuration was undertaken by Fabian Barzaghi and Dan Ditmann of Space Cannon Australia.
Content creation and management for the Lantern is supplied as part of an ongoing contract by the design team at Fusion, using Green Hippo’s Pixel Mapper software and the Zoo Keeper remote management software, from their facility in central Adelaide.
Fusion: www.fusion.com.au
Space Cannon Australia: www.spacecannon.com.au

Lightech fits out Japanese bar and restaurant
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It might seem odd that a Queensland lighting company has supplied the design and lighting for a restaurant and bar located at Tokyo Harbour in Japan but that is just what happened to Lightech. The venue is called Danzero and its’ Japanese owner also owns property and businesses in Australia and it was her management team in Australia that became impressed by the quality of the work achieved by Lightech.
“Budgets and basic designs went back and forth until everyone was happy,” commented Tremaine. “However, it looks completely different in the photos to what I thought it would! The plans changed daily – in fact I was surprised to see the dance floor now in a completely different location.”     
Tremaine’s company Lightech is renown for its’ LED and fibre optic work in venues around Australia and Danzero was no different. Tremaine and his team configured the lighting design in his Burleigh Heads warehouse pretty much constructing the whole design to ensure it worked well. For example, a sample of the glass bricks used for the bar was sent to him so he could work out the best way to light them with fibre optics.
“However the sample they sent us was frosted and then they used clear bricks!” said Tremaine.
Tremaine also ventured into the entertainment lighting supplying three Martin smartMAC, Martin’s extremely bright profile light and image projector. Specially suited for lounges, bars and restaurants, and appropriately silent for noise sensitive environments, smartMAC will liven up any space while saving money on power bills and service and maintenance checks. The smartMAC houses eight interchangeable dichroic colours and six interchangeable effects.
Tremaine initially supplied three black smartMAC fixtures although the client has spray painted two of them white to blend into the venue’s décor.
“There are a couple of major walls in the bar that needed something extra,” explained Tremaine. “Initially they were going to have some kind of signage on them but because we were doing the dance floor lighting as well the smartMACs were a much better alternative – they project the Danzero logo onto the wall with one setting but at a push of the ‘nightclub’ button on the C-Bus control they revert to being a nightclub light. Also, when you push the ‘wedding’ button they act as a spotlight onto the podium where speeches take place.
“I really like the smartMACs even though that type of lighting is not our core business as we’re a lot more architectural. Whenever we do get involved in this type of lighting I always turn to Martin and Show Technology. The smartMACs provide an impressive show of effects and colour plus they’re very bright and compact.”
For the dance floor Tremaine chose two Martin Mania EFX800 effects machines for broad sweeping flower effects, two SCX700 scanners, Atomic strobes and a JEM smoke machine.
All in all, it was a job well done and the client was very impressed by the results.
www.showtech.com.au

Chapel off Chapel update their lighting systems
After recommendation from a number of industry professionals, Chapel off Chapel approached Coemar De Sisti Australia in regards to upgrading their theatre’s lighting system.
The existing dimming system at Chapel Off Chapel utilised LSC wall packs which have done an excellent job over the years, however they wanted to update the dimmers including adding additional channels and getting rid of their patch system, plus having a system that would meet their future requirements.
After reviewing the lighting systems and working with Simon Prentice (Chapel Off Chapel’s Venue Technician) regarding operational aspects of the theatre, Coemar De Sisti Australia proposed a system of 5 x LSC Eko dimmer racks and a Houston monitoring system, plus the replacement of the main switchboard feeding the dimmers and other lighting facilities within the main theatre.
Chapel Off Chapel are extremely busy throughout the year and had a small window in late December, early January in which they wanted the work carried out, so Coemar De Sisti’s installation team worked within this tight time frame and delivered a complete, installed and commissioned system for Chapel with handover in early January 08.
The new system gives Chapel Off Chapel increased capacity for large theatre shows and all of the updated features of the LSC Eko range, plus the remote monitoring facilities of Houston system.
www.cdaust.com.au

Coemar De Sisti fit out Swinburne University
Swinburne University in Prahran, Victoria investing in educating our future Film & Television associates. Swinburne being already a client of Coemar De Sisti Australia contacted us regarding requirements for a new lighting system for a studio being constructed.
Swinburne had an urgent need for the supply and installation of the lighting and dimming system as the space was planned to be utilized in the coming weeks.  They required a dimming system with patch facilities, so Coemar De Sisti Australia naturally specified LSC.
A quotation was quickly prepared and the go ahead was given immediately. Our installation team was put into action and completed in just 2 days. Michael Ellul Coemar De Sisti’s project manager attended on-site and commissioned the system immediately.
The studio was up and running with a LSC EKO installation dimmer rack, LSC iPatch and Minim lighting console along with De Sisti Giotto over head cyc lights.
The new EKO wall mount installation dimmer is available in 6, 12 and 24 channel versions with a choice of output capacities. The EKO dimmers incorporate a cleverly designed installation frame that can be fixed in position without the dimmer being present. Load and control screw terminals on the frame allow for building wiring to be terminated in a clear and unhindered manner.
When the installation is ready for commissioning, the dimmer can be hung on the installation frame and output circuits then plugged into the special screw terminals – the 24 channel dimmer can easily be installed onto the frame and made fully operational in less than 5 minutes!
After installation internal electronics can be easily accessed through the lockable hinged front door. The door has been designed with reversible hinges and lock allowing the dimmer to be customized to suit the installation environment.
The MINIM has been specifically designed to compliment LSC’s maXim range, filling a void for the entry level user both in features and price. Attractively styled and utilizing the familiar programming and playback system popular on all LSC desks, the MINIM delivers a very easy to use platform with quick access buttons to all major functions – no menu driven systems.
The De Sisti cyclorama family consist of both the GIOTTO “Over Head” and Duccio “Ground Row”. Modular, quartz cyclorama lighting fixtures designed to operate independently or as a system. The revolutionary reflector design provides a symmetrical distribution offering the widest, cleanest lighting field in the industry. The curved front housing design promotes a perpendicular distribution of light rays to the gel frame, offering optimal transmission efficiency. The housing ventilation and convection cooling design lowers fixture operation temperature to ensure proper lamp and socket life. The Giotto and Duccio cyclorama lights can evenly light large, hard or soft cycloramas including corners.
www.cdaust.com.au

Robe and Anolis go VIP
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Robe moving lights and Anolis architectural LED fixtures have been installed into Cocktails & Dreams newest venture - the VIP Bar, CDs. The Gold Coast venue has been transformed from the underground grunge club, The Party, into an upmarket and elegant location aimed at attracting a young, sophisticated crowd.
CD’s now welcomes guest via a red carpet into an oasis of interior design including a 14m-long bar, polished timber floors, carpeted areas, black leather lounges in booths and crystal curtains. The lighting renovation – carried out by JVG Sound, Lighting & Visual – includes the install of all the architectural fixtures as well as a revamp of the dance floor set up. The architectural lighting, including staircase lighting, and up-lighting of the podiums and bar, features Anolis ArcLine 36 strips controlled via an Anolis ArcPower 144.
CDs dance floor lighting is an overhaul of the previous venues rig and features 14 Robe moving lights -  6 Robe ColorSpot 160 XTs,  4 Robe ColorSpot 250 XTs, and 4 ColorWash 250 XTs, as well as a Robe 1500FT Fog Machine and a SDV 750W DMX GigaStrobe - supplied by Australian Robe supplier ULA.  The dance floor lighting is controlled by an E:cue touchscreen system which was also supplied to JVG by ULA.
The whole lighting installation adds versatility by providing a greater choice of colour and gobo effects across the whole venue. JVG’s General Manager Jade Golar has been specifying Robe for about 4 years, so there was no question about working with the brand. “The brightness of the XT Series is fantastic” he declares “And the 160s and 250s were really perfect for the application”. He adds that he knows the Robe products really well, and that he receives great support from ULA. JVG is also a warranty repair agency for Robe, so keeps a good stock of spares – not that they are needed very often!
www.ulagroup.com

Archileds paint a new picture for Goulburn Soldiers Club
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Last year Goulburn Soldiers Club received an exterior face lift with the rendering and painting of the building. The colours for the render and paint job were designed to fit in with the heritage precinct guidelines and were decided upon in conjunction with Dulux consultants.
The result was spectacular and certainly revived a tired exterior however the Club felt that something was missing.
“I saw an article in Venue magazine detailing the use of coloured lighting to bring an exterior to life,” said Toni Mitchell, Goulburn Soldiers Club’s general manager. “The article in the magazine was about a venue that used coloured lighting to light up from the awning on the ground floor to enhance the second and third floor exterior. We thought that we could do something similar.”
It was decided that the lighting had to be modern and something different that is not currently seen elsewhere in Goulburn. FM Solutions, the Club’s facility managers, recommended Show Technology to provide a solution and Toni was impressed by their professionalism.
“The most important factor was to create a presence and interest, a wow factor, from the main street and areas surrounding the Club,” added Toni. “We also wanted to be able to easily theme the Club for important events such as pink for Breast Cancer Fund Raising Events, green and gold for the Olympics, blue for State of Origin etc. The rendered exterior supplied an ideal blank canvas for the coloured lighting.”
The installation project was managed by FM solutions and Show Technology provided commissioning and expert programming advice. Thirty-eight Studio Due Archileds were strategically placed around the building to enable the structure to be painted in coloured light. The Archileds were an ideal choice as they house 3 Watt LEDs resulting is no lack of punch regardless of whatever colour you program. This coupled with their 1 Watt Amber LEDs really makes these fixtures value for money.
Archileds are IP66 rated straight out of the box so there are no exterior mounting concerns. A number of different lenses were used in order to be able to light each area of the building as evenly as possible.
“We used 10, 23, and 45 degree lenses in various places,” explains Mark McInnes, Show Technology’s National Sales & Marketing Manager. “For programming and control we’ve used a simple Martin Lightjockey 2 system set to ‘scheduler’ - the lights automatically come on as night starts to fall and then turn off as a predetermined time after the venue closes.”
The beauty of the scheduler is that it has an astronomical clock included so, as summer approaches, the program start time gets a little later each evening to correspond with the sun going down. This means no program updates are required and less use of the fixtures makes it very cost effective to run. Of course using LED here instead of any other lighting source means the entire installation is extremely energy efficient.
“It was a really good experience to work with the Soldiers Club,” commented Mark. “Usually I find that as we walk through the quotation and demonstration processes with venues they try to reduce the amount of fittings we recommend in order to attempt to save money. In some cases these installations become compromised due the financial restraints applied by the venue management. Toni Mitchell and her team were precisely the opposite. Toni wanted even more fittings on this job and I was trying to wind back her enthusiasm!
“The results here really speak for themselves. The vision the club had from day one was of a completed job done correctly first time and I believe that they have achieved their aim. The custom-made brackets, with their swivel access system, are a good indication of the lengths they went to – well done Goulburn Soldiers and FM solutions.”
“In general, the reaction from members has been very positive,” concluded Toni. “In fact, the night we were programming the lighting, from Belmore Park across the street, cars were pulling up and taking photos! Patrons have also been requesting 'special lighting' for their functions.”
www.showtech.com.au

Regent Place, Bathurst St, Sydney
Sydney’s midtown has become a vibrant living quarter through the creation of Regent Place, Australia’s first vertical village. The design for a mixed-use development on Bathurst Street in the heart of the city transforms this key area into a lively urban hub where people can live, work and enjoy life in the city. Regent Place consists of two towers floating above a 5-storey sandstone podium that contains retail, commercial and leisure spaces.
The newest masterpiece by renowned British architectural firm, Foster & Partners, Regent Place incorporates 456 exclusive apartments (Lumiere Residences) and 201 serviced apartments (Fraser Suites), directly above the 5,400 sqm, 3 levels, shopping centre - Regent Place Shopping.
Integral to the design, and as part of the building planning conditions, Foster & Partners had to provide a public artwork in the buildings entrance. They commissioned Phil Goodwin, a Sydney based water feature architect with Waterforms International, to design a striking water sculpture to take centre stage at the building’s entrance.
The water sculpture is organic in design and provides a strong contrast to the disciplined geometric and organized style of Foster’s architecture. The sculpture includes a series of eleven craggy overflowing pools that reticulate 5000L/min of water flow between the pools and a balance tank located two floors below.
The lighting is a feature of the sculpture with 94 Anolis ArcSource6 RCWB LED underwater fixtures installed in the pools. They are controllable via an E:Cue e:node 512 wall mount user terminal, to provide color changes from night to night to ensure the sculpture maximizes its effect to the streetscape. The Anolis products were supplied by the brand’s Australian distributor, ULA, for whom the project was overseen by Con Nomikos from the Sydney office.
The Anolis fixtures were chosen specifically for this installation as they were unique in their ability to be completely submerged, due to a 316 stainless steel housing and a IP rating of 68, as well as their ability to provide programmable color change underwater. Additionally, the fixtures were customized for this installation to incorporate the color choices requested by the client – the fixtures feature 2 x Red, 2 x Cool White, and 2 x Blue LEDs. Waterforms International used this project as a pilot, and has already followed on the use of these fixtures in several other projects.
The Regent Place water sculpture has been a tremendous success since opening, and has established itself as a landmark in the Sydney streetscape with a constant stream of people taking photos of the night time effects created by the underwater Anolis fixtures. Both the developer, and Foster & Partners attribute the water sculpture to overall success of the development, and are more than happy with the result.
www.ulagroup.com

Martin MX-10's the ideal solution for the Ivy Room
The Ivy Room is a purposely designed, dedicated function space within the mega-trendy Ivy complex in Sydney. The 509 sqm space is totally devoid of columns or partitions, making it an awe-inspiring floor which can hold 1,000 people.
The dramatic size of the Ivy Room is enhanced by soaring six-metre high ceilings and six white papier-mâché chandeliers – a stunning 2.25 metres in diameter – hanging from the white glossy solid timber ceiling. A sophisticated, yet relaxed atmosphere is achieved through carefully chosen contemporary furnishings including a chic zebra-print carpet that forms the focal point of the room’s stylish black and white theme. A silver travertine stone floor trim draws the eye to the lush, green atmosphere of the covered outdoor garden room terrace at the George St end of the room.
On the opposing side, a black curtained wall makes an impressive backdrop for presentations by day, and by night it transforms to an elaborate fifteen metre long shelf of electric candle lights. Triple-height (floor to ceiling) windows on two sides flood the space with natural light, however, lighting levels can be easily controlled if needs be with blackout blinds and plush translucent curtains featuring a garden motif.
With its ability to transform from a motivating function environment during the day to an enchanting ‘magical’ room in the evening, The Ivy Room provides a unique and inspiring event destination.
With such an emphasis on the aesthetics of the room and fabulous interior design, chunky black moving head fixtures hanging from the ceiling would have been a visual calamity. Fortunately there was one – and only one – lighting fixture that could solve the dilemma of how to light the room, tables or performers. Enter the Martin MX-10 Extreme, a powerful 250 W discharge scanner with 12 replaceable colours, 8 interchangeable indexed-rotating gobos and a 3-facet prism for brilliant effects.
A total of forty-five Martin MX-10 Extreme were chosen as they fitted snugly into the box truss that has been installed into the roof.
“Basically, we’ve designed the audio visual system so that the motorized truss can go up and down whilst the speakers and lights remain inside the truss,” explained Peter Wilson, general manager at Avsound Productions who designed and installed all of the audio visual elements into the Ivy Room. “When you’re standing beneath the ceiling all you can really see is the mirrors of the MX-10’s, there’s nothing hanging out of the ceiling giving a nice, clean look to the roof.
“The MX-10’s are used to light tables, the dance floor, the look of the room, and band wash.”
Although the truss can be lowered for maintenance of the fixtures hidden within it, it was important to have a lighting fixture that was reliable and needed minimal maintenance.
Controlling the Martin MX-10’s is a Martin LightJocky with touch screen overlay chosen as all of Avsound’s operators are familiar with the programme and favour its’ capabilities.
www.showtech.com.au

Listle Light solution for Hunters Hill Hotel
LED lighting in venues is certainly catching on as venue owners realise that it not only looks good but is low maintenance, inexpensive, bright and eco friendly. And LED lighting doesn’t have to be a myriad of colours, a simple and classy white can be just as effective.
The recently renovated Hunters Hill Hotel in Sydney is a modern and sophisticated venue with a classic design approach. A simple ‘halo’ lighting effect was required under the main bar and Paul Vella of MPV Electrical recommended Show Technology’s Listle Light as the ideal solution.
Paul has many years experience installing all aspects of lighting into hospitality projects, particularly hotels, and he has used Listle Light on quite a few of his projects. In this installation there was very limited access to the underneath bar areas both below the bar top and below the wooden bar front at the bottom of the bar. Fortunately with Listle Light, being both flexible and available in easy-to-manage one meter sections, the installation in these tight spaces was made much simpler.
The low power consumption and longer expected ‘lamp’ life of LED is perfect for these harder to access places. The fact that they have used a warm white LED - instead of colour LED highlights - makes the acceptance of these particular products into broader architectural applications as well as more traditional entertainment spaces.
“This increases the value of our offer to the hospitality market from both Show Technology and our customers,” commented Mark McInnes, Show Technology’s National Sales & Marketing Manager. “We are looking forward to many more similar installations.”
www.showtech.com.au

Coemar De Sisti revamps 2 studios for Fox Sports Australia
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Foxsports is owned and operated by Premier Media Group Pty Ltd and brings original reporting from their dedicated team of editors and sports writers offering the most relevant, comprehensive, live and exclusive coverage of sport on Australian television.
July 2006 Coemar De Sisti’s Managing Director Peter Kemp and Project Manager Cameron Moody met with Foxsports Chief Engineer Michael Day and Technical Supervisor Mark Sheridan to discuss the necessary revamp of their 2 main studios.
The plan was to completely gutter the studios, construct new control rooms and change the size of the studios. Both studios had simple pipe grids in them and Foxsports was looking to update the studios with the latest and greatest in studio lighting systems. Peter supplied Michael and Mark with some interesting information on the latest cool lighting systems that are in use throughout Europe and informed Fox Sports if they wanted the latest and greatest this is what they should consider. Peter and Cameron went away and prepared a submission including a new D rail lighting rigging system from De Sisti Italy, LSC dimming systems and De Sisti lights.
After some modifications to the systems Foxsports raised a purchase order to fit out of the two studios with installation to commence in mid – December and to finish early February. Coemar De Sisti’s work included the full installation and commissioning of all the lighting rigging system, control systems and luminaires.
We utilised De Sisti’s ‘D’ Rail, an extruded aluminium profile featuring a broad range of accessories and offering many standardised solutions to provide a grid. Versions are available in either fixed or with trackable facilities. Its optimized shape allows many solutions to different applications and wide spans between supports, to minimize the number of hanging points to the ceiling. Many of the ‘D’ RAIL’ accessories, trolleys and flanges can be used in combination with standard steel ‘I’ beams available in the market, that are compatible with the ‘D’ profile bottom flange.
The De Sisti ‘D’ Rail extruded aluminium profile is available with integrated electrical distribution. In particular it offers valuable benefits under the cost and ease of installation for Cold Lighting studio solutions, where Direct Mains and DMX connections are required for each lighting fixture. Obviously the described integrated distribution simplifies the remaining part of the electrical installation and the system provided has a very slim and clean look. The known advantages of DMX controlled lighting fixtures of not requiring Power Dimmers and the valuable Cold Lighting solution for the energy saving and extremely low thermal emission, are now enounced with the availability of the “D” Rail with Built In DMX and MAINS distribution.
For dimming Coemar De Sisti installed LSC Eko dimmers (a tried and proven dimming system Coemar De Sisti have installed in many studios throughout Australia) plus a Coemar De Sisti data distribution system to provide lighting data throughout the studio.
The new EKO wall mount installation dimmer is available in 6, 12 and 24 channel versions with a choice of output capacities. The EKO dimmers incorporate a cleverly designed installation frame that can be fixed in position without the dimmer being present. Load and control screw terminals on the frame allow for building wiring to be terminated in a clear and unhindered manner. When the installation is ready for commissioning, the dimmer can be hung on the installation frame and output circuits then plugged into the special screw terminals – the 24 channel dimmer can easily be installed onto the frame and made fully operational in under 5 minutes! After installation internal electronics can be easily accessed through the lockable hinged front door. The door has been designed with reversible hinges and locks allow the dimmer to be customized to suit the installation environment.
Once Coemar De Sisti’s installation team had finished the installation of the D rail system, the dimming and data distribution Cameron was on-site to commission the system and handover the new light fixtures to Fox Sports. The new lights include De Sisti De Lux 4x55w fluorescents, Magis fresnels, zoom profiles and telescopic drop arms.
The De Lux compact fluorescent units are the perfect fill light and set light to compliment any studio or video package. The original De Lux design has been modified to offer a fluorescent fixture without the need of a bulky, exterior “intensifier”. The new reflector system offers the brightest, flattest field in the industry at very competitive prices. 2 lamp, 4 lamp and 6 lamp 55 watt configurations are available to achieve the necessary footcandle levels in the studio. DMX, phase and local analogue control options are available to dim the units to 10%.
De Sisti’s versatile Magis Fresnel which houses a 300, 500 or 650 watt bi postal lamp and can be purchased individually with manual or pole operated yoke, or in a portable lighting kit.
www.cdaust.com.au

The Met upgrades with Martin MAC’s and Atomics
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The Met is a purpose built, state of the art, entertainment complex and nightclub situated in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Since opening in 2006, the venue has become Brisbane’s hottest dance destination.
Comprising of three levels and five bars, the venue is 2,000sqm and can hold up to 2,200 people comfortably. The Met prides itself on a high standard of service and appearance with beautiful features such 24ct gold mosaic tiles and luscious seating.
When the club initially opened it was decided to use a hired lighting rig but the club owners became increasingly dissatisfied with the quality and reliability of this rig. Consequently the decision was made this year to purchase their own lighting and Josh Frey, who has serviced their lighting gear from day one, naturally turned to Show Technology.
Show Technology’s Queensland Branch Manager, Adam White, knew exactly which fixtures would be ideal for the venue recommending eight Martin MAC575 Kryptons, four MAC600 washes and a couple of Atomic Strobes.
“The size of these fixtures and the brightness they offer for their size works really well with the room which is quite cavernous,” commented Adam. “More points had to be installed into the room but other than that, the installation was trouble-free and I believe that the client is more than happy.”
Tim Snartt has been operating the lighting at The Met since May, and he was thrilled to walk into the venue just after they had installed a new rig!
“I was really keen to see what the new MAC575's performed,” he said. “Due to the look and feel of the room and the height of the rig, I was mindful that the fixtures would have to be punchy enough to counter the dark walls and floor. I have to say I was impressed with their output. Even when using the really saturated colours, they deliver a great punch.
“I try to create a theatrical style of club lighting and the MAC575’s are versatile enough to let me do that. Both the zoom and iris allow me to get great wide coverage, when required, and then I'm able to quickly turn them into precise narrow beams for special effects. The four-facet prism is something I haven't used before and it just looks amazing.”
Tim finds that using the four-facet prism with some of the line rotating gobos creates some really stand out effects. He also reports that the accuracy and response from the dimmer is spot on, whether he is doing long slow fades or snaps.
“Having the second colour wheel is great, it’s the next best thing to having CMY,” he adds. “It’s got a good range of really warm natural colours to some great icy blues.”
Tim reports that he has only ever had to do maintenance on the fixtures once and they barely ever need a clean.
“I've had some experience doing maintenance on other types of fixtures and it can be pretty painstaking at times, but with the MAC’s it is so simple and takes half the time because of the modular design,” he said. “I couldn't believe how easy it was.
“As for the MAC600's, their output is amazing. Most of the time I have to run them at 50%, but when I want to create a high impact look pushing them to full intensity really allows me to do that. The shutter speed on them is also great. They really let me add another dimension to the look and feel of the room. And the Atomics are always a great effect, especially when I am able to bounce between the two.”
www.showtech.com.au

Oxley College's sustainable new Stadium
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With all the recent political talk about Climate Change and a worldwide focus on reducing carbon emissions and dependence on natural resources, every new construction now faces the complicated challenge of being energy efficient, or as the politicians like to say, being ‘green.’
Such concerns were evident in the design of Oxley College’s new gymnasium. Project Manager for the construction of the building Robert Duncan of the Life Ministry Centre – the Christian church affiliated with the school – is now also Manager of the stadium and states that “Energy Sustainability was a big consideration for the building, even from the early stages of design.”
With the stadium requiring a heavy reliance on Artificial Lighting, the concept of daylight harvesting – using PE sensors to monitor the level of natural light available and dim the artificial lights accordingly - was bought to Robert’s attention at a design meeting with Advanced Lighting Technologies and BRT Consulting, who wanted the new gymnasium to utilise the latest in lighting design and system control.
Lightmoves supplied and commissioned a fully comprehensive daylight harvesting package for the five basketball courts that are illuminated via custom MH High Bay lights. PE Sensors located at the end of each basketball court read the lux levels of the room and dim the special ballast in the High Bay lights via a 0-10v control signal to the appropriate level. Temperature sensors in the stadium roof are programmed to turn the lights off once the temperature hits 40 degrees; the point in which the special ballasts can no longer efficiently operate. The Dynalite Lighting Control System was also responsible for general control of fluorescents in the foyer, toilets and upstairs class rooms, with Stretch Electrics doing the installation.
Dynalite’s own end-user software program Controlsoft with the on-screen ‘Virtual Control Panel’ was used as the primary user interface. The software allows Robert to easily create his own usage schedules, create and adjust preset levels (which include a low-level ‘Cleaners’ preset, which operates early morning) and even access information regarding circuit usage, lamp burn times and fault reports; which assists him in administering and planning scheduled maintenance. 
Even in its infancy, the Oxley College Gymnasium is heavily used with the venue operating seven days a week, including competition on Saturdays and church groups on Sundays. This extensive usage has kept both Robert and the control system fairly busy. “So far, the lighting control system has been running effectively and has easily met our expectations. With the venue used this much, it’s frightening to think how much energy would be wasted running the lights at 100%, seven days a week.”
Dynalite equipment used
3 x DDRC1210 Relay Controllers
3 x DDRC820 Relay Controllers
2 x DDBC1200 HF Ballast Controllers
17 x DLP User Panels
8 x DUS704C Universal Motion Sensors
11 x DUS704w Universal Motion Sensors
6 x DUS704W Universal PE Sensors
2 x DTS900 Temperature Sensors
For more information on Dynalite Lighting Control Systems, please contact Haydn Brennan of Lightmoves on (03) 9701 2500.
www.lightmoves.com.au

LSC system in Sydney club refit
The SoBar Nightclub at Sydney's lower north shore Cremorne Hotel has recently been transformed and reinvented with a AUD $2M fit out by design innovators SJB.
DJW Projects were contracted to undertake the sophisticated audio and lighting install, emphasising their own philosophy of "total integration of all systems." Dave Croxon, DJW's MD, commented: "One of the key issues we had to undertake was selecting a dimming and control system that was easy to use, provide enough useful features and was rock solid and reliable. After evaluating a number of commercially available systems, we chose the LSC EKO wall mount dimmers and e-PLATE wall controllers."
Croxon continued: "I was attracted to the EKO dimmer by the immediate support provided through the integrated touch screen on the front panel. No matter what else was happening in a commercial installation, if there is a problem somewhere, the touch screen lets you go straight to the dimmer and set a channel to 100% so the client has some lights on and the venue continues to operate."
Another key feature that Croxon liked was the separate install frame of the EKO dimmer that allowed him to connect all lighting circuits to the terminals on the frame and test continuity without the actual dimmer being present. Prior to official opening, the dimmers were then connected to the install frames and final commissioning commenced, thus not exposing the dimmer internals and electronics to dust, paint and other particles that play havoc with sensitive equipment during the construction phase.
Croxon concluded: "When integrated with LSC's e-PLATE remote wall controllers, we have provided SoBar with a very simple to use and highly reliable Lighting solution. It was so successful we now have chosen LSC EKO dimmers for a number of our new projects."
www.lsclighting.com.au

Studio Due ArchiLED's for Wests Ashfield Leagues Club
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Wests Ashfield Leagues Club has been busy with a variety of renovations over the past few months including new restaurants and bars. Unfortunately the venue was being let down by it’s all important exterior lighting feature and so this was also revamped.
The previous colour changing lights that were supposed to make a feature of the club’s exterior had became rundown and eventually they had stopped operating. The fixtures they were using had an older style colour change CMY blades system and architectural outdoor rated lighting fixtures. Time has shown that these fixtures require far too much on going maintenance and repair.
Show Technology’s Mark McInnes was approached by Stephen Askins and Greg De Vries of The Saltec Group about this project as the cost for repair of the fixtures was so expensive it had led to the scrapping of the project altogether.
“With the advent of RGBA LED products from Studio Due we were able to completely replace the fittings for the same price as the repair of the existing competitor’s fixtures,” stated Mark. “The Studio Due ArchiLED’s also have many more benefits; a much greater colour spectrum, low heat from the fixture, no lamp changes required, and no moving parts in the fixtures meaning greatly reduced maintenance requirements. Also, being smaller fixtures they were easier to fit and their DMX capability allowed us to use the existing DMX playback system. Plus the club can enjoy greatly reduced power consumption from the LED’s over the discharge lamps.”
A total of seven Studio Due ArchiLED compact yet powerful 3watt LED fixtures were installed. The unit is IP rated to 66 allowing for full outdoor use in all conditions. The face of the unit has a simple touch panel allow us to access preset programs or for DMX address changes. As well as Red, Green and Blue LED’s it also has 1Watt AMBER LED’s. This allows the fixture a greater range of colour output and creates more flexibility in its possible applications.
“The LED fixtures are much more efficient than the older style outdoor blasters, this project is now running off 30% of the power of the previous fixtures, and in today’s environment I think this is really important,” commented Stephen Askins. “The colours available to us, with the added amber LED’s, really allows us to make the display very dynamic. Basically, they’re just a great little light and I believe that Studio Due has nailed it with this one, it’s so easy to use and install.”
www.showtech.com.au

Martin MACs are the perfect teaching tool
Queensland Academy for Creative Industries has been developed in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for high school students wishing to pursue a career in Design and Technology, Media, Film, Music, Theatre Arts, Visual Arts, or one of the emerging creative professions in Business or Industry.
This month the Academy showcases its’ inaugural performance at their new multimillion-dollar theatre venue at 61 Musk Avenue in the Kelvin Grove Urban Precinct. The venue seats around 360 with a multi-format proscenium and adjacent divisible Drama-theatrette teaching space. Architecturally the auditorium started life as a lecture theatre and is buried in the centre of a seven-story complex with the raked slab hard on the bedrock.
Phil Viney, Principal of Brisbane-based Design Stage, who specialise in architectural lighting, theatre and audiovisual system design, was called in fairly late in the design of the project when the decision was made to change the brief.  It proved a challenging task to squeeze a functional theatre into the available building envelope as it was difficult to reclaim any space at all, especially above the stage.
“It is not a big lighting install by any means with only two moving fixtures to complement the traditional stage lighting rig – two Martin MAC600 and two Martin MAC575 Krypton - however it is unusual for moving lights to be included in the initial fit-out due to budget considerations and rare indeed to see any professional models in an educational institution,” commented Steve Beck, Design Stage’s designer for the project. “It’s great to see quality moving lights such as Martin’s appearing in secondary education. The initial fit-out equipment gets them underway and they can expand the rig as required once they settle in. As it is, they are thrilled with the toys they have.”
The Martin MACs were chosen for their industry proven track record. Famous for their reliability, ease of use, fabulous optics and wide-acceptance throughout the country, they are the ideal moving heads with which to learn about lighting.
Brisbane Sound Group provided the fit-out equipment with the AV infrastructure works being carried out by Videopro throughout the entire building.
www.showtech.com.au

Studio Due’s new ArchiLEDs draw attention to Bottle Shop
On any evening of the week the Pacific Highway at Ourimbah is busy with commuters crawling home in their cars or alighting from the train station. After a stressful day at work, a drink if often in order and the Tall Timbers Hotel makes sure that their bottle shop is not overlooked with the recent introduction of dramatic colour-changing lighting.
The Studio Due ArchiLED was chosen for its simple stand-alone control, its super bright output and its long term, maintenance free operation achieved through LED technology and its stainless steel body.
“The customer wanted a simple ‘turn-key’, long lasting and reliable lighting solution to attract attention to his bottle shop," explained Mish Bosnjak from Sydney-based hire and install company Nitezone. "The concept is fairly simple in this application, to attract attention and get the locals talking; this install just puts our clients venue into the front of peoples minds be it stopping off for a beer from work or to grab some "take-aways" on the way home."
“I needed an outdoor fixture that didn’t need much power and would not get too hot especially as the building is quite old. LED’s were the obvious answer and once Darren McLanders from Show Technology had showed me the new Studio Due ArchiLED, I knew it was the right product and the owner loved them. It worked out perfectly particularly as they don’t need a controller and have all the required presets inside. The results are really good and they do exactly what the customer wanted them to do.”
www.showtech.com.au

Coolangatta Hotel lights up
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The iconic Coolangatta Hotel has received a much awaited make-over, transforming the venue into a chic beachside setting and making it part of the modern day Coolangatta streetscape. The once dark and disjointed venue is now an open air space with indoor/outdoor bar and dining areas, live entertainment spaces, a night club, a pool room, a sports bar, as well as TAB and gaming facilities.
JVG Sound Lighting & Visual were responsible for lighting, audio and visuals in the venue. JVG’s General Manager, Jade Golar, states “The install was done over three months, with a big team of guys doing long hours. It was done in three stages; the gaming room and Cuddy’s Bar and Nightclub first and then the public bar, bistro, tab followed by the live venue upstairs.”
Lighting in Cuddy’s Bar consists of 2 White and 8 Black Robe ColorSpot 170ATs, which are controlled via a touch screen running the E:Cue Programmer through the E:Cue Twilight Excite DMX to PC interface. Golar states that 170’s were selected for Cuddy’s Bar because, “In parts there are low ceilings, so we needed a small fixture that could provide high output. The 170’s have a tidy profile, nice clean beam and great output for a 150W fixture”. E:Cue has been used to set up pre-programmed profiles to allow the lights to be used to create different moods in the bar depending on the event or time of day.
The public bar also has moving lights in the form of four iMove 250 Spots and four iMove 250 washes as well as twelve SDV PAR56 stubbies. Golar states that the iMove’s were selected for this part of the venue as “they provide a very versatile, low cost moving light option”. The iMove’s are required to serve several functions, including wash for the whole venue, various looks for bands and dj’s, and general stage lighting for functions and presentations. Twenty presets have been programmed to enable the bar staff to change the lighting through the touch of a button.
The hotel has extensive feature lighting throughout all sections of the venue. JVG worked closely with the architect on this aspect, creating lighting effects that provide a warm and inviting feel throughout the venue. In the Public Bar, the front bar is lit with Acme ColorFusion LED Strip and the ice wells behind the bar are filled with IP68 rated Anolis Outdoor 6 RGB LED. The gaming area, which includes its own bar and lounge, features a fiberoptic star ceiling and Anolis Micro LED RGB strips in all cove ceilings with Anolis Micro 270 transformers.
The revitalization of the Coolangatta Hotel has been the largest audiovisual install on the southern Gold Coast, and has truly helped re-establish the Coolangatta Hotel as a premier entertainment venue.
www.ula.com.au

Lighthouse Distribution Lights Up ANZ Stadium
State of Origin legends Laurie Daley and Wally Lewis have inaugurated the new ANZ Stadium signage that will light up the Stadium’s eastern and western grandstand exteriors.
Daley and Lewis featured in a Nine Network ‘Footy Show’ presentation that included the giant signage lighting up for the first time.
The signs are 42 metres x 9 metres and feature the biggest letters of any illuminated signage in Australia at 3.9 metres tall. Hollywood-style spotlights showcase the high-tech LED signage, which uses half the energy of a comparable neon sign.
The first phase saw Lighthouse Distribution provide fixtures for a temporary installation of one sign for the Inauguration on the Footy Show. Lighthouse provided eight DTS Delta LED Projectors, which produced a vivid blue wash over the ANZ sign and four Clay Paky Mini Scan HP3s to create the spotlight effect.
The second phase involves the permanent installation of the fixtures. An additional eight Delta LED Projectors will be added to the sign on the Eastern side of the stadium. Also, the Mini Scan HP3s will be replaced by four Clay Paky Alpha 300 Beams on each sign. Each night visitors will see the ANZ sign shining brightly, with the spotlights used for major events, such as the upcoming State of Origin.
The DTS Delta’s are IP65 rated LED providing the perfect weatherproof low power solution. The Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300 produces a super concentrated near parallel light beam. It produces a “long throw” that will break through stage washers and LEDs, making it the ideal moving light beam for live professional use. It is also a low power option with a 300W lamp that produces three times the brightness when compared with an ordinary 1200W projector.
“The new ANZ Stadium signage creates a quite majestic aura as you approach the Stadium,” said ANZ Stadium CEO, Ken Edwards.
“The Hollywood-style spotlights add that sense of occasion that comes with a big event. The signage looks sensational and I’m sure it will make an impact on all the fans that come to our venue, starting with the big Origin crowd.”
The honour of officially hitting the button went to Laurie Daley after Maroons great Wally Lewis deferred to the former NSW Blues captain, who played his last Origin game at the Stadium in 1999.
“The Stadium has hosted some of the most famous sporting occasions in Australia’s history,” said Daley.
“And the venue has special memories for me from the last Origin game I played. We won, so the memories are great.”
The new signage, constructed and installed by Claude Neon, completes the re-branding of the venue that became ANZ Stadium on 1 January this year.
ANZ Bank signed Australia’s biggest stadium naming rights agreement worth $4.5 million annually and $31.5 over the seven-year term.
www.lighthousedistribution.com.au

Pro Shop LED fixtures go Underground
Sydney’s Civic Hotel has opened a new venue - Civic Underground, an intimate and trendy nightclub that has gone back to the basics: top DJs, a strong door policy and stunning décor along with state-of-the-art sound and lighting.
The club, formerly known as the Civic Theatre, an original cabaret and live rock venue, has been refurbished, upgrading its sound system and adding a range of cool installments including white plush seating. This innovative interior design has now created a relaxed and sophisticated atmosphere.
The Civic Hotel has always had a deep passion for music and it is thus no surprise that the hotel’s adoration of house music and late night disco has been the party gateway for thousands of people. The Underground will occasionally host a number of live acts, including several Australian acts such as Ajax, Potbelleyz and the Presets.
Luke Everingham from Everingham Audio has a solid reputation for supplying and installing audio into venues and when he was contracted to do Civic Underground he knew he’d have to also have top quality lighting. Straight away he turned to Show Technology for quality lighting, quality advice and quality pricing.
The venue already had a variety of Martin lighting including MiniMACs and CX4 which they were keen to retain as they had given the venue years of reliable service. However the par cans on the stage just had to go as, with a low ceiling, they were frying the artists! Show Technology had a simple answer in the form of LED strips fifteen of which are used to light the stage. As well as running cool, their low profile gives the audience better sightlines.
“The LED strips are about one and a half metres from centre stage with a continuous row across the front of the stage as well as a row stage left and right to provide a side wash,” explained Mark McInnes from Show Technology. “It’s great because they don’t need to change gels or run them off dimmer channels – they can just run it all off their control system via DMX. The back of the stage is dressed in white vinyl to match the rest of the décor and the reflective qualities of the vinyl from the LED strips are fabulous.”
The trusty MiniMACs and CX4’s had been installed at the venue for eight years and so were given a bit of a makeover in the form of a thorough cleaning and new lamps to ensure they lasted several more years.
The mood lighting in the venue provides a euphoric experience. LED strips stream across the dance floor and the white walls of the club, creating a vibrant interplay of subdued light and shadows. The colours are reflected by several disco balls hanging above the dance floor and cast hypnotic flashes of light onto the dancers.
A strip of red LED Neon Flex light lining the bar casts red hues onto a row of spacious white booths. The ceiling, illuminated by 28 Pro Shop LED square panels which continuously change colour, further enhances the club’s already sensual and seductive surroundings.
www.showtech.com.au

P&O Pacific Sun Cruiser Prefers Pulsar
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Grayboy Entertainment has enjoyed a long association with the cruise industry acting as producers, consultants, event coordinators, and agents for a number of domestic and international organisations. One company they regularly work with is P & O Cruises and their latest commission was to design two fantastic shows for the popular Pacific Sun’s showroom. The resulting shows, Music, Music, Music and Cinematastic, have been lauded as the best yet.
A totally new set was needed that could cater to both productions and set designer Justin Green turned his creative thoughts towards LEDs.
“I’ve used Pulsar LEDs, including ChromaBattens, on a previous cruise ship and I loved them,” said Justin. “I was looking for something new to play around with and had a good look on the internet. I had a chat with Mark McInnes from Show Technology and he suggested a few ideas including the ChromaPanels. Once I realised what they could do, I thought they were a great option.”
Consequently the backdrop for both of the productions is designed around the use of sixty Pulsar ChromaPanels controlled by six ChromaZone PS12 units and supplied by Chameleon.
“Originally Grayboy were spending an enormous amount of money on soft LED cloth for the backdrops but the results, in my point of view, were quite poor,” commented Justin. “With 100 mm spacing between the LEDs you needed to be a mile back before you got any resolution out of it! On any one cruise you can have five different shows running so you need something that can give you variety.
“What I love about the ChromaPanels is that you can use them subtly or you can be really gaudy with them to create lots of different effects. The idea behind this installation was to create a tiled background that we could treat as a cyclorama if we wanted to by warming them all the same colour or, at the other end of the scale we could do a full Saturday Night Fever dance floor effect.”
To achieve a successful wall of colour the LED panels need to consistently provide extreme evenness of colour and colour consistency across all of the fittings; something which is hard to find in less professional panels. Whilst their low power consumption was not a huge attraction to Grayboy, the fact that they run so cool was a big draw card.
Justin is currently working on a third show to be produced in front of the Pulsar ChromaPanel wall and he has enjoyed discovering the different ways in which the wall can be altered.
“With the last show I did, I put a lot of perspex in front of the wall with silhouette cut-outs so that the wall was used subtly to create things like sunrises,” he said. “Gavan Swift was responsible for the lighting of the production – I come up with ideas as to what I would like the lighting to do whilst Gavan is the brains behind the fiddly parts, programming and getting different effects. Gavan has such a bank of knowledge and he has used LEDs extensively in the past. He can always come up with a bright idea in a flourish.”
“The ChromaPanels look great, my client is very happy with the product and the difference they have made to the look of the showroom in general and more specifically the two new shows we put on board,” added Gavan.
www.showtech.com.au

Anolis is a Star at The Casino!
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Anolis LED fixtures are illuminating a stunning key water feature at the entrance to Sydney’s Star City Casino.
The installation is the first of its type in Australia to integrate Anolis in this very specific way, and was designed by a leading Sydney-based water feature specialist.
The Anolis products were supplied by the brand’s Australian distributor, ULA, for whom the project was overseen by Con Nomikos from the Sydney office. It is the first of a series of water features in and around the Star City complex that will be lit or re-lit with Anolis.
The prime position of this fountain at the entrance of the Casino is designed to make people stop and look before being enticed up the steps and through the portals onto the gaming floor, so it was essential that it was bright, lively and eye-catching.
The circular shaped fountain encompasses three concentric circles of Anolis. There is a sphere of 20 cold white ArcSource 3s on the outside, and two tiers of ArcSource 12 RGBs in the centre, totalling 12 fixtures. The lights are run via an E:cue controller, triggered, along with flame effects and the fountain jets via a ShowMagic show control system.
The fountain’s designer Robert Portocarrero explains, “This is our first LED lit work, although we have been considering using the technology for some time – for all the obvious practical reasons – power and energy saving, low maintenance and cost-effectivity. Additionally, the Anolis colours and the quality of the light are really excellent, so there’s plenty of imaginative scope, and the product is robust and very well made. It is the perfect solution all round”.
This water feature cycles through and runs a 7 minute show which also includes flames and an audio track, during which time 40,000 litres of water is pumped around the system. In the show, the jets - which are programmed into many different formations - shimmer, sparkle and refract the light, creating some great colour mixes and some unusual aberrations.
The Casino is so impressed with the spectacular results of the entrance fountain’s lighting, that Anolis has now been specified to replace the current lightsources in all 14 of the complex’s water features.
The client is also looking into upgrading its various other city centre fountain sites with Anolis.
www.anolis.eu
www.ula.com.au

LED’s and Effect lighting find a Home
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Last year Home, Australia's largest nightclub situated in Sydney’s busy Darling Harbour, revamped its’ lighting system calling upon Jands to manage the project. Jands then called upon Show Technology to supply a large amount of LED lighting as well as effects lighting to the entire venue.
Supplementary lighting for different elements was very important to the owner Simon Page and he worked very closely with Show Technology to ensure the best effect for different areas of the venue.  Furthermore Simon believes strongly in linking these areas together to ensure that the walk from one to another does not escape the overall effect. 
”It is always a different roll working with Simon; he is very creative and comes up with some really interesting ways use the gear,” commented Darren McLanders of Show Technology. “We had to work hard to stay ahead and ensure his ideas were in fact possible.”
In the main room, a supplementary LED Video system was required for the main focal point behind the DJ/Stage area; a matrix of Pro Shop LED Video Panels was sourced for this application. With their ultra bright output and 31mm pixel pitch, they were ideal for this location. Their output cuts easily over the moving lights in the venue as videos and visuals are displayed, fed from an ArKaos media server system; these numerous visualizations are at the lighting operators finger tips.
To compliment the video wall, there are about 150 Pro Shop LED DMX tubes placed around like a border and a continuation of the LED Video Screen. These are operated from the LED Mapping extension of the ArKaos media server package and signal is distributed to them via some ELC Ethernet distribution nodes. These offer a visual extension to the LED Wall as the visualization or video that is playing on the wall also appears on the tubes as a more abstract and low resolution images that wrap around the dance floor and draw your eye to the focal point of the stage.
The newly designed and located bar in this main room now features LED Strips set into the shelving to under light the spirit bottles. On the front of the bar there are also evenly spaced Pulsar ChromaMR16’s featuring the front face of the bar set from the overhang of the bar top. The ChromaMR16’s and LED Strips are controlled by a Pulsar OutStation simple wall panel controller.
Another great feature on the ground level is the abstract installation of LED Strips facing the main entrance to the venue. These are hung on abstract angles and positions in an area that would normally be very dark and boring. Their ultra bright output creates a slow colour changing effect shooting along the curved entrance way; once you enter the doorway and as you walk around this bend you are faced with a blinding glow of strips directing you vision upwards, immediately demanding your attention to the venue you have just entered.
Home features many little corridors, platforms and stairways that need an interest of their own, Martin effects were chosen for these applications due to their reliability and long operating life. The Martin oil effect, the Mania DC3 is used in more applications where as Martin Ego effects are used for more dynamic
applications in other stairwells and corridors.
Further to the main areas and corridors, the smaller side rooms and chill out areas benefit further from extra LED fittings set to closely follow the theme of each room. “The Box” for example is a small tucked away room that features walls and ceilings that are lined in yellow and black checker patterns, it is a small room aimed at a harder kind of dance. Its only lighting is numerous LED Strips shining parallel to the ceiling, across the faces of dancers in the middle of the room; perfect for the darker and dirty tracks played here.
The “Top Bar” features some Martin Mania EFX700’s, Martin Ego’s and a number of Pro Shop LED 4-Way Panels mounted on the walls around the room and behind the DJ. The EFX units provide punchy beam effects over the dance floor while the panels provided interesting chases, colour and movement around the room and highlight for the DJ. The panels are very versatile as they are also used for theming and branding when the room is hired for the night; a simple layer of semi transparent film creates an interesting back lit sign.
Other rooms around the venue also feature LED Strips, LED MultiPAR’s and Martin Effects to create different effects and themes.
The former front Home Bar also received a facelift and rejuvenated lighting look; newly named “Tokio Hotel” creates a larger sense of space in the bar along with sleeker furnishings for a far more modern feel. LED Strips are used in the shelves behind the bar her as well. Pulsar ChromaMR16’s are used in custom built mirror cubes. Designed by Simon, these cubes feature a Pulsar MR16 unit on each visible face, 5 per cube, perfect for control via the Chormazone as each 5 ChromaMR16’s can be wired together within each cube and cabled back to the ChromaZone under a single 5 core cable.
www.showtech.com.au

Robe at the Mentone Hotel
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A Robe DigitalSpot 5000 DT, two ColorSpot 575E ATs and 42 Anolis ArcSource LED down-lighting fixtures have been installed at the Mentone Hotel in Melbourne.
The Mentone is a busy venue in close proximity to the beach of the same name, located in one of Melbourne’s most desirable suburbs. It’s owned by Open Door Pubs, one of Australia’s best known pub chains, and lighting, sound and AV was designed and supplied by Adam Dullens of Pulse Audio Visual. After the initial installation, Dullens was asked to specify a flexible visual solution to liven up the upstairs floor for their popular Wednesday disco evenings, which sees first floor regularly  packed to its 700 capacity.
Dullens has used Robe products for some time including for several other Open Door sites and states, “Robe is a fantastic brand. It’s always my first choice for anywhere needing ‘professional’ lighting kit”.
The Mentone was initially considering an LED screen display for the upstairs to create a banner effect around the walls of the quirkily shaped landing, which forms the main dance floor. However, when Robe launched its DigitalSpot was launched, Dullens realised this was the “perfect” fixture for providing visuals which could be changed, manipulated and moved around the space.
He then added the two ColorSpot 575s for additional wall and ceiling colour washing, movement effects and gobo patterns. They were specifically picked for the frost filter which enables them to produce great wash effects as well as gobo projection, along with a Robe Haze 400 FT hazer.
To lift the dark corners and spots around the space, he added the Anolis ArcSource 3’s, which are dotted around where needed. This includes a row of fixtures down-lighting from the ceiling of the exterior balcony running along Beach Road, which can be clearly seen from along the road and act as a beacon attracting attention to the Mentone.
The pub’s owners were initially sceptical about using LEDs, but have been so impressed by the effects and performance of the Anolis units that Dullens has already spec’d them for another of their venues.
www.ula.com.au

The Three Wise Monkeys get wise with Pro Shop and Martin
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From 1886 until 1998 the Three Wise Monkeys public house, a building that is an excellent example of Victorian Italianate Architecture, had always been a bank. It transformed into an entertainment destination in September 2000 in time for the Sydney Olympic Games.
The design is dominated by a curved corner pediment of the Three Wise Monkeys and is heritage listed. Last year the owners decided that the venue required a facelift and consequently a soft-refurbishment including new carpets and wall finishes was carried out. The owners were also keen to change the supplier of their permanent-hire lighting and audio equipment approaching Revolver Audio to do so.
The venue consists of three bars over three levels with the top floor catering for live music every night of the week. The band plays three sets and in between the sets, a Nightlife DJ system is cranked up.
“The owners wanted to bring the venue up to date in terms of lighting and audio,” explained Lee Conlon, managing director of Revolver Audio. “There were some really old moving lights in here previously and they didn’t have the required brightness to make the room fresh.”
In line with many of cities more progressive music venues, Lee was very keen to use LED stage lighting mainly because of the amount of colours an LED system can offer.
”LED fixtures are so much easier than using a fixed white Par Can with gel!” he said. “Let’s face it – the venue has to have a future and the future is LED. It’s an obvious thing to change colour on stage anyway and you get a greater effect for a lot less lights. The ability to colour change gives you so many advantages.”
Lee turned to Show Technology for his LED requirements ordering four Pro Shop LED strips, four Pro Shop LED PAR56, and five Pro Shop LED MultiPAR.
Lee put a lot of effort into the stage lighting; something previous suppliers had tended to let lapse. He found that the use of LED fixtures made the stage look bigger and consequently expanded the size of the room.
“Everybody is amazed at how bright the LED Pars are,” stated Lee. “They’re so bright they shine right out of the windows down onto the street which is a good advertisement for the venue! We’re very happy with them.”
Lee also supplied an array of dance floor lighting including six Martin SCX600, two Martin EFX800 and a Martin Magnum 800 Fog Machine. The Mania SCX600 is an exceptionally powerful scanner that can create a multitude of brilliant effects whilst the Mania EFX800 delivers a broad sweeping flower effect. In fact the light output has an amazing 170 degree spread which rotates and sweeps - wider than any flower effect light in its class, which means you can cover more space with fewer fixtures.
“The Martin Manias haven’t given us any trouble and do everything that they say they do,” commented Lee. “They’re incredibly reliable. In here it gets pretty dusty so we make sure the filters are regularly cleaned to keep them working well.”
The venue employs a lighting operator for five nights of the week whilst Lee supplies one for the other two nights. Maurice Marse is the operator employed by the venue and he is ecstatic with the variations he can now achieve with a LED rig on stage.
“The LEDs have been working very efficiently since they’ve been put in and their effect is amazing,” he said. “They can completely illuminate the room on their own if you want them to. Their capability of switching from one sequence to another is amazing. They deliver a lot more out-come for what you’re operating compared to the old rig.”
www.showtech.com.au

Crown Christmas Happy Tube Spectacular
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Crown’s Christmas Spectacular is starting to become a Melbourne Christmas Institution, which is seen by hundreds of thousands patrons over the eight weeks the free automated sound, light and animation show runs each year.
To keep things fresh and different each year approximately 1/3 of the set is replaced. This year it was time to replace the old LED festoon system, which had adorned the roof for the past three years.
Creative Stylist and design guru for Crown Casino, Christian Wagstaff wanted a new lighting based feature to create a canopy in the oval shaped atrium. Together with Lighting Designer, Richard Grenfell of BLOW Productions and Production Manager, Mel Robertson of Melanco they brainstormed many ideas using all sorts of products and eventually came up a dome canopy made out of Pro Shop DMX LED Tubes. Along the way other concepts of spirals, nets and solid roofs were discussed and modelled but were discounted due to cost, rigging complexities and design flaws.
“One major consideration was that the whole structure was to be built, rigged and commissioned over a three night period, as we were working in a public space and that other large existing set pieces still had to be set up underneath it,” remarked Richard Grenfell. “Whilst being aware of the similarities between our design and the video of Lenny Kravitz’s “Are you going my way?” it was not a conscious decision we made to copy the 20-year-old classic.”
Once a concept was agreed upon, Alistair Fleming was engaged as the set designer to make sure the structure would look good and Tim Hall of Resolution X was brought on board to oversee bringing the concept to reality.
The concept was then presented to executives at Crown to get the funding. To help convey the idea Richard modelled the concept in WYSIWYG and placed it into our virtual 3D computer model of the atrium and wrote some cues and sequences. These cues were made into movies, which were edited together with a soundtrack and dumped onto a DVD. This enabled the executives to see what they were spending their money on. It was also valuable in working out what sort of ideas would be worth displaying on our low-res video screen and what wouldn’t.
For those who have not seen it, the canopy is made out of approximately 440 “Happy Tubes” or to give them their correct name Pro Shop DMX LED Tubes. These tubes are suspended on 96 cables running between a 2.5 metre truss ring Crown already owned and an 18 metre diameter circular tri-truss ring, which after a few difficulties was supplied by Browns Welding. The tubes are spaced a metre apart on the cables and the cables alternate between having 4 or 5 tubes on them.
As the DMX LED Tubes are spaced one metre apart, Crown purchased custom made tubes with an extra metre of cable on them so the whole system could be set up without the need of any extra extension cables which would be a weak link in the long term reliability of the system. Whilst things were being customised, the metal work was painted black and black cables were supplied so the canopy would blend into the back ground when not being used.
All the control equipment is located in the ceiling to simplify maintenance issues as the centre circular truss hub was beyond the reach of a scissor lift and would require a boom lift hired in to fix things.
To keep things neat and to simplify cabling issues, well on the canopy anyway, each cable of DMX LED Tubes was run from its own DMX line from a data splitter. This “simplification” resulted in a cable pack of about 120 power and data cables running into the roof.
Andrew Arney from Resolution X looked after construction and installation of the system. The tubes were tested, spaced out precisely in a custom built jig, addressed and attached to there supporting cables at Res X’s factory before the installation. All this effort meant that the tubes could be installed overnight one night and plugged together and commissioned the next. He did a fantastic job, which meant the system worked perfectively as soon as it was turned on.
A conscious design decision was made very early on that a canopy was required to display distinctive and highly graphical content rather than more organic fluid images seen in other media server driven applications and as a result it was possible to run the tubes in a lower resolution. This meant the system could be run from only 12-13 universes of DMX not the 50 or so it would take to run it in a high-resolution mode.
Once the system had been designed, control for it had to be decided upon as it’s no good to have spent an awful lot of money on the hardware and none on the content displayed on it.
Initially and up until 8-9 days before opening, it was going to be driven by a Hippotiser V2 media server running custom made content made in Flash.
“Unfortunately the media conversion from FLASH to video (a problem with Flash rather than the Hippo) was not as successful as hoped and we were left with the dilemma of do we spend 3-4 days trying other conversion methods to save a couple of months of media creation and risk having the same problems with 4 days till opening or ditch the work we had done to date and change the control system,” explained Richard.
After a lot of deliberation, the control system was changed to a MA Lighting grandMA running three NSP nodes to get the necessary control channels.
The layout display mode of the grandMA actually made the change quick and simpler than anticipated. Being able to select each of the 1800 or so LED fixtures via a touch screen saved a lot of time.
“So much so that when the system was set up and laid out all fixture selections were made via the touch screens rather than trying to figure out what fixture numbers were required to make the 600 or so individual groups we made to make our shows sequences,” added Richard. “Once the system was changed over and a couple of 10-hour days on the console we had the system working with all our old content replicated. Whilst we lost some of softness of the previous control system the pixel perfect accuracy we were now achieving made up for it.”
It should be noted that only two of the eighty or so sequences used in the show were created with an effects engine. Most were created with lots of steps or single cues with multiple delays entered by hand, group by group (rather than the quicker fanned delays) built into them to get the precision required.
Once the sequences were made, the grandMA made it a simple process to sync them up to Time code, which triggers the cues and sequences.
“Thanks should also go to Vince Haddad of Show Technology who helped answer many seemly simple and obvious questions, which came up during programming,” commented Richard.
For the tech heads out there the control system for the LED Canopy ended up being 1 x grandMA lite console (a full size was used for programming) 3 x grandMA NSP nodes, 2 x Enttec Data gates, 13 x Jands DD8 data splitters and 3 x 3 phase distribution boards.
On top of this the house system was also used (looked after by Bytecraft Special Effects) of 3 x Whole Hog 2’s, 70 x Cyberlights, 120 x Dataflash, 5 x Golden Scan 2’s, AR-500’s, numerous conventional source 4 profiles and par cans to light and control the rest of the show.
The Hog 2’s also are used to trigger the automation in the show which includes, a carousel, pneumatic reindeers and big top, ballerinas, flip-jacks, mirror trees, show girl marionettes, fairies, elves and even Santa.
All this equipment is triggered by time code by a Tascam DA 88, which has seven tracks of surround audio on it as well.
“In the end we would like to think that Lenny would like this new colour interpretation of his 20 year old classic,” said Richard.
If you would like to see the free show, it runs every 30 mins from 10 am to midnight everyday to January 6th, 2008 and can be found in the atrium at Crown Casino, Melbourne.
Photos: Peter Casamento
www.blowproductions.com.au
www.resolutionx.com.au

Robe & Anolis - The Perfect Cocktail
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Robe moving lights and Anolis architectural LED fixtures have been installed into Cocktails & Dreams, an iconic club/pub venue in Surfers Paradise.
The installation – carried out by JVG Sound, Lighting & Visual – is part of a lighting upgrade being undertaken at the popular nightclub.
The Cocktails & Dreams dancefloor has been completely revamped lighting wise, and now features 7 Robe ColorSpot 250E ATs, 2 ColorWash 250E ATs and 6 ColorSpot 170 ATs - supplied by ULA.
The venue was challenged for ceiling height, particularly over the raised dancefloor area explains JVG’s General Manager Jade Golar, so he was looking for compact and neatly sized fixtures that would not take up much space or intrude. In terms of aesthetics, he also wanted to offer the clubs lighting controllers a greater choice of colour and gobo effects than had been available in the past, and to generally give the whole lighting rig a more contemporary and NOW look and feel.
Golar has been specifying Robe for about 4 years, so there was no question about what brand he would choose. “The brightness of the AT Series is fantastic” he declares “And the 170s and 250s were really perfect for the application”.
He adds that he knows the Robe products really well, and that he receives great support from ULA. JVG is also a warranty repair agency for Robe, so keeps a good stock of spares – not that they are needed very often!
In addition to functioning as a busy club, Cocktails & Dreams also hosts model searches and corporate events, so the new rig also had to be ultra- flexible.
The dancefloor lighting is controlled by an E:cue system which was also supplied to JVG by ULA.
In the main seating booth and lounge area to the left of the dancefloor, Anolis ArcSource3 LED downlighters have been installed to bathe the walls in light. Adding lighting has completely transformed this area, previously rather dark and cold, into a warm, inviting and intimate chill-out space.
Anolis ArcSource 6 warm white LED downlighters have been utilised in the DJ box. “They provide a very economic and practical solution that looks great” says Golar. In addition to this, he specified Anolis ArcLine 24 LED strips to illuminate the spirit rack in the VIP bar.
All the Anolis fixtures are controlled via the E:cue and also triggered via Crestron touch screens located at each of the venue’s bars.
The new lighting installation has been a massive and instant hit with the 900 capacity club’s owners and guests alike, with news of the “great light-show” travelling fast around the area!
www.ula.com.au

Empire Hotel chooses LED stage set up
One of Sydney’s most iconic live music venues The Empire Hotel in Annandale has been renovated and expanded whilst maintaining its live roots.
The live music room underwent major changes in its layout particularly with the relocation of the bar and stage. Avsound Productions were contracted to supply a full refit of the hotels distributed audio system and a redesign and recycling of as much of the entertainment equipment as possible.
Whilst much of the entertainment audio was recycled, the venue required a full lighting upgrade. Because there wasn’t enough power to run the existing incandescent lighting and also because they had a limited budget, David recommended a LED stage lighting. As a result a state of the art LED lighting system from Show Technology comprising of eight MultiPAR lamps for the front wash and eight LED Par64 plus two GigaLEDs for side wash. Control is a Studio Due Control 5.
“We picked the Control 5 for a few reasons,” commented David. “It was new on Show Technology’s inventory, it had more functionality than some other controllers at the same price, and it also controls moving heads better. We weren’t sure at the time of specifying whether or not we would have the option to put a moving head over the dance floor. The Control 5 is proving to be what will be our standard install controller for any installation over $30,000 of lighting. It’s a beauty – even I can use it and I’m a sound guy!”
According to David, the LED fixtures look absolutely fantastic delivering good colour and brightness.
“They give the operator a lot of ability to create variation with their shows,” he said. “They also add an income stream to the venue owners as they’re great for band videos or picture shoots because the reds aren’t going to be grainy and the blues aren’t going to be washed out.”
www.showtech.com.au

All Shape and Colour at JWCCA
The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts is a cutting-edge venue which incorporates a 300-seat performance space, modern art gallery, a screening room and multifunctional rehearsal spaces.
In 2007 the main foyer of the centre underwent a major facelift with the installation of colour changing fixtures and a comprehensive control solution.
Lighting technician and operator Keith Clark has been with the centre for four years and was instrumental in the refurbishment and comments, “Originally we had fluorescent down lights and the atmosphere was cold and stark. We wanted to make the foyer more colourful and to represent the shows that were going on inside, so that the whole ‘theatre experience’ begins the moment you enter the lobby.
Steering the whole lighting system is the new Lighting Playback Controller from Pharos Architectural Controls. This compact architectural controller, distributed in Australia by LSC Lighting Systems provides fast, intuitive control for lighting, audio and video, making it ideal for use in architectural installations.
“Architectural controllers can be quite confusing, especially when it comes to timelines and triggers, but the Pharos controller was straightforward” comments Keith. “From start to finish it was simple to program and easy to use.”
To toggle between lighting shows Keith installed LSC’s 8 button ePlates as the everyday user interface. The ePlates are remote wall station controllers that operate by recalling the pre-programmed shows on the Lighting Playback Controller.
“When we want a specific lighting scheme to match what will be playing in the theatre for example, or if we want to just flash the lights to let the people know the show is about to begin, the e-Plates provide a simple control for the front of house manager to use on call with confidence.”
In choosing the right control system for the centre, Keith says that price was a major consideration, but after installation it became much more than that. “It is a very affordable system, but another major plus with the Lighting Playback Controller is that it’s so fast to program and you do not need a dedicated computer. Once it’s programmed the system is stand alone. It also has preset settings which are great. If you have banks of LED fixtures you can get some great looks without trying to hard.”
A full demonstration of the Lighting Playback Controller and other Pharos controllers will be available at the upcoming ENTECH tradeshow, on the LSC stand. (Sydney, 11-13 Feb 2008, Stand #B28). Visit www.lsclighting.com.au for more information.

Pro Shop LED solution for major live venue
The Oxford Art Factory is a brand new Warholian arts and performance space located in trendy Darlinghurst, Sydney. The 600 capacity venue hosts local and international talent in the art and music world. The two room basement venue has an industrial feel to it with exposed brickwork and commissioned graffiti-style artwork.
Mark Hammer was contracted to design the lighting for the venue with Avsound Productions supplying and installing the gear. Mark’s primary concern was the limited power in the building but fortunately Show Technology had the answer in the form of their Pro Shop LED lighting.
“Every day we kept getting less and less power!” said Mark. “The initial brief was not for a nightclub look but a live venue so we wanted to give the place live venue options. The whole building is run off one main feed so power was a big issue. We started out with one 3 phase outlet, as in 32 amps, but they kept adding things such as video gear and moving screens and it all went onto our power.”
Mark decided upon twenty-three Pro Shop LED Strip with 35 degree beam placed around the room and on the stage as well as twenty-four Pro Shop High Output LED PAR64 cans for the stage.
”I placed the LED strips around the room as well so that we can have the entire room lit up rather than just the stage,” explained Mark. “The LED PARs are great, very punchy. The trim height on the stage is quite low so we wanted something that had punch, spread, and colour options but it was important that it did not give out heat. The Pro Shop LED PARs were ideal. We use them for specials, front pick-ups and a few different looks from the Strips.
“The more we played with the Strips the more we could see what we could get out of them with different effects. That’s the good thing with these LED products – you’re not limited to a few PAR cans which no one can bother changing the colour of. Sit down and have a play with a system like this and you’ll come up with heaps of looks.”
The venue owner wanted a system that was as low maintenance as possible and the LED fixtures offer that.
Also used are four Martin MX-10 moving mirror lights which are situated above the dance floor from where they can do front specials, gobo washes over the drapes and stage as well as dance floor effects. They can also light around the room and pick up the DJ.
“They’re a true multi-functional piece of equipment,” commented Mark. “Again, they’re nice and bright for this situation. I thought they’d combine well with the LEDs and compliment the whole system so you didn’t have anything that was too screamingly bright.”
Martin Light Jockey DMX Control Software was chosen to control the lighting, a choice that was budget driven and Mark hopes to upgrade with some of the extra functions such as a touch screen or a Finger system soon.
“It’s set up so that we can get some basic looks in so that during the day the owner can cycle through a few scenes – hit the go button and away it goes – whilst at night an operator can use it for the live music,” said Mark.
www.showtech.com.au

Anolis at Melbas
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Anolis LED fixtures have been specified and installed for an interior lighting scheme at the new lounge/gaming area of Melbas in Surfers Paradise – one of the highest profile entertainment hot-spots on Australia’s Gold Coast.
The project was undertaken by VenuTech – who have previously installed Anolis and Robe fixtures into the bar, restaurant and night club at Melbas as well as into many other venues in the area.
The aim of Melba’s new lounge area is to provide a classy space fusing elements of neoclassical and contemporary design in which guests can relax and chill out … whilst indulging in a spot of game playing if they wish.
The low ceilinged roof features several large recessed Romanesque style frescoes, which contain a lot of detail and have been painstakingly decorated with inset gold leaf work. There is also an eye-catching marbled acrylic fronted bar which is internally lit, along with the spirit shelves behind it.
The lighting scheme was designed by Tony Dowthwaite of TDLD, a high profile lighting design company, and VenuTech’s Mick James.
Dowthwaite – who has also used Anolis products on previous projects - had originally contemplated using neon to illuminate the frescos. However tests revealed that it would be difficult to get sufficient output to do this properly, and so he consulted James and they looked into using LED. It was equally as important not to over-light the delicate frescoes.
They asked Anolis’s Australian distributor ULA for their help in finding a solution to get exactly the right quality of lighting ensconced into the recesses to emphasise the frescos properly.
ULA came up with custom made cool white, warm white and amber Anolis ArcLink 3 fixtures  – the tungsten tint of the ‘warm’ white combined with the richer and denser amber tones are tempered by the coolness and crispness of the cool white to make a perfect combination of hue and texturing for highlighting the gold leaf work.
Anolis first produced a choice of cool white, warm white and amber prototypes which were installed and tested to see if they achieved the desired effect. The final combination was selected by owner, local entrepreneur Paul Allan.
Once the best combination was identified, over 120 of these special fixtures were made to order at the Anolis factory in the Czech Republic. “This is one of the beauties of dealing direct with the manufacturer” explains ULA’s Blair Terrace ….. “Tailor made options and solutions can be constructed efficiently and easily”.
The Anolis ArcLink 3s are programmed into an E:cue controller and mixed in exactly the right quantities.
The front of the 70 metre bar is lit with 6 Anolis ArcLine 36 RGB strips embedded behind its fascia, and the bottle shelves are also lit with ArcLine 36s.
Paul Allan also owns another nightclub and restaurant, both of which feature Anolis and Robe. Melbas is one of the longest running venues on the Gold Coast, and something of an institution in Surfers. It has now been a leading entertainment venue for over 25 years.
www.ulagroup.com

CLS helps History to Shine!
The development of a new building at 25 Smith St, Parramatta by Leightons Construction seemed like any other construction site until historical artefacts were discovered during the excavation process. These archaeological artefacts include plates, teacups, glass bottles and other items dating back from early colonial times. Due to regulations imposed by the Heritage Council and Parramatta City Council, the construction process could only continue on the condition the artefacts were historically interpreted within the new building.
Artist Regina Walter designed an artwork for the foyer of the building that allowed selected artefacts to be seen through viewing ports in a painted engraved glass wall. The engraving on the glass is based upon the decorative design of one of the dinner plates recovered. The artefacts were preserved and displayed by International Conservation Services (ICS).
Regina enlisted the help of Dave Brockett from Essential Design and Integration (EDI) to light the artefact spaces. EDI installed CLS OmitRGB 3x3w LEDs with DTS Power Supplies into the display boxes, in various positions depending upon the individual items. The placement of the LED fixtures illuminates the artefacts whilst creating interesting shadowing and constantly changing colour effects. Multiple DMX controllers have been used to give each display box its own “show”.
“CLS were the right light for the job. The CLS LEDs are the right combination of colour and control combined with easy installation and simple configuration.”
Dave Brockett.
EDI were assisted during the installation process by Lighthouse Distribution, the Australian distributors for CLS Lighting Solutions. EDI and the Lighthouse Technical Support team programmed the CLS LEDs to maximise the impact of the display.
Lighthouse Distribution is a national lighting distribution company, servicing the architectural and professional lighting industries with offices across Australia. They are the Australian distributor for DTS Lighting Solutions, Clay Paky, ChamSys Consoles, Creative Lighting Solutions (CLS), Optikinetics and Flesineon Fibre Optics.
www.lighthousedistribution.com.au

Robe at City Life Church Melbourne
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Robe moving lights have been installed into the City Life Church’s Knox campus in Melbourne.
City Life is a non denominational Pentecostal church and the largest church in Melbourne. It has a congregation of approximately 7,500 – and growing - 5000 of whom attend regular weekly services at the 1850 capacity main auditorium in Knox.
In addition to the services, a host of other events are staged at the Knox venue, including weddings, funerals, youth events and local school theatre productions. The main auditorium is utilised every day for a wide variety of performances that can feature anything from a single preacher to full choirs, orchestras and electric or acoustic bands.
The Church’s lighting director James Fielding specified the 4 Robe ColorSpot 575 ATs along with four ColorWash 575 ATs which are hung above the stage, and with a Robe Haze 400 FT hazer.
The sound and AV facilities were upgraded earlier in the year, and then came the turn of lighting – by which time they were regularly hiring in moving lights for their larger events and functions. At this stage, it made good financial as well as creative sense to make the investment.
The Church also broadcasts to over 30 countries around the world on Christian TV, and in addition to catering for good TV lighting, Fielding wanted to make the space as flexible and dynamic as possible with the upgrade. He was given a budget allocation and knew that he “Definitely needed pro fixtures”, so started weighing up the options.
Although he was already very familiar with Robe, he looked at several other fixtures before coming to the conclusion that they were the best and most appropriate for the situation.
He chose Robe for three principle reasons – competitive pricing, his own hands-on experience of seeing them in action and using them (when hired in), and because of the excellent support and backup he knew he would receive from Powa Audio, the local Robe agent who supplied the kit.
Fielding first come into contact with Robe’s whilst working on a “Youth Alive” gig at the Rod Laver Arena for Powa Audio in 2006 which featured 70 units. He was very impressed with the brightness and range of effects, and on top of that, Powa Audio reported that they were very reliable.
This was a key factor as well, because the lights are used for at least 30 hours per week in the venue, and will sometimes be run continuously for 3 or 4 days during special events.
He also thought they were the ideal size for the room, which is wide but has a relatively low headroom of just over 4 metres. In terms of features, he “loves” the colours in the 575s and also their quietness, which is often essential when working in a church environment.
Having the moving lights in house has made a massive difference to the level of production values that City Life can offer for all its events “There’s just so much more scope for being interesting” enthuses Fielding, who controls his Robes along with various generic lights from an Avolites Pearl 2008 console, which was also part of the upgrade. This along with the Robes was supplied to Powa Audio by ULA.
www.ulagroup.com

Anolis gets a great reception
Anolis LED fixtures have been installed into the Grand Ballroom of the Merrimu Reception Center in Melbourne, Australia and have proved a great hit with director Peter Batziakas’s various clients which range from weddings to corporate events.
Merrimu (a local Koori word meaning “meeting place’) is a venue focused on hosting functions and receptions of all types. The original homestead was built in 1882 and converted into a reception venue in 1955, with the 400 guest-capacity Grand Ballroom added in the late 1960s.
Batziakis took over in 2005 and completely renovated the entire venue, working with interior designer Alistair Sarris from Kinetic Space. Sarris had specified Anolis fixtures and they were installed by the project’s electrical contractors.
Wanting to make Merrimu a unique experience in all ways, he decided that the renovations should include a spectacular color-changing wall washing lighting installation.
The venue features a combination of Anolis ArcSource 3 and 6 fittings. Sixty-five ArcSource 6s downlight all four walls of the rooms, while 32 ArcSource 3s are ensconced into the coved ceiling centrepiece, illuminating the center of the room. All of these are driven by 4 ArcPower 144 drivers, giving independent control over the two areas.
The fixtures will give over 100,000 hours of life at approximately a tenth of the power consumption of using conventional lights for the job. They also require very little maintenance.
The Anolis kit was supplied along with an e:cue control system, featuring a specially customized front page for Merrimu, enabling the selection of different patterns, chases, or looks.
The impact of the lighting scheme has been remarkable. “It creates an amazing sense of atmosphere and occasion,” enthuses Batziakis. “Ambience is crucial to the success and memorable nature of an event, and the lighting really makes this venue very special, imbibing it with its own character and life.”
Merrimu’s busy schedule hosts approximately 12 weddings a month and the rest of the time hosts corporate events.
www.ulagroup.com

LSC & Channel 9, Australia’s Best
Studio 2 at Sydney’s Channel Nine Studios has to be the busiest television studio in the country hosting a myriad of successful programmes such as The Footy Show, Funniest Home Videos, Mornings with Kerri-Anne show and the Sunday Show.
A decision was made earlier in the year to replace the Studios aging Strand dimmers and Andrew Veitch, Channel 9 Lighting Supervisor, knew exactly what he wanted; twenty-four channel wall mount installation LSC EKO dimmers.
“You really get bang for buck with the EKO dimmers and basically, they’re very good,” he remarked. “The dimmers have been installed for a few months now and we’ve had absolutely no problems with them. The installation by Coemar De Sisti was brilliant. They put them in and everything worked on the first day.
”With the EKO’s you don’t have to put any contactors in to run moving lights, or any of the normal everyday things you want to plug into the system, and that was for us, a really big thing. Just simply make them relay-mode and away we go!”
In fact Coemar De Sisti has been busy providing LSC EKO dimmers to the television industry ever since they hit the market. Managing Director Peter Kemp happily admits that the EKO dimmers have been extremely good for his business reporting that they have become their standard for studio work, providing all the right features at the right price.
Andrew Veitch also favours using a local Australian manufacturer over importing from overseas.
“I think that the way the industry is in Australia, people can’t afford to spend large amounts of money on dimmers from overseas and the back up in this country is great. All we’ve got to do is ring Melbourne and I can have something happening within hours.”
Andrew is also running Houston Remote Monitoring Software, LSC’s PC based application that allows for remote monitoring of your venues dimmer systems.
“The Houston is great for letting you know exactly what is going on with the dimmer system. During the winter the air conditioning broke down in the dimmer room –and thank god it was winter – but we could monitor how the dimmers were coping via Houston in the lighting control room. It was easy to see that, even though there was no air flowing into the room, the dimmers were fine, in fact they handled it very well.”
www.lsclighting.com

Let there be Light….and there was thanks to Jands!
City Impact Church of Auckland, New Zealand has unveiled its new Sanctuary, a church with state of the art facilities that can seat 2100 people. City Impact deliver rock’n’roll inspired worship and thus require a high end lighting and audio system. For the Sanctuary, a totally new venue, the performance system design was provided by Mitech Design and Auditoria.
Oceania Lighting supplied and installed the lighting system including seventeen Jands HPX Dimmers (three portable and fourteen hardwired) installed in Jands 24RU racks and two Jands WMX Dimmers hardwired for run house lighting. Four Jands PDS 12R power distribution systems were also supplied along with four DD8 data splitters and sixty ETC Source Four PARs.
“We have used the Jands HP12 dimmers in our hire department for years and they have always been reliable, flexible and easy to use,” commented Nick Abel, Oceania Lighting’s Service Manager. “Because of their solid performance we looked no further than the Jands HPX dimmers which are really the new model of the HP12 dimmers. Internally the HPX is fairly similar to the HP12 dimmer; you still have the ability to drop them down to 120 volts and they have the same type of DMX addressing. The HPX has a good rise time of 250 milliseconds.”
In fact the major differences between the HP12 and the HPX dimmers are in the way they are constructed. The HPX is designed as a series of blocks so that customers can access a range of features and outlet styles without having to build a whole range of complete dimmer products.  Simply put the HPX range is manufactured as a series of components that can then be assembled in any configuration as required in a very quick time. 
For the operator, the HPX is easier to use than the old HP. In response to feedback from our customers the menu options have been simplified and made selectable by a simple button press interface much like your mobile phone.
Rather than the old 240/120/60 volt selections on the HP the HPX lets you set the maximum dimmer output anywhere from 40 to 100% of the mains input. The dimmer can also be set up to run from single or three phase supplies from 100 to 240v and between 40-65Hz meaning it can be sold to any market worldwide. There have also been major advances in the filtering which make the HPX even better at rejecting mains tone interference from ‘noisy’ power supplies.
Ian Anderson, Mitech’s managing director, specified the ETC PARs for their clean, even wash and easy to use range of snap-in lenses.
“We’re using the ETC PARs as house-lights with their wide-angle lenses and we’re also using them onstage with their other lenses,” he reported. “They’re a very easy lamp to use, they’re lightweight and they’re easy for the church volunteers to use.”
www.jands.com.au

Pulsar ChromaStrips getting damp at Ivory
Ivory is the newest addition to the RDL Group who owns several venues in the Wollongong area. A classy cocktail bar for the slightly older patron, Ivory offers DJ facilities, plasma screens, a Nightlife system and an EV PA system but it is the actual bar that has become the most talked about feature.
Michael Schafe, managing director of Illawarra Production Services, was consulted early in the design process of the venue, as was Len Lucas of Creation In Glass, to create a bar that incorporated textured glass, water and colour changing lighting. This was made possible by the use of Pulsar ChromaStrips, linear strips of colour mixing LEDs designed to highlight architectural features such as windows, doorways, coving or building structure outlines.
“It was quite a challenge for us especially as it was a water feature too,” admitted Michael Schafe. “Fortunately the Pulsar ChromaStrip is IP65 rated so although they’re not submersible they get quite wet in the tank that they’re in and cope with no problem. We had to get a custom-built tank made for them as well as a water system that includes a cistern system similar to in your toilet to auto fill it.”
Michael and Len worked closely with John Basic of LC Stainless Solutions to produce the mechanical mounting of the lighting system riveting the ChromaStrips into the custom-built channel to suit them.
Five textured glass panels, each 1.4 metres wide by 1.6 metres high, make up the back of the bar with each panel lit by a ChromaStrip. The ChromaStrips are set on an auto chase although they can be set to one colour for special events such as the upcoming National Breast Cancer awareness week when they will stay pink. Normally the ChromaStrips provide slow pastel-coloured chases, inbuilt into ChromaZone controller, which Michael describes as softly mesmerising.
One more ChromaStrip is located above the entrance to the bar where it colours and lights another panel of textured glass with the venue’s logo depicted on it.
www.showtech.com.au

The Empire Theatre upgrades with grandMA and MAC TW1's
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The Empire Theatre in Toowoomba is a fine example of art deco architecture and is heritage listed by the National Trust of Queensland. In 1997, after years of neglect, the 86 year old grand lady was plucked from cinematic obscurity and transformed into a thoroughly modern performing arts theatre triumphantly reclaiming its place as Toowoomba's cultural hub.
The design of the theatre is reminiscent of the glory days of Hollywood even to the palm trees framing the exterior and in the metallic gold and bronze of the entry foyer as well as two plinth-mounted fish tanks. One of the Empire Theatre's most striking features, the grand proscenium arch, is thought to be the only one of its kind left in the world. The lattice-look plaster patterning of the arch, back lit with a parade of colours, creates a frame for performers on stage.
While the foyers and auditorium remain faithful to their art deco origins, backstage was completely redesigned in 1997 to include the modern facilities required to stage the most complex of productions. The stage is over 13 metres wide and 8 metres high with more than 15 metres of wing space combined. It has eighty fly lines including five overhead lighting bars and an orchestra pit that can be hydraulically raised to audience floor or stage thrust levels.
Earlier this year the theatre upgraded its’ lighting inventory with the purchase of a MA Lighting grandMA control console, NSP, grandMA Video and twelve Martin MAC TW1s.
Tim Panitz, Head of Lighting at the Empire Theatre, reports that the venue had been searching for a new console for two years delaying purchase to look at new consoles due to come on the market from all major players.
“We looked at consoles from ETC, Strand and MA Lighting even having an ETC Eos console here for a month,” he explained. “But we decided upon a grandMA after trialing a grandMA Light and the full grandMA. We liked the complete platform offered by MA; certainly it’s a much evolved piece of software that runs it and that is evident when you’re operating the console. Everything works – there are none of those ‘these things might work soon’ issues!
”The depth of features offered by the grandMA is great as well as the usability of the whole system such as being able to plug a PC in and not require a dongle. It might not sound much and it’s not unusual for large facilities to spend a further $3000 on dongles, it just becomes more of a pain in the butt. You’ve got to manage, track etc whereas being able to drop a PC on the network is a lot better.”
Naturally the ability to multi-control was a favourable factor when deciding upon a console especially as the venue stages a lot of ‘stage-dinners’ preferring to use a laptop on stage for basic level control.
“I like having the faders on the touch screen,” commented Tim. “I’ve found that throughout the country there is a wide spread depth of understanding of the grandMA operating system. We’ve discovered a lot of operators that come through the venue know how to use the grandMA. Many know how to use the grandMA in a theatrical context which is quite different to touring rock shows.”
Nationwide familiarity with the grandMA has proven to be a big bonus. Not only does it save time when setting up a production, it also means that Tim or one of his staff does not have to baby sit visiting operators.
”Whereas if you had a touring rock operator come in and have to use an Obsession, you would have to baby sit them to some level even if they’d used one before,” said Tim. “We can easily go from a theatrical drama to a rock show with a corporate dinner stuck in the middle. Regional venues such as the Empire Theatre have to cater to the whole spectrum of entertainment and that is why the grandMA is the ideal console.”
Tim is particularly enamored with the cloning functions offered by the grandMA that was very useful on a recent Empire Theatres production of Disney's Beauty And The Beast (pictured) that was also taken to Seagulls Club on the Gold Coast.
”For the Seagulls show we added some more TW1’s to the rig; basically we took the existing fixtures in the rig, cloned them and they fitted exactly into the plot and didn’t have to be called into every cue that they were required in,” he clarified. “That’s an amazingly powerful and time saving feature from a design point of view. As an operator, I find the flexibility of being able to set up the console how you want it, for a particular point of time, fantastic. Every show you find that you set it up slightly different, to suit the show not suit how you’re used to set up your operating environment.”
It isn’t just Tim that is over the moon with the grandMA as he reports that there have been no grumbles from any of his operators. In fact they are constantly telling him how happy they are especially as they discover new functions.
At the same time of purchasing the grandMA, six Martin TW1 tungsten wash lights were also bought and became so popular, a further six were promptly ordered. The venue already owned four Martin MAC500 moving lights and purchased the TW1’s to change the style of their rig to more suit one-off cabaret type events and corporate dinners where the total focus of the lighting rig is changed.
“We thought that a wash style lamp would help those types of functions and enable us to quickly change from one event to another,” Tim elaborated. “We also wanted to partially replace the 2Ks in the rig to suit the fly in/fly out type of artist - one night gigs to help us fill booking holes.
”I really wanted a tungsten fixture to fit in with the rest of the rig. We’ve found that the TW1 is an exceptionally quiet lamp, when it is off it truly is off. It’s certainly quieter than the sound desk power supply! We looked at some other fixtures with the VL500 being the main competitor – which we liked – but at the end of the day the TW1 was a more theatrical unit. Its’ beam is a fresnel not just a glorified par can. The VL500 did have the world-renown Vari-Lite colour system but, for me, I found the TW1 colour system more accurate. While it doesn’t have the fade through thing that the Vari-Lite has when changing colours, I found it more precise which is, to me, more important than the pretty effect when it rolls through colour.”
Tim also found that the TW1 is very accurate in reproducing its pan and tilt position and is programmed very quickly. The zoom capability has also impressed him.
Six of the MAC TW1’s were used for the Empire Theatres production of Disney's Beauty And The Beast; three on first electrics downstage and three at three-quarter stage mark. The show utilised several large scenic trucks and by splitting the TW1’s Tim was able to get light into positions that were previously rather tricky
“The TW1’s enabled us to cut a lot of conventional type lamps out of the rig for all the different truck positions, he said. “They also blended beautifully with the conventional lamps that were providing the wash – you could get a nice blend as you moved up the stairs with the TW1’s lighting the top and the conventionals lighting the bottom of the stairs. Obviously we spent quite a bit of time colour matching when we first put the rig in and that paid off later.”
It certainly sounds as if Tim has finally found his ideal moving light for theatre in the MAC TW1!
The MA Lighting and Martin gear was jointly supplied by Brisbane Sound Group and The Production Shop.
www.showtech.com.au

IPS choose Martin and Studio Due for Illawarra Hotel
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The Illawarra Hotel is a 1930’s Art Deco style building in Wollongong that has just received a major refurbishment which included gutting the interior of the venue. As well as a front bar and a courtyard the venue hosts Zenya Bar created out of sparkling black Granite, red tiles and red acoustic panels, this Bar is the pulse of the Hotel’s night scene.
With a mix of high energy lighting and cool grooves, the Zenya Bar has become the new hot-spot for party-goers in this region.
"Our key objective is to provide an array of entertainment throughout the week that caters to all party enthusiasts," marketing and events manager Penny Bell said.
The dance floor is furnished in ottomans and tubs in rich red, chocolate and orange colours and over looks the Zenya garden. The subtle hues of the furnishings are enlivened by a myriad of colour and movement courtesy of an impressive array of Martin and Studio Due light fixtures. Illawarra Production Services designed and installed the entertainment lighting as well as the audio system. IPS’ resident lighting guru Tobi Pinazza designed the system for the venue.
Four Studio Due Shark 250 moving head profiles work hard on the dance floor projecting colour and gobo patterns onto the masses. Chosen for their incredible light out put and value for money, the Sharks have proven to be a wise choice for Illawarra Productions Service’s managing director Michael Schafe.
”They’re a good design and build with smooth operating,” he commented. “We also installed two Martin Ego 5X effect lights over the dance floor from where they produce a great kaleidoscope effect whilst two Ego 6X fixtures provide a more flower-type effect onto the walls.”
In fact the Ego 5X is the only true kaleidoscopic lighting effect on the market today; a one-of-a-kind deco effect that projects a varying barrage of all new psychedelic patterns. Its bright output and razor sharp images add a unique element to any club.
The Ego 6X is also a powerful deco effect light that houses an effect wheel packed with new textured glass designs, as well as a combined colour/twinkle effect that features new decoration and projection designs. The textured glass wheel adds depth and life to each gobo pattern.
A Martin DC1 is used to project a brilliant decorative water effect onto the northern wall whilst washing liquid light through the crowd whilst a DC2 projects sensational images of flickering flames.
A Martin EFX800 provides a quicker, sharper disco effect to the room whilst two more are situated in the courtyard to illuminate the water feature whilst also adding movement, texture and pattern. The EFX800, with its’ ultra bright and long lasting CDM 150 lamp, emits a broad sweeping flower effect whilst its’ rotating glass colour paddle gives the venue an ever changing look and feel.
Atmospherics is provided by a Look Solutions Unique 2 hazer whilst control is via a Martin LightJockey. Michael is a fan of LightJockey for venues such as the Illawarra Hotel in fact he has installed LightJockeys into nine other similar venues in the area.
“The LightJockey is also great value for money, is reliable and the ease of control is impressive,” remarked Michael. “LightJockey is ideal for venues like this as Tobi can programme a whole series of sequences, we can link them together and all the publican has to do is turn the computer on and hit the space button to trigger the show.”
Photos: Bernie Fischer
www.showtech.com.au

Enttec Lives On The Edge
There haven’t been too many buildings in Melbourne’s history that can rival the sheer feat of engineering that is The Eureka Tower. Opened on October 11 2006, the 297.3m high tower boasts an impressive list of records including being the largest residential tower in the world and having the fastest lifts in the Southern Hemisphere.
Another impressive record that the Eureka Tower can lay claim to is that its level 88 Skydeck is the highest public vantage point (285m) in the Southern Hemisphere. While the Skydeck boasts an unrivalled view of Melbourne and beyond, it is a unique small glass box that is catching most visitors’ attention.
Known as ‘The Edge,’ this attraction is a completely glass filled box that can extend 3m out from the building suspended almost 285m in the air. But The Edge is more than just a fancy vantage point of Melbourne; it is a total experience. As patrons enter the Edge, the door shuts behind them leaving them ‘trapped’ inside an opaque glassed box. After a few moments, the cube begins to move outwards via a disturbingly old-sounding motor. Then, the terrifying sound of glass cracking and smashing surrounds you and the opaque glass turns clear; revealing an 88 floor drop with only clear glass between you and a 285m plummet to your death.
Bryce Grunden of Sound Environments was invited to the initial development meeting. The concept for The Edge came from the owners of Eureka Tower themselves who had a very clear idea of what they wanted, but were unsure how to interface the sound with the visuals. Having used it on a previous installation, Bryce suggested an Enttec Playback Mk2 unit from Balanced Technology.
“We needed a unit that could accept RS232 control and could talk to the dimmers. The playback unit seemed the ideal choice.” With the installation now up and running, Bryce couldn’t be happier with the end result. “It turned out exactly as I wanted it to.”
For Availability, Pricing or Further Information on the DMXPlayback Mk2, call Balanced Technology on 1300 305 832 or visit www.balancedtech.com.au

CDA's Cash Cab
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CDA were contacted regarding a new television game show called “Cash Cab” which takes place inside a taxi. The idea is an off shoot from similar overseas shows, however, like most Australian things the people behind the show wanted to do it bigger and better.
Michael Middleton representing XYZ Networks had been searching wide and large to find a company that could meet their needs. He went to a number of prominent entertainment lighting importers to discuss his requirements with the best solution he could find at the time was utilizing a square led panel approx. 200mm square which would be 1 pixel. Michael saw the LEDs installed on 1vs100 and proceeded to track down CDA who supplied this system.
“We had an initial discussion with Michael over the phone and he told us the sort of thing he was trying to do” said Peter Kemp Managing Director for Coemar De Sisti Australia. “From this we actually prepared three alternatives to show Michael on our first meeting”. 
The project team at CDA consisting of Peter Kemp MD, Cameron Moody Project Manager and Adam Whitfield Technical sales arranged a meeting with Michael and actually demonstrated the options to him. Michael was ecstatic after viewing the demonstration and went away with some budget costs for the various options. After discussions with management Michael got the go ahead for the project (which included all the installation in the taxi plus the custom interior) and CDA proceeded to develop the concepts for the project in conjunction with Michael Middleton.
What CDA had proposed was to manufacture an internal acrylic ceiling and acrylic C pillar covers inside the Taxi which would have behind them a matrix of some 600 led pixels (this would provide the ability to run video and text on the led matrix). The control was to be via ShowCAD Artist which would be in a laptop mounted in the boot of the Taxi.
For control CDA supplied a laptop with the latest version of ShowCAD artist on it, XYZ network supplied graphic video and audio files that were put into ShowCAD artist.  One of the productions crew sits in the front seat of the taxi with a Numeric keypad which they use to activate the scenes within ShowCAD artist. Adam Whitfield from CDA was responsible for setting up and configuring the control system and he spent may hours with XYZ network employees ensuring the graphics prepared where suitable for the LED display. The ShowCAD artist system is outputting 4 universes of DMX to the LED driver cards.
Cameron Moody (CDA Project Manager) and Michael Ellul (CDA Technician) both come from an automotive electrical background so they were right in their element with the installation of this project. Cameron’s first task was to have the custom interior panels manufactured, which involved first getting a cut-out of the roof and the head lining and C pillar trims from a wrecking yard. He then went about producing moulds of the head lining and C pillar trims after which he could get vacuum formed acrylic panels made. This process sounds very easy but if you talk to Cameron you will find out this was a long drawn out process, however, thanks to John Miles at Artco Australia the acrylic roof was completed on time.
With the acrylic panels taken care of Cameron and Michael then attended to mounting and wiring the led pixels and the 40 drive cards for the LEDs. The roof panel ended up being a 19 x 25 matrix of LED pixels and then the C pillars had another 50 LED pixels. The LED pixels are actually a module of 4 tri-coloured LEDs so in total there are some 2100 LEDs in the taxi. From calculations we found that we installed 4 km of cabling for the led system. The drive system for the led consists of a custom made rack housing 40 driver cards which is housed in the boot of the taxi along with some 9 laptop computers 8 of which are for cameras inside.
In addition to the custom led matrix systems, CDA also supplied and installed an additional high amperage battery and dual charging system to power the lighting and camera system and also a LED lighting system consisting of MR16 3w led modules and warm white Xchip which is used to provide white lighting for the Taxi’s passengers and driver for filming purposes.
You can see some video footage and more photos of Cash Cab in action at www.youtube.com go to their home page and type in “Cash Cab” and website www.cdaust.com.au

Selecon at the Gateway
When the Gateway Bridge in South-East Queensland, Australia opened in 1986 it carried 12,500 vehicles per day across a 260-metre long cantilevered concrete box girder main river span, which was the longest in the world at the time. By the end of the first year, this figure rose to more than 17,000 per day.
These days, over 20 years with the ever-increasing population of south-east Queensland the Gateway Motorway now carries more than 100,000 vehicles each day requiring a AUD$1.88 billion bridge and road project, the largest in Queensland’s history.
Public interest in the project has been keen and keeping everyone updated on the plans and progress is vital, hence the need for the Gateway Upgrade Project Community Information Centre. A Community Open Day, held on 19 May 2007, wowed visitors with interactive displays, including a virtual "drive through" of the 20km project, an animation showing how the second Gateway Bridge will be built, and a model of the twin bridges.
The team from design company, Iceworks Design Pty Ltd developed the concept for the centre and followed it through all the way to completion and handover to the client inside eight weeks!
Jason Raft from Iceworks
“The Centre, which is also used as a meeting room / theatrette for public forums and stakeholder functions, uses Aureol Fresco Floods and BeamSpots from Selecon throughout – not only do these specialised display fixtures suit the form of the space extremely well; they also deliver a beautiful light quality focused on the displays. Special thanks to Dave Nemeth @ Production Shop in Brisbane for spectacular sales support, no need to shop anywhere else!”
Photographs: courtesy and copyright of Iceworks Design Pty Ltd, 2007
www.seleconlight.com

“MCM studio to open WHEN CDA can”
Peter Kemp Managing Director for Coemar De Sisti Australia received a call from Marcel Varnel  Studio Manager for MCM Entertainment with regards to the old Channel V studio at the Entertainment Quarter Moore Park, it seemed that MCM Entertainment where taking over the studio for their use. The studio has an existing fixed pipe grid, but when Channel V moved out they literally took out everything else including the dimming system.
MCM Entertainment needed a new dimming system installed, plus a DMX data system and some lights, BUT the big problem was they needed the studio up and running within something like 14 days. Not phased by such a request Peter Kemp and Cameron Moody CDA’s Project manager flew to Sydney to meet Marcel onsite, during the visit they determined what was required and basically quoted the project then and there. Within a couple of days they had a confirmed order from MCM and 2 days later had an installation team onsite, installing dimmers, running a DMX data network etc. Cameron Moody turned up onsite a few days later and completed the commissioning of the dimmers and data system, handing over a fully working system.
This project included the LSC Eko range of dimmers which CDA have been installing in many studios around Australia. One of the new features CDA included in this project was the use of LSCnet allowing then to have a couple of slider plates on the wall of the studio which any Technical directors can use to control preset lighting states without needing a lighting console operator to be present.
The studio fitout includes the popular De Sisti Delux fluorescents (which have become an industry standard in Australia for Fluroscent studio lighting), De Sisti fresnels, Coemar Sequenza cyclorama lights and associated stands, cabling, gels etc. and a LSC console.
MCM had their first studio shoot the following weekend with a complete lighting system from CDA which was ontime and on budget.
www.cdaust.com.au

AV Partners chose Pro Shop LED lighting for Hamilton Island
AV Partners on Hamilton Island have the exclusive audio visual contract for the island’s Convention Centre and they’ve recently invested in a myriad of LED lighting from Show Technology.
AV Partners’ Phillip Delangen is particularly impressed by the LED Light Curtains purchasing twenty-six 9 metre and ten six metre curtains. The curtains have been permanently installed into the Convention Centre on a double track system; black drapes on the front track and the LED curtains on the back track.
“When I want to reveal the ‘night of the stars’ effect we pull away the black drapes and the star drapes are exposed,” said Phillip. “The over all ‘wow’ effect is great and they make the room a complete change going from a conference to a theme dinner. We offer a theme night called ‘Night of the Stars’ and the drapes are an important part of that theme. In fact this theme is our most popular and we probably do at least one a week.”
AV Partners also took delivery of eighteen Pro Shop LED MultiPAR 1W fixtures which he uses to colour change bands instead of PAR56 fixtures. Twelve Pro Shop LED Honeycomb 36 fixtures have also been added to their inventory.
“The LED lighting is very good and works well, definitely replaces some PARs,” Phillip elaborated. “It’s effective and easy lighting with no lamp changes and no gels. We find it a lot more efficient and quicker to set up shows. Obviously there’s also a lot less power required too.”
Kupo Fresnels and MultiPARs with barndoors were also purchased from Show Technology.
www.showtech.com.au