ULA at The Consortium
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Nestled in the Nightclub district of Flinders Street, the Consortium’s new façade opens its interior up with an expansive glass front. It makes its presence felt on the streetfront with vibrant ILED Milky DMX tubes attracting attention from near and far.
Externally 3 ArcSource 12 outdoor coolwhite fixtures illuminate the steel and timber hybrid columns at the front of the venue, with another 7 ArcSource 6 cool whites, lighting the footpath.
Behind its revamped façade, lies the Consortium - a cutting edge venue in style, design and equipment. Designed inside and out by Simone and Rod Barr of Brand and Slater Architects and JVG Sound Lighting & Audio, the Consortium sets a new standard for Townsville nightspots. Its design rivals even the most contemporary Sydney and Melbourne bars.
The Consortium has two floors which have their own identities. One slick and mysterious, the other a sophisticated lounge bar.
As you walk through the entry tunnel, you are greeted by illuminated figures, dancing, drinking and mingling. These illuminated cutouts are lit with Anolis Arcline 36, 24, 12 cool white 170 degree fittings.
The backlit marble bar boasts over 150 gleaming crystal chandeliers, with the décor resembling a slick black and white movie flick. Adjacent to the main bar are brilliant colour changing illuminated circular dry bars that are powered by 5 Anolis ArcSource 6 RGB/25 degree fixtures.  
As you enter the club, on the left-hand side is the chic VIP Lounge. It has plush Louis XV inspired furnishings, dressed with sumptuous drapes and a colour changing curtain bulkhead. The curtains are backlit with 12 Anolis ArcLine 36 RGB 170 degree fixtures that produce a real WOW effect.
At the rear of the club is the Dance Bar. By cutting a 100 square metre void in the existing floor slab, the designers created a 2 storey void over the dance floor. The dance floor is lit by 4 Robe 575ATs together with 4 Robe Recessed Spot 170AT fittings. The programming of these interactive lights alters the mood dramatically with each colour change.
The Dance bar has 9 Anolis ArcSource 1’s recessed into the bar top, washing the underside of the servery with a soft white glow, creating the illusion that the bar top is “floating”. The Dance bar also features an 8 metre long Screen Technics projection screen and 12000 ANSI Sanyo projector, perfect for big sporting events, that retracts into the ceiling bulkhead when not in use.
The rear wall of the dance bar features 52 colour changing Anolis ArcSource 3 RGB fixtures with 25 degrees lenses that change the colour and the mood of the 2 storey void. The bottle display is recessed into this wall, where another 22 Anolis ArcSource 3 RGB fittings reflect the light of the glitter wallpaper, creating a dazzling effect that words fail to describe.
JVG Sound Lighting & Visual specified Anolis and Robe onto the project. “The combination of Anolis/Robe was chosen because Anolis only uses the highest quality components enabling Anolis to offer all the benefits of extreme efficiency, long life, low maintenance, Low heat and no UV output. We chose Anolis on numerous jobs as it’s the most reliable state of the art lighting technology on the market illuminating from white colour controlled to full RGB. We chose Robe as we also find these products the most powerful and reliable moving fixtures in the market” stated Jade Golar, Manager of JVG. All products were supplied to JVG by ULA – www.ulagroup.com

Crown Studio 3
Studio 3 is Crown’s newest function venue, complementing Crown’s existing world class function facilities including the Palladium at Crown, River Room, Garden Rooms and the conference centre at Crown Promenade Hotel. The venue has been designed as a blank canvas on which to create your own event masterpiece using dramatic LED lighting, sheer curtains and screens. Crown’s on-site event services partner Staging Connections can supply lighting effects and audio visual capabilities, configured as required.
Studio 3 features spectacular “mood” lighting with nine different coloured themes designed to complement table settings and provide a simple yet striking room effects with a minimum of fuss. LED and moving light systems also allow the room to be instantly transformed. The lighting system is fully programmable and accessible from LCD touch-panels delivering rich, saturated colours that instantly transform the mood of the room.
Essential to the lighting scheme are the twenty-four Martin MX-10 scanners chosen for a variety of reasons: they are versatile, low maintenance, reliable and because they are a very quiet light so if movement is needed there is little noise. A combination of mechanical and design factors coincide to reduce noise emission to the comfortable levels demanded by such environments. Easy access to lamp and parts make MX-10 fast to clean and service
The MX-10’s supply an unlimited source of effects as they house 12 replaceable colours with split colour possibilities, 8 rotating gobo patterns, and a rotating, 3-facet prism for more creative effects. For added flexibility, prisms, gobos and colours are all replaceable, so that MX-10 can be tailored to a wide variety of environments.
Control of the LED lighting, twenty-four colour changing floodlights and the twenty-four Martin MX-10 scanners is done via a Jands Hog1000.
”We have several Jands Hog1000 control desks in our inventory and so our operators are very familiar with it,” said Justin Stewart, Venue Services Manager – Operations, Staging Connections Melbourne. “It has enough flexibility, enough channels and outputs to allow us to do all of the things required. It’s a good quality, known product.”
Jands HP12 wall mount dimmers are also installed into Studio 3 again chosen as they are the preferred dimmer, whether wall or rack mounted, used by Staging Connections.
“They’re reliable, hard working and they take the abuse of the road well,” explained Justin. “We can easily get spare parts for them plus they’re well constructed and reasonably priced.”
A Jands PDS 12R power distribution system is used to power the moving lights so that they are not on dimmer channels but on the distribution board.
Careful consideration has been given to future-proof Studio 3 ensuring that future technical upgrades can be made quickly and efficiently. Cat 6 network cabling and audio and vision patching are spread throughout the venue catering to the needs of a wide range of events.
www.jands.com.au
www.showtech.com.au

Docks Hotel attracts clientele with colourful light
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One of Sydney’s busiest watering-holes, Docks Hotel in Darling Harbour has undergone a million dollar refurbishment resulting in a balance of style and function. With a glass façade the hotel has expansive views over the harbour but despite being amid the bright lights of this entertainment precinct, the hotel is highly visible at night due to an electrifying light show that beckons from within.
Like a giant television screen the façade of the hotel is bought to life with a whirl of colour and movement from eight Martin MX-10 Extreme scanners. Within the hotel the MX-10’s decorate the interiors with their bright colours and effective gobos. Mounted sideways upon the internal beams of the main bar, the MX-10s are discreetly placed.
Adding ever-changing colour and atmosphere to the venue are fifty-eight Pulsar LED MR16's that uplight columns, highlight features and are also mounted in the ceiling. These MR16's are powered and operated off two ChromaZone 12 controllers and two ChromaZone 6 controllers.
Four Pro Shop LED PAR 56 cans are used for washing the DJ and Stage area. Further LED product can be seen in the form of over 100 metres of both red and blue LED Listel Light that is used in coves along the kick board of the two bars, highlighting the bottle and glass displays behind the bars and as ceiling cove lighting in the pokie room.
"There were several times during the building process where we had to turn to the Nitezone guys for last minute help,” said the manager of Docks. “It was very refreshing to see a supplier react so fast to our requests. For example, at the last moment we found that we needed a brighter LED solution for behind and in front of the bars. One call to Nitezone and by the end of the week it was successfully installed!”
All DMX products including the moving lights, Pulsar LED's and LED cans are controlled and scheduled off a Martin LightJockey 2. Each night is scheduled on the LJ system so that the fixtures automatically fire up and strike at around 7pm, depending on the night of the week. The show also grows in intensity over the course of the night as the venue begins to pick up. About this time a Martin T-Rex and Geni Spyro situated in the restaurant end of the venue are turned on as this part of the venue becomes part of the general club.
However if you enter the venue from the back there is also a lighting statement in the form of a Martin Mania PR1 projector that projects the Docks logo onto the wall. Leading on from there is the pokie room which is decorated by a fibre optic star ceiling courtesy of a Martin QFX Fibre Source.
"Right from the start the Nitezone team, with Show Technology's help, discussed great concepts with me and described how each product would deliver and be best to use in different areas of the renovation,” said the manager at Docks. “It was amazing to see how smoothly the design ideas came to fruition. It all turned out exactly as the guys described!”
www.showtech.com.au

Avsound fit out Henry Afrikas
A cafe, restaurant, bar and nightclub all rolled into the one funky venue, Henry Afrikas is the latest entertainment brainchild of nightlife guru Ron McCulloch. Situated directly on the ocean front in Manly, Henry Afrikas has three distinct levels including two state-of-the-art kitchens, four bars, two dance floors, a dining room and two dedicated function suites. 
Avsound Productions have installed a state of the art sound and lighting package into the venue including six Martin MAC250 Kryptons, two Martin Ego X6 effect lights, a JEM ZR12 smoke machine and two Geni Golden strobes, all controlled by a Martin LightJockey.
“The lighting is installed into the nightclub section of the venue,” explained Matthew Kline, managing director of Avsound. “Ron McCulloch really liked what we had done with the lighting at his other venue Slide and so we based this project on that too. Ron and myself visited Show Technology to have a look at some of the fixtures on offer and Ron particularly liked the Martin Ego X6 effect lights. We also decided upon six Martin MAC250 Kryptons because of the height of the ceiling and size of the room they would be in as well as the fact that they have a fantastic light output and unrivalled reliability.”
www.showtech.com.au

Connies gets the Lux treatment
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Connections Nightclub in Perth has just undergone a half a million dollar refurbishment with a fabulous new lighting set up that has become the talk of the town.
However the resulting contemporary and state of the art venue still retains the feel and vibe that has been built up over 30 years of trade. The refit has many visual elements that bring to mind classic nightclubs and this is particularly evident in the club’s lighting; because the nightclub has been around for so long many different types of lighting technology is owned, from twenty year old mechanical fixtures through to the latest acquisitions.
“It has been our policy for many years to build up different layers of technologies to provide the richest, most flexible light show possible,” said Tim Brown, who owns and runs the club. Lux Entertainment supplied and installed the new lighting gear.
The club has always been famous for its use of mirror balls and the latest refit takes this to the limit. Above the dance floor is a Global Truss 4m box circle truss crammed with mirror balls of all sizes. Hung from the truss are twelve Martin MX-10 Extremes that bring the mirror balls to life and project effects around the venue. Combined with the centre piece Kaos Lighting Streamer effects, the MX-10’s create an unusual and much talked about lighting show.
Adding a dramatic effect to the DJ booth is twelve Pro Shop LED Strips attached to the wall from where they create an ever changing backdrop.
www.showtech.com.au

Mandurah Performing Arts Centre upgrades with ETC
The Mandurah Performing Arts Centre (MPAC) boasts a world-class venue second to none in Western Australia. It is home to the majestic Boardwalk Theatre, which has a seating capacity of 800, housing 550 people in the stalls and 250 in the magnificent dress circle. Other facilities of MPAC include the Fishtrap Theatre, a Dance Studio and the Serpentine Room.
The venue must be just about the busiest performing arts centre in the country with a very large turnover of productions. To satisfy the demands of their clients, the venue recently purchased their own moving lights and consequently they need to upgrade their ETC Express lighting console.
“We love our ETC Express but it was too difficult to operate the moving lights with it and it was time for an upgrade,” explained Shane Podolski, MPAC’s Technical Officer. “I definitely wanted to stay with the ETC brand because I find that their consoles are easy to use for clients, especially students, who don’t know a lot about lighting. We can simply show people the basics and they pick it up very quickly.”
Shane discovered that the new ETC Congo, a preset-style console that is designed for total flexibility and is geared to live event and theatre applications, was the ideal replacement. It is a comprehensive console that easily handles both moving lights as well as conventionals.
“I love the set up of the ETC Congo; it’s very user-friendly,” commented a delighted Shane. “The operation of the Congo is a little bit different to the Express but it doesn’t take long to get your head around it. I like how everything is at your finger-tips in fact once you’ve actually learnt the desk control, you find that you’re looking at the monitors or stage and your fingers are just doing the work almost by themselves!
“It’s also good that you can move independent channels such as worklights, conductor lights, followspot and smoke machine control to a special section that isn't affected by the rest of the system.”
Shane enjoys the way that Congo interacts with moving lights making control far easier than with a conventional theatrical console, although he finds that the Congo still has a bit of the Express in it and he likes that you can still load off an Express.
“I like the fact that you can put keyboards into it and label all your cues, which is all new to me,” he added. “I also like the round ball with the lights that change colour but I’m disappointed that it can’t make coffee!”
The venue also purchased thirty-six ETC Source Four lighting fixtures which Shane describes as totally brilliant with an amazing light output.
“We already had some 1200 watt profiles but the ETC Source Four’s deliver triple the power,” he said. “Two of the ETC Source Four’s can do the work of eight of the old profiles. They are incredibly powerful and very user-friendly to operate. I really liked the fact that when we unpacked them all, they all worked! They are also cool to touch and have great beam angles.”
Photo: Seated at the ETC Congo is Shane Podolski with Michael Rippon, a freelance technical operator, in the background.
www.jands.com.au

Arts Centre comes to life with Pulsar ChromaRange
Australia's first truly integrated creative art space, The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley was officially opened in the latter half of 2001 to generate a unique blend of contemporary dance and music, visual arts, contemporary chamber circus, multimedia, indigenous theatre, youth arts and screen culture.
The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts is a cutting-edge centre which incorporates a 300-seat performance space, modern art gallery, artist studios, a screening room, purpose built administration and storage facilities, workshops and theatre, music, dance and circus rehearsal spaces.
Located in Brisbane’s entertainment hotspot Fortitude Valley, the centre has to compete for attention amongst the bright lights of the neighbouring nightclubs and trendy bars.
The foyer area had been lit with some rather lackluster flourescent lights as well as some Par 56 lamps and the decision was made to introduce coloured LED lighting to make the area a more vibrant place to be. Viewed through the glass entry doors, the coloured LED lighting also acts to reinforce the centre’s presence in the Valley.
The foyer area can also be used for events, particularly launches, and the addition of the LED lighting has made it a more hirable space.
Pulsar ChromaBattens 50’s, a high-power LED fixture housed in a 300mm linear enclosure, and Pulsar  were chosen as the ideal fixtures. The ChromaBatten 50 is ideal for the architectural and entertainment markets to give an unlimited colour palette that can enhance building facades, water features and focal displays in to providing stunning colour in shows, concerts and themed environments.
“We chose the Pulsar ChromaRange products as they had already proved themselves in the industry to be reliable and cost-effective,” commented Keith Clark, senior technician at the centre. “I had already seen the products in other venues and knew they were industry-standard.”
All of the Pulsar LED fixtures are in the top area of the foyer; eight ChromaBatten 50 run along the suspended ceiling shooting up onto the cement roof whilst four MR16 ChromaSearch shoot down onto the four columns that are opposite the suspended ceiling.
The LED lighting is controlled by a Pharos Architectural Control System with the day to day lighting switched on in the afternoon followed by a dusk sequence and then programmed settings. Custom settings are not a problem with a couple of visiting shows already requesting particular colours to match their production.
www.showtech.com.au

Robe and Anolis for Titanium bar
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The official opening of the Titanium Bar, one of the Gold Coast’s land mark venues was held on Thursday the 8th of February with a massive turnout. The redevelopment of the old Pink Elephant venue gives the legendary club a new lease on life and is tipped to be a popular hot spot for patrons both young and old. 
The Titanium Bar, was Australia’s first venue to use the very latest E:CUE Programmer Version 3.8, which was combined with an E:CUE fader unit to operate the grand opening night. The grand opening also saw the use of an E:CUE butler, which controlled the outdoor lighting as a standalone unit – with the ability of a user to change the show with a quick press of a universal wireless inferred remote control. The E:CUE system was seamlessly integrated into the existing AMX automation system, allowing operators to access the lighting programs from anywhere in the venue.
The grand opening also saw the Titanium bar host Australia’s very first look at the iSolution 1200 Spot, which produced high impact lighting for the event. Venutech, the installers for the Titanium Bar rolled out Robe ColorSput 575 ATs to help give an exciting display of lighting effects.
The installation of the permanent  fixtures included 18 Anolis ArcLine36 RGB for the back wall’s dynamic colour changing, 12 Anolis ArcLine36 Cool White to differentiate the front bar area from the entertainment areas, 12 Anolis ArcLine24 for the ingeniously designed chandeliers, designed by Venutech, as well as eight Robe MS Zoom 250XTs and four Robe ColorWash 250ATs.  These fixtures are all controlled with E:CUE’s Programmer 3.6 and  an Excite Dongle. The programming of the E:CUE system and the grand opening was done by ULA’s very own John Stanley, who said   “The entire system uses E:CUE due to the flexibility and usability that E:CUE provides..  …I would highly recommend E:CUE to anyone who is looking at setting up any kind of DMX controlled event”
Venutech has a reputation of always going the extra mile to make their installs stand out, with Titanium being no exception. The high level of detail in the positioning of the fixtures and the custom designed and built chandeliers gives the Titanium bar its unique image.
www.ula.com.au

Adding Some Colour To Langwarrin
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Nestled away deep in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs, Langwarrin Hotel has long been a favourite eating and watering hole for locals and not-so-locals to grab quality meals and drinks at reasonable prices. So, when the venue recently underwent extensive renovations and upgrades to ‘modernise’ itself and bring it into the new Millennium, many feared that the traditional pub feel it has always exuded would be lost. However, when the owners contracted consultants DWH Aitken and Associates to redevelop the site, keeping the traditional pub feel and history was of paramount importance. Besides the expansion and upgrade to the restaurant and sports bar, the owner wanted to liven the ambience of the place up with some modern interior design. Steve Innes of Steve Innes Creative Design was given the job of designing this and he managed to achieve some spectacular results. Stylish décor, from furniture to bench tops have given the venue a whole new modern feel. But it is the feature lighting which is really catching patron’s attention.
DWH Aitken approached Lightmoves to discuss some external colour wash to the entrance of the hotel. After visiting the Lightmoves showroom and viewing the results achieved at some of their other projects, the scope of the lighting design changed completely. The owner of the Hotel was invited down to the showroom to see for himself and soon the colour wash to the front façade became a full colour changing wash complete with low voltage decorative lighting to the front canopy. Internally, it was decided that using LED strips to highlight the bar fronts would contribute strongly to the modern feel that the renovations were aiming to achieve.
Lightmoves supplied a large range of equipment that was installed by electrical contractor Chris Veal Electrical. For the front canopy, 174m of custom 24V 5W Stargazer lamps were used to create a distinct entertainment feel as patrons entered. The Lamps are completely dimmable, running off a Dynalite Leading edge dimmer, and controllable via a Dynalite 4 button preset panel with single fader, allowing 4 different chase sequences; all dimmable.
The colour wash to the front façade and waterfall in the entrance, is via Anolis ArcLine Optic 36 RGB LED strips with 25 Degree Lenses. These are controlled by Anolis ArcPower 144 LED controllers, while an Enttec DMX Playback unit with remote stores and triggers the colour changing sequences. The result, is a feature entrance that can not only be seen many kilometres up the road, but grabs substantial attention from that same distance.
Digilin LED strips were used to highlight the bar area’s in both the gaming Lounge and the Sports Bar. In the gaming room, 25 Digilin RGB LED strips were supplied to create a stunning colour-change feature. These were controlled by a Dynalite LED controller with a Dynalite 8 button panel for the user interface, allowing the hotel staff to modify the colour chase at any time they require. The main Sports Bar received 16 Digilin Ultra Bright Red LED strips, to create a bold illumination that meets drinkers as they order their drinks.
With major renovations and a complete facelift, this venue has still managed to retain many of the attributes that its locals considered essential. The food and drink are still at reasonable prices, only now patrons get to consume them in a much more modern environment
www.lightmoves.com

Martin Cyclos colour Canberra Retail Destination
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Mid-December 2006 saw the opening of a major expansion of Canberra City’s retail precinct with the completion of another stage of the $AU 500 million extension of the Canberra Centre by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). This stage, known as Section 84, brings a contemporary shopping experience to Canberra as the city's premier fashion and lifestyle shopping destination. It has attracted A-Class retailers, department stores, supermarkets and 200 unique specialty outlets. Section 84 also includes a new cinema experience for Canberra, with Dendy Cinemas establishing a multiplex and arthouse facility, with seven cinemas and two exclusive “Premium” cinemas.
For QIC Real Estate's Head of Property Development, Stuart Miller, conveying a sense of the centre’s internal vibrancy on the building exterior was a high priority. With the appointment of innovative Melbourne lighting designers Electrolight to provide the public area lighting scheme, the skyline of the façade was clearly identified as the best opportunity for attaining this key goal. Paul Beale, Electrolight’s director, set about designing a dynamic, flowing and changeable lighting scheme that would translate the centre’s day and night time shopping, entertainment and leisure activities to its outer skin.
After working through all the issues and taking into consideration the 200 metre long façade fronting Bunda Street, and the adjoining shopping and café precinct, Electrolight's lighting designers, Paul Beale, John Ford and Jess Perry, settled on a high level, linear fluorescent solution for up-lighting the awning. 
Lightmakers Australia's Melbourne representative, Karren De’Ath, worked through the four Martin Architectural Cyclo models available at the time, resulting in a scheme based on the industrial-looking Cyclo IP65. However, the solution really needed the additional output of a reflector such as that on the interior-use Cyclo 04 Directional.
Coincidentally, prototypes of a new outdoor version the Cyclo 04 Directional IP65, were being shown for the first time at the Light+Building Exhibition in Frankfurt in March 2006. Immediately this exhibition concluded, prototypes were rushed to Australia for final acceptance. In night time tests in Melbourne, it became clear that the 54w Osram coloured T5 tubes, incorporated into a cleverly-designed, optically-sophisticated reflector and luminaire from Martin Architectural, was the only viable solution for the project. Significantly, the Cyclo 04 IP65 Directional is the only IP65 rated luminaire for which Osram will provide their 20,000 hour and 50,000 starts warranty on their T5 54w coloured lamps. The Osram warranty, in combination with the high build quality of the Martin Architectural Cyclo 04 IP65 Directional, were decisive factors in the selection of these fixtures.
Architects Cox Humphries Moss were impressed with the clean, elegant lines of the Cyclo 04 IP65 Directional, it’s finned aluminium extrusions allowing them to blend well into the metalised exterior panelling of the façade.
Whilst onsite the builder, Construction Control, were racing to achieve the Christmas completion date, Electrolight finalised a sympathetic design that would optimise the impact of the resultant lighting scheme, whilst visually complementing the rapidly completing facade. The final scheme incorporated 116 of the Cyclo 04 IP65 Directional luminaires located within two metres of the exterior awning.  In some places these were surface fixed, whilst in other locations the luminaries could be secreted on top of the glazed display window alcoves. The façade lighting is of sufficient intensity to wash off the building and across the street, creating a warm, happy and relaxing ambience for the al fresco dinners along tree-lined Bunda St.
The commissioning process was very revealing for all concerned, as coloured fluorescent luminaries are not renowned for their depth of hue.  Without exception, everyone involved during the programming privately expressed these reservations, only to be astounded as the faders were pushed up for the creation of the first scene.  The range of colours created, the depth of colour saturation and the intensity of light created are breathtaking.
A cable network connects all of the nearly 500 DMX channels of the Cyclo IP65 04 Directional, and links them to a show store for scheduled replay.  The control system delivers the Canberra Centre management team the ability to program new looks relevant to the centre’s activities, retail themes and seasonal events, as well as keeping the overall presentation fresh.
Onsite programming was undertaken from a street level vantage point by Vince Haddad from Show Technology, using a mobile Grand MA console, under the direction of Electrolight’s John Ford. Luminaires and cabling systems were installed by two separate electrical contractors, of whom Nexus Electrical completed the systems and commissioned the installation.
It is becoming common practice for Australian projects to be designed by a team scattered across the wide expanses of our country, creating challenges in delivering support at appropriate stages of the project. Through Lightmakers nation-wide network all elements of the project design and delivery process were easily handled, with assistance to the lighting designers delivered locally by Melbourne representative Karren DeÁth. On the ground in Canberra, local representative John Liston, worked closely with the builder, Construction Control, and local electrical engineers, John Raineri and Associates, to achieve the final approvals. Project co-ordination was delivered out of Sydney by recently appointed National Sales Manager – Martin Architectural, Jonathan Ciddor. Martin technical support, luminaire delivery, DMX network distribution and control system design, were provided by Martin Professional importer, Show Technology.
The Queensland Investment Corporation holds an Australian retail portfolio in excess of $AU2 billion and the Canberra Centre development is representative of their highly selective continuing investment. The façade lighting project for Section 84 was a courageous move by QIC and Stuart Miller, reflecting QIC’s detailed market research and deep understanding of the growing importance of the “cash rich, but time poor” consumer as a major factor in retail and shopping centre design.
www.lightmakers.com.au
www.showtech.com.au

Laservision's low-energy solution for Canon
The Canon Corporation has recently installed the latest Laservision LED technology at its prominent Kowloon skyscraper base, called Oterprise Square, so that the building can participate in Hong Kong's record-breaking Symphony of Light Show.
"Artificial light accounts for almost one-fifth of the world's electricity consumption - substantially more than the output of all the nuclear power stations in the world. Within 25 years, the global demand for artificial light is projected to be almost twice today's level as the developing world moves towards western living standards," say Laservision.
The company says that a shift in global climate trends and an international focus on sustainable energy has seen high-rise buildings around the world favouring energy efficient lighting design as a means of retrofitting structures for modern times.
Many governments around the world are beginning to utilise a greenhouse rating scheme for ranking the energy efficiency of office buildings. The Australian government was the first to take on the concept by means of the 'Australian Building Greenhouse Rating' (ABGR) scheme, which offers market recognition and a competitive advantage for low greenhouse emitters and energy efficient buildings, and encourages best practice in the design, operation and maintenance of commercial buildings to minimise greenhouse emission.
Hong Kong's Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) runs a similar system called the Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Registration Scheme for Buildings. The scheme promotes registration of Building Energy Codes which comprise lighting, air conditioning, electrical, lift and escalator installations and stipulate the energy requirements of these installations.
While both the Australian and Hong Kong markets are at the forefront of energy consumption sensitivity, Laservision has developed low energy lighting solutions such as Hong Kong's Canon Building. Located in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, Canon has recently employed Laservision to provide a turnkey lighting design based on the objectives of energy efficiency, high brightness, low maintenance, wide viewing angles and consideration for the highly reflective nature of the building's exterior.
The design utilises high-powered (6W) LED dots and has set a benchmark for environmentally sustainable skyscraper lighting, say Laservision. 14 rows of LED dots have been installed along each of the building's external ribs and the design cleverly solves light trespass and light pollution issues that are problematic in illuminating glass surfaces. The final view provides spectators with intensely bright colour changing effects, regardless of the audiences viewing position, say the company.
Laservision says that its LED technology uses 5% of the energy that would be required by conventional edifice lighting techniques. At such a low energy requirement, this lighting design has the option to be serviced by sustainable energy solutions such as solar power.
Source L&SI Online www.lsionline.co.uk
www.laservision.com.au

Queens Bridge Hotel (QBH), Melbourne
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Robe moving lights, LED Blinders, smoke and haze machines have been specified, supplied and installed into the legendary Queensbridge Hotel venue in Melbourne, Australia.
These were specified by Andrew Stanley from ULA (Australia’s Robe Distributor) and QBH’s Eugene Brouwer as part of the new house lighting scheme, and supplied by Bytecraft to QBH, one of the largest Superclubs in the Southern Hemisphere. QBH is a fully contained entertainment and function centre, kitted out with touring-standard sound and lighting systems, a large stage, several bars and a commercial kitchen.
Its size and state-of-the-art facilities have made QBH an ideal location for a whole range of live concerts, product and media launches, gala dinners, conferences and parties. Its flexible layout can accommodate function style events and cocktail parties for up to 2100 guests and seated dining for up to 500.
Adding the Robe moving lights to the house club system is the latest technical upgrade at QBH, and part of the venue’s ongoing commitment to providing the latest technology and facilities. It was instigated in order to offer visiting productions all the best technical options, and to have those same World Wide standard facilities available for their own in-house produced events.
Sixteen Robe ColorSpot 575 AT’s,  4 ColorWash 575 AT’s, 4 Robe 196 LED Blinders, a Robe Fog 1500FT  and two Robe Haze 400FT machines are now installed.  Supply of the equipment to QBH was overseen Bytecraft’s Steve Webb.
The fixtures are rigged onto a series of trusses in the roof of the main club space and positioned so they light either the stage or the dancefloor with ease.
QBH’s Technical Manager, Eugene Brouwer, is delighted with the results. He states, “We chose the Robes for their brightness, value for money and because we wanted fixtures with a good name. I’ve watched the Robe brand grow very quickly over the last few years, and we just knew it was the way to go … they look great!”.
They are operated and looked after day-to-day by house technicians and operators Chris McDowell and Matt Downs, and run through a Hog 1000 lighting console.
There have been many great comments already from visiting industry and club professionals regarding the lighting upgrade.  All the guys love the brightness of all the fixtures including the Led Blinders and the fact that the lights they have can cover any event that comes through their doors.
Recent high profile events to take advantage of Robe technology at QBH have included their own regular clubnights, Future Entertainment’s “Famous” (Melbourne’s Biggest Club Night), visiting clubs like Pacha and some of the best live DJs on the planet including Sacha, John Digweeed and Roger Sanchez just to name a few.
www.ula.com.au

Martin MX-10s for new Brisbane gaming venue
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The recently refurbished Chalk Hotel in Brisbane was in need of a gaming environment and so they coupled themselves with Brisbane Lions Social Club to produce a brand new gaming facility to the rear of the hotel.
Architect designed the new facility steps away from the traditional Vegas-style of gaming rooms with an emphasis on mood and colour change to highlight the architectural aspects of the building thanks to Lightech Australia, a Queensland company creating specialist lighting solutions and effects to the hospitality, gaming, leisure and retail industries.
The club owners specifically wanted lighting that would require minimal maintenance and so along with some innovative use of LED and fibreoptic lighting, six Martin MX-10 scanners have been installed into the main gaming room to provide a feature ceiling. The MX-10 is a powerful 250 W discharge scanner with 12 replaceable colors, 8 interchangeable indexed-rotating gobos and a 3-facet prism for brilliant effects.
“The ceiling in the gaming room was rather bland and so I suggested decorating it with lighting effects,” said Tremaine Wrigley, managing director of Lightech. “Most gaming areas treat such areas by sticking signs on top of the machines but we wanted to do something a little bit different. The client has some signage but we can control the MX-10 beams of light around it.”
The MX-10s are controlled via an Enttec DMX Streamer which is triggered by an AMX touch panel on the wall in the bar. Tremaine programmed a series of shows for the MX-10s so that the ceiling is an ever changing screen of slowly changing colour and pattern. For extra effect, he also had some gobos custom made such as dollar signs and a Brisbane Lions logo.
The MX-10s are switched on at 9.30am and run continuously through until midnight and Tremaine reports that there have been absolutely no problems at all.
“From the minute we turned then on the client was absolutely amazed by the effect that we achieved,” he said. “They’ve run flawlessly ever since.”
www.showtech.com.au

BTQ7 upgrade News studio
BTQ7 approached David Lee from Coemar De Sisti about the possibility of replacing their existing dimmer system and adding additional channels. CDA went about providing BTQ7 with a number of options on the type of dimmer systems that could be installed and was eventually narrowed down to the LSC Eko installation dimmer range.
In addition to the dimmers themselves BTQ7 wanted to double the number of dimmer circuits for the studio, this meant adding to an existing patch system that had been installed many years ago. On top of this the dimmers are located in a small room under some stairs and space was very limited.
CDA supplied a custom made 48 way patch panel (that actually matched the existing patch panel) and 4 x 24 channel 20a per channel LSC Eko dimmer racks with RCD protection for the system upgrade. In addition to the dimming system CDA also supplied a DMX splitter and Demux units to allow the dimming system to interface with the Compulite control system. David Lee from CDA oversaw the installation of all the equipment.
BTQ7 are extremely pleased with the new system and now are considering adding LSCnet to the dimmers which will allow them to remotely monitor the dimmers and also connect remote control panels.
www.cdaust.com.au

Lighting the Gasworks
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Parramatta’s Albion Hotel has undergone a fantastic face lift including the introduction of a 700 capacity live venue and nightclub called Gasworks. The hotel belongs to the Solitel Hotel Group owners of many venues throughout NSW and Australia.
David Milton, the entertainment manager for Solitel, and Terry Lunney, the Albion’s licensee, thoroughly researched the entertainment lighting market in Australia which led to the expected conclusion; they turned to Show Technology.
Scale plans of the venue were presented and Emmanuel Ziino, Darren McLanders, and Mark McInnes of Show Technology along with Con Andrews of Beyond AV collectively came up with a sensational design. Most noticeable is the use of Pro Shop LED tiles on the ceiling instead of the more common use of on the floor.
Once the design was decided upon, after further input from David and Terry, Beyond AV had to make the design actually work and happen.
The venue has quite a pitched roof which tends to give it a slight country / barn feel which is not quite the image that the owners were after preferring a slick city look. However the thirty-six LED panels act as a false ceiling bringing the punters sightlines to only that level. Whilst many city hotels and clubs have installed the Pro Shop LED tiles, the Albion has gone one step further by adding them to their roof and this has resulted in cost benefits too. The tiles do not have to be waterproofed, IP rated or able to handle 500 kilos! Flexibility is also a key word as the tiles can be dismantled and mounted on a wall if required.
“The LED panels are a great effect,” said Samantha Jones, who operates the lighting for the live shows and also sets it up for the DJs. “We mainly use them during the nightclub mode when we use a Martin LightJockey to run effects through them. They also focus the attention onto the dance floor.”
Filling the fairly large venue with light was not a problem as Martin has such an extensive range. A selection of Kupo par cans service the stage area as does a couple of Martin MAC250 Entours. The dance floor comes to life with the aid of six Martin MAC250 Kryptons as well as Martin EFX600 effect lights. With the eight Martin MAC moving heads Samantha says that she is spoilt for looks.
More special effects are delivered by two Martin Mania DC2 flame projectors and two Martin Mania PR1 logo projectors. A couple of Geni Golden Strobes add extra flash.
The Design Quintessence trussing is custom made and highlighted by twelve Pro Shop LED Par 36 truss warmers. A JEM Magnum Club Smoke system, a split system that allows the heads to be installed in inaccessible areas such as high trussing, club ceilings or under floors, is used. This smoke system allows the smoke to be squirted down from the roof; a visual play on the word gas works.
www.showtech.com.au

LSC’s EKO dominates Australian Television
Australian lighting control equipment manufacturer, LSC Lighting Systems, has been extremely busy of late supplying its impressive EKO installation dimmers to a number of Australian Television Networks.
BTQ7 Brisbane
Brisbane’s premier television station BTQ7 has just completed a major refurbishment of their News studio, replacing their old equipment with LSC’s popular EKO dimmers. Coemar De Sisti Australia (CDA) carried out the installation which involved four EKO’s with an extended patch system so that the number of dimming channels and outlets in the studio could be increased.
“We’ve been installing more and more EKO dimmers,” commented Peter Kemp, CDA’s managing director. “I have to say that EKO dimmers have been extremely good for us, in fact they’ve really become our standard for studio work, providing the all the right features at the right price.”
Peter reports that he found the installation of the EKO dimmers particularly easy and that the facilities within the actual dimmers themselves impressive. “It means that the Studio staff can log lighting events and easily find out what’s going on within their system”. Installation is easy too with the mounting & termination frame arriving well before the actual dimmer, allowing time to complete wiring & testing while the area is still a construction zone. The day before commissioning the dimmers are then installed, preventing damage to the dimmers.
The BTQ7 dimmers will be upgraded shortly with LSCNet; LSC’s proprietary networking protocol using TCP/IP, allowing the connection of remote control plates and monitoring software for the dimmers.
ABC Darwin
In conjunction with LSC, CDA also completed a refit of the ABC Darwin News studio. The project involved the removal of an old dimming system and the installation of 48 channels of LSC EKO dimmers with RCD projection on each output channel.
ABC was very particular that they wanted full RCD protection on every dimmer channel in the event that if they did have a lighting problem they didn’t want to loose multiple dimmer channels, especially in the middle of a live broadcast. LSC produced a custom version of the EKO rack with 16 amps capacity per channel and RCD protection.
With the installation space was very tight, the EKO was chosen as the only compact wall mount dimmer available that could meet all the clients’ specifications.
With more television studios underway already, the EKO is fast becoming an Australian Television Studio standard.
www.lsclighting.com.au

8000 lights for Favela nightspot
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Sydney’s Kings Cross district has continued its journey upmarket with another hot nightspot; Favela. Owners James Moses and Dean Dinov have invested more than $3 million into the venue transforming the former Korean barbecue restaurant into a three level restaurant, bar and nightclub.
The owners traveled the world seeking inspiration for their venture and they were particularly impressed by the famous Amsterdam club Jimmy Woo’s with its’ Asian-inspired interiors and extraordinary ceiling consisting of thousands of light bulbs.
Deciding to recreate this ceiling effect, the club owners turned to Avsound Productions to make it all happen.
“The aim was to cover the entire ceiling of the upstairs room with 12,000 light bulbs however height restrictions meant there was one area that could not utilize the effect and so the number was cut down to around 8000,” explained Matthew Kline, managing director of Avsound. “We turned to Show Technology to produce a custom made solution which of course they did.”
The ceiling is made of seventy-four panels each holding 100 light globes. Every four light bulbs are on one dimmer channel allowing the ceiling to have a variety of lighting effects run through it, almost turning it into a very low resolution black and white video ceiling.
A MA Lighting grandMA Replay Unit, with an ELC Sidekick, enables a variety of effects including patterns and the name of the venue to be run across the ceiling. With a little bit of imagination the venue can be totally transformed by the action on its’ ceiling alone.
www.showtech.com.au

Royal Domain Becomes Aerial Landmark
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Located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne and with stunning panoramic views of some of the City’s most iconic landmarks, The Royal Domain Tower is one of the more luxurious residential establishments to hit Melbourne for some time.
The building’s location allows it to be a prominent feature among Melbourne’s busy skyline; but not content with this, property developers Far East Consortium decided that they wanted to create their very own aerial landmark. They turned to experienced image projection specialist Simon Maidment of West Space and visual artist Alexander Knox of Knox Nominees, to design an artistic feature that would allow the tower to be visible from all parts of the city – and beyond.
Once it was decided upon to create a colour-changing wash for the top of the building, Simon and Alexander went about creating CAD drawings and computer renderings to get the project under way. They then took these renderings to Lightmoves to discuss whether technology was a true reflection of reality.
After perusing the computer renderings for the project and discovering potential difficulties in lighting the surface - particularly with the luminaires specified - the Lightmoves team decided upon a site demonstration. Initial reservations proved to be correct, with the polished surface requiring a much stronger luminaire than first thought. A simple site demonstration of the Studio Due City Colour 300’s was enough to convince the client that they were the best option. Some technical issues also arose with the limited working space atop the tower and major limitations on where luminaires could be positioned. Custom base plates were created and bolted to the catwalk to allow the luminaires to be positioned in their appropriate locations.
Onsite electricians Craig Smith Electrical installed the 20 Studio Due City Colour 300’s that Lightmoves supplied, each with dual Phillips CDM-SA/T 150W discharge lamps, that created the desired colour-change effect. The colour-changing sequences where stored and controlled by an Enttec DMX Streamer. The time clock in the Streamer is programmed to allow the sequences to come on at dusk each night, running right through until very early morning.
The lighting states on the tower were programmed remotely, using Enttec’s Ethergate In – Ethergate Out Wireless DMX technology and Enttec LightFactory software, which allowed Simon to program the sequences from up to 500m away. Obviously a major advantage for a project of this magnitude, this not only allowed for the most appropriate viewpoint for programming, but saved Simon a lot of time and energy that normally would have been spent going up and down the elevator to check the progress. The LightFactory software offered Simon an inexpensive, easy-to-use PC-based application that integrated seamlessly with Ethergate In – Ethergate Out.
Visible from up to 25km away, this stunning project has proven to be a great success, giving Royal Domain Tower its own colourful & unique place in Melbourne’s skyline.
www.lightmoves.com

Australian War Memorial utilses Medialon Manager
Medialon Manager is expanding its presence in Australia with a major project. The system plays a prominent role at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra where it has been installed in a number of galleries to control the AV systems. The Australian War Memorial attracts close to 1 million visitors annually; it is the most-visited national cultural institution in the country.
The initial phase has Medialon replacing Dataton Trax systems in the Second World War 1939-1945 Gallery where 34 Pioneer DVD players, eight projectors, DMX lighting control, a Dynalite lighting system, and interactive displays are under its control. The gallery depicts Australia’s part in the war in Europe and the war against Japan detailing the achievements and sacrifices of people at war.
“Medialon was selected for its flexibility and the ability to do remote administration and control across networks,” says Dean Stevenson of Interactive Control Pty, which was the Systems Integrator. “I can administer the system from Sydney, 200 miles away, going into the system and doing updates remotely. Also, since Medialon can be network-based, we were able to use the network infrastructure already in place.”
In addition, Medialon’s ease of use made it very popular with the in-house IT and technical staff.
Medialon Manager is next scheduled to be installed in the First World War 1914-1918 Gallery, which documents Australia’s most costly war in the Gallipoli Gallery and Western Front Gallery. Medialon will subsequently be added to Aircraft Hall, where a number of classic aircraft are on permanent display, and ANZAC Hall, the newest exhibition space where sound and light are used in innovative ways and objects become screens telling compelling stories of Australia’s servicemen and servicewomen. “Next year Medialon will go online in the refurbished Post-1945 Conflicts Gallery where the system has the potential “to double the size of the gallery’s multimedia offerings,” Stevenson notes.
www.medialon.com

Lots of Watts install F34 truss in Sydney school
The technical installation team at Lots of Watts were set an interesting challenge of rigging truss in a building for the Emanuel School, Randwick, given that the roof of the former chapel is classified by the National Trust. The restriction that none of the truss spans could be suspended from the cross barrel vaulted roof of the building meant the eight truss spans of up to more than 8m had to be mounted to the brick walls for the new performance space.
Lots of Watts director, Carey Leghorn, had to seek engineering approval and specification for mounting plates and methods to ensure that the walls could support the weight. Using VMB TE-076 Towerlifts to lift each run of truss into place, the installation turned out to be a relatively simple, straight forward exercise. “We thought we were going to have some issues with the differing span lengths as there were variations that we only discovered once we were on site,” commented project manager, Jeff Morgan. “Luckily, Design Quintessence carry such a wide range of standard lengths and components in stock that were able to swap a few pieces around immediately and, in the end, each span fitted perfectly which was quite incredible,” he added.
www.dq.com.au

Planetshakers Church moves with Martin
True to name, you’d be forgiven for thinking that every Sunday at the Dallas Brooks Centre in Melbourne was host to earth rumbling construction.
In fact what you’d be feeling is the high impact presentation of probably Australia’s most explosive and fastest growing church – Planetshakers.
Venture inside and you will now see that Planetshakers have taken delivery of the first stage of a new moving light system comprised of 6x Martin MAC550’s, 4x MAC600’s and a Look Solutions Unique Hazer.
This marks step one of a comprehensive intelligent lighting system, with the addition of more fixtures and LED’s imminent in the near future.
Holding conferences all over the globe, with the local national 06 conference in January having attracted over 25,000 people, Planetshakers is well versed in the value of quality equipment that can deliver and outlast.
“Our decision to go with Martin MAC’s was not only based on their exceptional performance, but their ability to cope with our various setups and transporting each week. Another factor was our longstanding relationship with Forefront Productions and their recommendation of the backup and service etiquette of local Martin Lighting importer Show Technology,” said Planetshakers’ production manager, Brian Vayler.
“It’s not just our service ability that’s crucial with the purchase of assets like moving lights, it’s the importer’s ability to support the product that is essential," says Forefront’s Nick Burns. "That’s why we have no hesitation in recommending Martin Lighting to our clients."
This latest purchase comes ahead of the next Planetshakers conference to be held throughout Australia in January 2007 which will attract in excess of 30,000 attendees, featuring a full compliment of Martin lighting in venues: Vodafone Arena Melbourne, Brisbane Convention Centre and Challenge Stadium Perth.
www.showtech.com.au

“And now for the lights at Foxtel”
Further to the turn-key fitout Coemar De Sisti Australia (CDA) completed for Foxtel early in 2006, CDA have recently dispatched the delivery of a massive range of lighting equipment to outfit the studio.
Initially Foxtel were renting equipment for the new studio complex, however in the background they were in discussion with CDA’s Managing Director, Peter Kemp, about an extensive package of luminaries and accessories. CDA have recently completed the delivery of all this equipment, with Cameron Moody, CDA’s Project Manager, and Peter Kemp completing the hand over of the equipment to Bob Bell, Studio Manager for Foxtel, and Dale Martin, Head of Lighting.
One thing that CDA differ from their competitors is that they can offer a complete package and also the fact that they provide a total service down to the point of being on-site and handing over a complete working system to their clients. The comments has been made many times to CDA that “your competitors would have just sent us the boxes and we would have had to assemble the lights, plug them etc, were as with you guys, all we need to do is plug the lights in”.
Some of the items supplied:
De Sisti Botticelli softlights - 2.5kW & 5kW
De Sisti Leonardo fresenls – 1kW, 2kW & 5kW
De Sisti Giotto cyclorama lights
De Sisti Duccio groundrow lights
De Sisti 2kW open face kit
Dedo kit
Space Lights
LSC – portable Teko 6 x 5kW dimmer rack
Range of clamps, stands, multicores & rigging equipment
www.cdaust.com.au

A Clearly Visible Baguette
Baguette, the gracious suburban bistro in the Brisbane suburb of Ascot, has been a dining institution for the past thirty years. As Racecourse Rd became busier and busier with more restaurants opening the Domenech family, who have owned and run the venue for nearly three decades, felt that the exterior needed something extra to announce the restaurants presence.
The Baguette logo, fashioned out of neon, was already in place but the façade of the venue was overshadowed by a large tree. The owners wanted the venue more visible without removing such a lovely, shady tree and the idea of lighting the awning with LED products was suggested.
As a result two Pulsar ChromaStripX3 LED strips are placed on the wall of the restaurant whilst fifteen metres of Pro Shop LEDNeon Flex defines the edges of the awning. Finished in sleek extruded aluminium and available in 318, 614, 908 and 1204mm lengths the ChromaStripX3 is IP65 rated making it ideal for this type of exterior installation. The ChromaStripX3 is available in 10 degree (1WLEDs) and 20 degree (5mm LEDs) beam angles and allows the diners outside to be bathed in a huge variety of colours. Control is via a Pulsar OutStation Wall panel.
The LEDNeon Flex is available in six colours with this particular project utilising the blue shade. Original neon is complicated to install and fragile in nature but LEDNeon Flex is easy to install, can be bent into any shape, can be used indoor and outdoor and can withstand tough environments.
With the introduction of exterior LED lighting, supplied by The Production Shop, Baguette is clearly visible to passing cars and potential customers cruising the road for somewhere to eat.
www.showtech.com.au

Urban Coool in Downtown Bathurst
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The Oxford Hotel in Bathurst, country NSW, has been totally renovated bringing some city style to the region. As well as a cool bar, stylish function areas and a restaurant the hotel features a super trendy nightclub which is packed every weekend.
Whilst the action on the dance floor is highlighted by a MEC truss full of lighting gear, all installed by DMC Sound & Lighting, the bar at the other end of the room could easily get lost in the relative darkness. How to attract attention to this corner without competing with the dance floor lighting?
Simple, install Pulsar ChromaHeart MR16 LED fixtures each of which features 18 high powered LEDS. That way you get a bar that is illuminated in a variety of colours, to match the dance floor lighting if you wish, yet does not detract from the dance rig.
The façade of the bar as well as the shelves behind, are transformed by the ChromaHearts into a colourful destination and the bar has become one big lighting feature in itself. Control of the sixty ChromaHearts is via Pulsar ChromaZone controllers.
DMC also installed a large quantity of the Pro Shop LED Pinspots into the venue where they are used to highlight the fabulous trussing configuration and enhance the moving heads.
DMC Lighting & Sound
www.showtech.com.au
(Source: Show Technology media release)

Bank on LED lighting strip ribbon from Hotbeam
The popular HBA6-360 LED Ribbon strip was chosen for its reliability, high flux output and performance in installation in the management offices of one of Australia’s big 4 banks. These LED strips were used in display cabinets and in cove lighting applications.
The display cabinet lighting consisted of LED Ribbon strip lights installed along the vertical sides of the cabinets. These bright low energy consumption LED Ribbon strips are being used to illuminate historical documents and banking artifacts without subjecting them to damaging UV emissions.
In the dining/lounge areas, the warm white LED Ribbon strips were selected for use in a cove lighting setting added to the overall ambiance of the offices. These LED Ribbon strips provided useful illumination whilst contributing minimally to the running and overall air conditioning costs of the organisation.
www.hotbeam.com
(Source: Hotbeam redia release)

Priscilla Bar in the pink
To coincide with the opening of Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical, the Lyric Drum Bar has been transformed into a Priscilla themed bar which is open to the general public. Named Priscilla’s Bar, the venue is inspired by the drag queen musical which has taken to the stage of the Lyric Theatre next door, with lots of feathers, sequins and splashes of pink.
Showcorp was employed to add to add further splashes of pink with lighting effects in the form of Pro Shop LED strips as well as Geni Oby 500 and Oby 600 moving head fixtures all controlled by a Martin LightJockey.
“The Oby’s are used to project and thus reinforce the Priscilla shoe logo (custom made gobo from Gobotech) as well as to wash the space in pink and lavender hues,” said Colin Baldwin, managing director of Showcorp. “The LED strips add quite a dynamic effect especially as the banks of LEDs within the strips are chasing.”
The LED strips are on two levels; the Priscilla Bar under the awning above the actual bar and also around the bar on the restaurant level one floor below. Together with the Oby’s and the stair lights wrapped in pink gel, they light up the entire drum area of Star City in a fabulous pink glow visible from afar.
“The lighting is programmed off a Martin LightJockey which allows us to ‘set and forget, 24/7’!” said Colin.
www.showtech.com.au

Mean Fiddler installs new Martin Mania SCX700 Scanners
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As part of a multi-million dollar refurbishment, the Mean Fiddler is Rouse Hill, Sydney opened up its lower Courtyard twelve months ago. Originally intended as a food area during the day and up until 9pm at night, the venue management decided it would make an ideal area for a nightclub on weekend nights especially as they had a 3am license.
Every Friday and Saturday night this area of the venue is packed with youngsters from this ever-growing area of Sydney. As the nightclub grew in popularity it was decided that some lighting effects would add extra panache to this space but the venue did not want to hire a lighting person to run any such light show. Consequently a good quality stand-alone fixture was sought, not just any old cheap disco effect.
Having installed a variety of Martin lighting products into the rest of the expansive venue over the past few years, the management had no qualms in accepting a recommendation for the new Martin Mania SCX700 scanner. The Mania SCX series is Martin’s response to the market demand for more powerful, compact and feature packed scanners. The Mania SCX700 is the latest in the series, a far-reaching and blinding moving mirror effect driven by 150 watts of discharge power. The SCX700 also features crisp rotating gobos, a broad selection of colours and a fast strobe effect making it ideal for the all-night club dance floor.
The venue operators report that the SCX700 scanners are amazing, describing them as bright and generally an excellent fitting. A moving mirror fixture was chosen as there was not a viable place to hang moving heads and the SCX700’s, being nicely compact, can be neatly tucked away to the sides.
A total of sixteen SCX700’s have been installed with nine along the deck side of the courtyard and seven lining the lounge area.
The venue operators are reportedly more than happy with the installation especially as they can be tuned on by the duty manager flicking a switch and then not attended to until the switch is flicked back off at the end of the night.
Designed for both installation and portable use, the SCX700 is DMX controllable for ultimate manageability or use the convenience of the music trigger or stand-alone mode. Making life even easier, it includes pre-programmed shows for easy impression and fast and easy programming.
www.showtech.com.au

Burswood Theatre upgrades with 180 ETC Source Four
With its impressive two-tiered auditorium and seating for up to 2,500 people, Perth’s Burswood Theatre is a popular venue that hosts a variety of entertainment productions as well as large conferences and product launches.
The generously-sized stage has ample side and rear working areas, excellent acoustic qualities as well as all the latest audio and lighting features. This world-class theatre has played host to major shows, dance productions and concerts featuring many of the world’s greatest performers. 
Recently the venue underwent a major update of their conventional lighting replacing their old CCT Silhouette lamps with 180 ETC Source Four Zooms supplied by Perth’s Concert & Corporate Productions.
“The ETC Source Four Zoom is a great lamp and the output from their 750 watt lamp is equivalent to the 1200 watt Silhouette,” said Jerry Reinhardt, C&CP’s General Manager for Sales and Production. “They’re a smart lamp; they burn cold and they’re easy to use. There’s also very good support from the manufacturer.”
Jerry reports that when the Source Four’s were unpacked and tested he was amazed to find that there were no problems what so ever.
“Everything worked first time,” he said. “There were no cracked lenses, all the lens trays were fine and everything fired up straightaway. We’ve been using the Source Fours in our hire department for some time and they’ve proven to be very robust. All in all they’re just a great lamp.
“Jands did a sterling job, delivering the shipment when promised and they really were a pleasure to work with.”
www.jands.com.au

HQ Adelaide for Show Technology
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A few years ago Adelaide’s Heaven nightclub was one of the country’s first super clubs famous for its technology-driven environment. Last year the venue was sold for $10 million and after $2.5 million worth of renovations, it has recently reopened as HQ.
Novatech Productions were employed to design and install the lighting and audio into the venue’s many entertainment areas; the Newmarket Lounge, Soho Bar, Gabrielles and the stunning Main Room where the crowds are towered over by a striking truss design in the letters H and Q. Emphasizing these gigantic truss letters are Pro Shop LED tubes that pulse in a variety of colours. More Pro Shop LED Tubes can be found in a horizontal arrangment behind the DJs.
“The venue owners wanted a point of difference, a wow factor without a massive budget,” explained Leko Novakovic, managing director of Novatech. “Nobody else owns the Pro Shop LED tubes in Adelaide and so nobody else had seen them before. Hence they’ve turned out to be a good, cost effective way of delivering a unique effect. Since installation the LED tubes have been great with absolutely no problems – in fact we’re going to order a stack more for both the club and our hire department!”
The custom built CLS truss was purposely selected to ensure that at least five different designs could be created from the original HQ format. Every few weeks the Novatech crew will rearrange the truss for a fresh look.
The main room also features four Martin MAC250 as well as heaps of Kupo gear including Duet Blinders, 4 way Blinders, Chrome Par56’s as truss warmers and Par64’s for stage front and rear wash. Four Martin Atomic 3000 Strobes add a whizz-bang factor as does twenty-four Geni Strobe Tube sections and four Geni Spyros. Atmosphere is delivered by a Jem ZR33 smoke machine and a Jem 24/7 Hazer.
Control in the main room is via a couple of MA Lighting Scan Commanders which Leko particularly favours for the club environment.
“Even though the Scan Commander is quite an old console I believe it is still one of the best club lighting consoles around,” he said. “Nothing quite competes for a venue like this.”
More LED products from Show Technology can be found in the Soho Bar where four LED pinspots supply changing colour, as are some standard pinspots, set off by another Jem smoke machine. Geni effect lights such as Shimmers and Martin Egos supply party lighting for the smaller rooms.
www.showtech.com.au