Jands Vista provides remote control in New Zealand

Posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008

Trust those canny Kiwis to come up with an innovative way to use a Jands Vista! Nick Abel of Auckland-based Oceania Lighting, in conjunction with Auckland lighting install company Entertainment Lighting Solutions, had to install a medium-sized lighting rig into a nightclub venue in Taupo, a three hour drive away and he obviously needed lighting control that was reliable and not in need of constant twiddling. The venue did not have room for a bulky lighting console and so Nick had to come up with an original way to control the lighting. His solution lay with the Jands Vista software and M1 playback control surface. Designed to be used with a computer, the M1 gives you all the playback benefits of a Vista show in a compact and portable package that’s perfect for trade show booths, hotels, clubs or any venue where space is tight.

“The venue already had a computer system that controlled the Cloud Music Jukebox system and so I decided to install the Jands Vista software on the back of their system,” he explained. “We programmed it so that the DJ’s and operators could access the M1 to only control the lights without damaging the programming or deleting anything. Basically we can lock down what they have access to on the playback wing. It provides a fool-proof lighting system with the advantage of having a Jands Vista M1 controlling it.”

The advantage for Nick using the Cloud Music system is that they run their own virtual network throughout New Zealand so for projects like this, where the venue is a long way from their offices, Nick can go into Cloud’s Auckland office to dial in via their VPN to change any aspects of the lighting control.

The rig consisted of five moving heads, some scanners, LED pinspots, LED PARs plus a smoke and a haze machine.

“It’s not a huge rig but we really needed a decent control system that DJ’s could easily use,” commented Nick. “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the client but the great thing about the set up is that it’s tamper-proof and user-friendly.”

The collaboration with Cloud has proved so successful Entertainment Lighting Solutions is about to is just about to install a similar system into a venue at Wanaka, near Queenstown

www.jands.com.au

Martin Stage Bars hurried to Phaseshift

Posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Phaseshift Productions recently took possession of twelve Martin Stage Bar 54L LED fixtures to add to their LEDinventory.

Phaseshift’s Stage Bars arrived in Australia and were whisked away to their first gig arriving two hours before doors at a corporate show held at The GPO Alto! Thankfully ease of use and installation is a key feature of these fixtures. A prime focus in the development of the Stagebar 54 has been to circumvent some of the logistic and set-up problems associated with LED lighting. This has culminated in a simple, unique all-in-one solution.

The events lighting designer Hugh Taranto was keen to see the Stage Bar 54 LED fixtures. The moment the fixtures arrived, Troy Brown and Rob Oswald of Phaseshift went to work setting up the Stage Bars which neither of them had worked with before. Both Troy and Rob were impressed with their ease of set up and operation.

With Hugh Taranto stating that the new “Stage Bars were worth waiting for” he was very happy with their output. The client reported that they finished the room off perfectly.

The very next day the fixtures headed straight to Sydney for the Sounds of Light show held at Acer Arena with LD Dave Taylor using the Stage Bars on the front truss for audience wash.

Dave was very happy with the output of the Stage Bars and the look of them. With the ability to use a spectrum of colours with the white and amber LEDs, he would not hesitate to use them again on his next gig.

There was no question of the quality and brightness coming from this compact fixture.

Accompanying the 12 x Stage Bars 54L on Sounds of Light were 16 x MAC700P, 12 x MAC700W, and other assorted lighting fixtures.

www.showtech.com.au

Robe’s Digital Roadshow

Posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008

The latest additions to the Robe family have reached Australian shores and have toured the East Coast in the Robe Digital Roadshow.

Melbourne’s famous Robe venue, the Queens Bridge Hotel (QBH) played host to the first leg of the Digital Roadshow on the 3rd and 4th of June, giving both ULA clients and Lighting Designers the opportunity to get up close and personal with the new Robe Digital line up. Leading industry figures from all over Victoria came to see the exciting new products first hand and to experiment with products they had never used before.

On show were the exciting new Robe DigitalSpot 3000 DT and the DigitalSpot 7000 DT, which did not disappoint. The attendees were also treated to the Australian debut of the new Robe REDWash 3•192 which utilizes the new Luxeon Rebel LEDs. Also on display was the Robe ColorWash 750 AT Tungsten following on from its debut at this years ENTECH.

The Digital Roadshow continued on to ULA’s Sydney facility on June 5th. On hand to present these fixtures was Robe’s Managing Director, Joseph Valchár, who was overwhelmed and delighted by the level of excitement and positive feedback he received about the Robe products in Australia. “Australia has really embraced Robe” says Josef “and the new DigiSpots really have people’s attention!”

The Robe’s then travelled on the following week to events at the Gold Coast’s Convention Centre on the 11th and Brisbane’s Powerhouse Theatre on the 12th. Both events were attended by Queensland’s industry leaders who were very impressed by the new Robe Digital products, sparking excited discussion around the room as they got their hands on the fixtures for the first time.


The Robe Digital Roadshow is part of ULA’s continual commitment to providing clients with the best products, information and support to help grow their businesses. “It was a great to see the excitement on everyone’s faces when they got to really see what these new (Robe) fixtures can do… Overall a fantastic opportunity for everyone who attended” stated Blair Terrace, ULA’s National Sales and Marketing Manager.

The new Robe Digital and LED range will be coming into stock over the coming weeks to Robe’s exclusive Australian distributor, the ULA Group. For more information or for a chance to book a hands on demonstration of the new Robe products, please call 1300 ULA GROUP : 1300 852 476.

www.ula.com.au

ETC Ion on tour with Company B

Posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

The ETC Ion lighting control console, the follow-up and smaller sibling to the company’s respected Eos console,recently made its’ debut in Australia impressing the technical guys at Belvoir St Theatre home of Company B, one of Australia’s most respected theatre companies.

Company B were about to undertake an extensive seven-month tour of Australia with their award-winning production Keating!, with plans to hire a lighting console for the duration of the tour, when the ETC Ion attracted their attention. The technical department soon discovered that for a similar cost to the long-term hire of a console, they could purchase an Ion delivering control over conventionals, moving lights and LEDs in an intuitive and easy manner.

With its convenient small footprint — only 19″ wide — the compact yet rugged Ion was an ideal console to survive the rigours of touring, fitting nicely into the smallest of venues.

Brent Forsstrom-Jones is lighting operator for the tour and although he has only had the Ion for a month, he is rapt with the features and operational ease offered by the console.

“Before the Ion, I was using a demo version of the Eos to familiarize myself with the ETC way of working,” commented Brent. “We looked at other consoles on the market when we were considering hiring one – but why hire one when you can purchase one?! A couple of other consoles we looked at in a similar price range didn’t look like they’d be able to run all of the effects and do what we needed them to do.

“I’m used to using a Strand Series 500 console and I’ve found it really easy to change over to the ETC Eos and Ion as they have a similar syntax. The Ion/Eos has a lot of features that I liked with the Strand consoles plus they’ve actually improved quite a few particularly functionality with moving lights. In fact the Ion was very quick to get up and running and simple to get a grasp of. The console can be as simple to use as sliding a submaster, or as complex as any production might demand.”

The production features moving lights and Brent has found the Ion’s built-in moving-light fixture library made short work of what used to be a complex patching sequence. Colour matching is also a breeze with Ion’s unique colour picker and swatch book whilst programming is simple.

“The Ion has four encoder wheels and this is one of its’ biggest advantages as you can quickly access and adjust ML parameters without having to scroll through multiple pages,” remarked Brent. “This is one feature I really like about the console, it gives it an edge over other smaller consoles such as the Strand 300 where you access attributes via the buttons on a mouse/trackball. That can be rather clunky, tiresome, and frustrating. There are also virtual encoders which are handy for off-line editing.”

Brent is also using the Net3 Radio Focus Remote which allows him to do most things he can do at the console standing anywhere within the venue.

“I can stand onstage and bring up a channel, update cues, change my patch – it really has got me out of a lot of grief quite a few times!” he said.

Brent reports that he is particularly impressed with the back up offered by not only Jands but ETC.

“If I’m not sure about something I can quickly get online and the ETC guys are frequently answering queries posted on forums,” he said.

Both professionals and novices will find Ion to be intuitive and easy to use. Ion comes in 1000, 1500 and 2000 channel/output configurations and features an integral LCD for softkeys and non-intensity parameter control. The board offers a dedicated master playback fader pair, grand master and blackout switch. The Ion programming keypad is designed to make frequently used functions easy to access, while physical rotary encoders take the work out of changing colour, focus and gobos. For further functionality and power, Ion can connect up to six optional USB fader wings for 240 additional faders — playbacks or submasters — with paging controls.

Ion can be used as a standalone console or networked system with up to four Ion devices, such as additional Ion consoles, Ion Remote Processor Units, Net3 Remote Video Interfaces or computers running Eos/Ion client software. The Ion can also be used as a client on an Eos system, where it will support the full output of that system.

www.etcconnect.com

www.jands.com.au

Chainmaster has arrived at ULA

Posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

ULA GROUP has been appointed exclusive Australian distributor for Germany’s ChainMaster range of electric chain hoists and chain hoist controllers, bringing this industry leading brand to Australia for the first time.

The ChainMaster range of high-powered electric chain hoists and chain hoist controllers are the world’s lightest, strongest and quietest hoists on the market. With German design and engineering, Chainmaster chain hoists allow the heaviest loads to be transported silently and positioned within millimetre accuracy. With over 200 models available, ChainMaster chain hoists make it possible to realise the creative ideas of directors, set designers and lighting artists with minute precision and absolute reproducibility.

Established in 1993, ChainMaster was at that time, the first in the world to develop an electric chain hoist system that was capable of satisfying the stringent German safety regulations. Since then ChainMaster has become established as one of the major manufacturers of chain hoists in the world with an international distribution network spread over every continent. ChainMaster attributes their success to developing for the stage and theatre markets the most versatile and efficient hoists and controllers that reproduce movements with staggering precision whilst satisfying even the most stringent safety standards.

For your chance to be involved in ULA’s ChainMaster Technical Workshops or to book an exclusive demonstration contact ULA

www.chainmaster.de

www.ula.com.au

New book – Entertainment In Production

Posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008

Entertainment Technology Press and writer and lighting programmer & designer Rob Halliday announce the release of two new books, Entertainment In Production 1994-1999, and Entertainment in Production 2000-2006.

Gathering together more than a decade’s worth of magazine articles on the production of shows written by Rob Halliday for publications such as Lighting & Sound International, Lighting Dimensions and Total Production, the two books provide a comprehensive record of the creation of some of the biggest shows of the period, looking at the projects, the people behind them and the technology involved and how it has evolved over time.

The books covers all of the ‘backstage’ elements of the shows, including lighting, sound, staging, automation and more, featuring the work of designers Acme Sound Partners, Francois Bergeron, Ken Billington, Andrew Bridge, Andrew Bruce, Bob Crowley, Jonathan Deans, Bob Dickinson, Michel Crete, William Dudley, Rick Fisher, Paul Groothuis, Wendall Harrington, Mark Henderson, Howard Harrison, David Hersey, Natasha Katz, Luc Lafortune, Nigel Levings, Matt McKenzie, Anne Militello, Tony Meola, John Napier, Nick Ormerod, Chris Parry, Kenneth Posner, Paul Pyant, Mike Walker, Anthony Ward, Patrick Woodroffe and many more.

http://www.etbooks.co.uk

Inefficient Lamp Phase-out Seminar

Posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008

DATE: Thursday, 17 July 2008

TIME: 6.30pm – 8.15pm

VENUE: Royal Australian Institute of Architects, ‘Tusculum’, 3 Manning Street, Potts Point, NSW

BACKGROUND

In February 2007 the Australian Government announced an intention to phase-out inefficient lamps. The new Rudd Government made a further announcement on the subject on World Environment Day. It is expected that incandescent lamps will be banned from import from November 2008 and banned from sale 12 months later.

ies: The Lighting Society and Lighting Council Australia, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, are convening seminars in major capital cities to brief lighting professionals and others with a commercial or professional interest in lighting on details of the phase-out.

SEMINAR FORMAT

6.30PM – 7.00PM   Refreshments

7.00PM – 7.45PM   Presentation by Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts

7.45PM – 8.15PM   Panel session

COST

No charge

REGISTRATION

Registration is essential. Click here to register:

More Martin gear for Group Production Services

Posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008

As the photo shows, Dave Jackson of Group Production Services is elated with his recently acquired Martin MAC700 profiles and MAC250 Entour washes.

“We purchased the MAC700’s because clients were always specifying them plus we already had MAC500, MAC600 and MAC250 Entour profiles,” he said. “The MAC700’s have a fantastic output, great colour mixing and they’re a handy size. Also, they’re reliability has been great.”

Group Production Service’s MAC700’s have just finished a handful of Queensland dates with the band Cut Copy (pictured) with lighting designed by Anthony Petruzzio. The rig included MAC700’s and MAC600’s as well as some Atomic Strobes plus twelve Martin Stage Bars situated on vertical pipes at the back of the stage.

“The Martin Stage Bars were running in high resolution mode with multiple patterns running through them” explained Dave. “The Stage Bars are awesome in fact we can’t keep enough of them in the factory! It’s the best LED fixture – you can actually light stuff with them. You can have four of them on a stage for side washes and they end up lighting the whole stage.”

Dave is also having fun using his new MAC250 Entours which he describes as great and a fixture that he loves for its punch and nice colours.

www.showtech.com.au

Phaseshift purchase another grandMA

Posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

Phaseshift Productions has recently finished a national tour with k.d.lang who was accompanied by the company’s new MA Lighting grandMA Lite console.

Lighting designer Mike Duncan had requested a full size grandMA for control slaved with a grandMA Lite for back up. His rig included eleven Martin MAC700 washes, thirteen MAC700 profiles, two MAC2000 performances, ten conventional profiles and a LED star curtain.

“It was a simple, elegant show,” commented Jeremy Nolan, Phaseshift’s system technician for the tour. “It was tasteful to k.d’s music with some simple yet effective cyc looks.”

Jeremy reports that the grandMA set up ran smoothly with no issues what so ever.

“When we knew that we needed another grandMA we looked at buying another full size console but for our applications, the grandMA Lite was the better option,” he said. “It’s more practical for us as many people run back up consoles these days. Really the grandMA Lite does everything the larger console can but it’s a lot smaller.

“Since acquiring our grandMA Lite is has been on numerous shows, working flat out. It’s a really powerful console that is small so it can fit into many situations especially the corporate work that we do. It’s become a very popular, little desk!”

www.showtech.com.au

TLS Production switch to Martin MAC’s

Posted on Thursday, June 19th, 2008

Perth-based TLS Productions custom design and supply lighting, audio, and visuals for large and small events including concerts, product launches, exhibitions and conferences, award nights, public, private and corporate events.

Their moving light inventory has traditionally been a competitor’s product but finally TLS have seen the light and opted to purchase Martin MAC’s! Last month they took delivery of eight Martin MAC700 fixtures plus eight Martin MAC250 Entours.

Production Manager Guillaume Laurent found clients consistently requesting Martin MAC’s and so, to keep up with technology trends, he raided his piggy bank and finally committed himself.

“The fixtures are great, compact and the price was right,” he added. “The MAC’s do what they’re meant to do. In fact I couldn’t go wrong with the purchase. The MAC700’s are being used for a wide variety of events and I’m really impressed by the quality of light that comes out of them. I’m quite surprised by the variety of looks I’m able to achieve with the MAC700’s, they really are effective.”

“The MAC250 Entour’s were certainly a welcome bonus!” he said. “They’re great for our smaller shows and like the MAC700’s, they’re very compact. When we picked up all sixteen of the MAC’s, I was able to fit them all in one one-ton van which was pretty cool and something I never thought I’d be able to do!”

www.showtech.com.au

Barco Acquires High End Systems Inc.

Posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Barco announces the acquisition of High End Systems, Inc., a global technology provider of automated luminaires, digital lighting and lighting controls. Based in Austin, Texas, High End Systems employs 156 people and is a profitable company with USD 44 million sales in 2007. With the merging of two strong industry players, this acquisition reinforces Barco’s leadership position in the fast converging video and lighting segments. The total value of the transaction is USD 55 million, which implies an EBITDA multiple of around 8 on the past 12 months. The impact on 2008 EPS is estimated to be about neutral due to the required IFRS restatements.

Eighty percent of High End Systems’ sales are realized in the Events (Rental & Staging) market, which makes it a perfect match for Barco. Today Barco is already the leader in four product areas of this market with its LED video displays, its large venue projectors, Creative LED products and a full range of Image Processing products. High End Systems will be fully integrated into Barco’s Media and Entertainment division.

With the growing convergence of lighting and video technologies, the acquisition of High End Systems is a merger of two strong industry players and as a combined force it will hold a leading position in this converged digital video and lighting space, enabling further growth. This is fully in line with the strategic goal of enlarging Barco’s presence in each of the key markets it is active in.

Stephan Paridaen, President of Barco’s Media and Entertainment division states: “We are proud and excited about joining forces with the leading player in the digital lighting market. High End’s differentiated product line-up and recent product introductions are clearly proof of their market-led vision and strong R&D focus. We look forward to introducing many new and exciting products into the converged lighting/video space together.”

“The acquisition is a great outcome for the employees of High End Systems and we are confident that the combined creativity and customer focus of Barco and High End Systems will deliver superior technology for the global entertainment markets,” said Merritt Belisle, Chairman of High End Systems, Inc.

The acquisition provides Barco also with an additional patent portfolio in the digital lighting market, along with increased distribution channels and product offerings worldwide. The acquisition further strengthens Barco’s position in North America, another strategic goal, and will create an opportunity to strengthen its natural hedging over time as the High End Systems product portfolio will be further rolled out globally.

High End Systems, Inc. was majority owned by Generation Partners, a US private equity firm (www.generation.com).

More details on the acquisition will be provided with 2Q08 results on 23 July 2008.

Entertainment Installations get even more Martin MAC700’s

Posted on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Entertainment Installations on the NSW Central Coast has increased its ever-growing Martin MAC inventory with the purchase of four more MAC700 profiles taking the total MAC700 tally to sixteen. Having taken advantage of Show Technology’s recent promotion, whereby if you purchased a MAC700 you got a free MAC250 Entour, Neale Mace, managing director of Entertainment Installations is one happy client!

“It was a great value-for-money offer I couldn’t resist!” said Neale. “Our MAC700’s are becoming a regular workhorse on our larger shows. In fact we were running out and needed some more anyway and I don’t think they will be the last ones we buy either!”

Neale describes the MAC700 as an extraordinary light that is reliable, has a fantastic output, great colour mixing, superb effects and zoom capabilities…..what more could a guy want? Neale is also delighted with his bonus MAC250 Entours which he finds ideal for the corporate and smaller size shows.

Entertainment Installations currently have a total of sixty-four Martin MAC’s including MAC700 Profile, MAC250 Entour, MAC250 Wash and Martin TW1’s.

Four recent concerts that relied on the MAC700s for the majority of their lighting were Sebastian Bach who utilized 8 x MAC700, 8 x Martin TW-1, and 4 x Martin Atomic Strobes whilst Whitesnake had 8 x MAC700, 4 x Studio Due CS4 and 8 x Martin TW-1. Sonu Niigaam used 12 x MAC700 and Porcupine Tree (pictured) had 8 x MAC700 profiles.

Eight MAC700, as well as some TW1’s, go on tour this week with Shannon Noll. Bryce Mace has designed the lighting which will travel in style in Entertainment Installation’s new truck.

www.showtech.com.au

Innovative keep innovative with Martin

Posted on Friday, June 6th, 2008

Innovative Production Services has increased its inventory with some innovative products; four Martin MAC TW1, four MAC700 profiles, four MAC250 Entours and eight Martin Stagebar 54Ls.

Jeremy Koch, Innovatives’ managing director has a strong theatrical background as does one of his lighting employees Alex Grierson and so they were both drawn to the TW1.

“Alex has a lot of passion and theatricality in his design and we were looking for something new and different for him,” commented Jeremy. “We needed a product that was not only cost-effective and lightweight, but also it needed to have a certain level of market acceptance. This was our first major moving light purchase and we needed to be confident that our first step into the market was going to be a good decision and have a positive return on investment.

“We found the TW1’s to be nothing short of amazing. We lit a gig at the Hordern Pavilion and the front wash of the entire stage was done by just four MAC TW1 fixtures. They’re extremely bright, extremely quiet – in fact they’re awesome!”

Innovative recently took advantage of one of Show Technology’s fabulous deals – Buy a MAC700 profile and get a MAC250 Entour for free! This deal came at exactly the right time for Innovative who required a fixture that was small and light for their smaller jobs but at the same time, as they are doing so many larger jobs these days, a light that would satisfy the requirements of these larger shows and the MAC250 Entours were just not bright enough.

“We couldn’t find one light that was ticking all of these boxes but once this deal came up we saw it as a great opportunity!” he said. “The MAC700’s satisfy are larger jobs whilst the MAC250 Entours are deal for the smaller productions. Both lights are fabulous and ideal for their required applications.”

Jeremy continued spending with the purchase of eight Martin Stagebar 54L LED luminaires to initially meet his needs for some ‘eye candy’ that was too expensive.

“The colours that come out of the Stagebars are just stunning,” he said. “The white and the amber LEDs make such a difference. Once we started to use the Stagebars properly I realised that they weren’t just eye candy and that you could quite satisfactorily light a stage with them, from a performance perspective. I think they’re really the first LED product on the market that allows you to use it as a light rather than just an effect”.

www.showtech.com.au

Judith Wright’s grandMA is just dandy

Posted on Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Brisbane’s 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. The Centre prides itself on being able to offer the latest in lighting and sound technology and so it’s no wonder that their most recent acquisition was a MA Lighting grandMA Lite lighting console plus a grandMA NSP, grandMA Video Server and a PDA Wireless Kit.

The time had come to replace the Centre’s aging ETC Express 250 and so Senior Technician Keith Clark began a search for the ideal console.

“I was looking for a console that made control of moving lights easy as well as conventionals as we have a fairly large conventional rig,” he said. “It needed to be able to handle both types of lighting in an easy manner for live purposes, which is about 60% of the work that we do. The other 40% is plotted in a similar way to theatre shows. Really there weren’t that many options on the market that already had proven industry experience. There were other consoles that we were interested in but we felt they were too young in their life span or were heading down a path we were not suited too.”

Keith was determined that his Centre was not going to be used as a guinea pig by trialing newer consoles available and the fact that Brisbane already has several grandMA’s in various venues certainly helped him make his decision.

“The Powerhouse and QPAC both have grandMA’s which is useful for when we have to find extra crew,” he commented. “It’s really handy that so many lighting operators in Brisbane are familiar with the grandMA platform.”

The lighting control set up consists of a grandMA Lite control console running into a hub which in turn runs off to the grandMA NSP, a grandMA Video Server and to a PDA plus a production desk laptop.

“With a plotted show we use the laptop as a backup,” added Keith. “We went with the grandMA Lite rather than the full size grandMA just because of size really. As a live console controlling movers it’s nice and easy to use whilst as a plotting console there’s a lot of stuff you can do with it although it is a bit of a step up for programmers to come to grips with. Most of our production work is only done in this venue and won’t be played elsewhere so we can be very specific in our plotting.”

At the same time the Centre also took delivery six Martin MAC TW1 moving tungsten fixtures which he describes as outstanding.

“Their colour mix is really nice, they’re very quiet and they just fit nicely into this venue,” said Keith. “As this venue is quite small with little room reverb any noise made can be really heard consequently for un-amplified or low amplification events the TW1’s work well. Considering the features that they offer, the TW1’s are also quite small. The mechanical dowsers on them are good although we’re running internal dimmers.”

www.showtech.com.au

Sing Hallelujah for the Martin MAC TW1!

Posted on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Handel’s triumphant Hallelujah chorus provided the first musical notes to be heard in the newest addition to Melbourne’s cultural infrastructure, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, which was lit for the first time recently at Melbourne Recital Centre at Southbank. 

A significant project of the Victorian Government, through Arts Victoria and Major Projects Victoria, Melbourne Recital Centre is scheduled to open to the public in the first quarter of 2009.

Lighting this prestigious event was Paul Jackson who chose Clearlight Shows to supply, install and operate the lighting for the reveal on March 26th of the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. John McKissock, Clearlight’s managing director, recommended his recently acquired Martin MAC TW1 tungsten moving lights for the event.

“I can say I love the TW1 and everyone that has used them has the same response,” he commented.

“I needed a fixture with high colour rendering in a tungsten format,” added Paul. “It also needed a good colour mix that had a really good fade curve on it. Because we were revealing the roof of the Recital Hall we needed to come up out of black very gradually, smoothly and evenly with complete control. We also needed a fixture that was very, very quiet given the acoustic context we were in.

“I thought the TW1’s were excellent. I wasn’t using them as a moving fixture rather as a colour wash unit. I’ve never worked with a tungsten-based, moving head unit as punchy or as clean as the TW1.”

As well as the twelve Martin MAC TW1 fixtures Paul used one Martin MAC700, twelve Pixel Par 90, two Selecon 5.5-13 Pacifics, twelve Selecon 14-35 Pacifics and eight 2kw Selecon Fresnels. All was controlled with the Clealright’s new Zero 88 LeapFrog 96.

Now just past the half-way mark in its construction, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall is the centrepiece of the purpose-built Melbourne Recital Centre. Destined to become home to Melbourne fine music when it opens, it is a 1000-seat modified shoebox-shaped hall based on the classic proportions of the Vienna Musikvereinsaal.  It is named in honour of Victoria’s most generous and longest serving philanthropist, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE, in recognition of her legacy, and to pay homage to her passion for music and for nurturing Australia’s finest young artists.

www.showtech.com.au

HES Debuts On-Line Training Centre

Posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

High End Systems announces the release of a new on-line Training Centre. This special portion of the HES website is dedicated to training resources, including new videos and tutorials with specific information about Wholehog consoles, digital lighting products and new automated luminaires. Users can quickly navigate through the information or view short training videos for in-depth tutorials on many topics.

Schedules for training sessions on automated and digital lighting fixtures as well as Wholehog consoles have also been expanded to meet the demand and help eliminate the waiting list. A new Wholehog training date just added to the year-long schedule is June 24-25 in Austin, TX.

“We’re really excited to debut the new online Training Center,” says Cat West, HES Console Training Specialist. “Our goal was to have a place where our users could not only find information about our training classes, but also learn more about the products through videos and online tutorials. The best part is that these new resources are available free of charge, at any time, to anyone with an Internet connection. We’ll be adding more videos and tutorials to our Training Center in the weeks and months to come.”

The Training Center is available through links on the HES website under Support or directly at http://training.highend.com

Artistic Licence celebrates 20 Years

Posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Artistic Licence has been celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, marking the time during which the company has evolved from its rock ‘n’ roll origins into a company focused on architectural lighting and installations, whilst simultaneously developing its international presence.

Talking to Robert Bell in 2004 for his book Let There Be Light, managing director Wayne Howell says: ” I take the company name quite seriously. Lateral thinking is the most important part of a design . . . (in addition) you make it as future proof and reusable as you can.”By focusing on the two halves of the company – product development and project design & installation – Howell has developed a product range which can be taken both as total solutions or as components for incorporation into individual designs.

Feedback has always been of prime importance to Artistic Licence’s work. “It’s not just RDM and Art-Net that offers two-way communication,” states Howell. It is the attendance at tradeshows and the feedback derived from clients, the involvement in industry trends and the direct work on installations and projects which keep the refresh rate of product development high at Artistic Licence, says the company.

Recently Nich Smith approached Artistic Licence when lighting the John Murray Archive in Edinburgh. Using Candle-Power LED dimmers for the showcase lighting, Smith specified the Candle-Power dimmers for their ability to control both 1W and 3W LED fixtures in the same enclosure.

“It was particularly satisfying to provide these dimmers,” says Howell, “since we had just launched the product when the project came up. The timing was ideal and provided the first sale for us.”

The celebrations for Artistic Licence’s 20th anniversary are to be followed by the launch of Artistic Licence Asia. Headed by Simon Fraser, the new company will build upon the earlier success of the existing sales office, taking Artistic Licence project and product solutions to a wider audience in the Middle East & Asian architectural markets.

The company has evolved from a long business relationship with Fraser of Ptarmigan Consulting. “We took a couple of years to assess the market potential and to work out how we could work together,” says Howell. “We have now decided it is time to make it official and are very excited to be launching the company in Asia this month. Simon and I have a very similar, no nonsense, approach to business and the Hong Kong operation will be run in along similar lines to Artistic Licence in the UK.”

www.artisticlicence.com

Australian Distributor: Balanced Technology www.balancedtech.com.au

Wybron Appoints TMB Distributor for Asia, Australia, and New Zealand

Posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008

Wybron Inc.has announced that TMB is the exclusive distributor for Wybron product in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Quotations and purchase requests will be handled by TMB’s offices – primarily in Los Angeles, with support from the London and Beijing offices.

“TMB has built a strong presence in Asia and the Pacific Rim. I’m thrilled that we can work with them to expand both our businesses there.” Said Dusty D. Hudgins, Sales Manager for Wybron. “We’ve worked with TMB for a long time, I’m confident they will help our customers, and provide that unique TMB service.”

TMB Sales Manager, Lisa Curran, concurs: “Dealers will benefit from the innovation and quality of Wybron products, combined with our commitment to fast and friendly service. Together we will accomplish great things in these rapidly growing markets.”

Wybron has had a long relationship with TMB, going back to the very beginning of both companies. “I remember when Colin and Marshall just started TMB, and asked me if they could distribute the original Wybron colour changer, the Colormax” recalled Wybron president and founder Keny Whitright. “They’ve done a great job and really know Wybron products.”

www.tmb.com

ResX takes tungsten loaded MAC’s

Posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

Resolution X has taken its first delivery of Martin MAC TW1 80V wash fixtures. Already in service, the MAC’s have hardly stopped working since arriving.

“We’re excited to have them as everyone seems to want them!” states Russell Brebner, Production Services Manager at ResX (pictured). ”They are big, bright and have great colour mix – perfect for stage washing.”

Liz Beedle, ResX’s head of moving lights, has been amazed at the number of people who have stopped when the TW1’s are being prepped.

“No-one can believe they are actually running – there is no noise!” she said.

“The TW1’s compliment our already large MAC700 profile and wash inventory,” added ResX director Tim Hall. “They also sit well with our VL500’s. I look forward to seeing the TW1’s in action as we already have TV, Opera and Theatre enquires for the units.”

www.showtech.com.au

The Land of the Long White Cloud gets Mistier

Posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008

New Zealand is already known as the land of the long white cloud and now it’s even mistier with the recent arrival of the Look Solutions Unique 2 hazer!

Auckland hire company Oceania Lighting recently took delivery of two Unique 2 haze machines and Simon Garrett, director, claims that he is now a 100% convert to these powerful machines.

“The Unique 2 hazer is the best that we have ever run in hire in terms of low noise, output, reliability and control,” he remarked. “I‘ve tried lots of hazers and apart from our oil based crackers, had constant reliability problems. I‘ve got no complaints about our Unique 2 units.

I really needed a powerful water based option to look after singers for obvious reasons as well as the new generation data projectors as the AV boys were insisting on no haze.

“Control is reasonably intuitive and we like the Unique 2’s independent, variable adjustment of pump and fan combined with almost real time adjustment from the console. I was also knocked out by the sheer volume of haze they produce when maxed out – two units can do the deed in an arena. The features taken for granted like its higher volume fan, built-in timer and air filtration, have made our Unique 2 an instant request item and popular migrant to the country.”

Pictured are the Unique 2’s effortlessly providing plenty of atmospherics for Kiwi rock band Pluto.

www.showtech.com.au

trafficlight sponsors sustainable lighting for Next Wave Festival

Posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008

Ash Keating’s curated project 2020? for this year’s Next Wave Festival, is a large-scale, evolving installation that focuses attention on the future importance of environmental sustainability within artistic practice. Essentially it is a process-based project that involves 4 truck loads of waste dumped en-masse at the Arts House space at the Meat Market in North Melbourne, for a team of collaborating artists to work with.

Ironically labeled, but completely coincidental with the recent 2020 summit, Ash Keating, titled the project with the concern for the way our world will be by 2020, and the importance of finding sustainable solutions about how we live our lives.

When being approached by Ash, trafficlight’s director Michael Jankie and lighting designer Niklas Pajanti, thought the project was an innovative way of using waste, and creatively presenting an environmental concern to an audience. Jankie’s suggestion of environmentally aware or more sustainable lighting was an ideal solution for lighting the 2020? project.

As a lighting designer, Pajanti speaks of theatre lighting as having access to a whole range of lamps and lighting solutions. The lighting for 2020? will utilize a combination of LED fixtures (light emitting diodes), CFL’s (compact fluorescents) and standard theatrical incandescent fixtures. LED technology is particularly useful for sustainability purposes as it has extremely low power consumption, low heat generation, instantaneous on/off control and in general a longer life span than incandescent lamps.

Ash Keating is a visual artist who predominately integrates ecological issues into a hybrid art practice. Recipient of 2008 Gertrude Contemporary Art spaces Studio residency program, and 2008 Asialink Visual Arts Residency. Past projects include: Parched, Pascua Lama, 250-hours – work for 1 person/press release.

Niklas Pajanti is an award winning lighting designer whose practice ranges across contemporary art forms and performance styles including opera, circus, dance, drama, comedy, events and public spaces. Recent work includes Brink Productions’ When the Rain Stops Falling, Shaun Parker’s This Show Is About People, Ranters’ Theatre Holiday, Company B Belvoir’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

trafficlight is an independent specialist design and production management studio. Clients include Token Events, Jack Morton Worldwide, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, Gardens of Unearthly Delights and FederationSquare.

Event Details:

23 – 31 May 2008

Venue : Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood St, Nth Melbourne

Dates and Times: 2 – 9pm daily

Opening 22 May, 7-11pm, forum 31 May, 2.30-4.30pm, closing 31 May, closing 5-8pm.

www.nextwavefestival.com.au

www.trafficlight.com.au

Robert Juliat Super Korrigans are Gold

Posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008

Robert Juliat follow spots are famous for their superb mechanical design and are in keeping with the company’s well-earned reputation for renowned optical design. The Super Korrigan is a replacement for the 1200W HMI Korrigan followspot. It incorporates a new double-condenser optical system that produces 25% more light than the older model.

Last year, the Gold Coast Arts Centre invested in a couple of the world-famous Robert Juliat Super Korrigan followspots and the venue’s lighting crew is still over the moon with the purchase!

“Compared to other followspots on the market we found the Korrigans to be uniquely compact and light,” remarked Russell Jones, senior lighting technician at GCAC. “The crew thinks the Super Korrigans are great and everyone loves them. We love their output, the smooth operating of the iris and the fact that we’ve got the DMX models too. The way that the sliders work is fantastic. Externally, the follow spots are not very hot either so there’s not much of a burn factor.”

Russell further commented that the followspots are easy to maintain, they are very user-friendly, and they are extremely easy to use for the followspot operator.

The Gold Coast Arts Centre is one of the country’s busiest hosting a wide variety of productions from in-house musicals to comedy acts and many touring shows. Russell reports that the Super Korrigan followspots are a guaranteed hit with the touring crews who continually rave about their brightness.

Standard features of the Super Korrigan include flat field, hot re-strike, a fully closing iris in a removable cassette, a 100% closing dimming shutter (a DMX-dimming shutter is optional), and a six-frame colour changer that incorporates the popular fingertip shutter controls that were first introduced in the Topaze/Manon models. There are two types of colour changers available. The Super Korrigan comes with a boomerang, but there is an optional push/pull, which is the silent-acting, side-mounted colour changer.

The Super Korrigan comes standard with an A-size gobo holder, removable gel frames, frost, lamp access panels with kill switch, modular reflector and condenser lens assemblies, hinged barrel cover for ease of maintenance, and a large ergonomic wraparound handle. The unit is well-balanced and easily moves on the tripod.

Photographed is Alex Fox, GCAC’s head follow spot operator with Russell Jones (wearing glasses).

www.showtech.com.au

Rockhampton’s Pilbeam Theatre upgrades with an ETC Eos

Posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008

There has been a history of ETC consoles residing at Rockhampton’s Pilbeam Theatre and so it was no surprise that an Eos was recently purchased to keep the venue up to date with technology.

Laurie Clarke, the theatre’s Senior Technician, still had a good look on the market to see what other lighting manufacturers could offer but nothing else could tempt him.

”Previously we had been using an ETC Obsession II but it was time to upgrade,” commented Laurie. “After researching what’s available we decided that the ETC Eos best suited our needs. The fact that it has basically the same syntax as the Obsession means that our casual pool of operators can use it quite easily. Familiarity and comfort were factors in the purchase.”

Laurie has discovered that the Eos is a console that an experienced operator or a novice would be able to operate in no time at all.

”It’s easier to set up than other consoles and certainly easier to use,” he said. “All of the staff rave about the Eos. It has a really good user interface, with the touch screens and faders well laid out. In fact I really like the touch screens and the way that the moving light portion of it works. It makes control of our moving lights fast and simple. It’s fantastic at handling mixed lighting rigs with neither moving lights nor conventionals more important than the other.”

www.jands.com.au

SCEC adds more grandMA’s to inventory

Posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has added two more MA Lighting grandMA Lite consoles to their inventory which already has a full size grandMA and a couple of grandMA Ultra Lite consoles. Pictured is SCEC lighting staff undergoing comprehensive training on their grandMA’s.

The grandMA consoles were chosen for a variety of reasons; their famous user interface, their power with either moving or conventional fixtures, the ease of accessing attributes, they’re quick to learn and superior engineering.

“Basically they are just so user friendly,” stated Paul Davison, SCEC’s Manager of Audio Visual Services. “That’s really important when you have so many operators. Also the service and back up from Show Technology is second to none.”

The Centre also purchased twenty-four more Martin MAC250 Entour moving head fixtures to bring the grand total to a huge one hundred and twenty-four Entours.

“The Entours are ideal for the rooms which we use them in,” said Paul Davison, SCEC’s. “Their light output, physical size and functionality make them a perfect package. They’re also rock solid reliable.”

www.showtech.com.au

Studio Due CS4’s for Rooty Hill RSL

Posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

When Craig Sandstrom, lighting technician at Rooty Hill RSL, first saw the marketing material for the Studio Due CS4, he developed a keen interest in the product.

After hiring two units to try out on a number of shows, the club then decided to invest in the purchase of four units.

Each CS4 unit consists of a bank of four moveable shortcans, each fitted with a 250w ray lamp.

“It is a very impressive fixture which can provide stabs of white through coloured wash stage lighting,” he explained. “Being able to move each can in various pan/tilt modes, as well as controlling movement and intensity using our consoles on board effects engine can create some really nice effects.

“Furthermore, you can add colour filters to the CS4’s,  as they have a gel frame which can be unscrewed, adding another dimension to their potential usage – mind you, the basic tungsten white is a classic look in itself.”

The CS4 moving fixtures are primarily used in the club’s Tivoli Showroom, a 630 seat auditorium highly regarded over many years for hosting live entertainment and providing quality production facilities.

Pictured are the four CS4’s in use at Rooty Hill RSL during a recent Doc Neeson’s Angels concert where two of the units were stood vertically on base plates towards the front/side of stage, whilst another two units were hung horizontally and low from some global trussing, rear of stage.

“Funnily enough, we left them up one weekend after a high-energy rock show”, said Craig. “The show the following night featured an internationally recognised Irish singer, who brought her own sound and lighting crew with her. When her lighting designer saw the CS4’s, he was keen to use them.

“Even though it wasn’t a rock gig, he used them very effectively in a lattice- type formation at the rear of the stage. It looked really nice as a permanent static crossing of lights behind the artists. I wouldn’t have imagined that the CS4’s would work in that situation, but they did.”

Craig has found that many visiting lighting crew are impressed by the CS4’s, and the fact that Rooty Hill RSL has had the forethought to add some to their inventory.

www.showtech.com.au