Issue 2/2015
COVER STORY
ELECTRONIC THEATRE CONTROLS LIGHTS UP THE NEW SHANGHAI SYMPHONY HALL Scan this code & ‘Like’ us on 00
Editor’s Note Dear readers,
I hope you’ve had a great 2015 so far! This issue’s cover story takes a look at China’s brand new Shanghai Symphony Hall, home to the country’s symphony orchestra. This new facility boasts a comprehensive array of ETC products. It’s interesting to know the challenges and requirements of properly lighting a symphony hall, since a great lighting system can create the proper tone and atmosphere that allow the audience to immerse itself into a performance. As a Special Feature, we have a story on Quantum of the Seas—one of the world’s most advanced cruise ships. The main entertainment and relaxation spaces in the “smartship” have been equipped with a suite of Elation lighting and video systems to ensure the best lighting and visual experience for passengers. It’s also important to note that most of the lighting fixtures feature LED technology, thus contributing to substantial cost savings. Be sure to look through the other entertainment projects that we have in this new issue, covering a wide range of applications and venues in Asia and beyond. Enjoy! Best regards,
Nur Shakylla Nadhra (Editor)
ColorSource PAR
Quality now comes with a small price tag In a sea of cheap LED luminaires, it’s easy to see why the ColorSource family of luminaires stands out. After years of research and testing, ETC has developed a state of the art, budget friendly LED PAR fixture that doesn’t sacrifice quality for price. And because it’s made by ETC, you get the industry leading quality and support that worldwide customers have come to know and love over the years.
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Europe
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www.etcconnect.com
CONTENTS 8
News Lighting Solutions • Audio & Visual Solutions
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SPECIAL FEATURES • Quantum Of The Seas Sails With Elation Lighting And Video Systems
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COVER STORY
44
ENTERTAINMENT TECHNOLOGIES
80
PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
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SHOW REPORTS
ETC Lights Up The New Shanghai Symphony Hall
• TDC Brings Visions Of Vienna To Life In Australia • CreateLED Designs LED Display That Resembles A Wheat Field • SONY Projectors For ‘Moving Light, Roving Sight’ Exhibition In Singapore • Powersoft Blows Loudest At Jakarta’s Finest Nightclub • Ayrton Celebrates New Year’s Eve With Fumiya Fujii At Japan’s Nippon Budokan • L-Acoustics On Fire For Dreamworks’ How To Train Your Dragon Live • Blacktrax Scores A First In Large-Scale 6D Projection Mapping • Germany’s Autostadt Puts On A Show With tarm Showlaser • Danny Rose Brings ‘Play Me!’ To Guangzhou International Light Festival • Symetrix Is The Match For Thai Live Production • Meyer Sound Leo Goes ‘Gangnam Style’ With Psy In South Korea
Audio & Visual • Lighting
Show Preview • InfoComm 2015 • PALM Expo 2015 Show Review • Integrated Systems Europe 2015
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EVENTS & EXPOSITIONS / ADVERTISERS INDEX
PUBLISHER
Steven Ooi steven.ooi@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
EDITOR
Nur Shakylla Nadhra lava@tradelinkmedia.com.sg Issue 2/2015
GROUP MARKETING MANAGER
Eric Ooi eric.ooi@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
MARKETING MANAGER
Felix Ooi felix.ooi@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Siti Nur Aishah siti@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
HEAD OF GRAPHIC DEPT/ ADVERTISEMENT COORDINATOR
Fawzeeah Yamin fawzeeah@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
CIRCULATIONS EXECUTIVE
Yvonne Ooi yvonne.ooi@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
COVER STORY
ELECTRONIC THEATRE CONTROLS LIGHTS UP THE NEW SHANGHAI SYMPHONY HALL
INTERNATIONAL MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES [CHINA/HONG KONG] Judy Wang t. +86-10 6463 9193 e. judywang2000@vip.126.com
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Press releases, proposals for stories, and product development literature should be submitted by email to the editor at:
lava@tradelinkmedia.com.sg
On the Cover Shanghai Symphony Hall Photo Credit Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) Cover Design by Siti Nur Aishah
OTHER TITLES BY TRADE LINK MEDIA PTE LTD Southeast Asia Building Southeast Asia Construction Security Solutions Today Bathroom + Kitchen Today Lighting Today
www.tradelinkmedia.biz
LAVA IS PUBLISHED BY: TRADE LINK MEDIA PTE LTD 101 Lorong 23, Geylang #06-04 Prosper House Singapore 388399 For interest in advertising and advertorials, please attention your query via: fax: +65 6842 2581 / +65 6745 9517 or direct call: +65 6842 2580 Printed by KHL Printing Co Pte Ltd MCI (P) 076/12/2014 ISSN 2345-704X (Print) and ISSN 2345-7058 (E-periodical) This publication is published four times a year and is available at no charge to subscribers in the professional entertainment lighting, audio, and visual solutions industries, who meet the publication’s terms of circulations control. For subscribers who do not qualify for free subscription, copies will be made available subject to acceptance by the publisher, for a subscription fee which varies with the requester’s country of residence in the following rate for annual subscription.
DISCLAIMER! All advertisers and contributors must ensure all promotional material and editorial information submitted for all our publications, must be free from any infringement on patent rights, copyrights laws in every jurisdiction. Failure of which, they must be fully liable and accountable for legal consequences (if any) that may arise. The editor reserves all right to omit, amend or alter press releases submitted for publication. The publisher and editor are unable to accept any liability for errors or omissions that may occur in this process, although every effort has been taken to ensure that all information is correct at the time of going to press. Edited articles or stories are returned to contributors for check on facts at the sole discretion of the editor. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without written permission of the publisher. The editor reserves all rights to exclude or refuse submissions at any time without prior written or verbal notice if contributing parties do not provide complete text and supporting images at a minimum of 300 dpi in .jpeg and .tiff format.
NEWS
Lighting Solutions
FINE ART LIGHTS UP 2014 MAMA AWARD CEREMONY
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he 2014 Mnet Asian Music Award (MAMA) Ceremony was held at the AsiaWorld-Arena in Hong Kong on 3 December 2014 and is considered one of the most prominent live events that celebrate Asian music. It was also broadcast live to 13 countries such as China, Japan, Hong Kong and the Southeast Asian region. Fine Art supplied 152 units of its Fine Xtreme 230 Enha, 30 of its Fine 2500 Spot and 30 of its Fine 2500 Wash for this grand event. The ceremony proved to be a vibrant and festive one— with Fine Art’s lighting fixtures setting the right tone and atmosphere for the occasion, creating eye-catching lighting and visual effects that dazzled the crowd. Among the three fixtures Fine Art provided is the Fine Xtreme 230 Enha, a moving head beam light equipped with a 230w lamp installed together with a reflector. Its two groups of optic lenses make for strong light output and focus while the projected parallel beam light is just like a laser. When projected skywards, the penetrating beam light creates fantastic visual effects. For more information, visit www.fineart-light.com.
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Future proof your facility with advanced 4K SD, HD and Ultra HD mini converters! Blackmagic Design’s new high performance mini converters switch instantly between all SD, HD and Ultra HD video formats so they’re ready for Ultra HD when you are! Mini Converters are available in regular or heavy duty models that are machined from solid aluminum so they look beautiful and are super tough! Choose from models with 6G-SDI, HDMI, analog, optical fiber connections and more.
6G-SDI Technology Mini Converters include multi rate 6G-SDI so you’re always future proofed! 6G-SDI is fully compatible with all your existing SD and HD SDI equipment and will automatically switch when you need to run Ultra HD! Broadcast Quality
Auto Switching SD, HD and Ultra HD Mini Converters instantly switch between Ultra HD and all SD or HD formats, including NTSC, PAL, 1080PsF23.98, 1080PsF24, 1080PsF25, 1080i50, 1080i59.94, 1080i60, 720p50, 720p59.94 and 720p60. Updates can be loaded via USB. Redundant SDI Input Mini Converters feature a redundant input and loop through SDI output. Connect a redundant SDI cable to the second input, and if the main SDI input is lost, Mini Converters will automatically switch over in an instant. That’s great for mission critical tasks such as live events. Pro Analog and AES/EBU Audio Standard 1/4 inch jacks are included for professional balanced audio that switches between AES/EBU or analog. Unlike other converters you don’t need expensive custom audio cables so you’ll save thousands of dollars!
www.blackmagicdesign.com/sg * SRP is Exclusive of Taxes
Designed with Ultra HD technology, Mini Converters give you even better performance when used with SD and HD! You get low jitter, the longest SDI cable lengths and the highest quality broadcast video and audio performance available.
Mini Converters Mini Converter SDI to HDMI 4K ..........S$405* Mini Converter HDMI to SDI 4K ..........S$405* Mini Converter SDI to Analog 4K ........S$405* Mini Converter Analog to SDI .............S$405* Mini Converter SDI to Audio 4K ..........S$405* Mini Converter Audio to SDI 4K ..........S$405* Mini Converter Optical Fiber 4K .........S$675* Mini Converter SDI Multiplex 4K .........S$675* Mini Converter SDI Distribution 4K.....S$405* Mini Converter Sync Generator...........S$405*
NEWS
Lighting Solutions
KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE EQUIPPED WITH NEW LIGHTING SYSTEM
NOW
Robert Juliat's lighting fixture
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oncept Audio has supplied an integrated suite of Robert Juliat’s latest fixtures and Avolites’ lighting consoles to Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), improving the quality of audio visual amenities at the famous event venue. The five-story, multi-purpose facility covers a total space of 22, 659 sqm, consisting of two auditoria (3,000 and 500 seats respectively); 12, 310 sqm of exhibition halls, including a 2,600sqm standalone marquee; a Grand Ballroom that seats 2,000 diners; a Banquet Hall for 500; a Conference Hall for 1,800 and 20 meeting rooms.
Shure's UHF-R Premium Wireless Micrphone system
The master plan was to provide more compact lighting fixtures and a brighter LED lighting solution, allowing a better viewing experience for visitors. Robert Juliat’s latest products provided the ideal cost-effective solution that met these criteria. This marks the lighting brand’s first successful buyer of the two innovative spots: the TIBO and ZEP LED fixtures. Also, KLCC is now the first venue in Southeast Asia to feature the two fixtures. In addition, Concept Audio provided the Avolites T itan Mobile consoles to complement the lighting fixtures. The system integrator provided hands‐on technical training for its client as well. Concept Audio’s team of engineers conducted a half-day training session that covered the unique features of the supplied equipment and various topics on system installation. A successful demonstration with detailed notes sharing, highlighting systematic operations for Robert Juliat’s lighting fixtures and systems calibration, was facilitated through a compact and lightweight unit from the Avolites T itan Mobile. In a nutshell, KLCC is now fitted with: 24 units x Robert Juliat ZEP 340LFWW LED, which serves as the variable beam angle wash light, and 12 units x TIBO LED 533 VW, which serves as the variable white LED 30W profile. In addition, six units of on-screen control solutions from the Avolites T itan Mobile Consoles are now housed in the centre’s inventory. They serve as indispensable tools for the employees who work or maintain the lighting installations, as well as provide lighting designers with the flexibility to generate extremely bright yet soft lights and create dramatic sceneries with easy configuration through a networking setup and monitoring on touch screen laptops. “Robert Juliat’s lighting range certainly enhances our inventory system. The lightweight equipment and ease of operation make it the best fit for events held at our venue, as its superior lighting output offers a variety of solutions that meet our customers’ needs. Overall, we are amazed and happy with Robert Juliat’s exclusive operational features, as well as mechanical and optional quality,” said KLCC’s AV Manager, Norbiha Ismail. Just last year, KLCC adopted 54 channels of Shure’s UHF-R Premium W ireless Microphone System with UR4D+
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Avolites' lighting control system
W ireless Diversity Receiver, thus ensuring uncompromised sound quality. Concept Audio, Shure’s authorised distributor in Malaysia, supplied the equipment and relied on Shure’s AXT600 Spectrum Manager to assist with frequency coordination. Norbiha added: “The Shure UHF-R and AXT600 Spectrum Manager never fail to impress me and the team. They handle the diverse needs of every event smoothly. We’ve used UHF-R for countless events and it has always sounded magnificent.”
NEWS
Lighting Solutions
AVOLITES APPOINTS MUSIC & LIGHTS AS ITALIAN DISTRIBUTOR
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volites has recently announced that its industry-leading range of lighting and Ai video and multimedia control technologies will be distributed in Italy by Music & Lights. The deal has been welcomed by both companies. "We are confident that the appointment of Music & Lights as our distributor is our most effective step to ensure our continued growth in the Italian market," said Avolites Managing Director, Steve Warren. "We are extremely impressed with the potential of Music & Lights and CEO Fabio Sorabella's highly effective team are enthusiastic, dynamic and focused on growth." Warren's words are echoed by Avolites Sales Director, Koy Neminathan: "Music & Lights have proved that they are capable of providing excellent service training and support — both pre and post-sale. Avolites have invested in the development of new and unique features for both lighting and video control and it is of the upmost importance that we work with the most capable partners to support our customers. Avolites products allow our customers to achieve the very best retur ns on their investment and a partner as strong and experienced as Music & Lights will benefit all of Avolites’ Italian users. We are proud to be working together!" Sorabella commented: "We are extremely excited to carry a prestigious brand such as Avolites, which will perfectly complement our existing solutions aimed at the professional AVL market. Music & Lights knows that Avolites provides extremely powerful and cutting edge technologies, while maintaining accessibility. The control philosophy is highly intuitive, a characteristic for which Avolites products have become popular and
famous worldwide." Music & Lights will hold the entire range of Avolites lighting consoles and dimming control, as well as Avolites Ai Video and multimedia servers and software. Since 1990, Music & Lights has become a reference company in the field of audio, video and lighting technology. Professionalism and motivation have allowed Music & Lights to claim themselves as the leader in their sectors and markets. Created in 1978, with headquarters in Park Royal London, Avolites has emerged as the market leader for professional lighting and video control technologies. I n 2 0 1 1 , Av o l i te s c re a te d the di v i si o n Av o l i te s M ed i a, de si g ni ng a nd m a nufa c turi ng the v i de o co n t ro l pro duc ts unde r the " Ai " bra nd o f m e di a se rv e r s an d v i de o c o ntro l l e rs. T he m ul ti - a w a rd w i nni ng Avo l i t es Ai m e di a se rv e rs i m m e di a te l y i m pre sse d the i nd u s t r y by c o ntro l l i ng " the w o rl d' s l a rg e st l a ndsc a pe vi d eo di spl a y " a t the Lo ndo n 2 0 1 2 O l y m pi c s o pe ni n g an d c l o si ng c e re m o ni e s, a nd g o i ng o n to c o ntrol t h e uni que " v o l um e tri c LED di spl a y " a t the So c hi W i n t er O l y m pi c s.
ETF SELLS ENTECH TO CX NETWORK
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xhibitions & Trade Fairs (ETF) has announced the sale of the ENTECH trade show to the CX Network, headed by ENTECH founder Julius Grafton. Having acquired ENTECH in 2004, ETF successfully operated the event for some time. ETF launched a satellite event, ENTECH-CONNECT, which has run successfully in Melbourne on off years to the main ENTECH trade show in Sydney. ETF have advised that the forthcoming Sydney ENTECH scheduled for July will now not proceed. CX Network operates the CX Summer Roadshow, a
touring 'pop-up' trade show. They plan to re-name the Roadshow as 'CX presents the ENTECH Roadshow' for 2016. CX Network head Julius Grafton confirmed that they have no intention of running a traditional trade show in any form. ETF Managing Director, Gary Daly, said: “We are pleased that the CX Network will continue with ENTECH. They are an integral part of the industry in Australia and have a detailed knowledge of the market.” Daly added that ETF’s priority now is to move forward with a focus on the existing portfolio of shows and the development of new events in emerging markets.
Apr-Jun 2015
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NEWS
Lighting Solutions
NEW ELATION PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
(L to R): Nick Martino (Product Specialist, SFM), Nicolas Comtois (Product Manager, SFM), Chuck Green (Elation Canadian Accounts Manager), Randal Tucker (President, SFM), Jimmy Katsipis (Market Development Specialist, SFM)
technology—has a wealth of e x p e r i e n c e i n t h e i n d u s t r y, h a v i n g o p e r a t e d a s S a l e s D i re c t o r f o r L A M B A P L C , M a n a g i n g D i re c t o r f o r N u m a r k A l e s i s E u ro p e LT D (Now In-Music) and Managing D i re c t o r f o r M o n a c o r I n t e r n a t i o n a l GmbH at their UK operation.
Damon Crisp
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lation P ro f e s s i o n a l has announced that Damon Crisp i s t h e c o m p a n y ’s n e w S a l e s R e p re s e n t a t i v e f o r t h e s o u t h o f England, which includes London a n d s u r ro u n d i n g c o u n t i e s . Damon, who operates DAC P ro - M e d i a LT D — a distribution company for entertainment
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Ta s k e d w i t h g ro w i n g E l a t i o n ’s p re s e n c e i n t h e re n t a l , t h e a t e r, and stage segments in southern E n g l a n d , D a m o n ’s k n o w l e d g e o f the UK market and long list of contacts will help Elation raise i t s p ro f i l e i n o n e o f t h e l i g h t i n g i n d u s t r y ’s l e a d i n g m a r k e t s . Elation has also appointed SF Marketing, Inc. (SFM) as its exclusive distributor in Canada. SFM has been p ro v i d i n g p ro f e s s i o n a l - q u a l i t y p ro d u c t s a n d services to the audio visual and live entertainment industries in
the country since 1978. “ A s t h e y s a y, t i m i n g i s e v e r y t h i n g a n d a s E l a t i o n ’s p ro d u c t r a n g e h a s e x p a n d e d m o re i n t o t h e p ro s p e c i f i c a t i o n l i g h t i n g p ro f e s s i o n a l market, now is the right time for us to find the right partners and sales team to push to the next level,” s a i d E r i c L o a d e r, D i re c t o r o f S a l e s f o r E l a t i o n P ro f e s s i o n a l . “ S F M i s a w e l l - re s p e c t e d d i s t r i b u t i o n company with a long history of t a k i n g c a re o f t h e i r c u s t o m e r s w i t h top-notch service / support and h a s t h e re s o u rc e s t o h e l p g ro w t h e b u s i n e s s b y o ff e r i n g i n v e n t o r y on demand and flexible financing terms, allowing Elation customers t o i n c re a s e t h e i r R O I . ” B a s e d i n M o n t re a l , S F M w i l l s e r v e a s E l a t i o n ’s s a l e s , m a r k e t i n g , distribution, and service arm in the Canadian marketplace.
NEWS
Lighting Solutions
HARMAN’S MARTIN PROFESSIONAL APPOINTS GLENN LOH AS KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER FOR ASIA PACIFIC TEAM
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ARMAN’s Martin Professional has announced that Glenn Loh has joined Martin’s Asia Pacific team as Key Account Manager, effective immediately. Loh will be based in Singapore and will report to Alfonso Zarate Takano, Architectural Manager for Martin’s Asia Pacific team. “Glenn’s skills make him a valuable asset to the Asia Pacific team,” said Alfonso. “He brings with him vast marketing experience and we’re confident he’ll seamlessly integrate with both the team and our existing business partners in the region.” Before joining Martin, Loh worked as a Key Account Manager for Philips Lighting in Singapore. He is highly experienced in account management, project sales and developing and setting up new business models, and he is used to operating across different markets in Asia rewrite. Commenting on his appointment, Loh stated: “I’m looking forward to establishing strong relationships with Martin’s solid customer base in the region and applying myself and my knowledge to generate impactful results for team Asia Pacific.”
Apr-Jun 2015
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NEWS
Lighting Solutions
AVOLITES APPOINTS IMPROVE DIGITAL MEDIA RESELLER
AS
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ighting and visual control expert Avolites has appointed South Holland-based Improve as its new Digital Media Reseller in The Netherlands. Improve's core business is the design and implementation of integrated lighting and video concepts for the corporate and cultural events market, sourcing industry-leading control consoles and media servers that push the boundaries of what can be achieved. Improve's Antoinette W ijffels commented: "Improve is proud to announce that it has become an Avolites dealer. Improve is impressed by the quality and growing functionality Avolites media products are offering. For instance, with the latest Ai V8 software, 3D multimedia really gets a great boost. In the pre-production and production phases, it is easy to show to the customer the event in 3D from every conceivable point of view, which makes the process of creation much easier and much better. Thanks to Ai, the step from virtual reality to real life show is really easy to make. We believe our toolset is greatly enhanced by teaming up with Avolites and we look forward to working
L-R: Koy Neminathan, Antoinette Wijffels, Arran Rothwell-Eyre, Steve Warren, Arjan Altena & Fons Hogenes
more closely with the Avolites team and products." Avolites MD Steve Warren said: "We're delighted to have a brilliantly proactive dealer in Improve as part of the Avolites network, as our new reselling, training and support partner for digital lighting control. They join Fairlight, our sole distributor in this territory, to share the task of expanding our presence in the Netherlands and boosting our training and support infrastructure for the Dutch market. "We chose Improve due to their vast knowledge and experience of the media server market, as well as their commitment to fantastic support and training in the Dutch market. Improve's longstanding reputation is unquestioned."
BEN DÍAZ TO HEAD SGM IN SOUTH AMERICA the entertainment industry, including lighting / production design and operation, video programming for media servers, cinematography and technical education. He has worked in 16 countries as a crew member, including Europe and America, and has a deep and comprehensive understanding of all technical matters relating to show business worldwide. Díaz has spent the last 10 years touring as a lighting designer, programmer and operator, and creating visual shows for TV. It was during one such tour—with Latin pop-rock artist Rosana—that he first met SGM CEO Peter Johansen in February 2013. The tour’s arrival in Mexico coincided with a seminar held by SGM in conjunction with their Mexican distributor, Representaciones de Audio, which the lighting designer took the opportunity to attend.
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GM has appointed one of Spain’s most prominent lighting designers as its new representative in South America. Ben Díaz takes up the position of Area Sales Manager with immediate effect—in a role that also includes product training. Since 2000, Díaz has been involved in many creative roles within
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By this time, Díaz had already clocked up several years of experience with SGM products, and following the seminar he reviewed the rejuvenated brand and new product portfolio as “maybe the coolest in the market right now”. “We are fortunate to be able to recruit someone with Ben’s experience who already had a working knowledge of our fixtures and was committed to the brand,” said Peter Johansen. “He has the perfect credentials for representing us in this strategically important and fast developing part of the world.” Ben Díaz speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese, and has a profound knowledge of the different Latin American cultures. He is based in Mexico City.
NEWS
Lighting Solutions
DMX SOFTWARE FIXTURE PROFILES / PRESETS FOR LASERWORLD LASERS NOW AVAILABLE
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ixture profiles / presets for conventional lighting fixtures like moving heads or PAR cans are included in most DMX software programmes’ libraries. But when it comes to fixture presets for lasers, most software programmes just come with a generic library that basically allows the on-off feature and some sound to light and automatic mode. There is much more that can be done with lasers through DMX control, but it is difficult to create such fixture presets, as the major difference between lasers and, for example, moving light is that the variety of implemented “gobos” is huge and they are different from the generic ones that come with the software products. This is why it is necessary to generate new pictures for each “gobo” (called “frames” in laser context), which is a lot of work as some Laserworld lasers have over 200 different frames builtin—some of them already animated. The picture icons of these frames are essential to allow for proper “gobo” selection in the software—no matter if for live shows or programming.
Laserworld has decided to publish several fixture presets / profiles for some of its show laser light systems, especially for the extremely popular Club Series units and the Diode Series lasers. All fixture preset packs can be downloaded from the Laserworld download space. They include the fixture preset / profile and the corresponding pattern icons and are available for a variety of different DMX software programme libraries. A short readme.txt with instructions on how to install the presets and the frame icons is included too.
SINGAPORE’S ILLUMI RUN LIGHTS UP WITH SGM
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he ILLUMI RUN is the first event of its kind in Asia. Taking place in Singapore, participants are splashed with ILLUMI glow water as they set out on their race route, passing through different colourful glowing zones before ending up at the finish line. An after-party dance area then features a massive assembly of DJs. For the second consecutive run that was held in November last year, event production house, Showmakers, supplied P-5 wash lights from SGM, adding brightness and intensity to the party zone. Showmakers’ Technical Director, Louis Wong, said: “These lightweight, versatile and waterproof luminaires make working in the outdoors a breeze.” The P-5 wash lights were placed all around the main stage in the crowded dance area, which accommodated 18,000 people over the two nights, and Wong reported positive feedback from an exhilarating outdoor party experience.
With its 44 RGBW 10W LEDs, the P-5 offers a powerful output of 23,500 lumens in a small physical footprint. With its robust IP65-rated chassis, the P-5 will have a major impact on Showmakers’ future projects. “We anticipate many requests for the P-5 at outdoor fashion shows and concerts,” he predicted. “Most of our events are open air, so the P-5 is a very suitable product for all our applications.”
Apr-Jun 2015
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NEWS
Audio & VISUAL Solutions
PRISM SOUND HELPS DAVID HADZIS WIN FRENCH JAZZ AWARD T he Swis s - bas ed p rod uc e r u s ed a Pr is m S ound mu ltich an n el A D A -8X R con ver ter to re -ma st e r arch ive mater ia l b y t he l eg en dar y Jaz z sol oi st Sidn ey Bech et
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on g- s tan din g P ri sm So u n d u s er David H adzis , o wn er of G e ne v a b as ed s tu dio A rt ha nor Produ ction s and P roj e c t M an ag er at the U ni t e d M u s ic F o u n dat i on, ha s w o n th e ̒ B es t Re i ssue Aw ard 2014̓ from t he F ren ch Académie d u Ja z z for h is projec t , S i d ne y B e ch et in Switz e rl a nd . H adzis h as been usi ng a Pr is m So u n d mul t i c ha nne l ADA- 8 XR au dio c onv e rt e r s i n ce 2 006, an d t he uni t w as in s tr u men ta l i n re mas ter in g arch iv e ma t e ri a l o f th e leg en da ry j a z z s olo is t, Sidn ey Be c he t , for th is project, w hi c h w a s co n ceived an d p rod uc e d b y H adzis . T he ADA- 8XR w a s use d t o pres er ve all t he ori gi na l t apes an d the 78rp m acetates f ro m a p e ri od o f 1949 to 1958, Ha d z i s s hared th e wo r k b e t w e e n t h e u n it in h is ow n st ud i o an d on e at Au d i o G e c ko
i n Mont re ui l , ne a r Pa ri s, w hi c h ha d the e q ui p me nt re q ui re d to pl a y the a c e ta te s. For t he t a p e s, he use d O ta ri M X- 5 0 5 0 BI I I a nd S t ud e r A -812 ta pe m a c hi ne s, a l l w i re d w i t h Vov ox P urum c a bl e s. Al l m a te ri a l w a s t he n p roc e sse d i n Pro To o l s a nd a hug e re st ora t i on p roj e c t e nsue d, usi ng e i the r G e c ko A ud i o’s C e da r uni t o r C e l e m o ny Ca p st a n, i Z ot op e R X 3 a nd 4 a nd so m e ot he r b i t s a nd pi e c e s a t H a dz i s’ o w n st ud i o. The a w a rd ha s be e n the i c i ng o n the c a ke for t he p ro j e c t. N o t o nl y do e s i t a l so p ow e rful l y i l l ust ra te the c a pa bi l i ti e s o f the A D A -8X R, i t i s a l so v i ndi c a ti o n fo r H a dz i s’ ha rd w ork i n p ut ti ng e v e ry thi ng to g e the r.
CRESTRON ASIA ANNOUNCES TOP MANAGEMENT APPOINTMENT Top executive team steps up to bigger roles; the company moves to drive further success Tony Yeung Named Chairman To lead a team of experienced and passionate professionals, Tony Yeung, Director of Crestron Asia, will be moving into a new role with immediate effect as Chairman of Crestron Asia, which focuses on strategic initiatives for company growth. Yeung’s leadership and strong background bring an intimate knowledge to the company; this appointment will also motivate the team to achieve further success with his guidance. Harry Lam Appointed as COO Harry Lam is promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Crestron Asia; in his new role, Lam will oversee the company’s finance, administration and
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logistics. In addition, Lam will be responsible for the alignment and prioritisation of company investments, ensuring operational excellence. Stuart Craig is Crestron Electronics US Chief Executive Office (CEO) Stuart Craig has been appointed the Crestron Electronics US Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Asia Pacific Region. Craig oversees business across Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan, North East Asia and South East Asia, and this role will allow him to contribute his depth of industry experience, level-headed approach and insightful ideas to the team, which will help lead the company to its next phase of innovation. More specifically, Craig will direct the sales, marketing and support functions across the Asia Pacific Region.
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Audio & VISUAL Solutions
ARKAOS PRO APPOINTS MUSIC & EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTOR FOR ITALY
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rKaos PRO, leading provider of technology for live visual performances, has announced the appointment of Music & Lights as its exclusive distributor for Italy. W ith immediate effect, Music & Lights will handle the full portfolio of ArKaos products, which includes ArKaos Stage, Studio and Stadium media servers, the dynamic MediaMaster PRO and MediaMaster Express software and Kling-Net, ArKaos’ user-friendly control protocol. Music & Lights first made headlines with ArKaos PRO in October 2014 when it adopted ArKaos Kling-Net into a number of its pixel-based LED lighting fixtures. The arrangement between the two companies proved such a success that ArKaos PRO expanded the collaboration to incorporate the full promotion, sales and support of all ArKaos products across Italy. "We are happy to increase the range of our solutions
LIGHTS AS
for the AVL market through the ArKaos brand," said Fabio Sorabella, Product Manager at Music & Lights. "Video is now a key element in any kind of event or installation and ArKaos is the ideal answer for the needs of professionals and VJs, thanks to its complete range of software and hardware solutions for the processing of multimedia content in real time. Our goal is to inject into the market the same enthusiasm that ArKaos lent to the team of Music & Lights when we found ourselves in front of a platform so powerful but, at the same time, extremely simple.” “We are very enthusiastic about our new exclusive collaboration with Music & Lights,” said ArKaos PRO Managing Director, Agnes Wojewoda. “The Italian market is very important for ArKaos and we are excited about the potential Music & Lights offers. Their team has great technical knowledge and, with training and product demonstrations featuring highly in their approach to ArKaos products, we know they offer great benefits to our customers throughout the country.”
MEYER SOUND JOB PROMOTIONS
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eyer Sound has promoted Michael Creason to the newly created position of Product Manager—System Applications and Training, while Ashley Hanson moves to the Design Services Manager role. The former head of the design services department, Creason now joins the growing product management group to expand the company’s technical content and training resources. The goal is to give users a broader range of tools to work more efficiently and effectively in loudspeaker system design, rigging and commissioning. He joined the Meyer Sound design services department in 2008, following years of theatrical sound design and mixing experience on and off Broadway. In addition to credits that include The Pajama Game and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, he was audio supervisor for Glimmerglass Opera Festival for eight seasons, and designed and mixed a range of productions in the New York City area. “In my design services work, I have developed a profound appreciation for the input our users bring from their challenges in the field,” said Creason. “I look forward to working even more closely with them in developing effective technical
resources that help them achieve better results.”
appreciate a show or a film as it is intended to be heard.”
In her new management role, Hanson leads a design team that works with audio consultants and integrators to create highquality audio system designs for professional audio, cinema and other commercial markets.
Hanson’s work at Meyer Sound has led to acclaimed listening experiences at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pixar, and the Houston Airport, as well as premium movie screening rooms at Megabox in Korea and the Seattle Cinerama Theatre. Prior to joining Meyer Sound, she served as Associate Sound Designer on Broadway productions including The Book of Mormon, American Idiot, and Impressionism—among others.
“Every day is an exciting new day at Meyer Sound,” she noted. “One moment you’re helping to improve intelligibility for a church, and the next you’re working on a system for a theme park soundscape or for the Atmos cinema format. Regardless of the project, it’s gratifying to know you’re helping the audience
Both Michael Creason and Ashley Hanson are based at Meyer Sound’s Berkeley headquarters.
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CLEAR CHANNEL SPECTACOLOR CHOOSES DAKTRONICS LED VIDEO FOR 1500 BROADWAY TIMES SQUARE BILLBOARD New in ter active d i sp l a y fe a t ure s e x clu s ive adv e rt i si ng from c os metics comp a ny Re v l on
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o ve was bu zz i ng a round 1500 Broadway on t he c or ne r of We st 4 3rd Street in T i me s S q ua re j ust i n t i me f or th e C h r ist ma s hol i d a y s l a st y ear. C lear C h a nne l S p e c t a c ol or, a br an d divis ion of Cl e a r Cha nne l O u tdoor, in s talle d a ne w t w o-si d e d L E D video billboa rd a t t he l oc a t i on, w h ich was recent l y unv e i l e d d uri ng t h e kickoff of Re v l on's b ra nd re l au n ch campaig n Re v l on LO VE IS ON. R e vlo n cont ra c t e d with Spectacolo r to b e t he b i l l b oa rd 's ex clu s ive adv e rt i se r, q ui c kl y n amin g th e billb oa rd t he "G l ob a l L o ve Beaco n " , w hi c h i nt e ra c t s w ith T imes Squa re a ud i e nc e s v i a a ju mbo " kis s c a m". Int e ra c t i v e con ten t prompts v i e w e rs t o sha re t h eir " lo ve mome nt " p hot os for a ch an ce to h ave t he m a p p e a r on t h e big s creen . Fa ns from a round t h e wor ld can p l a y a l ong t oo b y s har in g th eir ph ot os a nd me ssa ge s 2 4/7 at #L OV E I S O N or a t www. revlo n.c o m /lo vei s on . L o cated o n the G ood Mor ni ng Amer ica Bu ildin g, D a kt roni c s Inc . man u f actu red t he 36-fe e t hi gh b y 85- f eet wide LED d i sp l a y, w h ich f eatu res hi gh-re sol ut i on 1 0 millimeter li ne sp a c i ng. The b i llboard plays HD c ont e nt a nd
e xt e nd s the a ppe a l o f l a rg e - sc a l e LED v i de o to c usto m e rs w ho pl ace a hi gh v a l u e o n sha rpe r c o ntra st a nd supe ri o r bri g htne ss— e v e n i n d i rect sunl i ght . A da rk e r di spl a y fa c e pro v i de s de e pe r, m o re pro no u n ced b l a c ks, w hi l e c usto m LED l o uv e rs si g ni fi c a ntl y i m pro v e c o l o ur i nt eg r i t y a nd v i e wi ng a ng l e s.
EPSON AND THE MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS FORMULA ONE™ TEAM GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP BRINGS TOGETHER TECHNOLOGY
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pson, a global innovation leader in printing, visual communications, manufacturing and quality of life solutions for the office, home, commerce and industry, has announced a long-term global partnership with the 2014 FIA Formula One World Champions, the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One TM Team.
Epson will become an Official Team Partner of MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, providing its expertise in the product areas of inkjet printers, scanners, 3LCD projectors and wearables, including smart glasses and health/sports sensing products. The Epson logo will be visible on the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS race cars,
along with branding on the helmet visors and racesuits of the team's drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, in a new livery for the 2015 season that will be revealed by MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS when Formula One testing begins. "We are extremely proud to enhance our global brand profile by becoming an official partner of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula OneTM Team," said Epson President, Minoru Usui. "The partnership aligns two world-renowned champion brands committed to the relentless pursuit of innovation, the attainment of global leadership positions and the creation of products and (Continues on Page 19)
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services that continue to exceed expectations and emotionally engage stakeholders worldwide." Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, commented: "We are delighted to welcome Epson to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team as our preparations for the 2015 season gather pace. It is always a pleasure to work with forward-thinking companies and Epson's products are a natural fit for our race and manufacturing operations. Epson's use of innovative technology to deliver performance is perfectly
aligned to what we strive to achieve in Formula One and we will be working closely with Epson to showcase these innovations and increase global awareness of their brand and products. We look forward to the season ahead and many successful years as partners." The locations of the 20 2015 Formula One race events closely reflect Epson's global footprint and will provide unique and highly visible platforms for showcasing its advanced technologies and accelerating growth by deepening customer relationships worldwide.
COMMUNITY APPOINTS DAVID PRINCE AS DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERING w e l l - re spe c te d w o rl dw i de a nd ha s a n i m pres s i ve l i ne - up o f hi g h- qua l i ty pro duc ts. I l o o k fo rw ard t o w o rk i ng w i th the C o m m uni ty te a m a s w e de v e l o p n ew l o udspe a k e rs a nd c o nti nue to a dv a nc e o ur m od el i n g a nd m e a sure m e nt pro g ra m m e s. ” C EO Ste v e J o hnso n c o m m e nte d: " As C o m m u n i t y po si ti o ns i tse l f fo r c o nti nue d g ro w th, D a v i d Prin ce i s a stro ng a ddi ti o n to o ur Eng i ne e ri ng te a m . Pr i n ce’s a c a de m i c ba c k g ro und a nd y e a rs o f e xpe ri e nc e as an e ng i ne e r, a udi o c o nsul ta nt a nd te c hni c a l l e a der w i l l se rv e hi m w e l l i n thi s e xc i ti ng ne w ro l e . ”
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o mmu n ity P rofe ssi ona l Loud sp e a ke rs ha s an n ou n ced the a p p oi nt me nt of D a v i d P ri nc e a s D irecto r o f Develop me nt Engi ne e ri ng. P ri nc e ha s o v e r t wo decades of e xp e ri e nc e d e si gni ng, mod e l i ng a nd meas u r in g pro- a ud i o l oud sp e a ke rs a nd d e ve l o pi ng t h em f o r man u fa c t uri ng. He c ome s t o Com m uni ty from K n owles El e c t roni c s w he re he w a s Pro duc t D evelopmen t M a na ge r. P re v i ousl y, P ri nc e h e l d the p os itio n o f Dire c t or of A d v a nc e d D e v e l op m e nt fo r Ty mph an y; h e wa s S e ni or Re se a rc h Engi n e e r fo r I nter n atio n al Jense n a nd sp e nt se v e n y e a rs a s a n Aco u s tic C o n s u l t a nt w i t h Ta l a ske . Pr in ce h as a BS in P hy si c s from t he U ni v e rsi t y o f I l l i no i s an d s tu died acoust i c s i n a c omb i ne d p rogra m m e o f t h e Un iver s ity of Fl ori d a a nd P e nn S t a t e U ni v e rsi ty. H e is a pas t ch a i r of t he A ES S t a nd a rd s Co m m i tte e o n L ou ds peaker Mod e l i ng a nd Me a sure me nt, se rv e s o n tech n ical co mmi t t e e s of t he A c oust i c a l S oc i e ty o f Amer ica an d is a Boa rd of D i re c t ors Eme ri t us m e m be r fo r th e lou ds peake r i nd ust ry a ssoc i a t i on, A LM A. “ I am deligh ted t o j oi n Communi t y a t t hi s i m po rta nt t i me in its h is tory,” sa i d P ri nc e . “The c om pa ny i s
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FAIRLIGHT TEAMS UP WITH AURO TECHNOLOGIES FOR NATIVE 3D AUDIO CREATION T he co mpan y is now a d d i ng A uro-3D ® mi x i ng i nto i ts s t ate of th e ar t 3D A ud i o Work sp a c e p l a t form .
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air lig h t, th e Aust ra l i a n p i one e r i n d e si gni n g hi g hen d live an d p ost p rod uc t i on sy st e ms fo r a udi o , v i deo recorder s , a nd c ut t i ng e d ge uni v e rsa l e di ti ng con tro ller s , h as a nnounc e d t ha t t he y w i l l i m pl e m e nt n ative Au ro- 3D ® mi xi ng i nt o i t s st a t e of the a rt p rodu cts . T he Au ro - C odec ® w i l l b e i nt e gra t e d i n Fai rl i g ht’s n ewes t platf o r m for i mme rsi v e a nd ob j e c t -ori e nte d 3 D Sou n d Pro du ction, t he 3D A ud i o Worksp a c e ( 3 D AW ) . 3 D AW adds imme rsi v e sound c a p a b i l i t y to o ne ' s ex is tin g digital a ud i o w orkst a t i on, w hi l st rem a i ni ng fully compatible w i t h t he i r e st a b l i she d w orkflo w. Accordin g to T ino Fi b a e k, Fa i rl i ght ’s CTO : "3D AW i s o ne o f th e mos t i nnov a t i v e p rod uc t s w e ha v e l aunc he d
HK AUDIO SECURES DISTRIBUTOR FOR 2015
i n y e a rs a nd w e a re v e ry e xc i te d a bo ut the i nte gr at i o n o f Auro - 3 D ® . We no w suppo rt m i xi ng , m o ni t o r i n g , a utho ri ng a nd re v i e w i ng o f Auro - 3 D ® de l i v e r ab l es , i n bo th the Auro 1 1 . 1 a nd Auro 1 3 . 1 uni que t h reel a y e re d spe a k e r l a y o uts. We l o o k fo rw a rd to w o r k i n g w i th Auro Te c hno l o g i e s i n the future a s the y h ave a m a ture a nd e sta bl i she d de l i v e ry fo rm a t, a nd w e h ave a m a tc hi ng 3 D pro duc ti o n pl a tfo rm . " " As a l o ng - ti m e bi g fa n o f Fa i rl i g ht pro duc ts fo r m u s i c pro duc ti o n a nd po st- pro duc ti o n, I a m v e ry de l i g h t ed to se e the i nte g ra ti o n o f o ur Auro - 3 D ® te c hnol o g y," sa i d W i l fri e d Va n B a e l e n, C EO o f Auro Te c hno lo g i es . " We a t Auro Te c hno l o g i e s a re thri l l e d to be a bl e t o g i ve the Fa i rl i g ht use rs e a sy to o l s to a dd a c o m pl e tel y n ew di m e nsi o n i n so und, pro v i di ng c re a ti v e po ssi bi l i t i es as ne v e r se e n be fo re . T he fi na l a nd m i ssi ng di m e ns i o n o f H e i g ht ha s fi na l l y a rri v e d a fte r 1 5 0 y e a rs o f re c o rd i n g a nd re pro duc ti o n o f so und! "
EXCLUSIVE
TURKISH
L-R: Florian Kunz, Zeki Yildirim, Hans Stamer
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K Audio will increase its presence in Turkey significantly after the German sound reinforcement firm signed an exclusive distribution deal with Yildirim Muzikhal. The experienced Antalya-based distributor will be taking on the entire HK Audio product lineup, including the pro sound, install sound and MI ranges, in what is one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing pro audio markets. The relationship between the two companies began after HK Audio decided to make a strategic change of distributor in Turkey, and talks intensified when the two firms realised the vast opportunities their working together could bring. Florian
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Manager, said: “The decision to work together with Yildirim Muzikhal was taken after a comprehensive meeting in Antalya. Our future distribution partner has an outstanding history of project work, an established sales representative and service team, and a reliable customer network in the event and hotel industry, which is crucial for our Install Sound range in particular. Manager Zeki Yildirim and his team are hugely experienced in the audio and lighting sector, and their visions for the future match HK Audio’s completely. We’re looking forward to a long and successful relationship together.” The Yildirim Muzikhal sales team has already undertaken an intensive three-day product training course at HK Audio’s headquarters in St. Wendel, Germany, and future events are also planned for 2015 to further help expand knowledge of the brand across Turkey.
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HK AUDIO PARTNERS WITH ALGAM TARGET THE CHINESE MI MARKET
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K Au dio h as furt he r st re ngt he ne d i t s po si ti o n in th e C h in e se p ro a ud i o ma rke t b y sig ni ng a d i s tr ibu tio n co n t ra c t w i t h A l ga m Chi na . T he n ew deal is e ffe c t i v e from 1 Ma rc h 2015 a nd w i l l s e e Alg am C h ina foc usi ng on b ui l d i ng HK Audi o ’s p res en ce in th e grow i ng Chi ne se MI se c t or usi ng the L u cas , E lemen ts, P re mi um P R:O , P ul sa r, Li ne a r 5 an d So u n dC addy ra nge s. S he nz he n Me l od y w i l l a l so co n tin u e to dis tri b ut e HK A ud i o a c ross Chi na , w i th a n emph as is on in st a l l a t i on p rod uc t s. F r an çois L ay, HK A ud i o’s Int e r na t i ona l M a rk e t M an ag er, s aid: “We ’v e ha d a suc c e ssful busi ne ss re latio n s h ip with A l ga m Fra nc e for d e c a d e s, s o i t w a s a n atu r al s tep to p a rt ne r w i t h t he c omp a ny ’s re c e ntl y
fo rm e d C hi na di v i si o n. “ Al g a m ’s e xte nsi v e bra ndi ng a nd m a rk e ti ng e xpe r t i s e, c o upl e d w i th the i r e xc e pti o na l k no w l e dg e o f o u r pro duc t po rtfo l i o , w i l l be k e y i n he l pi ng us suc ceed i n the C hi ne se M I m a rk e t, a nd w e ’ re l o o k i ng fo rw ard t o a l o ng a nd pro spe ro us c o l l a bo ra ti o n to g e the r. ” Be nj a m i n G a r ni e r, Al g a m C hi na ’s M a na g i ng D i rect o r, sa i d: “ I t ha s be e n 2 5 y e a rs si nc e w e sta rte d di stri b u t i n g H K Audi o i n Fra nc e . T he stro ng re l a ti o nshi p bet w een bo th c o m pa ni e s ha s he l pe d the m to g ro w to get h er i n the pro fe ssi o na l a udi o i ndustry a nd be co m e l e a de rs. We a re v e ry e nthusi a sti c a bo ut e xte n d i n g o ur pa rtne rshi p a nd w e si nc e re l y ho pe to a c h i eve o utsta ndi ng suc c e ss to g e the r i n C hi na ! ”
PAR4KEET WINS 'BEST DISPLAY INAVATION AWARDS 2015
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reen Hippo has announced that Par4Keet, the flagship of the AViary Video Tools product range, was awarded ‘Best Display Product’ at this year’s InAVation Awards. The ceremony took place on 10 February at the Gashouder in Amsterdam and saw the attendance of many industry professionals, manufacturers, integrators and AV specialists. The InAVation Awards are the only AV industry awards event in the EMEA regions that recognises achievement, skill and creativity across all aspects of the professional AV industry. InAVate Publications explained: “This year’s InAVation Awards, judges had to select finalists from nearly 200 entries. Finalists for the categories were decided by a weighted public vote. Using a points-based system votes from technical managers, consultants, end users and integrators scored higher than those from manufacturers
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or distributors. A total of 24,452 legitimate votes were cast and many categories were hotly contested till the very end.” The award-winning Par4Keet is the first video player to combine class-leading video playback at 4K resolution and beyond along with true realtime media manipulation and multi-screen. Par4Keet can deliver media at arbitrary resolutions, untying AV professionals from the restrictions of standard aspect ratios and opening the doors on unrestricted and creative display configurations. Green Hippo’s Technical Director and Product Manager of the AViary Video Tools range Sean Westgate took receipt of the awards at the ceremony and commented: “We are incredibly proud and excited that we won! Over the last year, a lot of research and development has gone into creating a complementary set of products in the AViary Video Tools range and to be honoured with the ‘Best Display Product 2015’ award is amazing feedback for all our efforts.”
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JOE PHAM APPOINTED TO THE INFOCOMM INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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SC Pres ident a nd CEO , Joe Ph am, h as b e e n a p p oi nt e d t o t he In f o C omm Int e r na t i ona l Boa rd o f Directo r s . Pha m j oi ns t he p a ne l o f au dio vis u al ind ust ry e xe c ut i v e s w h o co n tr ibu te t he i r know l e d ge a nd ex per tis e to se t st ra t e gi c goa l s a nd gu ide th e ov e ra l l d i re c t i on o f In f o C omm Int e r na t i ona l . In a d ditio n to h is InfoComm Boa rd a p poin tmen t, Pha m w a s a l so recen tly appo in te d P re si d e nt of t he P rof es s ion al Au d i o Ma nufa c t ure rs A l lian ce (PAM A). “I am h o n ou red t o ha v e b e e n a p poin ted to bot h t he InfoComm B o ard, as well a s t he P re si d e nc y o f PAM A, an d t o ha v e t he o ppo r tu n ity to c ol l a b ora t e w i t h su ch a dyn amic group of i nd ust ry p rof es s ion als ,” sa i d P ha m. “W i t h res pect to In f oComm, I a m l ooki ng for ward to wor ki ng w i t h my fe l l ow b oard member s t o b e t t e r se rv e our m ember o r gan is a t i ons a nd p romot e t he in du s tr y a s our re sp e c t i v e
me d i ums o f a udi o , v i de o a nd I T c ont i nue to ra pi dl y c o nv e rg e . As t he P re s i de nt o f PAM A, i t’s e xc i ti ng t o l e a d a nd w o rk w i th e xe c uti v e s of ma ny o f the m o st re spe c te d p rofe ssio na l a udi o m a nufa c ture rs i n t he w o rl d. By e duc a ti ng a nd a d v oc a ti ng fo r o ur de a l e rs a nd b usi ne ss pa rtne rs w hi l e fo c usi ng on c re a t i ng be tte r e xpe ri e nc e s fo r our e nd- use rs, w e c a n c o nti nue our c ol l abo ra ti v e e ffo rts to e xpa nd t he a ud io i ndustry a s a w ho l e . ” P ha m j o i ne d Q SC in 2004, se rv i ng a s the c o m pa ny ' s C hi e f S t ra t e gy a nd Te c hno l o g y O ffi c e r. In 2007, he w a s pro m o te d to C hi e f O p e ra t i n g O ffi c e r w he re he be g a n ov e rse e ing Sa l e s, M a rk e ti ng , R & D , O p e ra t i ons, H um a n Re so urc e s, Fi na nc e , a nd Stra te g y. I n 2 0 1 0 , he w a s pro m o te d to Pre si de nt a nd CEO . P ri o r to j o i ni ng Q SC , J o e w a s w i t h Mc K i nse y & C o m pa ny, w he re he w orke d w i th c hi e f e xe c uti v e s o f Fort une 5 0 0 c o m pa ni e s to de v e l o p
g ro w th stra te g i e s a nd i m p ro ve o pe ra ti o ns. Pha m ho l ds a P h .D . i n El e c tri c a l Eng i ne e ri ng f ro m U C LA a nd i s a fo rm e r Pro fe s s o r o f El e c tri c a l Eng i ne e ri ng a t U C L A .
ELECTRO WAVES APPOINTS NEW FINNISH DISTRIBUTOR FOR TIMAX AND OUT BOARD
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K th eatre, e v e nt a nd i nst a l l e d au dio s pecia l i st s, O ut Boa rd , h ave appoin ted El e c t ro Wa v e s O y as its n ew Fi nni sh d i st ri b ut or for th e T iM ax S ound Hub a ud i o s howcon trol ma t ri x a nd T i Ma x Tr acker per forme r t ra c ki ng s y s tem. Th e comp a ny w i l l a l so se l l an d s u ppor t th e O ut b oa rd LV & D V C h ain - H o is t C o nt rol l e r p rod uc t s i n F in lan d. T he team at El e c t row a v e s, w ho h ave a lon g- s tand i ng a ssoc i a t i on w ith th e T iM ax sui t e of p rod uc t s, are h eaded by Kurt Ny b a c k w ho b r in g s two decad e s of e xp e ri e nc e w ith th e br an d. N yback s aid: “ T i Ma x i s a t ot a l l y u n iqu e s o u n d a ut oma t i on sy st e m an d it can n o t b e c omp a re d t o an yth in g els e. At El e c t row a v e s, w e u n der s tan d T iMa x S ound Hub a nd T iM ax Tr acker, and how i t w i l l b ri ng t h e bes t s ou n d a rra nge me nt s for o ur cu s tomer s . El e c t row a v e s w i l l als o s u ppo r t th e O ut b oa rd Cha i nH o is t C on trol prod uc t s. “ T iM ax
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L-R: Kurt Nybäck, Esa ”Ese” Kyllönen and Kari Lehtonen of Electrowaves Pro Group
Fi nl a nd a nd tha t e nthusi a sm i s ri si ng fo r T i M a x So undH ub a nd T i Max Tra c ke r so w e se e a v e ry pro m i si ng future fo r the ra ng e w i th E l ect ro Wa v e s.” O ut Board D i re c to r, D a v e H a y do n, c o m m e nte d o n the ne w a ppo i nt m en t : “We ’v e ce rta i nl y hi t the g ro und runni ng w i th thi s, a s K urt a nd hi s t eam ha v e b e en suppo rti ng T i M a x v e ry suc c e ssful l y i n Fi nl a nd fo r m a ny year s . We a l re ady ha v e c o nfi rm a ti o n o f a m a j o r pre sti g e i nsta l l a ti o n fo r t h e sp ri ng and l o o k fo rw a rd to a busy y e a r. ”
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OPTOCORE PROVIDES FOHHN WITH DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY AND ADDED FLEXIBILITY FOR FLAGSHIP FOCUS LINE ARRAY
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i g i t a l f i b re s o l u t i o n s s p e c i a l i s t s , O p t o c o re G m b H , h a v e e n t e re d i n t o a n a g re e m e n t w i t h f e l l o w G e r m a n m a n u f a c t u re r s , F o h h n A u d i o A G , t o p ro v i d e multi-channel digital connectivity to their pioneering L i n e a F o c u s e l e c t ro n i c a l l y s t e e r a b l e l o u d s p e a k e r s . E x p l a i n i n g t h e b a c k g ro u n d t o t h e p a r t n e r s h i p , F o h h n ’s P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s & M a r k e t i n g M a n a g e r, D a n i e l a B o h l , s t a t e d : “ We w e re l o o k i n g f o r a s o l u t i o n t o p ro v i d e o u r s p e a k e r s y s t e m s w i t h a d i g i t a l s i g n a l a n d c o n t ro l d a t a ; u p t o n o w w e o n l y h a d a n a n a l o g u e solution. “ We c h o s e O p t o c o re b e c a u s e t h e y a re t h e p i o n e e r s o f t h a t t e c h n o l o g y a n d t h e re i s a p e r f e c t f i t b e t w e e n o u r t w o c o m p a n i e s , a s w e a re b o t h i n n o v a t i o n - d r i v e n and German based.” I n o rd e r t o p ro v i d e i n t e g r a t i o n o n t o t h e O p t o c o re n e t w o r k s , t h e f i b re s p e c i a l i s t s h a v e c re a t e d a s p e c i a l c a rd , w h i l e F o h h n h a s d e v e l o p e d a p u r p o s e e n c l o s u re , w h i c h c a n b e a t t a c h e d t o t h e i r L i n e a F o c u s s e r i e s l o u d s p e a k e r s t o p ro v i d e o p t i o n a l i n p u t extensions. T h i s w i l l e n a b l e d i g i t a l a u d i o a n d c o n t ro l d a t a t o b e d i s t r i b u t e d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y, e i t h e r v i a C a t 5 o r o p t i c a l f i b re . “ T h e s e O p t o c o re e x t e n s i o n s w i l l p ro v i d e e x c e l l e n t a u d i o q u a l i t y, e n t i re c o n t ro l o f t h e s p e a k e r a n d f a c i l i t a t e re l i a b l e a n d re d u n d a n t d i g i t a l a u d i o network,” noted Bohl.
The distance between loudspeakers can be up to 120km.” The Cat5 SANE TP version can function as a local e x t e n s i o n t o t h e f i b re n o d e , e n a b l i n g u s e r s t o b u i l d local daisy chains with 100m distance between the loudspeakers. S u m m i n g u p , J a n i s z e w s k i s a i d : “ T h i s c a rd a d d s huge flexibility to the Fohhn solutions, simplifies c a b l i n g a n d a d d s q u a l i t y b y re d u c i n g s i g n a l l o s s e s over coax. “ B o t h c o m p a n i e s w i l l b e n e f i t f ro m t h i s c o o p e r a t i o n : O p t o c o re w i l l r a i s e i t s p ro f i l e i n t h e i n s t a l l e d s o u n d s e c t o r, e s p e c i a l l y i n t r a n s p o r t a t i o n h u b s ( l a r g e s c a l e PA s y s t e m s i n r a i l w a y s t a t i o n s a n d a i r p o r t s ) , w h i l e F o h h n w i l l b e a b l e t o o ff e r t h e b e s t s i g n a l t r a n s p o r t s o l u t i o n a s w e l l a s d i s t r i b u t e d ro u t i n g a n d re d u n d a n c y. ” D a n i e l a B o h l a d d e d : “ We a re l o o k i n g f o r w a rd t o i n t e g r a t i n g t h e i n n o v a t i v e O p t o c o re t e c h n o l o g y i n t o o u r h i g h l y d e v e l o p e d e l e c t ro n i c a l l y s t e e r a b l e L i n e a F o c u s . We a re e x t re m e l y e x c i t e d a b o u t t h e c o o p e r a t i o n a n d t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s re s u l t i n g f ro m i t . ”
M a s t e r m i n d i n g t h e p ro j e c t f o r O p t o c o re , A p p l i c a t i o n s E n g i n e e r i n g M a n a g e r, M a c i e k J a n i s z e w s k i , s t a t e d t h a t t h e c a rd s w i l l c o m e i n f i b re O p t o c o re F X a n d C a t 5 S A N E T P v e r s i o n s . “ E a c h c a rd w i l l p ro v i d e t w o outputs to feed loudspeakers with two independent a u d i o s i g n a l s , R S 4 8 5 p o r t f o r c o n t ro l a n d G P I O . A l l t h e s e s i g n a l s c a n b e t r a n s p o r t e d o n s i n g l e - f i b re o r Cat5 cable. “ T h e F i b re F X v e r s i o n e n a b l e s a l l s p e a k e r s t o o p e r a t e o n a n O p t o c o re f i b re r i n g i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h a l l o t h e r d e v i c e s f ro m t h e O p t o c o re p o r t f o l i o , a s w e l l a s t h i rd p a r t y p ro d u c t s w i t h a n O p t o c o re i n t e r f a c e .
PENN-ELCOM OPENS NEW OPERATIONS IN MEXICO
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lig h tcas e, s p e a ke r c a b i ne t a nd 19-i nc h ra c k i ng s o lu tio n s s pec i a l i st , P e nn-El c om, ha s a nno unc e d t h e open in g o f a ne w ful l y op e ra t i ona l ma nufa c turi ng fa cility in T iju an a, Me xi c o. I t is par t o f t he c omp a ny ’s p l a nne d e xpa nsi o n follo win g robu s t t ra d i ng w orl d w i d e i n re c e n t y e a rs, an d th e s tr ateg i c l oc a t i on i n Me xi c o’s b ust l i ng B a j a
With over 40 years of experience, Penn Elcom is the world’s leading manufacturer of quality flight case hardware, speaker cabinet hardware and 19 inch racking solutions. We have a range of more than 3000 products that can be shipped on a same day basis anywhere in Asia. Penn Elcom Malaysia: +60 3 8052 7967 linda.huang@penn-elcom.my
Penn Elcom China: +86 (0) 769-86803388 quan.zhang@penn-elcom.cn
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fi nan cial an d in d ust ri a l c e nt re w i l l b e ne fi t b ot h Pe nn’s L atin Amer ican a nd U S ma rke t s w i t h e v e n q ui ck e r a nd more eff icien t de l i v e ry t i me s a nd p rod uc t op t i o ns. Pen n E lcom M exi c o w i l l b e l e d b y MD Ja v i e r Ha ro a nd F r an k M cC o u r t wi l l t a ke c ha rge of sa l e s. Ha ro ha s a man u f actu r in g ba c kground ow ni ng b usi ne ss e s bo th
i n T i j ua na a nd i n Sa n D i e g o , C a l i fo r ni a . M c C o u r t ’s c a re e r w i th Pe nn El c o m stre tc he s ba c k a n i m pres s i ve 3 2 y e a rs, w o rk i ng fo r Pe nn bo th i n the U K a nd i n t h e U SA. H e ha s v e ry c l o se l i nk s w i th a l l Pe nn’s O E M c l i e nts. T he y w i l l be a ssi ste d by a te a m o f 2 0 s k i l l ed w o rk e rs, w hi c h w i l l be e xpa nde d a s the c o m p an y g ro w s.
PROCOM ANNOUNCED AS OFFICIAL UAE PHILIPS DISTRIBUTOR
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eadin g Du ba i -b a se d e q ui p me nt d i s tri buto r, Pro co m M E , ha s b e e n na me d a s t he e xc l usi v e Ph ilips s u pplier for U A E i n a mov e t o furt he r e xpa nd i t s off er in g to th e hi gh p rofi l e Mi d d l e Ea st e r n m a rk e t. U AE is an ever-e v ol v i ng l a nd sc a p e of i nno v a ti o n an d co n s tr u ction, w i t h ma ny ne w p roj e c t s unde r d evelopmen t f ro m uni v e rsi t i e s t o t he a t re s a nd ho te l s, al l of wh ich g en era t e st rong d e ma nd for p rofe ssi o na l l i g h tin g. “ We are con f ident P hi l i p s w i l l ha v e a si gni fi c ant sha re o f th e n ew- bu ild ma rke t for se v e ra l re a sons, ” sa i d Pro co m's Bu s ine ss D e v e l op me nt Ma na ge r, Ra m i H ar f ou ch . “ It is a hi ghl y re c ogni se d b ra nd na m e a nd i t s catalo gu e of hi gh q ua l i t y p rod uc t s i s e x te nsi v e w ith a s tron g L ED offe ri ng t ha t me e t s t he i nc re a si ng re qu iremen t f o r e ne rgy sa v i ng sol ut i ons. Phi l i ps al s o h as s tro n g l oc a l sup p ort i n t e rms of de si g n, commis s ion in g and se rv i c i ng of t he e q ui p m e nt a nd Pro co m is ex cited t o b e a p a rt of i t .”
Esta bl i she d i n 2 0 0 9 , Pro c o m qui c k l y ro se to beco m e a l e a di ng pro fe ssi o na l l i g hti ng , a udi o , v i de o an d ri g g i ng suppl i e r, sto c k i ng Phi l i ps Se l e c o n, S t r an d Li g hti ng a nd Sho w l i ne a m o ng o the r i ndustry - l e ad i n g bra nds. T he c o m pa ny ha s no w w o n e xc l usi v e P h i l i p s di stri buto rshi p fo r U AE. “Being Philips' official UAE distributor is a great opportunity for Procom and a challenge at the same time,” said Harfouch. “But we are ready to rise to it; for example, we have been enhancing our operation with dedicated staff to support the product lines in sales and for technical back up in our service centers.” T he ne w o ffi c i a l di stri buto rshi p w i th Phi l i ps m e a n s t h e c o m pa ny w i l l ho l d a w i de r ra ng e o f Se l e c o n, S t r an d Li g hti ng a nd Sho w l i ne sto c k . T hi s w i l l fa c i l i ta te f as t er de l i v e ry w i thi n U AE o f uni ts, a s w e l l a s spa re p ar t s , a nd w i l l a l l o w c usto m e rs to g e t ha nds- o n w i t h t h e fi xture s i n the Pro c o m sho w ro o m . Phi l i ps w i l l g ai n furthe r re a c h to Pro c o m ' s e xte nsi v e w e b o f c l i en t s — (Continues on Page 25)
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t o wh o m Proco m w i l l a l so offe r d e si gn c onsul ta ti o n. “There has always been a high demand within our client base for Philips products,” continued Harfouch. “This is because the Philips brand has stayed true to its reputation of providing reliable equipment with practical features. It has evolved wisely by adding certain specifications that meet the changing needs of the
market without compromising on quality. Its products feature energy saving and heat control properties and are often lightweight, compact and multi-functional while still being affordable. Furthermore, with it being such a universal brand, most technical professionals in the region are familiar with Selecon and Strand Lighting technology and are able to operate various models easily or with little training.”
MAGPI SOLO WINS 'BEST OF SHOW' AWARD AT ISE 2015
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re e n H i p p o ’s n e w m a g p i s o l o f ro m t h e AV i a r y V i d e o To o l s r a n g e w a s a w a rd e d ‘ B e s t o f S h o w ’ i n t h e I n s t a l l a t i o n C a t e g o r y a t t h i s y e a r ’s I n t e g r a t e d S y s t e m s E u ro p e ( I S E ) . The magpi solo was launched at ISE 2015 and i s t h e l a t e s t a d d i t i o n t o t h e AV i a r y V i d e o To o l s p ro d u c t r a n g e a n d t a k e s c o m p a c t m e d i a p l a y b a c k to a new level. It is the ideal solution for installation p ro f e s s i o n a l s re q u i r i n g t h e re a l t i m e p o w e r a n d h i g h d e f i n i t i o n re s o l u t i o n o f i t s b i g g e r s i b l i n g , m a g p i , on just a single output. The magpi solo not only p ro v i d e s re a l t i m e p l a y b a c k c o n t ro l , b u t u n i q u e l y d e l i v e r s c o n t ro l f o r p a r a m e t e r s s u c h a s s p e e d , i n
and out points, and geometry along with colour a n d c o n t r a s t c o r re c t i o n i n re a l t i m e . A l l c h a n g e s c a n b e s t o re d w i t h i n t h e t i m e l i n e c o n t ro l l e r w i t h t h e option to trigger playback and adjust parameters via e x t e r n a l p ro t o c o l s s u c h a s S M P T E t i m e c o d e , A r t n e t a n d m u c h m o re . M e rc e d e s S t e v a o - B o a s e , M a r k e t i n g a n d P R a t G re e n H i p p o , s a i d a b o u t t h e w i n : “ We a re t h r i l l e d t h a t w e w o n t h i s a w a rd f o r m a g p i s o l o . T h i s y e a r ’s I S E h a s b e e n a n i n c re d i b l y s u c c e s s f u l s h o w f o r u s , a n d w i n n i n g a w a rd s f o r b o t h o u r P a r 4 K e e t v i d e o p l a y e r a n d m a g p i s o l o a ff i r m s a l l t h e h a rd w o r k w e h a v e p u t i n t o t h e AV i a r y V i d e o To o l s r a n g e . ”
CHRISTIE WINS AWARDS AT ISE 2015
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hristie® ear ned two highly prestigious awards for technical innovation at this year’s ISE Show in Amsterdam. Christie’s 6P laser technology was voted the ‘AV Innovation of the Year’ by leading British based trade jour nal, AV News. The award recognises contributions that individuals and teams have made to the development of the AV business, and marks the arrival of new technologies that will have a significant effect on the industry. The mission that Christie set out with its 6P laser projection was to redefine the 3D cinema experience by delivering the optimum 14 fl to 3D along with no motion artifacts. It provides unprecedented brightness and smooth, natural viewing with stunning uniformity and detail.
“Christie’s decision to use the dual headed projection system for providing the most comfortable 3D viewing experience and delivering the brightest picture is reinforced by this award,” said Don Shaw, Senior Director of Product Management for Christie. “It is also a testament to our engineering capability and our knowledge of what the market truly needs. As a result, Christie’s 6P laser projection is setting the standard for cinemas and other 3D projection applications by providing the ultimate viewing experience.” Christie GS Series Wins Prestigious InAVation Award Christie’s GS Series of laser phosphor projectors picked up a major global award for ‘Most InAVative Projector’ at the highly prestigious annual InAVation Awards. (Continues on Page 26)
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Sponsored by InAVate Magazine and held at the Gashouder, Amsterdam during the annual ISE Show, this category recognised a remarkable technology that avoids the downtime, cost of lamp and filter replacements, and maintenance associated with lampbased projectors. It further acknowledges that laser phosphor illumination provides an impressive 20,000 hours of low-cost operation, with wireless connectivity, a small footprint, low-weight, quiet operation and a
full suite of lenses. “We deliver what our customers want and this award demonstrates our ongoing commitment to developing high quality products,” said Curtis Lingard, Product Manager at Christie. “W ith our GS Series, I think we are seeing the start of a new technology in the market − and I hope we will see a lot more with Christie leading the way.”
DPA MICROPHONES HELP TWO GUITAR LEGENDS IMPRESS AUDIENCES IN ASIA
Steve Lukather and Larry Carlton
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ar r y C ar lton a nd S t e v e Luka t he r, t w o of t he w o rl d' s mo s t in s pir at i ona l gui t a ri st s, re c e nt l y c om pl e te d an As ian tou r th a t sa w t he m t oge t he r on st a ge fo r the fi rs t time in 1 5 ye a rs. A nd b e hi nd t he sc e ne s, Fro nt o f H o u s e en gin eer Ri c k W he e l e r w a s a l so ha v i ng a sm a l l re u n io n with a D PA d :fa c t o™ Voc a l Mi c rop hone tha t h e f ir s t u s ed in 2 014. He w a s fl ow n t o A si a sp ec i fi c a l l y for th is s er ies of c onc e rt s, w hi c h t ook p l a c e a t the B l u e N o te C lu b i n Toky o a nd t he Hong Kong B a pti st U n iver s ity in K o w l oon Tong. Wh eeler ’s f ir s t c hoi c e of mi c rop hone w a s D PA a nd, af ter takin g advi c e from Ke n Ki mura —He a d of D PA' s As ian Off ice—h e sp e c i fi e d a v a ri e t y of mod e l s. T he se i n clu ded d:dicate ™ 2011C Tw i n D i a p hra gm Ca rdi o i d M icro ph o n es f or gui t a r, b a ss a mp s a nd ki c k, sn a re a nd h i - h at dr u ms ; d:v ot e ™ 4099 Inst rume nt Mi c ro pho ne s for to ms an d ki c k d rum; a ma t c he d st e re o pa i r o f d :dicate 4011A Ca rd i oi d Mi c rop hone s for ove rhe a ds
a nd the tri e d a nd te ste d d: fa c to ™ Vo c a l M i c ro p h o n e tha t he use d fo r l i v e v o c a l s a nd spe e c h. W he e l e r e xpl a i ne d hi s c ho i c e o f e qui pm e nt: " I ch o s e the D PA d: fa c to fo r thi s to ur be c a use i t i s su ch an o utsta ndi ng m i c ro pho ne fo r l i v e v o c a l s. Ty p i cal l y, c o nde nse r v o c a l m i c s c a n g e t unw i e l dy i n a h u r r y, but the d: fa c to ' s supe rc a rdi o d pa tte r n pro v i d es a w o rk a bl e se pa ra ti o n fro m ne a rby so und so urc es . I t i s e xtre m e l y re spo nsi v e a nd v e ry na tura l so undi n g f o r the hum a n v o i c e . " W he e l e r a dm i tte d he w a s i ni ti a l l y sc e pti c a l a bo ut D PA 's d: di c a te 2 0 1 1 C M i c ro pho ne , but he so o n c ha ng ed h i s m i nd w he n he he a rd i ts c l a ri ty, pa rti c ul a rl y i n L ar r y C a rl to n a nd Ste v e Luk a the r' s g ui ta r a m ps a nd i n s i d e the k i c k drum . " I t ha s suc h a hi g h SPL tha t i t w a s a bl e to ha nd l e t h e (Continues on Page 27)
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v a s t dyn amic r a nge of t he ki c k from our drum m e r, Keith C ar lo ck. Ov e ra l l i t w a s a gre a t mi c rop hon e . I w a s e q u ally impres s e d w i t h t he d :d i c a t e 4011A m i c s tha t w e u s ed f or o verhe a d s. The y re a l l y a re ma d e fo r tha t fu n ction an d are out st a nd i ng ov e rhe a d mi c ropho ne s t hat are ex cepti ona l l y v e rsa t i l e . The y w e re al so v e ry p ure an d accu r a t e a nd d i d n't c ol our t he s o und a t a l l. I was really i mp re sse d w i t h t he w a y t he c y m ba l s so u n ded, bu t al so t he w a y t he mi c s p i c ke d up the res t o f th e dr u m ki t so na t ura l l y." W h eeler added t ha t w ha t d re w hi m t o t he d :v o te 4 0 9 9 I n s tr u men t M icrop hone s w a s t he i r c omp a c t s i z e a nd hi gh SPL . "Af ter lis ten in g t o t he m, I found t he m out st andi ng i n
fre que nc y re spo nse fo r to m s, " he sa i d. " T he y w ere v e ry a c c ura te a nd pe rfe c t i n te rm s o f sta y i ng o u t o f the w a y o f drum sti c k s, y e t the y c o ul d sti l l pi c k u p t h e so und o f the drum s. " T he re a l te sta m e nt to the a c c ura c y o f a m i c ro p h o n e i s ho w ha ppy e v e ry o ne i s w i th the i r sta g e s o u n d . Arti sts te nd to k no w w ha t the y l i k e to he a r a nd o f t en do n' t pa y m uc h a tte nti o n to the m a k e s o r m o d el num be rs. O n thi s to ur e v e ry o ne w a s de l i g hte d w i t h the so und a nd I re c e i v e d a l o t o f c o m pl i m e nts ab o u t i t. Pa rti c ul a rl y no ta bl e w a s the so und w e a c hi eved i n H o ng K o ng w he re w e pl a y e d a ro o m w he re the s o u n d c a n g e t o ut o f ha nd i n a hurry. O n tha t o c c a s i o n , I thi nk I w e nt ri g ht to the e dg e o f g e tti ng the so u n d at a n a ppro pri a te v o l um e fo r the m usi c . "
DPA APPOINTS NEW DISTRIBUTORS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA AND TAIWAN installation, conferencing and security." The new appointments include AV United in Malaysia (www.av-united. com); Vision One Co. Ltd in Thailand (www.visionone. co.th); Pro AVL in Vietnam ( w w w. p ro a v l - g ro u p . c o m ) ; Promedia in Indonesia ( w w w. p r o m e d i a s o l u t i o n . com) and Shin Lee Sheng Music Corp. (SLS) in Taiwan.
The move strengthens DPA's foothold in the region where sales are already showing significant growth.
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PA Microphones has reorganised its distribution channels in South East Asia by appointing new distributors in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Taiwan. Ken Kimura, DPA’s General Manager for the APAC region, said the appointments reflect the company's ongoing commitment to develop new business channels and support DPA's influential customer base. "Sales in virtually every APAC country are showing growth as the market recognises the quality and breadth of DPA's product range," said Kimura. Francis Lai, DPA's Regional Sales Manager, added: "W ith our new distribution channels in place, we are now better able to promote DPA microphones and increase brand awareness in many industry areas including broadcast, film, theatre,
Chin Foo Heng, Managing Director of AV United, said: "We are very proud to be appointed as DPA distributor in Malaysia, as this not only enhances our company status but also enables AV-United to deliver unique high quality microphones and thereby lead the industry to a higher standard. DPA Microphones is a reference, a standard, a must-have item in the audio solution." Tanapat Mongkolkosol, Managing Director of Vison One, Thailand, added: "We guide our customers by identifying which equipment is the best solution for them. DPA is one of these solutions because it offers high quality microphones that are easy to use, with great sonic results fit for recording and live sound productions."
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NEW SENNHEISER RF EXPERTS SUCCESSFULLY IN ACTION
The new Sennheiser RF experts with their mentors
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ine months of hard work have paid off: a total of 19 wireless professionals from the worldwide Sennheiser organisation have been awarded the coveted RF Expert certificate. The last of three onsite training sessions took place in Delhi, India, and in the meantime the new RF experts have been in action all over the world to provide support for Sennheiser customers and partners in their projects.
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conditions at the location, planning the conference/interpreting systems and the wireless microphone channels, coordinating all wireless frequencies and programming and testing the systems on site.
“The system of extensive online training and close supervision by mentors combined with several weeks of on-site training has proven itself,” said Kirsten Wessendorf, Manager of Sennheiser Sound Academy, summarising the training course. Meanwhile, some of the new RF experts have already completed their first major projects.
Burr explained: “This project is simply gigantic. Five conference rooms are equipped with ADN-W wireless conference systems with a total of 380 delegate units, while a further six have SR 2020/HDE 2020 interpreting systems with a total of 4,000 receivers. 150 channels of wireless microphones, mostly 5000/3000 systems, are used in the event venues. One room alone has 72 channels! It’s the largest single project that Sennheiser Middle East has ever worked on, and my further training as an RF expert came just at the right time for me.”
R yan Burr from Sennheiser Middle East provided support for his client Doummar – Q2 Advanced Technology in planning the conference and entertainment facilities for the Sheraton Hotel and Conference Centre in Doha (Qatar). This included carrying out a thorough analysis of the wireless
Vincent T ilgenkamp from Sennheiser Benelux has also ear ned the right to call himself an RF expert. In fact, he achieved top results in all tasks and was presented with an Outstanding Achievement Award. He can also look back on a number of successful projects, including the hit TV show Utopia—devised
Apr-Jun 2015
by John de Mol and produced by Talpa—in which he supported the multimedia company Dutchview by providing a special wireless solution. Dutchview was faced with the daunting challenge of picking up the wireless microphone signals from the reality show participants over an area of 12,500 square metres. Vincent T ilgenkamp and his team succeeded in covering this vast area with a single rack of receivers and a number of antenna distribution combiners that were custom-built for Utopia. T i l g e nk a m p to o is de l i g h t ed w i th the RF e xpe rt c o urs e: “ I pa rti c ul a rl y liked the on - s i t e tra i ni ng se ssi o ns w he re w e h ad t o so l v e tri c k y pro bl e m s. O ur m e n t o r s m a de a l o t o f e ffo rt to m a ni p u l at e the e qui pm e nt, i ntro duc e a l l s o r t s o f R F i nte rfe re nc e a nd a ddi ti o n al l y put us unde r ti m e pre ssure. F o r e xa m pl e , the y w o ul d i nv i te a b i g a udi e nc e to a c o nc e rt a nd as k us to g e t the ba nd m i k e d a n d t h e R F w i re l e ss sy ste m s runnin g i n v i rtua l l y no ti m e a t a l l ! I n the en d , o f c o urse , the a udi e nc e w a s l et i n o n ti m e a nd e nj o y e d a to p- q u al i t y gig.”
NEWS
Audio & VISUAL Solutions
XL VIDEO UK INVESTS LIGHTWARE EQUIPMENT
X
L V ideo UK ha s a nnounc e d a ma j or i nve stm e nt in n ew Barco p roj e c t ors a nd l e nse s, a s w e l l a s a l ar g e in ves tmen t i n v i d e o d i st ri b ut i on e q ui p ment fro m L i gh tware. Bo th a gre e me nt s sup p ort t he c om pa ny ’s commitmen t to re gul a rl y up d a t e t he i r i nv e nto ry w i th h i gh qu ality, s tate -of-t he -a rt v i d e o e q ui p me nt. X L V ideo h as inv e st e d £1.2 mi l l i on i n 30 of Ba rc o ’s H DX- W14 pro jec t ors, i nc l ud i ng a q ua nt i t y o f the i r T LD+ Ultr a Sh ort Throw l e nse s. X L ha s s e l e c te d t h e H DX- W14 u ni t s a s t he y offe r out st a nd i ng i m a g e q u ality an d f lex ib l e l i ght out p ut . T he projector s fe a t ure a mod ul a r c onst ruc t i o n a nd common mo du le s for t he se uni t s c a n b e sha re d w ith XL’s ex is ting fl e e t of HD F-W 26 a nd HDQ - 2 K 4 0 p ro jector s . T he TL D+ Ultr a S hort Throw l e nse s a re a n e xc e l l e nt additio n to XL V i d e o’s i nv e nt ory a nd a l l ow t hei r Ba rc o p ro jector s to be use d i n v e nue s a nd l oc a t i ons w he re
IN
NEW
BARCO
AND
spa c e i s a t a pre m i um . XL V i de o U K M a na g i ng D i re c to r, Le e Spen cer, c o m m e nte d: “ We a re pl e a se d to e xpa nd o ur i nv e n t o r y o f Ba rc o pro j e c to rs a nd l e nse s. O ur e xi sti ng fl e et h as pro v e n hi g hl y re l i a bl e a nd so the se m i d- ra ng e 1 4 k uni ts a re a n e xc e l l e nt a ddi ti o n. ” XL V i de o ha s a l so i nv e ste d £ 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 i n a ra n g e o f ne w D VI M a tri c e s a nd M o de x D VI Fi bre Tra nsm i t t er s fro m Li g htw a re V i sua l Eng i ne e ri ng . T hi s be st- i n - cl as s di stri buti o n e qui pm e nt i s 4 K c o m pa ti bl e a nd t h e 2 5 G i g a bi t ba c k bo ne pro v i de s sc a l a bi l i ty to su p p o r t future v i de o te c hno l o g y de v e l o pm e nts. XL V i de o O pe ra ti o ns D i re c to r, J o hn H o o k er, c o m m e nte d: “ T he i nv e stm e nt w i th Li g htw a re i s k ey f o r us. W hi l st the se uni ts o fte n g o unse e n a t sho w s , t h ey a re the ʻ g l ue ʼ tha t ho l ds thi ng s to g e the r. We ch o o s e Li g htw a re pro duc ts a s the y a re v e ry hi g h qua l i t y an d e xc e e di ng l y re l i a bl e . ”
PMC SPEAKERS APPOINTS CHRIS ALLEN TO ITS SALES TEAM T h is n ew appo i nt me nt re i nforc e s t he co mpan y's p ro a ud i o sa l e s e ff or ts aro u n d the gl ob e .
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r itis h l oud sp e a ke r man u f actu rer P MC ha s b o os ted its s al e s t e a m w i t h t he appo in tmen t o f Chri s A l l e n, w ho j o in s th e company a s Exp ort S a l e s M an ag er f o r PM C's a w a rd -w i nni ng Pro Au dio produc t ra nge . Af ter s tu dyin g aud i o a nd re c ord i ng t ech n o lo gy at De Mont fort U n iver s ity, L eicest e r, a nd Confe t t i Stu dios , N o ttin gha m, A l l e n j oi ne d p ro au dio ma nufa c t ure r P ri sm So u n d. F or th e ne xt se v e n y e a rs, h e pro vided s a l e s a nd t e c hni c a l s uppo r t f o r Pr ism S ound 's ra nge o f au dio con ver t e rs a nd a na l ogue p roces s or s , wh ic h a re w i d e l y use d i n h ig h en d record i ng, mi xi ng a nd mas ter in g s tu dio. Allen 's n ew ro le a t P MC se e s hi m re s pon s ible f o r int e r na t i ona l sa l e s, man agin g a gl ob a l d i st ri b ut i on n etwo r k, liais ing d i re c t l y w i t h cl ien ts an d m a i nt a i ni ng P MC’s s t atu s as a w orl d l e a d e r i n s p eaker tech n o l ogy a nd re fe re nc e mon itor in g f or t he c re a t i v e p ro au dio in du s tr y. " We are delight e d t o w e l c ome C h r is to PM C a s Exp ort S a l e s M an ag er,” s aid Mi l e s Rob e rt s,
P MC's M a na g i ng D i re c to r. “ H e bri ng s a w e a l th o f i ndustry k no wl ed g e t o t he ro l e a nd unde rsta nds the i m po rta nc e o f hi g h qua l i ty a u d i o t o re c ord i n g pro fe ssi o na l s. T hi s pe rfe c tl y sui ts o ur e tho s a nd we f eel c onfi d e n t tha t hi s e xpe ri e nc e a nd c o nta c ts w i l l he l p us a ttra c t n ew c ust omers a ro und the w o rl d. " A l l e n a d de d: " H a v i ng w o rk e d a s bo th a c re a ti v e a udi o e ng i ne er an d for a l e a di ng a udi o m a nufa c ture r fo r se v e ra l y e a rs, I unde rsta n d t h e i mp ort a n c e o f c ri ti c a l re fe re nc e m o ni to ri ng i n studi o s. I ha v e al w ays e nj oy e d w o rk i ng w i th PM C pro duc ts fo r the i r c l a ri ty, tra nspa re ncy an d t he i r a b il i ty to de l i v e r hi g h qua l i ty, di sto rti o n fre e a udi o . I a m e xc it ed t o b e p a rt o f a n i nc re di bl e te a m tha t sha re s m y pa ssi o n fo r hi g h q u al i t y a ud i o and l o o k fo rw a rd to i ntro duc i ng the se v e rsa ti l e pro duc t s an d sol ut i ons to ne w m a rk e ts a nd c usto m e rs a l o ng si de PM C ’s pa rtne r s an d d i st ri b ut o rs a ro und the w o rl d. ”
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QUANTUM OF THE SEAS SAILS
WITH ELATION LIGHTING AND VIDEO SYSTEMS Over 700 Elation and Acclaim products—95 per cent of them LED—installed in main entertainment and relaxation areas on the world’s most advanced cruise ship
Royal Caribbean’s newest luxury cruise liner, Quantum of the Seas, has set sail in November last year with a full complement of energyefficient Elation Professional lighting and video products, as well as Acclaim architectural lighting products, and a promise to deliver experiences never before seen at sea. Quantum of the Seas is the third largest cruise liner in the world and can accommodate more than 4,000 passengers—all of whom want to be entertained on each voyage. As with Royal Caribbean ships of the past, the options for entertainment are many with Quantum of the Seas offering first-at-sea activities, such as a sky-diving simulator, bumper cars, the world’s first robotic bartenders, and the North Star, an engineering marvel that transports guests more than 300 feet above the ocean.
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The World’s First Smartship Quantum of the Seas embraces technology at a whole new level as an environmentally friendly ship as well. Promoted as the world’s first smartship, Quantum of the Seas, built at Germany’s Meyer Werft shipyard, sets new standards in terms of energyefficient entertainment lighting systems onboard. Amptown System Company (ASC) provided the media and entertainment system integration for about 40 public areas, including system engineering, supply, installation and commissioning. Christopher Vlassopulos, Superintendent SLVR & Architectural Lighting for Royal Caribbean International, coordinated the design and specification for all the entertainment equipment in the ship’s public spaces, including the ship’s entertainment lighting
systems. He explains that a key aspect of the smartship ethos is energy efficiency and the large number of Elation LED lighting and video products used in the ship’s entertainment and relaxation areas fit the bill. “The core reason we have so much LED lighting onboard Quantum is because of a directive that there should be no incandescent lamps, which would have been quite the challenge three years ago but is now possible. There should be no lamps to change,” said Vlassopulos, who specified and designed lighting for the entertainment spaces together with Benjamin Couling of Tristwell Solutions, the company responsible for installation and commissioning. As Vlassopulos explained, power savings was important and dollar savings quite significant. “By switching from incandescent to
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LED, we realise millions of dollars in savings over the lifetime of Royal Caribbean ships and we’ve also already benefited from the lower maintenance involved.” Quantum of the Seas left the Meyer Werft shipyard in October last year and Christopher said if the ship had been outfitted as they were in the past, they would already have relamped every single fixture. “That’s not only a considerable savings in cost but it frees technicians up to do other things with their time. It has made for happier technicians.” Another aspect to think about, he said, is the visibility of the fixtures. “In Two70 for example— where the fixtures are visible—you don’t want to be going up into the rig to change lamps with guests down below you. We avoid that with an LED lighting system.” Savings extends to other areas as well. W ith the Elation LED systems there is less cabling, fewer connections to contend with, and there are no dimmers to work with. There is also less heat generated, which means a lower burden on the air conditioning system, thus translating into less power draw and fuel savings. Close Cooperation Christopher did his background work to investigate what were the best LED fixtures to use and because he had to make decisions on fixture choice years before the ship sails, it was important that he worked directly with the manufacturer. “Elation has been very helpful,” he stated. “Everything fit together with what Elation could offer with LED, also the video products. I was given knowledge of what fixtures were in the pipeline very early in order to make the correct choice and that was important. I appreciate the close cooperation we have had throughout.” Entertainment and Relaxation Spaces Whether enjoying a show in one of the ship’s many entertainment venues, enjoying a stroll along the Royal Esplanade, working up a sweat at SeaPlex or hanging out at the pool, Elation lighting systems are there to enhance the experience.
Two70 A top attraction is Two70, a multifunctional, multistory space at the stern of the ship that takes a futuristic approach to entertainment. During the day, the room acts as a lounge area with a large window front providing 270-degree panoramic sea views. In the evening, Two70 becomes an event venue with stage shows performed before a huge floor-to-ceiling Vistarama video projection screen that transforms the windows into any scene, real or imagined, while six large Roboscreens driven by ABB Industrial Robots are included in the choreography. An Elation lighting rig of Platinum Wash ZFX Pro, Satura Spot LED Pro, Platinum Spot LED Pro II and Platinum Beam 5R Extremes light shows Starwater with lighting design by Alex Picotte and The Virtual Concert, an all-virtual show with a band performing on the Vistarama and solo performances coming alive on the Roboscreens. “It’s a combination of a concert and a club with the band performing digitally and guests out on the dance floor,” explained Susan Rose, lighting designer and programmer for The Virtual Concert. “I use the lights to create the feeling of a concert and the Elation LED lighting is perfect for this environment. The brightness is ideal although I did have to dial it down a bit in order not to overpower the video. The Platinum Beam is the only non-LED fixture in the rig and I have that at 20 per cent intensity.” As there is really no stage per say, most of the rig is located over the audience with Rose lighting around the video elements, the room, the audience and scenery. She uses the Platinum Wash ZFX Pros to colour splash and provide eye candy for the audience while the Satura Spots light the dancefloor or scenic pieces, also with gobos. “The light show works well with the video,” Rose said. “It was a fun rig to work on, very different, but it worked perfectly.” Royal Theatre The state-of-the-art 1,300-seat Royal Theatre is another of the ship’s main entertainment spaces, featuring contemporary musical stage productions with all the glitz and special effects of a Broadway production. A pair of top quality production shows
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feature on each cruise, Mamma Mia! with lighting design by Ed McCarthy and Sonic Odyssey with lighting design by Todd Clark, as well as other special events. Both shows are full productions and the lighting rig is impressive with LEDbased Elation Platinum Wash ZFX Pro and Satura Spot LED Pro moving heads used as the main colour and graphics luminaires. Extended colour possibilities come from Design Brick 70 II RGBWA colour battens and ELED QA Strips while Elation Platinum Beam 5R Extremes and Platinum Spot 35R Pros, both housing powerful Platinum lamps that provide an extra punch of power when needed. The Royal Theatre also has three 20mm pixel pitch Elation EPV20 LED screens for displaying a variety of on-screen graphics. Capable of extremely bright projection up to 4000 nits when needed, one large 5.8 by 11.5 meter screen is positioned upstage as a dynamic backdrop with smaller 5.8 by 1.9 meter screens positioned at each side. Music Hall In the two-story Music Hall, guests can enjoy a range of activities during the day
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from dancing or cooking classes to billiards. At night, the multi-use venue comes alive as the heart of the ship’s entertainment with live performances by a tribute band or a late-night show featuring the cast of the Royal Theatre. Accommodating around 400 guests for performances, the Music Hall’s design inspiration comes from the House of Blues with décor in deep, rich tones. Lighting plays a major part in creating the atmosphere with an Elation rig of Platinum Spot LED Pro II and Platinum Wash ZFX Pro moving heads along with Design Brick 70 II—capable of accommodating any and all events. Royal Esplanade The Royal Esplanade is a multi-level thoroughfare lined with boutiques, clubs, restaurants and bars that run along the length of the ship and provide an elegant retail shopping area and spacious gathering place for guests. Platinum Wash LED Zoom and Platinum Spot LED Pro II fixtures painted white to blend in with the architecture run along each side of the Esplanade and provide mood lighting effects. Used every night for everything from shows to special events, the lighting
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is also an integral part of the theme during a choreographed parade where singers, dancers and even the crew entertain. There are always people walking through the area so it is important that the lighting fixtures, which are not easy to access, not require a lot of maintenance. Vlassopulos said the lights in the Royal Esplanade are used more than they have been in earlier ships thanks to the power savings and long operational life benefits of LED lighting. SeaPlex On deck 15 is the SeaPlex, the largest indoor active area on the ship and serves as a sports and entertainment venue, housing a circus school with trapeze, bumper cars, regulation size basketball court, soccer area and a roller skating rink. The multi-purpose space is also used to hold parties and other events. From the two-deck-high ceiling, Elation Design Wash LED Pro and Platinum Spot LED Pro II moving heads light the space from pods protected with wire so as not to be hit by a stray ball. For dance and music events, a special DJ pod with a floating arm can be lowered when needed. At one end of
the room hangs a high-resolution six-mm pixel pitch Elation EPV6 video wall—a bright 2,500 nit LED video display used to provide graphics for both sporting and entertainment events. Pool, Crew and Sports Decks Specialty architectural effect lighting has been incorporated into several of the ship’s outdoor areas including the pool, crew and sports decks, where, in the evening hours, Elation ELAR 108 PAR RGBW fixtures light up the decks in vibrant colour—often a complementary blue. ELAR 108 PAR lights have been a staple on Royal Caribbean ships as a powerful wash light since the first time they were used by Royal Caribbean on Oasis of the Seas’ first voyage in 2009. Quantum of the Seas sails itineraries from New York to the Caribbean for its inaugural season and will have a new homeport in China in May 2015. Two more ships in the Quantum class will soon be sailing with Elation and Acclaim lighting and video systems, Anthem of the Seas set to sail in 2015 and Ovation of the Seas planned for 2016.
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Equipment Used: Two70
Platinum Wash ZFX Pro Platinum Wash ZFX ProXL Satura Spot LED Pro Platinum Beam 5R Extreme Platinum Spot LED Pro II
Royal Theatre
Platinum Wash ZFX Pro Platinum Wash ZFX ProXL Satura Spot LED Pro Design Brick 70 II Platinum Beam 5R Extreme Platinum Spot 35R Pro Platinum Spot LED Pro II ELED QA Strip Sixpar 100ip ELAR Quad Par EPV20 EPV VSC
Music Hall
Design Brick 70 II Platinum Spot LED Pro II Platinum Wash ZFX Pro
Royal Esplanade
Platinum Spot LED Pro II Platinum Wash LED Zoom
SeaPlex
Design Wash LED Pro Platinum Spot LED Pro II EPV6 video panels
Pool Deck
ELAR 108 PAR RGBW
Sports Deck
ELAR 108 PAR RGBW
Crew Sun Deck
ELAR 108 PAR RGBW
Acclaim Lighting
Acclaim AL Dome (clear and diffused) Acclaim Rebel Eye HP Acclaim Dyna Drum HO Acclaim Rebel Drum 18 Acclaim Rebel Drum 3
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ETC LIGHTS UP THE NEW SHANGHAI SYMPHONY HALL 36
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A well-equipped lighting system is intrinsic to the performance experience at any venue—be it a grandiose theatre, a large-scale arena or a modest chamber. When done right, it can help set the proper tone in a space and allow the audience to fully immerse itself into a performance. China’s Shanghai Symphony Orchestra now boasts of a striking new venue, the Shanghai Symphony Hall, which officially opened in September last year. LAVA magazine takes a look at the Hall’s lighting system, which is equipped with a selection of Electronic Theatre Controls’ (ETC) lighting fixtures and consoles. Xingxing Duo, the lighting director of the Shanghai Symphony Hall, also gives us insight into why these lighting products have been chosen.
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ENTERTAINMENT
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YOU CAN ALWAYS EXPECT A SMOOTH AND NATURAL DIMMING CURVE FROM ETC DIMMER RACKS. THEY DELIVER MAXIMUM RELIABILITY WITH A MINIMAL FAILURE RATE COMPARED TO MOST BRANDS ON THE MARKET.
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ENTERTAINMENT
The venue contains two separate performance spaces: the Main Hall with 1,200 seats, which serves as a performance and rehearsal space, and the 400-seat Chamber Hall, which is used for recording and broadcasting. ETC Sensor3 power-control racks dim both halls’ stage lighting. They were chosen due to their consistency in performance. “You can always expect a smooth and natural dimming curve from ETC dimmer racks. They deliver maximum reliability with a minimal failure rate compared to most brands on the market. Lighting designers can just concentrate on their art and performance without worrying about equipment issues,” said Xingxing Dou, the lighting director at the Shanghai Symphony Hall.
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he 135-year-old Shanghai Symphony Orchestra in China now has a new home in the Shanghai Symphony Hall, which celebrated its long-awaited grand opening in September 2014. The Hall now boasts a full suite of ETC equipment, including a Sensor®3 Power Control system with ThruPower modules, Source Four® PAR fixtures, and an Eos®-family lighting control system.
Sensor3 ThruPower modules can control a variety of loads all from one unit, transitioning output freely— from constant, dim or relay—without having to change modules manually. It makes power control easy for a hybrid lighting rig like the one
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NOT ONLY DOES IT GREATLY IMPROVE THE VENUE’S LIGHTING FLEXIBILITY, IT ALSO PROVIDES MORE ROOM FOR LIGHTING CREATIVITY AND ENRICHES THE STAGE PERFORMANCE. OUR LIGHTING HAS IMPRESSED MANY TOURING GROUPS WHO PERFORM AT THE VENUE.
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in the Shanghai Symphony Hall. “We love this design! Not only does it greatly improve the venue’s lighting flexibility, it also provides more room for lighting creativity and enriches the stage performance,” Dou noted. “Our lighting has impressed many touring groups who perform at the venue.” There are 100 Source Four PAR MCM fixtures used in the Hall. Their delicate lighting complements the interior design, turning the space into a beautifully lit environment that helps immerse both the musicians and audience into a performance. “The Source Four PARs’ colour temperature perfectly matches the tone of the interior,” said Dou. “They look like interior lighting, but are flexible for any lighting application. Orchestra lighting is very different from other stage lightings because the fixtures must be noise free, and that is why the Source Four PAR is part of our rig. Unlike other theatrical lights, their soft light creates a soothing performance environment.” Controlling the lighting fixtures are Ion® and Element® consoles, which are ideal as they give operators flexibility based on what is required for a performance. Dou explained: “Our resident operators simply use the control desks for dimming most of the time, but international troupes often need more advanced lighting control. Ion and Element provide what we need. And I like their touchscreens, which make programming easier.”
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ENTERTAINMENT
Source Four ® PAR MCM fixtures Source Four ® PARs™ stand out of the luminaire crowd with their rugged die-cast aluminium construction and acclaimed Source Four optical technology, offering superior brightness and energy savings. Source Four PARs deliver a smooth even field, and at 575 watts are comparable to 1000W PAR64s—while saving 40 per cent on energy. ‘MCM’ stands for Metal Cold Mirror. This unique reflector coating ensures that only light—not heat—goes out of the front of the fixture, making the Source Four PAR MCM ideal for orchestra lighting or other performance situations where on-stage comfort is paramount.
Eos ® -family lighting control system ION: Ion’s compact footprint—only 19” wide—is the perfect solution for environments with space constraints and small venues. Ion ® packs a punch, providing fully integrated control of media servers and conventional, LED, and moving lights. Element: Based on ETC’s award-winning Eos ® control system but with a simplified feature set, Element™ is designed expressly for modest rigs and maximum handson fader control. Affordable and easy to use, Element packs in the fundamentals of lighting control. It is ideal for smaller venues and houses of worship with a single console operator or volunteer staffers.
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ENTERTAINMENT
ThruPower modules These modules give a choice of local override or standard control for each circuit. When the switch on the front of the module is in the On position, power is routed directly from the breaker to the output without passing through the dimmer or toroid filter (choke), which prevents the control system from turning off the output voltage even if the control module is removed from the system. While in the Dim position, CEM3 controls operation of the module as a relay or a dimmer.
Sensor ® 3 Power Control System Sensor ® 3 is the foundation for a versatile power system that builds on ETC’s proven Sensor ® workhorse system with CEM3 control. It is the performance standard for top theaters, TV studios, and concert halls worldwide.
About ETC ETC is a global leader in the manufacture of lighting and rigging technology for entertainment and architectural applications. The company’s international headquarters is located in Middleton, Wisconsin and has offices around the world, such as Hong Kong, Copenhagen, Ede (the Netherlands), Rome, London, Berlin, and Holzkirchen (Germany). ETC employs nearly 900 people around the globe and its products are found in small and large venues worldwide, such as theaters, restaurants, schools, performing arts centers, television studios, houses of worship, casinos, museums, theme parks and opera houses. To find out more, please visit www.etcconnect.com.
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TECHNOLOGIES
TDC BRINGS VISIONS OF VIENNA TO LIFE IN AUSTRALIA
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ENTERTAINMENT
TECHNOLOGIES
It was a night of audio-visual splendour at Sydney Harbour on 4 February when the iconic roof of the Sydney Opera House—shaped like the billowing sails of a mighty ship—seemed to come alive with vibrant colour and visuals, further complemented with beautiful music.
Taking place at approximately 8:30pm (AEDT), the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s live concert performance at the Concert Hall was combined with stunning visuals that celebrated the artistic and musical heritage of Vienna, and projected onto the roof of the Opera House, bathing these giant “sails” with a kaleidoscope of interesting patterns and motifs interspersed with live images of the Orchestra performing in the Hall.
Entitled Visions of Vienna, this event was a multimedia artistic collaboration between the Vienna Tourist Board and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, with video services and expertise provided by the Technical Direction Company (TDC). It combined audio and visual elements into a seamless performance, wowing not just visitors at the Harbour, but audiences across the world as well by way of a live web-stream.
The decision to employ TDC’s expertise for this challenging project came fairly easy. “Having already worked with Michael Hassett and his expert projection design team back in the 90s, we knew we could turn to TDC again for another unforgettable visual spectacular. TDC is a dream-team to work with,” enthused Astrid Mulholland-Licht, Director of the Austrian National Tourist Office in Sydney.
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TECHNOLOGIES
The Sydney Opera House is not only an architectural masterpiece but also the most internationally recognised symbol of modern Australia. As one of the world’s busiest performing arts centres and a core part of the national cultural fabric, it was the perfect location to host a performance where culture, art, music and technology meet. Considering the scale and ambition of this project, TDC had to ensure that the different teams working together were on the same page. “During design, TDC’s team of creative and technical experts created a content template so that Ample Projects and the Sydney Opera House Recording and Broadcast Studios were all working from the same plan. This also helped to save time on site. We worked closely with the Sydney Opera House production team and other suppliers to overcome any technical issues,” explained Olin Winton, Technical Manager at TDC. 14 cameras were used to capture the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s performance of glorious Viennese music, which were complemented with Viennese-inspired 3D animations from Ample Projects, an award-
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winning Australian company specialising in projection, screen and interactive designs. The projection of artistic content posed several technical design challenges, including building size, long throw distances, a busy Sydney Harbour port in the projection path, and multiple microwave broadcast links. To address these issues, TDC provided the industry’s brightest, high-resolution projectors supported by powerful highperformance media serving technology. W inston explained: “A finely tuned methodology developed over a number of years has led to locating specific projection locations to project over the ferries and cruise ships that come into port. Isolated projection platforms are designed for long projection throw distances. Additionally, multiple signal transmission paths, HD signals as well as communications, embedded audio for broadcasters were located at the Sydney Opera House. The smooth lines and white surface of the iconic Sydney Opera House are great to work with. Depth of field and maintaining a sharp
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TECHNOLOGIES
focus across multiple stacked projectors can be a challenge that’s solved using a well thought out projection plan!” TDC also ensures failsafe systems design for all their projects. “Main and backup systems comprised two way microwave link for transmission path. Audio path was retransmitted via microwave and RF to viewing sites with the audio delay added as needed,” added W inton. The free to attend event was organised on behalf of the Vienna Tourist Board. Held at 8pm inside the Concert Hall, the concert, Greatest Hits from Vienna, was conducted by Ola Rudner and featured soprano Elisabeth Flechl as a soloist. The event was live-streamed at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s YouTube page and the Visions of Vienna website. A public viewing area hosted by the Vienna Tourist Board at Campbells
Cove, Western Circular Quay uninterrupted views of the sails.
enjoyed
Equipment used: Barco projectors d3 Technologies 4x4pro video server Photo credit: TDC – Technical Direction Company. About TDC – Technical Direction Company Established in 1981, TDC’s expertise is in providing video technology solutions for major TV shows, theatre, corporate events, concert touring, exhibitions and outdoor events. Holding one of the largest stocks of high-end video equipment including LED, projection, displays and HD camera systems, TDC is the preferred provider of technical solutions for the top designers, producers, and production companies across the Asia Pacific region. For more information, visit www.tdc.com.au.
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CREATELED DESIGNS LED DISPLAY THAT RESEMBLES A WHEAT FIELD The display will be showcased at China’s National Pavilion during Expo Milano 2015 Expo Milano 2015 is a Universal Exposition that Milan, Italy, will host from 1 May to 31 October this year. Over this six-month period, Milan will become a global showcase where more than 140 participating countries will display the best of their technology that offers an answer to a vital need: being able to guarantee healthy, safe and sufficient food for everyone, while respecting the planet and its equilibrium. The Expo is expected to welcome over 20 million visitors. China will present a 4,590-square meter pavilion with the theme: The Field of Hope, The Spring of Life. The pavilion will feature a creative wheat-resembling LED display elaborately designed and provided by CreateLED, which will transform the exhibition space into a magnificent wheat field made out of LED strips—its dancing lights giving the effect of wheat rippling in the breeze.
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CreateLED’s R&D team will make use of its latest LED technology to carefully construct each pixel in the wheat field display. With the help of a customised control system, the LED display is able to create the image of billowing wheat. The engineer, Mr Chou, explained that this project is nothing like CreateLED’s regular LED displays. “To connect every wheat-straw to form an image, we need to put a lot of thought into the refresh rate, minding the uniformity of all the pixels and the uniqueness of the design. Only in this way can we assure the fidelity of the colour.” “The Field of Hope” symbolises China’s ancient civilisation and vast landscape. The pavilion successfully combines the essence of Chinese traditional architecture
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and modern techniques to create vibrant images of a swaying wheat field. In addition, the roof of the pavilion is covered by Chinese bamboo material. All these embody the thriving modern agricultural industry in China. CreateLED’s Reputation and Success The tenderer initially chose another Chinese LED display manufacturer for this challenging project. However, it failed to provide the ideal solution to the most technologically demanding part of the exhibit. By conducting research, the tenderer became aware of CreateLED’s success in carrying out solutions for over 2,500 cases across Europe and America, including the Paris car show, Milan Fashion week, etc. The tenderer is certainly satisfied with the professional solution provided by CreateLED’s skilled team. CreateLED’s focus on the highend market and its experience in the LED display industry over the past 11 years has contributed to the company’s success in fulfilling the project requirements for the Expo Milano. In addition, statistics by the LED industry association has shown that CreateLED, as a leading LED display solution provider, has been one of the best exporters in high-end and creative LED displays in recent years. For more information, please visit www.createled.com or e-mail info@createled.com.
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SONY PROJECTORS FOR “MOVING LIGHT, ROVING SIGHT” EXHIBITION IN SINGAPORE I mages provided by S ony Elec tronics Asia Pacific
Sony was the official projection sponsor for the Moving Light, Roving Sight exhibition hosted by the Ikkan Art Gallery in Singapore. Sony supplied nine units of its VPL-FHZ55 3LCD WUXGA laser light source projector and one unit of its VPL-GTZ1 4K ultra-short throw laser light source projector to the gallery for use during the exhibition, which ran from 22 January till 18 February 2015 at the Ikkan Art Gallery.
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Moving Light, Roving Sight brings together an array of digital, video, new media and sound works by nine internationally renowned artists: teamLab, Jenny Holzer, Naoko Tosa, Teppei Kaneuji, Haegue Yang, Takashi Ishida, Oliver Herring, Douglas Gordon and invisible designs lab. The constellation of projections and screens plotted around the exhibition draws the viewer in, encouraging one to ponder in wonderment while meandering within and between the artworks.
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Sony’s VPL-FHZ55 projectors were employed in the digital interactive installation Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together – Dark by ultratechnologist group teamLab. Consisting of a walkway and a large open space occupying an entire gallery, it was an immersive yet meditative experience that ruminated on the symbiotic relationship between nature and humanity. Neither a pre-recorded animation nor video on loop, the work was rendered in real time by a computer programme. The viewer’s behaviour affected the cycle of growth and decay of the flowers, and this interaction between the viewer and the installation resulted in continuous change in the artwork; previous visual states could never be replicated and never reoccurred. For this exhibit, the projectors had to be suspended from the ceiling with images projected onto the floor and surrounding walls, and this unusual orientation can only be achieved by a projector using laser light source technology.
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Sony’s latest VPL-GTZ1 4K ultra-short throw laser light source projector has the ability to throw high-resolution images of 147 inches to 66 inches (when projecting in 17:9 format) on any plain white surface from a mere throw distance of seven inches and zero inches (measurement from screen to edge of product width) respectively. This allows viewers to appreciate the fine details of the 4K image from a very close distance to the screen without shading off the image.
“Without Sony’s new laser projectors, installation of artwork with floor projection for our exhibition could not have been achieved with such ease. We are extremely grateful to Sony’s new technology, which has exceeded our expectations with crisp and clear images projected, plus superior flexibility of installation,” said Ikkan Sanada, Director of the Ikkan Art Gallery.
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POWERSOFT BLOWS LOUDEST AT JAKARTA’S FINEST NIGHTCLUB
PT Citria Intirama delivers sonic excellence at Blowfish Club & Bar
beginning at one of their other upmarket venues, Dragonfly, more than six years ago.
Originally opened in 2003 as a Japanese style lounge, Blowfish has long been established at the elite end of Jakarta’s nightlife. The Ismaya Group decided to undertake a complete AV upgrade 10 years later in order to freshen the club’s image and improve the ambience.
According to the PT Citra Intirama’s Eric Haslim, the relationship with Powersoft is also a long-standing one, and when the owners set a brief that the new sound upgrade was to be “without compromise” — but at the same time fit discreetly into the interior scheme — it was not long before PT Rhema Multi Perkasa, the third party consulting company, were appointed by the distributor. Under the project coordination of Dax M. Wenas, Powersoft control was specified to optimise the enhanced Martin Audio AQ and Blackline+ systems
Heavily involved in the refit has been Powersoft’s Indonesian distributors, PT Citra Intirama. The company has enjoyed a long relationship with the owners,
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throughout the club’s five distinct zones (and adjacent Puro Italian restaurant and club overspill area). “We added the Powersoft amps to complement the additional speakers,” confirmed Haslim. “It was great to have two worldrenowned brands, and Powersoft provided a perfect complement to the speakers and sub-woofers with their light weight, efficiency, power and excellent sonic amplification.” The interior itself was divided into Lounge & Bar areas, two separate VIP rooms and the main dancefloor, with PT Rhema Multi Perkasa providing consultancy, acoustic design, installation, commissioning and training/after sales support. In addition, Vincent Lee of Vertical Acoustics was introduced to the project in order to advise on sound proofing and design bass traps and diffusers/absorbers to achieve the ideal acoustic conditions. “One of the biggest challenges faced by the sound teams was to ensure even distribution while obtaining
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TECHNOLOGIES high intelligibility—even on hard hitting electronic dancefloor tracks the vocals need to be clear and crisp.” Haslim emphasised that Powersoft had provided a “tremendous boost” in delivering the sonic experience desired in a club environment. “We most certainly took full advantage of Powersoft’s inherent electronics,” he said. “One of the key features, for instance, is the availability of damping control inside the Powersoft amplifiers, where we can adjust the power delivery to complement the extended speaker cable lengths for subwoofers located as far as 100 metres away.” In terms of deployment, they assigned two Duecanali 5204 two-channel amplifiers to two single 18in subs, while seven Duecanali 3904 drive a further seven two by 18in subs. Powersoft M50Qs are assigned to a further seven full range speakers, dispersed throughout the club, and powerful K3 amps are designated to six further higher potency full range speakers. Meanwhile, next door in Puro, Duecanali 5204, 3904 and M50Q can be found powering the speakers. Supported by Powersoft’s legendary DSP and electronics, Duecanali 5204 and 3904 are the outcome of an efficient and reliable energy saving design in a compact 1U rack space, which still maintains high-output wattage and crystal clear audio. In fact the design offers 40 per cent to 60 per cent savings on operating costs over traditional amplifiers of the same power rating. PT Citra Intirama and PT Rhema Multi Perkasa also had to overcome a further sonic challenge, which was provided by the variations in ceiling height and floor levels, as well as the existence of corners and pillars. “We had to carefully time delay the set-up we dialled into the system and it took the best part of three weeks to adjust the settings to meet the DJ’s preference,” Haslim explained.
He had no doubt that Powersoft played a major role in providing an irresistible combination with the loudspeakers. “Powersoft offers a truly exceptional value for money in terms of investment. In addition to the features already mentioned, their designs also have excellent circuit protection in terms of dealing with voltage fluctuations. “I would have to say that it is without doubt one of the best power amplifier companies in the market today.” He cited the close cooperation between all parties as being the key to delivering the desired sonic experience.
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AYRTON CELEBRATES NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH FUMIYA FUJII AT JAPAN’S NIPPON BUDOKAN 58
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The world-famous Nippon Budokan arena in central Tokyo played host to Fumiya Fujii’s 30th Best Special Countdown Live Show on New Year’s Eve 2014. The show was the spectacular culmination of a two-year tour by the popular Japanese music artist in celebration of his ‘double anniversary’, which marked 30 years since the recording of his debut album and his 20th year as a solo artist. Pivotal to Keisuke Nishi’s design for the evening was a bank of 90 Ayrton IntelliPix™-R LED panels supplied by
Ayrton’s Japanese distributor, First Engineering Japan. IntelliPix™-R is a modular beam projection panel of 25 independently controllable 4.5-degree LED emitters arranged in a five by five array, which project graphics and media far into the air. Panels can be connected together to form a semi-transparent wall, screen or ceiling or be placed under specially designed glass using its dedicated floor installation kit to create an immensely strong projection floor that can wrap a performer in dynamic columns of light.
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The IntelliPix™-R panels were positioned on the stage deck itself—behind the musicians—and angled upward to enable Nishi to show off the full power of IntelliPix-R’s projection capacity without pointing directly into the eyes of the audience. Powerful walls of light and spectacular colour shifts were projected upwards to create dramatic aerial beam effects. These contrasted with subtler text and abstract shapes that chased across the surface of the bank of panels—created from IntelliPixR’s individually-controlled pixels, which Heart-S mapped using Avolites Media’s AI Server. The individual pixels were also used to count down the seconds to 2015.
Heart-S decided that Intellipix-R was the perfect fixture for this unique range of effects because of its ability to produce intense beams combined with a high degree of versatile control. First Engineering Japan’s Masatoshi Hamada said: “Intellipix-R is very quiet without fan noise so it’s also good for theatrical plays or opera (Japanese Kabuki), which require a noise free environment.” Ayrton IntelliPix-R is suitable for indoor or outdoor use, which makes it the perfect tool for touring purposes.
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Photo credit: ©Yurun Group The L-Acoustics system helped the dragons to sound as impressive as they looked, while also superbly representing spoken voice and song from the cast.
L-ACOUSTICS ON FIRE FOR DREAMWORKS’ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON LIVE L-Acoustics KARA and KUDO system deployed for spectacular live adaptation of 2010 Academy Awardnominated film Created by DreamWorks Animation, the How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular was produced by the storytellers at DreamWorks Animation and Global Creatures, the masterminds behind the international phenomenon Walking with Dinosaurs, the number one grossing world tour of 2010. Following its launch in Australia and New Zealand, as well as a successful run in North America, How to Train Your Dragon Live Spectacular landed in China. Over 145,000 spectators turned out to enjoy the premiere at a newly built theater on the grounds of the Beijing National Stadium–the famous Bird’s Nest built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Featuring more than a dozen impressive dragons with 40-foot wingspans, the audio challenge for Rightway Audio Consultants and sound supplier Dadong Huahan
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was to make the dragons sound as impressive as they looked, while also superbly representing spoken voice and song from the cast of the dragons’ human trainers. And all of this had to be done in a theater with an in-theround configuration that was full of reflective surfaces. After rigorous tests, an L-Acoustics KARA and KUDO sound system was chosen to make the production soar. “54 KARA in nine groups of six are installed for the three sides, and in using KARA and KUDO, we were able to achieve perfect clarity, intelligibility, and precision, as well as a wide dynamic range,” explained Vincent Zhou, Technical Manager at Rightway Audio Consultants. “We especially appreciated KUDO’s customised horizontal directivity, which enabled us to offer a superb audience experience with crystal clear sound — free of reflections. and since both KARA and KUDO offer extended vertical coverage, the arrays provided even sound distribution, guaranteeing coverage from the last row on top to the lowest row at the front.”
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TECHNOLOGIES Soundvision was used to work out an accurate acoustical and mechanical simulation of L-Acoustics speaker systems. “Using Soundvision, we were able to design each of our 11 hangs to perfectly cover our in-the-round configuration. We used a distributed sub system, with an end fire array configuration in the corners to guarantee even low frequency coverage throughout the venue, while reducing excitement from the room and the seating blocks.” Because of the in-the-round theater setup, distance between the speaker hangs was an issue that could have an effect on sound quality. To minimise the damping factor, Rightway suggested the LA8 amplifiers were flown using L-Case. “L-Case allowed us to place our LA8s directly above the KARAs, so we could connect the arrays closely to the amps and avoid running lengthy cables,” explained He Biao, Chief of Dadong Huahan. “We then used the LA Network Manager to monitor and control our entire sound system in real time. It allowed us to make balancing adjustments, and to inspect all enclosures rapidly so we had a flawless performance at each show.” For Alex Bryson, Head of Audio and Communications at the How To Train Your Dragon performance team, the LA8 amplifiers provided peace of mind: “The simplistic networking of the LA8 amplifiers proved an efficient tool for system control, timing and tuning.” “We were very satisfied with the system,” said Bryson. “There was considerable and constant pressure placed on the audio system to reproduce the various audio performance levels: crystal clear live vocal reinforcement, engaging music, playback and credible SFX needed to be delivered to every single seat in the arena without forgetting about the rich and wide bandwidth voices of the dragons. The L-Acoustics KARA and KUDO, coupled with the SB28 amplifiers, handled all these tasks simultaneously with ease.”
The L-Case hosted LA8 amplifiers directly above the KARA array, avoiding to run lenghty cables
A panoramic view of the set up, featuring L-Acoustics KARA and KUDO systems
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BLACKTRAX SCORES A FIRST IN LARGE-SCALE 6D PROJECTION MAPPING Images: 速 Production Technology LLC (Protec)
Protec Benefits from Fast Systems Set Up, Tracking of Video, and Unlimited Creativity On an unprecedented scale, CAST BlackTrax Ltd saw Production Technology LLC (Protec), the largest live events production company in the Middle East deploy BlackTrax realtime motion tracking solution at the Hamdan bin Mohammed Programme for Smart Government awards (HbMPSG) in late 2014. The two-hour long ceremony was a pioneering initiative in Dubai for government services. Aimed at promoting corporate and community life in the Emirates, the awards were presented by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al
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Maktoum at the World Trade Centre Arena, Dubai. The audience comprised government officials such as the Dubai Police, transport authorities as well as power and utility companies. Tracking of Fast-Moving Projection Mapping Surfaces For the HbMPSG Awards, Protec used a giant five by five meter rotating cube structure hanging above a 22-metre diameter circular stage. During the ceremony, the cube pitched forward, rotated and lifted up and down. The cube was tracked using BlackTrax realtime motion tracking and integrated with d3 Technologies 4x4pro media servers.
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TECHNOLOGIES Additionally, BlackTrax tracked two large pieces of 13 by 14 metre jigsaw-shaped scenery located around the edge of the stage that were used as a projection canvas. These tracked around the cube during the ceremony. Since the audience was positioned 240-degrees around the stage, the cube and jigsaw shapes needed to be tracked and projected the complete 360 degrees of the setup. This was the first project to use 6D tracking on an unrivalled scale in the EMEA region. BlackTrax not only tracks XYZ positions, which is the regular 3D positional information, but will also track Yaw, Pitch and Roll for rotation in any direction. Objects can move, spin, rotate in 6DoF (6 Degrees of Freedom) and still be tracked. “We chose BlackTrax specifically for this project, because we knew it was the only solution that would work,” said Lighting Designer, Aaron Russ at Protec. “We needed to track each
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surface of the cube and jigsaw so we could project on all surfaces as they moved during the show. “To do this, we added four BlackTrax beacons into the cube, each with two stringers for a total of eight tracking points. We placed one tracking point on each corner, so that we had complete coverage of all sides of the cube. We then placed the BlackTrax Beacons at the top of the cube for easy access, and ran stringer extensions down to connect the tracking points to the beacon. For the jigsaw pieces, we used three beacons in each piece. The BlackTrax cameras were hung on an angle so that they could see over the jigsaw pieces and be able to track all eight corners of the cube.” BlackTrax streamed realtime positional information via high-speed protocol (RTTrPM) to the d3 media server. d3 was able to construct a rigid body cube (virtual version of the cube) in their media server design tool that behaved and moved like the real cube in realtime by using the positional information received from BlackTrax. “We used the d3 media server to create a virtual representation of the stage set including the cube and jigsaw. Even if five tracking points were obscured, we could still rely on only three tracking points and still be able to track the entire cube. This was because the clever d3 system understood the object as whole, instead of six individual screens,” added Aaron. The content for the awards ceremony was created using live camera feeds of award winners, audience members and custom created graphics and videos. Protec not
only supplied BlackTrax and d3, they also supplied 32 Christie HD20K J Series projectors to create the spectacular visuals along with the audio, lighting and rigging solution. “Set up and integration with the video servers were really easy. Everyone was very impressed with what BlackTrax did. d3 and BlackTrax experts were on hand to help with set up. They were great guys and knew their products. We’d happily have them back over again for future projects.” Protec Looks to the Future with BlackTrax Protec is the largest event production house in the Middle East and one of the top five in the world, having audio, video, lighting, rigging and set departments all under one roof. Along with a team of expert technicians in their respective disciplines to deliver any level of production. Protec will use BlackTrax for corporate events including awards ceremonies and product launches where objects or performers need to be tracked in realtime. “We are the only company in the Middle East that is able to offer realtime motion tracking that really works,” added Russ. “BlackTrax is the next step forward as far as technology goes. The creativity that it can unlock and what it allows you to achieve in terms of lighting and video are beyond anything else out there before BlackTrax. BlackTrax is an amazing bit of technology and the spectacular results of the HbMPSG proves its unrivalled performance!”
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GERMANY’S AUTOSTADT PUTS ON A SHOW WITH tarm SHOWLASER Photo Credit: R alph Larmann
Every summer since 2007, Wolfsburg, Germany’s Autostadt would put on a series of laser and light shows featuring effects that could be staged on the bodies of water on the sprawling park’s grounds. Following up on the huge success of last year’s show, which ran under the “Made in Germany” motto, this year the United Kingdom was up for treatment. The series of weekly changing shows, entitled Rocking UK, which were the
world’s largest water shows of their kind, ran from 8 August through 7 September 2014 and took attendees on an audiovisual tour of Great Britain. The series’ choreography portrayed the history, culture, and lifestyles of the British Isles. The first week’s show, which opened on 8 August, focused on the UK’s “Stars & Legends”. “Magic & Mystery” was the topic from
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17 to 23 August, while “Culture & Tradition” occupied the foreground 24 to 30 August. The grand finale was a week-long presentation on “Romance & Affairs”, which ended on 7 September. The water shows were produced and choreographed by Autostadt personnel. Ralf Luhnen, Head of Autostadt’s Events Department, stated: “More than 250 pumps, 150 flame generators, 31 laser projectors and a new video system allowed the creating of a broad range of new effects this year.” tarm Showlaser, a laser-effects specialist based in Bochum, Germany, supplied the 31 laser systems for “Rocking UK” — two of which represented a world first. The pair of high-power TSL-VIPER lasers emitting orange beams that were stationed on the rooftops of
the park’s twin towers had never before been seen anywhere else in the world. Throughout August and September of last year, the water shows continued to attract thousands of spectators to the park every evening and thrilled them their with constantly changing interplays of laser, light, video, flame, and water effects. According to Otto F. Wachs, Autostadt’s General Manager: “We are very satisfied with the number of attendees at this summer’s shows. More than 537,000 came to the Autostadt and attended its numerous events this summer. The closing weekend of Rocking UK, which attracted an audience of 43,000, was the most popular of all.” Laser equipment used: High-power TSL-VIPER lasers from tarm Showlaser
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DANNY ROSE BRINGS ‘PLAY ME!’ TO GUANGZHOU INTERNATIONAL LIGHT FESTIVAL Photo Credit: © Danny Rose, Li Shujing
Tailored for local Canton culture, ‘Play Me!’ is an interactive 3D projection mapping first Multimedia artists, Danny Rose, provided their Play Me! interactive and immersive 3D architectural projection mapping experience for what was one of the largest ever visual and lighting spectaculars at the fourth annual Guangzhou International Light Festival— witnessed by an audience of eight million. Play Me! transformed the façade of a traditional style Cantonese Qilong building constructed for the Festival and centred on a kilometre long esplanade in the Flower City, the largest public space in Guangzhou in Guangdong province, South China. The event ran every evening from 15 to 30 November 2014. This was the first year that Francebased Danny Rose has presented their artwork at the Guangzhou International Light Festival. The team specialises in interactive multimedia and architectural projection mapping content and services to light festivals globally, including the multi-award winning Vivid Sydney. “The first day of the event welcomed over a million visitors. The entire public space in front of Play Me! was packed with excited audiences,” said Sergio Carrubba, director and designer of Danny Rose. Engaging Canton Audiences “A festival highlight, Play Me! from Danny Rose incorporated Canton themed visual and interactive
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elements through a series of massive ‘musical sculptures’,” Carrubba explained. “Each ‘sculpture’ represented a family of musical instruments, which the audience ‘plays’ in real-time just using their hands and bodies. The audience was able to change colour, light, shape and sound in front of festival-goers.” Ultra high-resolution projectors were used to project content onto the custom-built façade of a traditional Qilong building. Play Me! was made possible using powerful 3D real-time software and rendering engine that manages interactivity and high-quality interactive graphics. A Microsoft ® Kinect motion capture system intercepted the body’s movements. Danny Rose custom created a software that allowed for the audience to interact with Play Me! just by using a combination of hand and body movements. Crossover + Canton This event took visitors on a journey through traditional and modern themes. Organised by Ruifeng Culture and Communication Company and presented by The People’s Government of Guangzhou Municipality, it is the largest light festival in China.
Wang Ruixiang, Festival Director, said: “We were delighted to welcome Danny Rose as a guest artist. Play Me! masters a simple and interactive urban interpretation of Guangzhou and the charm of Guangfu culture, enabling local people to interact with the art. It has proved to be extremely popular.” Traditional Architecture Meets Projection Mapping The projection surface for Play Me! was constructed specially for the Festival and painted white to serve as the video projection surface. It is based around a Guangzhou Qilou or arcade style building, which is traditionally narrow and three or four stories high. A protruding structure or arcade has a balcony with intricately carved ceilings that usually faces a street. The Guangzhou Qilou buildings became popular in the early 1930s, which were rebuilt from the traditional Cantonese residential buildings, locally known as the Bamboo Tube House or ‘Zhutong Wu’.
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SYMETRIX DSP IS THE MATCH FOR THAI LIVE PRODUCTION
The story of the Mahajanaka and its central message that perseverance is integral to achieving Buddhahood is one of the most sacred texts in the Buddhist religion. It has been told in many different ways over the centuries, but for a spectacular recent live production in Thailand, the country’s long-serving monarch, H. M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej, called for an interpretation that would be easily intelligible to contemporary audiences. The result was a multimedia spectacular founded on the contribution of Mr. Team Productions and Fuzion Far East Limited. Utilising a variety of cutting-edge A/V equipment, Mahajanaka the Phenomenon Live Show helped to mark His Majesty’s 87th birthday and was staged at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre
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beside the Lake of Benjakiti Park from 1 to 20 December 2014—with 200,000 people spectating. Free to attend, the hugely popular show made use of six core audio brands—Symetrix among them. A Symetrix SymNet Radius 12x8 open architecture Dante-scalable DSP and single SymNet xOut 12 expander delivered robust, reliable processing throughout each and every performance of the 75-minute show. For Mr. Team Productions, Pok Sutat Kohkiat explains that the company has been using Symetrix products consistently since 2001 and had no doubt that one of its favourite models from the range—the SymNet Radius DSP—would again prove a perfect match for
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the demands of this high-profile production. “The key features of SymNet Radius 12x8 that have particularly impressed me are its scalability, networking capability, vast choice of modules, and its excellent sound quality,” he explained. “Once again, our customers loved the performance that this Symetrix DSP provided.” Alongside the Symetrix DSP, the other fundamental parts of the Mahajanaka the Phenomenon Live Show audio specification included DiGiCo digital mixing consoles, a NEXO loudspeaker system, Camco amplifiers, Sennheiser in-ear monitors and wireless microphones, and Genelec monitors. Public reaction was reportedly enthusiastic to a production that delivered a very special treat for its performance on 20 December: a special jazz set featuring world class musicians such as guitarist Larry Carlton, vocalist/pianist Diane Schuur and guitarist/singer John Pizzarelli. For this performance, a separate FOH and monitoring system featuring two DiGiCo SD8 consoles and 24 NEXO PS 15 speakers was drafted in before the stage was reset for Mahajanaka the Phenomenon Live Show.
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MEYER SOUND LEO GOES ‘GANGNAM STYLE’ WITH PSY IN SOUTH KOREA Psy, a global viral superstar, recently played four sold-out shows at Seoul’s 14,000-capacity Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena. Dubbed All Night Stand, the hometown shows were powered by a Meyer Sound LEO® linear large-scale sound reinforcement system.
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“The extended headroom and linear output characteristic of LEO is huge with Psy’s music,” said Park Dong Won, the singer’s veteran FOH engineer. “The highs were smooth and natural, even when we pushed the levels, and the dispersion meant uniform coverage for every seat. I’m not just confident in specifying LEO, but also proud to use it.”
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The system comprised dual main arrays, each with 15 LEO-M line array loudspeakers flown over two LYON-W wide-coverage line array loudspeakers as down fill. 24 1100LFC low-frequency control elements were arranged in a directional array, with seven MILO® line array loudspeakers per side for out fill and two-each LYON-W and MICA® line array loudspeakers for front fill. Onstage foldback was supplied by two side-fill stacks with two 700-HP subwoofers and four MILO loudspeakers each, along with 20 MJF-212A stage monitors. A Galileo® Callisto™ loudspeaker management system with four Galileo Callisto 616 and two Galileo Callisto 616 AES array processors supplied drive and optimisation.
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TECHNOLOGIES “Psy was very happy with the LEO system when he first heard it during rehearsals,” said Park. “He had been using other large-format systems, but discovered that LEO was the first that could deliver clear high frequencies at extreme levels without hurting your ears.” The LEO system was supplied by Live MISO and designed by Y Hun Lee, systems tech from Sovico, Meyer Sound’s Korean distributor, in consultation with “dB Dave” Dennison, a veteran international system design and tuning specialist. Park mixed the shows behind a DiGiCo SD7 digital console and was assisted by second engineer Ko Jong Jin. A DiGiCo SD8 was used as a sidecar for Pro Tools track playback. Wireless audio for Psy and his special guests was via a Shure UR4D system, with Psy singing through a custom silver handheld transmitter equipped with a Shure Beta 58A capsule. Released in 2012, Psy’s Gangnam Style became a worldwide cultural phenomenon with over 2.2 billion views on YouTube. Psy’s popularity in Korea continues unabated as his concert ticket sales, recordings and video all occupied the number one positions for 2014.
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PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
AUDIO & VISUAL
LEDView325DS Digital Signage LED Videowall Scaler By Calibre www.calibreuk.com
LEDView325DS is designed specifically for cost conscious digital signage projects where quality is required but without breaking the bank. Digital signage is a market often ignored when it comes to high quality scaling with many clients relying on software-based solutions from a PC. This unfortunately causes difficulty creating and showing content together with severe image quality issues. LEDView325DS is a cost effective yet high quality image scaler that provides Calibre’s marketleading pixel-accurate, per-edge image re-sizing algorithm, which allows each edge of the picture content to be independently dragged to the correct position on the LED videowall. There is also per input colour calibration capability to ensure the content meets client expectations with control of RGB gains and blacks, as well as saturation and hue even on digital computeroriginated content. These are the kinds of functions typically found on premium live events models, which are now available without the cost associated with a live events scaler. LEDView325DS gives outstanding image quality with fast simple set-up of picture size, colour calibration and network-based back-up and restore of settings for fast disaster recovery. Control and configuration is by internet browser, using the inbuilt webserver so when connected to a suitable network, remote control and status monitoring is also possible.
HVS-2000 Video Switcher By FOR-A www.for-a.com
With a design that incorporated significant customer feedback, the HVS-2000 is suited to a variety of applications, including live event, television studio, OB truck, house of worship and educational settings. It can be used for SD, HD, 3G and 4K productions, and allows up to 48 inputs/18 outputs or 40 inputs/22 outputs (optional). One exclusive feature offered by the video switcher is MELite™, which allows a traditional AUX bus to transform into a functional Mix Effects with cuts, mix, wipes, keys, and DVE including full preview. The MELite feature enables the HVS-2K engine to offer the production capabilities of a fully functional 6 M/E switcher. MELite is the building block for more powerful, yet easy-to-use features, such as upstream and downstream transition effects. Operators can deploy a MELite as a third M/E, transforming the switcher to a 3 M/E switcher with a 3 M/E panel. Users can also add an additional 1 M/E control panel and allow a second operator to have the added power of a second fully functional switcher in another location. The versatile, cost efficient HVS-2000 gives operators the power of six Mix Effects for multiple, independent, on-stage monitor display control. Another exclusive feature of FOR-A’s HVS-2000 is ONStage™, which allows operators to have more power and creativity in their video switching. ONStage is designed specifically for staging events, such as house of worship or corporate events where multiple image magnification displays are used, each with independent transitions. The switcher mode allows operators to see mix, wipe, key and DVE changes with full preview control connected directly to the lever arm transition area.
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PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
AUDIO & VISUAL
VP-772 8-input 4K Dual Scaler By Kramer www.kramerAV.com
Kramer Electronics has announced the release of the VP-772 8-input 4K Dual Scaler with seamless video switching and special effect transitions. With Kramer’s state-of-the-art scaling technology, the VP772 is designed for projection and display systems at live events, churches, auditoriums, conference rooms, boardrooms, hotels, and production studios. VP-772 scales and processes video and audio inputs and outputs to independent preview and program DVI-I outputs (VGA, DVI-D and HDMI) and two balanced stereo audio outputs. The dual scaler also features DVI-U inputs (with analog, DVI and HDMI support) and stereo-balanced audio signals. The preview output, featuring an on-screen display menu, lets you view how the programme output will look on the live display. VP-772 includes 4K support on the outputs for the latest devices and displays with native resolutions beyond 1080p60. VP-772 also includes Breakaway or audio-follow-video functionality.
OTTOCANALI DSP+D By Powersoft Audio www.powersoft-audio.com
Even more flexible and reliable, the new Ottocanali Series DSP+D offers a wide range of system control and monitoring functions as well as sound shaping options, a total of up to 12,000 W output power at four ohm over eight channels for lo-Z or distributed line systems—all neatly packed into a double rack unit. As with former versions of Ottocanali, the new DSP+D versions feature switchable main and aux signal inputs per channel, adequate GPIO, alarms, Lo-Z and Hi-Z output connections as well as mono-bridgeable channel pairs. These 2 RU models implement two redundant universal switch mode power supplies with PFC (Power Factor Correction) and patented SRM (Smart Rails Management) technology that maximises the efficiency of the system as well as drastically reduces power consumption. With two redundant Dante™ by Audinate® digital streams, the Ottocanali 4K4 DSP+D, Ottocanali 8K4 DSP+D and Ottocanali 12K4 DSP+D will fit any venue as ‘stand-alone’ unit, making it ideal for multi-zone applications in mid to large-scale installs. Excellent sound quality and ample output power stem from Powersoft’s unique approach to Class D amplification and DSP technology, making the Ottocanali Series DSP+D the ideal main system in any venue where performance is priority.
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VT20 Vertical Line Array Loudspeaker By ProAudio Technology www.proaudio-technology.de
The VT20 is a horn-loaded, two-way vertical array, eight-ohm loudspeaker with a passive frequency crossover and a horizontal radiation pattern of 90 degrees. For design reasons, the horn-loaded 11.5” line array driver is a physically ideal line source with a perfect air coupling factor of one. At 35 kg (77.2 lbs.), the VT20 speaker offers a pleasant light weight. Its mechanical structure and acoustic behaviour allow vertical arrays of up to 24 VT20 loudspeakers. Some features: • LF drivers: two x 10“ bass reflex, horn-loaded, symmetrical to HF driver • HF driver: one x 11.5“ line array, horn-loaded • Power handling capacity (RMS / programme): 800 W / 1,600 W • SPL max. 140 dB • Frequence response: 58 / 70 Hz 1) / 100 Hz 2) to 18 kHz • Linear acoustic phase response up to 20 kHz, LP-technology 3) • Directivity pattern: 90 degrees horizontal • Impedance: one x eight ohms • 2+1™ SpeakON sockets (two-channel wiring without reversible cable) • Integrated three-point flying hardware for angles between zero and eight degrees • Dimensions (W x H x D): 700 x 325 x 560 mm, 600 mm on dolly • - Four handles • Water-repellent acoustic foam behind the front grille • Made and engineered in Germany
VPL-GTZ1 4K Ultra-Short Throw Laser Light Source Projector By SONY pro.sony-asia.com
Sony is combining the best of its projector technologies — 4K, laser light source and ultra-short throw capabilities — into a new model, VPL-GTZ1, designed for a range of B2B and commercial applications including museums, design simulation, fashion, oil and gas, simulation and training, corporate, education and video wall applications. • 2,000 lumens colour brightness, superb picture quality (4,096 x 2,160 pixels) • 147 inches diagonal and zoom down to 66 inches • 20,000 hours of maintenance-free operation without the need for a lamp exchange • Quick on/off • Floor standing or ceiling mount, front or rear projection supported for flexible installation • “Blend-in” design fits nearly any room decor and installation environment • Users can blend multiple projectors
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lighting
IntelliPix™-R By Ayrton www.ayrton.eu
IntelliPix™-R is a modular beam projection panel of 25 independently controllable 4.5° LED emitters arranged in a five by five array, which project graphics and media far into the air. Panels can be connected together to form a semi-transparent wall, screen or ceiling or be placed under specially designed glass using its dedicated floor installation kit to create an immensely strong projection floor that can wrap a performer in dynamic columns of light. The IntelliPix™-R is quite a special luminaire in Ayrton’s RADICAL range. Not only is it the only nonmoving light but it has also been under development for over four years and marks the long awaited creation of ultra intensive optics. In fact, only large-sized optics paired with reduced light emitting surface RGBW multi-chip LED could meet the specifications and enable the creation of volumetric colour graphic effects. The Ayrton IntelliPix-R is suitable for indoor or outdoor use.
Cuepix Batten By Elation Professional www.elationlighting.com
The Cuepix Batten is a 1.1 meter-long (43”) pixelcontrollable LED strip light that uses 10 long-life 30W three-in-one RGB COB LEDs for superior colour output and a powerful 4500 total lumens of power. The Cuepix Batten can be used as a pixel bar for displaying imagery or as a wash luminaire for floodlighting surfaces and stages, making for an exceptionally flexible LED luminaire. Featuring wide beam (82°) and field angles (106°), it delivers an output of 3,890 LUX @ 3.3m yet consumes only 312W of max power. The Cuepix PAR 300 is controllable via 8 DMX modes (three / four / six / nine / 30 / 33 / 36 / 60 channels).
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lighting
ETC ColorSource PAR By ETC www.etcconnect.com
Previously, venues with limited budgets that wanted to update their lighting systems with LEDs had only one option: flimsy, noisy and undependable fixtures with limited, unnatural colour that drifted as soon as they were turned on. The ColorSource PAR, an LED luminaire developed by colour experts and backed by ETC’s industry-leading service department, is a welcome solution. Schools, houses of worship, small theaters and other venues with tight budgets now have a way to affordably upgrade to LED lighting without losing out on beautiful colour. The ColorSource PAR uses a proportionate blend of red, green, blue and lime LED emitters. This mix produces a richer, more natural light output and a colour gamut that goes beyond what other budget LEDs are capable of, especially in the red, gold and orange range. ETC colour-calibrates all of its LED luminaires, testing them for uniformity, so a lighting system with multiple ColorSource PARs will have the same colour from fixture to fixture. They are also designed to compensate for the droop that typically plagues LED fixtures, so the ColorSource PAR’s output will look the same from the beginning of a show to the end. Despite its superior colour capabilities, the ColorSource PAR does not require extensive lighting knowledge to use. It is easy to set up, to be controlled by a lighting desk, or simply plugged in and used without a console.
FINE 1519 WASH By FINE ART www.fineart-light.com
Fine Art’s 1519 Wash is a compact sized, fast and powerful LED moving head. It features a perfect strobe with smooth dimming from zero to 100 per cent, an LCD display and many built-in programmes. Speed adjustment is also available. This headlight also includes nine (HIS) / 15 (Standard) / 23 (Extended) control channel mode, DMX 512 control, ARTNET & wireless DMX Protocol. It is ideal for stages, theatres, TV studios and other live events. Specifications: • Power Voltage: AC 100V-240V, 50-60Hz, PF≥0.98 • Light Source: OSRAM four-in-one 15W x 19pc LEDS • Power Consumption: 350W • Beam Angle: nine degrees to 45 degrees • Dimension: 414 x 249 x 456 mm • Weight: 15 kgs
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PRODUCT INNOVATIONS
lighting
RUSH Gobo Projector 1™ By Martin Professional www.martin.com
The RUSH Gobo Projector 1™ is ideal for permanent installation in club, bar, restaurant and shopping mall applications. Gobos can be changed quickly; easy adjustment of focus, speed and direction make running the static fixture smooth and intuitive. It is also non-intrusive thanks to its silent operation and compact size, measuring 215 x 135 x 152 mm and weighing only 11 lbs. (two kg). The RUSH Gobo Projector 1™ is designed with ease-of-use in mind. Speed and direction are controlled by easy-touch buttons and it only takes a few seconds to change gobos with the magnetic gobo holders. The fixture uses E30-sized gobos with a maximum image diameter of 30 mm and thickness of four mm. Its light source is a 20 W LED array and projects a 17-degree beam angle with an estimated minimum LED lifetime of 30,000 hours. The unit is cased in silver and possesses an IP20 protection rating for indoor mounting with an included adjustable bracket.
XR 1000 FRAMING By PR Lighting www.pr-lighting.com
PR Lighting’s new XR 1000 Framing promises a brighter output than a conventional 1200W discharge lamp from a 1000W metal halide lamp source—thanks to its superior optics. The fixture has been built with an advanced feature-set that includes a wide beam angle of 11°-51°, which is linearly adjustable in 16 bit, an excellent framing system with four framing blades offering zero to 90-degreee rotation, as well as different size and shape graphics to produce a curtain effect. It is also more compact and lightweight than comparative models on the market and boasts a good cooling system. Other features include: smooth CYM colour mixing with CTO and macro; colour wheel with seven colour filters; linear colour temperature correction; seven rotating high speed gobos and seven fixed gobos (all replaceable); DMX control; linearly adjustable focus; DMX linear zooming; linearly adjustable dimmer from zero to 100 per cent and linearly adjustable iris from five per cent to100 per cent; adjustable pan and tilt speed; threefacet bi-directional, variable speed prism wheel; frost filter; double strobe/ shutter blades, 0.3~25 fps; RDM control protocol and Wireless DMX; input signal isolating protection; built-in analyser for easy fault finding and error messages; and modular construction for easy maintenance.
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nfoComm China 2015 (IFC 2015), to be held on 8 to 10 April at the China National Convention Centre, is set to be the largest showcase of professional audio-visual (pro-AV) technologies and information communications technologies (ICT) in the Asia Pacific. The eagerly anticipated show is poised to break all previous records in terms of its size, the number of exhibitors and brands, number of summit delegates and innovative features for greater visitor-exhibitor engagement and collaboration. In today’s digital world, businesses must realise that it is not sufficient just to be able to
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leverage technological applications to improve their competitiveness. They must have a clear perspective on how technology is shaping their business models and have the fundamental capacity to disrupt the status quo and embrace change and uncertainty. In other words, in order to ensure longterm sustainable growth, businesses must not only plan for the future but should also operate as if the future has arrived. Adv a nc e me nt s in pro- AV t e c hnologie s a nd ICT w ill c ont inue t o sha pe e v e r y a spe c t of bus i nes s ope r a t ions—from ma r ke t ing to c us tom er e nga ge me nt , t o proc e ss ma na ge me nt a nd c o ntrol ,
8th – 10th April 2015
InfoComm China 2015 China National Convention Centre Beijing, China
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to c om m u n ic a ti o n s. A si a P a c i f i c is fore c a s t to b e c o me t h e l a r g e s t p ro- AV m a r k et i n t h e wo r l d , re a c h in g US D4 1 .7 b i l l i o n b y 2016, accou n t i n g f o r 3 6 .5 p e r ce n t of th e glob a l m a r k e t . W i t h i n this region , C h i n a i s e s t i m a t e d to ge n e r at e US D 1 6 .8 b i l l i o n i n re v e n u e , c on s t it u t i n g 4 0 p e r c e n t of t h e A s ia Pa c i f i c m a r k e t . Ov e r the las t t h ree y e a r s, I n f o Co mm Chin a h a s grown f ro m s t re n g t h to s tren gt h — q u a l i t a t i v e l y a n d q u a n tita tiv e ly — a n d has no d ou b t p laye d a c a t a l y t i c ro l e i n en h a n c in g t h e g ro wt h o f t h e p ro AV an d IC T m ar k e t s i n Ch i n a . I nfoC om m C h in a h a s e s t a b l i s h e d its e lf a s th e re g i o n ’s d e f i n i t i v e ex p os ition on e v e r y t h i n g a b o u t p ro- AV a n d IC T. T h e sh o w’s ab ility t o at tr a c t a n i n c re a s i n g n u m b er of fo re i g n e xh i b i t o r s atte s t s to t h e s i g n i f i c a n t g ro wt h of its in t e r n at ion a l s t a n d i n g , a n d to th e re c ogn it i o n o f Ch i n a a s an im p or ta n t m a r k e t f o r p ro -AV an d IC T s olu tio n s. I t h a s a l s o seen an in cre a s i n g n u m b e r o f vi s it or s from a c ro ss t h e wo r l d , attr act e d b y t h e wi d e r a n g e of te c h n ologie s a n d p o t e n t i a l b u s in es s op p or t u n i t i e s .
IFC 2015 is set to grow even larger than previous shows. The projected show floor area of more than 50,000 sqm, occupying seven halls at the China National Convention Centre, will host more than 400 exhibiting companies from 35 countries and regions. “Based on the positive feedback we have received from the inter national market, we are confident that IFC 2015 will attract a larger number of visitors than in previous years,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director of InfoCommAsia. “Additionally, we have also ramped up our promotion efforts in many key Asian markets.” As part of efforts to raise the quality of the show, strengthen its leadership position and increase inter national participation, the
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Organiser has and will continue to innovate and develop new features. These will enhance the experience of participants, and promote more effective interactions between visitors and exhibitors, so as to increase the number and value of deals done at the event. In this respect, the 2015 edition will introduce a number of new features, including World Premiere, New-to-Asia Products, Exhibitors Seeking Distributors, and Summit sessions conducted in English and Audio Forum. World Premiere In recent years, an increasing number of global solution providers are tapping China as the launch pad into the huge Asia-Pacific market and the world. “InfoComm China, being the go-to-event where the world comes to display and discover the latest in pro-AV technologies and ICT, has launched World Premiere as a dedicated platform for exhibitors to unveil their new innovations and products to the world,� said Tan. New-To-Asia Products IFC 2015 is the chosen platform for international brands to introduce their products and solutions into the Asia-Pacific region. Through marketing campaigns, the Organisers will highlight exhibitors who are bringing their products and solutions into Asia Pacific for the first time. Exhibitors Seeking Distributors This year, IFC will also specifically highlight exhibitors who are seeking distributors for their products and solutions. The convergence of a significant number of exhibitors and visitors from the region and beyond provide many opportunities for brands to source for distributors and for businesses to explore collaboration potential for market expansion. There are currently 76 such exhibitors.
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English Sessions at IFC 2015 Summit The IFC 2015 Summit consists of sessions offered through three programmes: InfoComm University Seminar, Industry Forums and Manufacturers Presentations. It has proven to be an effective platform for information exchange on rising trends, best practices and technological developments in the pro-AV and ICT industries. IFC 2015 Summit will feature sessions in English, attesting to the show’s inter national appeal and growing overseas attendance. Audio Forum The Audio Forum is designed as a platform for luminaries and industry experts from across the world to share information, trends and developments in the audio field. This value-add initiative will enhance IFC as the marketplace of ideas and thought leadership that will advance the audio domain in the pro-AV and ICT industry. Technology shapes businesses. In today’s fast-changing technological landscape, the future is already here. At IFC 2015, exhibitors and visitors will get to experience first-hand the future of pro-AV technologies and ICT, lear n how these will impact their businesses now and ahead, and seek collaborative partners to drive business expansion. IFC 2015 is the playing field for strategic businesses to har ness the power of digital interconnect. Those interested to visit IFC 2015 may pre-register their visit online to beat on-site queue. Pre-register online at www.infocomm-china.com or www.ifcshow.com.
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T
he leading event on pro audio, lighting, music and technology, PALM EXPO, will be back on China’s grandest stage for its 24th edition at the China Inter national Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China from 19 to 22 August 2015. Complete with conferences, seminars and workshops all under one roof, PALM Expo 2015 will once again be one of China’s most established exhibitions of its kind. Serving as the key sourcing platform and gateway to penetrate the booming China market and the world’s second largest economy for many industry
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professionals globally, PALM Expo 2015 will be an ideal platform to expand one’s business networks. In the last edition of PALM Expo held at the New China Inter national Centre, a total of over 1,100 exhibitors, consisting of global big brands such as Harman Group, JBL, Martin Audio, Pioneer, Clay Paky, d & b audiotechnik, Sennheiser, Yamaha, Shure, ETC, ADJ Lighting and Philips Entertainment Lighting, took part. Perceived as an event not to be missed and the
19th – 22nd August 2015
PALM Expo 2015 China International Exhibition Centre Beijing, China
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most comprehensive platform by many industry professionals, PALM Expo welcomed an overwhelming number of visitors in the 23rd edition held in May 2014. Spread across eight exhibition halls and occupying a total floor space of 100,000 sqm, the highlyanticipated four-day event hosted a total of over 62,000 visitors, an increase of over 20 per cent in visitorship as compared to the 2013 edition. Co-organised by Informa Exhibitions and China Entertainment Technology Association (CETA), which is the nation’s authorised representative in the entertainment equipment industry, and strongly supported
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by local gover nments, associations as well as inter national and local media partners, PALM EXPO 2015 is the perfect platform to help companies and products gain more exposure and direct access to major cities and the second and third tier cities in Greater China. PALM Expo 2015 is the meeting point for industry professionals from all around the world to showcase their latest products and technologies, meet, network, interact and exchange ideas. PALM Expo 2015 also serves as the ideal platform to
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understand and gauge market conditions, see exclusive product launches, and observe the latest trends, technologies and innovations. “This exhibition is for those who are not just watching from afar but ready to jump in and make it happen. Meeting face to face fosters the exchange of ideas and a spirited dialogue that will lead many of us to fresh directions and experiences in the forthcoming year. There is enormous potential for local companies and foreign visitors alike,� said Steven Sockey, Partner at Truephonic, LLC. (Hosted Buyer, PALM Expo 2014) The 24th edition of PALM Expo will feature comprehensive programmes and exciting activities on-site. For more information on PALM Expo 2015, logon to www.palmexpo.net.
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AVA magazine recently visited the hugely popular Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show, which was held at the Amsterdam, RAI from 10 to 12 February. The attendance this year round comprehensively demonstrated why ISE has become such an influential platform for the pro-AV and systems integration markets—so much so that the organisers have made the move to expand the duration of the exhibition next year. In what was Europe’s largest ever AV and systems integration exhibition, 59,350 registered attendees came to the show. This represents an increase of
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8,347 registered attendees (16.4 per cent) on ISE 2014. “The volume of attendance confirmed ISE’s position as the destination of choice for anyone involved in professional AV and systems integration,” said Mike Blackman, Integrated Systems Events Managing Director. “In addition to the ongoing attendance success story, the announcement that ISE has entered into a joint venture with invidis consulting to develop its highly successful Digital Signage conference demonstrates our commitment to growing ISE’s profile in key market sectors.”
Integrated Systems Europe 2015 10th – 12th February 2015 Amsterdam, RAI, Netherlands
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review As well as a buzzing show floor, ISE 2015 also offered visitors a wide range of personal development and training programmes provided by ISE co-owners InfoComm International and CEDIA. These sessions attracted over 700 people in total—a record for the show. Both associations also contributed to the three vibrant Showfloor Solutions Theatres dedicated to Residential, Commercial and Unified Communications. Here, over 3,000 appreciative visitors attended 90 sessions presented by ISE exhibitors. On site free-toattend conferences such as the Capital Summit and Sports Facility Integration Summit offered expert insight into securing investment for companies operating in the AV marketplace and sports venue system integration. David Labuskes, Executive Director and CEO of InfoComm International said: “Everyone at InfoComm International is so proud to be associated with another record-breaking ISE show. Our Guest Membership scheme, which made its debut at this year’s event, attracted almost 1,200 sign-ups, and we are looking forward to giving these ISE attendees a taste of InfoComm membership that extends beyond the education and hospitality they received in Amsterdam to the delivery of a range of post-show benefits. “Our industry is on the rise globally. And nothing reflects that trend more succinctly than the continued growth of ISE and of our association’s membership internationally.” Don Gilpin, Executive Director & COO of CEDIA, was equally as upbeat about ISE 2015: “ISE has become the most important platform for the CEDIA channel outside of North America and the 2015 event was the best edition yet. Manufacturers and integrators from all over world that concentrate on electronic systems for the home tell me that ISE is now an annual event that simply cannot be missed.” ISE’s pre-show events programme kicked off on 9 February with the Smart Building Conference and AudioForum, both drawing their
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highest ever attendance figures. Professionals from every sector of the systems integration value chain attended the Opening Keynote, given by Future Matters business consultant and futurist, Lars Thomsen. He presented his thought provoking opening address of 520 Weeks into the Future: Trends and Tipping Points in the Electronic Systems Industry until 2025. Looking ahead to next year, exhibitor stand space re-bookings for the new four-day show are at an all-time high. When the exhibition doors closed on 12 February, bookings for the 2016 event stood at 41,200 square meters sold space. This represents 106 per cent of the total sold space for the 2015 event and 94 per cent of the total space available for 2016. ISE 2015 saw increased exhibitor space provided by the addition of the Diamond Lounge. This expansion will continue at ISE 2016 with the opening of the Amtrium new-build adjacent to Hall 4. Also, there will be four Showfloor theatres, plus additional conferences and initiatives undertaken with exhibitors, trade bodies and media partners. ISE 2016 to be a Four-Day Exhibition ISE has also announced that its 2016 event will take place over four consecutive days at the RAI exhibition centre in Amsterdam—an increase of one day on previous exhibitions held at the venue. This decision, stated ISE Managing Director Mike Blackman, was largely due to the exhibition’s “rapid rise in size and prominence”. ISE is widely recognised as the world’s most popular event for professional AV and electronic systems integration. With 950+ exhibitors already booked into ISE 2015, attendance is confidently expected to rise above the 51,000 people that came to the 2014 edition. “This move has largely been driven by the demands of our exhibitors and attendees,” Blackman commented. “Quite simply, the extremely high attendance at the show, particularly on the first two days, saw increasing requests from exhibitors to have more time to spend with attendees. “For attendees, we need to ensure that the show remains comfortable to attend. This announcement allows us to meet both objectives.” Blackman added that the 2016 event will continue to evolve to deliver an increasing mix of pre-show and on-site events to complement the vibrant exhibition halls. “There will be a lot of exciting developments,” he said. “The extra day will allow ISE to become an even more rewarding experience for everyone at the show.” The next Integrated Systems Europe will take place at the Amsterdam RAI on 9-12 February 2016. For more information, visit www.iseurope.org.
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FACE 2 FACE at
Integrated Systems Europe 2015 Serge Konter, Marketing Manager of Spinetix
Dan Dugan, CEO (right) of Dan Dugan Sound Design, with colleague
Geert Polfliet, Marketing Manager (right) of Apart Audio - Audioprof NV, with colleague
Michelle Hsu (left), Lite-Puter, with colleague
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Rachel Chapman-Cole (second from right), with her Visual Planet colleagues
Tomas Muller, CUE, a.s.
Thomas Detemple, CEO (far right) of Smart Things Solutions GmbH, with colleagues
Rick Seegull, Sr. VP Sales & Marketing of Aurora Multimedia Corp.
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Tim Dobson, Vice President (left) of Nexus 21 Concealment Systems, with colleague
Patrick Strenge, Managing Director (right) of XI-Machines, with colleague
Mark Adams, Marketing Programs Specialist of Revolabs, Inc.
Mike Everett, General Manager of Pro Control
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Martin Elsner (left), of Sommer Cable GmbH, with colleague
Tom Knesel, President of Pivitec
Brett Stokke, Director of Communications at Remote Technologies Inc.
Bernardo Carreira, Sales Manager (left) of iSimplex, with colleague
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E-MAIL: Professionals (choose one): Architect
Landscape Architect
Interior Designer
Developer/Owner
Property Manager
Manufacturer/Supplier
Engineer
Others
I am sending a cheque/bank draft payable to: Trade Link Media Pte Ltd, 101 Lorong 23, Geylang, #06-04, Prosper House, Singapore 388399 RCB Registration no: 199204277K * GST inclusive (GST Reg. No: M2-0108708-2) Please charge my credit card (circle one): Amex / Diner’s Club Card Number:
Expiry Date:
Name of Card Holder:
Signature:
April - May
June - August
INFOCOMM CHINA 2015,
INFOCOMM 2015,
APRIL 8 - 10
JUNE 17 - 19
China National Convention Centre Beijing, China www.infocomm-china.com
Orange County Convention Centre Orlando, Florida, USA www.infocommshow.org
PALM EXPO (INDIA) 2015,
AVL + M THAILAND 2015,
MAY 28 - 30
JULY 22 - 24
Bombay Exhibition Centre Goregoan East, Mumbai, India www.palmexpo.in
Hall 1, IMPACT Exhibition Centre Bangkok, Thailand www.avlmthailand.com
KOBA 2015,
PALM EXPO (CHINA) 2015,
MAY 19 - 22
AUGUST 19 - 22
COEX, South Korea www.kobashow.com/eng
China International Exhibition Centre Beijing, China www.palmexpo.net
Index Of Advertisers ACME ARC 1 AVL + M THAILAND 2015 IBC BLACK MAGIC DESIGN 9 CONCEPT ASSOCIATES 19 CREATELED 13 ETC 3 GUANGZHOU CHAIYI 7 INFOCOMM 2015 OBC INFOCOMM CHINA 2015 79 KOBA 2015 IFC LED EXPO 2015 5 PALM EXPO CHINA 2015 102 PENN ELCOM 23
Held concurrently with:
22 – 24 July 2015 Hall 1, IMPACT Exhibition Center, Bangkok, Thailand
“Your Gateway to Thailand & Indochina professional audio,visual, lighting & entertainment market.” JOIN 150 Leading Companies from 20 Countries to showcase your products, technology and solutions MEET & PROMOTE your produc ts to over 5,000 visitors and buyers from more than 20 Countries GET UPDATED on latest technology and trends from more than 15 Conferences & Seminars topics
Book Now!
To Secure Your Choice Location.
AVL+M THAILAND 2015 Thailand International Exhibition on Pro Audio, Visual & Lighting + Music
Contact us Ms. Panvisut Buranakarn DID: +66 2 833 5328 Mobile: +66 86 995 8288 Email: panvisutb@impact.co.th
Organizer
facebook/avlmthailand
www.avlmthailand.com
Prepare to be wowed. See what’s new. Find what’s great. Learn what’s next.
Conference: June 13-19 | Exhibits: June 17-19 Orange County Convention Center | Orlando, Florida
infocommshow.org