ETA Tablet 2016 06

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The illumination Physics Of Studio City Macau LIVE: Getai Soul 2016 Rocks Pearl’s Hill City Park Singapore

EVENT: KM Distribution Launches Amate Audio In

INTERVIEW: 5 Minutes with Amnon Harman of d&b audiotechnik

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51 04 FIRST WORDS

48 Philippines: Strumms Opens SOCIAL HOUSE Bar and Restaurant

06 NEWS

50 India: Boosting The Showroom Experience At Audi Bengaluru

25 VIDEO FILES LIVE 26 ENNOVATIONS

51 Singapore: Getai Soul 2016 Rocks Pearl’s Hill City Park

INTERVIEW 38 5 Minutes with Amnon Harman, CEO of

54 EVENTS LISTING

d&b audiotechnik PROJECTS 40 Qatar: Riedel Real-Time Media Network At Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena 42 Macau: The illumination Physics Of Studio City Macau

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ETA June 2016

Shireen Ho Assistant Editor shireen@spinworkz.com

Thinking On Your Feet

Ram Bhavanashi Editor, India And Middle East ram@spinworkz.com

I do not envy the people involved in the rental & staging business.

Most weekends they are at work and on weekdays when preparing for events they are working late into the wee hours of the morning.

Thankfully most of them do this work because of passion.

Other than offering their equipment and expertise to ensure that the events they are engaged for are successful, there are many a time when they need to think out of the box or be creative. Sometimes locations where the events are being held may offer up unexpected challenges. In this issue we have an article about Getai Soul – a Singapore event. The biggest issue with the open space was with regards to accessing the space. It was up a slope and there was no road access but just large steps to the space. Bringing in the equipment and setting up the space took more time than normal but thankfully the company engaged to handle the project had made site visits and immediately understood the challenges and had to think out-of-the-box to resolve the issues faced.

I am certain there are many more such challenges from weather to unexpected restrictions to even clients – one thing for certain is that those involved in the rental & staging business need to also have an additional talent that is not necessarily requested for in a resume – quick thinking on how to mitigate challenges and add to that thinking out-of-the-box creatively.

If it has not been said more often, we at ETA salute all those involved in the rental & staging business for your perseverance and dedication.

Thomas Richard Prakasam Publisher/Editorial Director thomas@spinworkz.com

Julie Tan Admin & Circulation admin@spinworkz.com

Dennis Toh Brand Engagement Specialist dennis@spinworkz.com

Rosalind Tan Editor, Digital Platform (Freelance) rosalind@spinworkz.com Jimmy Chin Design And Production jimmy@spinworkz.com

To subscribe to Entertainment Technology Asia (ETA)click here: http://www.e-techasia.com/subscribe/ PUBLISHED BY Spinworkz Pte Ltd, 51 Bukit Batok Crescent, #06-10 Unity Centre, Singapore 658077 Tel: (65) 6316 2716 Fax: (65) 63162715 www.spinworkz.com Disclaimer Entertainment Technology Asia is published 12 times a year. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine is to be reproduced, whether mechanical or electronic without the prior written consent of the publisher. Views expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the editor or the publisher. Unsolicited contributions are welcome but the editor reserves the discretion to use them. Whilst every care is taken to ensure the accuracy and honesty in both editorial and advertising content at press time, the publisher will not be liable for any inaccuracies.

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NEWS

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ETA June 2016

TOP OF THE NEWS

Entertainment Electrics Workshop For Audio, Lighting And Video Techs Attendees will learn about the essentials of electricity such as:

INDIA: Kudos to J Davis Prosound & Lighting in helping to upgrade the industry. This 21st and 22nd of June 2016 will see Richard Cadena an ETC Recognised Trainer, ETCP Certified Entertainment Electrician, and author of Electricity for Entertainment Electricians & Technicians; Focus on Lighting Technology; Automated Lighting: The Art and Science of Moving Light and Lighting for Modern Houses of Worship, presenting the Entertainment Electrics Workshop for Audio, Lighting and Video Techs in India.

The two day workshop is the brainchild of Santana Davis of J Davis Prosound & Lighting working together with Graflex Inc, with the simple objective of helping to upgrade the industry. Knowledge is king and in the fast paced entertainment industry it is very important to be equipped with the right knowledge – it saves lives, time and even cost when things can be done quickly, efficiently and most importantly safely.

“When I came across this training in my early days, I was tempted to fly to USA just for this course but the travel cost was more expensive than the actual course fee. So this gave birth to an idea of flying Richard down to India so that the entire staff could be trained but we then expanded on that and decided to help spread the knowledge to the Industry as a whole. I hope the industry will take advantage of it as it surely beats travelling to USA for the course. Richard has been very helpful and enthusiastic in bringing his training to India, which I feel will help enrich the industry,” said Santana.

The course will touch on the basics of electrics and includes 3-phase power, power factor, harmonics, and how they apply to modern audio, video, and lighting systems.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

DC electricity AC electricity Terminology Circuits Ohm's Law Load Calculations Generator Operation Wire Gauges Colour Codes Types of Loads Power Factor Three-Phase Systems Harmonics and more

These will help attendees in practical applications such as: • • • • • • • • • •

Calculating Voltage Drop Inrush Current Electrical Safety Preventing Ground Loops Setting up Portable Power Generators Feeder Transformer Connections Setting up Power Distribution Systems Electrical Safety Maintaining Clean Power Isolation and more

The training is being held at The Gateway Hotel at Residency Road in Bangalore from 9am to 5pm on both days. Attendees who attend both days in full will receive a signed Certificate indicating the successful completion of the course.

Register Now Space is limited so register early. Registration Cost is Rs. 14,000 per delegate.

Please contact poornima@jdavisprosound.com or telephone Poornima at +91999002 36573 to register.

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

Canberra Theatre Centre Invests in Robe after the decision was made, CTC had them delivered and up and running.

“I based the specs on what I was seeing with the touring shows bringing in their own rigs or specials,” explained Andrew, “It was absolutely the right time to go for LEDs and all the advantages they offer in lower maintenance and running costs” as well as improving their overall carbon footprint, an aspect under frequent scrutiny.

Elite Sound and Lighting’s Darren Russell on the left with Andrew Tweedie, CTC’s Head of Lighting. Photo by Louise Stickland

AUSTRALIA: Canberra Theatre Centre (CTC) is a lively and proactive arts and cultural hub at Australia’s capital city / territory, comprising three main venues – the 1244 seater Canberra Theatre, The Playhouse which holds 614 people and The Studio, a black box space with 100 capacity.

Around 150 shows covering a wide array of performance genres are staged annually, an eclectic mix ranging from rock ‘n’ roll to choral music, shows to drama, musicals, stand-up comedy and dance – a massive cross section involving a host of one-nighters to much longer runs of 2 or 3 weeks.

Last year, the CTC invested in its first moving lights …which were Robe!

These were specified by head of lighting Andrew Tweedie and delivered by Canberra’s leading entertainment rental and production specialist, Elite Sound and Lighting.

Andrew specified the type of fixtures they wanted on the tender document, but not the brand and model – that was left to be determined by the market through the open tender process. The competitive selection process involved Elite going in with Robe and several other companies offering competitor products!

As part of the evaluation process, there was a shoot-out at the theatre – with the Robe options a clear winner, so Elite then won the contract to supply the moving lights, and delivered the 8 x DL4Xs plus 16 of Robe’s LEDWash 800s which are moved between the three primary theatre spaces. The LEDWashes and DL4Xs proved a more attractive package than all the competition, and shortly

Two LEDWash 800s could effortlessly wash the whole of the Playhouse stage in dark blue! The high CRI of both luminaires is essential for producing good, healthy flesh tones which is always a tricky parameter in theatre style lighting, and apart from that, the sheer quality of the light output exceeded that of the competitors.

Having the lights in the house has made “an enormous difference” to how shows can be lit confirms Andrew with a big smile!

On several shows last year they didn’t need to use their 2K fresnels at all, such was the efficiency of the LEDWashes.

“Eight LEDWash 800s deliver more lighting and colour on-stage than our 32 x 2K fresnels,” declared Andrew. For certain shows – like the dance season at the end of the year – they hardly used the standard house rig, and the various dance companies were also suitably impressed as most of them had never had the flexibility afforded by moving lights.

“The colours are really rich, while the transition between them is super-smooth and the movement of the fixtures itself is also excellent,” said Andrew.

The relationship with Elite is also an important part of the equation. The fact that they have such a large hire stock of Robe is handy from cross-rental viewpoint, right down to advice and hands-on expertise with the brand.

The Robe fixtures were supplied to Elite by Australian distributor, the ULA Group.

Lighting control – across all venues – is ETC. Andrews works with an efficient crew set up of two full time technicians plus a select pool of regular freelancers who also light most of the shows. www.robe.cz

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

dLive Shines In An All-Star Concert In China CHINA: Allen & Heath’s dLive digital mixing system was recently employed at FOH for a large concert held at Jinhua stadium, Zhejiang Province in China, to promote the cultural relationship between Kyrgyzstan and China.

The 30,000 seater venue hosted a line-up, which included several top artists from both countries, including Asian super stars, Jay Chou, Wilber Pan, Xie Tianxiao and Elva Hsiao. Managed by PA company, Shanghai Jiexin Entertainment Equipment Co. Ltd., the production was technically complex, featuring state-of-the-art stage, lighting and sound systems.

The audio team employed more than 100 line array speakers to create an optimal listening experience. For signal control, a FOH mixing system comprising the new dLive S7000 Control Surface and DM64 MixRack was chosen. “dLive has very flexible architecture and a quick response, allowing us to save a lot of time during sound check. The bands were very happy with the system,” stated FOH

engineer, Chen Dong. “I also like the analogue-style rotary knobs - they are so precise, even beyond my imagination!

Also, the built-in Rack FX and vast FX library provide more than enough tools for sound shaping, so I don’t need any additional outboard equipment. dLive really shone with excellent sound, easy-to use features and great reliability.” www.allen-heath.com

GLP Impressions Support Dingushan Festival CHINA: GLP's Chinese distributor, Guangzhou based Ruisheng Lighting & Audio fielded an array of cuttingedge LED technology from GLP at the recent ZhaoQing Dinghushan Music Festival in the province of Guangdong.

With the brilliant Sun Nan headlining, alongside artists such as Jordan Chan (Chan Siu-Chun), the sound and lighting company welcomed the opportunity to participate and equipped the main stage with a series of high-output products from the German manufacturer’s X4 range.

These included multiples of X4 LED heads (featuring 19 x 15W RGBW LEDs), the larger X4 L (37 x 15W RGBW LED), X4 Bar 20 (20 x 1-meter long lighting battens) — and other new generation fixtures.

Said Ruisheng Lighting & Audio’s Jianwei Chen “The GLP effects added brilliant colour and lighting stability to the set and produced an outstanding and eye-catching performance.” www.glp.de

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

Riedel Strengthens Presence In Region Through New Partnership With Ideal Systems "We chose to partner with Ideal Systems because the company is a highly respected systems integrator within Asia Pacific markets," said Cameron O'Neill, director, Asia-Pacific region, at Riedel Communications. "Ideal Systems' strength in both design and integration, and our portfolio of innovative yet intuitive solutions, combine to make a compelling offering for broadcast stations. We look forward to working with the company to deliver solutions that support significant gains in workflow efficiency and flexibility."

Ideal Systems is an industry-leading multinational systems integrator that provides innovative solutions to customers in the broadcast sector, as well as the telecoms and enterprise sectors. By offering products such as the Riedel Artist digital matrix intercom system, Acrobat digital wireless intercom system, MediorNet real-time media network, and MicroN high-density signal distribution network, Ideal Systems enables a straightforward, cost-effective migration from legacy workflows to more advanced and versatile signal distribution and communications workflows leveraging the latest technologies.

Cameron O'Neill, Riedel's director, Asia-Pacific region, and Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO, Ideal Systems at the 2016 NAB Show with colleagues.

ASIA: Further extending its international reach, Riedel Communications has partnered with Ideal Systems, a well-established systems integrator serving markets in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Japan. With a robust network of offices across Southeast Asia, Ideal Systems is positioned to provide new and existing Riedel customers with sophisticated services ranging from consultancy to complete design, build, and support.

"At Ideal, we pride ourselves in not just being responsive to our customer's needs, but creating solutions that are path-breaking and efficient. This is the reason we have cooperated with Riedel, a global player and leading manufacturer of cutting-edge products for real-time signal distribution and communications," said Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO, Ideal Systems S.E.A. "We share a common vision to provide an exceptional customer experience through powerful and integrated solutions. This partnership allows Ideal to accelerate its growth strategy in key regions while integrating reliable state-of-the-art networked systems for our clients." www.riedel.net www.idealsys.com

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

HARMAN Professional Solutions At High-End New Zealand Hotel

NEW ZEALAND: The choice of a HARMAN Professional Solutions integrated system featuring JBL loudspeakers, Crown amplifiers and dbx signal processing, is proving to be the perfect match for the stylish, 4.5-star Novotel New Plymouth Hobson hotel in New Zealand’s Taranaki region.

The hotel required an elegant audio system to provide premium sound quality, coverage and control of its many areas. Local integrator TSH Audio & Video worked closely with Jands, the New Zealand HARMAN Distributor, on the audio design of the project.

An array of JBL loudspeakers was selected for this installation, including the new JBL Control 31 loudspeakers installed in the conference room. Part of the JBL Control Contractor Series, they feature extremely smooth frequency response and extended bandwidth for high quality sound.

JBL Control 24CT-M ceiling loudspeakers with wide 150-degree coverage were installed throughout the venue for background music, including inside the gymnasium. In addition, JBL Control 25T loudspeakers were installed to provide music for the outdoor deck/dining area.

TSH Audio & Video (formerly Taranaki Sound Hire) has been installing innovative AV systems and supplying technical hire services to the Taranaki community for more than 40 years. Established in 1988, Jands is a specialized distributor of world-leading audio brands in New Zealand.

The audio system at Novotel New Plymouth Hobson is powered by Crown DCi 2|300 and Crown DCi 4|300 multichannel amplifiers. Crown DCi high-performance amplifiers are designed, engineered and manufactured with the highest quality standards and provide system integrators with a versatile, compact and highly energyefficient amplifier.

The hotel’s distributed sound system is controlled with a dbx by HARMAN ZonePRO 1261m digital zone processor.

The ZonePRO family of fixed architecture audio processors offers a high-quality, cost-effective solution for commercial audio applications. The system is managed by several ZonePRO Ethernet controllers throughout the venue.

“ZonePRO is a rock solid platform and is really easy to program,” said Daniel Evans, Senior Technician at TSH Audio & Video. “Working with the ethernet controllers makes it so easy to install and manage.”

“TSH was very pleased to be involved with the construction of this iconic New Plymouth project and to be working with Jands to specify a high quality audio system,” said Evans. “Jands provided us with quick turnaround on design changes and the HARMAN vast toolbox of products came in handy when we had to come in under budget." www.harman.com

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

Gearhouse Broadcast serves The Australian Open With Clear-Com FreeSpeak II AUSTRALIA: The 2016 Australian Open Tennis tournament saw more than 720,000 visitors take in the iconic Grand Slam from January 18 to 31 in Melbourne, with local host broadcaster the Seven Network broadcasting the major matches live Australia-wide. International broadcasters including ESPN, beIN Sports, SuperSport, Eurosport, CCTV, NHK and Sky transmitted the action to hundreds of millions more. Backing up all the broadcasters with the infrastructure they needed to cover an international sporting event was Gearhouse Broadcast Australia, whose relatively new Event Communications division was on-site and using Clear-Com’s FreeSpeak II full-duplex wireless communications system.

“We used three FreeSpeak II systems for three broadcasters including EPSN,” explained Jason Owen, Manager of Event Communications at Gearhouse. “The main driver behind choosing FreeSpeak II was the limitations we face with regards to spectrum. Whilst we work very closely with the ACMA for our broadcast and event communications licensing, there are undoubtedly situations where there is simply not enough usable spectrum available to deliver what our clients need.

Systems like FreeSpeak II, which operate in the DECT class-licensed band, give us more flexibility. It’s a tool for us to use to save traditional LMR spectrum. It offers higher quality audio than a two-way radio, and because it’s a multi-channel device, it means users that currently wear two radios and two headsets can wear just one FreeSpeak II beltpack instead.”

The Australian Open is a long-term client of Gearhouse Broadcast, whose footprint at the Tennis Centre had been expanding gradually over the years. Gearhouse’s Event Communications division, which started in mid2015, represents a significant part of the increase in their responsibilities. “We’ve invested in Clear-Com because of our growth,” elaborated Jason. “We have been contracted as the comms provider for broadcast productions such as ‘Survivor’, ‘The Bachelor’, and ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!’, as well as live productions like the Victorian and New South Wales Schools Spectaculars.”

The Australian Open sees Gearhouse building and kitting out several small studio spaces for guest broadcasters.

“They rent their own studio space, which we facilitate in terms of broadcast equipment,” Jason continued. “They have all the normal staff a broadcast studio would have, but they’re all on wireless comms; it forms an essential part of their workflow. So instead of wasting a two-way radio on such a small environment, we can use FreeSpeak II and free up UHF channels.”

Jason and the Gearhouse team ran 26 FreeSpeak II 1.9GHz beltpacks and three FreeSpeak II-Base basestations in the globally license-free 1.897 to 1.933GHz range through the course of the two-week competition. “The FreeSpeak II systems worked flawlessly,” Jason reported. “We put FreeSpeak II into shows that other product can’t handle, and we plan to deploy double the amount of units on The Australian Open next year.”

Keeping ahead of the constantly changing radio spectrum environment in Australia while satisfying customers who increasingly rely on wireless devices is a big challenge for Gearhouse. “We have to find ways to provide our clients with the services they need, but also maintain compliance and keep the ACMA on-side,” Jason related. “People want wireless connectivity, but sometimes the availability of usable spectrum limits the amount of concurrent services we can operate at one site. I’ve been using DECT products for over five years, and there’s not many places where that spectrum isn’t viable. We also know we can rely on absolutely perfect support from Jands.” www.jands.com.au

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

Sands Expo and Convention Centre Invests In Meyer Sound's LYON And LEOPARD Systems SINGAPORE: Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Asia’s leading destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events), has upgraded its inventory of AV equipment with the first Meyer Sound LYON™ and LEOPARD™ linear sound reinforcement systems in Singapore. Located within the Marina Bay Sands resort, the centre has invested in a total of 156 Meyer Sound loudspeakers to support large-scale corporate events and concerts, representing the largest investment to date in LEO® Family technology by any hotel/MICE operator in the world.

“Our LYON and LEOPARD systems can be configured for precise sound distribution and powerful projection—even at continuously high output levels,” notes Mike Lee, Marina Bay Sands’ vice president of sales. “They also provide superior vocal intelligibility and a consistently

linear response. From an operational standpoint, we also appreciate the simplified cabling, faster and easier setup, and reduced storage space compared to conventional systems.”

FULL ARTICLE:

Westa Kawagoe Arts Center Adopts Nexo-Yamaha Combination For Main Hall JAPAN: A fully integrated and networked NEXO-Yamaha theatre sound system has been installed in a prestigious new arts and cultural centre in Kawagoe city, just an hour from Tokyo. The versatile system, under full digital control, has both fixed and portable elements and features GEO S12 and STM Series line array and Alpha and PS Series pointsource loudspeaker systems, with Yamaha CL5 and QL1 digital consoles, installed by Yamaha Sound Systems Inc. The Westa Kawagoe centre is a new multipurpose centre, located in Saitama Prefecture’s rapidly developing City of Culture. The Main Hall of the centre, with approximately 1,700 seats, is capable of supporting a range of different concerts, theatrical, and other performing art programs.

In addition to this Main Hall, Westa Kawagoe is made up of lifelong learning and other such facilities operated by Kawagoe City and by Saitama Prefecture, as well as private sector facilities that also attract bustling crowds.

FULL ARTICLE:

NEWS

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ETA June 2016

EVENT: KM Distribution Launches Amate Audio In Singapore

(L-R) Chia Kwang Liang, MD, KM Distribution Pte Ltd, Daniel Bartolome of Amate Audio, Henry Loo, Ramli Ahmad and Ghufranudin Bin Dahlawi of KM Distribution Pte Ltd

The 4th of May saw KM Distribution Pte Ltd (formerly known as Wo Kee Hong Distribution Pte Ltd) invite system integrators, consultants, end-users and production houses to the launch of Amate Audio solutions.

Held at the Blowfish club located in Orchard road, the evening saw a brief introduction by Chia Kwang Liang, Managing Director of KM Distribution Pte Ltd talk about the company and its recent change of name. This was followed with a presentation from Daniel Bartolome, Production Application Engineer from Amate Audio on the various Amate Audio solutions on showcase and their respective key features.

A solo drum performance by renowned drummer Isa followed, to showcase the versatility of the Amate Audio Xcellence 14T Top, X21T Sub-woofer and 15T monitor speakers. Audio-Technica instrument microphones complemented the speakers. The evening continued with a performance from the resident band, whilst guests got the opportunity to mingle and enjoy a sumptuous dinner and drinks, as well as view and get further details on the different Amate Audio speakers and amplifiers on showcase.

On showcase were the Xcellence series, Joker series, KEY series, as well as the power amplifiers and signal processors.

Solo performance by Isa

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Daniel Bartolome on Amate Audio We are not a very big company. We have about 35 employees based in Barcelona, Spain, but this means that we are a very integrated company where commercial sales and R&D departments work very closely in creating solutions for our clients. Having said that, it is important to emphasise that we have good pedigree, having been established since 1972.

What are our advantages?

We listen very intently to our clients, not only our distributors but also end-user clients. In understanding their needs and concerns and, where we feel it is feasible, their product suggestions, we confer more widely, to see if there is a common thread and, if there is, we will try to develop the product.

users to quickly do a set-up without any hassle. In addition users can also adjust the DSP with whatever software they are using, so they need not feel limited by the pre-set parameters. The built-in DSP, in essence, offers flexibility and there is no need for a graphic EQ system to be employed.

We have also developed an AC over voltage protection circuit within the powered speakers that automatically shuts down the system should the AC mains input exceed the rated voltage. This ensures that investments don't go up in smoke!

Once the voltage is on par, the system works as normal.

Just introduced

All of Amate's solutions are manufactured in Spain using only components from top end manufacturers.

We are forward looking…

Many in the industry might not be aware that we were the first company in the world to create an iOS control software, to control our Xcellence series speakers, before every manufacturer got on the bandwagon.

We also worked with AFMG and the Polytechnic University of Catalonia to develop our Anechoic Chamber. This was three or four years ago and it enables us to measure 360 degrees spherically. The chamber is used in developing all our products, so we are able to create libraries of all models and integrate these within the EASE software by AFMG. In brief, it offers precise reading and accuracy, even before you do a set-up, saving users a lot of time and effort.

Not your usual specs…

Our JK26 has a double 6-inch with tweeter, the JK46 a 6-inch driver, and the JK318 features an 18-inch and 12inch driver with a 3-way amplifier. These are not common specifications but we design it as such because it offers a lot more depth than a normally spec’d cabinet.

Furthermore, our X14T features an innovative 13.5-inch coaxial speaker with complementary components that enable the speaker to handle the low frequencies of a 15-inch with the clarity of a 12-inch. We have DSP pre-sets that offer the user options to set it for near-field speech, or monitor, or long throw applications. The settings allow

The new X12 CLA cabinet

We have just introduced the X12CLA cabinet. CLA stands for Constant Curvature Array and is a 12-inch with a 3-inch driver. In our line-up, there was a gap between our Point Source and Line Array solutions and this new version helps us fill that gap. This also means that practically we have speakers to fulfil any requirement, from clubs to hotels, malls, houses of worship, concert venues, and more.

In a Nutshell Amate Audio's philosophy is to ensure that all our systems are user-friendly and easy to use, so that anyone, from a novice to a professional engineer, are be able to use them with confidence. And, of course, whatever products we introduce, without doubt, offer state-of-the-art technology.

About Asia and KM Distribution After Europe, Asia is our next biggest market and we see potential to expand further in Asia. With regards to Singapore, we are happy to partner with KM Distribution, as their philosophy is similar to ours, in ensuring that clients' needs come first and foremost, in offering real value. www.amateaudio.com

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KM Distribution and Amate Wo Kee Hong Group-Singapore is an established company which started in 1963. The company is known for representing high-end consumer audio products for the automotive industry as well as air-conditioners for consumer and commercial purposes. In recent years the company decided to embark on developing its pro-audio business. About a year ago Wo Kee Hong Distribution Pte Ltd signed a contract with Amate Audio to bring their solutions to Singapore.

A more recent move was the change of the company name to KM Distribution Pte Ltd., which aligns itself as a full-fledged subsidiary of the KM Capital Group. The pro audio group comprises of Henry Loo, Sales and Business Development Manager, Ghufranudin Bin Dahlawi, Assistant Sales Manager and Ramli Ahmad, Senior Project Engineer.

Since being appointed the company has been busy installing Amate Audio solutions in a variety of segments. These includes:

Amate at the Drum Tao performance

Drunken Poet Bar

• Amate Audio X208A, X208P, X18WE and JK18WA2, being used for performances by the Japanese group Drum Tao at the Mediacorp Theatre. Similarly the systems were used for the Rentak Ria 2016 – Anda Mau Rock Concert at the same venue.

• Amate Audio B5T installed at the Drunken Poet Bar at Orchard Towers.

• Amate Audio B6T and B8 installed at the Finders Keepers club at Craig Road.

• Amate Audio JK12A installed at the Omega Building at ST Engineering Hub and

• Amate Audio KEY 15 installed at the CHIJ St. Nicholas Girl’s School Auditorium.

• Amate Audio B8 installed at the Game Lab at the Nanyang Technological University.

• Amate TP2400 installed at the Flo Residence Clubhouse at Punggol Field Walk

• Amate Audio B8, CS6MCT and HD 800 installed at the CIN CIN Bar at Oasia Hotel.

“We definitely see good opportunities with Amate Audio. Many may not realise that Amate Audio was previously trading as Master Audio, which people are more familiar with. Amate Audio offers state-of-the-art solutions that are easy to use and, more importantly, provide good value; and with this launch we expect to go forward more aggressively,” said Henry Loo. www.kmgroup.com.sg

VIDEO FILES

DTS

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ETA June 2016

Products Lightshow

Programmed by Andrea Montovani, one of the best Italian Lighting Designers, this eye-catching video will show you the unique features of DTS KATANA, CORE, and NICK NRG 1401 at their best!

AYRTON

Magicdot-XT Lightshow

This video shows 144 Magicdot-XT fixtures in action designed

by Stephane Migné. Magicdot-XT, is an amplified version of the MagicDot™-R with the same minimalist design, a similar circular footprint, and all the features, but with a much more powerful punch to suit long throw applications.

ENNOVATIONS

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ETA June 2016

Allen & Heath Announces Major Updates To Qu Series

Allen & Heath has announced a host of major enhancements to the feature set and ecosystem of its Qu Series of compact digital mixers. Accompanying the release of firmware V1.9 is a number of key updates to the Qu-Pad app, factory mic presets from leading manufacturers Shure and Sennheiser, streamlined DAW Control for Windows, plus the new, customisable Qu-Control app for install applications.

Alongside control of live mixing functions, processing, routing and effects, Qu-Pad now offers complete access to scene management, control of the 15 mixer SoftKeys across the whole Qu range, AMM, I/O patching, and QuDrive stereo and multitrack recording / playback facilities.

Also new to the app is user permissions with password protected user profiles.

Allen & Heath has teamed up with leading microphone manufacturers, Shure and Sennheiser, to provide channel Library presets for a number of popular and industry standard mics. The presets offer the user a starting point to get the best possible sound out of their microphone - mixer combination.

A brand new addition to the Qu Series control portfolio is Qu-Control, a customisable iOS app for iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Offering five screens with up to 15 control ‘widgets’ each, the app enables control of parameters such as background music source selection, master zone level, scene recall, or microphone paging. Password protection prevents access to unwanted controls, which makes it the ideal solution for wireless control of venues, conference rooms, hotel lobbies and any other installed sound environment.

Following customer feedback, the DAW Control driver, previously available for Mac only, will soon be released for Windows OS. The driver allows very simple integration of a Qu mixer into a studio environment, emulating popular HUI and Mackie Control protocols to take control of a number of DAWs including Cubase, Sonar and Pro Tools.

Qu firmware V1.9 also adds support for the recently announced Qu-SB ultra-compact intelligent mixer / interface, designed as a smart stage box solution for bands, music venues, project studios, schools and corporate events requiring a pro live and/or recording mixer in a tiny footprint. www.allen-heath.com

Marketing Pte Ltd

No 1, Kallang Way 2A, #01-01, Singapore 347495 Tel: +65 6287 9878 I Fax: +65 6287 9388 Email: enquiry@tsm-int.com I Website: www.tsm-int.com

ENNOVATIONS

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ETA June 2016

d3 Technologies Announces The Release of r13

r13 has a mix of new and improved features including a refreshed new look UI and new HMSF timeline which enhances the well known d3 workflow. Additionally there are improvements to matrix control, time code readout module and an upgraded web module.

Leading r13’s new features is the new timeline. d3’s timeline is now frame accurate, working in Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Frames. Zoom into a single-frame view to make precise adjustments as naturally as show-wide edits. The new timeline is fully compatible with existing d3 projects - use HMSF when you need precision, beats and bars for snappy rhythmic edits, or freely combine the two as the as the situation demands.

Additionally, the UI has been given a lick of paint. Windows are translucent with a blurred background to let you see the content beneath while maintaining legibility. The text has been updated to a cleaner, modern typeface and sharpened for retina displays. Rounded corners create a softer feel, unnecessary detail has been removed, and UI colours are more subdued to reduce visual distraction.

There are also two new Timecode Transport types: System Time, and Timecode Tester. System Time makes use of the Windows clock and lets you sequence a show to the time of

day, perfect for daily running installs. The Timecode Tester is like a built-in timecode generator and is great for testing project cueing behaviour before getting to the full-size equipment onsite.

The Timecode Readout module is now available for all to use. This allows you to place a timecode clock in your stage view for the purposes of reference or even to use in the show itself. The module is able to display the timecode going in and out of d3, as well as time before next section and time elapsed/remaining for a video clip.

There is also now a spherical mapping type to aid with projecting onto spherical or hemispherical objects. This behaves in a similar fashion to the cyclical mapping type and uses equirectangular projection to map video content.

Additionally, d3 now supports output to Puffersphere’s spherical screens.

Lastly, snapping guides and rulers make a return in r13, making it easier for those setting up pixel-perfect outputs in the new feed editor introduced in r12.1.

Current d3 customers have automatic and immediate access to the r13 upgrade which can be download from download.d3technologies.com

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ETC Debuts Unison Echo Expansion Bridge ETC continues to expand its Unison Echo® line of products with the new Echo Expansion Bridge. “We’re thrilled about continually expanding the capabilities of Echo control systems,” says ETC Architectural Market Manager Bryan Palmer. “It’s an exciting time at ETC.” Buildings and venues that want to expand current Echo control systems will find Echo Expansion Bridge is the ideal solution. Each Echo Expansion Bridge can contain up to four Echo segments, each segment supporting the existing Echo maximum of 16 spaces with each space allowing up to 16 zones of control. This means that Echo control systems are now able to include up to 64 Echo devices, such as Inspire® stations, occupancy/vacancy sensors, light sensors and output products. “Echo Expansion Bridge lets users combine smaller systems together to make a larger Echo control system,” explains ETC Architectural Product Manager Lowell Olcott, “By adding up to four Echo segments together we can expand the number of devices in an Echo system.”

When combined with the EchoAccess mobile app, Echo Expansion Bridge is able to allow access to the Echo network over a secure Wi-Fi connection, allowing users to configure and control the Echo control systems from tablets and smartphones. Echo Expansion Bridge also provides all-inclusive control between Unison Paradigm® and Echo control systems. Paradigm systems can output commands to the Echo control system, letting users activate and deactivate presets in Echo spaces and directly control zones. www.etcconnect.com

Ayrton Unleashes Powerful Stadium Colour With The New Wildsun™-S25 WildSun™-S25 is the colour-mixing cousin of Ayrton’s WildSun™K25 wash light. The new full colour model packs 217 highly efficient single RGBW LED emitters into a compact moving head and punches out 60,000 lumens of light. This output rivals that of 4000W HMI luminaires fitted with colour filters, but with far greater flexibility of use and lower maintenance.

WildSun-S25’s four-colour mixing is based on an ingenious arrangement of emitters combined with a holographic filter, which optimises the colour mix to create an infinite palette of pastels and saturated colours. Its LED emitters are distributed over six 60° segments with the colours in each 36-diode segment capable of being individually controlled.

The filter also protects the fixture under extreme conditions, for example, the dust and sand within multi-sport venues, and the transmitting lens is equipped with an integrated honeycomb ‘egg crate’ louvre to prevent unwanted off-axis glare.

WildSun-S25 has a proprietary, siliconebased, high-output 6:1 optical zoom which gives a zoom range of 10° to 60° and ensures perfect colour stability over time.

It has powerful tri-phase stepper motors to drive the pan and tilt axes ensuring fast, accurate and silent positioning.

WildSun™S25 is equipped with serial connectivity and can be controlled using DMX-RDM, ArtNet™, sACN or wireless CRMX TiMo RDM from LumenRadio™. www.ayrton.eu/produit/wildsun-s25/

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Laserworld Releases All-in-one Laser Solution For DJs And Nightclubs Lasers are becoming more and more popular and especially mobile DJs and smaller nightclubs often request a product that is easy to operate, is capable of projecting tunnel effects, layers and some basic shapes and figures, and most importantly can write custom messages as running text. And of course the laser should be RGB and white light for being able to make the projection fit in with the lighting design.

This is quite demanding, but the new Laserworld EL500RGB KeyTEX offers all these features: Besides being a normal laser system that can be run stand-alone, in soundto-light mode or controlled by DMX, it also comes with a remote control plus a keyboard for entering text, animating it and doing color changes. The Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX is the successor of the Laserworld ES-400RGB, as it has all the features seen previously in the ES-400RGB – but adds much more on top. This is not just a “text-laser”, but a feature rich, all round laser system designed for the

entertainment business, with no additional software necessary for operation.

The projections made with the Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX can either be projected as single output (normal scanner mode), but it is also possible to slide a diffraction grating into the beam path to multiply the projection and cover a much wider angle filling the room with an RGB cluster effect, covering the walls with RGB text or patterns.

It is obvious that a product for mobile DJs and small nightclubs must be reasonably priced to meet the budget, which the Laserworld EL-500RGB KeyTEX does, even though it is packed with features. www.laserworld.com

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PR Lighting Introduces Flicker Free Pro Stage 150 For Studios PR Lighting’s new Pro Stage 150 RGBW 5°, 10°, 19°, 26° — part of its burgeoning new Studio range — has been designed for the theatre and studio, as well as other applications where high-definition lighting is needed.

The feature that makes it so perfect for studio and TV applications in particular are its flicker-free operation.

At its source is a 150W RGBW (4-in-1) LED. With a linearly adjustable colour temperature of 2,700K-10,000K the fixture boasts an enviable feature set, including 0-100% linearly adjustable dimming; 0.3-25fps strobe, and the variable beam angles of 5°, 10°, 19°, 26°.

And with a net weight of just 12kg, the new Pro Stage 150 RGBW, which is shipping now, offers many application advantages.

www.pr-lighting.com

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Yamaha’s New PX Series of Power Amplifiers Yamaha's PX series of versatile power amplifiers meet the requirements of a vast range of sound reinforcement and installation environments. By combining high power output with intelligent signal processing and a lightweight yet durable design, the new models are able to deliver consistent, clear, high-quality sound even at maximum output levels.

The PX series comprises four new models— the 1,200 W x 2 PX10, 1050 W x 2 PX8, 800 W x 2PX5, and 500 W x 2 PX3— driven by a newly developed Class-D amplifier engine that concentrates all the necessary functions into a single custom LSI chip, and equipped with both XLR and TRS inputs, and binding post, SpeakON and phone outputs. The PX3 and PX5 also come equipped with a Power Boost Mode that combines the power output from two channels into one. PX amplifiers also feature onboard PEQ, crossover, filters, delay, and limiter functions as well as intelligent protection functions

and D-CONTOUR multi-band dynamic processing technology.

Config Wizard features presets specifically tuned for each model in Yamaha’s extensive lineup of passive speakers, including the CBR, Club, Installation, and VXS/VXC series, and an advanced mode that allows more detailed configuration of parameters such as input routing, input sensitivity, amp gain, and speaker impedance.

PX Series amplifiers make it fast and easy to configure panel settings, monitor amplifier status, and transfer data via USB, and also feature a panel locking function to keep settings safe. Users can even export information such as internal device and log data to USB for rapid troubleshooting should difficulties arise. www.yamahaproaudio.com

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5 Minutes with

Amnon Harman of d&b audiotechnik

Shehnaz Salim of ETA speaks to Amnon Harman, CEO of German loudspeaker systems manufacturer d&b audiotechnik to learn more about the company's strategic establishment of the new Asia Pacific office in Singapore.

d&b audiotechnik subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, USA, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and D.A.CH, work closely with a global network of distributors in fortyfive countries; offering integrated service and support, education and training as well as financing. The company’s knowledgeable distribution network and range of services ensure users can achieve the same optimal acoustic result with any d&b system nearly anywhere in the world.

Establishing d&b Asia Pacific Pte Ltd in Singapore is a further step toward standardizing the quality of service and support d&b offers globally. The strategically located Singapore premises will also provide facilities and resources to strengthen the position of d&b in the Asia Pacific rental and staging markets and make further inroads into the installation market. At the same time the d&b APAC team will focus on supporting d&b distributors and the company’s growing customer base in the region. In addition, the industry leading d&b training program will be made available, delivering resources and support as well as workshops and seminars. By the end of 2016 the office will provide a full service hub for the Asia Pacific region that will include a spare parts service previously only available in Europe, Japan and US. Having relocated from Europe to Singapore, the APAC team will be further enhanced by the recruitment of local talent

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– allowing them to provide the permanent ground support available in other regions.

What are your expectations with regards to the company moving forward after the recent acquisition?

From the start of the process we aimed to excite and convince any new financial investors to implement our existing plans. That worked out very well and ARDIAN our new investors – or owners -- are backing the management team following the same strategic concept as our previous investors.

The strategy is basically to: firstly address more customer segments especially in installations; secondly to continue our innovation approach regarding new technologies for the pro audio market; and thirdly to achieve stronger position in international markets. We’re delighted with our deal with ARDIAN and we’re convinced that they are the right investor to support our plans as we move to the next level in Asia Pacific and in the rest of the world.

Are you able to give us an indication in terms of percentage of how much Asia contributes to d&b revenue?

At the end of the last business year our revenue was 94 million Euros of which 20% was from Asia Pacific, mainly from China, Japan, Korea and Australia. The rest is distributed over India and South East Asia with some strongly growing markets.

Now that d&b has set up the Asia Pacific office, how much in terms of percentage do you expect to grow the business in the region – and which sector/segments specifically do you see the growth coming from?

We have been growing in Asia for the last 5 years significantly. Currently we are changing certain things in terms of clinching new partners and increasing our number of distributors and countries. For example, previously our Asia Pacific market was consolidated to only one distributor in Singapore that covered all of South East Asia - now we have distributors in all South East Asian capitals. They are developing and we are convinced we will continue overproportionally growing the business in the region.

To give you a comparison - over the last 5 years, we have seen a global business growth of 16% per annum. Asia Pacific grew slightly below expectation. However, in the first quarter of this year, we have already grown 50% more than last year; the reason is projects started in the new year which actually should have started last year. Going forward we see Asia Pacific as a region that can grow above 16% - 20%.

Asia Pacific is large – which countries do you see most potential in terms of business growth?

When it comes to Asia Pacific all countries have distinctive needs due to different cultures, languages, currencies and legal set-ups. So we are not looking at Asia Pacific as a whole but rather looking at regions individually and responding to their specific needs.

Markets in South East Asia such as Indonesia, previously covered by Singapore, have large rental businesses for concerts and staging. We are also looking at Malaysia and the Philippines to establish our presence. Each individual market in the South East Asian countries has their own strategy so we are developing them with independent distributors. We are adopting the same principles in our goto market strategy globally, but we tailor it to the specific requirements of the individual markets.

Why did you choose Singapore specifically as the regional office of the Asia Pacific market?

We looked at other possible locations: Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, and even thought of expanding our Japanese office. In the end Singapore stood out as the best place to locate our regional headquarters. That being said, we do plan to open daughter companies in other Asian countries with our growing business.

At d&b we have very loyal employees, all of who are well trained and fully inducted into the d&b family. It’s vital that everyone, no matter what their role, or where they are located successfully understands the products and the culture of the company. Whenever d&b expands this is always a key priority for us, to support our employees and partners so that our customers always get the best possible experience with d&b. www.dbaudio.com

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QATAR

Riedel Real-Time Media Network At Qatar’s Lusail Sports Arena Network enables flexible, efficient signal transport

transport, routing, and signal processing into a single real-time network solution supporting multichannel SD/HD video, audio, intercom, and data. Offering more than simple point-to-point links, the network makes it easy to send signals to any single outlet or multiple outputs. Riedel's RockNet is a real-time, low-latency audio distribution network tailored to tour and installed sound applications.

The installation at the Lusail Sports Arena supports signal transport and gives users the ability to add inputs and outputs when and where they are required.

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he Lusail Sports Arena in Lusail, Qatar, is using the Riedel MediorNet real-time media network and RockNet real-time audio network to simplify management of numerous signals throughout the venue.

Built to host matches of the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship, the 15,300-capacity indoor sports arena leverages the Riedel fiber networks to reduce the overall volume of cabling required and to make a variety of signals available as needed to support live events.

"Our goal in deploying a fiber network at the Lusail Sports Arena was to manage the transport and routing of many signals throughout the building in the most efficient manner," said Moufed Elefrangy, project engineer at Techno Q, the Qatar-based systems integrator responsible for the project. "Once we took a look at the MediorNet and RockNet systems from Riedel, we knew that we had found the best answer to this challenge. Because we're able to put all signals on fiber and make them all available at every node, we have a great deal of flexibility in addressing the needs of any given production or sports event."

The MediorNet and RockNet systems were integrated into the unique and visually striking architecture of the Lusail Sports Arena by Techno Q. MediorNet combines signal

"The Lusail Sports Arena is a powerful and iconic visual symbol of Lusail City, which itself represents Qatar's vision of a modern sustainable city," said Ahmed Magd El Din, general manager for the Middle East and Turkey at Riedel Communications. "Though it was built according to the tight timeline dictated by its first event, the 2015 World Men's Handball Championship, the facility boasts an array of advanced technologies. Our fiber-based real-time media network solutions are an ideal fit for such an installation, simplifying extensive signal management while providing the reliability and versatility essential to high-profile sports events and productions." www.riedel.net

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MACAU

The illumination Physics Of Studio City Macau

illumination Physics appointed as lighting designer for the remarkable façades of the resort

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tudio City Macau is an outstanding Hollywoodthemed resort which offers what is an unprecedented cinematic inspired entertainment and leisure experience never before seen on the Cotai Strip in Macau. This is the second property to be owned by Melco-Crown Entertainment after City of Dreams and was awarded Casino/Integrated Resort of the Year by the 9th International Gaming Awards (IGA) for 2016.

Studio City carries the strongest entertainment theme of any resort in Macau and the epic movie theatre vision is carried throughout every part of the building. Therefore the façade lighting is necessarily theatrical in style. Lighting design is a derivative art-form and the lighting follows and reinforces the remarkable elements of the spectacle this building creates.

Design-Build illumination Physics was honoured to have been selected as the lighting designer for all of the remarkable façades of the resort. The company was responsible for the design, manufacture, supply, install and programming of all the façade lighting.

It is true that there is a strong art deco influence throughout the entire building; especially the eight shining and decorated turrets that sit atop the eight hotel towers which are reminiscent of a science fiction city skyline from the 1930’s. The lighting highlights these turrets spectacularly however your eye is first drawn to another feature, arguably the most unusual architectural feature of any casino in Macau.

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The two hotel towers curve to form a semi-circle and are connected at the centre via a massive figure eight formed in golden truss, 30 storeys high. At this point the building is transparently open and there is no structure within the ‘eight’; it is open from both the east and west. Look closely and there is much more. Within the ‘eight’ is a Ferris wheel ride like no other. Seventeen themed capsules travel around within the truss taking the riders on a journey along the form of the luckiest number, 130 metres off the ground. Called the ‘Golden Reel’ this metallic gold feature is illuminated in golden light, made possible using 1000 pieces of illumination Physics’ CR80 mini wash light. Just 80mm in diameter these custom ten-watt lights make use of 10 X 60 degree lenses and very warm white at 2300K. The IP CR80 was designed especially for the Golden Reel but has since become a popular mainline product for illumination Physics.

Above and below the Golden Reel there are ‘Starbursts’; metal fingers radiating both up and downwards in two giant fans which are illuminated with the illumination Physics Wash 36 RGBA. Attention to detail demanded that the fixtures are finished in metallic gold to match the structure of the Golden Reel.

At the very summit of the building ten shards of steel stretch skyward like the fingers of a hand. To celebrate this architectural gesture illumination Physics highlighted them and they are now a nightly feature. Wash lighting alone would not get the separation and contrast illumination Physics wanted and would have resulted in a great deal of light spill into the sky. Instead just ten pieces of a very special direct view custom fixture – the IP Super Dot, was produced, one of which was placed on the very end of each finger of the starburst. The 150 watt Super Dot was designed with a lens shaped like a mushroom. The PMMA lens has an internal reflector to direct 100% of the light downwards and in 360 degrees. Visible from any viewpoint without any upward light trespass, the Super Dot is intensely bright and used RGBA to match all of the fixtures on the hotel towers.

The Expectation The lighting of Studio City carries part of the property’s marketing message in which the themed identity is vital.

The lighting must also help the property exert a strong pull; it must promote drama and curiosity at first sight and then create a grand sense of arrival. In the words of Lawrence Ho (CEO and Chairman of Melco International), the

objective was not to be the largest property on the Cotai Strip, but ‘the coolest’.

Yet it must do all this in a more sophisticated way than its many competitors in Macau. The design strikes a balance between grand spectacle and relative restraint in the programming of the dynamic lighting. The ‘show’ is provided by the towers whilst the podium only uses dynamic lighting for six powerful searchlights.

One hundred percent of the façades are illuminated with illumination Physics LED products. The podium façades make use of warm white with the added use of neutral white when contrast is required. For example the two massive ‘Hero’ statues that stand above the gates of the

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grand entrance make use of the cooler colour temperature which better accentuates their polished metal skin. A mix of IP Wash 36 and IP Wash 48s were used with various beam angles. A total of 72 pieces were used on each of the statues.

The towers have two main facades, both east and west appropriately, and the lighting is mirrored on both.

Above the podium every one of the five thousand powerful illumination Physics LED light fixtures makes use of dynamic colour changing. As the company wanted to be able to mix warm whites and other colours to achieve hues that cannot be produced with RGB alone, it created RGBA (red, green, blue and amber). All of the IP Wash 48, Wash 36 and IP Linear Wash lights used to up-light the tower facades are RGBA (red, green, blue and amber). This not only enables the tower to match the mono white colours of the podium at times, but also allows the display of true ‘gold’ and many other hues that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.

Searchlights are synonymous with a Hollywood movie debut and Studio City would be incomplete without them.

Six searchlights rake the sky above the main entrance of Studio City every night and draw attention to the coolest destination in Macau, a metaphor for pure entertainment.

The lighting not only makes a statement about the character and theme of the property but the lighting effect can also be seen from all its competitor’s premises. There are many other searchlights located at other casinos in the area, all of which are installed at rooftop level. At Studio City the searchlights are deliberately positioned at podium level closer to the audience where they have greater visual impact, harking back to the image of searchlights being used to herald a movie premiere in Hollywood.

Special Design Necessitated For the Media Facade Surrounding the Golden Reel is a media façade containing 3,008 IP Media Dots especially designed for this project.

Access to the media wall area for maintenance is possible but requires the use of three separate Building Management Units (gondolas lowered from above). To be mindful of this the IP Media Dots were designed with no electronics on board and each has its own dedicated extra low voltage cable. This is the same design principle that illumination Physics employs in the design of its special heat resistant ‘Gulf Specification’ products. By simplifying the Media Dot it is made truly robust and the single cable per fixture means that if one IP Media Dot is damaged, the problem can only affect that one singular item, not a string of Media Dots connected in series.

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achieve. To maintain the grand illusion the façade required wash lights, but this presented several challenges. The towers contain two hotels so light trespass into the guest rooms needed to be avoided. The lights would have to point upwards to provide an effect true to the theme, but this could lead to light pollution unless surgical accuracy could be achieved. The wash lights themselves also had certain practical limits to their dimensions from an aesthetic perspective because they would need to be mounted at two levels on the façade itself as well as the podium roof.

A new fixture design was required. illumination Physics created the IP Wash 48, a high power narrow focus RGBA wash light. At approximately 100 watts and equipped with five degree lenses, the Wash 48 has an effective range of approximately 50 metres when used as a shallow angle grazing wash light.

illumination Physics’ IP Media Dot is a compact but powerful direct view single pixel luminaire that is driven by a four colour multi die LED chip. The media wall draws the eye to the centre of the building and provides the movement and meaning in the lighting that is synonymous with the early incandescent casino lighting in Las Vegas, Nevada. The media walls add another level of capability in that video graphic content is used to support notional concepts in the lighting shows.

Additional Considerations For The Tower Facade Wash Lights The towers are clad in a complex metal decorative structure that cleverly camouflages the curtain wall system within.

The building’s texture does not resemble the typical assembly of rectangular panels of a modern unitised curtain wall building, instead the eye is drawn to a filigree of artdeco diagonals and cascading buttresses – the language of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Much has been made of the façades and the lighting is designed to celebrate that.

Direct view lighting would be inappropriate as it would distort the very image that the architecture set out to

There are four cascading buttresses which extend from the roof level of each of the eight hotel towers, 32 in all. These cascades are reminiscent of gothic structural architecture in that they are most massive at their base and become narrower with height. The IP Wash 48 has been mounted in groups of up to six lights at the podium level, four lights at mid-height on the façade, then finally in groups of as few as two fixtures at the highest level. The lighting follows the architecture and with the accuracy of the 5 degree focus, light trespass has been avoided. Light pollution has also been minimised by aiming the beams of light in such a way that they are terminated into the building surface which itself is not specular.

Because access to the 280 Wash 48s on the façade requires a gondola, it was decided that the drivers would not be integrated into the fixtures. Like the Media Dots, the IP Wash 48 is distilled to its simplest form, metal and LEDs. The electronic drivers are located remotely in easily accessible locations within the building.

The same illumination Physics technique has been employed on the eight turrets that sit atop each hotel tower, however in this case a standard illumination Physics Linear Wash light was suitable and because the light fixtures are accessible by pedestrian technicians, the AC version of IP Linear Wash was used to simplify the power and data distribution. Beyond the ‘show-biz’ of the tower lighting illumination Physics ensured that the podium lighting was both dramatic as well as functional.

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Technical Breakthrough The design of the building may harken to early 20th century themes but it was constructed using modern unitised and non-unitised construction techniques. At night the stark textures are exploited to create drama and highlight areas such as the Bussing Grove (where the majority of guests arrive), so that they are consistent with the character of the more deliberately decorative features of the property.

Early in the lighting design it became obvious that the extensive use of back-lit faux alabaster panels would require a large quantity of linear LED wash lights. illumination Physics already made a variety of high powered linear LED products which had often been used in the backlighting of high-end retail façades for customers like Tiffany.

At Studio City there were very large internally illuminated panels, for example on the plinths that support the two Hero statues, necessitating the use of a high power edge light using asymmetric lenses such as IP SHPT. However there are a hundreds of other back-lit panels at Studio City which are of more modest dimensions, typically a little less than two metres in width. The quantity was so significant that illumination Physics questioned the use of such a high performing and high cost fixture as they were

responsible for managing a budget. Exploring their options made it clear that a low power LED linear product would not produce the light they wanted and because of the size of the average SMD chips, lensing the beam would be very problematic. This lead to two technical breakthroughs which enabled illumination Physics to create a revolutionary new product called ‘LPSL’ (‘low power strip linear’).

LPSL takes advantage of a new generation of LEDs that are neither low power nor high power, but something in between. LPSL LEDs can be driven at 0.25 to 0.50 of a watt. Typical high power linear products use LEDs driven at 1 to 2 watts but for the majority of back-lighting at Studio City the amount of lumens generated by the newly coined ‘mid-power’ LEDs is sufficient. The problem was how to focus the light given the larger size of the LED dies.

The solution came in the form of a unique optical design that concentrates the native 120 degree symmetrical beam of the SMD LED into a highly functional 15 x 60 degree focus. How that is done is classified! The net result for the client was that it halved the cost of 1500 pieces of linear back-lighting without sacrificing functionality or quality.

More than half the potential energy was also saved. illumination Physics LPSL is a practical design solution to a common issue.

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The Control System The illumination Physics Engineering Team also faced many challenges with the control system for Studio City. Not only did the system need to be robust yet flexible, as they had to control both the media wall and all of the façade lighting and ensure both were perfectly synchronised. This required that a media server and a lighting ‘PC based console’ be married together.

The control system had to have the capability to be selfsufficient in terms of scheduling but be able to be easily adjusted when the need arises. Macau, like Hong Kong and much of Asia has many festivals which would require special seasonal or one-off lighting treatments. Although the lighting rig is large and complex, the operation of the system had to be straightforward enough that modifications to the lighting programs and schedules would be user friendly to the owner’s technical staff.

The system wiring was an optical fibre backbone that went to the majority of the 22 dedicated lighting control rooms in which the equipment was installed in dedicated racks. Extensions via Cat5 to some of the smaller rack rooms to Pathport Conversion nodes were required in only a few cases where two adjacent lighting control rooms were very close. This ensures that the analogue wiring is kept to an absolute minimum. Cisco network switches and SFP’s (Ethernet Small Form-Factor Pluggables) were used to manage the fibre data flow. The lighting protocol that was chosen was sACN (streaming Architecture for Control Networks).

The LSC Clarity PC was chosen for overall control. All of the lighting fixtures and media servers (in console mode) were distributed over 17 Universes of sACN. Clarity was chosen for its proven reliability as much as for its advanced functions. For this project, the time/date scheduling functionality was extremely important. All of the cues originate from Clarity to control both the lighting and media systems.

Pandora’s Box was the product chosen as the media server to control the media wall’s 3,008 pixels through its pixel mapping software. Pandora’s Box is run in console mode to provide parameter control via the Clarity PC.

Creating Maximum Visual Impact Having built the lighting system, the success of the project depended on how it was employed. The creative choices

about the programming of the lighting and the content that would be created for the media walls needed to be emotionally evocative and create maximum visual impact.

Working with Melco-Crown creative director Geoff Benham, illumination Physics created a library of lighting scenes that were synchronised with related content for the media walls.

The ideas were developed and honed through simulations and then tested on the building itself. Using remote internet control, live tests and programming sessions were conducted from a variety of viewing points.

Special viewings for the owner helped guide process and find a balance in the use of colour and movement.

Studio City stands tall in Asia’s gaming hub; the lighting is necessarily dramatic but represents a step in sophistication and technology in Macau. Studio City did not set out to be the biggest resort in Cotai, it set out to be the ‘coolest’. The awards and accolades declare that the job is done.

The façade lighting of Studio City has been a single allencompassing project for illumination Physics, from concept to completion. The lighting design and the purpose specific design of the fixtures manufactured and supplied by illumination Physics include over 12,000 luminaires for the podium and towers. This modern and 100% LED treatment, which included wash lights, back-lights and media dots, were all created specifically for the project as part of an illumination Physics total design and build solution. In addition to the intelligent data programmable lighting on the towers, their scope included all of the static lighting on the podium, ranging from in-ground up-lights to powerful narrow focus wash lights for the two massive ‘Hero’ statues that stand as sentinels above the grand entrance. illumination Physics also provided the control system design and installation as well as the programming and content creation which completed their circle of responsibility for the visual outcome. www.illuminationphysics.com

Here is a short video of Studio City Macau in all its lighting glory:

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PHILIPPINES

Strumms Opens SOCIAL HOUSE Bar and Restaurant RCF speakers trusted to handle the different genre of music at the venue

The Freestyle Band performing at the official opening.

T

he SOCIAL HOUSE Bar and Restaurant had its official opening spread over two days on 13 and 14 May. Located at Social House Circuit Lane, Circuit Makati, Makati City, the venue has a floor area of 271.65 sqm and features a second floor where the kitchen and office as well as the DJ booth over-looking the floor below is located.

Strumms Holdings is a Singapore based company which operates a number of entertainment venues in Singapore such as Ipanema, Ba.Li.Ba and the Drunken Poet in Orchard Towers, as well as Blowfish at the International Building also located in Orchard Road.

Owner, Murray Ong, comments, “With established F&B outlets in Singapore, the next step for Strumm's Holding Pte Ltd (Singapore) has always been to expand its operations in the region. The Philippines has been a natural choice for us because of the fact that the majority of our

performing artistes in the Singapore outlets, namely our resident bands and dancers, come from there.

We then decided to look into the market and realized that Filipinos are always on the lookout for new hangout places that feature exemplary live entertainment. We felt that we can replicate our outlets' successes in Manila, and so we went ahead to open Social House, which takes pride in showcasing only the best Filipino talents and performances.�

SOCIAL HOUSE Bar and Restaurant as the name indicates is a restaurant that also features live bands and DJ sets.

The venue is able to accommodating about 300 guests.

Featuring an industrial look, the venue offers different music genre everyday like party music, rock, chill, R&B, throwback music, pop and acoustic.

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A ViewSonic DLP Projector that projects onto a 9x12’ screen is also available for during events. The DJ console features Pioneer DJM-900 SRT Serato DJ Edition, with 2 units of pioneer CDJ 900 Nexus.

The Grand Opening, saw known bands like MYMP, Freestyle, South Border, Side A, and Nicole Asensio (former vocalist of General Luna) perform during the two day event.

By all accounts the performers were pleased with the audio systems.

Murray Ong (in grey cap and camera front row) with guests.

Murray adds, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to open this venue in the Philippines. We also expect that having a Manila outlet will help in streamlining the process of finding Filipino artistes for the Singapore clubs. There are a lot of untapped musical talents waiting to be discovered in the Philippines, and Strumm's Singapore looks forward to finding them and continue giving only choice entertainment to our valued customers.”

This is just the beginning for Strumms as they plan to expand in the Philippines with two more pubs - one an Irish pub, “The Drunken Poet” and the other a party concept pub named “Strangers Reunion”.

Southborder at the official opening

www.strumms.com

The space is also available for events.

Taking into consideration the type of music and of the course the space, Murray and his team settled for RCF speakers to be the main house system, as they were confident it could deliver accordingly. 2 units of RCF HD 12-A 1200 watts D-line speakers are hung each on the left and right of the stage providing 90x60 degrees angle audio dispersion. 1 unit of RCF Art 425A Drum Monitor is placed on stage for the drummer's benefit. A further 4 units of RCF Art 412A are placed as stage monitors. Audio reinforcement is further augmented with 4 units of Shure SLX wireless microphones, 3 units of Shure BETA 58A wired microphones and 2 units of Shure SM58 wired microphones for the vocals.

Serving as lounge speakers for Bar 1 are 2 units of wall mounted RCF Art 412A speakers.

Complementing the audio systems are 9 units of 3 watts Slim LED PAR LP001 that serve as stage lighting. A further 12 watts 8 units of BIG EYE L5 moving heads serve as stage and ambiance lighting. A JOJEN 3D Laser Display System offers additional impact.

Resident DJ Allan C. Corpus with the sound technician of Social House.

The Bar Area.

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INDIA

Boosting The Showroom Experience At Audi Bengaluru Electro-Voice solutions add to the sleek experience

across the entire showroom space. The results showed that the EVID series was the best choice.

In line with this, Bosch proposed installing the EVID Flush Mount 4.2FM for the video wall. It was the only speaker that could fit nicely on either sides of the video wall to provide crystal clear audio – neatly overcoming the structural issues. For the ceiling speakers, the Bosch team recommended the EVID C4.2 to maintain uniform audio coverage for the entire showroom ceiling.

R

enowned automobile brand Audi is a pioneer in the automotive industry. Over the years, the brand has constantly developed cutting-edge technologies and engineering solutions to produce luxurious, stylish and powerful cars.

The client, Audi (Jubilant Motorworks) wanted to build a state-of-the-art 10,000 sq. ft. showroom in St Marks Road, one of Bengaluru’s most central and prime locations. In keeping with its exclusive brand and customer experience, the client was planning to install a superior sound system for the showroom. The system designed primarily as a background music source to cater for company-related videos playing on a video wall located at the end of the showroom.

Audi (Jubilant Motorworks) requested for two kinds of speaker set ups – a premium two-way ceiling loudspeaker and a concealed Flush Mount speaker on either sides of the video wall. However, the audio needed to be projected from the video screen towards the audience rather than from the ceiling, an important detail that would add to Audi’s entire customer experience.

Keeping the clients’ requirements in mind, the Bosch team worked on a detailed EASE (Enhanced Acoustic Simulator for Engineers) simulation report on the audio coverage

Audi (Jubilant Motorworks) was extremely satisfied with the result – a stunning state-of-theart showroom with top-quality audio – completely befitting a renowned automobile brand with a reputation for luxury, style and performance. It was also pleased with the support provided by Bosch Security Systems and the installer BCSP M/S Hansa Pictures. The client was so impressed with the team’s stellar work that it commissioned Bosch’s services for another showroom project, the ultra-luxury car Maserati on MG Road, with complete Electro-Voice set up.

Today, Audi Bengaluru is the go-to car dealership for sleek, sophisticated and technologically advanced automobiles.

With a generous display area, the dealership offers its exclusive clientèle a premium space to select from the full range of Audi cars available in India. www.boschsecurity.asia

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SINGAPORE

Getai Soul 2016 Rocks Pearl’s Hill City Park Black Beard Audio/Productions orchestrates the technical direction

T

he weekend of 7th and 8th of May saw for the first time the Pearl's Hill City Park which is close to Chinatown in Singapore, featuring an outdoor music festival. The Park which is under the purview of the National Parks Board had for the first time decided to allow for an outdoor event in the park.

Getai Soul 2016 was organized by local Indie promoter Getai Group and featured 8 acts per day that included local favourites such as Charlie Lim and his superband, The Mothership; Vandetta; Dru Chen; The Good Life Project and Tim De Cotta & The Warriors; and even jazz wizards The Steve McQueens. Regional talents were also roped in to ensure a memorable two days such as Japan’s Za FeeDo, Jakarta’s Barry Likumahuwa and Kuala Lumpur’s Najwa.

In addition to the concert, the organisers also infused cultural elements to the programme, with the Siong Leng Musical Association, Raghajazz and Cantonese opera

by Chris Choo; and one of the last Teochew puppetry troupes on the island, the Sin Ee Lye Heng troupe, which all performed either on the stage or at a smaller space that was set-up opposite to the main stage. Live art and

installation with food and beverage options complemented the overall experience for the audience.

The ticketed event in the open space kicked off at 1pm and finished off at 10pm on both days. Uthaiyan Kumanan of Black Beard Audio/Productions was appointed by the organisers to handle technical direction, project management as well as design of the space including lighting design and operations.

Uthaiyan Kumanan of Black Beard Audio/Productions

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“This is the first time the park is being used for an outdoor concert. So as you can expect, we had quite a bit of recce to do to understand the terrain. We definitely had a few challenges but thankfully at the end of the day we were able to deliver,” said Uthaiyan.

Black Beard Audio/Productions decided from the offset that it would have to work with a number of companies to pull the event off and as such invited BCUBE Live Sound and Production to be the main contractor to help in coordination as well as in supplying some of the equipment.

“We have always enjoyed working with BCUBE on many challenging occasions to deliver a show, this time round my choice was no different, in choosing a company that would go beyond their call of duty to aid the show” In fact about 5 companies were involved in the sound, light, staging and visual aspect of the event.

Key Challenges “We faced logistical and physical terrain challenges,” said Uthaiyan.

The only access point to the open grounds for loading was a 20m staircase. Though it was just about 15 wide steps to the open ground from the road, the challenge was that every piece of equipment had to be brought in physically via the steps and as can be imagined it was a task that took quite a few hours to be accomplished.

“We also had to have 7000 litres of water for the water ballast to counterweight each side of the main stage. After quite a number of frantic telephone calls, we were lucky to find a company that had pipes long enough to distribute the water from the water tank to the ballasts. Imagine not having that ability! In most spaces there would be a water conduit but here there wasn't any,” highlighted Uthaiyan.

be 65dB outside the concert area. We were able to achieve around 98-99dB within the concert space and 65dB outside the space. We managed to do this by simply ensuring that the PA was designed to concentrate in the audience area by experimenting with different layouts on L’Acoustics Sound Vision Software” said a pleased Uthaiyan.

The Set-Up The Main stage featured a 40ft x 40ft Roof top with a 32ft x 32ft stage. Complementing the Main stage was the monitor stage that was on the right of the main stage at 16ft x 16ft.

The Main PA featured 6 L'Acoustics Kudos hung on each side of the stage with a further 2 units as Front-fills.

These were complemented with 8 L'Acoustics SB28 subs that were placed on the ground in front of the stage.

Another 8 units of L'Acoustics MTD115B were used as stage monitors. Monitoring duties were handed over to a Yamaha QL5 with main FOH console duties handled by a Midas PRO2.

Lighting fixtures featured 20 units of HELILITE Beam, 24 units of HELILITE 36led Wash and 8 units of LED BAR, which were all controlled via a GrandMA PC with 2 Fader Wings.

Other than lighting fixtures that were hung on the truss, the stage featured a flat-based V-Truss on the back part of the stage offering different effects. “When I had my discussion with the LD, I really wanted to avoid the common circle truss designs that we see so often. We also had some rigging restrictions and thus we came up with the V-Truss design. Many members of the audience commented to us that it was a visual feast,” said a pleased Uthaiyan.

Uthaiyan also had to appoint one personnel to check the grounds regularly, as it was an open area and Singapore has intermittent heavy rains during this period. “We had to ensure that our stage does not sink as that would be a major safety issue.” Thankfully there were no untoward issue on this aspect.

“The other challenge we had was the fact that the park is surrounded by multi-storied residences. We had to continuously monitor our dB levels to ensure that we were within the legal limits set by Nparks. In this case it was to Teochew Puppety performance

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is just one of the events it had organised, though it was also their biggest.

A lot of interest was vested in Getai Soul and to their credit all involved managed to pull off the event successfully.

Collaboration between break dancers and a traditional Chinese opera singer

At the opposite end of the Main stage and beside the FOH mixing space, was a much smaller space that was set-up for the Teochew Puppetry performance as well as for a performance which was a collaboration between break dancers and a traditional Chinese opera singer. Here D.A.S. Audio AERO8A monitors were chosen for their low profile with D.A.S. Action 15A point source speakers handling the FOH with a YAMAHA LS9 mixer.

The Experience Chinatown is an old housing estate which also happens to have a high number of the older generation Singaporeans living in the area. Getai's Groups inclusion of the cultural elements in a way was to ensure an inclusive event for the residents in the vicinity. At the same time it was also an opportunity to showcase to the younger generation some of the older cultural experiences. Getai Group's main objective however remains in promoting local talents and Getai Soul

As for Uthaiyan he had another objective as well. “In line with Getai Group wanting to promote local talents, I wanted the talents to experience in some way a sound and light experience that would normally be reserved for foreign acts. Using top end audio systems and putting in the effort on the lighting effect for each act was to me a small way to payback the local community. Though it truly was a challenge, I must thank the team that was involved in helping me pull this off successfully.� * All photos copyright of Axel Serik Photography

www.facebook.com/blackbeardaudio

The Production Team Project Management/Technical Direction: Black Beard Audio/Productions Main Contractor: BCUBE Live Sound and Productions Back Line Provider: Favian from AV Productions Staging And Rigging: Titans Lighting: MIKEMANN Stage Managers: Sarah Sim, Juhardi, Isa Foong and Hanis Sound Engineers: Asher, Eugene, Douglas and Yan Lighting Designer/Operator: Tejay Yeo

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EVENTS LISTING 2016 May 31 – Jun 03

Aug 23 – 25

BroadcastAsia/ CommunicAsia 2016

Integrate 2016

Venue: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Venue: Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park

Site: www.broadcast-asia.com

Site: integrate-expo.com

www.communicasia.com

Aug 31 – Sept 03 Jun 08 – 10

Broadcast Indonesia/Communic Indonesia 2016

InfoComm International 2016

Venue: Jakarta International Expo

Venue: Las Vega Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Site: www.broadcast-indonesia.com

Site: www.infocommshow.org

Sep 01 – 04 June 13 – 16

PALM Expo 2016

Asian Attractions Expo 2016

Venue: China International Exhibition Centre, Beijing,

Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre, China

China

Site: http://www.iaapa.org/expos/asian-attractions-expo/

Site: www.palmexpo.net

home

Sep 12 – 14 Jun 23 – 25

InfoComm India

Summer NAMM 2016

Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India

Venue: Nashville, TN

Site: www.infocomm-india.com

Site: www.namm.org/summer/2016

Oct 26 - 29 Jun 30 – Jul 02

Prolight + Sound Shanghai 2016

Indian DJ Expo

Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai

Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

China

Site: www.indiandjexpo.in

Site: www.prolightsound-shanghai.com

July 20 – 21

Oct 31 – Nov 02

ProAVL Asia 2016 / Toursim Technology Asia 2016

Prolight + Sound Middle East

Venue: Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Venue: Dubai International Convention & Exhibition

Site: www.proavlasia.com

Centre, Dubai Site: www.prolightsoundme.com

Aug 04 – 06 AudioVisual Integration Expo New Delhi 2016

Dec 06 – 08

Venue: Hall 7ABC and 7FGH, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi,

InfoComm Middle East and Africa

India

Venue: Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai

Site: www.aviiexpo.in

Site: www.infocomm-mea.com