Pro-Systems News July/August 2015 by Sun Circle Publishers

July / August 2015

R38.00

AV System Integration | Installations | Live Events | Studio PRO Audio

Cover World class lighting Story designers at Mediatech Mediatech and Infocomm reportback Education sector focus State of the art new studios Madame Zingara celebrates!

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In This Issue EDITOR

CONTENTS NEWS

Hello everyone, and welcome to the new edition of Prosystems Africa News. Mediatech Africa has come and gone, and it has outdone most people’s expectations. It is now firmly established as THE premier media and entertainment technology trade show in Africa, with appreciable growth this year in exhibitors and visitor numbers. Notable at this year’s event was the increased number of international exhibitors representing themselves directly – a clear indication that Africa is being seen as a growth market all over the world. This edition carries a comprehensive section focused on feedback from the event. A particular highlight was the Lighting Designer sessions, during which well-known lighting company Clay Paky sponsored the presence of two of the world’s most decorated and highly respected LDs, Paule Constable and Durham Marenghi. New to this edition is our first sectoral focus, an editorial feature in which we will investigate challenges, innovations, case studies and products in a particular end-user sector. We begin with an in-depth look at the education sector, running stories on cutting edge new installations in the higher education sector in particular. Other things to look forward to in this issue include reports on two innovative new studio spaces – one in Johannesburg, and one in Cape Town – that demonstrate the South African market can still be at the forefront of global sound technology and expertise; a comprehensive profile on the well-known Audiosure, as well as our usual mix of insightful and witty product reviews, industry people, news and views. Don’t forget that we’re here for you – as your resource for key industry information, trends and product news. If you want to talk about any of that, have suggestions, or comments on anything you read here and in our regularly updated website and newsletter, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m on james@sun-circle.co.za. Enjoy the read! James Sey

Nye to lead Christie in Africa.............................. 3 HARMAN acquires SVSi........................................ 3 Innovatec Africa acquires Teljoy’s Meet.Inc..... 4 Avid completes acquisition of Orad Hi-Tec Systems......................................... 4 Merging teams with PENMAC............................. 6 ProAudio acquires new brands........................... 6 TID launch Adamson............................................ 7 Prosound honours French composer................. 7 RocknRoller joins TV Audio family....................... 8 Switching on in Lusaka......................................... 8

Mediatech Africa 2015 Crestron shows independence......................... 10 DWR stand impresses.......................................... 10 Portable Acer projector steals show................ 11 Getting to know Alpha Technologies.............. 11 Boxer 4K30 projector main focus for Christie... 11 Lighting Designer Competition raging success at Mediatech........................... 12 Theatre lighting for stadium events.................. 14 Stage Audio Works’ stand built by industry people, for industry people............................... 15 A stage for projection mapping....................... 16 TV Audio returns with double stand................. 16 Show on par with international standards....... 16 Audiosure and CHAUVET Professional dazzle visitors....................................................... 17 Bigger, better stand for PENMAC...................... 17 The art of lighting design................................... 18 Clay Paky shows off Mythos............................................................ 19 BMFL Series centre stage at Robe stand......... 20 New product brands at Peripheral Vision........ 20 TID showcases new brands................................ 22 Tadco debuts Digico S21 at Mediatech.......... 23 Viva Afrika’s sound presence at Mediatech..................................... 24 A new look for Wild & Marr................................ 24

InfoComm 2015 AV pros flock to InfoComm 2015...................... 26 Product showcase par excellence.......... 28 – 34

Company Profile Audiosure – professional brands in good hands.......... 36 – 40

Integration & INSTALLATION AV solutions and the education experience....................................... 42 Virtual Reality Centre revolutionises mine design................................. 44 Academy of Sound Engineering launches a higher state of learning................. 46 Prosound in the education sector.................... 48 Education first for the LETPC.............................. 49 Wild & Marr brings new voice to Newlands.... 50 Media 24 installs giant screen........................... 53

Live Events Classic guitar bands should get in touch!....... 54 Tim Dunn – the ethics of design........................ 56 SGM G-Spot – IP rated moving fixture.............. 58 Powersoft X8 – Brawn & brains.......................... 60 Topping the technicals for Madame Zingara................................................ 62

Studio PRO AUDIO Sound and Motion Studios – the Director’s Cut!............................................ 66 Howard Audio goes state of the art................ 68

Social Mediatech Africa 2015.............................. 70 – 72

Contributors David Davies | A journalist who has been covering professional AV and broadcast technology for 14 years. He is reelance managing editor of Sports Video Group (SVG) Europe and continues to contribute to a host of trade publications, including PSNEurope, PSNLive and Installation. He has also been a part of the team for The AES Daily, The IBC Daily and, since 2005, The ISE Daily, for which he served as an executive editor in 2013 and 2014. In addition, he is active as a copywriter and sub-editor. Jimmy Den-Ouden | An entertainment technician based in Sydney, Australia. His qualifications and experience span a broad range of subjects and technologies. He writes and reviews equipment most of the week, and works freelance on various shows and installations on a weekly basis. Jimmy can be seen on most GEARBOX video reviews, available on YouTube.

Elaine Strauss | A journalist and photographer, with experience in writing articles featuring a broad range of subjects, Elaine is also currently working towards completing her Masters degree in Visual Studies, while making her mark in the audio and AV industries. With a keen interest in lighting design and film studies, she is a peoples-person with a fascination for all things new and shiny. With experience in journalism, videography and marketing, she brings to her writing a passion for and understanding of various fields.

Editorial Disclaimer The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Pro-Systems Africa News or any employee thereof. Sun Circle Publishers makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. Sun Circle Publishers reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable. All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publisher.

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Publishers & Projects

news

Nye to lead Christie in Africa Richard Nye has accepted an important new position within Christie EMEA as Regional Director for Africa. He takes the helm with the departure of Phil Lord who returns to the UK after nearly a decade as Territory Manager to become Manager Cinema Lamp Sales, EMEA. Nye’s move coincides with a new facility in Johannesburg. Since joining Christie in 1996, Nye managed key UK partners as Business Development Manager for the UK markets before moving to the cinema role and progressed to Director of Digital Cinema: Nye put Christie on the map as cinema leader in EMEA and is known across the industry for leading cinemas to switch from film to digital technology. “In light of the success he achieved, I am sure all of this valuable experience in relationships, team ethics, market understanding and product knowledge will stand him in good stead for the challenges ahead,” states Simon Smith, VP of EMEA. With this new opportunity, Christie will look to Nye as Regional Director, Africa, to build

Richard Nye, director of film sales for EMEA at Christie

on the platform established by Lord to enhance Christie’s considered position within the African market, to develop new markets in emerging countries like Nigeria and Kenya, as well as grow existing channels in the more traditional markets in South Africa. Nye will continue to oversee the Cinema business in the Middle East as well as Africa. “I can’t wait to get to grips with the challenge of looking after the African Territory. For those who are not aware, we will

have state-of-the-art demo and training suites where we offer local support for our African partners and clients,” Nye says. Simon Smith also pays tribute to Lord: “I would like to say a big thank you to Phil who has firmly put Christie on the African map and I firmly believe that he will be handing over to Richard a sound platform of business as well as an established team which is now in place with Annalise, Chris and Tyron.”

HARMAN acquires SVSi HARMAN International has announced that it has acquired SVSi, the leading maker of networked AV products. Based in Huntsville, Alabama, SVSi manufactures and sells an extensive portfolio of products for delivering a complete AV experience over an IP network. Included among these is a full range of high performance encoders and decoders, windowing/wall processors, audio transceiver, video recorder, and management software. SVSi will join HARMAN Professional’s Video and Control Strategic Business Unit (SBU) led by Rashid Skaf and marketed under the AMX by HARMAN brand. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “HARMAN was early to recognise the emergence and potential of AV over IP,” comments Blake Augsburger, President HARMAN Professional Division. “For more

Blake Augsburger, President HARMAN Professional Division

than six years, we have been steadily introducing new products to serve growing customer demand for IP-based products. With the acquisition of SVSi, we will accelerate our development plan with the addition of extraordinary expertise from the SVSi team.” “As an independent company, SVSi has enjoyed tremendous success and acceptance of our networked AV solutions,” remarks Andy Whitehead, SVSi President and Founder. “Our products have been recognised with numerous industry awards and, more importantly, been adopted by a wide number and variety of leading organisations in the entertainment, government, education, and corporate sectors. By joining forces with HARMAN, we can deliver the benefits of our solutions to more customers, faster than we could do on our own.”

news

Innovatec Africa acquires Teljoy’s Meet.Inc. Innovatec Africa has acquired 100% ownership of Meet.Inc, a division of Teljoy Business Systems (Pty) Ltd, effective 1 May 2015. Meet.Inc is an industry leader in video conferencing and boardroom solutions in South Africa, and the acquisition allows Innovatec Africa to provide a dedicated market offering. According to Quinton van der Burgh, Chief Executive Officer at Innovatec Africa: “This acquisition provides us with the opportunity to extend the value and service we offer to our existing customers and increase our capabilities within the market. We are now able to effectively manage each project confident that we will exceed customers’

expectations.” Meet.Inc is a group of highly specialised professionals boasting 12 years as a market leader, and is known as a pioneer in the corporate audio visual, meeting and collaboration industries. “We have chosen Meet.Inc because of its experience within the industry,” states Van der Burgh, “we are on the path of mergers and acquisitions and having created a fantastic brand – Innovatec Africa, we recognised Meet.Inc as a sustainable business that will assist us to

achieve our growth.” Marc Atkinson, Divisional Head of Meet. Inc states: “When we were approached by Innovatec Africa, we saw the synergy between our companies and knew that it would be a solid fit for us because its aggressive acquisition and expansion strategies would satisfy our growth ambitions.” Meet.inc have made it their mission to streamline communication in corporate meeting spaces with technology solutions that are both affordable and maximise business productivity using simple solutions that are practical and innovative and built on existing infrastructure to maximise business productivity and growth. “This acquisition not only improves the total service offering from Innovatec Africa, it also provides our collective customers with a single point of contact for these services and allows Innovatec Africa to enable value added services and support,” ends Atkinson.

Avid completes acquisition of Orad Hi-Tec Systems Avid® announced it has completed its acquisition of Orad Hi-Tec Systems, a leading provider of state-of-the-art 3D real-time graphics, video servers, and related workflow management solutions. The Orad product lines are highly complementary to the Avid MediaCentral Platform, and allow Avid to give media organisations and creative professionals more comprehensive workflows with greater choice, flexibility and operational efficiency. Avid plans to expand its portfolio and distribution network with Orad’s line of news, channel branding, sports production and enhancement, elections and special events, virtual studios, video walls, and virtual advertisement products. With this expanded capability, media organisations on the Avid MediaCentral Platform should reduce the burden of piecing together disparate fragmented workflows in their production environments, resulting in less complexity, fewer interoperability challenges, and greater efficiency and productivity. The combination of Avid and Orad is expected to deliver a number of significant benefits for customers of both companies, including enhanced integration, more comprehensive workflows, improved efficiency, complete choice with an open ecosystem and more options for workflow management.

Louis Hernandez Jnr, chairman, president, and CEO of Avid

Under the terms of the deal, Avid paid €5.67 in cash for each share of Orad common stock, which at today’s exchange rate equals approximately $65 million USD, net of estimated cash acquired. The company funded the transaction with the proceeds received from the recently announced sale of its convertible senior

notes. Avid expects the transaction to be accretive on an adjusted EBITDA and cash flow basis. In addition, the company expects to provide updated annual guidance in connection with the second quarter business update call, which would include the impact of the transaction.

Johannesburg | +27 11 974 0633 | sound@wildandmarr.co.za Cape Town | +27 21 787 9378 | sales@wmc.co.za Durban | +27 31 573 7400 | admin@wildandmarrkzn.co.za Imported and Distributed by

news

Merging teams with PENMAC Merging Technologies is proud to announce the formation of a new company to support its sales and technical support in Sweden. Merging Sweden took over distribution of the Merging professional products line at the beginning of May. The force behind this new operation is Kjetil Laukholm who has been supporting sales in Sweden for some time now. The move to become the full distributor was a logical conclusion, given his experience with the Merging brand. Shortly after ISE 2015, the South Africa distribution was switched to PENMAC; a company with particular expertise in live events and A/V installations. Headed up by Malcolm Finlay, PENMAC’s South African roots have led them across their country, but they have also gained extensive international experience supplying compelling audiovisual solutions to satisfied clients. Established in 1998 and primarily supplying multi-track audio recording and production solutions, their expertise now also incorporates multi-screen visual productions. The close integration of Merging products with PENMAC’s visual platforms ensures a

solid synergistic solution for projects requiring very high definition visual content coupled with very high definition audio delivery all perfectly synchronised onto one control platform. This strategy reflects the global increase in sophisticated and immersive spectaculars and events and perfectly mirrors one of the main directions that Merging has been following with its Ovation Audio Events Sequencer. Laukholm comments: “My focus is to improve the responsiveness and technical

support for Merging customers in Sweden. My colleagues and I have been customers for many years so we know what is needed in today’s competitive market.” Finlay sums it up; “We started with Ovation without really understanding what else Merging could offer. Now we know, we feel confident we can significantly expand the user base for Merging in South Africa. They have some great products at a variety of price points that appeal to our client base.”

ProAudio acquires new brands

Joss Pack

ProAudio recently acquired the rights to distribute the Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound brands of professional installed and touring sound products. The wholesale distribution business has a long association with the highly successful Behringer pro-audio range, and the holding company of the Behringer brand, MUSIC Group, also owns the distribution rights to the specialised Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound brands. "MUSIC Group really believes in the value

to be gained from building a brand, and really believes in wholesalers and distributors of their product adding value in sales terms. That’s in line with our own approach, which is to actively market our full product range to our dealer network and to drive sales," says ProAudio Sales Director David Myers. "Behringer has been a flagship brand partner of ours since the beginning, so the extension of the distribution rights for these brands to ProAudio makes sense commercially. And the new markets opening

up for these brands is also testimony to MUSIC Group’s role in creating the professional consumer – the 'prosumer' – as a market segment and creating desirable brands for it," concludes ProAudio MD Joss Pack. Meanwhile, having been the Midas distributor for nearly 30 years, Prosound recently regrettably announced that it has been decided by the Music Group to consolidate their brands under one distributor for the region, the result being that Prosound will no longer be the distributor for Midas/Klark Teknik. According to ProSound, it is difficult to have to let go of such a great product in which they pride themselves on their technical expertise. They will continue to service their clients with existing Pro-Series mixers. Although they will have to assess their involvement with the product as time progresses, it should be realised that changes do occur within the industry. Prosound’s market offering remains the same: providing experienced technical service with high-quality product.

TID launch Adamson TID recently became the exclusive distributor for Adamson System Engineering in South Africa and held a South African launch for the Adamson S-series at the Barnyard theatre in Rivonia on Tuesday 21 July. The S-Series was first launched at Prolight + Sound in Frankfurt, Germany earlier this year. Jochen Sommer, director of European operations at Adamson, led the presentation, discussing the history of Adamson, before focussing on the S-Series. “Adamson has one of the top three ranked products in the live sound industry, in the world. Our products are specifically for live performances, rather than public address or plain speeches.” According to him, Adamson is among the top manufacturers in the industry. “The S10 is a 2-way, full range line source cabinet containing 2x ND10-LM Neodymium Kevlar drivers (2x 16 Ω) and an NH4TA2 1.5” exit compression driver (8 Ω). The critically optimised sound chamber produces a slightly curved wavefront with a nominal dispersion pattern of 110° x 10° (H x V),” he said. “Any theatre, rock concerts, churches and stadiums would benefit greatly from Adamson and the S10 system is arguably one of the best compact 2-way systems currently available on the market.” Eugene Bester, Technical Manager at Liberty Church attended the event, saying: “I liked the fact that the system is so neutral, it makes it easy to do anything you want with it.” Another attendee, Gary Botha, Systems Design Engineer at MMPA Consultants said: “The system never got shrill or sounded like it was working hard even when handling low frequencies below the systems rated frequency response. Response was even both in terms of frequency and sound level across the venue. Another key feature is the compactness of the amplification and processing, low overall weight, small size and ease of rigging.” According to Tiaan Hoogstad, Marketing Manager at TID, TID is a complete solutions company servicing the live eventing market and acquiring Adamson will go a long way to allow them to provide even more than they have to offer. “We are very excited to add Adamson Systems Engineering to our line card. Adamson has helped to fill a gap TID has had and so today we are launching not only our new relationship with Adamson, but also the S10 system,” Hoogstad said. “This is a big responsibility for us, to effectively be Adamson in South Africa. But we are used to this responsibility, as we take this responsibility very seriously with all our brands and we look forward to working

Prosound honours French composer In celebration of the 90th birthday of French composer, Pierre Boulez, Prosound recently partnered with violinist, Waldo Alexander and Dr Cameron Harris from WITS School of Arts, in presenting the South African premiere of Anthèmes 2 for solo violin and live electronics at the Goethe-Institut in Johannesburg. Mark Malherbe, Prosound technical director and sound designer for this project, set up an array of Prosound’s own Maestro speakers in order for the piece’s spatialisation to be performed. The technological accompaniment of the violin, mic’d with a DPA VO4099V, was achieved through specialised processing equipment and software, and both violin and accompaniment was performed through eight carefully rigged Maestro speakers, each transmitting sound at different intervals, thereby immersing the audience in a unique sound experience. The lengthy applause at the end of this piece was evidence enough of its effect on the spectators present; complete amazement at the technical difficulty of the performance and the realisation of the significance of this event in South African music.

news

RocknRoller joins TV Audio family TV Audio has recently added the RocknRoller Multi-Cart 8-in1 Equipment Transporter cart to their list of products – and already the South African industry is sitting up and taking notice. The RocknRoller Multi-Cart is the perfect transportation solution for broadcasters, mobile audio technicians, audio and video applications, photographers, videographers and more. Ultimate versatility and the ability to change configurations on the go to fit virtually any combination of equipment make Multi-Carts the go-to utility cart in

studios, TV sets, movie sets and sound rooms around the world. Among its top qualities are the expandable frame, which adjusts to load size and shape, its huge load capacity in spite of its ability to fold small for storage, the fact that it is lightweight, rugged and ergonomically efficient and it ability to

Switching on in Lusaka

Stage Audio Works Southern Africa (based in Windhoek, Namibia) with the assistance of the South African branch recently executed a complete conference venue installation in Lusaka, Zambia. Twangale (meaning 'Let’s Play' in the local language) contracted Stage Audio Works, who successfully installed a complete conferencing system for Twangale’s recently built venue. For the main auditorium, which can be divided into three smaller venues, ACME entertainment lighting, controlled by a Hog system was installed. LDR Fresnels were installed for key lighting, powered by Leviton dimmers. All the lights are suspended from TFL trussing which is manufactured by Stage Audio Works in Johannesburg according to TFL certification. For the sound re-enforcement, Audac TCX12 tops and 18” subs were installed, complemented by TCX8 loudspeakers for delays further down the venue. The TCX’s are powered by Audac SMQ750 amplifiers.

Mixing is done via Behringer’s X32 digital mixer receiving audio from the S16 stagebox. Video projection is accomplished via Christie’s LHD700 Full HD projector with a wide lens. The screen is a Da-Lite 4m wide motorised screen. In all conference venues worldwide – the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) method of conferencing is growing rapidly. Christie’s Brio Team makes this possible and allows for effortless wireless projection from PC, IOS as well as Android devices. When the venue is divided into smaller rooms, projection is done via Christie’s LWU501i WXGA projector onto Da-Lite 3m Motorised screens. On the audio side, Audac’s Celo range of ceiling speakers, powered by an Audac low impedance amplifier is installed. Each of these rooms also has their own Christie Brio Team devices for presentations. In all three venues, as well as the main auditorium, seamless video switching is achieved using Analog Way’s QuickVU 150-3G switcher. This also provides SDI inputs distributed throughout the venue for 3G-HD Camera feeds to the projectors. Alpha LED DALI controlled downlights are installed throughout the venue, being controlled by a Leviton system. Each of the smaller rooms has a dedicated keypad to control lighting for the specific room. From the Auditorium control, lighting for all three

reduce time and effort moving equipment by up to 50%.

rooms are controlled from a single keypad. Although all the technical systems in such a venue can be a handful, simplicity for the operators was an important aspect for the owner. A Neets Zulu controller, controlled from an Android touch screen conveniently located in each room, took care of this. Controlled from the touch screen, by the press of a button, the projectors and quick VU are switched on, screen is dropped and input selection is done on the video switcher. The downlights and audio level is also controlled from the touch screen. Sennheiser microphones, antenna distribution systems and Radial DI boxes were supplied to accommodate the input requirements to the auditorium’s main PA system. In the foyer area surrounding the conference venue, Audac DW5066 wall panels allows for local audio input and volume control for the Audac CS660 ceiling speakers. This provides relaxing background music while taking a break outside the venue. An Audac M2 audio matrix is used for audio distribution in the foyer and allows for control from the wall panels. A dedicated Sennheiser wireless microphone with Sennheiser antenna system is provided for announcements in the foyer. They also received a mobile PA system consisting of Yamaha MGP mixer, DXR powered speakers, DSR powered subwoofers, Sennheiser antennas and StagePlus cabling. K&M mic and speakers stands were provided as quality equipment needs to be supported by quality stands which can handle the abuse they will inevitably face within time. All of this equipment is protected by StagePlus protective bags, custom flight cases and road trunks.

MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

Mediatech Africa 2015, the largest media and entertainment technology trade show in southern Africa, recently showcased many of the world’s most impressive new technologies in the industry, placing emphasis on the global move to media over IP and many innovations in professional sound, lighting and display. The show took place at the Ticketpro Dome in Northgate, from 15 to 17 July and featured a variety of exhibitors in the broadcast, film, live event and AV system integration industries. This year’s show was the largest and most successful to date, on all levels. In all there were a total of 145 exhibiting companies, representing over 700 local and international brands. A record number of 7 404 unique visitors visited the completely sold-out show, which also showed clear growth in the pro-AV and live event industries, since these dominated floor space in comparison to the broadcast and media production side of the show. In addition to the success of the show indicated by its sold-out status, feedback from the industry players has been overwhelmingly positive. Many distributors attested to the professional standards of the event, remarking that it was in line with comparable events around the world.

Crestron shows independence Crestron made quite an impact at Mediatech, with their first direct representation and their own stand at this year’s show. According to Vincent Philippo, Regional Director, as a result, this year’s show was very different for them. “Mediatech has grown significantly over the last few years and this year we saw a great deal more Professional AV stands, which is a very good indication of the potential for the South African market,” he said. “The market may double, or even triple, in the next couple of years, which is very promising.” Philippo emphasised that Crestron wanted to focus on establishing itself as an independent brand. With their own official office in South Africa, Crestron will not work

through any other distributors, and they will be able to provide various extra services directly to their customers, with their own training centre and display area too. “We are always launching new products, but for now, we would like to let people know that we are here.” Rupert Denoon, Regional Manager, said that Crestron also focussed on showcasing the Pyng System for the first time in South Africa. “The Pyng System is a concept rather than a product. It simplifies home automation, tailored to anyone’s personal lifestyle. Pyng provides the ability for system programming in as little as two hours, eliminating unnecessary expenses and time consumption,” he said. “This system is available on multiple platforms, including

iOS and Android and can be accessed from any personal device. Once it is installed, you can easily update and create lifestyle scenes, schedule events, and set automated actions right from the app on your tablet. It’s quick and easy, and all settings are saved in the cloud, so you can’t lose or break anything.”

national and international companies, which is an amazing thing,” he said. When asked about two of their brands, Robe Lighting and Clay Paky, having their own stands at the show this year, Riley said that he did not see this as a competitive scenario. “It is great to see these brands doing their own thing and because we are all situated in

roughly the same spot at the show, I do not feel that any one stand is taking away from the others. DWR has got quite a lot of brands and we are focussing on DWR’s services, rather than on specific products. These brands showcase some incredible products and it gives us all the opportunity to focus on specific areas and products.” As a separate attraction, DWR, together with Michael Broderick Lighting Design, also displayed a short performance show, named ‘1 Man 1 Light’, that featured four times a day throughout the show’s duration. The performance was done using just one single Robe BMFL Blade luminaire with a ‘back-to-basics’ creative starting point.

DWR stand impresses DWR impressed with their stand at Mediatech, setting the bar high and allowing for a lot of interaction with visitors. According to Duncan Riley, Director of DWR, they always try to recreate an international show experience in their stands. “First impressions count and we wanted to create a lasting first impression at Mediatech 2015. We wanted visitors to feel that they are attending an international show and with all the different manufacturer’s incredible stands and the international visitors who attended this year, I feel we succeeded in that. The wonderful thing about Mediatech is that it’s creating a platform where end users can greet CEOs and owners of great,

The Crestron stand

REPORT MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015

Portable Acer projector steals show During Mediatech Africa 2015, Acer made their appearance for the first time at this biennial, media and entertainment technology trade show, the largest of its kind in southern Africa. According to Product Manager Charmaine van Niekerk, the show was amazing and jam-packed with cutting edge technology. “This is the first year we are here and it is definitely the place we need to be, as we have been a predominantly IT brand until now and we are currently breaking into the AV market,” she said. “We experienced Mediatech 2015 as very impressive, with very high standards. Of the other manufacturers exhibiting this year, everyone brought their A-game.” Van Niekerk said that the main focus for Acer at this year’s Mediatech was their projectors, since Acer wants people to know that they produce everything from 1 inch to 100 inch products. “We literally have a product to fill the need in any production and not many people know that we have the highest market share in South Africa,” Van Niekerk said.

Boxer 4K30 projector main focus for Christie

Mordecai Matomana and Marco De Lemos

“According to our data we finished on 33% market share in the last quarter.” One of the Acer products on display, that also proved to be the star of the show, was the K137i. This portable DLP projector is wireless, both Windows and Mac PC compatible, 3D compatible and has two internal speakers with a stereo output mode. “We have had a lot of positive feedback about the K137i, which is one of our smaller projectors, but people seem to like the idea that it is wireless. Due to its size, people seem very impressed with its potential.”

Getting to know Alpha Technologies Alpha Technologies was one of the few manufacturers who attended Mediatech for the first time this year. Joseph Milan, Director, said that the focus for Alpha Technologies this year was establishing the company within the market. “Rather than Alpha Technologies team presenting any specific products or product ranges, we are here to put a face to the expected from a media and entertainment name and build relationships with our end technology trade show. users and dealers,” Milan said. “We have been at Decorex and “We want people to know that we provide Homemakers Expo before and for me, this everything under one roof, also allowing show is top notch. It is state of the art and the dealers to bring the end users to our office. organisation is brilliant.” We also want people to be aware of the fact Though Alpha Technologies has been that we are the sole distributor for Sony formed very recently to service the Projector and Video Conference.” professional AV market, with brands According to Spencer Thomas, Smartbus including Grandview, Powerlite, PTN, Evoko, Technical and Sales, Mediatech Africa 2015 Sony and WePresent WIPG, they do offer was everything Alpha Technologies everything under one roof.

Helmut Protte, Chris Grandin, Miles Donovan, Phil Lord, Harry Gladow and Monsi Cottrell

Christie this year celebrated their tenth year at Mediatech, with a brilliant display of projector technology. Phil Lord, former Territory Manager Africa, said that the visible growth over the past two shows has been amazing and that the professional AV exhibitors have invested a lot more in Mediatech Africa 2015. “There has been a major shift from shell schemes to whole stands and many of the other exhibitors have used this to their advantage. I have also noticed a lot more European manufacturers at the show this time, which is a very good sign,” he said. “This is a one-of-a-kind show in South Africa and though we attend various trade shows globally, Mediatech is the only South African trade show that Christie attends.” Lord noted that the foot traffic had been very well regulated at this year’s show, making the general experience less chaotic at the stand and allowing for more time spent with visitors. “There were also a lot more exhibitors at the show this year, which made it well worthwhile for visitors and gave it an international air.” At the show this year, Christie focussed on their mid-range LCD and DLP projectors, as well as flat panels, which is a new market for them. “Not many people are aware that we also provide flat panels and we are currently working to inform people,” Lord said. “We have recently launched the Boxer 4K30, a powerhouse projector with impressive, unrivalled brightness, which makes it perfectly designed for high-impact rental staging and large venue events. It’s the brightest, lightest and smartest 30 000 lumen projector and the most cost-effective professional projector on the market today,” he said.

MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

Lighting Designer Competition raging success at Mediatech

By Elaine Strauss

Electrosonic held a Lighting Designer Competition, in conjunction with Martin Professional, Lighthouse Holland and Mediatech 2015, on Thursday 16 July, during the Mediatech Africa 2015 show. As part of an innovative idea to promote up and coming, as well as established designers, Electrosonic presented contestants with a competition pack with all the needed software and information (at no cost) months before the show. The top five contestants’ show files were played at the competition, with a song or compilation of their choice. According to Bruce Schwartz, Lighting Division Manager of Electrosonic, they decided to have entrants design their own show to their own music and then to actually play this in front of a live audience. “A fixed rig of 4 x Martin MAC Quantum Profiles, 6 x Martin MAC Quantum Washes, 6 x Martin MAC 101s, 3 x Martin Atomic Strobes, 6 x Martin Rush MH3 Beams all under a Milos 8x6 Arc Roof made for an exciting competition night attended by around 200 industry spectators. The event was a huge drawcard for both the spectators and the contestants alike. The winners took home a fantastic range of prizes,” he said. “Martin Professional held a lighting contest to showcase their lighting design software a few years ago. The format was to take a design with a pre-determined piece of

year,” Sam said. According to Martin Professional, the Martin M-Touch is a powerful, yet simple control surface for the Martin M-Series controllers, the most affordable professional lighting solutions on the market. Fully compatible with all M-Series consoles and M-PC Peter Dahlin, winner Gary Sam and Bruce Schwartz and the winning routine software, the Martin (above) M-Touch is a plug-andmusic and submit a video of your design play solution with an and then be judged.” innovative control surface like no other Electrosonic in South Africa decided to lighting console. 14 FSR faders allow control take this to the next level and have entrants of playbacks and fixture parameters while 20 design their own show to their own music velocity-controlled pads allow for new types and then to play this in front of the of effects. Additional programming buttons live audience. such as record, edit, update, load and clear “So a year ago we sat down with Simon are accessible directly from the control and Claire from Mediatech and pitched our panel. Martin M-Touch comes with one DMX idea. This was well received and proved to 512 Universe for direct control of any be a draw card for people to attend the compatible DMX device. Mediatech show in 2015.” Second prize winner, Kurt du Preez, won a A judging panel consisting of Martin M-Touch Console and a 1 Year independent lighting designers, Denis Hutch Subscription of a Martin Showdesigner Pro and Christopher Bolton, Mediatech License worth R14 000. The winner of the third Organiser Simon Robinson and Peter Dahlin prize, a Martin M-Touch Console worth from Martin Professional Denmark judged R6 000 was Blessing Vilakazi. Fourth place the entries on site. went to Matthew Mitchell and fifth place to Gary Sam won the first prize worth Victor Hatega. The prizes were presented by R50 000, consisting of a Martin M2PC Bruce Schwartz and Console and a 1 Year Martin Showdesigner Peter Dahlin. License. “We intend making this a bi-annual event “This all came as such a surprise. I would in conjunction with Mediatech and next time like to give a big thanks for this opportunity we hope to grow it even bigger,” and for the support and help throughout this said Schwartz.

MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

Theatre lighting for stadium events

By Elaine Strauss

Durham Marenghi

Durham Marenghi, whose visit was sponsored by Clay Paky, gave a detailed presentation about Theatre Lighting for Stadium Events at the Lighting Design Sessions at Mediatech this year. Marenghi drew on his experiences in Turin, Beijing and Sochi and explained the techniques he uses to achieve the apparently impossible in bringing theatrical lighting to stadium events such as the Olympics. A member of The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, The Society of British Theatre Designers, The Society of Television Lighting and Design, The Association of Lighting Designers and Equity and is an Honorary Fellow of Rose Bruford College, Marenghi has designed the lighting for a wide variety of theatre, opera, dance, trade, concert, live event, heritage and television productions worldwide and is the first British lighting designer to have lit the Opening and

Closing Ceremonies of an Olympic Games. The first stadium he had been invited to light was at the World Student Games opening ceremony at Sheffield Stadium in 1991, which he spoke about during his presentation. “The lighting budget for the event was very small, so we hung some trosses full of malfi flood lights with scrollers under the main canopy, so that we could introduce some colour for the point of view for the VIP audience and the main cameras,” he said. “We discovered if we put one colour in four adjacent frames and rolled the scrollers continuously back and forth we could make the colour last for nearly ten minutes. We still had to light the stadium with very little budget and I decided to place colour filter in front of the existing four stadium lighting tours and we manufactured standoff frames, which came to a total cost of around R40 000 including rigging.” According to him, they used one corner tower in white, one in yellow, one in amber and one in red and as the evening progressed they proceeded to turn off one by one, brightest first, until the fireworks finale was lid with just the red light. “A very basic approach to controlling stadium lighting, but certainly cost effective and the TV director was quite happy with the results,” he said.

Marenghi also designed the lighting for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Turin 2006 where he became the first British Lighting Designer to illuminate an Olympic event, where the ceremonies were broadcast to two Billion viewers. He also illuminated the London 2012 Handover at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Winter Paralympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies in Sochi 2014. He discussed most of these events, each with their unique challenges and rewards, during the presentation, focussing on how the approach to stadium lighting has become more theatrical over recent years. “Today, with the development of LED lighting replacement for stadium footlights, we have the increasing ability to at least control the houselights. There are several television lighting directors already introducing theatrical lighting to sport events and pioneering this approach,” he said. Quoting one of the leading experts of this area, he said: “The business of lighting and televising sporting events is moving on very quickly and I predict that the standard white light approach is now in decline, giving way to more imaginative methods of lighting events and a show-lighting philosophy will be the way forward.”

Stage Audio Works’ stand built by industry people, for industry people

Stage Audio Works stand at Mediatech

During Mediatech Africa 2015, Stage Audio Works celebrated 15 years of supplying the industry with complete technology solutions. “Our stand this year was built by industry people for industry people. It was a realisation of our maxim of supplying complete solutions. The stand appealed to our customers from all of our key market sectors – rental and staging, houses of worship and systems integration,” said Technical Manager Nathan Ihlenfeldt. “Apart from the products we showcased, the stand was also a reflection of our inhouse design, installation and manufacturing capability. All of the products we showcased were also live and working and our team was available to demonstrate our complete feature set. ” During Mediatech 2015, Stage Audio Works’ stand emphasised the African launch of the Yamaha Rivage PM10 mixing consoles, the African launch of the Sennheiser Digital 9000, AVX and Evolution D1 Digital Radio Microphone Systems, the trade show debut of TFL OV40 trussing, manufactured in South Africa by Stage Plus under license from TFL UK and the debut of many local innovations from Stage Plus including a new clamp, EasyClad stage decks, ProStep staircases, Stage Plus cases and new adjustable legs for the Stage Plus deck range. Apart from these, Stage Audio Works also showcased the latest products from d&b audiotechnik, as well as the complete software workflow including ArrayCalc V8 with Array Processing. New products from integration-targeted audio product manufacturer Audac were also on display, alongside video equipment from Analog Way, DVIGear and Blackmagic Design. The complete technology solution offering was completed by a range of lighting solutions from ACME, High End Systems, Visual Productions, LDR and Wireless DMX and hoisted from Liftket. This year, Stage Audio Works also emphasised its commitment to the House of Worship market by hosting a dedicated pavilion for this customer base. Located alongside their main booth, customers were able to get hands on experience of relevant solutions such as Digital Audio Labs’ Livemix, Renewed Vision ProPresenter 6 and ProVideoPlayer 2 among others.

MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

A stage for projection mapping

Jason Johnstone, Abrie du Plooy, Terry Bourquin and Bruce Schwartz

Electrosonic’s Lighting Division Manager, Bruce Schwartz, has described this year’s Mediatech as a world-class exhibition on par with international exhibitions. “The market is maturing and customers are shopping, asking more educated questions, and making decisions. It is good to see the top manufacturers pushing the limit and competing in a healthy way at this year’s show,” he said. “We have placed our focus on projection mapping this year and displayed most of our brands, but picked what is topical at the moment. Everyone is focussing on what is current, which are

networks and they seem to be the future of this industry.” According to Abrie du Plooy, Electrosonic’s NEC and Galaxy Product Manager, this year’s show was mainly LED display focussed. “It is fun to be a part of Electrosonic’s team this year and the stand is incredible. It is just unbelievable that we have not even recovered from creating such a brilliant stand, but we will already be taking it down again soon,” he said. Jason Johnstone, Kramer Product Manager for Electrosonic, agreed, saying that most of the stands in general were of international standards. “South Africa can be proud of what they have achieved in Mediatech 2015. The show is very impressive. All of the big players are here and from what I can tell, not only are the stands better, but in terms of space and planning, the show has definitely improved remarkably this year. The quality of the show in general really stands out,” he said. “It is amazing to see so much in such a relatively small stage. All the genres are mixed here, so visitors get to see so much. It offers a broad spectrum of what is happening in all these industries.”

TV Audio returns with double stand TV Audio celebrated their return to Mediatech with two stands this year. According to owner Peter Berry, he was pleasantly surprised with the quality of Mediatech Africa 2015, remarking on how much the The TV Audio stand show had changed since the last time they attended, roughly six years ago. “Mediatech was as good as any show in the world and weeare thrilled with the attendance,” he sayd. “All the exhibitors went out of their way to make their stands special, going the extra mile in making it memorable.” TV Audio has two stands at this year’s show, namely one for their new brand Alustage and one for their Beamz brand. “Both stand were hugely successful, with the one stand focussed on the staging and

trussing brand, Alustage, who we have had on our name card for roughly a year, and one for Beamz, a lighting brand from Holland, who we have been representing for about two years,” Berry sayd. According to him, their suppliers from both brands also attended the show and they were very impressed. “We would like to see actual musical instrument manufacturers at future shows, as this industry would fit into what we feel Mediatech aims to provide to manufacturers,” he added.

Show on par with international standards

Mario Bentley and Trevor Peters

Matrix Sound made history at Mediatech, when they made sales at their stand – the first time in all their years at the show. According to Trevor Peters, the owner of Matrix Sound, their stand had a tremendous amount of high quality attendance at this year’s show. “The show has always been well organised, but this year it had a more international feel. We are very pleased with what we got out of the show, the interest and exposure. We have also had a lot of queries from international visitors,” he said. According to Peters, the quality of the show is on par with most international shows. “We decided to have three separate stands this year, in order to create a larger presence at the show; therefore we had an individual stand each for Galaxy Audio and Dynacord.” All three stands were located in the same area and all three did very well with regards to visitors, said Peters. Alcons Audio’s ground-breaking Sentinel amplifier was recently launched by Matrix Sound and according to Peters, drew a lot of people to the stand. “We have had a lot of visitors who were specifically interested in the Sentinel. It is an incredible amplifier with networking capabilities, which gives the user the ability to monitor the PA system from their location.” According to Alcons Audio, the proprietary designed and developed Sentinel Amplified Loudspeaker Controllers are the 'engine' behind every Alcons system and are designed to get the absolute maximum performance out of the pro-ribbon systems. The ALC Sentinel features a powerful 4-channel DPS-based controller with ClassD amplifier stages. The four individually addressable inputs accept analogue or up to 192kHz digital AES3 signals, that are up/down sampled to 96sskHz.by the custom high-end sample rate converters.

Audiosure and CHAUVET Professional dazzle visitors

The Audiosure stand

By any measure, the Mediatech Africa 2015 Advanced Technology Trade Show was an outstanding success for Audiosure. With four stands and six distinct areas, showcasing more than 18 brands, hosting seven international suppliers and presenting their flagship and new products to thousands of enthusiastic visitors, it was nothing short of a great success for them. Highlights included their Martin Audio demo room, which was custom made to be especially sound proof to properly demo the stunning Martin Audio CDD range as well as the Omniline, MLA Mini and DD series. The South African company also drew large appreciative crowds to see its extensive collection of audio and AV products as well as lighting from CHAUVET Professional and CHAUVET DJ. However, beyond being drawn by the opportunity to get their hands on some of the latest gear, show visitors were stopped in their tracks by an eye-popping lightshow Audiosure created using a collection of CHAUVET Professional fixtures. Designed by Sean Crawley with the assistance of Stefan Van Der Walt, the show at the Audiosure stand drew on the intense output of 16 pixel-mapped Nexus 4x4 LED panels to display blinding breakout patterns and stunningly bright text. Adding to the visual feast was the sweeping light from 30 ultra-fast Rogue moving fixtures. The new Strike 4 blinder pumped up the intensity level even higher, as did four Next NXT-1 moving LED panels flown on the rig’s truss. A group of eight COLORado 2-Quad Zoom IP fixtures washed the booth in a rich array of colours during the show. “The lightshow at the Audiosure stand was really quite special,” said . “It really showed how lighting can transform a space, especially when in the hands of talents like Sean and Stefan. We’ve always believed that the best way for anyone to appreciate what our lights can accomplish is to see them in action. This enthusiastic response to the show at the Audiosure stand certainly proved this point.”

Bigger, better stand for PENMAC PENMAC returned to Mediatech this year with a larger stand and two feature products on display. According to Malcolm Finlay, Director, this year’s show was, again, very good and upheld the same (high) standard as the previous show. “We had a bigger stand this year, so we were a bit busier than last time, but we had a lot of interest and we made many new contacts, which was great for us,” he said. “This year we focussed on two of our leading products, namely Lightware and WATCHOUT.” Dataton WATCHOUT is a production and playback system for multi-display applications, from staging to digital signage, to events and fixed installations. With Dataton WATCHOUT you orchestrate stills, animations, graphics, video, sound and live feeds in a single impressive show across multiple display areas. Lightware Visual Engineering is a leading manufacturer of DVI-, HDMI- and DP matrix switchers and accessories for professional AV market. Their goal is to recognise industry needs and develop highest quality and performance-rich products by continuously consulting with integrators, rental technician, and design engineers.

MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

The art of lighting design

During the lighting design sessions at this year’s Mediatech, Paule Constable, whose visit was sponsored by Clay Paky, gave an in-depth presentation about the art in lighting design. The multiple award winning, British lighting designer and an Associate Director of the National Theatre in London talked about her design process and how this is reflected in works such as Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Warhorse.

Constable focussed her presentation on explaining the way she decides to take on a project, then emphasising what light does in each story, what the light is like and how to watch and edit the light in the most effective way. “I often feel alienated from the bold kit based way of using light. To me, light is more precious. It’s not about the amount, but it’s about the quality; it’s not about beams in the air, it’s about imperceptible shifts in the space. It’s not about lighting so much as darkness,” she said during her introduction. “My real obsession is storytelling, how to bring words and stories to life. I think that muscular, taut drive is something common to all of my best work. It’s informed, driven, dramaturgical. It comes of a process and it’s this I want to try to share a little of. To try to explain how I make the decisions I make.” According to her, the most important part of taking on a project, is establishing what it can offer her and vice versa. “One of the biggest fears for us all in lighting design is the sense of not knowing; not being able to see if it will work before we

By Elaine Strauss

Paule Constable

try it. So the very least I can do for myself is know why I’m here, why I am making something.” It is always important to ask what the nature of the light is in each individual piece, explained Constable. “Having read the thing, listened to it, engaged with it and heard the brief, the question becomes what is light doing in the room. Why is it there? What is the landscape for light in the piece?” For this discussion, she used Die Entführung aus dem Serail presented at the Glyndebourne as example, explaining her steps to define a place and time with the front cloth, then moving on to the architectural space. Sunlight needed to be recreated for this particular piece. She further emphasised that this particular design was based on the idea of layers and that the light and sight being allowed in and being closed off, added to the idea of seeing through to other layers and secret hidden spaces. “So the function of light is to be naturalistic, alive, hot, directional, brutal and present in

every picture,” she said. After this, Constable explained how she established what the light for this piece was like. “The sunlight needed to be slightly buttermilk warm to work with the stonework and the quality of light that would be bouncing around a space like this, with the sky beyond, and the sea. Making them tend slightly to the greener blues makes for a more period feel. And that contrasts in a very alive way with the warmth of the stone,” she said. “From this I end up with light that comes into the space; it knows why it’s there and what it looks like. It has a sense of purpose and it knows how to move. The final step of preparation is to work this into a structure.” In conclusion, Constable highlighted the importance of working deftly and quickly, but also to not trying to solve problems in the moment. “If in doubt, go to black and start again. We so often get stuck with too much light – go back to the essence of the idea. One simple idea is so much better than 20 half-baked ones.”

REPORT MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015

Clay Paky shows off Mythos Clay Paky had their own stand at Mediatech this year, separate to local distributors DWR, where they placed great focus on their Mythos advanced hybrid light. According to Area Sales Manager Massimo Bolandrina, with regard to the stand quality of other manufacturers at Mediatech 2015, it has remained similar in standard to the previous show in 2013. “We are positively impressed with this year’s show. There is so much to do and see, and everything is well organised,” he said. “We have also seen a lot of people from outside South Africa visiting this year’s show, especially movie directors and people from large churches in Africa. We have also been privileged to have some of our clients from across South Africa make the trip to be here and that has been great for us.” Bolandrina said he was also impressed with the quality of this year’s show, stating that the quality over quantity approach,

Giovanni Zucchinali and Massimo Bolandrina

seemingly taken by the organisers, has ensured more visitors to Clay Paky’s stand. Clay Paky’s stand was adjacent to DWR’s at Mediatech this year, but according to both, this did not take away from either stand, but rather allowed each to highlight different aspects of their products and services individually. “This year we are presenting some new products which are all still under

development, mostly to get some client feedback. However, our main focus for the show has been our Mythos light We have been running a very successful campaign for the Mythos for about six months now.” The Mythos is a highly advanced form of hybrid light. It is an excellent 470 watt-lamp spotlight, which produces an outstanding large light beam and features a zoom that ranges from 4° to 50°.

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MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

BMFL Series centre stage at Robe stand Robe was right at the centre of the buzz, taking its own stand space for the first time alongside that of distributor DWR, at this year’s Mediatech. Robe’s CEO Josef Valchar commented: “We have enjoyed great success in South Africa working closely with DWR, and this year, we felt it was time to further endorse the show and underline the importance of the African market generally with our own stand.” Josef was joined by a full complement of Robe’s International team including International Sales Director Harry von den Stemmen, Marketing Manager Jiri Baros, Exhibition Co-Ordinator Ales Gill, Technical Specialist Ondrej Hegar and LD and Lighting & Media Designer Nathan Wan. Product demos were running throughout the show with the latest DL4 range fixtures and the PARFect S1 (single chip), optimised for theatre, concert and performance environments and applications. Robe’s architectural and LED sister

John Saunders, Ondrej Hegar, Jiri Baroš, Nathan Wan, Harry von den Stemmen and Aleš Gill

company, Anolis, had its own section of the stand allowing Director John Saunders to meet new and potential clients and discuss upcoming projects. “This exhibition is very much on the up,” commented Harry, “We made the right decision to have our own booth which had a lot of impact and enabled us to interact with a constant stream of interested high quality people. I was very impressed with the amount of visitors from across the African continent and also much further afield.” Adjacent to the DWR stand was a separate ‘black box’ demonstration area for

'One Man One Light', where top SA theatre LD Michael Broderick demonstrated the immense range of very subtle, beautiful and dramatic effects that can be produced using just one single Robe BMFL Blade luminaire with a ‘back-to-basics’ creative starting point. He created the show assisted by performance artist Belinda Henwood (the ‘man’) and choreographer David Gouldie. The concept was such a success that they have already been booked for a slot at the Hilton Arts Festival near Durban in September.

New product brands at Peripheral Vision

Peripheral Vision Stand at Mediatech

According to Wynand Langenhoven, CEO of Peripheral Vision, this year’s Mediatech show has been noticeably busier than the previous show. “The quality of the show has definitely improved and besides the normal visitors, we

have also been seeing a lot of end users attending the show this year. To me, this is further evidence of the growth of Mediatech through the years,” he said. Langenhoven said that there has also been a definite increase in the presence of

professional AV users, which he was very happy about. “It is very positive to see how many of the manufacturers at this show, has shifted to more professional AV, which again, just shows how far Mediatech has come the last few years and it will be very interesting to see where the next show will take this market.” At this year’s Mediatech, Peripheral Vision focussed on some of their new product agencies and brands, like Bosch, SVSi by Harman, Da-Lite and Chief. They have also recently welcomed a new member to the Peripheral Vision team, which they are delighted about. “We are especially proud to have welcomed Elaine O’Gorman to our team. She has been synonymous with Bosch and is very well-known in the industry. We look forward to a future working closely with her,” he said. Harman International announced in June this year that they had acquired SVSi, the leading maker of networked AV products, and Peripheral Vision showcased some of their incredible products at this year’s Mediatech.

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MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

TID showcases new brands Marketing Manager at TID, Tiaan Hoogstad, said that the first day of this year’s show was the busiest that TID has ever experienced at Mediatech, and he commented on the role, he believed, social marketing played in the show’s success. “All in all, the quality of this year’s show has remained on the standard we have come to expect form media and entertainment technology shows across the globe. But the show has definitely improved from previous years, with the amount of African visitors continuing to build every time. Though South Africa remains a big part in this show, the African part continues to grow, which means that the show is becoming more important to the continent, not just to South Africa,” he said. “We have also seen a lot of international visitors this year and I believe a lot of people are seeing the value of Mediatech Africa, seeing the growth and potential for further growth, for the show in future.”

TID stand at Mediatech

According to him, TID’s focus for Mediatech Africa 2015 was Adamson Systems Engineering, which they launched in South Africa this year. TID was announced as the exclusive South African distributor of Adamson Systems Engineering products, at the Prolight + Sound show in Frankfurt, Germany, earlier this year. “Adamson Systems Engineering and its products are well-known and respected

throughout the world, and we are honoured to be bringing the brand to South Africa for the first time,” Hoogstad said. Besides Adamson Systems Engineering, TID focussed on their other new brand, LD Systems, during Mediatech Africa 2015. Along with Adamson Systems and LD Systems, the TID stand also placed emphasis on Beyerdynamic, BARIX and BIAMP Systems at this year’s show.

REPORT MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015

Tadco debuts Digico S21 at Mediatech Mediatech 2015 was yet another successful trade show for Tadco. The company not only showcased a variety of new products but also used the event as the African debut for their Digico S21 Digital Console with Stealth Digital Processing. There was a lot of buzz around the S21 digital console because it promises the quality that’s synonymous with Digico’s range, but for a lower price point. Prior to the launch of the S21, DiGiCo’s belief in audio quality and road worthy mechanical design had limited their ability to release an affordable introductory product. These values have required the same pioneering approach to design, not to follow the trend but to deliver the flagship for a price point – and change expectations. DiGiCo’s S21 does exactly that. By using new, lower cost FPGA components programmed with the same audio algorithms, and combined with a new form

of control processor, DiGiCo is able to deliver the S21 with the fundamental technological values at its core. Running in harmony with the FPGA core is a new ARM QuadCore RISC processor. Delivering faster processing with

lower power consumption, this efficient tool, combined with the audio core, has allowed the development of a cost effective console worthy of carrying the DiGiCo brand to existing and new owners and users.

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MEDIATECH AFRICA 2015 REPORT

Viva Afrika’s sound presence at Mediatech For Viva Afrika, Mediatech Africa 2015 was yet another successful exhibition. The tradeshow saw the company showcasing a variety of innovative audio products on their indoor stand and their outside sound demo area. “We had a full range of products, showcasing all of the brands that we offer, some in a small way and others more elaborately. We had our 'NUMARK corridor' again between our two stands, which was once again a huge hit with the DJ enthusiasts,” says Nelson Mendes, Marketing Manager. “On the one side of the 'NUMARK corridor', we designated totally for our brand Audiocenter, which had a whole lot of brand new product ranges to hit the South African market including the TS Series, PL Series and the band new KLA210 DSP and KLA28 DSP active line array systems.” On the opposite side of the NUMARK corridor, the company showcased their

The Viva Afrika stand

in-house brands – Hybrid and Hybrid+. Here, visitors could experience the brand new Hybrid+ A Series active range speaker and subwoofer range as well as the Hybrid+ A10LA active line array system. Speaking about the most popular products on their stand Mendes says: “The Hybrid+ A10LA active line array was one of the best received products showcased at Mediatech Africa 2015. It was displayed at the outdoor

demos to some amazing feedback.” “The Audiocenter KLA210 DSP active line array system also got great responses from the outdoor demos, as well as the Numark Mixtrack Pro 3 controller, displayed in the NUMARK corridor.” The company is confident that these products will make a strong and positive impact on the South African and wider African markets.

A new look for Wild & Marr

Gustav Teitge, Dave Budge (Harman), Cecilia van der Vent, Andrew Sorrill and Chicco Hiranandani (Shure)

Wild & Marr focussed on redesigning their stand at this year’s Mediatech show. According to Andrew Sorrill, Sales and Marketing Manager, Wild & Marr’s stand was very busy this year, with a lot of traffic and interested visitors.

“All the exhibitors at Mediatech have been going from strength to strength, which has made this another successful Mediatech. This year, for our own area we have focussed on redesigning our stand, to make it a bit more clear what we have to offer,” he says.

“We divided the stand up into four sections, in order to highlight the company and the solutions we offer, rather than the products. Our first section was Broadcast which has generated a lot of interest from visitors. The second section was our Retail corner and the third section was our Systems Integration wall focussed on AV integration, which had a flowchart to highlight our product solutions. Lastly we had our Pro corner, which focussed on high-end professional equipment.” Some of the products Wild & Marr showcased during Mediatech included the Shure Microflex Wireless, the Soundcraft Vi5000, the Studer Vista X, the Soundcraft Ui and the Soundcraft Impact, which was launched in July. “The new Soundcraft Impact features an impressive 40 inputs, a 32-in/32-out USB Interface, iPad Control, 26 motorised fader and FaderGlow technology,” Sorrill says. “Designed to be an affordable all-in-one console, the Si Impact can be used on the road, in the recording studio, in the rehearsal space and everywhere in between, which translates to significant savings in cost and time.”

K-LA Series – powerfully ACTIVE

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Frequency Response (+/- 6dB anechoic chamber): 60 – 20 000Hz Drivers: Beyma customised drivers Signal Input/Output Connector: Female XRL Input, Male XLR Output Power Input/Output Connector: Powercon NAC3MPA / NAC3MPB Power Rating (AES): 1600W Amplifier: Class D Weight: 24Kg Dimensions mm: 590(W) x 236(H) x 436(D)

K-LA 218 DSP Dual 18” Active Bass Bin

Frequency Response (+/- 6dB anechoic chamber): 32 – 300Hz Drivers: Customised Audiocenter drivers, Ferrite, 4” voice coil Signal Input/Output Connector: Female XRL Input, Male XLR Output Power Input/Output Connector: Powercon NAC3MPA / NAC3MPB Power Rating (AES): 2800W Amplifier: Class D Weight: 95Kg Dimensions mm: 984(W) x 650(H) x 760(D)

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InFOCOMM SHOW REPORT

AV pros flock to InfoComm 2015

Orlando may be known as the theme park capital of the world, but in June the city was transformed into a mecca for professional audiovisual buyers and sellers alike that is better known as InfoComm.

Held from 13 to 19 June in Orlando Florida, the annual InfoComm conference and exhibition provided AV professionals with the ultimate show experience that features the latest technology and engaging education sessions. The trade show attracted 950 exhibitors this year and occupied a record 515 000 square feet of exhibition and special events space. On the attendance front, this year was another remarkable year for

InfoComm, which saw 39 105 professionals walk through its trade show gates and representing 108 countries. This represents a 5.6 percent increase in attendance over last year’s event that was held in Las Vegas. Commenting on this year’s show, David Labuskes, CTS, RCDD, Executive Director and CEO, InfoComm International, says – “InfoComm is the ideal place to make AV purchasing decisions,

SHOW REPORT InFOCOMM

connect with contacts and learn principles that will boost your effectiveness.” “The marketplace strongly supports the InfoComm show, and we are grateful for the attendee support and for the innovative exhibitors who are committed to making InfoComm a can’t-miss event on the industry calendar.”

Surge in certification InfoComm is world renowned for its diverse courses on topics ranging from acoustics to videoconferencing, and stepped the course

offerings up a notch this year. There were more than 5 600 attendees that joined the InfoComm University sessions, which provided practical training and attracted the industry’s brightest instructors and students, while over 200 professionals sought out the new advanced class series. This year’s popular courses included Future Trends, Large Scale Projection Mapping, How to Build an App and Designing Classrooms that Deliver Exceptional Experiences. For technology managers, InfoComm’s Solutions Summits on UCC and Digital Signage was a hot ticket that attracted more than 1 300 delegates.

InFOCOMM SHOW REPORT

Product showcase par excellence The real meat of every InfoComm show is the huge range of cutting edge products and brands on offer. The showcase runs the gamut of the professional AV industry, incorporating high-tech controllers and IT integration equipment, to speakers, mixing consoles, lighting and everything in between. Here are some highlights:

HARMAN’s JBL Professional introduced its new PD500 Series loudspeakers. An extension of the highly successful, world-class PD Series loudspeakers, which are found in the most prestigious stadiums and arenas around the world, the PD500 Series will feature five new models and will offer the high power, excellent pattern control and smooth coverage found in all PD Series loudspeakers. The PD500 Series can be used in a variety of applications including sports facilities, performance spaces, auditoriums, or houses of worship. The full-range PD500 systems utilise the same high-frequency drivers as the hugely popular PD6000 Series, making them ideal for use together in large systems where multiple loudspeakers are required for even coverage and like voicing throughout the space. Distributed by: www.wildandmarr.co.za

HARMAN’s Martin Professional showcased the RUSH FiberSource 1, a powerful automated colour-changing luminaire that can illuminate up to 300 1 mm fiber optic cables. With a new 78 W LED engine, the RUSH FiberSource boasts improved efficiency and reliability while retaining all the key features of its predecessor. It comes backed by a colour wheel with nine interchangeable colours and a twinkle wheel for variablespeed sparkling effects. The luminaire also features smooth, full-range (0-100 percent) electronic dimming. Distributed by: www.electrosonic.co.za

The new NEXO ID Series was on display at Yamaha’s stand. A new Space A category of products, the ID Series is intended for use as problem solvers in toolkits of system designers and installers within the professional audio industry. The NEXO ID Series loudspeaker cabinet is a very compact, low profile, small format, yet high output single speaker for use under balcony, for front fill and side fill applications, and is the perfect accompaniment to NEXO line arrays in acoustically challenging spaces. Using a variety of mounting options, the ID24 compact cabinet can fit into almost any environment, offering high SPL output with variable directivities enabling it to ‘beam’ sound into difficult spaces. Distributed by: www.tadco.co.za Biamp Systems announced the release of Vocia 1.7, the newest addition to its award-winning public address and evacuation system. With its decentralised architecture, Vocia is designed with no single point of system failure for reliable public address and paging applications in healthcare, corporate office, convention space and high-volume transportation environments. Vocia 1.7 is equipped with new 2RU amplifiers, passive end-of-line monitoring devices (PLDs) supporting a wide range of speakers, as well as enhancements such as live inter-world paging, increased recorded message times of up to 30 minutes, and the flexibility to have multiple Life Safety Interface (LSI-16) devices. Distributed by: www.tidistribution.co.za

www.stageaudioworks.com

The highlight at the Alcons booth was the LR28 larger format pro-ribbon line array for concert touring and large-scale installation. The LR28 larger-format line-array is the result of five years’ development, with the last two years dedicated to beta testing for the proof of concept. Together with continued extensive R&D, which has led to another two patents pending in addition to the existing four, user-input from the world’s top engineers has produced the LR28’s final design. This flagship system marks an important advance for the company within the concert touring and large-scale installation market, featuring the unique 14” extreme-power pro-ribbon transducer. Distributed by: www.matrixsound.co.za

Complete Technology Solutions

Elation Professional launched EMOTION™, a ground breaking new digital moving head luminaire. A joint project between Elation Professional and High End Systems, the EMOTION™ is a compact yet powerful moving head digital luminaire that brings to the market the latest in next generation digital lighting technology, pioneered and proven by High End Systems. This ground-breaking new product is an exclusive offering from Elation Professional and features the patented, high quality software and hardware technology that High End Systems is known for while bringing the ultimate creative lighting tool to the market at a price to performance ratio never seen before.

InFOCOMM SHOW REPORT

Yamaha also unleashed its Rivage PM10 Digital Mixing Console. The new flagship console significantly increases the quality and versatility necessary in a live sound environment, and inherits features from the renowned PM Series Consoles. Evolved features and performance define yet another milestone for Yamaha sound reinforcement consoles. The PM10 system is comprised of the CS-R10 control surface, DSP-R10 DSP engine, RPio622 I/O rack, three types of RY cards, and two types of HY cards which provide the flexibility to configure and ideally match the scale and functional requirements of any application. Distributed by: www.stageaudioworks.com

HARMAN’s Lexicon introduced its QLI-32 Quantum Logic Immersion cinema processor, designed to deliver up to 32 channels of surround sound in professional cinema applications. The new QLI-32 interfaces with a theatre’s media source and existing cinema processor to provide a multi-dimensional listening experience with left, centre, right, surround, rear and height channels, all via HARMAN’s proprietary Quantum Logic Immersion surround-processing technology. In doing so, the QLI-32 provides theatres with a cost-efficient and easily deployed upgrade path to significantly-improved immersive cinematic sound. Distributed by: www.wildandmarr.co.za Martin Audio flaunted their new major dedicated installation loudspeaker range – the CDD™ Series Combining distinctive curved enclosures with unique Coaxial Differential Dispersion™ technology. The series is designed to deliver class-leading performance, fidelity and coverage consistency to venues that demand the ultimate in cutting-edge technology and style. Whether it’s a bar, house of worship or a prestige nightclub, the CDD Series has it covered for any type of AV installation. CDD has been conceived as a one stop solution; six two-way full-range coaxial systems—from the micro CDD5 to the powerful CDD15, complemented by high-performance subwoofers – cover the majority of installation applications. Distributed by: www.audiosure.co.za HARMAN’s JBL Commercial demonstrated the Commercial Series Amplifiers (CSA) and Commercial Series Mixers (CSM). The CSA and CSM line-up combines outstanding value and performance and fills the need for small, affordable, easy to use sound reinforcement for applications such as restaurants, coffee ships, fitness facilities, bars and other spaces where an elaborate A/V installation isn’t required. All CSA products are ENERGY STAR certified. Distributed by: www.wildandmarr.co.za

HARMAN’s AMX previewed the release of a control panel like no other, the AMX 10” Modero X Series G5 Retractable. Majestically rising out of the table, it stands tall, ready to command the room as only a Modero X G5 can. Featuring unique and unmatched AMX functionality, this head turner saves space while freeing meetings of distractions. The Modero X Series G5 Retractable is the latest example in this long line of ingenuity. Its precision-glide motorised mount raises and retracts with the press of a button. It’s just as easily activated via NetLinx control – triggered directly, through macros or via room occupancy. Distributed by: www.peripheralvision.co.za

InFOCOMM SHOW REPORT

Dataton showcased the new version of its award-winning WATCHOUT multi-display software. Just released, WATCHOUT version 6 adds an unrivalled feature-set for advanced projection mapping, multiplesource video playback, 3D media, modelling and pre-visualisation – all with a re-designed user interface. WATCHOUT 6 is the most significant upgrade in the 15-year history of the software and bursts at the seams with powerful new features for show creators. WATCHOUT version 6 offers new creative tools and smoother workflow for 3D projection and complicated mapping. Distributed by: www.penmac.co.za

Kramer unveiled its newest ProScale™ Presentation Digital Scaler/Switcher at InfoComm 2015. The Kramer VP-444 features 12 inputs with fast and clean fade-thru-black switching. The cost-effective VP-444 is designed for large classrooms, conference rooms and hotel event spaces and includes 10 HDMI and two computer graphics video inputs. The VP-444 offers unbalanced stereo inputs for each video input and embedded audio for its HDMI inputs. Level control is available for the outputs as well as for each individual input. It scales the video, embeds the audio, and outputs the signal to two HDMI outputs (up to 1080p). The product includes 22 output resolutions. Distributed by: www.electrosonic.co.za

Amongst the top innovations showcased by AV Stumpfl were the VarioClip Duplex projection screens. VarioClip Duplex projection screens maximise projection canvas by using both back and front as projection screens. VarioClip is the world’s first mobile projection screen featuring a clean white profile without studs or press snaps. Screen surface tension can be adjusted to suit with maximum flexibility and accuracy.

Arthur Holm used Infocomm to launch DynamicShare – a high definition signal selection and distribution system, integrating control of Arthur Holm products. It consists of a set of Arthur Holm monitors connected in a HDMI closed daisy chain loop, so that any user can send a HDMI signal to all other participants, and to other large displays or projectors which might be in the meeting room, or display their own local sources in the monitor without interfering with the shared signal in other monitors. Signals for controlling the monitors are embedded into the HDMI signal, so there is no need to have additional control cabling. Distributed by: www.peripheralvision.co.za

Bose Professional expanded its portable P.A. offerings with the introduction of the F1 Model 812 Flexible Array Loudspeaker and F1 Subwoofer. Designed to serve an even broader set of applications than L1 systems, F1 Model 812 is the first powered portable loudspeaker that lets users optimise sound by creating up to four different vertical coverage patterns. Offering exceptional power and clarity, the F1 system provides versatility for a wide range of applications and venues, easy setup, aesthetically pleasing design, and rugged durability. The F1 system is an ideal choice for live music, DJ, corporate AV, house-of-worship, AV rental and general PA applications.

Audio-Technica exhibited its ATND8677 Microphone Desk Stand with Dante™ Network Output alongside the ground-breaking ATND971 Cardioid Condenser Boundary Network Microphone. The ATND8677 Microphone Desk Stand fits gooseneck microphones with standard XLRM-type outputs, offering installers previously unavailable simplicity in adding gooseneck microphones to Dante audio networks. The ATND971 Cardioid Condenser Boundary Network Microphone was the first to bridge the gap between audio and IT as the first wired microphone that transmits audio and control data together over Audinate’s Dante network protocol. A simple Ethernet connection allows the ATND971 Network Microphone to communicate across an existing network of Dante-enabled devices and, with the microphone’s programmable user switch, control any of those devices at the push of a button. Distributed by: www.prosound.co.za

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InFOCOMM SHOW REPORT

Panasonic showed off the PT-RQ13KU, the company’s first beyond 4K screen resolution projector. With 4K+ screen resolution (5,120 X 3,200) and Quad Pixel Drive technology, the PT-RQ13KU is the most compact and lightweight 4K+ 3-chip DLP laser projector in the world. The projector boasts an impressive 10,000 lm of brightness and a contrast ratio of 20,000:1 using laser light, delivering extremely detailed, film-like, 4K+ image quality. The projector’s pixel is shifted both horizontally and vertically at a high frame rate of 240 Hz, physically creating four different pixels from a single pixel, effectively quadrupling the pixel density of the image and creating an extraordinary picture quality. To optimise for fluid, detailed, high-contrast images, the PT-RQ13KU leverages a next-generation Detail Clarity Processor that analyses pixel information. Distributed by: www.pansolutions.co.za Merging Technologies announced that Ovation 6 now brings the power of an integrated 3D rendering engine, for use with both replayed sounds and an almost limitless number of live inputs. This addition is now matched with the feature set that has made it famous and seen it used on some of the world’s most important events, and that has created an unbeatable combination. The 3D engine now in Ovation is set to completely change the way AV installers and live events production staff will plan their coming projects. Flexible, enormously powerful and incredibly affordable is a combination never seen before in 3D and immersive sound for the AV industries. Distributed by: www.penmac.co.za

The patent-pending Meyer Sound LEOPARD line array loudspeaker and its accompanying 900-LFC low-frequency control element made their US debut at InfoComm. The smallest and most versatile members of the flagship LEO Family, the new system was demonstrated live during the show, along with a range of other highperformance loudspeakers for installations and touring. Boasting tremendous power-to-size ratio with ultra-low distortion, LEOPARD and the 900-LFC element offer an unprecedented level of clarity, power, precision and ease of use. Distributed by: www.prosound.co.za

Powersoft announced the expansion of the successful Ottocanali Series, with the addition of three new highperformance 8-channel power amplifiers – under the series Ottocanali DSP+D. The 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 000W output power at 4ohms over 8 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. Distributed by: www.surgesound.co.za

COMPANY PROFILE

Audiosure â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

professional brands in good hands

Greg Payne

Alison Taman

By James Sey

Brendan Venter

Audiosure are one of the largest and most recognisable professional audio and lighting distributors in the South African market. Owned by the First Technology Group, they exemplify the market-leading approach to excellence for which the niched and focused technology companies within the group are recognised.

COMPANY PROFILE

Operating on a strictly wholesale basis they supply a diverse offering of class-leading brands to a network of specialist dealers around the country. At heart Audiosure are passionate about the industry, proud of their reputation, and committed to constructive and proactive growth for all of their brands. Home to many of the industry’s market-leading brands, the team have worked hard to reposition the Audiosure brand and focus the business for growth. ProSystems News spoke to the management team to get further insight into this prominent South African company.

The Team Alison Taman (AT), the company’s General Manager, has been with the First Technology Group for 20 years. The past 15 years of those have been at Audiosure, initially as the Operations Manager and for the past three years in her current role. She has focused strongly on the development of the team and on driving the changes necessary to steer the company to its current position and gear it for growth. Greg Payne (GP), Johannesburg Branch Manager & Sales Manager

Wharfedale Pro Line Array

has been with the company for 14 years. He joined the team in Johannesburg as a salesperson in 2001 and later moved into a marketing role. In 2007 Greg opened Audiosure’s Durban branch and took up the position of Branch Manager in that territory. He moved back to Johannesburg in 2012 where he was appointed as Sales Manager, and also joined the executive management team. He has since taken on the responsibility for the Johannesburg Branch as a whole and continues to lead the sales team.

Brendan Venter (BV), Audiosure’s Technical Manager joined the team five years ago, at first as a member of the then commercial solutions team responsible for project management as well as the design and commissioning of systems. He later took on the role of Brand Manager responsible for the company’s premium brands and, in early 2015, joined the executive team in his current role. Brendan started out in the live sound industry doing FOH mixing, later changing focus to system design and system technician duties. He is well-versed in design, measurement and optimisation procedures and is EASE Level 2 certified through two measurement platforms.

Samson RSXM12

Martin Audio CDD Series

COMPANY PROFILE

dLive S5000

APA amp

AT: Audiosure, as you know, is part of the First Technology Group, the backing of which has enabled us to develop a national footprint with warehousing and sales capabilities in the major centres. We distribute our brands into the professional touring, production and install markets, as well as an extensive retail market. We focus on categoryleading brands and take pride in providing excellent service to our customers. Vendor relationships are key to our business and all three of us, together with our team of brand managers, focus very strongly on maintaining great relationships with our suppliers. GP: Audiosure historically focused on mid-level products for retail markets. In recent years we’ve diversified and now also focus quite extensively on premium products such as Martin Audio, Allen & Heath, AKG, MC2, XTA and Vivitek. This means our back-up and service needed to be at the highest level, which in turn requires a focus on advancing our technical skill. We’ve had to restructure the business to achieve this, to actively grow and support our premium product set. AT: Amongst other things, this required the addition of a technically driven individual to our management team to complement Greg’s sales focus and my operations background. Brendan was the obvious choice for us and joined the management team earlier this year to focus on ensuring that we are technically able to provide and exceed the service levels that our customers expect of us. Chauvet RH1 Hybrid

BV: I am responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of the business both in relation to our vendors and our customers. I assist in vetting new products and ensuring that they meet our requirements technically and engage with our vendors in this regard. I also ensure that our sales team are equipped with the necessary skills to recommend the correct product for the required application. In addition, I oversee our service team ensuring that our customers receive efficient and high-quality after-sales service. AT: As GM, I co-ordinate the global strategy for the business, guide and support the senior managers, and ensure that operations and logistics are efficient, effective and well supported. We have a strong corporate backbone, including a solid ERP system, and we control and manage our own warehousing and distribution operations. As a result, the desirability of our brands is backed by the reliability of our supply chain. The heart of our business though, is our people, many of whom have been with the company for ten years and longer. Our pride and passion for our products ensures that we are providers of a quality distribution service, and emphatically not box droppers. GP: As Johannesburg branch manager and sales manager I have to focus on our key differentiators. There’s a lot of competitive product out there at similar prices, so I have to make sure we differentiate through our sales support, our technical skills and expertise, and ensure that our stock is competitively priced and always readily available. Our marketing also needs to be effective. We focus on digital and social media marketing, building profile and reputation for each of our brands. We have many aspects to the operation that are compelling to our customers – we have reputable account managers with a high-level skill set. These individuals are our face to our markets, so they have to be the best out there. The Audiosure brand is well-liked and respected for its comprehensive product portfolio and longevity, and for the ease of doing business with us, especially when it comes to delivery and support.

Design for Live The phenomenally powerful XCVI Core puts dLive at the heart of tomorrow’s sophisticated live audio systems, while its class-leading user interface keeps the engineer focused on mixing in the moment.

AT: That’s right – our goal is to be our customers’ first-choice supplier because of our unique combination of products, people, skills, support, and consistent, reliable stock-holding. BV: We operate in a market where many of the customers we deal with are skilled professionals. If they invest in our brands they need to know that we have the necessary skill and expertise to support them. To that end we have a strong focus on training. We have a dedicated training facility on site at our Johannesburg Head Office where we carry out training both internally, to ensure the skill level of our own team, as well as externally to provide our customers with a comprehensive understanding of the functionality of our products. AT: The disciplines that we foster and develop in Johannesburg are mirrored across the country where our three branch managers drive the same ethos within their branches. In Cape Town, long-time branch manager Clinton Fabian leads the team. In addition to his responsibilities as branch manager, Clinton also actively participates at a management team level in brand and product decisions and strategy development. The Durban branch is headed up by Roland Naicker and the Bloemfontein branch by Francois du Plessis.

Distributed system with separate MixRack and Surface DEEP processing embedded plugins Redundant hot swappable power supply standard across the range Redundant connections throughout 814 system inputs and 824 outputs max Up to 5 audio networking cards - Dante, Waves SG, ACE, MADI

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011 790 4600 | sales@audiosure.co.za www.audiosure.co.za

COMPANY PROFILE

Audiosure HQ, Johannesburg

AT: We have worked really hard over the past few years to focus our business and attract and retain the best possible players for our team. We are a tightly knit team who have worked together for many years and we understand and respect one another and work to each of our strengths. Although we take our business very seriously we also have a lot of fun together and are fortunate enough to work in an industry that excites us. What stands out in talking to the executive team at Audiosure is that they are young, passionate and geared for growth. The company is successfully combining a corporate business approach with the passion and obsessive enthusiasm that characterises the industry and its brands. More success beckons.

Brand Portfolio Audiosure is home to a wide range of respected brands addressing both the premium end of the professional touring, rental and install markets as well as the broader mid-tier market. As of the 1st of July 2015 Audiosure are proud to add AKG Professional, Akai Professional and Alesis to their portfolio. The brand portfolio now includes: Allen & Heath, Martin Audio, AKG Professional, Vivitek, MC2, XTA, Chauvet Pro, Chauvet DJ, Wharfedale Pro, Samson Audio, Denon DJ, Gemini, Allen & Heath Xone, Akai Professional, Alesis, Stagg, TrussT, EWI, SFAT, DSPPA, JD Media, Taiden, Senrun, Quad Industrial, and QBit.

PAVIRO Public Address and Voice Evacuation System with Professional Sound Quality Flexibility right from the start

PAVIRO is the first of a new breed of Public Address and Evacuation Systems. Not only does it provide Professional Quality Sound, it makes specification and installation faster, simpler and more efficient than ever before. Consultants will save time and define a complete system with just a few parameters. Installers will avoid unexpected costs thanks to the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extreme flexibility. Building owners will benefit from the low power consumption resulting in lower energy costs and fewer and less expensive batteries. Find out how you can take advantage, contact your nearest Bosch representative today or visit: www.boschsecurity.com

Integration & Installation REPORT

AV solutions and the education experience

The education sector is undergoing rapid change and growth under the influence of the new wave of AV technologies. Educational institutions have complex needs for their AV systems, but these technologies are undoubtedly changing the way people learn and teach; shifting traditional passive learning environments into rich media connected classrooms. There is no question that AV is changing the way we learn.

Interactive and visualisation audio visual systems are stimulating students’ minds in new ways, and allowing new concepts to be discovered. AV makes reaching new students anywhere in the world possible with distance learning technologies. Professors, teachers, and students can now connect and collaborate anywhere anytime. Audience response systems are increasing knowledge retention, and ensuring concepts are understood. At school level, communicating messages clearly across the campus or in the school hall can make dramatic differences to a student’s career. With education budgets the world over growing smaller, institutions are under increased pressure to extend the life of existing AV investments already made, and to adapt new technologies within the current infrastructure. Technologies for video conferencing, digital signage, breakaway rooms, intelligible sound across the campus, can all make serious differences to the quality of learning and the lives of students and learners. These and other technologies are playing a leading role in the classroom, with all institutions embracing them as a means of improving academic achievement. Sadly, too many educational institutions are forced to

REPORT Integration & Installation

By James Sey and Stefan Mayer, managing director of Corporate AV Integration

Make use of video and distance learning resources There are many schools, especially in South Africa, that lack teachers in key subjects such as maths and science. A good AV system, paired with videoconferencing, can help bring a remote teacher into the classroom to teach children and take their questions. There is no substitute for a flesh-and-blood teacher, but the technology can help plug the gap where teachers are unavailable. It’s also great for students and schoolchildren to be able to interact with peers and teachers from other parts of the world. The technology can expose them to new possibilities by bringing the world into the classroom. Videos and electronic materials, meanwhile, can help supplement the teacher’s efforts by reinforcing and complementing what children learn in formal class sessions.

Accommodate different teaching and learning styles A good AV setup and interactive electronic whiteboards provide flexibility in the classroom. They’re excellent for demonstrations and adaptable to a range of teaching methods and materials. They’re also able to accommodate different types of learning – from the child that likes to learn in a tactile, practical way by scribbling on a board to those that are good at absorbing auditory or visual information.

A cleaner classroom environment When using electronic whiteboards or screens, teachers and lecturers no longer need to clean up messy chalk dust or distribute paper handouts. This helps to keep classrooms and lecture halls tidy, and can also help to save money on stationery and sundries.

rely on outdated audiovisual (AV) equipment because of a lack of budget; while others are using equipment that is poorly configured or that is not a good fit for their needs. Provided an educational institution chooses a solution that is rugged, easy to install, and simple to maintain, it can drive great academic results from AV products. Here are five ways that an AV installation, paired with interactive technologies such as electronic whiteboards, can pay for itself in a school or university.

Reach students with rich, interactive content Today’s learners and students are growing up with technology— something that is increasingly true even of those from poorer backgrounds. Rich, interactive content is an important way of engaging children and students who use smartphones, tablets, and gaming consoles at home. They expect content in the classroom to be visual and interactive, just like the content they explore when they’re not at school.

More harmonious and integrated use of classroom technology Technology has started to creep into classrooms, but it’s often not used in a coordinated manner that promotes collaboration and sharing. Many classrooms have students using a range of devices, many of them old. An AV solution or a corporate whiteboard has the advantage that everyone is looking at the same screen and the same materials at the same time. This promotes group interaction and group learning. A whiteboard can also be handy for schools with a limited budget. With just one computer, teachers can still use IT as a teaching aid that serves multiple children. In the following special section of Prosystems Africa News, we take an overview of the secor and delve into some case studies and initiatives in what is a particularly important use of AV technology for the benefit of the future of the country. Despite being a growth market, the use and application of AV in the sector still needs to be effective for its benefits to be apparent. Our spotight on solutions and case studies in education that follows demonstrates the possibilities and the potential.

Integration & Installation REPORT

Virtual Reality Centre revolutionises mine design

By James Sey

The University of Pretoria recently launched the Kumba Virtual Reality Centre for Mine Design, a unique installation illustrating the power of AV technology for education purposes.

The University of Pretoria (UP) has recently unveiled a unique new installation in their state of the art Kumba Virtual Reality Centre for Mine Design. The VR Centre is the jewel in the crown of new developments in the Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Department of Mining Engineering, which will make it highly competitive both in the education sphere and in the private sector as a training and simulation facility. A brainchild of the mining industry, and in particular AngloPlatinum, the project was planned for some years and part-funded by Anglo-Plat. While the VR Centre is the central focus, it is part of a larger Mining Industry Study Centre which features seating for 600 students, and smart-enabled breakaway rooms with facilities to screen models and simulations on dedicated monitors. The VR Centre itself is built around the unique screening and projection facilities. There are two of these. The first is a VR Room for mining engineering planning teams, where simulations and mine designs are projected through two Panasonic DZ 870 projectors, with short thread lenses,

onto a flat screen 8m wide X 2.5m high. These can project in full-screen 3D or 2D, and can also project on a normal 4X3m screen in the middle of the full surface. Here, in full 3D stereoscopic vision, mining companies and students alike can, through separate computers linked to the projection system, update mine designs and simulations in real time, including linking simulation designs with spreadsheets in order to update operational impacts on the financial outlook of mine development. The real jewel in the crown, however, is the immersive VR environment built in the round with a curved screen around its perimeter. This is a full 3D stereoscopic theatre which can accommodate almost 50 people. Its screen is the largest of its kind in Africa at over 30m in circumference, 4m high and 10m in diameter. The simulations are projected onto this monster screen through five suspended Panasonic projectors, also DZ 870s.

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example on acid mine drainage and waste disposal planning for residential areas in the vicinity.’

The future of mine design ‘The VR Centre,’ comments Johann Louw, manager of the entire facility at UP, ‘is pitched at various different levels and can be used for many different audiences and customers. Firstly, of course, it’s aimed for use by students, especially those in their final year of studies for the B.Sc in Mining Engineering. These students have a mine design project as part of their studies, for which the VR theatre will be invaluable as a teaching and learning environment.’ But UP’s vision for the Centre is wider than a teaching aid. As Louw points out, there are many applications for this innovative new technology environment: ‘Apart from the educational benefits to the University’s students, the environment will be very useful for short refresher courses to industry, and as a demonstration tool for private companies. One of the key aspects of the technology environment is that we can simulate the entire life of a mine over 30 years, all without drilling one physical hole in the ground, and all at a fraction of the cost.’ An interesting new possibility that the VR Centre provides is the ability to plan impact scenarios far beyond the design of the mine itself. In the contemporary South African economic and political landscape, meeting environmental and job-creation requirements has become almost as important as ensuring mine operations are planned profitably. Louw elaborates: ‘we can also go beyond mine design and scenario planning simulations to forecast how mine operations will impact on any residential settlements around the mine. This means there is a far more holistic planning process, for

‘Making vision visible’ The building and installation of this unique environment, including the hardware and software systems, was achieved by John Petrie and his company Sonic Factory. ‘The project was a very interesting and rewarding one,’ says Petrie, whose company was responsible for the entire design and installation of the environment. ‘The screen design in the immersive projection room was a very demanding set of specifications. The dry-walling for the projection surface has the system’s speakers built into it, and covered – the system is controlled by an Extron controller, and power monitoring for the critical systems by a UPS. We chose the Panasonic DZ870 projectors for their cost effectiveness for the active 3D projections, as well as their adaptability and the brightness of the short-thread lens in projecting on both the curved screen and the flat screen in the adjacent room. The trickiest part of the installation was the custom-built trussing frame which suspends the five projectors in the 360 degree space. The design of this structure relative to the screen height and circumference had to be very precise. Luckily we had no problems at all with the installation,’ concludes Petrie. Johann Louw looks forward to the VR Centre becoming a benchmark institution not only in South Africa, but for the regional and global mining industry. ‘It’s a truly visionary facility on many different levels,’ he concludes. ‘It catapults mine design in South Africa into the future.’

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Integration & Installation REPORT

Academy of Sound Engineering launches a higher state of learning

The new ASE campus exterior is designed to resemble the profile of a sound frequency wavelength

The Academy of Sound Engineering (ASE) is South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best known sound engineering school, established in 1997 by revered sound fundi George Hattingh snr. It has recently moved into an impressive custom-built studio and lecturing space in close proximity to its existing studio/learning spaces at the SABC. Pro-Systems got a sneak preview of the almost-completed facility.

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For a long time housed in teaching studios at the SABC, South Africa’s broadcast hub, and the centre of Africa’s technical audio industry, ASE is well-known in the industry as the local flagship for the training of potential audio professionals. ASE students are directly exposed to the entertainment industry from their first day on campus. Daily interaction with industry professionals through their presence at the national broadcaster is almost unavoidable, and students are immediately exposed to the professional broadcast environment. It is no coincidence that ASE is owned and run by the team of individuals that pioneered sound engineering education in South Africa. The ASE team launched and ran the first (and largest) national network of sound engineering schools in the country and is directly responsible for the qualification of thousands of qualified sound engineers. Many of the graduates taught by ASE’s management hold premier sound engineering posts all over the world, including Australia, the USA and the United Kingdom. This talented team, through the establishment of ASE, has now brought South Africa into a new era of audio training: an era in which sound engineering training is made more focused, more professional and more practical for the serious student of the field. The new ASE flagship campus, in Richmond Avenue in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, is a custom made building that is the expression of the ASE’s development and progress. Connected to its SABC studios through a Dante-enabled audio router system, the design of the exterior of the building, its infrastructure and interiors, and the recording equipment are all state of the art. The exterior design, down to the laser-profiled steel gates, resembles the oscillating bars of a frequency spectrum output. Built into the steep slope of the road, the chill out space on the roof offers magnificent views of the Johannesburg skyline for further student inspiration after a hard day’s studio mixing and recording. The campus offers a self-contained set of four recording studio rooms, which double as teaching environments, and include a foley room for soundtrack recording. Each tiny component of the infrastructure of the building is geared towards the highest possible quality sound recording environment; from decisions on wooden vs foam-filled sub-structures for the floors, to specially designed multi-layered wooden doors between the studio rooms which offer unique sound occlusion properties. Each lecture theatre/recording environment is filled with top-line professional audio equipment, and each is a carefully modulated space that has bass-trap acoustical properties. The kit-list for the institution is similarly impressive, with the 96-seat main lecture area dominated by Harman, with Crown amps, JBL M2 reference speakers and an Avid S6 console among the equipment installed throughout the space to connect on the Dante-enabled network. The students in the new facility will soon be able to work towards a full BSc in Sound Engineering as the ASE expands the range and quality of its programmes and accreditation. They will remember their campus fondly as they work all over the world as professional sound engineers.

The ASE builds its state of the art studio lecture hall

Integration & Installation REPORT

Prosound in the education sector Prosound has a long track record of installations in the education sector. The Prosound business model has been to integrate AV on specific projects, where and as required by the project. Now the business has moved to create a division specifically focused on AV.

disseminated. A ‘plug and play’ solution was set up in each classroom enabling a lecture environment with a single motorised screen and pop up A/V point for projections. Optoma ultra-short throw projector and 100-inch motorised screen from Grand View were used while larger learning labs have 55-inch LG LCD screens and Electro-Voice and SoundTube audio reinforcement. Kramer distribution amps, Extron switchers and TV One converters make up the A/V control. In the medical labs Prosound's installation of a Barco C11 scoreboard in the Recreation Hall of the University of Botswana on the campus, Barco HD surgical LCDs and Panasonic medical cameras and recorders are combined to create The Prosound business model is being followed in that the AV division a customised mobile teaching-aid that can show what is solutions or end-user sector based. So the division offers services the lecturer is dissecting on multiple screens around the lab. In a across all relevant client markets: houses of worship, hospitality, distributed teaching environment such as this one, AV makes all the corporate, education as well as design and sub-consultation services difference to the quality of the learning that can be achieved. to the consulting community. To back up the consulting and solutions At the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Prosound fitted the offerings in the space, Prosound offers in-house AV products, namely multipurpose Recreation Hall in the University with a Barco C11 Key Digital and Cuanbo. Both of these address video distribution, scoreboard, driven by TV One processing, which is used in sports switching and control, but also leverage off the local importers to games as well as for general video applications. Three classrooms at strengthen the offering and give the client the best solution at their the university were also given standard audio and video facilities. available budget. Also in Botswana, Botho College in Gaborone, an independent The education sector is one in which Prosound has a long history, university, required AV upgrades for four 200-seater lecture rooms. installing systems and solutions in colleges, schools and universities all Through a partnership with Six Dots Media, a solution including EV over Southern Africa. With a dedicated AV business offering, this ceiling speakers, Rane processors, Electro-Voice amplifiers and growing and important market can be properly catered for, and Audio-Technica microphones was installed by Prosound. Panasonic solutions provided for institutions that may not have large budgets, projectors and TV One processing and video distribution completed but can put modern AV technology to good use for their students the system, using Question controllers. A second portion of Botho and learners. College that needed AV development was the 1,000-seater These case studies in the sector indicates the broad range of multi-purpose hall, for which 7 Panasonic projectors and TV One solutions available for educational institutions, and the results that switching and distribution controls were used. cleverly installed AV can achieve. Prosound’s experience in the sector is crucial in making the right At UNISA’s Florida campus, Prosound was responsible for equipment and product choices to enable the education institution’s connecting 30 teaching venues to a single point of ‘broadcast’ for goals to be met – reaching more students with more efficient and teaching materials to be communicated and lectures to be cost-effective AV solutions.

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Education first for the LETPC

By James Sey

The first ever South African Live Event Technical and Production Conference (LETPC) was held at the Sunnyside Park Hotel in Johannesburg in May.

The two-and-a-half-day conference was a South African Roadies Association (SARA) initiative, and was supported by the Department of Arts and Culture as anchor sponsor. The Minister of Arts and Culture, The Honourable Mr Nathi Mthethwa, delivered the keynote address at the event. The main purpose of the conference was to bring transformation to the live events technical and production sector, focusing on the need for a critical upgrade of skills development, sector training and skills interventions in the field. SARA, along with conference organisers, gathered relevant stakeholders, professionals, practitioners and international market leaders in the events, technical, production and education sectors to discuss the way forward, brainstorming how to bring about a change in the sector. Currently, the sector’s skill qualification is only at matriculation Honourable Minister Nathi Mthethwa delivers the keynote address level, and urgently needs to increase to at least NQF 5 in order to match international standards. “The event has had a long gestation,” comments Freddie Nyathela, SARA President and the prime mover behind the initiative. “but I believe it’s of crucial importance to the industry. Not just in terms of developing skills to make the sector more competitive, but to do so in a way that transforms the sector at the same time. What we really wanted to debate and try to achieve from the conference was the following: • To increase skills qualifications to NQF level 5 • To organise a live event technical and production sector skills-need analysis forecast. • To increase integration and transformation in the Industry. • To establish a South African Live Event Technical and Production Backstage Academy. “The academy model was presented at the conference by Dr. Adrian Brooks, who runs the Dignitaries at LETPC l r John Botham OBE, Honourable Minister Nathi Mthethwa, Freddie Nyathela and Dr Adrian Brooks. Backstage Academy in the UK. This is crucial for us because there is no accredited on-the-job training in SA, and we need to be able to benchmark our own industry of the process of professionalising our approach to skills development. technical training standards against the rest of the world.” South Africa is a major regional destination for all sorts of events, and Brooks himself was impressed by the inaugural event: “I was both that market is growing. We really need the right skills and the right kind delighted and honoured to be a part of the first LETPC,” he said. “The of technical support for the new technologies in the sector.” mood at this conference was very upbeat with all the delegates keen After the success of this inaugural event, Nyathela is already and excited about the prospect of a structured professional training looking forward: “If we can meet international benchmarks through programme being established in South Africa.” accredited training programmes, we can upgrade the entire sector, Nyathela is quick to praise the support received from the and feed into bilateral political and trade agreements – things like the organisations which helped put the event together, especially SA-UK and SA-France sessions. The skills interventions and exchanges Minister Mthethwa and his department. “While the initiative would not that can happen through this, as well as internship programmes, have been possible without the support of all these stakeholders – for would be invaluable for young trainees in our industry. In the short example – all the speakers gave of their time and knowledge at no term, however, we will have an LETPC next year, and we all remain cost – it’s key that we sensitise the industry players to the importance optimistic that transformation is coming to our sector.”

Integration & Installation REPORT

Wild & Marr brings new voice to Newlands

Newlands is one of the cathedrals of South African rugby. An iconic venue for the sport around the world, it remains a ‘traditional’ stadium in design terms, despite being the first major professional rugby stadium in the country to boast private suites inside the ground. The sound system for the stadium was in need of an upgrade, however. Enter Wild & Marr… Peter Schnetler of Sound Sure, who has managed the AV aspects of the stadium for many years, brought respected sound designer Stephen Hoy from Wild & Marr into the mix to advise on design and to supply the stadium with a complete set of JBL PD6322 speakers as part of the total refurbishment of the stadium’s sound system. “The installation was scheduled between December last year and February this year, during which time we had to remove six kilometres of cabling and hundreds of speakers from the stands,” says Schnetler. “We also had to make guesstimates on sound levels by and large, because we debuted the new system in front of 45 000 people at a live game – the Bulls vs the Stormers on 25 April! Definitely not the same as testing levels in an empty stadium!” Hoy explains the choice of the JBLs as the front end of the system: “The banked seating and different structure of the stands around the stadium means that even sound coverage is challenging – but the JBL PD6322s were excellent in giving an even sound field across the

seating. We took SPL readings at random seating points when we tested the system, and there was never more than a 3dB variance anywhere.” “Another big win for us,” continues Schnetler, “was the intelligent bracket design for the speaker installation. This meant we could adapt to the lack of uniformity in the stadium roof trusses, and do away with the extra cabling and hoisting.”

Designed for sport “Our goal for the overall sound design,” says Hoy, “was not to be able to distinguish the source of the sound – to have a uniform sound source on each of the four stands, as well as to have a uniform sound intelligibility.” Schnetler expands on the point: “the stadium is an old one, and the stands are not uniformly built – one is open to the elements, another

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roofed, and so on. Our challenge was to get sound intelligibility as uniform as possible, by sticking to the design diagrams for throw patterns. It’s worked out incredibly well.” The sound system is now so good, in fact, that the entire match-day set-up is of broadcast quality. The control room features a fully digital Studer control desk with dynamic switching, and the microphones used for all stadium announcements are Shure broadcast mics. All of the sound requirements around big televised matches not directly covered by the broadcast feed – such as the referee’s mic, or the amplification of the national anthems – is now handled so professionally that it can input into the Outside Broadcast feed. The system allows for a degree of flexibility also, and private suites can still have their own control over levels, except in the case of emergency announcements. Power for the entire system has now been centralised to one generator on the Jan Pickard stand, which offers better control over the whole system in the event of outages or emergency. Schnetler concludes, “I’m very proud to have been part of the installation team on this system. I really believe it has the best audio intelligence and quality of any stadium in the country, and it’s been a pleasure to work with Stephen and the rest of the Wild & Marr team on the project.”

Photo by Abrie du Plooy

Integration & Installation REPORT

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Media 24 installs giant screen

By James Sey

Naspers officially turned 100 years old on the 22nd of July this year, and in order to celebrate appropriately the company decided to refurbish their Media 24 headquarters on Cape Town’s foreshore. At the centre of the renovation is a giant video screen on the side of the building, the largest such screen in the province. The plan to install digital signage on the wall of the media giant’s flagship headquarters goes back many years. Avicom, the videoconferencing and AV specialist, had been consulted on the project’s possibility, having had a longstanding relationship with Media 24’s holding company Naspers. The plan to refurbish the building coincided with the recent installing of Cape Town as the World Design Capital. Naspers ran a competition to invite designs to modernise the exterior of the Media 24 building with a giant advertising video screen, while retaining the unique character of Cape Town’s historic foreshore district in the CBD. Ultimately, five designs were shortlisted, with the final design for the building, including the cladding on which the screen would be mounted, was split across the different designs. Michael Scholtz, MD of Avicom, takes up the story. “We were called in by Naspers to advise on available technology for the installation of the screen, and finding out about local distribution. After we had made the decision to go with an LED screen we were able to look at viable options from manufacturers. In parallel to the sourcing process we were involved in the sanctioning process with the City authorities – there was some sensitivity about traffic safety if there was live video on the screen during peak hours, and also concern about spoiling the city’s nature beauty, with tourism being such an important industry in Cape Town. Once we had decided to go with LED screens, NEC became the natural choice. A big factor in the decision to go with NEC LED was their industry-standard energy efficiency – in the event the screen required no additional energy sources from the building to function.” Abrie du Plooy, who takes care of NEC products at their South African distributor Electrosonic, comments, “we’ve dealt very productively with Michael and Avicom for some time, so we were very pleased that they asked us to supply NEC for the Media 24 screen. The tricky part for us was awaiting final approval from the city before we

could co-ordinate supply from overseas. After about a five month waiting period, we got the go-ahead, and the entire order was transported in one shipment! This equated to 1000 crates of sensitive LED equipment in three 40 foot and one 20 foot equivalent container units. At Electrosonic we are known for the technical support we offer our customers for all our products, and this was no different. In this case we worked closely with installers Eyecom, and are still on standby for any technical or warranty support needed for this impressive installation”

Screen dreams Avicom brought in specialised screen installers Eyecom, who could boast a famous reference site in the landmark Odeon outdoor screen in Leicester Square in London. MD of Eyecom Paul Bowling provides the technical perspective. “The wall comprises 20 frames, each populated by LED cubes, with a total of 896 cubes comprising the entire screen. The screen is the highest resolution video display of its size in the world, and the largest in the Cape. That also makes it one of the biggest LED walls in Africa! The installation was an incredibly delicate operation, with the Eyecom team undertaking onsite fabrication of the entire structure, which took four weeks. We put the screen up in sections from the bottom up, reaching its highest point at 30m off the ground. The trickiest part of the installation was the very small standoff distance from the wall – only a few millimetres for cabling and so on. This meant we had to ensure the screen system could be serviced from the front, and that the installation accommodated the undulations in the wall structure itself. Add to that the notorious Cape Town weather blowing our riggers and cranes around while they were hoisting some delicate LED panelling, and we had an interesting time!” Despite the challenges, Paul’s team installed the entirety of the wall in just seven days. The team are all very happy with the result. “It’s a new landmark for the Cape Town CBD,” says du Plooy. “And a really effective way, along with the redesign of the building façade, to transform the Media 24 HQ completely!”

LIVE EVENTs REPORT

Classic guitar bands should get in touch…!

Jason Thomas

After ten years spent primarily as a studio-based engineer, Jason Thomas hit the road in earnest in 2013 and hasn’t looked back since; with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Warpaint, Andrea Bocelli and Florence & the Machine among his big-name clients. David Davies spoke to him about career-changes, classic outboard, and the allure of iconic guitar bands. Not many sound engineers manage to work successfully in both the studio and live domains, but only 15 years into his professional career Jason Thomas seems to have achieved this feat with aplomb. After spending a large part of his teenage years playing guitar in a sequence of ill-fated bands, Thomas decided that a life on the other side of the console might constitute a more productive career-path. For the next decade he worked mainly in the studio, establishing his own facility and label along the way, before opting to change tack to concentrate on live sound. The beneficiary of a one-year contract with London-based touring giant Britannia Row Productions in 2013, Thomas has toured with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Florence & the Machine, Andrea Bocelli, and five-piece harmony group The Overtones, to name just a few. But in conversation with Pro Systems News, Thomas first turned his mind back to those formative early days treading the boards at various venues in the south-east of England…

How did you begin working in live sound? Jason Thomas: I started out as a musician at a really young age, primarily playing guitar, and was involved in a long line of bands up until I was 17 or 18. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone else who was as diligent about rehearsals, and who wanted to make a real career

out of it. So eventually I started to think about other options in the music industry and went to study sound engineering and production at Reading University. Over the next ten years, I worked primarily in studios, which led to the start of my own studio and label. Getting to work with some up-and-coming acts did result in some touring work at this point, and I had some great times working with acts such as I Dream In Colour, The View and Jarvis Cocker. I also struck up a friendship with Chris Kimsey [celebrated producer/engineer probably best-known for his work on several 1980s’ Rolling Stones albums], whose enthusiasm for some live recordings I made of a band called Deadwax helped give me the confidence to push on with what I was doing and trust my ears.

What prompted the more concerted move into the live world? JT: I was getting more and more fed up with studio life. Money was a bit more limited, and I found myself recording less music that I actually liked! It started to feel like a cage, so I began to seek out more live work. It was at this point that I fully discovered that the skills required aren’t necessarily the same – for example, I didn’t know enough about room acoustics and some of the equipment was unfamiliar.

“One of my first proper gigs for Brit Row was at the Warsaw Arena with 65,000 people… a bit of a reality shock and quite daunting, but a great start for me.”

Let’s turn SOUTH AFRICA upside down

– Jason Thomas

So how did you go about filling those gaps in your knowledge? JT: I went to Brit Row’s training school in Twickenham, London, and ended up coming top of the course – resulting in a one-year contract with the company. That was the beginning of this whole phase of my career as they got me out on the road very quickly with Florence & the Machine and Belle & Sebastian. In fact, one of my first proper gigs for Brit Row was at the Warsaw Arena with 65,000 people… a bit of a reality shock and quite daunting, but a great start for me.

Who have you most enjoyed working with so far? JT: I would probably nominate Noel Gallagher. He has always been a hero of mine; Oasis was very much my era as I loved Britpop music. It was just terrific to listen to him and his band play through the PA every evening. Noel is also a really lovely guy and everyone was so well looked-after on that tour.

Do you have a favourite console? And what about must-have outboard? JT: I still love analogue desks, but the new generation of digital Midas consoles, such as the PRO6 and PRO9, sound great. I’ve also been very impressed by my experiences with the new SSL console [the SSL Live, the manufacturer’s first major foray into live sound]. More and more I am finding that onboard effects are sufficient for live work, perhaps in part because you don’t require the range of effects you need for studio work. But there is some great outboard that I continue to utilise, for example Avalon compressors, the Empirical Labs Distressor that I used as FOH tech with Florence, TC M6000 FX units, and some really nice Line 6 delay units.

To what extent do you think that conditions for live sound engineers have become more challenging in recent times? JT: Difficult to say as I have been fortunate to work with a lot of larger bands for whom budgets aren’t so limited. But there is no doubt that it remains very hard work – on this current tour [with The Overtones] I am averaging about 16.5-hour days and getting by on 5 hours’ sleep, with a day off every 4 days or so. It’s not for everyone!

Finally… what of your forthcoming plans, and who is on your wish-list for the future? JT: I still have my studio, in Hampton [south-west London], and at some point I would like to create one in the garden of my house, having just moved. But although I do tend to do some studio work in the quieter winter months of January to March, the main emphasis will be on getting more FOH engineer jobs; recently I have been doing a lot of work as monitor engineer or system tech. Level 42 is among the acts booked for next year. In terms of future projects, I would love to work with The National and The Maccabees – both brilliant bands – and Radiohead would be a dream come true. So my message is that classic guitar bands are very welcome to get in touch…!

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LIVE EVENTS INTERVIEW

Photo by Louise Stickland

Tim Dunn – the ethics of design Tim Dunn is one of South Africa’s best-known and most respected concept and production designers.

INTERVIEW LIVE EVENTs

“Concept and design work is all about defining the event itself. ‘The designer has to have the experience to ask the right questions, to build a feeling for the event. You can’t pluck designs and concepts out of the air, and it’s not about one size fitting all. The design process is about longevity, going beyond the event itself." – Tim Dunn

Much-travelled, but originally from Sheffield in the UK, Tim has worked his way up from the bottom of the live events ladder to become a world authority in designing and staging beautiful and innovative events – ranging from designing visual environments for a diversity of shows and events such as opening and closing ceremonies, live performances of all types, worldwide live telecasts, visual spectaculars, TV and fashion shows, beauty pageants (including five Miss Worlds), awards shows, exhibition stands and corporate presentations. One of the highlights of his lighting design work is the acclaimed Closing Ceremony of the 2010 FIFA World Cup at Soccer City Stadium in Soweto. He has designed lighting, set and video for South Africa’s largest corporate events, for a host of major sporting and music events and concerts, and counts as one of his own personal highlights being asked to design the memorial service for the late great Nelson Mandela. Over much of the last two decades he has been instrumental in helping Gearhouse South Africa become a major player in the Southern Hemisphere, and he has worked throughout Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His early career still marks his personality and professional attitude. He toured Europe and the US extensively, with a number of bands, and rates working on live music as the best formative experience he could have as a designer, after working his way through the ranks as a projectionist, rigger, lighting technician and finally a Lighting Designer. Tim is well known for an innovative, imaginative and lateral approach to his creative work, and for the integration of video, projection and scenic elements into his design concepts. His wealth of experience at all levels of the event industry makes it worthwhile to listen to and learn from his design philosophy. ProSystems News recently did just that. “Concept and design work is all about defining the event itself,” says Dunn. "The designer has to have the experience to ask the right questions, to build a feeling for the event. You can’t pluck designs and concepts out of the air, and it’s not about one size fitting all. The design process is about longevity, going beyond the event itself –

there has to be a focus on the downstream value of it, the value for the client. There isn’t enough focus on generating that value in my opinion.” With his background in staging music events and designing for bands and musicians, Dunn uses music as his golden design thread.

Capturing the emotion “I always wanted the feeling I got from music to be the lead-in for my design concepts. For me, a good design and concept is about the audience experiencing that emotion, and about lighting and designing what’s on stage instead of depending on technology to visualise it. With that kind of approach the client always wins, and the event is usually successful.” Dunn has a similar sense of responsibility in his approach when it comes to cutting edge technology in the design process. “There’s a time to stop developing technology and use it,” he says. “My approach to a lighting desk, for example, has to be asking questions like ‘how can I create what I need for the design concept using this desk?’ So there’s a defining distinction between technology and the design – the technology is there to enable, and the designer has to be able to use the kit. The advances in technology in our industry are amazing, but ultimately the client is paying us for the concept and its successful execution, not for the technical potential of the kit.”

Responsibility first Dunn speaks passionately about the responsibilities of his role in the industry. “I really want to foster a mentoring environment, help people through in the industry in a way that I didn’t have the benefit of. And a huge part of that mentoring process is about respect and responsibility – both for the craft and vision of the design process, and for the client’s needs. For me the fundamental approach to the concept and design work I do is to have that respect for the client and the audience – it’s about enhancing their experience and making the event a pleasure and profitable for them.

LIVE EVENTs REVIEW

SGM G-Spot – IP rated moving fixture By Jimmy Den-Ouden

“Not for household use”, “Suitable for wet locations”, and “Risk of fire”. Three warning labels that instantly tell you this is going to be an interesting review…

The G-Spot is an LED powered moving head fixture designed specifically for use in humid and wet conditions, so next time you want to throw a rave in a tropical jungle it’s probably the new go-to fixture. The LED source is RGBY and rated to an expected life of 50,000 hours. Photometric bragging rights include 17,000 lumen output, and an efficacy rating of 15.5lm/W. CRI ranges sits at or above 80-85 depending on colour temperature. That’s not real high, but then as I’ve mentioned in previous issues it’s possible for a great LED fixture to yield lousy CRI scores due to the way in which CRI is measured. I’m disregarding the CRI score on the basis that I don’t care if the fixture does or doesn’t satisfy a largely irrelevant spec. If you’re really worried don’t put it in a TV studio – not that you probably would anyway. The G-Spot weighs in at a staggering 52kg and took two of us to move. Not only is it heavy, but physically quite big – still at least that makes it easy to find. But here’s the kicker – G-Spot is IP65 rated. It’s dust tight, and protected against ingress of water jets from any angle. Read up on IP ratings for further details, or just watch the video we

made to see this in action. Amazingly, you can mount it in any orientation and the rating is maintained. For a thing full of electronics, heat and moving parts that’s nothing short of impressive. All the cooling, motors, and cabling needs to be up to task to achieve this, so you can understand why quite a bit more weight might be necessary. Not only is it good in the wet, SGM has thought about sunshine too and built the enclosure to be UV resistant. Power input is Neutrik powerCON TRUE1 connector, and DMX is via 5 pin Neutrik HD XLR. Mounting is dual Omega clamps. Added to the IP rating is a long list of beam features similar to what you could reasonably expect from any modern moving head. Pan – 540 degrees. Tilt – 270 degrees. 2 rotating gobo wheels (5 positions + open). 1-50Hz strobe. Active cooling. Operating temperature from -10 to +40 degrees C (not such a common feature, but definitely a good one). 8 to 43 degree zoom, 4 facet prism, and variable frost from 0 to 100%. Obviously with an RGBY engine you can pick any colour you like too. Add in to this LumenRadio wireless DMX with RDM

REVIEW LIVE EVENTs

support. DMX control requires 24 or 36 channels. So that’s the tech side of things, now onto the opinions. Once we got the G-Spot into the studio and wrangled it onto a bench I took the time to have a long hard look at it. I’ve got to hand it to SGM, they really do have a high level of build quality. The rubberized buttons, OLED menu display and general level of finish are all excellent. The little touches haven’t been forgotten either – the dual handles on the base and yoke, as well as the handle recesses into which the DMX cables slot for storage. It just feels nice. I played with the fixture before I discovered the price – I was expecting north of $20K and pleasingly I was wrong. I fired up the fixture in test mode to start with and was taken aback by the output and optic quality of the beam. Test mode seems to use all the LED engine colours which produces a pinkish white, but using an actual lighting controller this is not a problem. My fixture profile defaulted to the pink white, but dialing the colour temp channel up and down gave me a wide range of believable white – I put the pinkish hue down to a slightly incorrect library file. Beam edges are generally sharp, with a very slight colour fringing noted when a gobo was combined with the prism. Focus is responsive as is pan/tilt movement, while gobo rotation is a little “steppy” at extremely low speed. Putting my hand into the beam provided a rapid explanation of the “>0.3m minimum distance to combustible materials” spec. There’s quite a bit of beam heat at close range for an LED fixture, but then there’s quite a lot of light there too. All the features worked exactly the way I expected, and all that remained was to check what happened when it got wet. I took the G-Spot out to our loading dock, turned it on, then sprayed it with a

hose for a while. I made sure to get plenty of water into the cooling ports too. The fixture ignored the water pounding at it from all angles and just kept doing its thing. Honestly I reckon I probably pushed the limits of the IP rating friendship and I just couldn’t fault the G-Spot. Perhaps the only comment I would make is to dry off the area around the power connector before disconnecting it – powerCON TRUE1 is IP65 rated when mated. Short of perhaps the “House of the dancing waters” show, I don’t think we’re likely to see the G-Spot on stages much simply because there are cheaper ways to light an indoor stage (even if the price difference is pretty marginal). As I see it, the G-Spot is designed to safely and reliably deliver kick arse lighting in wet, and on that note it sure hits the spot. With festivals such as Sydney’s Vivid and the Brisbane Santos City of Lights gaining momentum every year, the future for the G-Spot certainly looks pretty bright.

Brand: SGM Model: G-Spot RRP: R 171 192 ex Vat Price correct at time of print and subject to change

Product Info: www.sgmlight.com Distributor: www.setafrica.co.za

LIVE EVENTs REVIEW

Powersoft X8 – Brawn & brains By Jimmy Den-Ouden The X series from Italian company Powersoft includes two models – the X4 and the one we tested, the X8. X8 is effectively double an X4. In a time when everything is switchmode and lightweight, the X8 seems heavy by comparison to every other amp around. Not as heavy as an AM1600, but next to anything contemporary it’s quite, er, meaty. You’d expect it to do something amazing for all the weight, and the good news is that it does.

南非 92mmx277mm(改）.pdf 1 2015-6-29 14:28:10

Let’s start by talking output power. The X8 is specified to produce 1600W into 8 ohms, or 3000W into 4 ohms, or a staggering 5200W into 2 ohms. Per channel. That’s 41kW all up, which is just ever so slightly unhinged. It’s the highest output rating I can ever remember seeing on an amp. By a lot. Astoundingly I didn’t manage to test the X8 to its full capacity. I didn’t have 16x dual 18” subs floating around the office, nor a swimming pool filled with dummy loads. I’ll give Powersoft the benefit of my trust here, and choose to believe the spec. I guess the brutish power output explains the unique power supply options. The X8 can be run directly from 3 phase power. Or bi-phase. Or single phase. At anything from 85 to 440 Volts. The amp knows exactly what kind of supply is connected, and just works accordingly. The X8 doesn’t require a neutral when operating on 3 phase. Single and bi-phase operation require linking of various pins on the power supply connector, and presumably the amp identifies this. When running from three phase, the amp automatically balances the power load across the three phases. I love that because it’s so damn clever. The back panel of the X8 is crowded as could reasonably be expected. There’s an NL4 for each output pair, XLR for each of the 8 analogue and 4 AES inputs, and a pair of EtherCon sockets for network connectivity. Our test unit also included Dante support. There are two fan grilles and a power connector stuffed in there as well, but even so the layout is tidy. The X8 has a crazy powerful DSP inside which supports dual Dante streams, full channel routing from anything to anything, 4 sec input delay and 200mS output delay. Input & output EQ choices include C raised cosine, custom FIR, parametric IIR, peaking, hi/lo shelving, M all-pass, band pass, and band stop. Yay for choice! The front panel of the X8 features 11 buttons and that’s it. No Y labels, no words, just buttons. The big one in the middle controls CM power, the next four either side of it activate channel mute and MY indicate input signal. To the left of these is the WiFi on/off button. Push this and the X8 generates its own wireless network, which you CY can then join using your iPhone or iPad. The amp has an internal CMY webserver which generates an interface from which you can monitor K audio levels, impedance and temperatures, as well as make basic control adjustments such as channel mute and matrix mixing. For more advanced control, use the Armonia PC software from the Powersoft website. Install the software then plug the amp and your PC into a network router. Run Armonia and use the auto-discover function to find then add the X8 to your workspace. Once this is done, you’ve got control over every aspect of the amp including the plethora of filters, delays, and four different types of output limiter too. Armonia has a “damping” tab which lets you calculate cable attenuation too – it’s very clever. Really, “very clever” is probably quite a good summary of the X8 in general. Its flexible powering and configuration options mean it can be deployed into most applications with ease. The exhaustive feature-set and “dollars per watt” factor make the X8 a very attractive value proposition indeed.

Brand: Powersoft Model: X8 RRP: Retail Price EXCL VAT is as follows: • Powersoft X8 + ETH is R 190 000.00 • Powersoft X8 + Dante is R 210 000.00 • Powersoft X4 + ETH is R 120 000.00 • Powersoft X4 + Dante is R 140 000.00 Price correct at time of print and subject to change

Product Info: www.powersoft-audio.com Distributor: www.surgesound.co.za

LIVE EVENTs REPORT

Topping the technicals for Madame Zingara Madame Zingara is one of the most recognisable entertainment brands in South Africa. Built from an original Cape Town restaurant by food fanatic and flamboyant entertainment entrepreneur Richard Griffin, it has run the gamut of major success and liquidation, rising from the ashes of the latter to become the premier local food entertainment experience.

The unique Madame Zingara travelling theatrical experience is reinventing itself in bigger, better and more opulent surroundings than ever before. The installation of the custom built, triple storey speigelpaleis, or mirror theatre, known as the “Queen of Flanders” on Cape Town’s Grand Parade offers the creative energies of the Madame Zingara team even more scope to dazzle and astound their audiences. The new show, entitled “The Celebration” is the culmination of 15 years of the dinner cirque’s fantastical journey and is living up to every bit of hype around it. The theatre itself is crucial to the ambience and the experience of the Madame Zingara event. Deriving from a long European tradition of travelling, tented entertainment venues, the Queen of Flanders is

part conventional circus, part opulent nightclub, part luxury restaurant, and part entertainment citadel, spreading out over the Grand Parade with several bars, chill rooms, red carpet entrance, and the central entertainment dinner theatre itself, a spectacle of glitter, decadent crimson hangings, mirrors and state of the art AV systems throughout. Taking the Madame Zingara experience to new heights has meant enhancing the AV technological theatrics of the production in line with its attention to design, entertainment and culinary detail. Who better to accomplish the stringent installation requirements than theatre rental specialist Gearhouse Splitbeam. Griffin brought Splitbeam and lighting designer Mannie Manim, legendary for his role

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LIVE EVENTs REPORT

as one of the driving forces of the Market Theatre complex for many years, together with the Zingara team to add the requisite zing to the production…and then some! Splitbeam, part of the Gearhouse Group of companies, provides equipment-rental packages specifically priced for longer term hire on theatrical productions and is, as a result, the perfect fit to supply both Lighting and Audio for this production. With the dual objectives of raising the roof on the sensory experience whilst keeping the technical elements themselves inconspicuous, the choice of equipment was carefully considered. Splitbeam supplied a compact PA system comprising of 12 Meyer Sound M1D loudspeakers along with Meyer Sound UPM’s, UPJ’s and UP Juniors to create even coverage with professional audio quality. Making use of a combination of Sennheiser radio mic systems, DPA d:fine 66 Headset microphones and a Pioneer Nexus DJ system guaranteed quality sound in keeping with Madame Zingara’s style. Splitbeam is using a Midas Pro1 Mixing console to control the system. The stage design has the dining audience in the round, with performers working both on the stage and above it. This presents the challenge of lighting the performers for maximum effect without blinding the audience or performers. The lighting was rigged as high as possible over the stage in sections to help meet this requirement and the use of profile fixtures with variable beam size like the VL 2500 spots and Robe Pointes, supported by VL2500 washes and Robe 600s,

overcame the challenge along with the clever lighting design. Manim requested Martin MH4 beam lights and Rush LED Zoom pars as under-stage uplighters. Both were essential to the feel required and the Splitbeam team purchased the fixtures specifically to fill these requirements. The lighting was programmed on a MA2 Lite by Glen Duncan and JP Willson and the show is run by a MA on PC with command wing. Moving a technical installation into a brand new venue meant that the technical team were discovering the space they would be working in as it was built. “The process involved many different elements coming together at the same time with a certain degree of fluidity. We needed mutual co-operation and a ‘big picture’ approach to the delivery” says Helen Surgeson, Splitbeam’s Key Account Manager. “We have worked closely with the Madame Zingara team and our Cape Town-based lighting distributor to bring everything together. It has been a magical journey and the results are simply breathtaking.” The Celebration opened in Cape Town on the 7th of July 2015 on the Grand Parade. Cape Town audiences have been experiencing a thrilling sensory experience to top anything they have seen from the Madame before. The production opens at Montecasino in Johannesburg on 4 November, in time for the festive season. All booking is via 0861623263. Age restriction is 16+.

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Studio Pro Audio INDUSTRY EXPERT

Sound and Motion Studios – the Director’s Cut! Sound and Motion Studios, under Head Audio Engineer Simon Ratcliffe, recently opened a world-class Dolby approved final mix and cinema dubbing facility in a converted church in Cape Town. James Sey spoke to Simon about the project.

Over the last year we have been focused on setting up a new Dolby approved final mix and dubbing facility in Cape Town. This is something we wanted to do for quite some time but with the introduction of Atmos technology and the move away from 35mm film, the time was finally right. A while ago we purchased a small church near Cape Town, built in 1933, with the aim of moving our studios from the CBD into the new building. After various trips, work shadows and internships in the UK and Hollywood I decided to follow a life-long dream of having a proper cinema. The result has been a dub stage built with constant consultation with the wonderful people at Dolby Labs in Soho, including multiple trips to visit James Seddon and Robert Karlsson in London. These two geniuses have a whole raft of major cinema credits to their names, and they were there to make sure we’re not only getting it right but paving the way for the new technologies as they develop. This was a key element as we quite literally would build walls where they advised us to! Their help has been invaluable and I completely geeked out at the new Atmos standard! As well as the dubbing theatre, we have a dedicated Foley stage. This was designed and operated by Hollywood legend Michael Broomberg, whose own cinema resume is hugely impressive as a foley artist, and we have a modest but beautiful scoring stage. We are able to mix in 5.1, 7.1 and currently Atmos premix. We will soon be one of the few Dolby approved Theatrical Dub Rooms on the African continent, which is very exciting indeed!

The design team The studio build was managed by Toni Van Vuuren of SMF Designs, who also implemented our build in the CBD. We’ve been working with them since the beginning of the company, which was in 2002. The cinema was designed mostly by James Olivier from our Johannesburg branch, although I had some input. James worked under the expert step by step guidance of James Seddon. I then designed the live room and Michael Broomberg the Foley room. The whole cinema system, both A-chain and B-chain, was designed by Maldwyn Greenwood of Wild & Marr, in conjunction with Gustav Triege and his colleagues. We wanted the system to be really modern and, as far as one can plan such an approach, “future proof.” Because we are not only dubbing but recording with the cinema as well, sometimes with quite high channel counts with the scoring room being the home to our South African Film Orchestra, the system was actually a lot more complicated that one would expect.

Simon Ratcliffe

Maldwyn managed to put together a really slick system based completely on network-based audio. It’s really cutting edge and on the brink of what the tech is able to deliver, and has ruled out a lot of unnecessary cabling and difficulty in terms of installing cabling and so on. I am absolutely thrilled with the design! It’s really super slick.

The technology lowdown In terms of sound equipment for the studios, for us running JBL speakers and Crown amps was a total no-brainer. I›m pretty sure if one was to take an inventory of sound systems for the world›s screens, JBL would likely have the lion’s share of the market place on the consumer end. The driving purpose of setting up a world-class cinema is quite literally that: to make it world class. I wanted to be sure that whatever system we went with, that it would equate to the real world of cinema and pretty much remove the guess work. When I discovered through Stephen Hoy at Wild & Marr that the JBL rig was the reference version, and that the drivers were matched for the higher end demands of post-production, I was even more thrilled. Added to this, the fact that Dolby Labs use JBL in their own Atmos demo cinema while being adamantly brand-neutral helped! It›s actually quite funny, but my mindset at first was that while the JBL system was going to be a really great cinema dubbing rig, it wasn›t going to be on the same scale of fidelity that I›ve come to expect The live room soundproofing at Sound and Motion Studios

Industry Expert Studio Pro Audio

Simon Ratcliffe at the cinema mixing desk at Sound and Motion Studios

from my lovely studio monitors. In fact we were all expecting a really great representation of a cinema with loads of grunt, but a rather flattened depth of field. I›ve been proven quite wrong. I›m not sure if it›s because the speakers are so well referenced or the crazy headroom we›re running or a combination of quality components, but it sounds just fantastic. Orchestral film score mixes that I›d mixed on our studio reference monitoring system in 5.1 translated incredibly well, with an astounding amount of detail. So we never really considered another option seriously. Regarding choosing the Crown amps, I›ve been a huge fan of the brand for years, they are brilliant. I actually thought they would be just insanely expensive and out of our league, and let’s face it, they›re not exactly cheap, but when Maldwyn put me onto the new developments on the digital processing side I was absolutely amazed. In fact, the DSP is so powerful that the way we›ve implemented the system would simply not be possible without them. Coming up with a sound equipment design that was easily switchable to the various formats was hard. Since we need to run the cinema in 5.1, 7.1 and Atmos, a matrix and switching system needed to be designed that could incorporate the speakers into, for example, either single discrete speaker channels for Atmos, or a group for the other formats. We played around with various analogue and digital options, including incorporating a CP750, converter units for the various formats, different audio i/o...it was a tricky one. Once I had a pretty good handle on the requirements through my meetings with Dolby, Maldwyn and I bounced around ideas for a while before he came up with the really slick all-digital system that allows us to set everything up on DSP and then flip through them using an audio architect program, also developed by Wild & Marr. So we›re in really good shape.

"The sheer flexibility of the Crown DSP is formidable. The ability of the B-chain to talk to the rest of the rig, and for the control system to be available on an iPad right on the mixing console, is a life saver. Our design hinges on those babies."

The whole Wild & Marr team has just been absolutely fantastic in getting us set up. I›ve been a fan and long-time user of a lot of brands in the Harman stable, but as great as that gear is, when it comes to a complex setup like this it’s actually about the people. Gustav, Maldwyn and of course cinema sound genius Stephen Hoy have really gone out of their way to make this happen – and the fact that they’re round the corner doesn’t hurt!

The equipment that makes up Sound & Motion Studio’s Dolby 5.1, 7.1 and Atmos premix is: B CHAIN • LCR Main speakers: 3731 JBL 3 ways • SUB/LFE: 4642A Dual 18” • Surround Speakers: 8340A • AMPS: Crown DCI-8X600ND’s A CHAIN (All DIGIGRID) • Digico|Digigrid DLI (Converts from Avid HDX) • 2 IOX Network i/o • 1 IOC Control Room unit Console and Control Surfaces: • 24 channel Digidesign -Command • JL Cooper Panner • Avid Artist Mix (For Nuendo) • Avid Artist Transport (For Nuendo) DAW • Pro Tools HDX • Nuendo • + Dolby Media Meter & Source Connect

Studio Pro Audio

Howard Audio goes state of the art The newly-revamped Howard Audio studio, located in the northern part of Johannesburg, might easily be the best studio of its kind in South Africa, writes Eddie Hatitye.

The control room of the new Howard Audio studio

Having operated as a smaller studio for a long time, Howard Music (now Howard Audio) decided to build a much bigger and highly professional studio facility to cater for its ever-growing portfolio and clientele. The studio, now located at 4 Anslow Lane in Bryanston, is not only a stroke of genius but an inspiringly beautiful space for any creative. Owner of the studio Adam Howard, an award-winning music stalwart with over two decades’ experience in music production, contracted top pro audio company Benjamin Pro Audio to drive the upgrade, from project management to design and construction, as well as gear supply. An important aspect of the brief was to create a spacious, multifunctional studio that would allow musicians, engineers and clients to work effectively while enjoying unprecedented acoustic superiority and comfortability. The studio occupies a total of 250 m2. It is divided into three control rooms (which can work concurrently), one live room and two vocal booths. The main control room occupies 36m2 of the studio space. To increase efficiency, the vocal booths can be linked to the live room and main control room or to either of the two smaller control rooms. This provides a flexible design that enables engineers to effortlessly tackle multiple projects at the same time and to streamline the studio’s resources for large tracking sessions. The studio has the capacity to accommodate big album projects of up to 20 musicians at the same time. Special emphasis was put on the acoustics. The walls of the studio

account for 10% of the entire studio space, providing a highly effective soundproofed environment. The structure of the wall comprises massive layers of a complex combination of SoundBloc Plus, steel and cavity insulation. Steel structures were used for all of the outer and inner frames and the drywall applied to that. To complement the heavy weight of the walls the doors are made of multiple MFD layers and they weigh 95 kgs each. The architecture of the interior spaces is designed to deflect all audio to the back of a room and then diffuse it before returning to be further absorbed by the room. The result is a very balanced and neutral space with even decay times across the spectrum, even in the smaller rooms. According to Jacob van der Westhuizen, head of Benjamin Pro Audio, “The rooms don’t experience any first reflection points. The initial image you receive of the audio is very tight and controlled with a great stereo image.” The ceiling clouds in the main rooms are strategically mounted not only to be acoustically correct but also to contribute to the overall sleek look of the studio, particularly in the main control room. To ensure easy visual communication throughout the studio, van der Westhuizen created glass spaces in each room. Clients are able to see artists in all rooms at all times and the artists in the various recording booths can also see each other as well as the digital visuals during the recording process. Adam Howard wanted a sleek main desk so they designed a desk for his needs using laminated MDF, ensuring a desirable acoustic transparency level of the desk.

Studio Pro Audio

“The rooms don’t experience any first reflection points. The initial image you receive of the audio is very tight and controlled with a great stereo image.” – Jacob van der Westhuizen Top equipment Thanks to a powerful combination of good design and high-end equipment the studio offers the ability to mix in Dolby 5.1. As part of the upgrade, Benjamin Pro Audio installed a wide array of world-class equipment including recording, processing, metering and analysis gear. One notable improvement is in the soundcard/converter department where new Metric Halo LIO-8’s AD and DA converters are used. The delicate sound monitoring system comprises top Unity Audio monitors, namely the Boulder MKI, and Rock MK2, which are supported by a heavy Unity Audio Avalanche Sealed 12” Subwoofer. The mics used are a mix of Neumann U87’s, AKG C414 ULB’s, Sure SM57’s and Rode NT5’s. A stunning white Yamaha GC2 Grand Piano is available in the main live room. In terms of software the studio employs a combination of Logic 9, Logix X, Pro Tools 10 and a wide array of plugins, including the likes of Waves, Izotope, Native Instruments and Spectrasonics. The main control room uses a 12 Core Mac Pro machine with 12GB Ram. All systems are networked and centrally backed up nightly to ensure all data is secure. Additionally each control rooms runs off its own UPS system that feeds its own DB board to ensure reliable power to each room seperately.

Not an easy task The stunning look of the studio completely belies the challenges that van der Westhuizen and his team faced in the design and building process. One notable challenge was that the main building had two structural pillars that could not be removed. The teams had to find an innovative way to incorporate them in their design withought compromising the real needs of the studio. One pillar was carefully

incorporated in the structure of the live room and the other in one of the small vocal booths. Time was also a major obstacle because they only had a few months to finish the whole build. What made it even more challenging was that the client needed to be able to use a control room within one month of the project. To overcome this van der Westhuizen set up small teams to work on various aspects of the build concurrently. There was a drywall team, a team for the doors, a flooring team and an offsite bamboo contractor, responsible for manufacturing the frames, skirtings, panels and diffusers. Finally, van der Westhuizen’s core team of five technicians focused mainly on technical installations. The whole project took a period of nine months to complete, although the whole facility was fully functional after only 5 months. The studio was officially opened on 1 August 2014. As part of the new look the Studio also introduced a brand new corporate identity that is deeply rooted in cymatics, a method of visualising sound through everyday materials. In the process Howard hired a team of experts to experiment with sound’s effect on various granular materials. The results were then incorporated on the new logo design, which visually reflects the company’s serious focus on everything audio. Since the re-launch Howard Audio has completed numerous projects for a range of top artists and brands in South Africa, including South African Tourism, 1 Life Insurance, Vodacom and Castle Milk Stout. The world-renowned Soweto Gospel Choir is on a long list of top acts that are set to use the studio in the next few months, and advertising agencies constantly use Howard for everything audio – including final mix, original music, musical direction and library music clearance.

Adam Howard and studio sound engineer Lebo Maboa relax in the new studio space

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STAND WINNERS

Mediatech Africa 2015 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Dome, Northgate, Jhb

INALA TECHNOLOGIES: Hanli Reinecke, Zak Shaikh, Anton van Staden, Leander Serrao, Antony Bijsters, Colin Wainer and Simon Robinson

BOSE: Dave Tudor, Chris Liebenberg, Bhans Sheomangal, Shaun Phillpott and Simon Robinson

SONY: The Sony team

DWR: Bruce Riley, Nick Britz, Duncan Riley, Simon Robinson and Robert Izzett

Dylan Finlay from Penmac, with Ronald Pillay from Picture Mafia, Malcolm Finlay from Penmac, David Jones and Jozsef Szvetnyik from Lightware and Penny Finlay and Iain Alexander from Penmac

Natalie Delport, Itumeleng Swartz and Phaki Fokane from Sabido eAcademy

Stephan Preuss from Glux Visual Effect Tech, Philipp Reitinger from Duncan Riley from DWR and Greg Bester from AV Stumpfl GmbH and Jennifer Jeffrey from System Solutions Pro-Direct

Raymond Goodwin from BC El;ectronics with Brendon Murphy, Aidan Wolhuter, Rishaad Hoosen and Preshaun Khiali from TV Audio

Steve Schafer from Concilium Technologies, with Nino Herr and Dirk Harding from Malapati Productions

CHRISTIE DIGITAL: Richard Nye, Simon Robinson and Phil Lord

Claire Badenhorst from Mediatech Africa, with George van Gils and Andrew King from Questek

Bruce Riley, Nick Britz, Koy Neminathan, Duncan Riley, Keith Pugin and Schalk Botha from DWR

Devon Swart and Tammy Pretorius from Cape AUdio College with Matt Hill from SAE Institutre South Africa

Wael Yasi from CreateCtrl AG, with Wolfgang Peters from AVT, Alex Mathaba from Soundfusion and Wilfried Hecht from Audio Video Technology

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Mediatech Africa 2015 – The Dome, Northgate, Jhb

Meshack Motlhabedi, Karabo Moshane, Mpho Manne and Moabi Tagane from Glory Computers

Margu Esterhuizen, Bronwyn Mathias, Mike Theunissen, Gregg McCaffrey and Danelle Strydom from Pixel Displays

Mediatech's Simon Robinson, Shevaun McCready, Claire Badenhorst and Nicola du Plooy with Pro-Systems' James Sey

Helmut Protte, Chris Grandin, Miles Donovan, Phil Lord, Harry Gladow, Monsi Cottrell from Christie

Jochen Sommer from Adamson Systems Engineering, Elmira Moraveji from Beyerdynamic, Tiaan Hoogstad from TID, Domenico Gambino from BARIX and Dave Nazir from BIAMP Systems

Rodwann van Rensburg, Michael Pienaar, Spencer Thomas, Joseph Milan, Donovan Badenhorst and Dwain Jones from Aplha Technologies

Benoit Brismontier from Angenieux, with Petros Motha from Movie Mart, Thomas Binsert from Arri and Colin Benade from Movie Mart

Jason Johnstone, Abrie du Plooy, Terry Bourquin and Bruce Schwartz from Electrosonic

Gustav Teitge from Wild & Marr, with Dave Budge from Harman, Cecilia van der Vent and Andrew Sorrill from Wild & Marr and Chicco Hiranandani from Shure

Victor Hatega, Matthew Mitchell, Gary Sam, Kurt du Preez and Blessing Vilikazi, finalists for the Electrosonic LD Competition

Fred van der Merwe, Abesh Dhevalall, Wynand Langenhoven, Piet Strydom, Elaine O’Gorman, Hugh Barker and Dudley Fourie from Peripheral Vision

John Saunders, Ondrej Hegar, Jiri Baroš, Nathan Wan, Harry von den Stemmen and Aleš Gill from Robe

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Mediatech Africa 2015 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Dome, Northgate, Jhb

Denis Hutchinson from DHC, Simon Robinson from Mediatech Africa, Peter Dahlin from Martin Professional and Chris Bolton fron Keystone Productions judged the Electrosonic LD Competition

The Electrosonic team, after the Electrosonic LD Competition

Josef Valchar from Robe, with Belinda Henwood and Michael Broderick from the One Man One Light show

Greg Payne, Alison Taman and Brendan Venter from Audiosure

Mairi Pringle and Justin Nel from ProAudio

Sarah Cox from D3 Technologies, George van Gils from Questek and Martin Wood from Barco

Stephan Guldenpfenning, Langa Mbili and Andrew Bartlett from SilverCam

Weilang Wu from Laikesi, Lena Ting from Unilumin and Huiyun Wu from Laikesi

Rakesh Gupta, Rakhi Gupta and Manish Misra from Mac Africa

Mordecai Matomana and Marco de Lemos from Acer

Mario Bentley and Trevor Peters from Matrix Sound

Vincent Philippo and Rupert Denoon from Crestron

Giovanni Zucchinali and Massimo Bolandrina from Clay Paky

Shaun Xavier, Craig Harvey and Nathan Ilhenfeldt from Stage Audio Works

Bruce Genricks from Electrosonic, Peter Dahlin from Martin Professional and Bruce Schwartz from Electrosonic

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Frequency Response (+/- 6dB anechoic chamber): 57Hz – 20 000Hz Drivers: HF Driver: BEYMA, 1.4” exit, 1.75” voice coil LF/MF Driver: BEYMA, 2.5” voice coil Signal Input/Output Connector: Female XRL Input, Male XLR Output Power Input/Output Connector: Powercon NAC3MPA / NAC3MPB Power Rating (AES): 1600W Maximum calculated SPL/M (Continuous/Program/Peak): 125dB/128dB/131dB Amplifier: Class D Processor: 48KHz signal sampling, 56bit Weight: 38.5Kg Dimensions mm: 742(W) x 302(H) x 695(D)

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6 x K-LA 210 DSP

DSP Features •

K-LA Line Array Systems features maximum simplicity in Set up and Operation.

•

A compact portable touring, rental and installation system

3 x K-LA 218 DSP

that brings Line-Array

3 x K-LA 218 DSP

technology to an accessible ease of use and price point • 18900 Watts ±4000 people outdoor > 40m ±5000 people indoor > 40m

RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE: R465 000.00

viva afrika

A dynamic sound well packed in a compact size, for the right price , this is KLA Series

ExclusivE Distributor for south AfricA: DWr DistributioN Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about the people

block c, unit 1, Kimbult industrial Park, 9 Zeiss road, laserpark, honeydew, 2170, Johannesburg tel: +27 11 794 5023 | fax: + 27 11 794 5702 | sales@dwrdistribution.co.za | www.dwrdistribution.co.za