Pro-Systems News January/February 2015 by Sun Circle Publishers

January / February 2015 R38.00

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

Cover Philippines Arena Story installation Robe BFML Review Unravelling 4K ISE Preview DAW Controller Round-up EAW Anya review Collaboration Systems Round-up

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In This Issue Managing Editor As we usher in the new year there seems to have been quite a few developments within the industry again. Hot off the press is the news of Christie acquiring Cologne-based media systems company, coolux. Adam Professional Audio has changed ownership and the TC Group (most commonly known for their Tannoy, Lab. gruppen and Lake brands) is set to be sold this year. This follows a recent wave of other acquisitions in the industry. We too have some announcements to make here at Pro-Systems News. We are delighted to announce that Joanne Taylor has been promoted to Deputy Editor. We also welcome our new journalist Thuli Mlambo into the fold. I trust you all had a fabulous festive season and you are ready to hit the ground running. Claire Badenhorst

CONTENTS Prosound expertise called upon

NEWS Christie acquires coolux..............................3

to install complex sound system

Avid relists on NASDAQ ..............................3

in Philippines Arena...................................30

TC Group up for sale...................................3

Musion Africa – Mardi Gras Theatre,

Sharp strengthening efforts in

Carnival City...............................................34

South Africa..................................................4

2014 product highlights.............................38

AVnu Alliance shows support for industrial market.....................................4

Live Events

NEXO appoints Jean Mullor as their new CEO.........................................6

‘KG’ Moima................................................44

SACIA and TPSA finalise merge..................6

Robe BMFL – Choose your

New owners for

own acronym.............................................48

Adam Professional Audio............................6

EAW Anya – The new girl comes

Shure remains choice

to town…....................................................52

in mics for Idols SA......................................8

Prolight + Sound Guangzhou 2015

Matrix Sound acquires distribution

show sees huge exhibitor increase..........56

rights for Galaxy Audio................................8

Mieliepop Festival......................................58

Mario De Sisti passes away.........................8

GETshow2015..............................................62

Studio PRO AUDIO

Integration & INSTALLATION

DAW Controller round-up..........................64

A guide to house of worship lighting design..............................10

Deputy Editor A very happy new year to all of our readers and advertisers! May it give you everything that you put into it, and more. I’d like to introduce myself as the new Deputy Editor of Pro-Systems magazine. With the guidance of Claire, the Managing Editor, I will endeavour to bring you quality content and relevant industry information to help you and your business stay informed within this exciting industry. Keep reading our weekly newsletter for hot-off-thepress news and keep those stories flowing into our inbox! Also keeping you abreast in the industry are the not-to-be-missed industry events taking place this year, which include our local Mediatech Africa in July, ISE 2015, Prolight + Sound, PLASA London and InfoComm. Best to make booking and travel arrangements early on to ensure you don’t miss out this year. A brand new year brings with it boundless opportunities to nurture the industry and make it an even greater success. Work smarter to expand your limitations and reach your goals. Remember, ‘you are confined only by the walls you build yourself’. Joanne Taylor

In the spirit of collaboration......................14 ISE 2015 preview.........................................20

Social

Unravelling 4K:

Martin Audio MLA Demo .........................68

Does colour trump resolution?.................22

Enco Workshop .........................................68

Acer increases AV focus in SA..................24

Meet.Inc Launch .......................................68

SA’s AV industry should suit up and

TID Roadtrip................................................68

embrace global standards.......................26 A brand new audio visual distributor is born........................................28

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 You Tube.

Thuli Mlambo | Thuli is a sound engineer by profession and has experience as a roadie with Gearhouse through SARA. She’s been involved in the TV production, events and music industries and has toured internationally with the likes of Phil Collins and Zucchero while living in Europe, where she learnt the ropes of the Industry. Live entertainment, music and the arts are her passions. Thuli’s publication experience includes working as an intern for UK film magazine Bfm (Black Filmmaker magazine) – as an assistant to the editor.

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Publishers & Projects

news

Christie acquires coolux

Jennifer Smith, executive vice president, Global Market Solutions, Christie

Christie has acquired Colognebased coolux, a world-renowned developer and supplier of 3D compositing and rendering systems, best known for its Pandoras Box product family. Coolux will be integrated into Christie’s Global Market Solutions team, maintaining its office in Cologne, Germany. Jennifer Smith, executive vice president, Global Market Solutions, said “Christie is committed to deepen its marketplace lead

in supplying a total solution for advanced applications such as projection mapping, broadcast delivery and all manner of large-scale digital canvas creation, so the fit between our products and services and those of coolux is a natural one.” Continuing, Smith said “Pre-visualisation capability when creating stunning, experiential events – including real-time rendering of same – is increasingly important in the creative plans of entertainment designer and creative visionaries. The acquisition is a boon to those who need multiple display technologies to come together to create both continuous and non-continuous digital canvases, but most importantly, to be able to create and manage the content that flows onto these canvases,” added Smith. Coolux CEO Jan Huewel, who will report to Smith in his new position of senior director, Processing Solutions, commented that in a world where visual and audio experiences are assuming new importance in inspiring and moving audiences, content orchestration and synchronised content delivery is paramount and with today’s news, Christie, with its already impressive presence in this arena, has gained another leadingedge product line and development team to ensure it keeps its lead. Coolux has become a welcome feature at various industry shows, including ISE, NAB, LDI and InfoComm, and this presence will continue in the Christie experiential marketing booths at these shows, beginning with the NAB 2015 show in Las Vegas, Nevada, in April.

Avid relists on NASDAQ Avid announced that it has received approval to re list its common stock on The NASDAQ Stock Market; this was effective with the open of trading on 8 December 2014. The company will continue to trade under the symbol AVID. The company was de-listed from the stock exchange in February 2014 following an accounting restatement. Avid’s accounting issue caused a restatement about how Avid accounts for improvements to their software over time. They had to go back eight years and cover

literally every single release for every single customer during that period, which is why it has taken so long. This entire process saw Avid shares move to the OTC markets while the issue was resolved. Following this, the shares have now moved back to the Nasdaq. Avid believes this milestone will offer current and future Avid shareholders an exciting opportunity to share in the success of Avid’s business through improved access to their common stock.

TC Group up for sale

Anders Fauerskov

TC Group, a designer and manufacturer of innovative sound products, is expecting to be sold in its entirety this year. Pro Systems News spoke to CEO Anders Fauerskov and he says the decision is partly based on some main shareholders wanting out and partly a strategic review showing that its future growth opportunities would be significantly improved under a different, and financially stronger ownership. “The profiling of ‘TC Group’ and the bringing together of the individual brands under that umbrella is unrelated to the sale of the company shares,” he says, adding that initial feedback from potential buyers had been strong. “TC Group has shown strong and profitable growth for many years now. The main assets having made that happen is firstly the people in the company, secondly the brands. So, whereas a new owner is entitled to do what they want, I strongly believe that they’d be wise to maintain and build on those assets.”

news

Sharp strengthening efforts in South Africa Sharp Middle East, a subsidiary of Sharp Corporation, the 102-year old global electronics company, recently announced its plans to ramp up efforts in South Africa, as part of its regional strategy to continue supplying innovative products to serve a dynamic global marketplace. Speaking at a press event in Cape Town, Hiroshi Kataoka, executive officer of Sharp Corporation and Osamu Narita, general manager of Sharp South Africa, outlined the company’s plans to aim to expand its business in South Africa. The focus on South Africa as a key market for growth comes on the back of continued growth for the organisation, which has been responsible for some of the leading technologies applied in daily life around the world. From the world’s first handheld calculator through to the most advanced LCD technology, Sharp Corporation has continued to supply global markets with innovative solutions. Speaking at the media conference, Kataoka and Narita said the company plans to redefine the way the company is doing business in South Africa, including a strong focus on taking local insights through to the product development process in Japan. “Sharp is going to focus the business in the new markets which has tremendous growth

Fumio Yamaguchi, Hiroshi Kataoka and Osamu Narita.

potential. South Africa is one of our focused regions. We will bring the cutting-edge technologies and products from Japan to the South African market,” explains Kataoka. The future for Sharp in South Africa will be spearheaded from their office in Johannesburg, led by Narita and serviced by a team comprising of both local knowledge and global expertise. “South Africa is a unique marketplace which can no longer be considered as an emerging market,” says Narita. “The growth potential here as well as the higher-than-continentalaverage in terms of literacy, economic maturity and service sector population mean that we cannot consider South Africa with the same strategy as we would the rest of the continent. South Africa requires a different business approach that befits a country that is blooming as an emerging

market but as sophisticated as a developed market.” Initially, the office will focus on developing a burgeoning business-to-business market and audio visual integration before expanding to include consumer and government markets. “Sharp is one of the only office automation companies that can provide a total office solution to the customer, from printers through to AV display units for boardrooms,” explains Narita. “Therefore, it makes sense for us to capitalise this advantage initially before expanding to include the proactive marketing and distribution of the rest of our product portfolio. The sophistication of the business technology solutions market in South Africa poses a great opportunity for us to begin our efforts here before taking on the direct-to-consumer market.”

AVnu Alliance shows support for industrial market AVnu Alliance has announced a new industrial market segment as standard Ethernet continues to expand its range, functionality and applications with the evolution of the Audio Video Bridging (AVB) standard into Time Sensitive Networking (TSN). The new capabilities of TSN provide the industrial community with the ability to use standard Ethernet to support highly reliable and precise synchronised networking appropriate for industrial control. With the expansion into the industrial control market, three new members have joined; Belden, General Electric, and National Instruments. These companies are driving forces in the recent expansion, working within AVnu Alliance to develop the foundational elements needed for industrial applications, based on the common elements of AVB/TSN. The industrial segment

is also supported by existing AVnu Alliance members such as Broadcom, Cisco, Intel, Interval Zero, Marvell, Micrel, Vitesse, Xilinx and XMOS. TSN technology shows promise to be the core technology for high-end industrial Ethernet communications in the future, solving challenges faced in demanding, high-performance and high-precision industries, like motion control, robotics and high-speed manufacturing. TSN promises through standard silicon to converge the previously disparate technologies needed for standard Ethernet communication, for deterministic high speed data transfer, and for high accuracy time synchronisation. Standard Ethernet is evolving to enable next generation control systems. This will allow convergence of low latency control traffic and standard Ethernet traffic on the

same network for demanding applications like multi-axis motion control, providing a foundation for more advanced manufacturing and production models where data can be shared more flexibly between layers of the control system and where Internet of Things (IoT) technology can be applied into production environments. The new capabilities of these open standards enable high-speed closed loop control networks to support any Ethernet device using standard IT components, and creates the needed foundation for IoT integration with industrial production. The industrial market, which parallels work that AVnu Alliance members have been doing in the Automotive segment, is a $150-billion a year market space and creates a pathway to the future of IoT.

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news

NEXO appoints Jean Mullor as their new CEO Nexo commenced the new year of 2015 with a new CEO, Jean Muller, who hails from the French subsidiary of Yamaha Music Europe as the MD. Mullor spent nearly four years with Yamaha, where he was in charge of the domestic distribution of musical instruments, commercial audio products, audio video products and music schools network development. A lawyer by training Mullor brings with him

wealth of knowledge and management experience. Over the years he has moved from petrochemical company Mobil in America to joining the French subsidiary of Yamaha in 1992 and augmented his legal prowess, gaining experience in HR, logistics, finance, sales and marketing. In a statement about his new appointment Mullor said “These are exciting times for Nexo and it’s an outstanding experience to join a company that has three decades of technical experience and industry-leading reputation. With its flagship technology making inroads at the very top of the international market, and a slate of new products scheduled for release. I am really looking forward to being part of the team.”

New owners for Adam Professional Audio German entrepreneurs with the CWM holding company acquired ownership of Adam Professional Audio on 11 December 2014. The new owners stated that their goal is to invest in Adam Audio, bringing production back up to normal and to invest in new products which will strengthen the competitiveness of Adam Audio’s already excellent market position. A representative of the new shareholder, Sebastian Canzler states that: “Adam Audio is known worldwide in the pro audio industry for its superb speakers. Due to the high precision and quality of the products as well as the large technical expertise of its employees, the company has become very quickly a leading supplier of professional audio monitors. All of this provides a very good basis for further growth, which we strive for together with the existing team.” Sven Schmöle, managing director of Adam Audio: “With CWM we have a partner on our site that supports our passion for innovation and helps us realise our full potential. Our task now is to resume production as soon as possible in order to supply our customers with products again.”

Jean Mullor

SACIA and TPSA finalise merge In an update from the article TPSA votes to merge with SACIA, published in our previous issue that informed our readers of the possible changes to be made within TPSA and SACIA, the two organisations have finalised their agreement. The two leading organisations representing the audio visual industry in southern Africa, namely Southern African Communications Industry Association (SACIA) and the Technical Production Services Association (TPSA) have merged so that they can present a stronger front to clients and associates, and a louder voice to government. “We’ve merged in order to represent our industry more effectively in engagements with government and regulatory bodies – and in order to better serve our members,” says SACIA CEO Kevan Jones. While SACIA members are responsible for

fixed audio visual displays such as those often used in board rooms, shopping centres, sports arenas and houses of worship, the TPSA membership have been responsible for the spectacular effects one sees at music concerts and other similar events. Over the last few months a task group made of representatives from both the TPSA and SACIA have been crafting a proposal for the merger of the two organisations. Both groups believe that by merging

SACIA and the TPSA there is an opportunity to provide long-term value to members, and Jones asserts that the value of this merger is already manifesting itself in direct benefits to members. The merger provides TPSA members with instant access to the wide range of online training programmes available to SACIA members, including specialist audio training from Syn-Aud-Con and video production training offered through Class On Demand. “Whilst access to professional development training is important, the real value to TPSA members lies in our capacity to engage with members and industry stakeholders in a meaningful way,” explains Jones. While there have been many people who’ve resisted transformation up till this point, the new regulatory framework means that companies who fail to make a commitment to the process of transformation will be severely handicapped.

news

Shure remains choice in mics for Idols SA

Mario De Sisti passes away

The winner of Idols SA Season 10 was announced during a spectacular live finale held at Carnival City Casino and Entertainment World on 23 November 2014. Idols is now the longest Idols SA winner Vincent Bones using Shure mics running reality show in South Africa, and Vincent Bones was voted as the winner of models and their microphones are instantly Idols 10. recognisable throughout the professional According to sources from DStv, all audio industry – it is the trusted and chosen previous Idols SA voting records were broken. microphone for the majority of international The total number of votes reached an artists and performances.” incredible 24.3 million compared to 7.2 Andrew Sorrill, sales and marketing million votes that were received last year. manager at Wild & Marr – the local importers The finale witnessed a variety of guest and distributors for Shure in southern Africa appearances by popular South African adds: “We are extremely happy with the artists as well as surprise performances by contribution Shure has made toward the the judges. success of the show and are proud of the An assortment of wired and wireless Shure fact that Shure has been involved with Idols microphones were used during the show for SA from the beginning.” sound reproduction. Microphones ranging “This success can be expected since Shure from the legendary SM58 Vocal Microphone, microphones are known for their legendary to the SM87 and Classic Shure 55SH Unidyne performance and are a respected brand have been used during the season and anywhere in the world. We would like to contributed to the success of the production. congratulate Vincent and wish him much Shure wireless systems featured were 24 success in his future. We also acknowledge channels of ULX-D wireless microphones, as Bongi for being a worthy runner up in this well as 20 channels of PSM-900 personal competition,” he continues. monitors for all the artists. RF Management As part of his prize package, Vincent was through Shure’s Wireless Workbench. Bones received a Shure ULXD 4DE Digital For Marius Marais, owner of Audio Logic Dual wireless system, two Shure ULXD2/ and senior FOH engineer for Idols SA, Shure Beta58 Digital handheld transmitters, a Shure has become a household name since the PSM9 in-ear monitoring system and Shure show’s inception in 2002 and remains the SE425 earphones all wired and racked in a show’s preferred microphone of choice. Road Ready case for ease of transportation. Marais says: “Shure has some iconic

Matrix Sound acquires distribution rights for Galaxy Audio 8

Matrix Sound has announced the acquisition of distribution rights for the Galaxy Audio range of products. Galaxy Audio was established thirty-five years ago and this family run business is based in Wichita in the USA. Their range is extensive including speaker systems, in-ear monitors, wireless lectern mics, mixing consoles, stands and even

Mario De Sisti

The De Sisti Organisation has issued a release stating that its founder, Mario De Sisti, passed away on 31 October 2014. “The lighting industry has lost a true pioneer, inventor, and true ambassador. There was no one more charismatic or passionate about his family, business or the industry. Mario was highly dedicated and inhaled lighting with every breath. His enthusiasm and vigour was contagious,” write sons Fabio and Sergio De Sisti, who are entrusted with taking the company forward. Mario travelled the world and considered most of his friends as family. A man with a big heart and high level of excitement and dedication to the lighting industry. The entire De Sisti Organization expresses its immense gratitude and admiration to Mario, for his genius contribution and unrestful dedication to achieve the prestigious results upon always innovative products and solutions, for the worldwide professional lighting industry. “We will all miss Mario….there are not known words to us, good enough to express how much we will miss you,” say Fabio and Sergio. On behalf of Mario and the De Sisti Organization, Fabio and Sergio express their gratitude for your past support of the company and future endeavours together.

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Integration & Installation White Paper

A guide to house of worship lighting design By Jim Kumorek

Whether you’re in an old cathedral, a traditional sanctuary, or a modern auditorium, how you light a church service impacts the mood and how well people will comprehend and retain what takes place. In this article, we’re going to discuss lighting for the benefit of those attending the service. Lighting for broadcast (such as television, webcast, satellite campuses) has somewhat different needs, and won’t be discussed here.

The basics Lighting serves several functions. First, and most obvious, is to simply make the platform and the people on it visible. However, that levels at which you light your platform makes a difference in how it affects those attending the service. “First of all, it’s important that the congregation be able to see the preachers face,” comments Pastor Matt Reynolds, assistant pastor at Jordantown Wesleyan Church in Vinton, VA. “In some churches the platform is dark and the lighting is poor, so the people have a hard time seeing the expressions on his face which can be important in

White Paper Integration & Installation

“First of all, it’s important that the congregation be able to see the preachers face. In some churches the platform is dark and the lighting is poor, so the people have a hard time seeing the expressions on his face which can be important in making points.” – Pastor Matt Reynolds, assistant pastor at Jordantown Wesleyan Church in Vinton, VA

Focusing attention People’s attention naturally tends to be drawn to locations that are brighter than others. Lighting for the platform generally should be somewhat brighter than the general seating area so that people’s attention is drawn to the stage and away from the squirming children a few rows over. Within the stage space itself, having the lights a little brighter in the areas where the key ’action’ is taking place will draw people’s attention to that area. If there are several people on stage who share leading worship for different songs, transitioning the lighting during worship to highlight the person leading worship for that song helps keep people connected with what’s happening on stage and allows them focus more on worshipping and less on figuring out where the person singing is located. A common response to this thought is “it’s a time of worship – people don’t need to be watching the musicians.” However, if the worship team is on a stage in front of the congregation, that in itself tells people you expect them to be watching the worship team, and trying to locate the ’primary’ thing going on is a natural instinct. So, you can try to (unsuccessfully) fight that natural instinct, or you can eliminate the distraction by guiding people’s attention through your use of lighting levels and transitions. Varying your lighting levels in the seating area as well as on stage can also help the different parts of your worship service to achieve their goals. “Dimmed lighting during worship sets a ‘mood’ where the focus is taken away from self and others and redirected to God where it belongs,” adds Monica Ravenstein, worship leader at River of Life Foursquare Church in Great Bend, KS. “It helps the congregation to shut out the world for a bit and just spend time in His presence.”

Reinforcing a mood

making points.” When lighting is too dim, people strain to see what is taking place and can have a difficult time locating where people are speaking or singing from on a crowded or busy stage. This cuts down the amount of brain-power that they will put towards paying attention to the actual service, as they are spending time locating those who are speaking. It also is very tiring, and will cause people to start tuning out or disconnecting from what’s taking place. Conversely, lighting that is too bright can be painful to look at, and also causes people to disconnect or stop watching.

Another purpose of lighting is to support and enhance the mood of what’s taking place in the room. As Ravenstein pointed out, lighting intensity itself can make a great start at setting a mood. “I like for the lights to be fully on at the beginning of service because people need to see where to sit,” adds Reynolds, “they need light to read their bulletins, and also it’s helpful in being able to see others around you and makes visiting a little easier. Also, a more brightly lit room can increase energy at the beginning which I think is important. As the service moves into more of a worshipful atmosphere from a more celebratory atmosphere earlier in the service it can be effective to slightly dim the house lights creating a more intimate and worshipful setting. This could apply to prayer times as well.” The next step is to change the colour of the lighting that’s illuminating the overall platform, and sometimes the side and rear walls and even the seating area of the room. Colours impact one’s mood, and while your goal isn’t to be manipulative in a negative way, colours can help create an environment where the natural emotions that worship can bring out are supported and reinforced. Brighter colours such as reds and yellows help reflect energy and excitement; colours such as deep

Integration & Installation White Paper blues and dark greens reinforce introspection and peacefulness. With LED lighting becoming more cost-effective and often more energy efficient, the ability to change the colours used to wash your stage and room has become easier than ever. But like any technology, there’s also potential to create a distraction. Therefore, working with your technical team to determine what’s appropriate for your church is also important.

Architectural lighting Lighting the facility is one area where significant electricity is used, and architectural lighting systems can help you save on lighting expenses by providing a greater level of control. These lighting systems can allow you to have time- and motion-controlled lighting, turning off lights in a room that’s no longer occupied. They can also be censored to ’harvest daylight’, keeping lights off near windows but on in darker corners of a room. Facilities built with architectural lighting control systems can be programmed to ’sweep off’ the building at a certain time of day (11pm, for example) to avoid lights burning throughout the church after it’s closed for the night.

Think long term There’s one other thought I’d like to leave you with. Think about the long term when making decisions about what lighting gear to provide. The adage ‘you get what you pay for’ usually applies to professional lighting equipment (not to mention video and audio). If you buy the cheapest gear, expect to be buying it all over again in a year or two. If you buy the better gear, it may last you a decade or two. When it comes to more complicated equipment such as moving lights, you also need to be thinking about maintenance. A moving light has many small moving parts in them, and they do break. Unlike regular theatrical fixtures, performing maintenance requires training and skill that most church volunteers (and even staff) don’t have. Higher quality (and more expensive) fixtures will go longer before needing repair as they are built better to begin with. Greg Persinger, owner of Vivid Illumination, suggests budgeting for a lamp change based on the rated life of the lamps and your expected usage, and then adding $100 to $150 per fixture per year to accumulate for repairs down the road. For example, a new lamp for one moving light costs $150, and lasts 750 hours. If you use this light for 20 hours per week (don’t forget rehearsal time and programming time for your team), you’ll be replacing the lamp every nine months. This comes out to budgeting at least $300 a year on maintenance for each of the fixture types you own. If you don’t maintain them, you’ll likely find them useless after a few short years. If you can’t afford to

maintain them, then you really can’t afford to buy them either. A reasonable alternative is to rent them occasionally for services or events where they will make a significant impact, and do without the rest of the time.

Terms and definitions Professional lighting has a vocabulary all its own—here are some terms that integrators should teach the church’s tech team. • Lighting console: the device that is used to control a theatrical or concert lighting system. • Lighting software: software that functions as a lighting console but runs on a computer you provide, and only requires extra hardware to connect the computer to your lighting system. These often have the same power and capabilities as a lighting console, but a fraction of the cost. • Static fixture: a lighting fixture that does not move by itself and requires someone to physically handle it, often with tools, to reposition it to light a different area or have a different colour. • Moving light (or intelligent light): a lighting fixture that has motors in it which can be controlled from a lighting console or software. Moving lights can give you the all-out rock concert look, but can also be used subtly to let a few moving fixtures take the place of many regular fixtures by allowing the operator to re-aim them and change their colour for different parts of a service. • Dimmer: static fixtures are connected to dimmers to provide them power; dimmers can be controlled by a lighting console or software to set the intensity level. Dimmers come in packs that contain typically at least four, but as many as 96, dimmers. • Lamp: in your home, this would be called a light bulb. But in professional lighting, it’s called a lamp. The bulb is technically just the glass piece of the lamp. Changing the lamp in a fixture is called re-lamping. The bulb part of a lamp should NEVER make contact with skin, as they burn so hot, the oils left on the glass cause the glass to shatter.

Story republished courtesy Commercial Integrator.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

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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

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Integration & Installation PRODUCT ROUND-UP

In the spirit of collaboration

Wireless presentation and collaboration systems are ushering in a flexible new era in working practices across the corporate and educational worlds. Reporter David Davies profiles five of the leading solutions in the company of manufacturers, distributors and integrators.

PRODUCT ROUND-UP Integration & Installation

Christie Brio ‘Simply connecting anything to everything from huddle spaces to multi-room conferences.’ Models: Team, Team+ and Enterprise “We had a control room platform called Phoenix that we realised could be adapted to create a meeting room solution. That was the starting point for Brio, although the electronics are now quite different from those contained in Phoenix,” says Nick Wheeler, EMEA sales and technical consultant for video processing, Christie Digital Systems. “What we wanted to achieve was the ability for people to walk into a meeting room, use whatever device and operating system they wish, and then connect to and display their content on the screen. Brio allows you to display any five of the following five input types: two DVI-D HDCP sources (Team+ and Enterprise models only), five Apple devices, five network connected PCs, five Android devices, all over WiFi using full desktop mirroring – all this without cables or dongles. “The fact that the system is essentially platform agnostic is a real advantage of Brio, although I would also draw attention to the internal whiteboard feature, which allows users to load a still into the whiteboard from their device and enable others to participate from their device via a web page. We have also had very good feedback about the annotation feature, which enables you to annotate any source that is displayed on the main output and then save the result as a JPG to USB. “In addition, the Enterprise version of Brio offers multisite capability that allows the host to share content with any number of Brio Enterprise-equipped destinations. In fact, we have been using Enterprise for just this kind of application between the Christie offices.” Future prospects: “We have only just started to ship Brio but are looking forward to raising awareness of the system in 2015,” says Wheeler. Availability: TBA

Integration & Installation PRODUCT ROUND-UP

Crestron AirMedia ‘Complete wireless HD presentation from any mobile device and any platform.’

Model: AM-100 AirMedia Presentation Gateway Corporate, military and educational facilities are among the key targets for Crestron AirMedia, reports the company’s regional manager for South Africa, Rupert Denoon. “Today you want to ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) to meetings to present, collaborate and share content wirelessly,” says Denoon. “With Crestron AirMedia you can, and it couldn’t be easier. Using AirMedia, you can walk into any meeting space and wirelessly present PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents, PDFs, photos and screen shots from your personal iOS or Android mobile device on the room display. Mac and Windows notebooks also connect seamlessly, making presentations and collaboration from almost any device incredibly fast and easy. “Features that I would highlight include the Moderator Mode, in which presenters and instructors can easily control the room and prevent ‘presentation chaos’. You just need to select whose content to share and whose content to not share, all from the Air Media web page or Crestron touch screen. “Then for very large meeting spaces where the display can be difficult to see, Remote View mode enables up to 40 participants – either at the back of the room or in other locations – to log in from a web browser to view the presentation on their mobile devices.” Future prospects: “We believe that we will improve the frame rate and be more efficient with bandwidth. Wireless technology is getting better every year and we will see changes in the way people collaborate in meeting rooms,” says Denoon. Availability: Q2, 2013

“Wireless technology is getting better every year and we will see changes in the way people collaborate in meeting rooms.” – Rupert Denoon, regional manager for South Africa, Crestron.

PRODUCT ROUND-UP Integration & Installation

Kramer VIA Collage / Connect PRO ’VIA Collage is a wireless presentation and collaboration hub; VIA Connect PRO is a wireless collaboration hub.’

Corporate and educational facilities are chief priorities for these two wireless hub systems, explains Jason Johnstone, Kramer product manager at the manufacturer’s South African distributor, Electrosonic. “The fact that these products would typically be installed on the user network makes it possible to present wirelessly and stream video at 1080P/60Hz – without frame loss or lip sync issues – and then collaborate while still having access to Microsoft Outlook as there is no need to switch wireless networks,” says Johnstone. “In particular, the Collage unit is intended to serve as an all-in-one solution that will save the end-user money while still allowing scope for features such as VC, streaming, collaboration, interactive whiteboard, presentation and BYOD. “I also believe that our unit is the best that I have seen in terms of sending video wirelessly; the fact that there is no frame loss sets ours apart from other units out there.” Future prospects: “My feeling is that – due to the global popularity of users trying to make use of BYOD for meeting purposes – they will strive to make the interactivity between these devices and what is shown on the main screen even easier and offer more features across these devices. Typical AV installs as we know it with hard-wired connections seem to have a limited lifespan and eventually all AV will go the way of Ethernet and WiFi as encoding and decoding of video signals continue to improve. Eventually all video will be compressed and the quality will be so high no one would see the difference.” Availability: From June 2014

Integration & Installation PRODUCT ROUND-UP

Barco ClickShare ‘Wireless presentation and collaboration system that allows any meeting participant to share content on the central meeting room screen.’

“It’s all about the button!” declares Dirk Schreuder from South African Barco distributor Imago SA. “The Barco ClickShare USB button offers plug-and-play wireless content sharing by simply plugging it into your laptop USB port and clicking the button. “Most wireless presentation solutions require the user to connect their laptop’s WiFi to the wireless presentation access point, thereby making it overcomplicated to the average user. In contrast, the Barco ClickShare USB button creates a WiFi connection to the ClickShare base station, enabling the user to present wirelessly and be on the corporate WiFi network to browse files and the internet. “As a premium product, the Barco ClickShare solution also offers up to Full HD 1080P quality images as well as sturdy and attractive build quality. “ClickShare is aimed towards medium-to-large corporate companies with multiple presentation or multimedia facilities, although we have also enjoyed success in most verticals including government and financial institutions.” Future prospects: “[In this market generally] we expect or hope to see complete wireless transmission from source to destination in future, but of course one needs to be cognisant of other factors when it comes to wireless transmission technologies with regard to frequencies and licenses,” says Schreuder. Availability: From 2012

Integrator viewpoints: “ClickShare’s brilliance lies in its utter simplicity.” – Francois du Plessis, InchBrook Audio Visual.

“The system delivers ease of installation and set-up from an installer’s point of view; flexibility in terms of how to integrate the unit and what you want it to achieve for your client; and ease of use from a client’s perspective,” – Darryl Katz, co-founder, managing member and technology consultant, 4Ward Design.

PRODUCT ROUND-UP Integration & Installation

AMX Enzo ‘A content-sharing platform built specifically for meeting rooms, classrooms and other collaboration spaces, providing instant access to a wide variety of content and conferencing services.’

First of all, it should be noted that the ENZO product was not originally conceived as a wireless presentation device; the wireless presentation aspect was: “...added later and uses the MirrorOp technology base, and as a result does a good job of screen-sharing from devices/ computers,” says Wynand Langenhoven from South Africa’s AMX distributor, Peripheral Vision. “The main benefits of the system are that it allows content sharing and screen mirroring between laptops, smart devices and tablets; facilitates integrated Skype and Microsoft Lync videoconferencing when used in conjunction with AMX’s forthcoming Serena Videoconferencing Camera; and provides an on-screen keypad-based venue control interface when used in conjunction with AMX NX Room system controller. There is also great strength in ENZO’s ability to connect presenters and their content without them having arrived with any device or computer thanks to Dropbox integration. “The main markets for this system are presentation venues (primarily huddle spaces) in the corporate and government market segment and within education facilities for lecture spaces. Another market for which the product would be very attractive is in government or parliamentary chambers.” Future prospects: “As hinted above, AMX is about to release support for videoconferencing on the ENZO device. They will be releasing their own camera for ENZO and it will support Skype and Lync videoconferencing. It’s a very exciting development that should really help to ensure the popularity of the system.” Availability: From July 2014

Integration & Installation PREVIEW

ISE 2015 preview

Amsterdam RAI, the venue for ISE 2015

Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2015 returns to the Amsterdam RAI with an even bigger and better show. Promising more than 50 000 people and over 950 exhibitors, ISE 2015 is set to present the largest AV tradeshow ever held in Europe, from 10 to 12 February. ISE 2015 will attract professionals from every link in the systems integration value-chain, including manufacturers, distributors, dealers, contractors and consultants. ISE also draws ever-growing numbers of end customers, from fields such as education, sports, corporate facilities, hospitality and live events. Professionals from more than 150 countries are expected to attend the show, looking to network, pursue new business opportunities and see over 1 000 new product launches. The show floor will occupy more than 36 000 square metres as well as four dedicated show areas: Digital Signage; Residential Solutions; Unified Communications; and the Smart Building area, which will showcase the latest solutions in building automation and energy management.

Pre-show events As in previous years, the ISE pre-show events will offer a motivating programme including the return of the Smart Building Conference and the Audio Forum. Following huge success at both ISE 2014 and PLASA London 2014, the Smart Building Conference, a joint venture of ISEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-owners InfoComm International and CEDIA, will take place at the RAI on 9 February 2015. The conference will include an inspiring team of industry experts delivering presentations and panel discussions on the hot topics surrounding the smart building industry. Organised by media partner, Connessioni, the Audio Forum will return to host a full-day educational programme consisting of case studies and seminars, aiming to gather together the international audio community. Taking place on the eve of ISE, the Audio Forum has been designed to increase the dialogue between audio manufacturers and professionals operating in the AV marketplace.

PREVIEW Integration & Installation

Professionals from more than 150 countries are expected to attend the show, looking to network, pursue new business opportunities and see over 1 000 new product launches.

The crowds at ISE 2014

New on the show floor Following the success of ISE 2014, the ISE Theatres will return to the show floor including the addition of one new theatre, ISE Unified Communications Theatre, which will stage case-study presentations by manufacturers, product distributors, systems integrators and end customers, focusing on the practical aspects of implementing collaboration and communication systems within enterprises. Meanwhile, the Residential Solutions Theatre will aim to broaden the market for whole-house automation and intelligent building design, with non-technical presentations showcasing real-world case studies. The Commercial Solutions Theatre will concentrate on the end-customer benefits of systems integration in a range of market verticals such as hospitality, healthcare, education, corporate and government facilities. Extra areas at the show have been created to benefit visitors and offer them a chance to relax during the three busy show days. Extra catering areas in the Park Foyer and Ruby Lounge, as well as the return of the Business Lounge, offering WiFi access, massage and charging stations, will give visitors a much-needed opportunity to take a break. Modern seating, international newspapers and TV

screens broadcasting international channels throughout the show days, the lounge will be an informal yet professional environment in which visitors can work, relax and network. Owing to its popularity at ISE 2014, an extra Discovery Zone has been added to offer new ISE Exhibitors the chance to participate in the show within a dedicated showcase. In the same hall, a new US Pavilion will host stands from US exhibitors looking to integrate into the European market. The pavilion is organised in cooperation with the US Commercial Service, which is offering its support to the participating exhibitors and networking events where interested companies can meet them.

Professional Development In addition to the Show Floor theatres, ISEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-owners CEDIA and InfoComm International will present an even wider range of courses at ISE 2015. Both associations will be offering more of their popular technical and business education, with offers in place for early bird discounts as well as on-site certification, it allows attendees to gain globally recognised qualifications without leaving the show venue.

Integration & Installation OPINION

Unravelling 4K: Does colour trump resolution? By Robert Archer

Video expert Joel Silver explains why 4K is a piece of the puzzle, but not the next-generation standard bearer for high-performance video. Ever since the failure of 3D as a long-term movie and TV sales driver, both Hollywood and the consumer electronics industries have determined that 4K, or Ultra HD, provides the best opportunity to drive video product sales. Since both industries began to focus on 4K, momentum for the format has been steadily gaining steam. Highlighting that momentum was the buzz it generated at two of the biggest tradeshows of the year – CES and InfoComm. Both events featured a number of 4K products and the interest for the format on each respective show floor was noteworthy. Taking a step back from all of the 4K enthusiasm is Joel Silver, president of the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) and one of the AV

industry’s pre-eminent video experts. For well over a year, Silver has been cautioning installers that there are other fundamentals in place that should take a higher priority than resolution.

4K part of the larger picture Silver is excited for the future of video and the performance potential that exists with some of the upcoming initiatives the professional and consumer markets are working on, but he points out that 4K alone won’t push video standards into breaking new ground. “Having 4K is one part of UHD and [next-generation, highperformance video], but it is not the most important part and people don’t get that,” says Silver. “It is part of the roadmap and there are two flavours of 4K, which is exciting, but there is a committee looking at HDR [high dynamic range].” The reason why HDR is so important for the next generation of video quality, Silver says, is the public has lived with the same temporal resolution since 1939. In the near future he notes – around 2017 and

OPINION Integration & Installation

2018 – advances in colour gamut will really drive innovation. “Going from 2K to 4K is an improvement, but it is not revolutionary,” he admits. “But the new colours, that is something. There is a lack of understanding concerning the rollout of 4K. I would much rather have a dynamic 2K HDTV than more pixels. Something with great blacks or great HDR, that is more impactful. Resolution is only apparent when you are close.” Underscoring what is happening in the video world, Silver emphasises that 4K is just the first part of a new system. “Frankly [4K] is the least impressive part of the roll-out,” he boasts.

Colour space advances key to quality According to Silver, the underpublicised part of the impending video industry’s format updates is the expanded colour gamut that could become a part of their final specification. “The 2020 colour space (the International Telecommunications Union Radio Communications ITU-R BT.2020 recommendation) is going to be great for laser colour space, but it will be difficult for older TVs.” “Flat-panel TVs will be expensive,” he continues. “The broadcast space already uses [the spec]. I have a 17-inch HP laptop that was part of a venture with DreamWorks and it includes Rec 709 capabilities and the Adobe Colour Space that is much better than HD. The laptop also does DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives).” “In a two-minute demo I can show pictures in three different colour spaces. Improvements in colour gamut are instantaneously superior to the average viewer. Showing Adobe Colour Space over Rec 709 is noticeable. Glancing at 4K, the average person doesn’t see [a noticeable difference] because it is just resolution.” Joining manufacturers that include Digital Projection (DPI) and Sony in their enthusiasm for laser-based projectors, Silver says these products along with LED solutions will be able to deliver the colour gamut capabilities that are a part of the next-generation formats. “The Ultra HD format will bring us all of that,” he notes. “It will deliver a much better image because dynamic range is more important.”

Quality begins with basics The impending video formats may offer wider colour gamuts and more resolution, but just like current industry standards, their respective performance is based on the same fundamentals as current-generation formats. Both HD and Ultra HD/4K require proper black level and contrast setups before moving onto colour and resolution calibrations.

“Contrast is the most important parameter,” emphasises Silver. “If you don’t have good blacks and whites, you won’t have a good image. Some of the great engineering minds from Philips, Dolby, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) and to Technicolor look closely at contrast.” Explaining further, Silver says those in the video industry, including the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), are examining ways to develop ’smart’ dimming where the content ’directs‘ displays to dim. “The question is can they monetise the technology to include it in video displays?” he says. “Contrast remains the single most important feature in evaluating a TV.” Backing up his statements on contrast ratio, Silver says dealers need to examine the CEA/CEDIA-CEB23-A: Home Theater Video Design specification that was updated back in 2012, which defines criteria for home theatre setup and performance. It’s a good place to start when thinking about commercial installations, too. Silver, who was a part of the expert panel that created the jointly developed guidelines, points out the 150:1 contrast ratio checkerboard pattern in CEB-23-A is unattainable for most systems, including commercial systems. “What I aspire to when I work with home theatre builders is that 150:1 contrast ratio. It is only really possible with a well-engineered room and system,” he says. “If a room has white walls, it doesn’t matter how good the screen and projector are [it won’t perform to the guidelines].” Summing up what dealers should concentrate on as the market continues to evolve, Silver is succinct. His advice applies to designing and setting up virtually any type of flat-panel or projection system. “Contrast is number one, secondly colour saturation, and the third thing is colour accuracy. The fourth thing is resolution, but it is nowhere as important as the other three,” Silver emphasises. “The first thing dealers should do when presenting to clients is to talk about good TVs before getting to 4K.” “Dealers need to consider performance parameters and ask themselves when evaluating TVs, are the blacks and whites really good? Does the TV’s dynamic range give you the punch you are looking for? Can it deliver the [brightness] spec for theatres [14.4-foot lamberts (fL)]? TVs like Sharp’s Elite put out more than 20fLs. So dealers need to ask the clients if they want a good TV before they talk about 4K… I don’t worry about the market at all. The market speaks for itself and that is why $1 000 4K TVs aren’t doing well in the market.” Story republished courtesy Commercial Integrator.

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Integration & Installation ADVERTORIAL

increases AV focus in SA Acer is thrilled to announce that it is placing more emphasis on its AV market in South Africa, to offer new and existing customers a total solution for their AV needs… Acer is excited to announce that it is inviting AV integration distributors to become a distributor for Acer projectors and monitors in the AV market. Following the successful uptake of other Acer products including laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones by consumers in South Africa, the company now plans to introduce and promote its products aimed at the AV market; these products include the latest projectors, monitors and digital signage. Acer uses digital light processing (DLP) technology in its projectors and digital signage products and – as Acer’s statistics state – the brand offers the number one source of products with DLP technology in the Europe, Middle East and Asia (EMEA) region. Acer projectors have several unique benefits that are derived from DLP technology, which include colour integrity (no colour decay), contrast advantage, less screen door effect, fast switching speed and a filter-free design. The colour saturation and intensity are highly enhanced with BrilliantColor technology, they offer a deeper black colour, sharper image on data, long-lasting image quality and optimized 6-segment colour wheel design for boosting colour saturation growth by 20% to 30% with wide colour gamut. Compared to an LCD projector, the DLP projector produces less noise in operation and its sealed chip resists degradation in dusty environments, also maintenance costs are significantly lower than those of LCD projectors. Acer’s constant research and development illustrates its endeavour towards bigger, better, longer-lasting image quality in projectors and as a result of high expectations of consumers who want only the best resolution and quality, owing to the constant improvement of digital signage, monitors and (especially) televisions they use at home. These high consumer expectations motivate Acer to offer state-of-the-art projector technology and to develop projectors that offer higher resolution, bigger screens and improved colours. Acer ColorBoost 3D and ColorSafe technologies offer superior colour performance, with all kinds of contents-based on chip DLP, six-segment colour wheel design and lamp control capabilities. They provide a true-to-life image even while displaying 3D or 2D-3D content. ColorBoost3D has the ability to reduce brightness decay and colour shift when displaying 3D or 2D-3D contents through enhancing colour brightness. At the same time, it compensates colour saturation and colour temperature. In addition, users can enjoy true 3D effect through following the easy set-up. Acer is also accredited for its ‘EcoProjection’, which means the technology has been measured against accepted standards for sustainability and responsibility to the environment. Acer highlights the add-on value of projectors equipped with distinct environmentcaring features by displaying an Acer EcoProjection logo. “End-users nowadays are expecting to have their AV products with wider viewing angles, improved sharpness and the ultra-resolution such as 4K2K. No one can yet offer a 4K2K resolution projector for

Hung S Liu, senior business manager, Product Business Unit, EMEA for Acer Europe SA

daily applications other than for cinemas, but we at Acer are working on it with Texas Instruments DLP technology to bring that ultraresolution to our projectors. In order to address the demand on high resolution at present, Acer offers premium P7605 with WUXGA resolution which is higher than full HD,” says . Acer has also improved, and continues to improve, the product and feature performance of its monitors, particularly those used for boardrooms and digital signage for educational use, mobile use and home theatre. Acer has 53% market share for the third quarter in 2014 in SA for projector business and Acer now provides total solutions in the South African market. The Acer product family covers screen sizes from one inch up to 100 inches and it is firmly placed as a go-to, one-stop solution provider for all home and corporate AV requirements – for business travelers and in rural areas that don’t have access to electricity.

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Liolà, National Theatre, London, lighting design by Neil Austin, photo © Max Narula

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Integration & Installation OPINION

SA’s AV industry should suit up and embrace global standards Corporate South Africa’s demand for audio-visual solutions is growing at a rapid pace, but training and professional standards are not keeping up with the expansion of the market, according to Stefan Mayer, managing director of Corporate AV Integration. Stefan Mayer

The result of this rapid expansion in the local AV space is that the industry is still largely dominated by companies that don’t have the technical skills to deliver complex solutions that clients are currently looking for. This is hardly surprising. The industry is fiercely competitive, so training often falls by the wayside in the scramble to win new business and keep customers happy. These retrenchments are forcing more people to create their own businesses, which means that there are many more unqualified companies vying for a piece of the pie. And for clients, it’s hard to sort the credible players from the fly-by-nights. Complicating the picture is the fact that our business is a multidisciplinary one, which also needs some understanding of IT, environmental design and more. But for the long term health of our industry, we need to place more of a focus in professional standards, based on the latest international best practices. Even though the industry is largely unregulated, international standards and certifications are a good place to start. For example, InfoComm provides a range of best practices and training courses to the industry. InfoComm is the trade association representing the professional audiovisual and information communications industries worldwide. Its university offers a range of courses covering management, design and installation of AV solutions. Though they are somewhat North-America centric, these courses are a good way to benchmark basic proficiency. Someone with the InfoComm Certified Technology Specialist (CTS) certification has demonstrated his or her audiovisual knowledge and skills in an exam. At Corporate AV, we use this as our basic benchmark. The Southern African Communications Industries Association (SACIA) – a trade association that promotes adoption of professional standards and ethical business practice in the communications industry – has partnered with InfoComm. Executive director Kevan Jones says that he hopes that government and universities will back the work SACIA and InfoComm are doing to bring relevant AV qualifications to South Africa. SACIA members get a discount on InfoComm Training. In addition, suppliers such as TID and Electrosonic offer free training to help build the local skills base. In addition to this industry training, there is certainly no shortage of manufacturer-based

training. Good AV solutions providers will invest in keeping their staff certified to work on the latest products from the leading vendors, in addition will encourage them to be certified with InfoComm. This is, as I mentioned earlier, just a starting point. As an industry, we should start looking at what we can do to create a solid base of skills for the future as well as to further professionalise our industry. It is in our interests to lift standards so that we can improve customer satisfaction and demonstrate the value of services for which we charge good money. SACIA can offer some independent guidance to recruiters in the AV industry as they look for skills. Perhaps we need to initiate discussions with universities and technical colleges, with a view to getting AV courses on the curriculum alongside traditional IT courses? We should almost certainly start thinking more about career paths that we can offer young people entering the industry. Given the wide and often technical skill sets required by the AV industry – IT skills as well as electrical, sound and electronic engineering skills – practical apprenticeships could help cultivate the people we need. All too often people are learning from sales and management rather than from the trade, resulting in poor skills transfer. It’s also important for corporate clients in the AV sector to start holding their AV integrators to higher standards. They should ask their integrators what qualifications their employees have and what sort of investment they make in training their people. Just as an enterprise wouldn’t want someone without the relevant certification tinkering with its networks and servers, it should not allow someone without the right qualifications to work on its AV products and systems.

Integration & Installation ADVERTORIAL

A brand new audio visual distributor is born A new company, Alpha Distribution Technologies, has been formed to service the professional audio visual market. Two directors from Audio Visual Centre will be heading up Alpha Distribution Technologies that distributes and supports audio, visual and automation products to the southern African dealer market. Marc Gelman and Spencer Thomas will join Ivan Guerin and Joseph Milan as directors of the company at a later date but will play a key role in the managing of Alpha Distribution Technologies until such time. Alpha Distribution Technologies combines the collective experience of Guerin and Milan; Guerin has more than 30 years experience in providing audio visual solutions, manufacturing and installations. Milan is an all-round entrepreneur who in the past five years has contributed to the meteoric success in developing a reliable supplier base of products and stock holding of the major brands, which migrate to Alpha Distribution Technologies as part of the exclusive sale and distribution agreement between the two companies. Things to look forward to in Alpha Distribution Technologies include ongoing dealer training at a new in-house training centre, a variety of themed showrooms, an authorised Sony projector repair centre that will also provide full audio visual product repair and support. Gelman and Thomas, currently the owners of Audio Codes, will be involved in the audio and home automation side of the business: “We see their inclusion of Audio Codes in Alpha Distribution Technologies

as integral to our long term vision of being an all-encompassing and truly dedicated AV and automation distributor,” says Milan. The formation of Alpha Distribution Technologies sees staff from both companies come together to offer continuity and dedication of a distribution service of brands including GrandView, Smart-Bus, Sony, Evoko, PowerLite and PTN, as well as dealer support to the reseller market as a whole, while at the same time separating itself from any interest in the end-user market. The company is also set to introduce audio products into its offering in the near future. The need for a separate company was identified by the directors of Audio Visual Centre – Guerin and Milan – who will also completely separate themselves from Audio Visual Centre once the transition from Audio Visual Centre to Alpha Distribution Technologies has been completed. The transition in becoming a completely independent company from Audio Visual Centre could take up to 18 months, but as from 1 March 2015, Audio Visual Centre will be a dealer of Alpha Distribution Technologies. Unit B5, Northlands Deco Park Phase 2, 29 Newmarket Road, Northriding, Gauteng info@alphatechnologies.co.za 011 462 5495 www.alphatechnolgies.co.za

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Integration & Installation REPORT

Prosound expertise called upon to install complex sound system in Philippines Arena

Photo by Rachael Rogerson / Courtesy Mondo dr

Prosound continues to add to its already impressive résumé – this time in the Philippines.

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Purpose-building communications and paging systems for large performing arts centres in the 1980s; preparing a site for one million people for the Pope in remote Lesotho; staging the return of the Swapo liberation movement in Namibia; staging the release event of Nelson Mandela and later his inauguration; supplying 10 of 11 FIFA World Cup soccer 2010 stadiums; and staging Nelson Mandela’s commemoration service with only 48 hours notice – Just a handful of examples of Prosound’s abilities but nothing could have prepared them for the magnitude of work to install the sound system in Philippines Arena. In early 2013 engineers at Electro-Voice (EV) / Bosch in Germany and Dubai contacted Prosound South Africa regarding a very large EV sound system due to be installed in the largest indoor arena in the world. Prosound and EV have a 35-year relationship and the installation expertise of Prosound is acknowledged internationally. The question posed by EV / Bosch was whether the South African company would be interested in installing this system as its size and complexity required deep experience and detailed skill. Contact was made with the local contractor – EVI Philippines – that paid for two senior Prosound engineers to visit Manilla in July 2013. Mark Malherbe, Prosound technical director and Boy Magnussen, the company’s electro mechanical expert, met Lito Dungca and Reynald Rodil from EVI Philippines in their offices for the first briefing on the scope of the project. This was followed by a site visit. It is rather difficult to explain the size of something that has never been constructed before and is twice the size of any indoor arena in Europe or the UK. Seating up to 65 000 people, a dome of 36 000 square metres, a 160-metre roof span and a ceiling height of 65 metres all built to be earthquake-proof. The sound system design for this amazing venue was by Engineering Harmonics in Canada and EV had met the specifications with XLC line arrays.

The installation The Philippines Arena was built for Iglesea Ni Christo (INC), a Christian church which celebrated its 100th anniversary with the opening of the Arena. Besides the religious services the venue is built for multipurpose hosting music, conventions, theatre and sports. The arena site, Ciudad de Victoria, also boasts a 25 000 open-air stadium, an indoor sports centre and in the future medical facilities, a university campus and hotels. INC had assembled international architects and engineers to set world-class standards for the daunting projects so the task for Prosound was going to be exacting. The aim was for the loudspeaker systems to be installed during December 2013 in time for preview shows in the venue during the early part of 2014 to culminate in the Centennial celebrations to take place around 27 July 2014. For Prosound, planning this meant a contracting site that is 11 500 km away with freight times of five weeks and minimum clearance times of two weeks. Excluding any design time or manufacture preparation had to include two months – just to cover the delivery time. Of greater concern was the paper trail for approvals, involving: Prosound to EVI, to the Church INC, to the Main Contractor, to Hanwa and the same path back to Prosound. Revisions and approvals were potentially long and arduous processes. On top of this, some design processes would involve approval from EV / Bosch, based in Germany / Dubai with attendant delays. After further meetings at EVI it became apparent that Prosound had a lot more to offer than just the loudspeaker brackets. An evaluation of the entire sound system installation and supply of bespoke materials took place.

Prosound agreed to bid on the line array exoskeletons, all of the equipment racks for both control and amplification, power distribution units for all racks, UPS units for all racks and all loudspeaker cabling systems from racks to clusters, as well as oversight for the installation.

Loudspeakers Prosound proposed a loudspeaker cabling system that would be based on the use of Socapex multipins, enabling all cabling to be prepared in South Africa and shipped as a ready-to-use entity. The racks were prewired to Socapex panels and then a series of Socapex to Speakon mults were manufactured to suit each cluster. In addition Socapex to Socapex extensions were provided for clusters to be checked on the ground and for future servicing. As time was of the essence, budgets were prepared and presented while the team was still in Manila on the first visit. These were accepted by EV and INC and go ahead was given to Prosound. On returning to SA and meeting with the balance of the contracting team, it was accepted that although Prosound had successfully managed all of the steel work for the sound systems at 2010 stadia, the tropical conditions and earthquake potential on this project had to be considered. It was agreed to employ the services of a structural engineer (Drake Engineering) from the word go. This would enable computer simulations of designs prior to manufacture and a guarantee of suitability. The total requirement was 18 x Electro-Voice XLC line arrays, 12 for the upper bowl and six for the lower bowl with each hang comprising 16 cabinets. Two EV XLD line arrays of 14 cabinets each for rear seating fill and four EV XLC sub arrays each comprising 10 cabinets. Preliminary drawings were prepared and sent to EVI and EV for concept approval which was given after minor revisions allowing for full modelling. A large stumbling block in the whole rigging process was getting the understanding of the exoskeleton concept across to Hanwa and thengetting even cursory approval to hang from the roof structure. Prosound presented a clamp and steel cable hanging concept with multiple bridle points for load spreading, although accepted in principal the concern remained that the thickness of the roof chords was not uniform, therefore the exact position on each beam had to be predetermined to guarantee load bearing. The time taken for this exercise was further exacerbated due to the lack of reflected ceiling plans showing all services and that although EV had plotted speaker positions, these did not take into account the fact that for installation to take place it would be essential that walkways were in a similar locale. While waiting for confirmation of the hanging positions and methodology, although the exoskeletons were approved, manufacture could not start, as the final fixing steels could not be designed.

Amplifiers In conjunction with the delays in hanging approval, further problems were encountered with the equipment rack locations for the amplifiers. The walkways in the roof had multiple issues, the load bearing was not determined, they were not level as they followed the roof profile and cable trays were mounted horizontally on the actual tread area minimising available space. The impact here was that leveling systems needed to be designed for the racks that would include a percentage of load spreading, while fitting over, but not obstructing cable trays. There were also

Photo by Rachael Rogerson / Courtesy Mondo dr

Integration & Installation REPORT

Flown arrays in the Philippines Arena

constant problems of overhead aircon ducts that were not on the supplied drawings but would be in the way of the rack. Apart from the delays created here, the other major implication was that final power and cable containment outlets could also not be determined until the rack locations were finalised. With all of the approval delays it meant that manufacturing could only commence in November, which precluded meeting the original December deadline. The equipment racks were stainless steel and included internal wiring and custom mains power distribution. Preparation started in December 2013 and by this stage Prosound had missed the shipping deadlines for any containers until the beginning of January. Finding space to work on 28 racks simultaneously devoured sizeable floor space and ended up taking over the entire Prosound Johannesburg sales office. Each rack had two prewired socapex connectors terminated for the EV TG7 amplifiers that would be mounted in Manila. All blank panels and brush panels were preloaded and the correct cage nuts positioned. Mating bolts and washers were supplied as part of the contract. Because the loudspeaker bracket delivery would only be done after the December shutdown, the racks and hanging steels were shipped first. This meant that work could commence on site with the placement, then loading of the racks and that Boy Magnussen would be able to go out and instruct on the installation of the first stage steels, such as the bridle points to the cluster hook oblong. The racks were finished and commissioned in Johannesburg just prior to Christmas 2013 and shipping was scheduled for early January. This meant that arrival on site would be mid-March 2014.

Weakness The loudspeaker support skeletons hit a complication when computer simulations detected a potential weakness on a support strut. This required re-design and consequently the decision was taken to manufacture these large brackets bracket in two parts, as a single unit became impossible to man handle. The practical reality was that on site the seats were in place so the preparation of a hang of 16 line array boxes on a massive vertical bracket had to be considered. Lifting machines could not access it so plenty of manpower was drawn upon. Malherbe had traveled to Korea in early 2014 to set up the sound for a production of Jersey Boys the Musical and visited the site in Manila on his way back to SA. It was apparent that the site was not ready for any of the audio system installation and that there was still not a clear understanding by the Korean engineers of the works to be undertaken by EVI. Prosound initiated a meeting of the professional team and ran through what the requirements for the installation were with specific reference to roof locations and load bearing. Prosound devised a method of using brightly coloured paper in the roof to indicate the required positions that could be seen from below as it was impossible to get an overall picture from up in the roof. Dates were agreed for the first fix visit of brackets onto the beams and steel ropes accurately prepared to accept the motors to lift the speaker clusters. Further project deadlines were confirmed as a non-negotiable completion in July 2014. Back in Johannesburg the loudspeaker brackets were completed and test hangs undertaken using the EV XLC cabinets. Fortunately the design and preparation was of a standard that only few minor

REPORT Integration & Installation changes were required. Magnussen went back to Manila on in April 2014 and with the assistance of the local riggers, started the steel cable installation. A hurdle that had to be overcome early in these works was to determine the actual location of the clusters once up in the roof as for obvious reasons they had to be very accurate. Prosound devised a method of using phone compasses against plotted locations, which proved 100% successful. Once these works were firmly underway, Magnussen overcame the rigging of loudspeakers over the seats by designing and getting approval for large temporary platforms. During this period Malherbe again visited site, and additional works were discussed and agreed on, which included supplying racks for the control areas; 12 x 42 unit c/w power distribution and UPS. The curve ball was the outdoor stadium sound system had an excellent design of distributed Electro-Voice EVH loudspeakers – 60 in total – and Prosound was asked to design and manufacture all the brackets and initiate the installation and plan and supply the necessary racks and all the cable.

Exacting This also demands a daily dynamic involvement with onsite issues. Charles Markotter is the head systems engineer for Prosound and his years of practical experience within the company proved invaluable

Array at ground level ready to fly

Array lift in process

on such Philippines projects. He prepared the detailed drawings for racking and cabling and importantly assisting with the complex network design for the EV Netmax sound system processors. There were 44 in total, an exacting task to integrate. With the seriously difficult part of the loudspeaker installation about to commence, EVI Philippines expressed concern as to the experience of their local riggers. Prosound decided that these riggers were capable however, the oversight of the company’s head rigger, Tee Tebogo, for the cluster installs, would guarantee an efficient and problem-free installation. In addition Magnussen went back out to train the riggers and to ensure that the platform method would work in preparation for Tebogo’s arrival. The cluster installations and other works were hindered by the electrical power distribution not being completed within the main contract. EVI had to undertake this extensive work to avoid delays to the project. In reality the cluster hangs happened with temporary power and Tebogo ensured that every amp channel and every loudspeaker component was checked prior to lifting. Tebogo and Magnussen oversaw the first cluster installation and then Magnussen returned to SA leaving Tebogo to complete the entire installation, which constituted 40 days of work in tropical temperatures and thick humidity. Tebogo and Magnussen later oversaw the initial loudspeaker installation in the stadium to ensure correct install methodology and structural integrity. A final oddment thrown at Prosound due to the success of the Prosound manufactured power distribution equipment for the 40 racks, a request was made for portable 400-amp stage power distribution systems. Prosound supplied a design of two 400A portable DB boards with primary output connectors from four positions, cables and mating connections. This was accepted and consequently manufactured in Johannesburg. Unfortunately the late order meant that these were not complete for the opening but were supplied later. The complete installation of the arena speaker system was completed by the first week of July. All systems were mechanically correct, all electrical and electronic circuits were continuous and correct and all electro-acoustic components were in order for operation. EV / Bosch carried out their system alignment which was further tweaked by Malherbe for the opening events for which he was the production manager for sound. The completion of this project was another unique page in the Prosound history book. – On time, to specification and within budget.

Bracket fitting into array

Integration & Installation REPORT

Musion Africa – Mardi Gras Theatre, Carnival City In the age that we currently live in it’s easy to see the increasing quality that display media has experienced. HD TVs are now commonplace and usurp their predecessors, CRT displays, with such veracity that it’s difficult to believe we ever settled for less. Indeed, with 4K resolution on our doorsteps in display and projection technologies, one has to wonder, what lies beyond that realm and, to quote the now trite adage: “what will they think of next?”

3D holographic projection at the Mardi Gras Theatre at Carnival City

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Well, they’ve already thought of it. 3D has come back in style in the last few years and this is evident in the slew of 3D movies that have occupied our theatres and in the proliferation of 3D HD TVs we can now enjoy in our home. However the drawback to this type of 3D technology has always been a loss in luminosity and the need to wear those pesky glasses, which reduces it to more of a fad that seems, thankfully, to be passing. However, there is another kind of technology under the ‘3D’ umbrella that is a pleasure to view – without any loss in luminosity or requiring any glasses – and actually astounds the senses at the sheer realism of it all. I am talking about 3D holographic projection. Anyone remember the ‘resurrection’ of Tupac Shakur at Coachella festival a few years ago? Well, the company behind that, hailing from the UK, is called Musion 3D and they have come to our shores under distribution of Musion Africa, run by CEO Ellen van den Burg and Chico De Almeida. Musion aims to change the way we view and interact with media of all sorts in the entertainment, corporate, educational, political, digital resurrection and even the TelePresence sectors by bringing 3D holographic projection to the fore. Musion Africa recently installed a system in the Mardi Gras Theatre at Carnival City to showcase the technology and is involved in other campaigns and installations both locally and in other locations around the continent including at the Mozambique National Stadium. The system at Carnival City was installed by local AV experts System Solutions, a Gearhouse Group company.

A bit of background Musion as a technology has its origins in 1996 when it was developed and installed at the Swarovski Museum in Austria. The inventor of the technology, Uwe Maass, founded a laser show company in 1988 through his experience in the live events industry in Germany and in 1992, through his affinity for 3D technology, he invented the first polarised 3D laser projector. However, his dissatisfaction with the use of those aforementioned pesky glasses, Maass founded Musion 3D in 1997 following the Swarovski Museum ‘pilot’ and once again constructed their first Eyeliner – the technology used to resurrect Tupac Shakur at Coachella – for Swarovski. The Eyeliner is, essentially, the modern version of an old Victorianera theatrical illusion called ‘Pepper’s ghost’. The trick has been used in theatre, haunted houses, dark rides and magic shows for centuries and has its primordial origins in the 16th-Century under Neapolitan scientist and scholar Giambattista della Porta. Della Porta is also credited with the invention of camera obscura, an optical device that led to the invention of photography and the camera. Pepper’s ghost, named after John Henry Pepper – the man who popularised the effect – uses plate glass, Plexiglass or plastic film and special lighting techniques to create the illusion of objects appearing or disappearing, becoming transparent or to make one object morph into another. The objects are most often placed in a hidden room called a ‘blue room’ where they are lit and reflected off of the glass, creating the impression of a ghost or hologram.

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3D Holographic performance

A famous example of this technique in action is the world-famous Haunted Mansion rides at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Tokyo. In those cases the glass is vertically orientated in relation to viewer. Animated props are then reflected below and above the viewer which creates the illusion of three-dimensional, luminous ‘ghosts’ that seemingly dance through the ballroom and interact with physical props on the ballroom floor. The key is that the light reflected on the props causes the ghosts to appear and disappear. This, in essence, is the way Musion’s technology works albeit without the need for props or a hidden room because a permanently mounted HD projector is used as a programme source. The projector is usually mounted above the stage and is aimed at a ‘bounce screen’ (a custom-made, white cinema-type screen) installed into the stage floor where an inverse video of the material is projected. Musion’s patented, translucent foil is then rigged at a 45 degree angle across the stage and the content projected onto the bounce screen is reflected in the foil, giving the illusion of a 3D hologram. The higher the resolution of the playback video: the higher the resolution of the hologram. With the inclusion of some clever back-lighting, the result is

a completely undetectable 3D holographic performance that seems to defy reality and, with modern CGI effects, the constraints of physics as well.

Carnival City – Mardi Gras Theatre Musion SA has been driven by Ellen van den Berg, a passionate and enthusiastic entrepreneur who is very excited about the product because it holds so many opportunities in so many sectors. Indeed, it could revolutionise the way we view and interact with display media. Van den Berg contacted Roger Feldmann from local AV experts System Solutions who then teamed up with Musion to supply the correct equipment specification for the installation at Carnival City’s Mardi Gras Theatre. Feldmann then brought in local lighting experts DWR to supply the lighting and truss and our local Christie representatives, who supplied the projector. Starting on the stage, the bounce screen is an 11.8m x 3m, non-perforated web and eye Stagelite Contrast screen. This is mounted in a triangular Prolyte H30D truss frame on the floor of the stage and is out of view of the audience by a blackened border

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because obviously it is undesirable to give away any secrets of the technology during the performance. The foil screen is oriented at 45 degrees in relation to the stage, is 12m wide by 4m high and is framed by Prolyte H40V truss. The foil is Musion’s proprietary design and is virtually undetectable in lowlighting theatre conditions. In fact, I would say given that the rest of the equipment is virtually standard such as the bounce screen and the truss, it is the foil which provides the ‘magic’ of the illusion. The projector spec’d was a Christie Roadster HD20KJ, mounted in a box of Prolyte H30V truss 6.3m above the stage. Playback equipment consists of an Avstumpfl Wings Engine Install Dual in a 19”, 4U rack-mount multi-display video server. This runs Wings Vioso projector mapping software, Wings Touch interactive user interface creation software and AVIO manager, Wings’ network protocol. The rest of the supplied equipment is lighting, to add ambiance and flair to the 3D holograms. This brings an air of ‘liveness’ to the show and bumps up the realism a notch for showmanship’s sake. In summary, the lighting fixtures include eight Robe MMX Spots, eight Robe Robin 300 LED Washes and eight Robe Robin LED Beam 100s.

The wrap When I was a child I was lucky enough to be taken to Walt Disney World in Florida by my parents. I still remember standing in that endless queue for the Haunted Mansion ride and when my eyes finally fell upon the ‘ghosts’ dancing on the ballroom floor, my mind was perplexed at how this was possible. Little did I know that a good 20 years down the line this trick would be drastically revolutionised in the form of what we see today in technologies such as Musion 3D. The key here is that as projection technology has progressed to offer such definition and quality to the point that these new ideas can be recreated and refined for a viewer experience at a level never before conceived. Viewing the results for myself was just as perplexing to my modernised mind and I’m sure the technology will find its way into many sectors in the near future.

Integration & Installation REPORT

2014 product highlights As 2014 came to a close, Pro-Systems’ Thuli Mlambo set out to chat to AV integrators and live entertainment professionals to find out which products and apps made their work easier during 2014.

Apple Yosemite and IOS-8 iOS 8 has a convenient new way to respond to notifications, helpful shortcuts to the people that business people talk to most, and time-saving features for managing mail – all of which make the experience of using iPhone, iPad or iPod touch that much better. Apple Yosemite has the ability to perform quick calculations and conversions. The calendar is a little more intelligent, autocompleting attendees if one creates a regular event. There’s also a lot more space for editing existing events. Markup in Mail is useful and Mail Drop is more so. Along with iCloud Drive, Mail Drop means the need for DropBox will be less frequent.

Integrator opinion: “With this combination, the seamless integration between fixed and mobile devices is unbeatable, saving time and removing hassle.” – Gavin Olivier, managing director, Digital Fabric.

Avaya Scopia XT5000 Telepresence Platform The Avaya Scopia XT Telepresence Platform creates a lifelike, immersive experience replicating the feeling of meeting in-person. The Scopia XT Telepresence Platform is customisable to the unique requirements of individual rooms and customer needs.

Integrator opinion: “We have had the privilege of installing a custom telepresence solution at a few of our client’s branches. The Scopia XT5000 Telepresence solution impressed us with its versatility, allowing the integrator to tailor the solution to the customer’s exact needs. Calibration of the cameras was effortless, even though the boardroom table in the solution was a round design. It was possible to create the perfect illusion of being in the same room as the far-end, with the table flowing into the display, connecting the rooms physically. The video quality is superb, with life-like scale being portrayed. This platform uses H.264 High Profile and SVC (Scalable Video Coding), lowering bandwidth and providing high network error resiliency.” – Marnus Swart, AV/VC engineer, Ubuntu Technologies.

Crestron DMPS 300-C The Crestron DMPS 300-C is a complete presentation control and signal routing solution for boardrooms and classrooms. Integrating the control system, multimedia matrix switcher, mic mixer, audio DSP, amplifier and DigitalMedia distribution centre all into a single three-space rackmount package, the DMPS-300-C affords substantial signal routing flexibility and high-performance signal processing without the need for separate components.

Integrator opinion: “It’s one of the most useful and versatile pieces of equipment currently available for the boardroom space. It’s not cheap, but simplifies the installation and works every time.” – Stefan Mayer, managing director, Corporate AV Integration.

Crestron DMPS3-4K-150-C

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The Crestron DMPS3-4K-150-C provides a 4K multi-format presentation switcher with fully automatic operation and DigitalMedia connectivity. It works seamlessly out of the box with up to four Crestron Connect It tabletop interfaces.

Integrator opinion: “It’s an ultra HD Switcher / Scaler that supports 4K. It is HDBaseT-compliant with an auto-switching feature therefore requires no programming. If you want to programme then it also includes a Core-3 Crestron processor. In our view it’s a complete all-in-one solution perfect for small boardrooms. We are currently including this product in our system designs.” – Darryl Katz, managing director, 4ward-design.

Kramer VP-435 Component / UXGA HDMI Scaler The unit, which incorporates HDMI technology, scales incoming video signals and outputs an HDMI signal with any associated audio embedded. The VP-435 is ideal for projection systems in conference rooms, boardrooms, hotels and churches, as well as for home theatre and residential use.

Integrator opinion: “It is a simple auto switching for HDMI and VGA input to HDMI output.” – Stefan Mayer, managing director, Corporate AV Integration.

EPSON iProjection App and Software The EPSON iProjection App and Software displays content from an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Android smartphones and tablets. This new application allows road warriors to travel lightly and present from their mobile devices.

Integrator opinion: “It’s an innovative smartphone or tablet app that makes it possible for hotel guests and meeting delegates in corporate environments to connect wirelessly (via WAN, LAN or WiFi) to the projector and present seamlessly. We make particular use of this technology and it is one of the cornerstones of our integration service. EPSON were the first to perfect this and make it available on the App Stores for Google, Android and iOS devices. There are more innovative features coming in January 2015. The tangible benefits are: more immersive meetings, delegates use their own familiar technology, time saving setup, cross-platform integration… and more.” – Kevin MacMillan Craig, director of Innovation, Converged Connectivity.

D-Tools System Integrator SIX D-Tools System Integrator SIX 2013 is a complete estimation, system design and project management solution that scales to fit the needs of your business – from large commercial integrators to small residential companies. SIX can help you increase revenues as well as reduce time and costs associated with the installation and integration of audio visual, energy, home automation, security and IT networking systems.

Integrator opinion: “It makes quotation, system design, project management and implementation accurate and simple.” – Richard Hill-Jowett ,CEO , Audiovisual Designs.

LIVE EVENTs REPORT Avolites Media Ai Media Server Infinity EX Series The Ai Infinity server features eight unique full HD DVI outputs, each with internal EDID management and production and preview connectors. The EX range now adds third generation PCI Express motherboards, graphics cards and RAID SSD drives for ultimate performance. The Infinity server includes many more unique hardware features, such as LTC timecode input, DMX 512 and Artnet output and a front panel touch screen showing the Ai Visualiser. All of these features reduce the requirement for other separate rack mounted products which also reduces the overall project budget and saves on precious rack space. “The Infinity EX8 revolutionises the way in which video content is played back, especially onto 3D surfaces, where the server plays content on 3D mesh models in a virtual environment. Unique in class tools such as individual projector mesh correction makes this an incredibly powerful tool for video mapping applications.

End-user opinion: Projector placement and content warping is now really fast to setup, and with Ai’s projector mesh correction tools, the content can be mapped onto the physical objects perfectly in a matter of minutes. The other really attractive feature of the product is the flexibility the program’s interface offers. The core underlying program is build-on modules which are wired together in the order you wish to use them in, the user can largely determine how certain features and effects engines behave. This, coupled with the flexibility to control the server from various control surfaces, really won us over.” – Mike Tempest, senior audio visual engineer and development, Gearhouse Group.

Ayrton MagicPanel 602 MAGICPANEL™602 is a modular LED luminaire allowing for a broad range of diverse visual effects . Equipped with continuous unlimited PAN & TILT rotation, it is able to display media thank to its ArtNet inpout/output or to be controlled via DMX RDM protocol through its XLR connectors. The display is made up of 36 15 Watt LED RGBW modules fitted with high-output 7,5° 45-mm optics, the unit runs on a sophisticated and particularly quiet cooling system and offers an overall luminous flux in excess of 14.000 lumen for a consumption of 600 Watt.

End-user opinion: “I haven’t seen an innovative light like this in quite a while and it is phenomenal when it comes to creating visual and 3D effects. It boasts a lot of features which make it unique and different to any other light on the market, such as unlimited pan and tilt rotation, which means it can be spun around in any direction for as long as you like. Making use of the new 4G Ayrton technology, each of its 36 LED modules can be controlled individually allowing you to create images, numbers and even logos. The possibilities are endless with this product and it ensures a world class event whenever it is used.” – Sean Crawley, HOD Lighting, Sound Stylists.

Robe MMX Spot It is a new technology discharge fixture that has similar light output to most existing 1 200 W luminaires. The unit is based on the new Robin advanced technology design that provides brighter, more efficient, physically lighter and smaller fixtures than previously possible.

End-user opinion: “It is an awesome light to use; it is very powerful and versatile with the effects wheel and projection gobos. It provides brighter, more efficient, physically lighter and smaller fixtures. MMX has the ‘dual graphics wheel’ – two fully controllable contra-rotating plates that can be positioned anywhere across the light path to produce unique visual effects.” – Christiaan Ballot, managing director, Blond Productions.

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Coolux Pandoras Box Server and Manager Pandoras Box Server Pandoras Box Server system offers a turnkey solution that perfectly unites state-of-the-art rendering technology with intuitive media and show control. A high-quality server featuring a powerful render-engine offers real-time compositing in 3D and allows for projection onto any shape and on any surface.

Pandoras Box Manager The Pandoras Box Manager re-defines real-time editing and playback control. This standalone software allows synchronisation and remote control of all Pandoras Box media playback products via network. The built-in sequences and cue-based timeline interface enables you to control Pandoras Box Servers, Players as well as interfacing with all kinds of external controllers via TCP/IP, Serial RS232/422, SMPTE, DMX, Art-Net, analog and digital industrial sensors.

End-user opinion: “It is a media server and show control system which is both stable and versatile, allowing operators to 3D warp, blend, mask or pixel map with ease. No matter what you need to do on your event, coolux can handle it! The only limitation it has comes in the form of you, the user! If you can dream it, it can do it!” – Jason Cole, HOD /AV, Dream Sets.

JBL VTX line array Series VTX V25 The VTX V25 is a full size three-way high-directivity line array element. The VTX V25 features two 2 000 W 15-inch Differential Drive woofers mounted in die cast aluminium baffles, with four 8-inch Differential Drive midrange transducers and three of the revolutionary new D2 Dual-Diaphragm Dual-Voice-Coil Compression Drivers mounted on a third-generation waveguide and patented RBI – Radiation Boundary Integrator assembly. Patented rigging, Crown VRack DSP and amplification, and JBL HiQnet Performance Manager configuration and control software complete the system package. VTX V20 features the advanced technology and extraordinary performance of the VTX V25 in a smaller format, high power density three-way system complemented by a new suspension system that provides efficient transport, fast setup and precise configuration. All VTX V20 components have been specifically engineered to provide stable 110-degree horizontal coverage and effective line source array coupling in the vertical plane while delivering linear, transparent sound up to surprisingly high output levels for its diminutive size.

End-user opinion: “The JBL VTX25 and new ‘baby’ VTX20 have phenomenal audio power and have marked a major step forward with innovation and design. Audio fidelity is exceptional with a much smoother, solid frequency response. The system has received very favourable comments from even the harshest critics. It appears on many local riders as well as international artists such as John Legend, Maroon 5, Metallica and others.” – Marius Marais, sound engineer (and company owner), Audio Logic.

LIVE EVENTs REPORT Renewed Vision ProVideoPlayer 2 Since its original release eight years ago, PVP has been used by organisations around the world to create video walls, digital signage, dynamic staging and much more. This experience and customer feedback drove the development plan for the next generation of this powerful tool. The need for a robust, easy-to-use playback tool that excels in multiscreen environments is something we have heard from many customers.

End-user opinion: “PVP is a video play back program for Mac. The new PVP 2 has so many new improvements. PVP is known for its versatility to play back a wide range of codecs but now with all the effect generators built-in to PVP 2 and masking abilities, it has taken this product to a whole new level. PVP 2 is a must-have if you are in live video playback. It is cost efficient and reliable.” – Johan Botha, HOV of AV, MGG.

SGM G.Spot Profile LED Moving Head The G-Spot is a multi-environmental, maintenance-free fixture with an IP-rating of 65.

End-user opinion: “This product has several exceptional features that make it not only a wish-list top 10 but a must-have item. The fact that it is maintenancefree makes it enough of a win, in addition it has an IP rating of 65 so it is water, dirt and sand proof, works in any weather conditions and environment, and it’s the brightest 100% LED-based spotlight with all the bells and whistles. It won the top industry Plasa Award for 2013 (for good reason) and it adds on modular capabilities that make it interchangeable between profile and spot which means your inventory can be a lot smaller.” – Michael Collyer, CEO, TechRig Technical Solutions Agency.

ShurePlus Channels app ShurePlus Channels untethers you from the mixing console, delivering time-saving convenience to roam the performance space while monitoring key Shure wireless system parameters from an iOS device. The app relays critical channel information including RF, audio, and battery levels. Quickly switch between any of your wireless channels using the sortable channels list. Mobile control of wireless channel settings can be added via in-app purchases. Unlocking this feature allows remote adjustment of frequency assignments, audio gain, muting, and more.

End-user opinion: “The app helps engineers to have remote control and monitoring of compatible Shure wireless systems to an iOS device. The app relays critical channel information including RF, audio, and battery levels, and allows for remote adjustment of wireless channel and receiver settings. Our sound engineers can use it on iPhone or iPad and increased efficiency of RF management.” – Marius Marais, sound engineer (and company owner , Audio Logic.

Shure ULX-D digital wireless microphone system The Shure ULX-D Digital Wireless offers extremely efficient RF performance, networked control, Dante digital audio, and AES-256 encryption for professional sound reinforcement.

End-user opinion: “The Shure ULXD is a brilliant digital wireless system. It is rugged, scalable and reliable. The RF is exceptionally stable. Dante simplifies audio over IP solutions and the Lithium Ion batteries and recharge stations have drastically cut my battery budget! It’s a no-compromise solution for the professional audio industry. Shure’S Wireless Workbench (their RF Management software) ensures that the RF is always stable.” – Marius Marais, sound engineer (and company owner), Audio Logic.

Soundcraft Vi3000 The Soundcraft Vi3000 features an all-new appearance with a more efficiently designed control surface, 36 faders, 24 mono / stereo busses and a sweeping black screen panel with four Vistonics II touchscreen interfaces with sleek, updated 3D graphics. Because the Vi3000 has four touchscreens, it’s the only console in its class that can be used by two engineers at the same time.

End-user opinion: “By far the best value for money digital console available (in its category) since its launch this year. 3D Vistonics makes mixing so simple and easy to follow. Vistonics can also allow more than one engineer to mix on the desk simultaneously. It has FaderGlow, which is a unique and elegant solution to help follow assignable faders. The seamless operation with UAD plug-ins is brilliant! Vi3000 also has Lexicon Effects, built-in Dante and MADI, which simplifies integration. Routing capability of the desk is large (more than 200 ins and outs) making it quite versatile.” – Marius Marais, sound engineer (and company owner), Audio Logic.

LIVE EVENTs PROFILE

‘KG’ Moima ‘KG’ Moima dreams of introducing the entertainment industry to rural communities and feeding them with the wealth of possibilities within their communities…

PROFILE LIVE EVENTs

Kagiso ‘KG’ Moima is the owner and founder of full-service lighting company Blackmotion Production that specialises in providing entertainment lighting systems. With a vision and future as bright as his enthusiastic personality, KG plans to bring skills, entertainment and information to rural communities to expose them to the wide array of career possibilities within the entertainment industry.

The beginning While at school, KG was president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and he felt the school needed some spunk and arranged quarterly folk shows with ‘singers’ miming on backing tracks, using old large grand speakers as the PA. But, the career-type interest in the entertainment industry sparked at the age of 17 when KG and his cousin found themselves backstage of the entertainment at a career expo they attended with their parents. “The stage was huge and built out of scaffold pipes, and it had minimal lighting and huge Electrovoice speakers that were about 1.2 metres wide, all stacked on top of each other. I wasn’t sure how, but I knew that was the moment I realised I wanted a career in the entertainment industry,” he says. He went on to graduate from the Tshwane University of Technology in 2001 with a National Diploma in Performing Arts Technology, and majored in Lighting, Sound and Stage Technology. Following that, KG spent six weeks at Prosound doing his internship for the course and when he realised that lighting is the direction he wanted to go in he went to MJ Event Gear and courageously did a presentation to Mike Jones to secure his first ‘real’ contract of employment. “You have to know what you are doing before you walk into Mike’s office and ask for a job. I was so nervous!” Jones gave KG the opportunity he needed and he spent two years working in sound and audio visuals and learning about the lighting industry. In 2003 KG left MJ Event Gear having solidified a working relationship and experience that would bear fruit for later years.

Personal development “One day I received a call from Izak Furstenberg of Urban Brew Studios and he wanted me to join them doing television lighting. I had never done TV lighting before and because I wanted to diversify my lighting skillset I gladly joined them. I wanted to learn all forms of lighting design and TV lighting proved to be totally different to concert and industrial lighting. The whole philosophy is different – you need to light the set, create a mood, create a look and feel that the SABC wanted, and light the actors. I learnt very quickly because I only had four weeks with Izak before he left me to do the lighting on my own.” “One of my first sets was the Castle Loud entertainment show, and I thought I did an awful job in lighting it. All I had done with Izak was the Live Lotto Draw, which was simpler than Castle Loud. The set just had darkness everywhere, but the producers assured me I was improving with each show and that kept my confidence levels up during that learning curve.” Next was 3 Talk with Noeleen Maholwana-Sangqu, a show for which KG had sleepless nights trying to light in his head before even seeing the set, but it was the compliments from this show that made KG realise that he did in fact have talent and a career in the lighting world, and this is where he ‘cut his teeth’ in TV lighting. After gaining an extensive amount of lighting experience lighting game shows and talk shows, KG needed to expand his knowledge and skills in the TV lighting industry and went to work for Frans Marx Films to light drama TV.

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Becoming an entrepreneur In 2005, KG started his company, Blackmotion Production, and at the time the industry was dominated by a mono cultural group which seemed undemocratic and biased in creativity. KG believed he had enough courage to participate in this heavily competitive industry by offering sound business relationships with his clients based purely on cost effective creative lighting services. So his business sprung to life, operating mostly on weekends. It took a while and it was when KG got a call from Moja Movie Factory that he was able to take the plunge and turn his weekend business into a full-time venture. Moja Movie Factory offered Blackmotion Production a lighting contract for a sitcom it was about to start producing and there was a real possibility of securing a second season as well. Among the building blocks of getting Blackmotion Production off the ground was MJ Event Gear and Duncan Riley, owner of DWR Distribution, who set up an enterprise development agreement to help him get the lights he needed to be competitive in the market and have payback terms that suited KG. “Duncan was my pillar in terms of building resources within my company. If we had not spoken, then the enterprise development wouldn’t have happened. Duncan was that spring board to get us into the market.” As an emerging company in a market full of experienced competitors, Blackmotion Production had to focus on its skills, knowledge, final presentation and its product offering, to position itself in a way that made clients choose them for their credentials and skills and not for their black ownership. “We decided to dig deeper in the general market and find niche markets where other companies were not looking. We have managed to mould and develop that niche market as the country is changing and progressing and laws are being made to help companies, particularly black-owned companies, be considered for jobs in previously unobtainable markets, where we were previously unable to compete with because of our lack of long term experience and reputation in the market. So moulding our niche market had more to do with personality than anything – because people do business with people they like. So we had to be likeable. We had to change how we speak and dress and how we present ourselves and that became the cornerstone of building a niche market for ourselves.” The company also keeps ahead of its game by partnering and subcontracting larger, more experienced companies such as Gearhouse and MJ Event Gear to take on the jobs that are beyond Blackmotion Production’s current scope, and project manage them to learn and gain skills. “The highlight of my career was when I got a call to go to Accra in Ghana, to light a Chris Brown concert. This is when I realised we can be a multi-national company and offer our services to the rest of Africa as well.” KG’s vision is to bring what the

entertainment industry has to offer in terms of career possibilities, to rural communities who rarely venture to cities and therefore do not get the proper exposure to all the money-making, economyproducing possibilities out there and help ignite thriving rural economies so that urbanisation can be stopped in its tracks and maybe reversed.

The next big thing for KG KG says the most important industry innovation in the last decade has been the LED light. “LED is the way forward. They are energy-efficient, durable, offer design flexibility which allows lighting innovators to continue producing new innovative lights that offer different characteristics for entertainment lighting.” LED features prominently in Blackmotion Production’s lighting offerings, and is sure to feature in the business’s next five year plan which kicks off in 2016, when they plan on building their first amusement park in Mpumalanga, in a township community that is already performing well. “We want to bring the technology and entertainment experiences to the communities while creating brands that speak to people about lifestyles and self-empowerment, we want to spawn dreams and new careers for youngsters to aim for. People in townships don’t usually know the vast array of opportunities that they could do in their townships to ignite the economies. The future is bright. We just need to have the stamina to keep it going,” he laughs. “I had to come to Johannesburg to get the skills and knowledge I sought, and now I want to take them to the rural areas and distribute information and opportunities.” To conclude, KG urges companies of all sorts and sizes in all industries to invest in their people and send them overseas to learn from our international peers to keep South Africa relevant and forward-thinking. If all companies did this then there would be a constant cross-pollination of skills and development and all companies and industries would benefit from it, even if people move from company to company.

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Robe BMFL – Choose your own acronym

By Jimmy Den-Ouden

It’s probably safe to say Robe is telling this one like it is. The BMFL is indeed a bright multi-function luminaire, and it’s very much all of those things.

BMFL uses a 1 700W discharge lamp which Osram developed in conjunction with Robe over the course of two years specifically for this application. That’s a whole lot of Watts – the most in fact I’ve ever seen in a moving head fixture. It’s definitely a single-fixture-per-10Acircuit kind of deal – just feel the heat which emanates from the back of the head if you want to better understand why. Despite a busy schedule, we managed to secure the BMFL for long enough to sit it down and ask some questions. The first of these was: “How bright are you?” The obvious answer was to get a light meter and check the 220 000 lux at 5m spec. I carefully measured the distance

LIVE EVENTs REVIEW

and got the beam focused up, then stuck the meter into the light field. It wasn’t able to tell me much other than more light was being produced than it was capable of reading. So I’ll make do with my own observations. It’s very bright – to the point I had some very real concerns about burning holes in my cyc at 5m. Obviously with such a bright source lamp life will be impacted – at 1 700W the lamp is rated to 500 hours. The lamp can be bumped down to 1 500W or 1 200W output which extends its lifespan around 50% to 750 hours. Personally I found the difference from 1 700 to 1 500W pretty hard to pick – it’s still very bright. Changing output isn’t possible via the fixture touch screen but instead done by DMX. Colour happens in two forms on BMFL – a CMY mixing system allows for extremely smooth and gradual shifts from open white through to saturated colours. I tried a couple of 30-second colour fades and the process is so subtle it’s virtually indiscernible. Dimming is equally smooth and there are no changes to the beam during either process. In addition to the CMY system, two colour wheels allow for saturated colours and TV colours (minus-green, CTB, lavender and so on). The wheels are indexed such that you can also do split-colour beams. BMFL has an electronic motion stabilisation system which is kind of hard to see in action. The idea is that it better deals with truss swing caused by multiple heads simultaneously moving. It’s really hard to observe this in our test environment with the fixture on a bench, but what is obvious is how well its movement is controlled. Even on fast tilts the fixture comes to a nice, precise stop. If knocked it homes to the correct position with alarming accuracy – pretty important if you’re using it over a throw distance of 80m or so (which is a pretty

realistic application). Zoom range is five to 53 degrees and stupidly fast. The dual gobo wheels are both rotatable and indexable – one wheel has breakup effects and the other is more geared toward projected images. The BMFL uses the same six-facet linear and four-facet circular prisms as found on the MMX. There are three variable frost filters too. Natively, BMFL has a fairly high colour temperature but can happily put out anything between 2 700 and 6 000K. I think the BMFL is something of a contradiction. It’s a hulking giant light source in a compact body. The sheer brutish output means you can jam all the beam effects you want in-line and still achieve really solid output. Perhaps most surprising is how refined the control and optics are – it does everything you ask quickly and with a level of precision I simply wasn’t expecting from such a BMFL.

Brand: Robe Model: BMFL RRP: R156 310 ex-Vat in dual case Price correct at time of print and subject to change.

Distributor: DWR Distribution Product Info: www.robe.cz

Review syndicated from CX Magazine.

LIVE EVENTs REview

EAW Anya â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The new girl comes to townâ&#x20AC;Ś By Jimmy Den-Ouden

Anya is a self-powered full-range array system from EAW. In some ways Anya is like traditional line array systems, but probably the key point of difference is that vertical coverage is controlled electronically rather than mechanically.

REVIEW LIVE EVENTs

EAW Anya cabinet

EAW calls this ’Adaptive’ technology, and it can also be found in their Otto subwoofer. For reasons soon to become obvious we didn’t review Anya in-house but instead went up the road for the official launch night. Each Anya cabinet comprises 14 HF drivers (35mm voicecoil on 1” exit), 6 MF drivers (38mm voicecoil on 5” cone), and 2 LF drivers (4” voicecoil on 15” cone). Each driver is individually amplified and has its own DSP channel with EAW Focusing. That’s a lot of brains and a lot of horsepower. There’s no specific nominal vertical beam width for each module because it can be whatever you want it to be. Anya can steer sound up or down in the vertical plane through a range of 180 degrees and it does so from a vertical hang. How low down the frequency spectrum you can effectively steer the sound depends on how many modules you employ – just like any other line array it has to obey the laws of physics. Because the vertical pattern control is done electronically you don’t need gaps in the line source to achieve the result, nor do you need to make any physical changes to the array to modify the coverage. It’s clever. You could theoretically use a single module, but low end steering is more effective with more modules. More modules also gives you higher SPL – see the Resolution 2 plots for single, 3 and 6 modules illustrating vertical steering at 200Hz. Note with the increase in modules not only where the sound is, but also where it isn’t. Operating range of each cabinet is 35Hz to 18kHz with a nominal horizontal beam width of 70 degrees. The system is scalable in the horizontal plane, so if you add additional columns then each hang covers 60 degrees. Because the hangs are dead vertical and the cabinets are angled at the sides, each hang can physically about the entire length of the adjacent one. This is very exciting, since it drastically reduces the comb filtering you’d encounter when joining

’J’ curved arrays. The result is more consistent audience coverage and smaller interference zones. All the rigging (bar the fly bracket) is integrated into the cabinets. Push a pin on a box, and rigging tabs extend into the box beneath it. Push a different pin on the lower box to lock into those tabs. It’s simple, fast and there’s limited scope to get it wrong. Up to 18 cabinets can be flown in a single hang with a 10:1 safety factor. The fly bracket can be suspended from one, two, three or four points to accommodate available rigging facilities. The accompanying system power/data distribution rack can be ground-stacked or flown too. The dolly on which the modules travel is rated to hold an entire stack of 18 boxes in case ‘captain chain motor‘ isn’t paying too much attention at de-rig (whether your stage can hold it is another matter). Ordinarily you’d travel three or four modules per dolly depending on whether you’re using a ramp or forklift to unload the truck. When the system is first powered up, infra-red transceivers on every abutting face to see if any neighboring boxes are present. This information then automatically configures the Resolution 2 software to display the array logically as it exists in the physical world. If too much sunlight or whatever causes a problem with the IR, you can configure the layout manually using internal winky lights on the front of each boxes for identification. Audio inputs include Dante, AES, and for the complete philistines, even analogue. Auto failover is supported between primary and secondary Dante and future firmware releases may see this feature further expanded upon. Now the cool bit. You’ve got the system in the air, powered, and you can see it all in the software. Now draw the area over which you need coverage and hit the ’go‘ button. Resolution 2 calculates all the necessary control parameters required to achieve this then once you hit ’upload‘ it sends this configuration info to Anya. Anya then steers the sound to exactly where you’ve asked it. It’s pretty subtle

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Operating range of each cabinet is 35Hz to 18kHz with a nominal horizontal beam width of 70 degrees. The system is scalable in the horizontal plane, so if you add additional columns then each hang covers 60 degrees.

A sngle module at 200Hz

3 Modules at 200Hz

6 Modules at 200Hz

about the whole matter too – the coverage just magically shifts with no break in audio or weird noises. You can even modify the coverage mid-show if you need to. Reading about this is one thing, but actually experiencing it is another thing entirely. The sensation of hearing the PA completely re-steer itself to another part of the venue is almost eerie. There’s also a ’find me‘ function, where you place reference mics at the boundaries of your intended coverage area and leave Anya and Resolution 2 to just figure it out. Early in the day I was lucky enough to spend some time alone with Anya at the Concert hall in the Concourse at Chatswood – a venue in which I work quite regularly. I’m very used to how the room sounds with the house PA, and I’ve heard it with a several other systems toured in as well. There’s a certain predictable element of confusion inherent to putting amplified sound into a reverberant space designed for acoustic performances. Anya eliminated this by putting the sound only where the audience sits and massively reducing the reverberant field of the space. It’s seriously quite incredible. Coverage is even where you want it, and just stops where it’s supposed to. It sounds good too. Straight off the bat with no system EQ in place, frequency response is fairly neutral and doesn’t have the shelf type attenuation apparent in the high frequency end of some systems. The system I tested was six cabinets per side, so with 24 x 15” drivers in the air (and another 24 x 21” sub drivers on the deck) I wasn’t game to turn it up as loud as it would go. I don’t think I even really got past idle on the amps, and I was pushing serious level. It’s definitely a serious large format system and I’d suggest the companion Otto adaptive sub will only add to the excitement. Each Anya cabinet has an internal reference microphone, and this can be used to compare what each box is doing with its stored factory trace information. All this happens inside the box, and if it detects a problem with a driver (impedance, response, whatever) this is logged internally. When the system comes down after a show (or before it goes out), checking each box is as simple as pushing the ’test‘ button on the back. A battery powered circuit lights up the adjacent LED – green for all good or red meaning you need to power up the box and check the logs for a problem. If you lose a driver mid-show, Resolution 2 will report this and give you the option to ’heal‘ any gap in the coverage caused by the loss. Importantly the system won’t automatically change anything by itself – any change to what it’s doing requires user input. Once the driver is replaced, you can re-calibrate the module’s internally stored traces. Internal sensors inside each Anya cabinet detect movement of the array and will alert the user via Resolution 2 if it’s been tilted. For all its brains, Anya won’t stop you doing fundamentally stupid things. You still need to point it in the right direction, spec it the right way, power it appropriately and control it correctly. Good underpinning system knowledge is still important.

REVIEW LIVE EVENTs

The MF / HF section of the Anya

All in all Anya is quite exceptional. It’s a sound system that does exactly what you ask it to. If you’re a great engineer you’ll love it. If you’re a lousy engineer then you’d better prepare some good excuses now, because Anya won’t leave you anywhere to hide. All of this comes at a premium – at 130kg each, the modules are definitely not lightweight. Any large format line array (Anya sits in the top end price bracket) is a big investment, so value for money counts. Anya gives more of the punters the same sound experience as the mix engineer and I reckon there’s a lot of value in that.

Rigging is integrated into each element

Brand: EAW Model: Anya RRP: The system sold as a complete G24 compliment (ie. 24 x boxes plus accessories) is approximately R14 million excl VAT. Price correct at time of print and subject to change.

Distributor: Surgesound Product Info: www.eaw.com

Review syndicated from CX Magazine.

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Prolight + Sound Guangzhou 2015 show sees huge exhibitor increase

The up-coming Prolight + Sound Guangzhou 2015 has grown by 18% due to strong exhibitor support and the expanded Audio Brand Name Halls is in response to the huge demand for high-end audio products in China. Prolight + Sound Guangzhou continues to receive strong support from the pro audio and lighting industry with its 2015 show expanding by 18 percent to 130 000 sqm of exhibition space. The expanded show will now occupy 12 halls at Area A and B of the China Import and Export Fair Complex. The show, which will take place from 5 to 8 April 2015 during the industry’s prime sourcing season, has attracted almost 1 300 exhibitors, making it by far, China’s largest industry fair. Commenting on the tremendous growth, Ms Fiona Chiew, deputy general manager for Messe Frankfurt (Shanghai), says: “Already more than 90% of our 2014 exhibitors have signed up for the show. The

overwhelming response is largely due to their successful experience last year. They believe that Prolight + Sound Guangzhou is the best platform for launching their products to the Chinese market, especially as we are expecting 70 000 Chinese and international visitors to attend the show.”

Huge demand for high-end audio products in China In 2014 three Audio Brand Name Halls were launched and for the 2015 show, the number will increase to four with the new hall 13.2 in Area B.

This will allow leading international and local brands to raise their brand image at this premium business platform. Exhibiting in this new hall are returning brands: Ableton, Activeaudio, Adamson, APEX, Avid, AUDAC, AVMEDIA, beyerdynamic, CARLSBRO, Clair Bros, Crown, db Technologies, dbx, DPA, ENEWAVE, FBT, Funktion-One, Hayaco, HARVEY, KV2, JBL, KRK, Lexicon, Mach, Master Audio, NEXT-proaudio, Proel, RAM audio, Seeburg Acoustic Line, Sennheiser, Shure, Sonifex, Soundcraft, Soundking, Studer, Studiomaster, Twaudio, Ultmate and Yamaha. Brands joining for the first time include APG, Architectural Acoustics, Audio Zenit, Beyma, Cicognani, Countryman, Crest Audio, DAS, d&b audiotechnik, elite Core, Kempton, MediaMatrix, MIDAS, Neumann, Peavey, Phonic, PKN, PL-audio, QSC, Qube, timax and Xilica. Renowned German brand beyerdynamic from hall 5.1 is optimistic about the opportunities in China’s cultural market and is hoping to further access this sector by joining the show. Jason Zeng, sales director for the company, says: “beyerdynamic is a top audio brand with 90 years history and we have been supporting the Prolight + Sound shows for a long time because of their industry influence. Having good responses from the last edition, we decided to showcase our full product range in the 2015 show including TG wired and wireless microphones, professional surveillance headphones and headsets, Quinta wireless conference system and Orbis wired conference system. We will also organise new product demonstrations so visitors can know more about these.” Another returning exhibitor AV Media, located at hall 4.1 and hall 13.2, will showcase KV2 Audio, Peavey, Mediamatrix and AVMedia with lines for entertainment, performance and conference use. Commenting on the recent development of entertainment and performance industry in China, the representative from marketing department said: “The market has certainly a higher requirement for audio products. They have to be professional, comprehensive and user-friendly. We believe that the wide variety of our product lines plus our professional service can serve market needs. Joining the Audio Brand Name Halls gives us good exposure to the Chinese market and the business potential of Southern China.” Spanish brand Beyma from hall 13.2, a first time exhibitor of the show, plans to take advantage of the show’s leading industry position to raise their business profile in Asia. Ms Lily Xiao, general manager for Beyma China explains: “Chinese audio system manufacturers are becoming more advanced in audio product technology, leading to an increased demand for this technology to be used in Europeanmade speakers and compression drivers. A show like Prolight + Sound Guangzhou is a great opportunity for us to let our customers in Asia, especially in China, learn more about our latest products, including our new 10, 12 and 15-inch compression drivers and coaxial, which we will launch at the show.” In addition, to help buyers navigate the larger show area, exhibitors will be grouped by products in different halls. This applies to the Audio Brand Name Halls, Pro Audio Hall, Lighting Hall, Enping Microphone Halls and KTV halls. The Enping Microphone Hall will be relocated from Area A to Area B, Hall 12.2. As this hall was fully booked shortly after opening for booth applications. Prolight + Sound Guangzhou is organised by Messe Frankfurt and the Guangdong International Science and Technology Exhibition Company (STE). For more information about the show visit: www. prolightsound-guangzhou.com or email: plsgz@hongkong. messefrankfurt.com. For more about other Prolight + Sound fairs listed below visit: www.prolight-sound.com.

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Mieliepop Festival

The setting of the Mielipop Festival in Mpumalanga

Nestled in the highlands of eastern Mpumalanga near Lothair and about 50km from the border of Swaziland, one of South Africa’s most quaint and special festivals takes place: Mieliepop. If you’ve ever been to other festivals out in the South African wilderness, such as Oppikoppi, you’ll know that they’re not for sissies. The conditions are often hot, harsh and dusty and this can take its toll. However, Mieliepop is quite different and that’s what makes it special. You camp out on manicured lawns, there is no dust, the weather is idyllic, natural rock formations and waterfalls abound and a river divides the festival in two upon which festival goers can enjoy a barge cruise, fishing and swimming, if they so desire. There is also a heated swimming pool, opportunities for hiking and the main bar is located in a hollowed out rocky grotto. All of this, plus enjoying what the festival is all about – good local music – makes its allure undeniable and the experience supremely pleasant. Another great thing about Mieliepop is its size. You’re not overrun by swarms of people and that claustrophobic feeling of restrictive movement. There are wide open spaces and everyone seems happier than usual. There is plenty to eat and drink and ablution and shower facilities abound so you get around that dirty feeling as well. In the main entertainment area there are two areas of music appreciation: the main stage and the dance floor, which is also located in a hollowed out rock grotto next to a natural waterfall. The audience area in front of the main stage is soft and grassy and you’re never wanting for space. The overwhelming sense is of simplicity, which is refreshing. J-Sound Productions, headed by Jan Haarhof, was the sole company involved with supplying the technical requirements for the festival. Haarhof and J-Sound have had a long relationship with

Mieliepop going back to the beginnings with their relationship with Mieliepop festival director Coenraad Nel. “Since the first show I worked on with Coenraad we dreamed of running our own festival. As good friends we attended almost every festival in the country and a few overseas. We had this dream venue in the Cape at one stage that we wanted to develop with an old colleague of ours, Willem Visser. In fact, many of the readers will remember the legend. But those dreams came to an end with him passing in a bad motorcycle accident. We wanted something different though – slightly off beat from the regular camp in the dust fest with a little more glitter for the more matured festival goer and always great on the musical side of things. Only a few years later we discovered the venue that would host Mieliepop as it is today. With Uriah Heep and Men Without Hats entertaining the crowds in previous years the future is looking exciting for this new wave fest!”

The main stage Since the dance floor was a simple system comprising a couple of powered speakers with a DJ setup, the main stage was the central point of attraction at the festival and is worthy of explanation. The stage structure was constructed out of 24 Prolyte 2m x 1m stage decks on 900mm legs, a 3m x 2m drum riser and a Trustt 135 degree custom roof system measuring 8m (w) x 64m (d) x 5m (h). “The stage structure we used is such an easy system to work with and expandable beyond our wildest imaginations,” remarks Haarhof. The audio system for the main stage is entirely JBL and centres on a SRX700 system. In total, there were eight SRX725 dual-15-inch point source enclosures configured as four per side and eight SRX728 dual-18-inch subwoofers, also stacked four per side, all powered by Crown I-Tech 6000 and 4000 amplifiers. The console of choice was a Soundcraft Si-series digital consoles that handled FOH and on-stage monitoring, which comprise JBL EON XTs.

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The Electro Stage at the Mielipop Festival

“Although not a line array this old school point source array is one of my favourite all round systems and is a workhorse like no other. It’s clear, well balanced and if setup is done correctly it delivers enough punch for a small to medium crowd,” says Haarhof. Lighting on the main stage comprised a mix of various lights from various manufacturers. As Haarhof puts it, there was an “exciting mix” of: • Chauvet LED 350 beams • Chavet Core 3x1 • Chauvet Beambars • Martin MAC401s • Versalite LED par cans • 1080x768 8mm LED panels • Stagg Headbangers The lighting rig was controlled with Show X-press, Lightjockey and Resolume while Geyser smoke machines handled hazing. “As we are very short on power we really rely on the led fixtures for effects and visibility,” explains Haarhof. “Every year I’m surprised by the brightness versus power consumption!” With any festival, especially new festivals that are trying to make a name for themselves and navigate through the trials that come with

The Main Stage

the territory, there are always challenges. Haarhof outlines a few of these: “From a technical perspective it was mostly to squeeze everything into a limited budget with little sponsorship and with little finance. For a young festival the sponsors are only noticing the niche festival that it is now and are starting to bite for next years’ fest. We (JSP) have been running the technical side for the past four years with the help of a few friends we’ve always made it work in sometimes difficult circumstances. But we believe in this fest and we have passion for what we do. “On the logistical end: toilet paper and showers! It is quite a challenge to setup infrastructure in a place that is only starting to develop as a festival grounds and to cater for more people than you bargain for. It’s like a snow ball effect – with more people you need more water, more pumps, more electricity, more cleaners, etc. I think we’ve got the hang of it now and it will only get better in the coming years with more permanent infrastructure going up!”

The wrap After experiencing Mieliepop for myself this year I kicked myself for turning down the opportunity to go in 2013. When you pull over that ridge after a three-hour drive and peer down into the grassy valley your first impression that it is paradise and you feel you’re in for a treat. The small crowds (for now) and their happy vibe are infectious and when it was finally time to go, it wasn’t easy. Regardless of the fact that Haarhof admits that the main stage doesn’t have a line array is of little significance. The music and the people are enough. The JBL SRX700 system did more than enough to keep the good times rolling and in combination with the surrounds, will keep people coming back. “This is a fest to keep your eye on,” concludes Haarhof. “In four years it achieved what other festivals do in eight and it will continue to grow in all kinds of ‘differentness’ and explorations of tastes and sounds. The music experience is so vast that it serves a wide spectrum of music lovers. And it all happens in a very pleasurable venue to take it all in.” Agreed.

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GETshow2015 A preview of the Exhibition of Guangzhou (International) Entertainment Technology Show

The opening ceremony of GETshow 2014

The Exhibition of Guangzhou (International) Entertainment Technology Show (GETshow)) will be held in Pazhou Poly World Trade Expo Center (PWTC) from 1 to 4 April 2015. The exhibition area will extend some 78 000 square metres and more than 550 exhibitors are expected to attend the show, which is an increase of about 30% compared with last year’s exhibitor figures. The show will be attended by over 30 000 professional audiences from home and abroad. Key highlights of GETshow 2015 include a high-end silent show in the first International Brands Audio Hall and a holding exhibition in the Factory-Industrial base. During the 2015 GETshow, it will carry forward the spirit of creating the show by holding the first high-end silent exhibition in China. GETshow will set up six halls (including three professional audio halls and three professional light halls) and one outdoor line array stage. There will also be an independent international brand audio hall for the first time. There are a few large domestic and overseas brand manufacturers and agents invited to join the show. They include famous brands, such as ACE (JBL, Crown, Shure, Soundcraft), Meyer Sound, Yamaha, Ruisheng (German TW Audio, German SALacoustics line, German GLP Computer Lights, Australia LSC), Verity Audio, Pioneer, AV Media (Peavey Electronics), America QSC, Acton (Spain DAS, German KS Audio, Sound Works and Supplies (German D&B), Win-sound (Midas, Klarkteknik, Turbosound), Martin Audio, Racpro (L’acoustic, Sennheiser, Digico), PAL Audio (C-Mark), Real Music (Canada Adamson), Portugal Norton, Belgium APEX, France Active Audio and Digital Media Technology (Clair Brothers, DPA, DB Technologies). In addition, there will be many famous enterprises that will attend the show at the professional light hall, such as PR Lighting, Fine Art, Top-led Lighting, Deliya, DS Lighting, Goldensea Professional Lighting, Hongcai Lighting (Jolly), Huihong Lighting, Liangyi Lighting, Rentian Lighting, Omarte Lighting, ACME Group, Yajiang Applied Technology, Max Lighting, GTD, W-DMX, Nanshi Lighting, Nanyi Lighting, Chuangyi lighting, Light Sky, Yellow River Lighting, East River Lighting, RGB, FDL, Globaltruss, Ledika Lighting, Ruiying Lighting, Weifa Truss, Huawei and Tinhao Maquinas. They will each offer a stunning visual feast for audiences.

GETshow in 2015 will simultaneously hold an industrial summit, several professional technology lectures, an outdoor line array tour of the show, an enterprise products launch and live interactive activities, among others. Compared with the previous shows, there will be more packed programmes, richer activities and additional highlights compared with previous years. For example, the GETshow Committee will cooperate with the professional media to plan a visiting activity for them called ’Enter into the factory’. Visiting media will visit the production base, which will help the exhibitors promote their products. The committee is creating this activity to become one of GETshow’s characteristic projects going forward.

Enhance service to create a brand new event The show also aims to improve service to exhibitors and attendees by providing 2015 show exhibitors additional after-show service. They aim to absorb the service experience of domestic and large overseas exhibitions, follow science and technology development trends and put up an intelligent exhibition system. Therefore with the help of the internet, the show will give exposure of the exhibition products by displaying them on its website for the whole year, which is one of the additional value services provided for all 2015 GETshow exhibitors. Show sponsors will also hold the opening ceremony and banquet of the show which will be held in the Chime Long Hotel in Guangzhou, the largest city in the Guangdong province in South China. Industry friends and customers will be able to meet and network. During the GETshow of 2015, an industrial information exchange platform for the participating enterprises, purchasing agents and exhibition visitors will be available to consolidate the business cooperation relationships and provide the entertainment equipment industry (home and abroad) with various brand new development ideas and business opportunities.

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Studio Pro Audio PRODUCT ROUND-UP

DAW Controller round-up After years now on the digital front engineers are still searching for the ultimate in intuitive DAW (digital audio workstation) control.

While filled with cumbersome gear and a requiring more than a small fortune to build, analog studios of eras past still had the advantage of a lot of control available at your fingertips – especially if you had an automation system – and had added allure on the eyes. Indeed, many records we love and regard as some of the finest ever produced were made in these now costly-to-maintain relics and, as a result, engineers today are grappling to infuse the way things were done in those environments while implementing the compact workflow advantages of digital. One of the most effective tools engineers had on the large format analog console was the fader. It’s hugely

PreSonus FaderPort The cheapest of the lot and despite getting a bit long in the tooth it’s one of the most successful as well. The PreSonus Faderport offers simple single channel control and works with most major DAWs on both Mac and PC. It features a single 100mm fader that can be used to write single and group channel automation. Additionally it provides complete transport control, pan control, mute, solo, record enable buttons, window view control and automation modes. A footswitch can be used for hands-free punch in/out.

important to have complete control over your levels and the fader gave us that. In fact, one could argue it is the essence of what mixing is about. Balance is everything. In the digital domain the mouse becomes tedious and anyone that’s ever written automation with it will understand. For some reason it just ‘feels’ better to touch a fader, close your eyes and ride levels. The answer? A DAW control surface. While not entirely new news, at this point in time controllers abound; some affordable and modest and some expensive, large and complex. Pro-Systems takes a look at a few from the current crop on offer.

PRODUCT ROUND-UP Studio Pro Audio

Icon Qcon Pro USB Midi Controller Station The Icon Qcon Pro USB is an eight-fader controller expands on the basic functionality of the single-fader QCon Lite; a more extensive alternative to the FaderPort. It features eight dual-function rotary encoders, a large backlit LCD display, 18 assignable buttons, illuminated record enable, solo, mute, select and monitor buttons for each channel, full transport control including jog wheel, four-direction zoom buttons, nine illuminated assignable MIDI function buttons, an expansion slot for Icon’s Umix-series USB audio interfaces and two footswitch jacks. It can be expanded by adding Icon EX Expander eight-channel fader wing.

Softube Console 1 The Console 1 is a more recently released controller from respected plugin developer Softube in response, I assume, to have intuitive control over more than just fader levels and offer a complete channel strip control solution in any DAW. Console 1 has a bit of a caveat, however: it is a software and hardware mixing platform. Included with the Console 1 is Softube’s emulation bundle of Solid State Logic’s SL400E console and Softube’s Transient Shaper and the way that it works is that once you have inserted the Console 1 plugin into your chosen DAW channels, control of the channel strip can be handled from the surface by selecting the relevant channel. Changes made on the surface then reflect in the GUI of the Console 1 plugin where all forms of automation can be written. Each channel can also be separately customised by adding in any Softube equaliser and compressor and functions can be grouped for simultaneous control.

Studio Pro Audio PRODUCT ROUND-UP Mackie Control Universal (MCU) Pro A mainstay in DAW control for a while now and still going strong, the Mackie Control Universal Pro has proved its value time and time again for many studio owners the world over. Using the Mackie, HUI and Logic Control protocols over USB, it is compatible with almost every DAW; offering eight 100mm touch-sensitive motorised Alps faders and V-Pot control over software, plugins and virtual instruments. It has more than 50 dedicated buttons for engaging software parameters and features a full transport section including jog wheel. Full meter display is available along with track names and parameters while zoom and cursor buttons (up, down, left, right) aid navigation. Perhaps a little different than the others, the MCU also includes a USB MIDI interface for connecting external MIDI gear directly to your Mac or PC. Software-specific Lexan overlays are included and the surface is expandable by adding the optional Control Extender Pro and C4 modules.

PRODUCT ROUND-UP Studio Pro Audio

Avid S3 The newest control surface offering from Avid inherited from their S3L live mixing system and borrowing workflow highlights from the flagship Avid S6, the S3, while more expensive than the others so far, provides universal DAW control over the EUCON protocol developed by sister company Euphonix. The S3 is a compact desktop control surface and 4 x 6 audio interface that integrates both the EUCON protocol and local AVB (Audio Video Bridging) I/O over one Ethernet cable (AVB available for OS X Core Audio only). It offers 16 channel strips, each with its own touchsensitive 100mm motorised fader and 10-segment signal level meter. 32 touch sensitive, push-button rotary encoders (16-channel control, 16 assignable) provide gain control, plugin parameter adjustment and more while a tri-colour LED function indicator is implemented into the encoders for instant visual feedback. There are 32 high-resolution OLED displays that display track names and numbers, detailed metering data from mono to surround sound, parameter names and values, current automation mode and more. Solo, mute, channel select and record/automation enable buttons are available while a four-segment touch strip allows transport control. If you need a job wheel function, the S3 can be used alongside the Avid Artist Transport for extended control. Dozens of dedicated buttons abound to control navigation, automation, control assignment and software control. The local I/O includes two XLR mic/line inputs, two TRS line inputs, two XLR line outputs, two TRS line outputs and a stereo headphone output.

SSL Nucleus Based on the SSL Matrix, the SSL Nucleus is Solid State Logicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project studio offering that blends advanced DAW control, SuperAnalogue monitoring, two SuperAnalogue microphone preamps, a USB audio interface and bundled SSL Duende plugins. Like the rest of the controllers in this roundup, it is compatible with all major DAWs and connects via Ethernet to the host (Mackie and HUI protocols) while the 2 x 2 audio interface connects via USB for record and playback facilities to and from your DAW. The Nucleus features 16 touch-sensitive motorised faders in two banks of eight, digital scribble strips with assignable V-Pots and soft keys, user-customisable DAW & key command mapping, configuration through the remote Logictivity browser, an SD card slot for project storage, full transport and jog wheel, illuminated buttons, LEDs and DAW metering, a full monitoring section, two headphone outputs and an iJack monitor input. Finally, it also features a four-port USB hub.

Conclusion There are many more controller options out there, such as the Slate Raven MTX and MTi (which Pro Systems has covered), the Avid Artist series controllers, the Behringer BC series and the Steinberg CC and CMC controllers (which only work with Cubase). There are more still. However, one thingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s for sure: there is no better time to bring your fingers back into the mix and many companies are offering a host of features at every price range. Happy mixing.

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Martin Audio MLA Demo – Summit College, Kyalami

Greg Payne, Alison Taman and Paul Newman

Charl Marais, Michael Kennidy and Andy Davies

Themba Malaza, Sin Dislie Zulu, Zweli Mndebele and Dumisani Hadebe

Nomusa and Plona

Wynand Delport and Andre Stoltz

Alison Taman

Enco Workshop – Wild and Marr Offices, Isando

Botsotso Maphosa and Nkani Shabalala

Comfort Mokgethi, Sfiso Petri Mahlangu and Parata Faustinus

Gene Novacek

Hein Zentgraf

Meet.Inc Launch – Kathea Offices, Rivonia

Nathan van Zyl, Greg Buitendag and Matthew Gray

Jade Inder and Ryan Beck

Karen Kruger and Peter Taljard

Makabongwe Ngceba and Sabashnie Govender

Treasure Vilakazi and Nelson Tabane

TID Roadtrip – The Focus Rooms, Sunninghill

Arthur Nieman

Hanif Seedat and Vernon Meyers

Bernie Nagel

Djalita von Mollendorf

Michael van Rensburg

Stephan Grawe

Justin Mamulis

Zak Mangera and John Peche

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