project news

Anolis and the Droplet

Anolis ArcPad 48 LED fixtures are internally-lighting artist Stuart Green’s gleaming and breathtakingly beautiful ‘Droplet’ sculpture, a six metre tall, three metre wide stainless steel work which has been installed on the corner of Furzer and Worgon Streets in the Phillip Woden district of Canberra, Australia.

Perth based Green was commissioned to create Droplet by the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Government. Its elegant curved and pleated shell – in the shape of a massive water droplet - is made from laser cut 316 marine grade stainless steel, and it has a quirky 10 degree tilt.

The idea is that the single strong object can be easily interpreted from a distance, with details and pierced intricacies available on closer viewing as people are drawn to it.

Lighting was integral to the sculpture from the start. It is a medium previously explored by the artist in other works.

The ArcPad 48s were specified by Western Australia based design practice Light Application and supplied by the Gold Coast HQ of Anolis’ Australian distributor The ULA Group, coordinated by ULA’s architectural lighting and cision consultant, Jason Saunders.

Light Application’s MD David Sparrow explains that the choice of lighting product was “very simple” in that it required a flexible, high powered LED fixture that was compact, well-priced and maintenance-free. “So the Anolis ArcPad was the obvious choice,” he concludes.

Green adds: “I wanted to use high quality LED products with a good intensity that were simple to install and hugely dynamic in effect”.

The ArcPad 48 fixtures are installed in the base of Droplet pointing upwards and outwards to the east and west. They are programmed to run a colour changing sequence that morphs from blue to pink to white, etc over a five minute period.

The colour chase is slightly offset in each fixture, with the effect giving slightly varied hues of the same colour simultaneously as it traverses the programmed colour spectrum. This results in a fuller, richer and more rounded chromatic experience than if lit with a single colour tone.

The Dynalight DMX control system was pre-programmed by Light Application and Green at the latter’s studio in Perth, and the whole work transported in its entirety across the country for installation.

There is also an interplay with natural light during the day as Droplet is highly reflective and reflects the colour, light and subtleties of its immediate environment, making it a living, breathing phenomenon.

At dawn and dusk there is a fabulous reciprocity between the Anolis lighting, the fading or brightening sky and the ambient street lighting and general glow emanating from the close urban landscape.

The ArcPad 48s turn on and off with the street and pedestrian lighting, so during the darkness hours, Droplet takes on another whole new shimmering persona. Light radiating from it aesthetically engaging all who pass, enriching their individual journeys and imaginations.

Droplet has already become massively popular and received much critical acclaim as a high profile, captivating piece of public art.

Stuart Green is delighted with the performance of the ArcPad 48s, and has ordered more to be used on some of his forthcoming projects.

Photos: Martin Ollman.

17th May 2012

DiGiCo SD11 Aids Australian Education

In these financially difficult times, maximising the potential of facilities has become a key issue for the education sector. At the same time as delivering high quality education in line with modern expectations, schools need to ensure that their facilities generate their own revenue. These are the reasons why one Australian primary school has invested in DiGiCo, opening up a new market for the console manufacturer.

Helensvale Primary, located on Queensland's Gold Coast, recently finished a new performing arts centre, complete with a full audio-visual solution designed, supplied and installed by Dominica Sound via DiGiCo’s Australian distributor, Group Technologies.

"The school was previously hiring halls at its local arts centre for its events, but wanted to become self-contained in order to cut some of the operational overheads," says Steve McCallum, director of Dominica Sound. "At the sam time, they wanted to ensure that the space could accommodate a wide variety of events and be rented out to other schools - generating income while, at the same time, saving the other schools money."

Measuring around 40m x 25m, with a stage at one end and elevated seating at the other, the 1100-capacity venue needed a high quality audio system and so a DiGiCo SD11 digital console was specified.

"We went with DiGiCo because it turned out to be a higher quality and more cost effective solution than anything else," says Steve. "The sound quality of any other digital console wouldn't have been anywhere near as good as the SD11, so it was a simple choice."

Another big advantage of choosing the SD11 was the ability to configure the console for non-technical individuals, such as teachers and student AV operators from other schools.

"Helensvale holds a talent show at the end of every school day. The SD11 is setup with every input on every layer so anybody can walk in, clearly see which fader belongs to which input and begin using the desk. The teachers have commented on how easy it is to use. They just turn it on, select the inputs and then control volume, it's that simple," Steve continues.

"Everyone loves the new system. One of the teachers has told me that they feel like they've won the lottery!"

www.digico.org

11th May 2012

Audica Professional’s MICROseries Helps Cure ‘Gate Anxiety’ at JFK

Regardless of where they’re headed, the most common affliction suffered by air travellers is ‘gate anxiety’ – the fear of straying too far from their departure area and missing an important announcement, or their flight entirely. Until recently it was a condition generally considered incurable, but with the opening of innovative, high quality restaurants such as Bar Brace and Croque Madame in JFK’s Terminal 3 it can be significantly reduced.

Developed by OTG Management, Bar Brace and Croque Madame are not your average airport restaurants. In addition to allowing customers to order directly from their seats via iPads provided on site, the award-winning eateries feature menus developed in collaboration with local chefs and offer passengers great food and an authentic restaurant atmosphere right at their gate.

To create that atmosphere, OTG depends heavily on custom music programming and state of the art Audica Professional MICROseries audio systems provided by NYC’s EL Media Group. "Airports aren’t known for good sound," says EL’s chief creative officer, Ernie Lake, "but it’s not just about the food for OTG. They’re very in tune to music, so we have to have incredible programming and incredible sound." The central problem in meeting that mandate is selecting a system that can provide high intelligibility in spaces that are typically large and extremely live, and will physically fit into a restaurant where space itself is very much at a premium.

Luckily, Audica Professional’s MICROseries isn’t your average sound system. Featuring Class D amplifiers and onboard EQ, Audica’s MICROzone controller/amp and MICROplus 4-channel power amp combination are compact enough to fit into a small cabinet at each restaurant’s point of service. They power two Audica Professional MICROdot ceiling loudspeakers mounted above the bar and four surface-mount MICROline loudspeakers placed around the perimeter of the space. To give really well balanced sound, a compact active MICROsub is used to extend the low frequency.

Owing to the system’s compact footprint, sonic clarity and sleek design, Audica Professional has swiftly become OTG’s system of choice for similar projects such as Bar Brace in LaGuardia’s Terminal D as well as Cibo Market and Revive Bar in Terminal F at Philadelphia International Airport. "The sound quality is great, but the speakers also blend in very well with the restaurant’s overall look, which is modern and bold," says OTG’s Justin Blatstein. "We really don’t have room to hang up large speakers, so to be able to get speakers of this quality and this size is very important – Audica just fits in perfectly."

Established in 2008 in an effort to offer custom designed audio solutions to complement their existing music styling services, EL Media Group’s installation arm provides audio design/install services for a variety of high-end hotel, restaurant and retail applications across the United States.

10th May 2012

Osram Illuminates 2012 European Football Championship

Osram will be installing the latest light technology in four stadiums for the European Football Championship, which is to be held in Poland and the Ukraine from June 8 to July 1, 2012.

The National Stadium in Warsaw is the absolute highlight. Osram will be supplying cutting-edge lighting solutions for the stadium façade, which is to be used as a gigantic screen. "In a stadium, a range of very different lighting situations must be catered to in a small space and these require individual solutions. This is where our competence as a full liner comes into play, enabling us to provide one-stop solutions," said Klaus-Günter Vennemann, CEO of the General Lighting Business Unit at Osram. Along with Warsaw, the stadiums in Gdansk and Kiev will also be equipped with light solutions from Osram. A further one is planned in Lviv.

The exterior façade of the National Stadium in Warsaw will be the high point of the Euro 2012. Some 1,700 LED luminaires from the Osram subsidiary Traxon will light up the shell of the stadium in Poland's national colours of red and white, creating atmospheric light that is visible from far away. "We have successfully transformed the façade into a giant screen on which we can display a range of light patterns, match scores and the names of players and goal keepers on the outside of the structure," explained Bogumil Stepan, managing director of Osram in Poland. The segments of the interwoven shell of the building are fitted with dimmable Linear XB 36 LED luminaires which are anchored by specially developed holders, permitting uniform illumination of the individual panels. Unique effects can be created

in combination with an intelligent light management system.

Innovative light technology from Osram is also to be used for floodlight illumination in Warsaw, where 450 energy-efficient, high-output lamps have been installed to light the pitch. The lighting system, which is being used in the European Championship stadium in Gdansk, too, complies with the requirements for HD-quality TV broadcasting, but without dazzling spectators in the stands.

The other country hosting the 2012 European Championship, the Ukraine, has also opted for light technology from Osram in two of its stadiums. Specially converted for the 2012 championships, the Olympic Stadium in Kiev can accommodate around 66,000 visitors and will be hosting the finals. Almost 30,000 high-output LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors have been installed for the illumination of the stairs in the entrance area and for decorative light design in the bar area. "With our LED technology, we are supplying energy-efficient, durable and safe lighting in the entrance area," said Nikolai Dianov, managing director of Osram in the Ukraine.

A total of around 2,000 high-output lamps, 3,400 energy-saving lamps and 1,300 halogen lamps from Osram have been installed in Kiev for the illumination of interior spaces and the outdoor area. Their high energy-efficiency and long service life will greatly reduce both costs and CO2. It is also planned to install LEDs from Osram in Lviv where they would provide architectural illumination for the European Championship stadium. Meanwhile, a total of 2,000 metres of the LED Linearlight Flex strip, with its low consumption and outstanding flexibility, should bring modern LED light to even the most secluded corners of the stadium. So Osram would illuminate every second stadium for the European Football Championship.

A competent partner in the Allianz Arena and in the illumination of sports events Osram's successful projects in this sector include the lighting for the Allianz Arena in the north of Munich, the home of the professional soccer clubs FC Bayern München and TSV 1860 München. The stadium is the first soccer venue in the world that can change the color of its entire façade – thanks to light technology from Osram and the Osram subsidiary Siteco. The stadium glows in red when FC Bayern München is playing, in blue when 1860 München is playing and in white when hosting Germany's national team.

After converting the floodlight system at the start of the current season, Osram will be creating distinctive, emotive lighting effects with advanced LED technology in the FC Bayern Theme World from mid-May 2012 onwards. The project involves installing a range of different LED components, intelligent management systems and OLED lamps throughout the Theme World.

Indeed, Osram already has an excellent track record in the field of large sports events. For instance, all ten stadiums which hosted the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa were fitted with energy-efficient technologies from the light manufacturer. The best-known installation is the LED Arch which spans the entire stadium in Durban.

In picture: the façade of the National Stadium in Warsaw – the emblem of the 2012 European Football Championship.

9th May 2012

Shroom Lounge Rules the Night with coolux

The new Shroom Lounge and Nightclub in Delhi offers its customers an extremely stylish clubbing experience, which is made possible through a combination of great design and modern projection technology.

Although it takes many venues a fairly long time to leave their mark in the highly competitive Delhi nightclub scene, Shroom has quickly become a favourite with style conscious trend-setters and celebrities.

Shroom is hosting both internationally acclaimed and home-grown DJ talents to create the right kind of musical ambience. The club’s overall design, which was created by the Mumbai based environmental design studio The Busride, is characterised by a complete lack of edges, making an instant impression and inviting everyone to unwind and enjoy the atmosphere. Neither too big nor too small, visitors feel they have come to the right place from the moment they enter the Shroom Lounge.

Digital Advantage was responsible for the overall installation and system integration, with Montie Paul taking care of the coolux programming in particular.

Multiple coolux Pandoras Box Player licences were used for the beautiful projections which form an integral part of the overall club design. The coolux Pandoras Box Manager was used for warping and controlling the different software systems.

In order to make life easier for the resident VJs, the coolux Widget Designer was used to design a custom made user interface. Additional external VJ systems were connected to the coolux systems to offer extreme flexibility.   

20th April 2012

Stage Technologies Around the World

On many projects Stage Technologies are bound by confidentiality agreements which prevent publicising them. However, they are working on projects over the world at present and here’s just a taster.

For the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture they are designing, supplying and commissioning stage automation systems for three venues on this massive site in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The venues include a 1,000 seat theatre, a 350 seat cinema/lecture theatre, and a large multipurpose venue named the Great Hall. In total the company is supplying over 84 power flying winches and bars, 68 variable speed intelligent CH:i chainhoists, multiple stage and orchestra lifts, powered curtains, projection screens and other specialist equipment, all controlled by Nomad control desks.

At the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) Stage Technologies are working with Delstar Engineering on this project in Scotland's capital to supply a moving floor system, additional function space and office development. We are providing mechanical design, build and installation as well as a control system. The moving floor system comprises 29 lifts covering a floor area of 30m x 51m. The lifts have a series of risers built into the platforms to enable different formats of raked seating to be set up. Twelve of the central lifts also have a revolve facility to enable some seating platforms to be turned inwards, to form an "arena" mode for set-ups such as snooker tournaments or boxing.

The Milton Court project is for London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Here, Stage Technologies is working with Theatre Projects Consultants on this new build theatre and concert hall in the base of a 35-storey tower under construction at the Barbican. The theatre includes 53 axes of overhead flying plus an orchestra lift, while the concert hall is 26 axes of overhead flying with 20 stage lifts. Due for completion this year, the Stage Technologies team is on site now.

www.stagetech.com

10th April 2012

Arts Centre Melbourne Chooses PRG V676 and V476 Consoles

Arts Centre Melbourne, Australia’s largest performing arts centre and the focal point of Melbourne's cultural precinct, has chosen to purchase PRG V676 and V476 control consoles to meet their lighting control needs. PRG will be supplying the consoles through its Australian subsidiary, Production Resource Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Both the V676 and V476 consoles are in wide use globally throughout the entertainment industry including on major concert tours, international sporting events, and live television broadcasts. The selection of the Vx76 control platform by Arts Centre Melbourne marks the first permanent installation of the PRG control consoles in a performance venue.

The PRG V676 console was selected as the control solution for Arts Centre Melbourne's main concert venue, Hamer Hall. The lighting technology upgrade is part of the redevelopment of the 2,464-seat space, which presents both orchestral and contemporary music performances. The intimate 376-seat Fairfax Studio, a theatrical space at Arts Centre Melbourne that is home to smaller drama productions, will use the V476 Console. Along with the two consoles, PRG is also providing console backup, remote video nodes, and designer remotes, as well as staff training and ongoing support.

"The PRG console was chosen on the basis that it offered the best development and upgrade path while maintaining a familiar and well laid out user interface within an achievable budget," explains Chris King, manager, theatre Technical Development for Arts Centre Melbourne. King and the lighting team evaluated a range of manufacturers and control console options before making their final decision. There were a number of key features that the technical team were looking for in a new console that they found in the V676. "There are so many features associated with the console that we like; it is hard to narrow it down to a few, but the Group Super Palettes, console layout, and ergonomics are the ones that come to mind immediately," comments King. Arts Centre Melbourne also liked the graphical approach to managing show data on the Vx76 platform and the Media Palette, which is unique to PRG Vx76 consoles. Along with lighting, media control via the console was a requirement of the project.

A major benefit seen by Arts Centre Melbourne, and a factor in their decision, is the ability to work directly with the console development team at PRG. This streamlined communication between Arts Centre Melbourne and PRG has already proven that future development of the Vx76 console platform is a shared priority. "Arts Centre Melbourne has a great relationship with PRG. The people on staff are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable and their responsiveness to our suggestions and to service needs is quick and attentive."

30th March 2012

Madagascar: White Light Supplies Award-Nominated Project In Singapore

Madagascar: A Crate Adventure at Universal Studios in Singapore, the first attraction in the world based on DreamWorks Animation’s film, has been nominated for the About.com 2012 Reader’s Choice Award. The award honours the best new achievements for theme parks, amusement parks and water parks worldwide, with the winner picked by voters on the About.com website.

White Light, which supplied all of the lighting equipment to the ride, congratulates all involved with creating the ride, particularly lighting designer Jeremy Windle of Lighting Design Alliance.

White Light were contracted by Resorts World Sentosa as lighting supplier, working closely with Jeremy Windle and his team and with local specialists Ptarmigan Integration to ensure that extensive rig was delivered and installed on schedule for the ride’s opening last year.

The project continued White Light’s involvement with Resorts World Sentosa, which began when the company supplied the lighting rig to the resort’s spectacular stage show Voyage de la Vie, created by The Generating Company and designer Mark Fisher. White Light has also been involved with other projects in the region, including supplying the lighting to the spectacular House Of Dancing Water in Macau, and is currently supplying lighting equipment and services to a number of new themed attractions across Europe.

www.whitelight.ltd.uk

21st March 2012

Clay Paky Lights Singapore's Newest Club Avalon

The glitz and glamour of Hollywood has come to Singapore. The opening of Avalon has been hyped as the most highly anticipated nightclub event in the region and fittingly boasts the largest installation of Clay Paky Sharpy moving beam lights ever installed in a club.

Famously known for being a playground for celebrities, Avalon is the brainchild of nightclub impresario Steve Adelman, and a legend behind many of the most famous nightspots of the past two decades. The club occupies the top two levels of the floating South Crystal Pavilion - a multi-faceted glass edifice designed by world-renown architect Moshe Safdie - and which forms part of the Marina Bay Sands complex.

Setting the international standard for the "big" nightclub experience in Singapore and the surrounding region, Avalon, with its outwardly positive architecture, will undoubtedly be a unique addition to the nightclub circuit as it encapsulates the iconic essence of its original Hollywood nightclub experience while enhanced by a distinctly Singapore flavour.

The full experience of the club embraces three ambiances: the first level offers a vibrant club lounge, a high octane dance environment and a performance stage, while upstairs is the sophisticated VIP level where members will have an unobstructed view of the club's many high profile events such as top concert artists and international DJs performing on the stage. The club's international reputation, high profile clientele, a custom made sound system, state-of-the-art effects lighting, and an installed intelligent movable rig and hoist system - the first such system in a Singapore nightclub - have crowned Avalon as the club in which to be seen.

The interior of the club is surrounded by glass walls and a ceiling which is 15 metres high at the point. The enormous responsibility of overseeing the lighting, sound, and AV design was entrusted to Snipe Media, a Singapore-based design and consultancy company. Billy Magendran who helms Snipe Media, was called upon to come up with a solution for a multi-zone lighting scheme to be installed on the moving rig which is raised, lowered, and tilted throughout the night to generate the different lighting angles required of the lighting design.

The solution that Billy decided upon was to have a full moving head design infused with 24 Clay Paky Sharpys, 18 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700s, four Clay Paky Alpha Spot 300s, and four Clay Paky Alpha Beam 300 luminaires. LED washes were also installed in the rig to colour up the trusses. The programmed combination of the LED washes and the Clay Paky moving heads were choreographed to create a dynamic and "living" lighting rig that will not only provide full coverage of the dance floor but also from the sides and backstage areas.

The Clay Paky units was supplied by Acoustic & Lighting System, the regional distributor for Clay Paky. Eugene Yeo, the assistant sales manager at Acoustic & Lighting System knew all to well of the trend of club owners tending to opt for lower price moving lights made in China. "It is fantastic to see Clay Paky lights installed in one of the most premier nightclubs in Singapore. It is becoming rare that people really appreciate high quality lighting effects especially in our region," commented Eugene.

Aliff, the lighting engineer at Avalon superbly utilises the Spot HPE 700's wide array of gobos and strobe effects for the dancefloor. The Spot HPE 700s are also the primary lighting for fashion shows and artists performing on the stage. 

With 24 units installed, Avalon has the precedence of having the most number of Sharpy units installed in a club in the world. With its small footprint and lightweight frame, Sharpy is a groundbreaking 189W moving beam light which produces and unprecedented bright and perfectly parallel, laser-like beam with an incredible output of 59,760 lux at 20 meters (5,100 footcandles at 65 ft).

The Sharpy is undoubtedly Billy's favourite light and he admits it: "I love the Sharpy. It is not just the output, but also for its colours and speed, and the beam is so very sharp. The Sharpy is built for one specific purpose, and it does it extremely well."

Eugene initially had some concerns about the lighting request for the club: "When Billy came up with an idea to use the Sharpy in Avalon, we were worried that the intensity of the light output might be harmful if its placed too low. Luckily the ceiling is high enough and now everyone is amazed with the lighting effects. I really want to thank Billy and his team for their bold ideas and the effort in creating the best club lighting in Singapore."

Response from the club's guests only confirms the impression the Sharpy lights have made with visiting artists. Billy mentioned how artists and their managers who didn't know about the Sharpy's yet were blown away once they saw how the sharp beams moved in and immediately heightened the atmosphere. "Their request to us is always to 'give me only those lights,' " said Aliff.

The fifty Clay Paky moving heads, dozens of LED colour changers and a multi-colour laser system is enough to light a major concert which explains why Aliff needs to work on a MA Lighting grandMA2 ultra-light console (with 26 units of MA 2Port Nodes) to handle the multiple DMX universes utilised in the overall lighting scheme.

With the first phase of the club's AV completed, Billy has already started to plan out his ideas for the second phase for the lighting to possibly include the next line of Clay Paky luminaires. "Clay Paky is not like many other brands who just want to sell, sell, sell. They want us to know and to understand their product first before we buy it so that we can use it to the fullest potential," concluded Billy.

www.claypaky.it

2nd February 2012

Martin Exterior 410 Brings Pou Manawa Tree to Life at Auckland International Airport

At the heart of the new retail departures area at Auckland International Airport in New Zealand is Pou Manawa, a huge tree of architectural fabric onto which colour and traditional Maori designs are reflected using Martin Exterior 410 wash lights and Martin smartMAC image projecting moving heads.

Ignite Architects developed the idea of a “heart” space – an interactive and engaging area that people could gravitate to – and, as much of the imagery symbolizing what New Zealanders hold dear is focused on trees, the Pou Manawa was born.

The Exterior 410s, an award-winning RGBW colour mixing fixture with pre-mixed LEDs, provide a wash of color across the canopy. It is an ideal luminaire for installations like Pou Manawa in which the projection distance is short.

“We had an exhaustive period of early testing to get the best fixture for the projection,” says Chris McKenzie of Martin distributor Kenderdine Electrical Ltd. “We had other colour changing fixtures specified but when the Exterior 410s became available we changed the specification to use them. The 410s were the perfect solution for the wash units and whilst an indoor installation, the passive cooling on the units was a major bonus.”

Working with the Exterior 410s are smartMACs, a bright profile light and image projector with six indexable rotating gobos. The designs float across the complex patterned internal surface of the tree in a continuous 360-degree rotation.

“The smartMAC won out for its long lamp life and low maintenance needs,” states McKenzie. “We had a large area of south-facing glass pouring light into the area and after treatment of the glass, the smartMAC was able to generate enough light to do the job successfully.”

Twenty-four smartMACs and a like number of Exterior 410s are used in the installation, which runs 21 hours per day, 365 days per year. Programming was done on a Martin Maxxyz PC and Martin M1 console with initial design and renderings completed using the Martin ShowDesigner. All gobos are Apollo stock steel and glass or custom glass.

There are six main themes that are reflected through the 36-minute cycle of Pou Manawa: Ocean, Flax, Fern, Night Sky, Sunrise/Sunset and Pohutakawa. The intricate designs were created by Kingi Gilbert and depict New Zealand carvings, nature and birds and relate to travel, flight, voyaging, movement across vast expanses, oceans, airways, guidance and hospitality.

The project, a collaboration between a number of players, won an excellence award in the 2011 New Zealand IES National Lighting Awards and has proved quite popular with travellers.

31st January 2012

Imerge Sails on the Super Yacht Aiyana

Holiday makers chartering the luxury super yacht Aiyana can tap into a store of over 250 movies and more than 1700 music CDs thanks to the installation of a state of the art entertainment system that has an Imerge media server at its core.

The Imerge media server has 3TB of storage and five Imerge Media Players, all linked to an AMX control system. As well as storing movies it also stores all of the music, which is accessed by a Sonos 5 Zone Audio system and played through Dolby Pro Logic surround sound and Bose 5.1 outdoor surround Sound for the deck areas.

“With this system we can basically do everything, all at once,” says Aiyana’s Captain Ross ‘Rosco’ Monson. “Our guests can play the same or different movies or music in a variety of different locations. This means that we can cater for everyone’s entertainment needs at all times, which is important when you are aiming to keep people happy and give them a great holiday experience.”

Built without compromise and launched in June 2010, the 81ft/24.7m Aiyana was custom designed by Warwick Yacht Design in Auckland, New Zealand, and turned into reality in Alia Yachts in Antalya, Turkey. The yacht has a lifting keel that allows her to cruise in the shallowest of waters and get close in to the best anchorages. With the keel down she has power to race in the most competitive regattas and deliver great performance offshore in all weather conditions.

Inside, the yacht can accommodate up to six guests in its three cabins, along with cabins for the three full time crew members. Each guest cabin has its own 32” LCD TV which is linked to the Imerge onboard entertainment system. There are also a 32” LDC TVs in the main and lower salons.

“The Aiyana is available to charter in the Mediterranean (Italy and France) in the summer and Caribbean in the winter,” Captain Rosco says. “We usually have families or groups of friends onboard who charter the boat for one or two weeks at a time.”

The Imerge media server was chosen for Aiyana by the boat’s owner who wanted an entertainment system with no compromises.

“Installing this type of equipment on a yacht is not like tackling a home installation as there are many potential problems that have to be addressed and overcome,” Captain Rosco explains. “Power, cabling and cooling are all issues. The cables must be securely fixed otherwise the connection between the units can be lost when sailing. Universal Power supplies have been installed throughout the system to keep constant power when changing from Generator to Shorepower and batteries. Each unit is fan cooled and the server has its own air conditioning system to keep it cool in the Caribbean and summer temperatures.”

With a year of service under its belt, the Aiyana’s Imerge media server and entertainment system is more than living up to its reputation for consistency, performance and ease of use.

“It is an incredibly reliable system, which is an important factor when you are on a commercial yacht that is travelling the world,” Captain Rosco adds. “Since her launch in 2010, the Aiyana has sailed regularly and has competed successfully in a number of sailing regattas. Not many other Imerge units will have that claim to fame. We are really delighted with our choice of media server - the Imerge system has been impeccable, as has the service we have received from the company. It provides seamless functionality to allow access to stored media, it is also robust enough to be used in the marine environment and we look forward to watching many more movies in the future.”

30th January 2012

Zion School in Indonesia Benefits from the Ease of Simplicity of Symetrix Jupiter 8

Zion School recently completed construction of a brand new building in Makassar, South Sulawesi in Indonesia. The school serves over 700 students from kindergarten through high school and uses state-of-the-art technology to connect with students and to prepare them for an increasingly technological world. An excellent case in point is the school’s 750-seat mult-ipurpose auditorium. The auditorium will be used for seminars, meetings, graduation ceremonies, and performances. Symetrix distributor PT Gracia Auvindo supplied an adept, but cost-effective Symetrix Jupiter 8 to handle all of the audio processing in the auditorium. Local dealer JK Sound in turn furnished the unit to the school, and both companies helped install it.

“The processing power of the Symetrix Jupiter is substantial, yet it’s easy to set up and very affordable,” said Hendra Halim, technical manager with PT Gracia Auvindo. “At the Zion School auditorium, just one Jupiter 8 handles everything.” Coda Audio full-range loudspeakers and subwoofers powered by beefy Camco amplifiers give the students at Zion School performance-inspiring fidelity and impact. Full stereo separation heightens the excitement.

The school uses one of the Jupiter’s many apps, which creates a sound processing and mixing tool that is specific to the needs of the auditorium. “The app gives us feedback fighters, parametric equalisation, and full loudspeaker management processing, among other modules,” said Halim. “Everything – from the output of the mixer to the monitors to the mains – is handled by the Jupiter 8. The speaker manager provides the crossover between the full-range boxes and the subwoofer. Moreover, the Jupiter 8 sounds fantastic, and the school doesn’t have to worry about feedback or unintelligible audio.”

In addition to the Jupiter 8, a Symetrix Zone Mix 760 handles school-wide paging and background music. Six zones comprise the school, and three strategically-located paging stations provide input. At each station, a wall-mounted Symetrix ARC-XLR push-button XLR input with an attached microphone allows for easy paging. The ARC-XLR’s four selector buttons combine with an ARC-SW4’s four selector buttons to direct pages to any or all of the building’s zones. Setting up the Zone Mix 760 to automatically duck background music for pages proved straightforward. QSC ceiling speakers and amplifiers complete the school-wide paging system.

“We’re very excited about Symetrix’ Jupiter, Integrator, and Solus families of processors,” said Halim. “They provide a comprehensive and well thought out collection of solutions to every audio installation challenge. The products are functional, reliable, and great sounding. The installation at Zion School went smoothly for us. It took just over a day to get everything in place and tuned to perfection. After a brief training, the staff at the school is totally comfortable operating it.”

18th January 2012

J&C Joel's Stage Dressings Help to Bring Singapore's History Alive

Formerly Singapore’s largest cinema, the Kallang Theatre is now one of the country’s premier performance venues. After closing in 2007 the theatre re-opened in August 2011 by staging Singapura: Lion City, a music and acrobatic extravaganza chronicling the history of Singapore.

The show saw more than 60 professional acrobats and artistes portray Singapore’s rise from a small island country to one of Asia’s cultural and economic powerhouses, all on a stage dressed in black stage masking from J&C Joel.

The stage masking curtains manufactured and supplied by J&C Joel were made from versatile black 300cm wide Molton (MOL002), a non-durably flame retardant brushed cotton fabric that is ideal for stage masking.

The stage blacks provided to the Kallang Theatre included five stage borders, eight legs, two wings, ten dress legs and a stage backdrop measuring ten metre wide with a drop of 13 metres. All were made flat without any fullness and headed with either webbing and ties or snap hooks.

www.jcjoel.com

18th January 2012

LOBO Installation Set to Break All Records

Shortly before the turn of the year, a huge laser projection appeared on the monumental facade of the 175 metre high Anayasa tower in Ashgabat. Slowly the figure "2011" faded away and the laser counted down the last seconds of the year. The gathered crowd cheered as the year "2012" appeared and the entire city shined brightly under magnificent fireworks.

At the same time, a giant permanent laser installation was launched. It is scheduled for continuous operation in January 2012 and will set new standards worldwide. The installation connects the highest towers of the Turkmenistan capital city Ashgabat with dazzling-bright laser beams in the national colour of green. Also display lasers are part of the project, used for brilliant building projections, which were seen for the first time at New Year’s Eve.

The rumor goes that the president of Turkmenistan himself had the idea for this project. On his behalf, the largest Turkish construction corporation Polimeks searched for the ideal partner for implementing this demanding project. Numerous companies in the display laser industry brought in ideas, concepts and offers. But in the end, internationally renowned laser specialist LOBO won the competition.

Under one roof LOBO bundled the experience of a leading full-range-manufacturer for display laser systems with the ingenuity of the industry’s internationally most-awarded show design team. LOBO has proven its competence all around the globe with innumerable outstanding large-scale projects, both as permanent installations and on a temporary basis.

But even for LOBO’s experienced engineers, this project was a real challenge. A total distance of almost 30 km had to be spanned between all the towers in an extremely bright environment. Within LOBO’s 30-year history, temporary projects of similar scale have been implemented on a rental basis. But the fully automated and daily operation of such a complex system demanded entirely different approaches.

To provide optimal visibility, all beams were designed bi-directionally. Only lasers of the highest brightness class have been used. The ultra-bright lasers of LOBO’s Sparks series served as the primary technical basis for the project, but Coherent Verdi lasers were also used. The automation of the installation is handled by LOBO’s proprietary LACON-5 platform. Thanks to integrated GPS-modules, it also takes care of absolutely exact synchronization of all laser systems.

LOBO’s creative director Alexander Hennig said: "Thanks to our own 10-km-long laser test track, we could show our clients that it is not enough just to install any kind of high-powered laser. We had to achieve an especially high effective brightness. This depends mostly on the interaction of several factors beyond laser power. Superlative beam quality was a key criterion at this project. In the LOBO laboratories, especially designed optics were developed for this installation, guaranteeing optimal light density even over extreme distances.

Considering the enormous extension of the installation, officials of the International Laser Display Association (ILDA) believe that it is the largest permanent display laser installation in the world. Turkemistan’s president personally inspected the installation himself from a helicopter. It is said that he was very satisfied with the result.

16th January 2012

Bolshoi’s Sumptuous Set Design Includes the Dance Floor

After a six year restoration project, reported to have cost a massive £1/2 billion, Moscow’s iconic Bolshoi Theatre re-opened last autumn with a glittering gala performance attended by president Dmitry Medveded and the Russian elite. Unusually, instead of unobtrusively providing a world-class floor for the dancers, the Harlequin dance floor was itself an integral part of the set design for the Bolshoi Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty.

Thanks to innovative techniques developed by Harlequin’s development engineering team, the usually plain vinyl dance surface echoed the sumptuous set design with an intricate pattern designed by the Italian designer Ezio Frigerio.

Using advanced wide format computer controlled printing techniques, the Bolshoi’s design was digitised for printing on rolls of specially formatted white Harlequin Cascade vinyl.

Extensive testing and experimentation during the development of the technique ensured the surface characteristics – so important to professional dancers – were maintained while ensuring adequate adhesion of the inks to withstand scuffing from ballet shoes. Harlequin is pleased to announce that this capability is now offered as a custom option for purchasers of their floors.

Harlequin Cascade is a reinforced vinyl dance surface manufactured to high standards. It is popular with stage managers as a heavy-duty stage floor withstanding general stage use and tolerant of heavy props and also ideal for dance. A silky smooth emboss gives deceptively good grip conveying a soft feel, giving dancers an unmatched confidence for demanding choreography. The underlying Harlequin Liberty sprung floor comprises a series of inter-linked panels designed to provide consistent shock absorption that independent research shows minimise stress injuries for dancers.

13th January 2012

Lighthouse Brings Breathtaking Visual Effects to Audiences at Baoshan Sports Center

With the completion of the Shanghai Baoshan Sports Center’s recent renovation project, audiences will soon be able to experience breathtaking visual effects on the center-hung video scoreboards, LED fascia ribbon display, and full-color outdoor LED screens provided by Lighthouse Technologies.

The 81,000 square-metre Baoshan Sports Center and library, located in the heart of Shanghai’s Baoshan District, includes a multi-purpose basketball arena, gymnasium, library, and civic cultural/sports plaza. The renovated Baoshan Sports Center will be an important venue for the people of Shanghai to watch major sporting events, take in exciting arts performances from home and abroad, and enjoy high-quality cultural and athletic life.

The increasing technological awareness of audiences means that they have become more demanding in terms of the viewing quality provided for sports events and large performances. Having facilities—especially jumbo screens—that can provide a superior viewing experience is now a vital element of a venue’s offering and from the renovation project’s inception, Baoshan Sports Center knew it needed to partner with a well-known provider.

Having compared the world’s leading LED display solution providers, the Center decided that Lighthouse Technologies was the clear winner across all selection criteria. By providing unrivalled color reproduction, Lighthouse display screens not only give audiences a breathtaking viewing experience, they are also perfect for showing a company’s brand images. Lighthouse Technologies provides a total solution for indoor and outdoor display screens as well as comprehensive after-sale service and the company can respond rapidly to any challenges that arise during the course of installation, disassembly and use.

A total of 400 square meters of Lighthouse-supplied display screens were installed both indoors and out. The outdoor screen, installed on the stage of the civic plaza, is a 20mm pixel pitch measuring 15 meters wide and 9 metres high. The basketball arena’s centre-hung, eight sided scoreboard and ring screens are all 16mm, as is the LED fascia ribbon display. The center-hung scoreboard screens and main video screen, featuring only 6mm pixel elements, are among Lighthouse’s thinnest and lightest products. The display screens for the project include a built-in Lighthouse LED failure diagnostic system and enhanced grayscale processing technology for optimal image quality. Together with its high image resolution, high contrast ratio, high brightness and high refresh rate, built-in HDMI LED processors—an industry first developed by Lighthouse—enable Lighthouse display screens to present more vivid HD imagery.

Baoshan Sports Center stadium, now renovated according to NBA standards, is expected to become a major venue for international basketball games and large performances. Audiences will be able to catch every moment of game highlights by watching the Lighthouse display screen, which are all ultra-high contrast and a wide viewing angle, so fans in every corner of the stadium can appreciate the unprecedented audio-visual effects and unparalleled sports entertainment experience. Lighthouse display screens outperform their peer products not only with their picture quality, but also with their low power consumption, low heat, low noise level, environmental friendliness, long lifetimes, high reliability, and ease of maintenance.

"With China’s rapid urbanization, large-scale stadiums are in high demand," says Lighthouse’s managing director, Peter Chan. "Lighthouse is highly experienced in providing total solutions in comprehensive and tailored display screen projects for such large stadiums. As a leading LED display screen solution provider, we are proud of our presence in world-class sports centers such as Portland’s JELD-WEN Field, Bradley Center in Los Angeles, American Airlines Center in Dallas, University of Michigan’s Michigan Stadium, and BC Place in Vancouver. Looking forward, we will continue to devote ourselves to bringing viewing pleasure to our audiences at every game and performance."

10th January 2012

Lighthouse Supplies Screens to new Hong Kong Indoor Stadium

Lighthouse will supply four LED screens to the new Macpherson Indoor Stadium in Hong Kong, which will bring enhanced community facilities to the city’s area of highest population density.

Located on the edge of Mongkok - which, according to Guinness World Records, has the highest population density in the world - the new venue will replace the previous Macpherson Indoor Stadium, which plays an important role in the development of youth recreation in Hong Kong.

The existing venue has been demolished as part of a programme of redevelopment, which will see it and the surrounding area replaced with a residential complex and the new sports venue, expanded to hold 2,500 spectators.

As part of Media-Go Engineering Ltd’s successful AV tender bid, for which Lighthouse was chosen as LED screen partner, two sets of 6mm resolution screens, each measuring 5.12m (w) x 2.4m (h), and one 4mm screen measuring 3.84m (w) x 3.84m (h) will be installed in the stadium to provide information and scoreboards. A fourth, 10mm, screen will be installed on the venue’s exterior.

"We are very pleased that our screens have been chosen for this project, which is the result of our success in installing high quality LED screens at sporting venues throughout the world," says Peter Chan, Lighthouse Managing Director. "We look forward to helping provide the people of Mongkok with a truly world class new facility."

5th January 2012

Tannoy System for Game of Legends, New Delhi

Game of Legends, a brand new sports bar located City Square Mall, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi, has been given a state-of-the-art Tannoy sound system by installation experts Audio Jewellers.

Design consultants and AV contractors Shitij Harnwal and Narinder Pal Singh from Audio Jewellers worked very closely with architect Luvpreet Singh to produce an excellent sounding venue without compromising the aesthetics of the sports bar.

Working with a strict budget and keeping in mind the extensive requirements of an integrated system, Audio Jewellers specified a complete solution that delivers on all counts, turning to the outstanding acoustic abilities of Tannoy’s new VX Series in one of the first installations of its kind in the region.

VX Series represent a major step forward from Tannoy’s renowned V Series (and PowerV), which itself defined new standards in loudspeaker design when introduced to the market back in 2002 – quickly becoming an established favourite of contractors working in the installed sound market as well as proving to be an agile performer in the portable PA sector. With VX Series, Tannoy has pushed loudspeaker technology even further, setting new benchmarks in versatility and acoustic excellence.

The system comprised two Tannoy VX 12 high performance loudspeakers, eight Di5 ultra compact loudspeakers, and six Tannoy Mercury compact stand-mount loudspeakers. These were supplemented by four VS Series subwoofers, two VS 15BPs and two VS 10BPs. The Di5s have been distributed evenly to provide an overall coverage, but blend into the décor due to discreet installation. The system is powered using Crown amplification.

There are three personal digital recorder sections with separate audio and video options at GOL. Audio Jewellers installed two Tannoy V1 loudspeakers per section plus Behringer Xenyx 502 analogue mixers. This offered customers the opportunity to select their own audio source when located in one of these sections.

Audio Jewellers’ Narinder Pal Singh, stated: “Game of Legends will always be a special project for us. This is the first project under the formation of Audio Jewellers, hence a lot of technical thinking went into making it a success. Using Tannoy gave us the confidence and flexibility we needed.”

Architect for the project, Luvpreet Singh, stated: “This project was very special as this part of Delhi had never witnessed something like it in the past. We are very impressed with what we have been able to achieve, in cooperation with Audio Jewellers for the AV and the overall design of the place.”

http://www.tannoy.com

21st December 2011

Singapore’s School of the Arts opts for Clay Paky

The School of the Arts (SOTA) is Singapore’s first national arts school to offer an integrated arts and academic curriculum for students aged 13-18 years old. The vision of the school is to nurture Singapore’s next generation of artists and creative professionals committed to the arts in a multi-cultural society.

Located in Zubir Said Drive, this school reflects the rich diversity of its artistic programme with three different performance venues: theatre, concert hall and studio theatre. All three auditoriums are suitably adorned with Clay Paky luminaires, which are used to enhance the performance and staging for certain plays and shows.

According to SOTA’s lighting technician, Albert Wileo: “We got to know Clay Paky from the feedback from a couple of friends from the entertainment industry in Singapore. After we tested the demo set of Clay Paky 700 Wash and Alpha 700 Spot HPE, we knew this was the brand for us. Besides being more affordable compared to other brands, it also has a very rich colour texture which works very well for concerts and stage performance.

“Clay Paky is also equipped with beautiful gobos that can produce a wide variety of beams and it doesn’t stop there – Clay Paky is also capable of producing extremely fast pan and tilt movement. This will give a very fluid and natural movement to the lighting effect produced. And not forgetting its lightness and wide zoom capability,” continued Wileo.

The Clay Paky equipment – a total of 10 Alpha Spot HPE 700s and 11 Alpha Wash 700s – was installed by regional lighting and staging specialists Desisti Asia Pte Ltd.

www.claypaky.it

16th December 2011

Empire Theatre Toowoomba now home to Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700s

Located in Toowoomba, Queensland, the Empire Theatre is the largest regional theatre in Australia and is both a fine example of art deco architecture and a vibrant home to the region’s performing arts. With main stage seating for over 1500 and smaller venues available for more intimate performances, the Empire Theatre is a state-of-the-art facility for concerts, dance and theatre.

The venue’s technical staff decided it was time to replace their aging Martin MAC 500 fixtures with a newer model – something that could provide more output in a small size and within a certain price bracket.

“We looked at the Robe equivalent and also the MAC 700, which were both impressive, but we opted for six of the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700 predominantly because of the framing shutters provided,” remarked Tim Panitz, acting technical manager and head of lighting at the Empire Theatre. “No other fixture in that range can offer a framing shutter - you’d have to jump up to a MAC 2000 size of fixture.

“The Clay Paky Alpha Profile 700 is also a new fitting in the 700W class, the other models have been around a while. At an electronic level they have some nice features – put Ethernet in and they spit out DMX. Obviously being from Clay Paky they have very good optics and the units have a very impressive zoom range.”

When making the purchasing decision Tim had not paid much attention to the speed of the Alpha Profile 700 head and so when he first used them he was absolutely delighted with what he saw.

“The speed of the heads was very impressive for the size of the unit,” he noted. “The Alpha Profile 700 is quick, smooth and accurate – the three qualities you really need.”

www.claypaky.it

15th December 2011

Heavenly Mission: MA Lighting selected for Providence Maitreya Buddha Missionary Institute

When travelling south from Taipei on one of the highways connecting the major cities in Taiwan, one has to pass through the city of Hsin-Chu. Hsin-Chu has one of the biggest industrial parks of Taiwan, most notably known for its electronics industry, nurtured by the local universities. Far less known is the beautiful hinterland of Hsin-Chu which only few of today’s travelers get to appreciate.

It is here that Providence Maitreya Buddha Missionary Institute has found a place to setup its new monastery. Designed to become a centre for art, culture and self-reflection, the scenery was the ideal location to promote the ideas of the Maitreya Great Tao religion not only in Taiwan but also beyond. The monastery is designed to serve as well as a convention centre with its theatre hall (1446 seats). Together with its partner DLHG in Taiwan, MA Lighting proposed a MA Digital Dimmer dimMA compact installation (the space saving alternative to the modular dimMA range) as well as a grandMA2 ultra-light console.

Despite budget constraints it was clear that the theatre was to be equipped with a system that would not be outdated every time the wind changes. The decision was made to rely as much as possible on commonly available parts, which are first of all cheaper and more flexible to be used.

Given this decision, it was clear that an Ethernet based distribution system was to be deployed, as the advantages like cost of installation and maintenance were much lower in the mid-term. No specialised equipment would mean less specialists to be employed. Presenting a system solution rather than a pick-and-choose approach also made sure that communication channels during the project installation were clear and concise. Given that the normal electrical installation in Taiwan is 110V a couple of problems were expected but in the end everything was resolved.

"It was great to have Michael Adenau himself here to take a look. The circumstances have been pretty special and bringing in the founder and mastermind of MA Lighting shows how serious they are about their products. This gives us a lot of confidence in having made the right choice," confirms Mr. Yu from DLHG.

www.malighting.com

17th November 2011

Philips Selecon PL1 LED Luminaires Shine New Light in Sydney's Channel 10 Newsroom

2011 has been a big year for the Ten Network in Australia. Having instigated a number of adjustments to its programming lineup and increased its airtime, the Network recently invested in a significant revamp of its Sydney newsroom and studio.

As part of this refurbishment, Network 10 lighting director Pete Koole examined ways to make his lighting rig more cost effective, reliable and easier to use. During his research he came across the Philips Selecon PL1 LED luminaire. “I could see straight away that the PL1 LED had great potential as keylight in the news studio,” he says. Koole now owns 18, all fitted with wireless receivers and he is delighted with them.

The PL1s have addressed a number of issues. Koole’s newsroom is situated at the bottom of a five-story atrium and vulnerable to fluctuating colour temperatures from the changing ambient natural light. He also has to deal with a suspended lighting grid cluttered with acoustic baffles and other studio hardware. The PL1 LED wireless receivers require no DMX cabling, however there is capability to run DMX from the receiver to other non-wireless luminaires such as florescent softlights. This makes each PL1 receiver a mini DMX ‘Hub’ for the rest of the rig and allows Koole to do a total re-rig in a couple of hours instead of the eight or so it used to take!

Until Koole purchased the PL1s his rig comprised single ended fluorescents and 250W MSR Fresnels. “The studio lights are on and off from 5.00am in blocks ranging from 15 minutes to three hours until 10.30pm,” Koole explains. “My main keylights averaged 10–12 hours per day. The beauty of the PL1 is that we can turn them on and off without worrying about the halogen cycle. With the MSRs we had to run them for at least 20-30 minutes to avoid failure of the lamps or components.

“This duty cycle resulted in high maintenance costs. The 250W MSRs were a good light and they worked well but we were changing them every three months,” says Koole. “At $230 per lamp it was costing almost $1000 per year per fitting!”

Energy saving has also been a goal of the Ten Network so being able to reduce the power draw from the 250W MSRs and 220W fluorescents to the 90W of the PL1s was a huge bonus.

Koole discovered further advantages: “The beam spread is completely even across the field. I really like being able to pan the PL1. If the presenter moves off the mark the intensity doesn’t change. This has been great, especially in the case of Chroma keys or when they’re in front of large plasma screens. The shaping of the beam can perform like a soft edge profile, so it’s an ideal keylight.”

Colour balancing the PL1 LED and integrating it into the studio rig is something that Koole has found surprisingly easy. “Initially the TDs were a little skeptical about the colour from an LED source. We colour balanced the cameras on the (reference) chart to the existing sources, then took them out and faded up the PL1s, which we matched to the MSRs. I then swapped between the PL1 and the MSRs on the desk and nobody could tell the difference on camera. Plus I can now use colour during a show if I need to.”

Koole is impressed that he can counteract the coloured spill that can bounce off LED lit sets onto presenters’ faces. If he’s getting a blue glow from a wall he’s able to tune this out so the face appears neutral on camera.

An increasing number of studios and broadcast facilities around Australia are using the Philips Selecon PL1 and they’re fast becoming the lighting tool of choice for lighting designers from broadcasters and media organizations worldwide.

www.seleconlight.com

 

11th November 2011

Bespoke Anolis Solution for NIDA

Leading European LED manufacturer Anolis has engineered and produced a custom lighting solution for a major new installation in the impressive foyer space of The Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)'s award winning theatre complex in Kensington, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

A new energy efficient lighting scheme has been installed, replacing 28 recessed  500W PAR 56 halogen fittings with the brand new Anolis ArcSource 48 MultiChip (MC) fixture, specially designed by Anolis for this project.

The Anolis ArcSource 48 MC consists of twelve 10 Watt Cree MCE RGBW LED chips, which enable full and seamless RGB colour mixing plus an excellent selection of 'real' whites in a variety of colour temperatures.

NIDA's lighting supervisor Adrian Wright explains that top of their brief for the new lighting was to make a significant reduction in electricity consumption across NIDA's public areas. They also wanted to utilise lightsources that offered more versatility and dynamics than just a 'standard white' lighting scheme.

Practically, the Anolis scheme uses 60% less power compared to the previous installation and further long term savings will follow due to the reduced ongoing maintenance required for LEDs.

Wright and the senior management team at the award winning venue complex made their decision after considering several options and proposals for LED replacements, selecting Anolis for its quality, light output and the bespoke retro-fittable design that is unique to the Anolis ArcSource 48 MC fitting.

The concept for the new ArcSource was designed and developed by Anolis in just four weeks, and delivered to NIDA by Anolis's Australian distributor, the ULA Group.

The building, designed by HASSELL in association with Peter Armstrong Architecture a decade ago has bold glazed walls, a dramatic sloping canopy and takes on  beacon-like lighting qualities after dark.

There were many challenges involved in lighting the foyer's interior - the throw distance for the fixtures is over ten metres, so it was essential that the output was the same as the previous scheme, whilst maintaining energy efficiency, low power consumption and operating costs.

Anolis's optimised light engine produces a fully homogenised light source - smooth, rich and powerful - across the entire colour spectrum, which was a primary factor in choosing the Anolis ArcSource 48 MC over other products, as they didn't want to see any blockiness or pixellation in the source. Says Wright: "I also wanted plenty of headroom on the intensity front, and as a result, our currently programmed lighting states are all around 50 per cent." They are run via an Ecue control system.

The ArcSource 48 MCs fit nicely into the original PAR 56 housings at NIDA, producing more Lux than their predecessors, with convection cooling ensuring silent operation and each unit individually DMX addressable.

The new lighting has transformed the look and feel of the foyer. With a virtually unlimited colour palette at everyone's fingertips, the space can be themed and coloured for different events and occasions without needing additional equipment.

NIDA is a high profile centre of excellence and training for gifted young people interested in professional careers in theatre, film and television and the performing arts, and everyone is delighted with the new investment.

Adrian Wright concludes, "I'm impressed with the support from both Anolis and the ULA Group in enabling us to choose such an outstanding lighting fixture".

8th November 2011

W-DMX Provides a Wireless Solution to Singapore's Sentosa Merlion Park

Wireless Solution Sweden AB is now part of Sentosa, the popular island resort in Singapore which attracts millions of local and foreign visitors every year. Its most famous resident and visitor attraction, The Merlion (a 37-metre statue formed in the image of the fabled half-lion and half-fish guardian of Singapore) recently got a makeover using W-DMX technology.

Sentosa Development Group, which manages the Sentosa Merlion Park had decided to look into enhancing the Merlion Park’s environment with the use of creative outdoor lighting. Synergy AVL Pte Ltd, a Singapore based audio-visual and lighting system solutions company, was invited to propose a lighting solution for the island's statuesque icon. Synergy's project team, led by senior project engineer Chip Chong earnestly conducted a series of site surveys before deciding on which types of indoor and outdoor luminaires were best suited to fulfil the management's requirements.

To begin, Chip proposed to adapt outdoor wireless technology using W-DMX WhiteBox products made by Wireless Solution Sweden. The wireless set-up uses one W-DMX WhiteBox Transmitter and five WhiteBox Receiver units. Not only does the use of wireless technology provide a cleaner look without any additional or exposed cables within the site, it also avoided any possibility of affecting the daily operations or serious damage to the Park from unnecessary cabling work being done. Synergy installed a PC base lighting control running on the Daslight Virtual Controller DMX512 software which allows the Park's AV team more freedom to programme and operate all DMX lighting luminaires installed in the Park.

With the different (indoor and outdoor) areas and themes in the Park, Synergy was very careful in choosing which luminaire was suitable to deliver the correct mood required for the different features in the Park. With its special water wave effect, ACME LED Wave units are installed along the bridge walkway from Sentosa resort to the Park to make the journey feel more like walking on water. Ten IP65 rated D.T.S. Delta 10 F RGBW LED colour changer wash lights are positioned around the Merlion to highlight the main exterior body of the Merlion. Additionally, six units of Novalight High-Ground 2000W moving-yoke fixtures are positioned in a line at the rear of the Merlion and programmed to shoot its powerful and bright moving beams up to the sky to complete its external lighting effects. For illumination inside the Merlion’s eyes and mouth, Synergy installed Colorbeam LML-36 and CP-50 colour changer fixtures equipped with long life LED lamp technology to replace the previous light fittings which would often break down.

The new lighting solution designed and installed by Synergy AVL in Sentosa Merlion Park now offers a multi-visual environment and creates a more complete experience for the visitors. With good response from visitors about the Park's new ambience, this success enforces the high quality of solution designs which Synergy AVL can to deliver to their customers.

“We were very pleased to be a part of this project,” says Wireless Solution CEO Niclas Arvidsson, “Synergy is a great partner to us and they have a very creative vision and know how to handle delicate installations such as this. The results are wonderful.”

26th October 2011

Performance Installed: grandMA2 for Korea’s New State-of-the-Art Musical Theatre

The recently built Blue Square in Seoul, a major theatre in the Republic of Korea, relies on a MA Lighting system that combines grandMA2 and grandMA “series 1” consoles. The new building was especially designed to stage only concerts and musicals which differs it from most theatres in Korea that are built as multi-purpose halls.

Kim Hong Sik, CEO of Hansam System Co. Ltd., MA Lighting’s exclusive distributor in the Republic of Korea, commented on the choice of the MA products: “MA products are known as the most reliable and popular among lighting designers in Korea so it was an obvious choice to vote for grandMA. Furthermore we wanted a future-proof lighting control solution with plenty of headroom for upgradability to incorporate powerful new features and functionality. Also the grandMA2’s ability to seamlessly integrate video sources of all types into the visual equation, and making these straightforward to program, were a reason to install these consoles.”

Altogether one each of grandMA2 light, grandMA2 ultra-light, one grandMA full-size and grandMA light were installed in the building to control a mixtures of ADB dimmers and spots and Martin moving lights.

www.malighting.com

25th October 2011

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