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

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

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

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

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

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

Leading New Zealand School Installs iLive

St. Peter’s School in Cambridge, New Zealand, recently installed an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system in its 600-capacity auditorium. Comprising an iDR-32 MixRack with iLive-T112 Control Surface, the system is an upgrade to the incumbent analogue mixer.

One of New Zealand’s leading independent secondary schools, St. Peter’s is set in 100 acres of land and includes facilities such as an equestrian park and golf academy. The auditorium hosts various dance, drama and music events throughout the academic year, culminating in an intensive performing arts fortnight, which includes two variety concerts, a rock concert, dance showcase and house music competitions.

"We have had a variety of A&H desks over the years and we loved our GL2800 but the complexities of the concerts we stage and the scale of our annual major production means an upgrade to digital was advantageous," explains St Peter’s School AV manager, Bruce Richards. "We chose iLive because A&H has always been reliable and I like the ‘analogue style’ interface, rather than menus within menus."

The auditorium’s audio system includes Martin F12 speakers, Lab Gruppen amps and xta processors.

The school also has two compact analogue mixers, a 16-channel GL2200 and ZED-14 USB mixer, for use in the adjoining performing arts studios.

In picture: the iLive-T112 Control Surface installed at FOH in St. Peter’s School’s auditorium.

13th October 2011

ETC Eos Lights up Sydney Opera House

Working with Australian dealer Jands, ETC has helped to overhaul the lighting control at Sydney’s world famous Opera House.

Following a comprehensive assessment of the venue’s needs, Jands installed four ETC Eos and three ETC Ion desks, so there would be a desk in every control room in the building.

The Sydney Opera House accommodates some 7.4m visitors each year who take in around 1,700 performances in seven different spaces, ranging from the main concert hall, with almost 2,700 seats, to the intimate 14 metre wide Utzon room.

Tim Kennard, lighting sales manager for Jands, explains: “In addition to the control desks, we also installed remote processor units and video interfaces, as well as remote focus units. For complete control, we provided 37 touch screen displays.

“The Opera House management and staff were really pleased with the way the desks worked, with a very similar usage style to their previous equipment. Training ran over a 12 week period and involved Jands controls specialist Alex Mair, Nick Simmons and Graham Parker from the UK.

“The upgrade covered all controls in every venue of the Opera House, and there are further upgrades planned, including more moving lights and dimming systems.”

Head of lighting at Sydney Opera House, Toby Sewell, adds: “Switching to Eos and Ion was fairly easy for our operators, as the logic and syntax are very similar to our previous control desks. When opting for the ETC control, I consulted our clients such as the [Australian] Opera Company who are very comfortable with ETC. I found a lot of the theatre designers were much more comfortable with ETC and its philosophies. Sydney Theatre Company and Bell Shakespeare had purchased ETC Ions, so it made sense for us to have ETC Eos as the control room desk.

“The ETC desks are really intuitive in how they use moving lights. We’ve had extremely positive feedback from our operators on both Eos and Ion. They seem to have integrated well into the system; we’ve had them a few months now and everybody is very comfortable with them.”

In picture: ETC Eos and Ion control desks have been installed at the Sydney Opera House as part of a major lighting control overhaul.

www.etcconnect.com

12th September 2011

Sydney’s Knox Grammar Picks K.M.E PANO System for New Venue

Professional Audio Technology Pty Ltd (PAT) has delivered yet another K.M.E. PANO Series line array public address system – this time to the new sports and events hall at Sydney’s prestigious Knox Grammar school. Various PA manufacturers were compared based on sound quality, manufacturing quality and of course price, by contracted audio consultants, with K.M.E. coming out on top.

The new sports and events hall, which consists of three basketball courts, a spectator seating gallery and everything else a sporting venue could ask for, will be used for sporting events and can also double as a concert hall comfortably holding up to 800-1,000 spectators. The Front of House concert rig consists of Line Source Units QL 1215 powered by a DA 428 with 700 Watts per channel and subs QLB 118 powered with a DA 230 amplifier with 1,500 Watts per channel. The K.M.E. amplifiers with multi channel functionality and DSP drive the entire system.

Professional Audio Technology’s Technology Specialist Alan Liddelow was at the venue during the first sound check with the new K.M.E. system. "We are extremely satisfied with the performance and clarity of the new system and what’s equally important is that the client is very happy with their buying decision which is imperative. We recommended the PANO system to Knox Grammar because they wanted to have a solution which would not only satisfy the sound quality requirements, but was also small in size, but with enough SPL to provide the sound engineer with enough headroom during the events. During the setup of the amps, K.M.E.’s Preset Editor & Wizard made the job very straight forward and easy. We thought that a small PANO system was a future-proofed solution providing the highest quality sound, an even sound dispersion and more than enough headroom to deal with anything that might be thrown at the system. Before making our recommendation to Knox Grammar, we met with the client, discussed their needs, analysed the acoustic characteristics of the room and took into account what the system would be used for."

Professional Audio Technology has been importing K.M.E PA systems into Australia for nearly one year now, with more and more venues and hire companies discovering the unsurpassed German made PA manufacturers quality in build and of course sound.

24th August 2011

New Zealand Church Upgrades to iLive

Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tauranga, New Zealand, recently decided to upgrade its FOH console from analogue to digital, selecting Allen & Heath’s iLive digital mixing system as the replacement.

The church, which has capacity for approximately 1800 worshippers, is undergoing expansion, including the installation of new mixers and a speaker array system as part of the audio upgrade.

An iLive system, comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface, was supplied by Jansen Professional Audio & Lighting.

“Our volunteers find iLive logical and simple to use, yet it allows more technical users to dig into advanced features when needed,” explains Bethlehem Baptist Church’s technical coordinator, Caleb Fryett. “We have been so pleased with this purchase that we have since purchased a second.”

The second smaller iLive system, comprising an iDR-16 MixRack and iLive-R72 Control Surface, has been installed to manage events in the adjacent Youth Hall.

The church also has set up a total of 5 PL-10 remote rotary fader panels, which run off a PL-9 hub, to manage foldback personal mixing in both venues.

11th August 2011

Clay Paky at Sydney’s Vivid Festival of Lights

For a couple of weeks every June, Sydney is transformed into a spectacular canvas of light and music as the Vivid Sydney Festival takes over the city after dark.

The festival features a rich international program of music and arts events including a spectacular 3D illumination of the Sydney Opera House and an outdoor exhibition of interactive light sculptures.
This year also saw the launch of Skyscraper Illuminati, a theatrical transformation of Sydney’s Circular Quay, in which the district’s large facades are brought to life each night with choreographed light shows that play throughout the evening.

Behind the illuminations was Sydney-based 32 Hundred, one of Australia’s most innovative event lighting and audio companies. For over 20 years the company has built an enviable reputation creating cutting-edge work integral to Australia’s most famous events.

When 32 Hundred’s managing director Iain Reed discovered that his company had won the tender to design, install and operate the production, he knew he had the right fixture necessary for such high-power projections – the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500.

With its cutting-edge professional beam-framing system and massive 1500 W power, the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 was the clear choice. It features an impressively rapid 1:9 ratio zoom that makes it suitable for both short and long distance applications.

"The Vivid Festival and the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 were the perfect match!" Reed declared. "They are very, very, very bright and I’m extremely happy with them. Their sheer intensity is brilliant and the classic Clay Paky eye for detail with the optics is amazing. I love the auto focus, vast colour mixing, gobo selection – really they are the Ferrari of moving lights!"
For Skyscraper Illuminati the Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures were supported by 44 LED fixtures used to wash three prominent city landmarks: the AMP building, the Four Seasons Hotel and the Marriott Hotel. While the LEDs provide a general wash of colour, the Alpha 1500 fixtures provide texture and movement. Each of the 12 Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures was housed in a custom-made Perspex housing, designed and constructed by 32 Hundred Lighting.
Iain is delighted to report that there have been absolutely no problems with the Alpha Profile 1500 fixtures and that they have added an extra dynamic element to the lighting display.
"I have been blown away by their optics," he added. "You can light a twenty-storey skyscraper with just four of them."

www.claypaky.it

2nd August 2011

Sydney Opera House Chooses d&b for Drama Theatre

Replacing old systems and improving capability through employment of new technology is all very well, but when the venue in question is a victim of its own success other considerations take precedence. "I’ve been doing this job for about a year," said Jeremy Christian, head of sound and AV services at the Sydney Opera House (SOH) and responsible for the Drama Theatre's recent refit. "And I know d&b audiotechnik had a system design in the pending tray for about a year before that. Having waited that long, when two weeks of dark time unexpectedly surfaced in May we had the opportunity to access funding, and get the equipment in and fitted."

The Drama Theatre is used mainly for spoken word, dance and musicals, with some concerts and occasional talks. A proscenium venue, it seats five hundred and forty four people on one level, "for spoken word the acoustic works well unsupported by amplification" said Christian. "The main use for the new PA in the Drama Theatre is sound effects and light amplification; although for music, the room handles high SPLs with no loss of control."

What drove the desire to replace the old system embraced two imperatives, as Cameron O'Neil the SOH head of technical support added. "We wanted to expand the number of output feeds to the PA; designs in the Drama Theatre can require upwards of thirty mixes. After a great deal of research we settled on the Nexus router from Stagetec to perform the level of control and reliability required." The other factor was loudspeakers and their placement; the Drama Theatre being so compact offers few easy locations without blocking sightlines; d&b's Australian Distributor National Audio Systems (NAS) called in Ralf Zuleeg, head of d&b audiotechnik's Application Support team when the project was first mooted back in 2009.

"We ended up following Ralf's initial design in most areas," said O'Neil. "There are now twenty-two cabinets in the standard FOH rig, Q10s left/right with E12s for the orchestra fill and delay, whilst E8 loudspeakers deal with the surround. There are also J-INFRA subwoofers for low frequency reinforcement. Everything is individually amplified; we use the d&b R1 Remote control software for d&b's amplifiers to calibrate all of the loudspeakers for time alignment, room EQ and gain.

"That means we can use the Nexus for the matrix and bussing controls, and it is now a relatively simple matter to link in a lot of channels to the Recording Studio when needed. We've also included a couple of Nexus XDSP cards to allow us to have EQ, delays and mixing within the router."

The installation work was designed by the Sydney Opera House in-house technical team. "That was one of our great wins," said O’Neil. "The consultation, the DSP design, and the project management was all by the Opera House, then tendered to an integrator, as opposed to contracting everything out. NAS responded quickly with the equipment when the window of opportunity presented itself, and were very forgiving of our changes to the order."

Christian confirmed the benefits of this approach. "The money saved doing so much in house allowed us to budget for a portable stage system that augments concerts. The earlier Concert Hall installation and the amount of work that went into choosing that system meant we were committed to consistency across all our venues. That was a big influence in choosing d&b, but there was also its proven reliability, and everybody loves using the d&b products. This system should be able to service all our needs for performances in the space for years to come."

28th July 2011

Adelaide Convention Centre Chooses Flex Array

The Adelaide Convention Centre (ACC) is one of the busiest in Australia with a wide range of events from trade shows to corporate dinners to product launches. The ACC recently added to its audio inventory with the addition of 18 Turbosound Flex Array TFA-600HDP self-powered cabinets.

The system is rigged as two hangs of nine elements for large events but can be easily split into smaller systems as required. Each Flex Array element consists of dual horn-loaded 10” drivers, a 6.5” Polyhorn loaded mid-range driver, a Dendritic loaded 1” and dual 800w power amplifiers with DSP.

Eight Turbosound NuQ-8DP (8”/1”) self-powered cabinets were also purchased as front fill and general purpose speakers. Both the Flex Array and NuQ self-powered speakers include network functionality allowing the team full laptop control (gain, delay, EQ and monitoring) of every cabinet in the system, both individually and as user-created groups.

Kevin Farrant is the production supervisor at the ACC and finds the system a pleasure to work with. From the prediction software to the rigging to the control software, Kevin and the team are delighted with the purchase and hope to acquire more Flex Array in the near future. The system was supplied by AJ Sound.

 

15th July 2011

Mitsubishi Electric Installs 6-metre Diameter OLED Globe at Science Museum in Tokyo

Mitsubishi Electric has installed a six-metre diameter organic light-emitting display (OLED) globe at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, Japan. The OLED "Geo-Cosmos" display will be unveiled at the museum as the world's first large-scale spherical OLED screen on June 11.

Hanging 18 metres from the floor, the globe is an aluminium sphere covered with 10,362 OLED panels, each measuring 96 x 96 millimetres. Mitsubishi Electric used its scalable OLED technologies to create the globe, which replaces a previous globe comprised of light emitting diodes (LEDs), to commemorate the museum's 10th anniversary. The globe will display scenes of clouds and other visions of the earth taken from a meteorological satellite. The display delivers a resolution of more than 10 million pixels, about 10 times greater than that of the LED display.

In addition to Mitsubishi Electric, which created the OLED system, three other companies helped to make the OLED Geo-Cosmos display: Dentsu Inc. undertook project planning, Go and Partners, Inc. developed the image-processing and transmission system, and GK Tech Inc. created the spheroid design.

Mitsubishi Electric's Diamond Vision OLED system is the world's only scalable OLED display technology, affording the company a unique market position in the supply of non-linear display applications worldwide.

2nd June 2011

Alcons Is ‘The Bomb’ In Canberra

With a previous installation at the Riverside Theatre, Sydney, a second Australian theatre has now embraced the remarkable audio qualities of Alcons loudspeakers. The Playhouse is a 618 seat venue in the Canberra Theatre Centre. A three-level theatre with proscenium arch, it is used for a wide variety of productions.

Alcons was specified for the job by one of Australia’s leading theatre sound design companies, Notsui Consulting.

“A test system was then taken to Canberra to give the head of audio a listen, and we were awarded the contract straight away,” says David Betterridge of system installers Loud And Clear.

For this installation eight LR14 are flown as a centre cluster, with three LR14B flown above. Two pairs of VR12 and VR12M per side provide balcony and stalls sidefill, with two BF302 providing a full-bodied sub-bass. The system is powered by seven ALC2 and one ALC4 amplifiers with SDP speaker drive processor cards.

“I have to say that both installations were very straightforward,” David continues. “They are the sort of rooms that the Alcons LR series boxes were made for, they just shine as soon as you plug them in.”

“Both installations had tight budgets, but we were able to install systems that would deliver exactly what was required, with audio quality that has surprised even the most experience-hardened sound engineers!

“Given how remarkably flat and uncoloured Alcons equipment sounds out of the box, we only had to make minor adjustments for room response. All the reports we’ve had since installing the systems are very strongly positive.”

www.alconsaudio.com

14th April 2011

Heath Ledger Theatre

New home of the Black Swan and Perth Theatre companies, and located inside the $100 million State Theatre Centre, the Heath Ledger Theatre is a 575-seat, multi-purpose venue for music, dance, and theatre.

The need for a new theatre was established around two decades ago and the Centre has been a long time coming - the result is an elegant new city landmark at the heart of the Performing Arts Precinct in the Perth Cultural Centre. At the heart of the Centre itself is the deep-toned, gold-and-timber sanctuary of the Heath Ledger Theatre, an inspiring tribute to its namesake and a beautiful space in which to perform.

The state-of-the-art $100 million Centre opened earlier this year to speeches from the West Australian Governor and Premier, as well as Nyoongar elders and leading Australian actors. In addition to the Heath Ledger Theatre, the Centre also houses a flexible, 230-seat underground studio, a selection of rehearsal rooms and The Courtyard - an al fresco performance space. An advisory panel of around 70 specialists were involved in the design and build of the Centre, resulting in a construction that stacks the theatre and studio in order to create surrounding space for The Courtyard.

Stage Technologies was contracted by Jands to provide control for the 58-axis power flying system. The solution comprised high-power Maxis SI control cabinets, two portable Nomad desks and one Solo hand-held controller all with Chameleon technology, along with a wall-mounted Preset Station. The first shows to use the new cutting-edge control system took place during the Perth International Arts Festival in February and the theatre's head flyman, Boyd Midgley, was the first to try out the new automation system. “The Nomad has an amazing interface and Chameleon is a great platform for making shows clean cut,” he says. “The ability to move multiple bars safely and effectively is a great attribute and the result is a flyman's dream, as the movements are perfect every time. This technology enables our shows to contribute to a really versatile programme within the State Theatre Centre.”

The combination of the portable Nomad 'laptop' style desk with complementary hand-held Solos has proven enormously successful in venues such as London's Royal Opera House and Royal Festival Hall, and KÀ by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas. The range of vision provided by this particular desk combination offers best line of sight for operators, making automation management easier and more efficient. Nomads have been used in performances in over a dozen countries across the world, not including their popular use in cruise ship automation systems and in countless rental shows, and they are also used for stage control at the Melbourne Theatre Company’s Sumner Theatre and the Sydney Theatre in Walsh Bay.

In picrture: Heath Ledger Theatre interior and the ‘bronze box’ above the main staircase. Photo: Kerry Hill Architects.

www.stagetech.com

24th March 2011

Hillsong Church, Sydney, Glories in PLM Power from Lab.gruppen

Hillsong Church has selected Lab.gruppen’s PLM Series Powered Loudspeaker Management System for its flagship Baulkham Hills campus in Sydney, Australia. The PLMs power the church’s new speaker system and make full use of the Lab’s integrated Lake processing and monitoring features.

Steve LeRoux and Jad Gilles head the Hillsong audio team and are delighted to be using PLMs. Steve commented: “We purchased our first Lab.gruppen amplifiers a few years ago and they have been rock-solid. We’ve also been using Lake processors for many years, so the combination of Lake processing built into a Lab amp made choosing the PLMs an easy decision.”

A total of 24 PLM systems were supplied comprising 20 PLM10000Q (4 x 2300w) and four PLM20000Q (4 x 5000w). Two FP10000Qs (4 x 2100w) were also purchased to drive the stage monitor speakers.

Hillsong is using a unique feature of the PLMs called LoadSmart. A verification function in the software activates a three-second complete system test, alerting the operator to any driver failures or cable problems. Fingerprint data (load characteristics) for each speaker model, plus cable data, is loaded into the PLM file and compared with test results during the verification process. The “one-click” test can be performed before and after an event giving operators the peace of mind that all drivers are within spec. In addition, the software provides real-time performance monitoring which will alert the operator to any load problems whilst the system is in use.

The Lab.gruppen PLM systems feature AES and analogue inputs as well as Dante (audio over a network). The PLMs at Hillsong are used with a Lake processor as a front end system controller. The Lake device receives AES audio from the mixing console and converts it to Dante, which is distributed to the PLM racks over fibre. The PLMs are set with Dante as the priority input, followed by AES as the secondary, and analogue audio as the third level of input redundancy. Should Dante and AES fail, analogue audio will seamlessly take over.

In terms of performance, Steve added: “We know that the Labs sound good and this was proven when we replaced the stage monitor amplifiers with the FP10000Qs. We just did a straight amplifier swap yet every musician and presenter could instantly hear the improvement and thought they were hearing a new monitor system. And it’s the same with the FOH system – you simply can’t beat the performance of Labs.”

Supplied and installed by Brad Law and his team from Cuepoint, four racks of PLMs are located on the catwalk with full control and monitoring available via a laptop anywhere in the venue. Cuepoint engaged Ricki Cook to create and configure the large Lake/PLM file. Brad commented: “The Lake/PLM software makes controlling this complex system quite simple. Of particular note is the grouping feature that allows us to have all key information on the one screen. Having extensive DSP available in every amplifier enabled us to easily cater for the different modes of operation in the church. On a project such as this you want to know that the signal distribution and amplification network are both solid and sonically true. This project has gone very smoothly and the results are indeed what we all had hoped for. We look forward to using PLMs again on future projects.”

In picture: Brad Law, Ricki Cook and Steve LeRoux with one of the PLM Racks.

21st March 2011

Elevate Church Picks K.M.E. PANO System for Heavenly Sound

Professional Audio Technology Pty Ltd (PAT) has delivered the first K.M.E. PANO line array public address system in Australia to the Elevate Church in Wendouree, Victoria. Various PA manufacturers were compared based on sound quality, manufacturing quality and price-performance ratio by Elevate Church with K.M.E. coming out on top.

Elevate Church prides itself on its musical performances and audio visual displays during services and it was vital to cater to the high quality audio demands on and off the stage. The church, which can hold up to 300 worshipers during a service, was equipped with Line Array subs QLB118, Line Source Units QL1215 PANO and Versio VL12 as monitors. The digital controller amplifiers DA 428 with extensive DSP functionality drive the entire system.

Professional Audio Technology’s Technology director Tony Fitzsimmons was at the venue during the first soundcheck with the new K.M.E. system: "We are extremely satisfied with the performance and clarity of the new system and, what is equally important, the client is very happy with their buying decision. We recommended the PANO system to Elevate Church because they wanted to have a solution which would not only satisfy the sound quality requirements, but is also small in size with enough SPL to provide the sound engineer with enough headroom during the service.

The K.M.E. Preset Editor Software & Wizard delivered a good suppport during the setup of the digital amplifiers. PAT recommended a line array system as it is a future proofed solution providing the highest quality sound and an even sound dispersion. Before making the recommendation to Elevate, PAT met with the client, discussed their needs, analysed the acoustic characteristics of the room and took into account what the system would be used for.

Currently still run in ground stack mode, the system will be flown in the near future to reduce the visual impact on the stage.

When asked about the new K.M.E. system and the assistance by Professional Audio Technology, Elevate’s Pastor Scott Fellows commented: "We are extremely happy with the K.M.E. product and the customer service provided by Professional Audio Technology. The sound quality and the build quality are exceptional."

16th February 2011

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