production news

Billy Elliot on US tour with ETC Eos

Billy Elliot, the musical that has become a runaway success in London, Sydney and New York, is set to go worldwide this year, with shows in Korea and Chicago already agreed. By the end of 2010 there will also be a touring production moving to a different US city every three or four weeks.

Until now, productions have always included set pieces which revolve and emerge through trap doors, requiring extensive digging through the floor of theatres, which will not be possible on tour, so the set has been suitably modified. Lighting designer Rick Fisher also took the opportunity to consolidate some of the lighting on the show. He explains: "We needed to be able to keep the get in and get out times as short as possible, so that the first performance in a new venue could be within the week of moving.

"We've packaged the lighting to stay on the trusses as far as possible, while preserving the useful mix of equipment in the show, keeping the look as theatrical as it is at the moment. Even after some consolidation, we still have some 50 ETC Source Four Revolutions among the total of 120 moving lights - there are now as many movers as conventionals.

"Each time we do a new show, I look at where the lights are and see if we can remove some or replace them with different types of lighting - so, for example, last time I looked at the rig and realised that some fixtures had just two or three focus positions while others rarely moved. This meant I could reduce the number of movers by 10-15% for the Chicago show."

For the new shows, Fisher has also decided to move the show onto a new control desk: an ETC Eos. "It was a hard decision to make," he explains, "but we were thinking of the future. The show might be running for another five or 10 years and we wanted to have a future proofed control system. Eos seemed to be a good choice, especially since we'll be spending a lot of time in the US where ETC is a key player in the lighting control market."

Eos continues to make strong inroads into the theatrical market across the world, alongside its smaller siblings Ion and Element. The latter is ETC's newest control desk, aimed at smaller theatrical venues and schools that depend on single desk operators or volunteer staff. It is designed to handle rigs kitted out predominantly with conventional luminaires, while also accommodating some LED fixtures and/or a small number of simple moving lights.

In picture: an ETC Eos control desk will be used for the new touring production of Billy Elliot

www.etcconnect.com

Maxxyz PC and MaxModule Control of Choice for David Crowder Band Tour

Electronic rock and worship group David Crowder Band from Waco, Texas recently completed their ‘Church Music Tour' beneath a Martin rig with a Maxxyz PC/MaxModule control setup.

"I have always been very interested in the Maxxyz consoles and had some hands on with the full size Maxxyz a few years back at Daystar television network. I loved how the console programmed and ran," stated Cory Fournier of Dallas, Texas, who at only 19 was hired as the tour's lighting director and also handled programming and lighting op duties on the tour.

Fournier LDed for the band during the summer of 2009 and came across many of the industry's top lighting consoles on that tour including Martin's Maxxyz Compact.

"I used them all and they did the job just fine but the Maxxyz stood out the most," he said. "We had been planning for the fall tour and I decided to use it on that. I just loved how the software operated, how reliable it felt and the layout of the console."

Requiring a lighting rig that would take up very little space, Fournier's first thought was to use a PC-based console rather than a lighting desk and decided on the Maxxyz PC with MaxModule Playback module. MaxModule Playback extends the playback capabilities of Maxxyz by adding 10 motorized faders with 15 LCD buttons and a master Go section. Adding MaxModules as wings allows user to customize their console and is a cheaper alternative to purchasing a conventional desk.

"I love the Maxxyz," Fournier says. "It's so easy to use yet so powerful! On all the freelance shows I do now I request the Maxxyz PC or a Maxxyz console."

Production Manager is Rob Albert.

photo: Chris Pyron

Martin Visuals a Dynamic Draw at Florida's BankAtlantic Center

The BankAtlantic Center (BAC) in Sunrise, Florida is using dynamic visuals from Martin Professional to enhance the fan experience and expand the venue's marketing platform with the added benefits of attracting larger crowds and ultimately greater revenue.

BAC is a state-of-the-art, 20,000 seat capacity arena that is home to the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League, as well as the Lingerie Football League's Miami Caliente. The venue also hosts a number of exciting events every year.

The expanding cost of stadiums and arenas necessitates keeping the seats full by maximizing the marketability of a venue. But with other high profile teams like the Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins, Miami Heat and several top college teams in the region, not to mention great weather and endless beaches, BAC has a lot of competition for the entertainment dollar.

"Martin solutions give us digital applications that are both innovative and unique," states Pedro Goncalves, Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at BankAtlantic Center. "The Martin lighting package gives us flexibility in game presentation and in the way we activate our sponsorship packages and marketing campaigns."

Dynamic visuals are increasingly being incorporated into modern stadiums and arenas in order to create more enjoyable, engaging and memorable entertainment experiences. Dynamic visuals are also an effective way to maximize the marketability of a venue by increasing corporate brand recognition and highlighting sponsors.

"The Martin package gives us two main applications," Goncalves outlines. "First, our game presentation and fan engagement is exponentially increased through additional energy and a more accommodating environment.

"Second, it's a new component that allows us to maintain creativity in our partnerships and opens up new revenue streams. Any time you show a potential partner how they can directly attract a consumer you are going to make an impression. From a sponsorship standpoint, we can be more creative and introduce new assets to our marketing partners that are more engaging than a static sign. It enables us to underscore dynamic marketing messages and gives us versatility when projecting sponsor or vendor logos."

Used in a variety of ways and purposes, the dynamic visual solutions from Martin are incorporated in and outside the arena bowl. Automated moving head luminaires are used to sweep the ice in design patterns for player introductions and more sweeps are triggered when a goal is scored; lights are used for audience ballyhoos and audience color washes; and certain areas of the arena, such as the cheerleader platform, are spotlighted in light, color or pattern. Martin video panels are used for messaging or crowd prompts (get on your feet! make some noise!) and are used to project sponsor or vendor logos (merchandise item of the game for example.)

The Panthers' cheerleading squad, a dance team sponsored by restaurant group BOVA, performs on a special dance platform during play as well as on the ice during intermissions. Whereas previously the squad was only spotlighted, now they perform in front of a video panel background, with Martin LED lights and strobes providing decorative and energetic front light. Supportive graphical looks and sponsorship logos, including the BOVA logo, are projected when the cheerleaders perform on the ice.

As the Panther cheerleading team has just come out with their own calendar, which necessitates a number of offsite promotional events, the video panels' light weight, and ease of assembly (and disassembly) allow them to be taken along as scenic support.

An energetic pregame sequence of visual effects includes effects from a Martin laser, which also provides support for an important marketing campaign, Rock the Rink, used during player intros and an opening video. Also used during player intros and when a goal is scored are powerful bursts of atmospheric fog courtesy of a Jem Hydra smoke system located at the base of the mid-arena scoreboard. Additional lighting sweeps add to the spirited atmosphere.

"I like to consider us the seventh man in the stands," says Dennis Docil, Director of Game Presentation at BAC. "Without the visuals and the visual prompts the atmosphere wouldn't be as effective. Our belief is if someone has a good time they will return. The Martin package allows us to create a great ambiance and support the excitement in the building."

In the concourse area, soon to be installed Martin projectors will be used for sponsorship and vendor messaging. The solution provides greater versatility in messaging than static sign projection as each projector has interchangeable rotating graphics with interchangeable color filters.

Outside the arena, Martin visuals are used to promote events and partners or for specific messaging and impression. At the entrance, exterior solutions project the Panther logo onto the arena facade while the JetBlue logo, a new sponsor, is splayed across the tarmac, an unavoidable graphic as fans enter and exit. Color illumination is used in the outdoor plaza to create excitement, set the mood and brand the arena in team colors.

"We can customize the color to whatever the logo color is or change the mood for the holidays," Docil states. "It allows us to be much more visually impactful."

The Martin dynamic visual package matches well the ‘youthful, confident and dynamic' character of the Florida Panthers and projects an attractive and effective civic image for the venue.

Goncalves adds, "From the moment you park your car until you get to your seat we want you to be entertained - the Martin package lets us do that. It gives us the ability to communicate with our fans on a different level.

"Utilizing this technology gives people the feeling that, ‘hey, this is an exciting evening, there's something cool going on'. It gives them value and enhances what we're trying to do."

L-Acoustics Kiva System Sounds Off On ABC's The View

The View, ABC Daytime's Emmy award-winning talk show featuring Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd, kicked off its current season with a brand new set design and complete overhaul of its studio audience sound reinforcement system.

For the project, sound designer Dan Gerhard specified a full L-Acoustics rental package comprising 26 Kiva enclosures split among seven arrays collectively processed and powered by four LA4 amplified controllers. Gerhard worked closely with both Bob Rendon and Matt Bell of PRG Audio's Mount Vernon crew, which supplied, installed and commissioned the new system in TV Studio 24 at ABC Television Center East in Manhattan.

The network additionally chose to purchase six L-Acoustics 112XT coaxial enclosures, plus several more LA4 amplifiers, as a permanent monitor package for The View's guest musician performance area.

Unlike most other talk shows that feature a single host and guest, The View features five hosts plus guests seated in close proximity to the audience, creating a somewhat challenging acoustical environment. However, according to Jeffrey Rothfus, engineering manager, ABC Daytime, "The tight pattern of our flown Kiva arrays allowed the sound designers to raise the sound level delivered to the audience without increasing bleed-through to the talent microphones."

According to Matt Bell, who served as the project manager for the installation: "From the front row seats on the main floor all the way to the back of the grandstands, the Kiva hangs have dramatically improved both intelligibility and coverage throughout the room. The new loudspeaker arrangement also allowed us to reduce the number of zones from more than ten down to seven, which has simplified mixing and generally made everything more coherent."

Bell adds: "Out of all of the line array products I've worked with, I have to add that Kiva is by far the easiest one I've ever hung - and not just because it's one of the smallest boxes on the market. L-Acoustics really did a fantastic job in designing its integral rigging system. It's remarkably simple to use."

Green Hippo Premieres Hippotizer VideoMapper at Super Bowl XLIV

At The Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show, legendary rock band The Who performed on a custom video deck incorporating over 3,000 Barco MiSTRIPs. In spite of the complex non-linear arrangement of the MiSTRIPs, the Who's trademark arrows were perfectly straight and the lettering and images displayed on the circular deck were all perfectly proportioned. How was this done?

The unique video layout was made possible by a new component of the Green Hippo Hippotizer HD media server, called VideoMapper. Similar to Hippotizer's PixelMapper for DMX fixtures, VideoMapper provides a simple solution for the mapping of multiple LED video displays, tiles or strips, taking into account their physical arrangement and the physical spaces between them. VideoMapper supports resolutions up to 8192 x 8192 and frees the designer from the constraints of modern video processor hardware, allowing complete artistic freedom with even the most complex system.

With designer demand for video/lighting convergence increasing, creative LED surfaces, driven by video-capable devices such as the Hippotizer media server, are becoming more and more popular. But typically the video processor of the creative surface products is limited to simple horizontal/vertical placement of fixtures and does not allow for their random positioning, or physical spaces between them.

Hippotizer's new VideoMapper solves this problem by grouping pixels and sending them to designated parts of the output raster. Any pixel can be sent to any x and y position in the raster, separating the output of the server from the real world placement of the surfaces. This allows creative LED display components to be configured in any arrangement, with or without spaces, at any angle and in any configuration.

Another very useful feature of VideoMapper is its ability to color-balance each output device or fixture separately. This allows perfect color matching across a collection of different devices, or compensation for minor inconsistencies between different units of any one product. No more checkerboard screens!

In short, using normally rendered content, any video display product - LED panel, strip, tube or other device - can be angled, scaled, and placed anywhere within a virtual canvas, and have its source image supplied from any part of any existing video feed.

VideoMapper as used at the Super Bowl was a Beta version that will be incorporated into an upcoming Hippotizer software release. Ongoing software releases are available free of charge to all Hippotizer V3 owners.

Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show's Creative Producer was Lee Lodge. Media Server Programming and Mapping was by Jason Rudolph, with technical support from Matt Waters. The 40-piece video deck was built by BNR Scenery, with 109 critical connections just for video. The MiSTRIPs were provided by XL Video, as was the UVA d3 Show Production Suite used for the show's media development process. The show's content delivery system, comprised of Hippotizer HD media servers, was provided by VER.

Green Hippo Hippotizer media servers are exclusively distributed in North America and Asia by TMB. Find out more about Hippotizer at www.tmb.com/products/Hippotizer/

Barco and Digital Stage Paint Las Vegas with Light

Digital and automated lighting pioneer Barco announced today that 30 Barco/High End Systems DL.3 Digital Lights were used to create a seamless, 600 foot circular blend of graphics - the first time a collage of this scale has ever been staged. Sponsored by a major pharmaceutical company, the remarkable corporate product launch was held in January at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada - a facility large enough to accommodate the over 3000 sales representatives and executives in attendance.
For production and staging services, the client enlisted the help of New York City-based Todd Street Productions, who in turn reached out to Joe West, Senior Creative and Lighting Director for Digital Stage Chicago. West's challenge was not only to create a seamless ultra large-scale 600 x 20 foot circular blend, but to create a design that could transform into two other completely different sets over the course of the conference - and all within the client's budget.
To accomplish the blend, West selected the Barco DL.3, the fixture he'd been using successfully since the product's introduction, yet not to this scale of implementation. West's choice was based in large part upon the DL.3's high output light engine, on-board media server, and unique Collage GeneratorTM - a feature that enables multiple DL.3s to create seamless horizontal and vertical panoramic projections, and to control them synchronously from a lighting console. "The output of the device is phenomenal," said West, "and for the amount of lumens it pushes, we decided that it was the absolute right product to paint this event. The other major reason is the DL.3's ability to instantaneously change its position and 'collaging' on the fly. You simply can't do that with static projectors, and run all the cues in synch from the lighting board."
In addition to the 30 DL.3 Digital Lights used to create the seamless ring, the team also used four DL.3 units for additional stage effects, ten DL.2 Digital Lights that functioned as remote screens outside the ring, a Wholehog lighting console, and an Axon Media Server as the central content archive. "For years, we had the separate video world and the lighting world," continued West, "but now, the lines are blurred, and we're painting with graphics, video and light."
Adam Dunaway, Associate Lighting Designer for Digital Stage Chicago, has worked with Joe West for over ten years, and has witnessed firsthand how High End Systems' gear has changed the industry. "When the DL.2 was first released, we realized how much it would challenge our creativity," explained Dunaway, "so much, in fact, that we saw the need to re-imagine our design studio. And once the DL.3 was released, we found we could take things even further. Now, the DLs and Axon media servers are on practically every show we do, and they've become an integral part of our creative arsenal."
"We're just delighted that Todd Street Productions, Digital Stage Chicago and Joe West selected the DL.3 for this major corporate event," said Chris Colpaert, VP of Creative Lighting for Barco. "Not only is it the largest number of DL.3s ever assembled to create a synchronous blend of this size, but Joe's vision truly pushes the boundaries of our creative lighting tools, way beyond the spec sheet."
"My job as a lighting designer is to explore my art on every angle," noted West, "and if technology is a new part of that, I should explore it. My gift is the ability to visualize and create, and to find the necessary tools with which to do it, and we've never had a tool as powerful as a DL.3

Flex Array goes into Warpdrive

Winter Warpdrive is rightly considered to be a Midwest electronic music phenomenon. Describing one night every year in which more than a thousand partygoers come together to celebrate music, entertainment, and production at its finest, Winter Warpdrive books some of the most talented innovative fresh musicians and artists available, and puts on a unique production that many say is matched by no other. This year's highly anticipated event at the Roberts Orpheum Theater in St. Louis, MO marked one of the first major outings for Spectra Audio Systems' newly acquired self-powered Flex Array rig.

Spectra Audio Systems is a St. Louis based event production company specializing in over-the-top electronic music events, formed in 1994 by partners Timothy Kresko and Casey Hunter to provide sound systems for local area bands. Over the years they have expanded their inventory, and have continually worked to provide its growing client base - which has in the past included such notable names as Disney, ESPN X Games, and World Changers Ministries, as well as theater companies and major label artists - with the most up-to-date audio technology.

Partner Tim Kresko explains the thinking behind the company's decision to invest in a Turbosound Flex Array system: "The cost of the system was what sparked our initial interest - it seemed very fairly priced considering its lineage. Of course price alone could never be a deal maker," he says, "and the choice was sealed by the opinions of the engineers and promoters who were invited to the demo at The Pageant, a 2,500 seat room in St Louis. They all gave Flex Array a big thumbs up."

Promoter PanOptic Productions achieved a record 1,700 ticket sales for the sold-out Winter Warpdrive event on February 6th at the historic Roberts Orpheum Theater, with headlining attractions Eddie Halliwell, Bluetech and Mimosa, as well as local favourites Ready, Andy B and Cypher, mixing up traditional dance flavors with downtempo and livetronica.

Putting up Spectra's entire Turbosound rig for the first time in anger, systems techs Josh Limpert and Arthur Basil Shaw configured the Flex Array PA each side of the stage with nine deep flown TFA-600HDP tops, and a single stack of five TSW-218DP double 18" folded horn subs on the floor with a further sub for in-fill. System control was provided via BVNet by XTA processors.

According to Kresko, the 75° horizontal dispersion from the mid/highs avoided exciting the sides of the venue, enhancing overall intelligibility and helping to maintain a clear, well defined stereo image. "The system really tamed this notoriously live space," he adds.

The sound quality drew well-deserved praise from partygoers and artists alike, with a body of opinion voicing that the Winter Warpdrive production even rivals the better-known Winter Music Conference in Miami. At previous events Spectra's Turbosound rig has also earned unsolicited compliments from top-flight producers such as Ritchie Hawtin, Above and Beyond, The Glitch Mob, and Beats Antique. "These guys really are amongst the most demanding," emphasizes Kresko. "For them to give us and the Turbosound rig such kudos makes us feel good about our decision to purchase Flex Array. I overheard one of the Above and Beyond crew raving about the sound, then approach the stacks to read the logo: ‘Ah... Turbosound. Brilliant!'

"We chose Flex Array mainly for stealth," he explains. "It's very convenient - no matter what the required configuration is, it's throw and go. The boxes sound fantastic and have plenty of gas. All the clients, artists, and guest engineers have raved about the quality of this rig, and they include everyone from national and international bands to hip hop artists, DJs, and talking heads. So my question is: ‘why not?' This Turbosound system has upped our standing in our market, and we have absolutely no regrets with the self-powered choice. Our current clients are all happy to pay more to hire this rig, and it has opened previously closed doors for us."

Kresko feels that the Flex Array sounded more cohesive than other line array and point-source systems that he has previously used for Winter Warpdrive. "Usually, an hour or so of tuning is required to get this venue to sing," he says, "but this time it was GO straight out of the box - we didn't touch any EQ anywhere. It was too easy. I kept having the thought that the tight performance of the 10" drivers was a key factor. The rig is very musical in the mid-bass compared to other systems we've used that employ 15" drivers for that pass band, yet it still had enough punch to not leave you wanting, like some of the other so-called midsize line array systems can do. The 10s blended perfectly with the subs. You know you've got it right when you can close your eyes and not hear any one frequency band as an individual entity."

Festival promoter, stage manager extraordinaire, and audiophile Joe Grasso (who favors a certain brand of US-made PA) echoes Kresko's feeling that surely something needed to be done to improve the Winter Warpdrive performance: "I kept looking for something to complain about, and just couldn't find anything!"

PanOptic's Shawn Harvick was at the Pageant demo and had already heard Flex Array on a number of events in the St. Louis area, and thought it would be the perfect fix for Winter Warpdrive. "We had high expectations of the system but I have to say that Flex exceeded them by far," Harvick adds. "It was fantastically clear, and so pleasant to listen to even at the highest levels of the evening. Our thanks to Tim Kresko and Spectra Audio Systems, and we look forward to booking Flex Array again in the future."

Reinforcing his positive recent experiences with Flex Array, Kresko concludes: "This system has been a home run for us. It was obviously extremely well thought out, which cuts down our time and stress from load in to load out - and it really does live up to its name. There are so many possible configurations that no venue has been a challenge, no matter what the obstacle. We love it."

photo: Paul Addotta

RSC Lightlock Goes on the Road with Bon Jovi Circle Tour

For its touring debut in North America, the RSC Lightlock is on the road with Bon Jovi on the group's The Circle Tour. Lititz, PA based Tait Towers was the first production company to make use of the revolutionary motion dampening technology for two different portions of the production. Being used in its traditional role, two RSC Lightlocks working in tandem are providing the needed stability on each of the tour's Syncrolite MX4 fixtures. Suspended from custom point lifts designed and manufactured by Tait Towers, the lights are flown in and out throughout the show.

Once rehearsals began, an unusual application was discovered for this new technology. With moving video walls used throughout the show's set, the tour's production team found a need to stabilise the 12 video columns which move over the stage area. RSC Lightlocks attached to the bottom of the video units provide motion stabilisation, allowing the audience to clearly view the images on the screens.

With the decision to add the equipment coming just before rehearsals began, timing was critical. Thanks to many years experience working on tight deadlines, Total Structures was prepared for the challenge, having an extensive inventory of units on hand. This enabled the manufacturing, testing and shipment of 50 units in time for the start of the tour. This package represents the single largest use of RSC Lightlock technology to date in North America and kicks off what is sure to be the beginning of an incredible touring career.

tarm Showlaser at Winter Olympics

The organisers were bent on making the events and official ceremonies at the Vancouver Winter Olympics the best ever. They hired no less than Australian producer and director David Atkins, who put on the opening ceremony at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, to outdo himself at Vancouver.

Atkins then banked on the expertise of the same team of worldwide-active laser specialists from Bochum, Germany, who had made impressive contributions to the opening ceremonies at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2006 Paralympics in Turin to come up with some attention-getting laser sequences.

Preparations for the opening, victory, and closing ceremonies, which went on for 15 months, took place under the strictest secrecy. Following a reconnaissance visit to Vancouver and rehearsals conducted on a test set-up in the company's own facilities, tarm Showlaser's three-man team was ready to roll three weeks before the opening ceremony, which allowed them plenty of time to install their equipment on site, add the final touches to the programming, and conduct rehearsals before the deadline. A total of four tons of laser equipment was air freighted to Vancouver for the ceremonies.

tarm Showlaser's managing director, Ralf Lottig, stated: "It is a great honour to be selected to put on a laser show at the official Olympics ceremonies for the third time and this was surely this year's most sought-after laser-show job, worldwide."

In picture: technical director Ian Baldwin (right) and Ralf Lottig at the rehearsals in tarm Showlaser's Bochum studio; laser effects during the closing ceremonies at BC Place.

See Factor Provides Lighting for Yoko Ono's One-night Retrospective

When Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band presented a one-night career retrospective at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) on February 16, See Factor Industry, Inc., provided the lighting design and equipment to make the event spectacular.

Just two days before her 77th birthday, Ono's concert opened with a 15-minute film highlighting her lifetime achievements, after which she took the stage alone and sang her opening song, ‘It Happened', a capella. As she finished the song, a blackout drop flew out to reveal her band, featuring her son, Sean Lennon, and musicians Yuka Honda, Keigo Oyamada, Shimmy Hirotaka Shimizu, Yuko Araki, Michael Leonard, and Eric Friedlander. The energetic first half of the program was performed against a wall of visual elements, comprised of moving lights, Thomas 4-light moles, and 4 x 4 white Plexiglas panels. The white panels were arranged in a checkerboard pattern in front of the moles, allowing for a soft, back light glowing effect and non-abrasive blinder looks. See Factor also provided a High End Catalyst media server to create the video and textures projected on the front of the Plexi panels.

For the second act, as Ono introduced special guests and showcased songs in her catalogue, custom video content was projected on a 30' x 60' plastic cyclorama, as well as additional bright contrasting colors and textures behind the band. The kaleidoscope of special guests included high-profile stars Paul Simon, Bette Midler and original Plastic Ono Band member Eric Clapton, and other well-known musicians including the Scissor Sisters, Justin Bond, Gene Ween, Kim Gordon, Thurston Moore, Harper Simon, and original Plastic Ono Band members Klaus Voormann and Jim Keitner.

The original Plastic Ono Band from the 1969 Live Peace in Toronto concert reunited on stage for the first time in over 40 years to close the second act. Finally, all of the evening's performers joined onstage for a resounding finale of "Give Peace a Chance." A six-camera crew captured the event for a possible DVD release at a time to be announced.

See Factor's Alban Sardzinski provided the event's lighting design, using equipment including a grandMA full-size, 12 Robe 1200AT spots, six Martin MAC700 spots, 10 Studio Color 575s, 60k Altman PARs in Thomas truss, and 10 Thomas 4-light moles.

The event was produced by Jared Geller, David J. Foster, Sean Lennon and David Newgarden, with assistance from BAM productions staff members Josh Escajeda and Dylan Nachand. Kelly Martindale served as production manager, and Frank Hartenstein was the concert stage manager.

White Light In The West End - And Around The World

White Light has enjoyed a busy start to 2010 in the world of theatre, the market in which the company first established itself.

Joining the company's West End roster of shows in January were productions including Jerusalem, transferring from the Royal Court Theatre to the Apollo and lit by Mimi Jordan Sherin, The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick, lit by Jon Clark, and Six Degrees of Separation at the Old Vic, lit by Jason Taylor. The long-awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, is also currently previewing at the Adelphi with White Light supplying Paule Constable's complex design; the show is due to open on March 9th. December was also a busy period for new shows, with the openings of The Misanthrope at the Comedy, lit by Peter Mumford, and the RSC's Twelfth Night at the Duke of York's, lit by Tim Mitchell.

These new shows join the many others that have chosen White Light as their lighting supplier, these include the plays An Inspector Calls, lit by Rick Fisher, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, lit by Mark Henderson, The 39 Steps, lit by Ian Scott, War Horse, lit by Paule Constable, and The Woman in Black, lit by Kevin Sleep, and the musicals Billy Elliot, lit by Rick Fisher, Chicago (Ken Billington), Dirty Dancing (Tim Mitchell), Grease (Mark Henderson), Les Misérables (David Hersey), Peter Pan at the o2 (Mark Henderson) and Sister Act (Natasha Katz).

White Light's equipment can also be found on tours around the UK and, indeed, around the world, the company having continued its association with the current Eddie Izzard tour by supplying a large rig of EvenLED LED cyc lighting panels to the US leg of the show, supplying the lighting to a touring production of Grease in South Africa, and supplying the new touring production of Les Misérables, which opened in Cardiff before Christmas and which is now in Norwich .

White Light offers a full spectrum of lighting services - including lighting hire, sales, installation, service, training and more - not just to theatre, but to every area of the performing arts and entertainment industries, recent projects including everything from the European tour of Australian rock band Wolfmother to the new external lighting scheme at London's Natural History Museum.

www.whitelight.ltd.uk

DK Design Lights Jamie Foxx

Oscar winning actor Jamie Foxx recently completed his second arena tour with production designer Daunte Kenner. Foxx's charismatic show opened with a video montage celebrating his resumé followed by an eclectic mix of music and comedy.

The design focused on hiding production elements. Except for the set, every other metallic object was black. The lighting rig featured 18 Studio Beams, 15 Mac 2K washes, 12 VL 3K profiles, four ShowGuns and eight PixelLine 1044s. A 90' fibre optic curtain provided the backdrop alongside a FlexiFlex video wall.

Kenner explains: "Foxx wanted to recreate some of the same elements of the previous tour - as with the economy in its current state - he wanted to keep costs low in order to keep the ticket price low. So we gave him a similar design updated with the latest smart technologies that allowed us to slightly downsize our control crew - while still delivering a solid visual show."

The video system concept was created by Dunnaway Designs and the operator was Warren Flynn.

Adam Dunnaway says: "Because of budgetary limits, Kenner asked me to work out a video system idea where the media server would be used to display live camera feeds to the Flexi-Flex LED wall, one centre IMAG screen and two outboard projection screens either independently - or in unison. I was certain Flynn could handle the task of both video director and media server programming."

"The system featured a Green Hippo Stage SDI primary media server with a fully tracking switchable backup system. We used a Panasonic MX70 SDI switcher to route the static and roaming cameras into that Flynn would monitor and shade and balance from a compact multi-view monitoring system - also living beside the Chamsys Magic-Q lighting board. Flynn picked up the task quickly - communicating to the camera operators for camera shots he could then take to each of the separate display systems as live feed or mixed live video through the Hippo system."

Flynn enthuses: "It was my pleasure to be part of such an innovative design. The system made it very easy for me to program the media looks and custom video content through the Hippo media server and the Flexi-Flex. It was the first time I had used a Magic-Q console by Chamsys and found it to be dynamite in a small package. Creative Technology made the video side a breeze and once we were up and running it was a fun show to run and it looked good!"

FlexiFlex made its touring debut and provided an economical solution for the design. The mesh-like screen blends seamlessly with anything behind it - and makes an excellent video wall even with the medium resolution version.

The creative was a collaboration between designer Daunte Kenner and production manager Alan Thompson. The ‘dynamic duo' created a concept that encompassed Foxx's variety performance and allowed the adoring fans to interact. The versatile touring system allowed the show to play in both arenas and theatres - creating an intimate theatre environment perfect for Foxx's individuality.

The lighting was supplied by Performance Lighting and Mainlight - in control was an AVO Diamond 4. The video was supplied by Creative Technology and RGB Lites. Media servers by Dunaway Designs and the set constructed by Accurate Staging.

DK Production Design L.L.C. is a Chicago based performance environment design company that frequently features the designs of creative designer Daunte Kenner.

photo Daunte Kenner

Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Musical Alchemy Blossoms with DiGiCo

As one of the top-grossing tours in 2009, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra fuse elements of progressive rock, symphonic heavy metal, and classical music into a unique blend, and are known for their dazzling live performances, complete with full light show and synchronized pyrotechnics. In 2000, TSO created two separate touring groups-TSO East and TSO West-to allow the band to cover more ground, and they've maintained that format ever since. Last year, as the band was clearly maxing out their monitor board, the conversation got the ball rolling to implement DiGiCo SD7s for both touring outfits. They previously toured with D5's on monitors and the change to SD7s gave the production what they needed. It quickly became an integral part of TSO's live sound.
"I prompted the discussion early on last year for the SD7 primarily because the biggest handicap for us was the amount of outputs our show was using... we were running out of outputs," recalled monitor engineer Antonio Luna, who has toured with TSO East for over seven years, and previously with KISS and Aerosmith. "We needed a console that was flexible to our growing needs, especially for in-ear monitors. Because of our familiarity with the D5 at monitors with TSO, and my past experience with using DiGiCo on other tours, it was a no-brainer. Production, management and Clair Global were all on board and a part of the decision to get the SD7s. The quality of audio is outstanding, and it's an evolutionary step up from the D5. Now we have a platform that is able to expand as we expand, and DiGiCo is an important part of our sound."
The monitor rigs for East and West are somewhat identical. Both implement the SD7s and similar in-ear set-ups, although TSO West, under the production guidance of engineer Chris Hoffman, has more RF than East. For TSO East, Luna manages 60 inputs and 48 outputs-including 16 in-ear mixes, 9 outs for wedges/subs, myriad FX-for TSO's live production, (which includes electronic drum kit with mic'd cymbals), two guitarists, a bassist, two keyboard positions, a lead violinist, a narrator, a nine-piece choir, an eight-piece orchestra and six lead singers. His rig is comprised of 14 Sennheiser IEM G3 and 2 IEM G2 wireless monitor systems, 12 Crown Macro-Tech 36x12 amps, 16 Firehouse F15 monitors, four EV 118 subs and a Clair iO processor.

Once implemented, Luna found that the DiGiCo's biggest advantage was its workflow and ease of use in managing the hefty number of monitor mixes required by the band live. "When you've got 24 people on stage and 16 stereo in-ear mixes, you better be able to get stuff done quickly. I had my show programmed into 32 snapshots in a little under two days time for a two-and-a-half-hour show. I was amazed that it went that quickly. Affecting change is quick and easy on the SD7, and I rely on it heavily. It has a finished quality that is important in keeping my workflow quick and easy, and makes the artist happy."
Additionally, the overabundance of onboard features the SD7 offered was also a big advantage, and he cited the tube emulation among his favorite tools. "I love it! The saturation sounds good in the ears and really makes the vocals stick, if you know what I mean. It sounds great on everything. I'm even using it on the FX returns... Literally, I have it on everything. The dynamic compression has been a big thing for me as well. I love being able to affect a certain bandwidth instead of the whole source. It's really tightened things up on the IEM outputs. The 50 available Macros are a feature we have been using to turn on or off certain console functions like fader assigns channel or performing the save function on a macro key. The way the talkback section works is awesome for a monitor guy. Any console input can be injected into either solo bus, which makes communicating with the band while handling multiple IEM mixes a breeze."
Perhaps most critical to any touring engineer is the end-user support from a manufacturer for when the inevitable technical questions that arise. Luna says the few times he's had to reach out, DiGiCo's technical support was exemplary. "Our desk has been operating flawlessly, but whenever we've had a question about something in particular, DiGiCo was there. Their support for this tour has been stellar and they have a great team of guys. A big thanks to TSO Tour Director Elliot Saltzman, Clair Global's Todd Johnson, and Group One/DiGiCo's Matt Larson for making it all happen."

In picture: the SD7 at work in Pittsburg.

www.digico.org

Tyler Perry Returns to Stage as Madea with Meyer Sound MICA

On the Madea's Big Happy Family tour, fans of Tyler Perry's wildly successful TV shows and movies follow the comedian in his new play in theaters and arenas across the US. The musical tale reunites the audience with Perry's signature character Madea, a silver-haired, aggressive matriarch. TEC Award-winning Thunder Audio of Livonia, Mich. is providing a Meyer Sound MICA and M'elodie line array loudspeaker system for the tour.

A deviation from mainstream theater, Madea's Big Happy Family engages the crowd with spontaneous humor, and features musical interludes that find audiences singing along to well-known R&B and rock and roll hits. "I'm breaking the wall. I'm talking to the audience. It's theater. It's some of everything. It's concert," says Perry, according to www.tv.com.

For the arena shows that include the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC and the Target Center in Minneapolis, Thunder Audio is supplying 16 Meyer Sound MICA line array loudspeakers per side, in addition to side hangs of ten M'elodie line array loudspeakers each, four for frontfills, and six 700-HP subwoofers per side for bass power. In more intimate venues like Oakland, Calif.'s Paramount Theatre, 12 MICA loudspeakers per side were used as the main system. RMS? remote monitoring system delivers extensive status and system performance data directly to the operator from every loudspeaker. A Galileo loudspeaker management system provides signal processing, while a SIM 3 audio analyzer is used for system optimization.

A nine-year veteran on the Tyler Perry crew, FOH Engineer Mike Charbonneau is touring with a Meyer Sound system for the first time. Charbonneau reports that the system is powerful yet well controlled, allowing him to manage the frequent audience interactions, the nine-piece band and 13 actors on stage. "The Meyer system also has great separation between the left and right arrays, and has much higher fidelity than other systems I've used."

To ensure even seating area coverage, system tech Keith Jex of Thunder Audio takes advantage of the accurate predictions of the Meyer Sound MAPP Online Pro? acoustical prediction program. "MAPP is used for every show," says Jex. "We still walk around and use our ears and SIM, but the prediction is always very close to reality. This is important. You don't want the last row asking for their money back because they can't hear the show." The audio crew also includes Bruce Danz as monitor technician.

Perry's charisma garners an adoring reaction from the audience who cheers and laughs through the two-and-a-half-hour performance. "After Tyler's second DVD came out, the live shows were sold out in two weeks," says Charbonneau. "The word of mouth for his shows has been great. No two shows are the same or are like any others. "

Madea's Big Happy Family marks Perry's return to the stage for the first time in five years. His credits include theatrical productions Madea's Family Reunion and Madea Goes To Jail and TV shows "House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns."

Community Loudspeakers Announce the Olympics Loud and Clear

As all eyes have been focused on this year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver, many visitors to the Games were listening to the announcements, commentaries and entertainment through Community loudspeakers.

"As a premium provider of large scale, all-weather, voice communication and entertainment systems, we have had a long association with the Winter Olympics", commented John Wiggins, Community's Vice President of Business Development. "In Turin 2006, Community loudspeakers were installed in three of the major venues and this year Canadian contractors have installed many more with a longer term community benefit view being taken by venues; not just those hosting events but also by the numerous practice venues".

The Speed Skating Oval in Richmond, a suburb of Vancouver, is the first Olympic venue to use Community's compact ENTASYS three-way, full-range, weather-resistant column line-array loudspeaker system. The ENTASYS is used in various areas to support the Olympic portable system, in areas where wide coverage and tight vertical dispersion are needed for spectator coverage in difficult acoustic environments.

The Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports facility includes a hockey arena and various practice facilities. Here the installations include the Community R.5 full-range, all-weather systems for high intelligibility and well-controlled audience coverage.

One of the superb new venues of the 2010 Winter Games is The Trout Lake Ice Rink. Trout Lake is home of figure skating training sessions and after the Winter Games the rink will be used for Community recreation. This venue uses powerful Community iBOX iHP1596 two-way loudspeakers for full-range entertainment and high intelligibility speech, providing the rink with a true multi-purpose system.

The Vancouver Olympic Centre/Vancouver Paralympic Centre at Hillcrest Park is one of the signature venues of the 2010 Winter Games and the home of competition curling events. After 2010, the venue will be converted to a legacy community facility for the residents of Vancouver, boasting a new community centre, ice rink, curling club, library, preschool, field house and offices with a permanent system incorporating Community R1, Cloud6 and Cloud12 loudspeakers.

Another training rink is the Killarney Community Centre. Currently used for short track speed skating it will be converted after the Olympics for community recreation use. The installation at Killarny again uses powerful Community iBOX IHP1596 loudspeakers for multi-purpose use.

Other official Olympic sites to use Community loudspeakers are the Richmond O Zone and the West Vancouver Spirit Square Community Centre. For 17 days, the Richmond O Zone becomes an official celebration site of the 2010 Winter Games and a key destination for an authentic Olympic Games experience. Covering over 60 acres in the heart of Richmond City Centre the site will feature mammoth ice art, massive high-definition screens, outdoor ice skating, entertainment from the region and around the world, art, athletes, exhibits, food and fireworks. The Richmond O Zone sound systems were designed with Community R1, R.5 and R2 loudspeakers to provide the coverage, sound levels and excitement expected of an Olympic site of this stature. The West Vancouver Spirit Square also provides visitors a facility to watch the Games with a CTV Broadcast on big screens in a heated and covered Atrium, and an Olympic experience of events and entertainment. A combination of Community iBOX iHP1200 Series and Cloud12 loudspeakers provide the quality and level of audio for the enthusiastic Olympic fans.

Five ABB IRB 7600 Robots Take the Stage with Bon Jovi

The Bon Jovi concert experience has always been a marvel of sight and sound and ‘The Circle Tour' which opened February 19 in Seattle's Key Arena has taken this production innovation to a new level. A primary component of the visual intrigue of the show is five ABB IRB 7600 industrial robots positioned toward the back of the stage, each with a 6' x 9' LED video panel attached to their articulated arm. The robots and screens are integral to the concert production, moving to the rhythm and beat of the music while displaying real time video footage of the show and digital animations. At various intervals the five robot arms move into a formation where the LED panels become one continuous, five panel screen. The robots will accompany the nearly two-year long tour, which currently features approximately 60 concerts in North America and Europe, with additional dates likely to be scheduled. This will be the band's longest tour since the late 1980s.

The creative concept that brings the robots to life on stage is RoboScreen, a patented technology developed by inventor Andy Flessas, the founder and president of Robotic Arts of Las Vegas. Flessas' experience with robots began in the mid-1990s, and reached elite status in 2006 when he completed a robotic programming, design and operation certification program at the ABB training facility in Auburn Hills, MI. Along the way he developed the idea of mounting a graphic screen on a robotic arm to bring controlled movement to the visual media and create a unique viewer experience.

The intelligence that allows the robots to be precisely choreographed with the music and the onstage production is Robot Animator, a software program extension that enables 3D computer animation. The proprietary software developed by Flessas provides a separate interface to animate the movement of the ABB robots as if they were on-screen characters. Once the desired movement is established Robot Animator channels the code directly into ABB's IRC controller and the robots replicate the movement on stage.

"We were able to take the ABB robots out of the factory and turn them into rock stars mainly through the power of the IRC5 controller and its ability to accept the precise movement established in Robot Animator," said Flessas. "The programming we are doing for The Circle Tour could bring a totally new thought pattern to be used in advanced manufacturing applications in the future. This entertainment application may allow it to break through."

When Jon Bon Jovi and the tour directors were presented the RoboScreen idea they were initially attracted by the uniqueness of the concept and the physical presence of the IRB 7600 robot. They were sold when they saw the graceful, elegant choreography that could be achieved, and they learned of the vast number of installations and support network that ABB has around the world.

"Andy Flessas is a true visionary and we are excited about the unique application he has developed for ABB robots," said Joe Campbell, vice president of sales and marketing, ABB Robotics, North America. "This collaboration with Robotic Arts and Bon Jovi is certainly one of the most unique applications we have been involved with."

Each IRB 7600 robot is entrusted with a custom designed LED panel that weighs 700 lbs and is comprised of 24 individual sub-panels arranged in a six column by four row grid. The I-MAG or image magnification footage, approximately 85% of what will appear on the screens during the show, is fed by multiple cameras set up throughout the concert venue. The animations that fill the balance of the screen time are a combination of pre-programmed 3D graphics and fully rendered, real time computerized reactions to the beat of the music.

"Industrial robots being part of a major concert tour is unprecedented," said Flessas. "They provide a big show element to the performance and help present the complete entertainment experience that is synonymous with the Bon Jovi brand."

The design and integration of the rigging system that allows the five RoboScreens to fit seamlessly into the touring platform was done by Tait Towers, the world renowned tour production company headquartered in Lititz, PA.

The Circle Tour is the second major entertainment production that ABB robots have been involved with in the span of a year. In 2009 a series of ABB robots were extensively featured in the climactic scene of the ‘Terminator Salvation' movie starring Christian Bale.

Another Massive Tour for XL Video

XL Video continues its long term touring relationship with UK experimental music production phenomenon and trip hop collective Massive Attack, supplying customised Barco O-Lite screen modules and a d3 visual control system for the current tour.

The band kicked off 2010 with the release of their much anticipated fifth studio album, Heligoland and continued with their amazing and constantly evolving live show designed by United Visual Artists (UVA).

For many years, video - both text and image - content has played a major role in Massive Attack's shows, and in reinforcing the power, politics and emotion of their music and messages. They have always used the medium in off-beat and inventive ways that unapologetically engage their fans in cerebral and imaginative challenges.

XL Video's Des Fallon is the account handler, and also has a long history with the band and production manager Dave Lawrence. He says: "Massive Attack shows are always a real pleasure to work on - never predictable, always interesting, and forever pushing the psychological boundaries of what can be achieved with video in a highly focussed and intelligent fashion."

Massive Attack were one of the prime movers behind the development of UVA's highly versatile d3 PC-based media server and control system - of which XL was the first UK company to invest. It was 2003 when Massive Attack first went out with a show devised by UVA, and d3's first precursor, Mosquito, was developed to run the visuals. It used a pixel mapping system which was unique at the time.

The d3 on the current tour is programmed and operated by Icarus Wilson-Wright, who has worked with Massive Attack for several years, and is also a musician.

The d3 is far more than just a media server. It offers a complete 3D Visualising environment and runs on a timeline, stacking layers of looks and events vertically, making it very similar to video editing software in operation, therefore perfect for running timed events. It has many unique features, some of which have been modified to allow the Massive Attack show to run as needed. It's a "complex system that is capable of producing great simplicity," explains Wilson Wright, in particular referring to its ability to incorporate last minute changes to the show content.

This happens on a daily basis. Central to the show and to specific songs are updates to reflect location, language, international and local news headlines, etc.

There are three different modes of change regularly required to organically adapt the Massive show's video content.

The first is tweaking of the visuals for a new or different arrangement of a song. When this happens, Wilson-Wright will receive an MP3 file from FOH sound engineer Dave Bracey, drop it into the d3 library, associate it with the track and then "quantise" it - which effectively places the bars in order. From there, it can be edited to suit the new format.

The second is the updating of text to make it relevant to the location. Text continues to play a powerful and meaningful role in the structure of Massive Attack's live performance. The songs ‘Inertia Creeps' and ‘Safe from Harm' both involve up-to-the-minute text information related to the news and opinions of the day, which is also translated into different languages and alphabets. Once the text file is imported to the d3, the words can then be manipulated and arranged so the scrolling suits the rhythm and mood of the song.

This has potential for enormous reaction, especially when travelling in non-English speaking countries, where the news headlines and local stories appear onscreen in the local language. It allows the core elements of the show to have a full impact anywhere, and the flexibility of d3 also allows them to completed bi-lingual translations for regions where more than one language is spoken!

The third circumstance for which the new show needs to be integrated - often at the last moment - is when guest artists are invited to contribute - the band are very keen on this type of dynamic collaboration. Recently at a show in Paris, French guerrilla photographer/activist JR was invited to participate, and turned up in the late afternoon with RAW files of his most recent portraits. Wilson-Wright took them into the d3, converted to bitmapped files, animated them and then inserted them into the timeline for ‘Teardrop' - all in a seamless and straightforward exercise.

"Editing on the fly in this way is incredibly easy with the d3," he confirms.

d3 is also used to take control of some of the lights - designed and operated by Robin Haddow - for certain songs, merging both lighting and video cues. The d3 is timecode operated, using a programme change MIDI note to select the track and the BPM info to start and run it - received from an Akai MPC machine onstage.

Massive Attack's screen consists of 15 customised frames, specially engineered for touring by XL Video, all containing Barco O-Lite 510 LED blocks making a 15 metre wide by 3 metre high back wall. These bolt together very quickly to form the upstage surface. Lighting is also positioned behind this, to take advantage of the screen's transparency and to blast through it for additional high-power effects, either when it's on or off.

The O-Lite is controlled by 23 Barco controllers run in "custom" mode - for a very bright and highly flexible system which is processed by a D320 Lite DVI input card.

The Massive Attack tour has just finished in Mexico, then goes to Australia and New Zealand.

photos: Louise Stickland

www.xlvideo.tv

XL Video Part of Winning Team for the Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show

How do you design a 12-minute Halftime show for The Who, one of the most iconic rock bands in the world? You push the envelope on what's possible and exceed expectations by putting together a visual spectacle integrating LED video technology, lighting, pyro and lasers. To pull off The Bridgestone Super Bowl XLIV Halftime Show at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, described as the most intense 12-minutes in live entertainment, it takes a team effort and XL Video was proud to support the creative team by supplying gear and crew. Production designer Bruce Rodgers, screens/graphics producer Lee Lodge and lighting designer Al Gurdon closely collaborated on the NFL Network Production with Executive Producer Ricky Kirshner and Director Hamish Hamilton to present an unforgettable performance. "We wanted a design that felt epic, we wanted a design that felt like the band was performing for the stadium and not just the TV audience," explained Rodgers.

Of course achieving an epic spectacle means taking a tremendous risk, especially when it is a live performance in front of thousands in attendance and millions of TV viewers. Rodgers designed a field-wide circular stage with over 3,000 Barco MiSTRIPs. "I came up with this idea to put the band on what I refer to as Captain America's shield made out of video," described Rodgers. "The floor is made up of 26 radial sections that surround a main stage that is made of 14-pieces." Essentially creating a 40-piece jigsaw puzzle that 600 volunteers and crew had less than eight-minutes to move onto the field, setup, power up and go live. "It was a real example of our industry at its best; needing everybody to work together to make something big happen. All the planning, designing and meticulous attention to detail really paid off."

For the actual video ‘shield' Rodgers turned to XL Video to help engineer and supply 3,055 five-foot long LED MiSTRIPs, processing as well as for technical support during not only the installation but show itself. "I wanted a technology that would be nice, bright and controllable as well as weatherproof. I designed the MiSTRIP radiating from the outside going towards the middle on nine-inch centers. I worked closely with the XL team from the very beginning," noted Rodgers. "I needed an immense amount of equipment but I also needed a completely reliable company. With XL, I could say to Ricky, ‘I have the same video company that we worked with for the Democratic National Convention. They have the technology and we know that they can make it happen.' And they certainly did."

XL and Rodgers did testing to confirm the choice of the MiSTRIPs and to ensure the best approach for mounting them to the stage carts as well as how to deal with the processing requirements on a sectional mobile stage. XL and Rodgers knew the most enormous challenge was the fact that the stage broke apart into 40-pieces. In order to handle the need to keep many of the most critical components powered up, XL used uninterruptible power supplies. In the staging locations, they had 110V power drops, where they would connect the UPS units to keep the batteries charged. Once the stage was brought together they had 109 connections to make for the video components alone. A daunting task in less than eight-minutes. "The goal was eight minutes; we did it in seven and a half minutes," said Bob Magee, XL video account executive and project manager for the Super Bowl.

There were 11 XL Video technicians underneath the stage to make connections as it was locked together. Each technician had responsibility for four carts each and XL technical director Mike Spencer oversaw everything in its entirety. Everybody knew each other's role and responsibility so anybody could jump in. XL always builds in redundancy into its systems especially for live television so for a pressure-filled high-profile event like the Halftime show they had redundancy built in all the way down to the technician layer. Rodgers appreciated the coordinating planning XL put in. "All the technical guys from XL Video were like Navy Seals or ninjas. It was awesome."

In addition to Magee and Spencer, the XL Video team included Ken Gay, XL Nashville and lead technician Luke Pilato. Technicians from both the LA and Atlanta XL offices included Trace Deroy; Doug Eldredge; David Imlau; Fernando Llamas; Curtis Luxton; Will Nazarowski; Steve Otten; Eric Petty; and Rod Silhanek.

Another tool XL Video supplied to both Rodgers and Lodge was the UVA d3 Show Production Suite. The d3 was used to assist in the media development and the visualisation process. It helped Rodgers and Lodge present their design vision to the NFL, Kirshner and Hamilton. "We used the d3 system as a visualisation tool. I often like using d3 as a communication tool," pointed out Lodge. "It is good for the director, in this case Hamish, to see his camera angles in terms how various shots were going to work. Also it is a very good way rather than just showing a top shot; it is a really good tool to communicate a project to a client. Because we had very limited time on site we obviously did a lot of pre-visualisation. I think that whole pre-vis time and understanding the template was crucial to this project."

From demanding design to exacting execution, Rodgers and Lodge presented XL Video with one of their most challenging projects. "XL Video was exemplary really," commented Lodge. "On this sort of project, with the amount of work that XL was doing; the amount of discussion and detail it needed communication and trust. For me, if XL is on the job, then I am feeling very confident."

www.xlvideo.com

 

 

Rosco at the Winter Olympics

With 200 million people watching on TV, those Colours on the gobo projections better be right!

One of the enduring images of the Vancouver winter Olympics is sure to be the sails of light show, entitled "look at the games".  The show, which takes place nightly, is projected on the five 90-foot sails atop the Canada place building and is often used as an iconic background for television images around the world.

The gobos used for many of the projections were created by moment factory and manufactured by Rosco. The back story of this successful collaboration between the designers and the manufacturer is a useful case history for anyone involved in custom gobo production.

The designers chose to use custom made glass gobos in martin 1200 projectors.  But they were restricted to using an exact match of the official colours of the winter Olympics and to design and produce them so they fit the triangular surfaces of the  sails, with no image spill off the sails.

Rosco manufactured more than 40 colour glass gobos for this project, as well as nearly a dozen black and white glass gobos. The company's facility and personnel were specially suited for projects like these because Rosco is the only gobo manufacturer to colour coat the glass in its own facility, and create the dichroics.

Here's how Anne Hunter, who supervised this project for Rosco, tells the story: "The interesting part was the colour scheme they sent us. There could be little to no fluctuation as we were told these were the official Olympic colours - combinations and gradations of blues and greens.

"Gradations of different greens are sometimes difficult to achieve in the gobo colour mixing process. Greens can be a hard colour to hit. The combination of blues could also be difficult. However, because we have created different variations of cyan, magenta, and yellow glass for OEM purposes, we were able to pick the proper CMY combinations that would mix well to match the original art.

"By having a cyan available that we designed specifically for an OEM customer for example, we knew we could match the blues and all the gradients within it exactly, in combination with our percentage decisions within the art previous to going to etch. We had a choice of Rosco-created colour for mixing. Our expertise in colour, allowed us to come up with the proper combinations for both the art colour mix percentages and the chosen dichroic colour variation of the cyan, magenta and yellow. That produced an exact match to the Olympic colours.  

"The Martin 1200 which would project the gobos uses a blue lamp source. That was also taken into consideration, providing clues for the precise adjustments of the art colour and the etch process. This, in combination with the CMY glass we had chosen, would directly affect the green and bring it in line to match the colour scheme upon projection.

"What made this particular job even more special was the short time frame involved. As the art was created, it was immediately e-mailed over for creation of the colour gobos, sometimes for same day shipping. For the final job - over 30 multi colour originals and 10 black and white high resolution glass.

"This isn't a case where the art was in hand or previously created. They would create the art, send it to us, move on to the next set of art pieces. By Thursday we were finalising last colour and black and white pieces, to ship out for Friday, delivery to Vancouver for installation that weekend. Mutual cooperation was key here. They set their schedule in co-ordination with our production schedule for an effective quick turnaround."

www.rosco.com

Lighthouse LED Systems Set to Lift NBA Slam Dunk Contest to New Heights

Lighthouse Technologies, TS Sports and the American Airlines Center are primed for one of the NBA's showcase events - the NBA All-Star Weekend. Featuring the Haier Shooting Stars, the Taco Bell Skills Challenge, the Foot Locker Three-Point Contest, and the Sprite Slam Dunk, the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night is an impressive display of entertainment, performance and technical expertise, qualities Lighthouse shares with the NBA's rising stars.

The first true 1080p HD video screen in an NBA or NHL facility, Lighthouse's American Airlines Center installation features a 1080x1920 high definition video screen and includes 25 individual Lighthouse screens for superior impact and visibility.

"Lighthouse is excited to play such a large role in the NBA's showcase event," said Ed Whitaker, Lighthouse N.A.S.A director of sales. "Our LED video technology and experience enhance the NBA's inherent drama and excitement."

The action at the American Airlines Center begins Friday night with T-Mobile's Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam, and concludes Saturday night with the Sprite Slam Dunk, a grand stage for the game's most popular players and an opportunity to marvel at the athletes' sheer athleticism. A marvel of technology and engineering, Lighthouse's center-hung display includes four Lighthouse P4 4mm screens, four P10 10mm scoring screens and two F16 16mm rings that deliver spectacular instant replays of every dunk, real-time statistical and scoring information, and dynamic advertising content in vivid color and detail.

"The American Airlines Center is one of the busiest multi-purpose facilities in the world," Whitaker said. "It hosts the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, as well as concerts and events. Lighthouse's LED video installation boosts the center's atmosphere and contributes to every attendee's experience."

Lighthouse amplifies the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night with an end-mounted, stadium-sized 22.08m (w) x 6.4m (h) screen at each end of the facility, enabling up-close connections between NBA stars and the people they inspire, from grandfathers and their sons to the fourth-graders who will imitate the awe-inspiring monster jams and three-point launches on the school playground. Meanwhile, a 960-foot long, 360-degree fascia-mounted ring provides a sensational color show, completing the American Airlines Center's one-of-a-kind sports and entertainment experience.

"Lighthouse is proud to be partnered with the American Airlines Center in bringing the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night to the fans," Whitaker said in conclusion. "Today's fans demand more for their entertainment dollar, and Lighthouse's LED technology and customized video solutions deliver every penny's worth."

Central American Events Company Invests in iLive

Honduras event and AV rental company, Comunicaciones Mango BTL, recently added a new digital console to its hire stock, selecting an Allen & Heath iLive digital mixing system to complement the company's existing Electrovoice PA and DAS PA Line Array.

Based in the capital, Tegucigulpa, Mango provides event management services for a client list that includes Unilever, Pepsico, Tigo, Bimbo and Cerveceria Hondureña.

"We started using digital consoles three years ago and we love the flexibility digital gives us as we can carry less equipment. Recently we decided to invest in a digital console with at least 48 channel capacity," explains Mango's Andre Ferrer. "Our first choice was the Yamaha M7CL but following a demonstration of the iLive-T system by All Music Corp we decided iLive was the right choice due to the flexible digital snake and easy learning curve."

Mango purchased an iLive system comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface. The system was used for the first time at a Pepsi corporate event, launching a new campaign to media outlets. Held at Tegucigulpa's exclusive lounge bar, Campanella, the event included a showcase of Batucada - a local samba-style percussive display - and a performance by popular band, Natural.

Mango purchased an iLive system comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-T112 Control Surface through Allen & Heath's distributor, All Music Corp. The system was used for the first time at a Pepsi corporate event, launching a new campaign to media outlets. Held at Tegucigulpa's exclusive lounge bar, Campanella, the event included a showcase of Batucada - a local samba-style percussive display - and a performance by popular band, Natural.

"iLive is very versatile, which means I can apply it to all genders of music, from tropical to extreme metal, and it is great to use for FOH or monitors," reports sound engineer, Rafael David. "The preamps have nice headroom and I love the gate, compressor, and the flexibility of the process chain."

In picture: the iLive-T112 surface at FOH for a Pepsi launch event.

Rihanna Returns to the Spotlight with Sennheiser

New York, New York: In just four years since first bursting onto the music scene, 22-year-old Rihanna has racked up over twelve million record sales worldwide and has collected one honor after another, including a Grammy Award in 2008 for her global smash hit, "Umbrella". Rihanna is currently promoting her fourth album, Rated R, with high-profile live and televised performances in the United States and Europe, taking her longtime favorite combination Sennheiser SKM 5200 handheld microphone with dynamic MD 5235 capsule wherever she goes.

Rihanna has been using the SKM 5200 since adopting it for her first headlining tour at the end of 2007. According to monitor engineer Brian Evans, on this tour her two background vocalists are also using the SKM 5200/ MD 5235 combination. The wireless vocal mics are being used together with Sennheiser's EM 3732 twin receivers, he notes.

If a television production is unable to provide SKM 5200 RF wireless microphones for the background singers, Evans explains, he can usually rely on the ready availability of an alternate model of Sennheiser vocal mic along with G2 or G3 personal monitoring systems.

Rihanna's music has long had a rock sensibility, but the music on her new album Rated R and the current live band line-up really brings that harder edge to the fore. "It's a serious bunch of players," says Evans. "We have the all-time classic, Sennheiser MD 421 II on our lead guitarist, Nuno Bettancourt from Extreme, and drummer Chris Johnson, from Stevie Wonder's live band, uses a Sennheiser e 901 boundary microphone and several e 902s on his kit."

Rihanna's schedule of television show promotional dates has included a live performance on NBC's Today Show and Saturday Night Live, the X Factor in the U.K., and an appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

Evans, who has a long association with Journey and also handled monitor duties for both Mary J. Blige and Jay-Z on their joint headlining 2008 tour, comments, "I'm a big fan of the SKM 5200 mic. I like it a lot. I brought the 5200 into the Journey camp last year and used it on their lead singer. Everyone loved it."

At the recent 52nd annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Rihanna received two Grammy awards for her collaboration with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town," for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Song Collaboration. She has previously been honored as Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the 2008 American Music Awards and World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year at the 2007 World Music Awards. Rihanna, who is also one of the honorary cultural ambassadors for Barbados, where she was born, holds the record for the most number one singles during the 2000s, a position she shares with Beyoncé Knowles, another longtime Sennheiser user.

In picture: Rihanna performs on NBC's Today Show in support of her new release, Rated R, with her Sennheiser SKM 5200/MD 5235 and customized mic stand

photo 2009 Film Magic

Stageco at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver

International staging and structures company Stageco has constructed the video screen supports across the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics sites. The 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games brings together athletes from around the world to compete in more than 15 winter sports events scheduled across different venues.

Stageco was commissioned to design and build a series of video wall structures across five outdoor locations in Vancouver's Whistler Mountains and at the BC Place Stadium in downtown Vancouver.

Stageco's team of engineers and R&D specialists designed a series of bespoke solutions for each location. The differing requirements of each support structure were determined by location, weight and size of the screens and the required viewing angles for spectators.

Stageco managed the design process, transport logistics and crew in advance of the icy build to start in November 2009, planning for the extreme weather conditions and transportation of material across mountainous areas. Project Manager Thierry Nataf explained:

"The Whistler Creekside, the site for the Alpine skiing was a very challenging build for the team, working on the side of a steep mountain at over 800m high and in snowy, wintery conditions. The structures across the sites had to support varying sized video screens and scoreboards, as well as take into account the spectator's visibility and location."

On Cypress Mountain, Stageco built two video screen structures to relay the snowboard, ski cross and freestyle action. A further three video screens were used on the Nordic Ski area for the cross country, biathlon and ski jump events.

Inside the BC Place Stadium, Stageco designed and built a further three video screen structures to relay the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games and nightly Victory Ceremony presentations to 55,000 spectators. The three screens, measuring 47m² and two 96m² displays were built into the stadium's infrastructure and were built in January ready for the Opening ceremony in mid-February.

Tom Bilsen, Stageco's operations manager said: "We used the network of Stageco offices to transport the material required, shipping three containers from Stageco International head offices in Belgium and a further three trucks of mostly scaffolding from Stageco US."

Flex Array Wins Out by Popular Demand

A pair of hard-working young American bands are currently touring their way around the States and further afield as far away as Australia: the All American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday, with special guests Anberlin, are pleasing fans and promoting their current albums coast to coast. Providing sound reinforcement for the show in Washington, D.C. was a Turbosound Flex Array sound system that, although a relative newcomer in the U.S., has impressed the bands' engineers with its sound quality and the system techs with its ease of rigging.

The choice of Flex Array for the Patriot Centre in Washington D.C., a 10,000 capacity multi-purpose venue that is home to the George Mason Patriots basketball team, was largely down to artist preference. Virginia-based Southard Audio LLC was contracted to handle the bands' production requirements for the show; the company has provided technical audio services on the East Coast since 1980 and has an extensive Turbosound inventory including Aspect 880s, as well as Floodlight 760s and TMS-4 systems. At the show advance meeting the bands voiced a preference for a Turbosound line array - enter collaborator Soundworks and its recently purchased Flex Array system.

Located in Richmond, VA, Soundworks services the mid-Atlantic area of the U.S., and is used to networking its Turbosound inventory with Southard Audio when required. Founder Steve Payne has been very satisfied with his current Aspect systems, and so following a demo of Turbosound's latest line array product a further investment was a natural decision. The first Flex Array system to land in the U.S., it has since its addition to the company's inventory of Aspect 880 and 500 boxes - and TQ-425/445DP systems - proven itself well up to the task of servicing its wide client base to the high standards that Steve demands of his equipment and company.

For the Washington show ten Flex Array TFA-600H mid-highs were hung per side for the main PA, supported by a total of 20 TSW-721 subs ground-stacked in a gentle arc in front of the stage. Aspect TA-880s atop TSW-721 subs provided side-fill coverage. A Digidesign Profile console allowed for easy scene recalls, while processing and power duties were handled by Turbosound LMS-D26 controllers and Lab Gruppen FP series amplifiers respectively.

The Flex Array boxes proved to be quick and easy to rig. Southard Audio's system tech Jesse Stover and Grant Howard, Soundworks' VP and senior engineer, worked together on the PA hangs: "The flybars are significantly smaller and lighter than with other arrays," says Jesse, "and lining up the boxes to pin was fairly easy."

"The rigging system is top tier," adds Grant, "there's just enough tolerance in the self-contained rigging components to make things line up quickly and easily without being sloppy. The provision of a single lift point on the flybar with the adjustable center of gravity is just brilliant."

The show went off without a hitch and everyone was all smiles. In particular all the band engineers, who are routinely used to Vertec, d&b, Meyer, or similar systems on a day-to-day basis, were happy with the PA.

Marc Hudson, FOH engineer for Taking Back Sunday, found the Flex Array to have a very pleasing, hi-fi quality: "Frequency-wise, any areas where the system isn't totally ‘flat' seem to sit in appropriate musical sounding areas, there's nothing harsh or imposing to have to contend with. Apart from a few minor tweaks to the system EQ, and minor changes to the guitar EQ from the previous night, I was able to run the vocal mics very close to flat."

"The Flex Array sounded great," agrees Anberlin's sound engineer Todd Neal. "My job is to make stuff loud, and I had no problems at all in that area - Flex has the SPL of a much larger box if not quite as much low-mid energy. Another advantage is that the boxes are small and light, and rig easily enough - I've hung these more than a few times with great results." The wide 100° dispersion pattern also worked well for Todd: "coverage of the venue was excellent, and for me this is one of Flex Array's stand-out qualities."

Soundworks' Grant Howard confirms that Flex Array's reputation is spreading rapidly in the touring market. "When we do our date advance we find that engineers are eager to give Flex a try. They are always pleased with the results at the end of the show."

Reflecting on his experience with Flex Array in the Patriot Center, Southard Audio's system tech Jason Misterka observed: "Flex has impressive SPL, and that Turbosound ‘tonality' that I love, having used the Aspect 880s for so long. The rigging also seems solid and practical. The rig produced all of the level the engineers wanted, and we still had 6db of headroom. I would have to hang 16 to 20 boxes of most other mid-size line arrays to get the kind of level we were getting... AND we'd be hitting the low-mid limiters!"

A Big Cheer for Turbosound Aspect

Cheersport was founded in 1993 by enterprising sports coaches with a passion for competitive cheerleading and dance, who believed they could conduct more rewarding competitions for kids, coaches and spectators alike.

The company is now a leader and innovator in the cheer industry, and prides itself on pioneering many of the practices widely used today - such as the use of sprung floors, and giving every team member a trophy in recognition of their efforts. Cheersport has grown substantially since its first National Championships in 1997, and is currently hosting a series of dance events all over the U.S. that kicked off in Atlanta in late September 2009 and go through to April 2010, including the world's largest National Cheerleading and Dance Championship to be held in Atlanta, GA in February.

The production contractor for the tour is Richmond, VA based Lite-Tek Entertainment. Formed in 2000 as a local lighting company, Lite-Tek has grown rapidly over the last decade and has benefited from a synergistic collaboration with longtime Turbosound audio supplier Soundworks who are providing audio reinforcement in the shape of an Aspect TA-500 loudspeaker system.

So why Turbosound? Darren Lewis, Lite-Tek's president, explains: "While I am primarily a lighting guy I started out in sound, so I trust my audio vendor Soundworks to have the best equipment for the job. I always like what I hear with Turbosound when it's on my jobs."

The Cheersport events are staged all around the country from coast to coast in venues ranging from convention centers to basketball arenas, and as a result spectator numbers can vary from 1,000 to over 5,000 depending on how many teams compete in each event. For all venues Soundworks' PA system is configured to be fast to set up and give predictably repeatable results: ground stacked each side of the dance area is a pair of Aspect TA-500 wide dispersion trapezoidal three-way mid-highs on top of four TSW-721 single 21" horn-loaded subs. System control is provided by Turbosound LMS-D6 loudspeaker management systems, while the rig is powered by Lab Gruppen FP series amplifiers.

"Under these widely differing conditions the most important factor is volume and intelligibility," emphasises Darren. "We tend to get variable music quality from the competitors, and I think the Aspects handle it all really well. The music is full of dynamics, with lots of peaks and sound effects such as the bells and explosions that are part of the music. The speaker system can also get a lot of abuse - we can go for as much as 12 hours a day - and they've never let me down."

According to Grant Howard, vice-president and senior engineer at Soundworks, there is precious little time on this tour for a leisurely and meticulous setup, and this is where the Aspect TA-500s score: "I love using the Aspect rig on the Cheersport events," enthuses Grant. "Because set up constraints are usually severe, throw and go is the name of the game. There is no time to be tweaking a finicky PA. The Aspect Wides always provide clear, consistent sound with minimal system set up and EQ. The side angles on the cabinets really are the coverage angles! Just bang ‘em together and the coverage pattern is perfect - quick and easy! The system never becomes fatiguing, even after ten or more hours of constant high level remixes. It's really a great little rig."

But amid the frenetic pre-show activity Grant does take a few moments to sound check with a more relaxing reference before the cheer teams start rolling through: "I like to play some Sinatra just before doors open," he muses, "It's like the calm before the storm!"

HEADLINES

news archive

search stories