direct from: www.etnow.comRegularsContentsthis monthJobs and CareersWeb DirectoryFeaturesIssue: 328Six ‘Theatres at Risk’ get a helping hand from Theatres Trustpage 25June 2020In the heart of Brussels, an AV solution combining TiMax SoundHub and control, was realised from concept by FACE Projects.‘Lux Partum’ – ‘emission of light’ in Latin – was a beautifully sculpted lighting installation utilising 54 Robe lights including MegaPointes and PointesROE Visual Europe Opens New Showroompage: 21page: 22page: 2page: 31pages: 28 to 31A wide range of LED panels can now be viewed and tested in ROE Visual’s new and impressive showroom in Leek, the Netherlands. LIGHTING | SOUND | VIDEORIGGING | STAGING | DRAPESw: hawthorn.bizt: 01664 821 111e: hire@hawthorn.bizPANASONIC PT-RZ970 Reproducing Full-Spectrum Colour with 1-Chip DLP™ SOLID SHINE Laser Superior White Balance and Colour Reproduction Dual-Laser Optical Engine Assures Failsafe ReliabilityAVAILABLE TO HIREHighlite International welcomes the Showtec ACT seriesRecently Highlite International BV introduced its latest campaign “The Power Of Entertainment” with the coming of a new updated catalogue, numerous activities and various product launches. One of these product launches was Showtec’s latest addition: the ACT series.With the ACT series Showtec offers a range of compact entry-level luminaires with a high-class finish and high CRI levels. More on page 8Robe for Lux Partum Art Installationpage: 27TiMax and dcontrol for historic club in Brusselscontents this monthJune 2020page no.Featurespage : 4page : 6page : 11page : 8TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENTRevised in April 2019 Available now from www.etbooks.co.uk21 TiMax and dcontrol for historic immersive club in Brussels In the heart of Brussels, an award-winning AV solution combining TiMax SoundHub and control, realised from concept by Belgium’s premier design and installation integrator, FACE Projects, creates a vintage atmosphere and jazzy vibe to private members’ bar, Impérial. 22 Robe for Lux Partum Art Installation ‘Lux Partum’ – ‘emission of light’ in Latin – was a beautifully sculpted interactive lighting installation staged at the Motorwerk event space in Berlin. The work utilised 54 Robe moving lights including MegaPointes, Pointes plus TETRA2 moving LED battens.24 Ayrton Khamsin-S is a Revelation for Mika Mika’s Revelation was postponed midway through due to the current coronavirus crisis, but it wowed audiences from autumn through to this spring. Lighting designer for the tour was Vince Foster who chose just four different fixtures from Ayrton. 25 Six ‘Theatres at Risk’ get a helping hand from Theatres Trust Theatres Trust, has announced the six theatres that will receive support through the second year of its Theatres at Risk Capacity Building Programme:26 Astera goes Beyond The Road at the Saatchi Gallery Last year, Astera Titan Tubes were at the heart of a lighting scheme designed by Ben Donoghue, now of Flare Lighting, for Beyond theRoad: an immersive exhibition at London’s world-famous Saatchi Gallery.27 ROE Visual Europe Opens New Showroom A wide range of LED panels can now be viewed and tested in ROE Visual’s new and impressive showroom in Leek, the Netherlands, showcasing its LED products. 16 Audiotek delivers clarity at Grade II listed Monmouth church The Church of St. Nicholas in Grosmont, is one of the oldest churches in Wales. As part of a recent programme of modernisation, provision was made for a new sound system in order for congregations hear voice and musical content more clearly.17 Kari Kola drenches Connemara Mountains in GLP colour for Galway 2020 To celebrate Galway’s status as European Capital of Culture, Finnish light artist Kari Kola was commissioned to turn the beautiful Connemara Mountains emerald green and sapphire blue. The result, a massive artwork called Savage Beauty, owed its success to around 900 lighting fixtures, many from the GLP catalogue.18 CPL Lights Coventry Landmarks to celebrate Florence Nightingale Bicentenary Full technical production specialist CPL lit two landmark buildings in central Coventry to commemorate International Nurses Day and the bicentenary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. 19 Lambda Light and Media Design Evokes Timeless Beauty at St. Hippolytus with Chauvet With its green copper capped spire reaching 75 metres upwards, Saint Hippolytus Church in Gelsenkirchen, stands high above buildings that surround it. Accentuating the transformative effect of the church’s architectural features is a new LED lighting system featuring Chauvet Professional fixtures that were installed by Lambda Light and Media Design.20 Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre Chooses Zero 88 FLX The Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre (TMAC) is a lively and unique multi-purpose performance space located in Taunton. Just before the coronavirus lockdown, TMAC took delivery of a brand new Zero 88 FLX lighting control console, which was specified by technical manager Kevin Stratton. from the editordirect from: www.etnow.comEntertainment Technology is published 12 times a year in conjunction with the leading industry portal www.etnow.comEditor: John OffordTechnical Editor: Jackie StainesPublished by: Entertainment Technology Press LtdThe Studio, High Green Great ShelfordCambridge CB22 5EGTelephone: +44 (0)1223 550805Fax: +44 (0)1223 550806Website: www.etnow.comemail: editor@etnow.com© Entertainment Technology Press Ltd.Subscription Rates:Annual Subscription for 12 issues (UK): £27.50Annual Subscription (overseas): £50.00Subject to acceptance, subscription is free to UK based industry professionals.Subscribe online at: www.etnow.com/etmag/Opinions expressed in Entertainment Technology are not necessarily those of the publishers. All rights are reserved and reproduction of any part in whatever form is prohibited without the prior permission of the publishers.etnow.com (entertainment technology news on web) is the industry portal site with news from around the world added daily under various sector headings coupled to an extensive archive. The site also features a books section where titles from Entertainment Technology Press can be ordered online via our secure Sage Pay credit card services.Issue: 328ALD Awards for Excellence 2020 rescheduled to start imminently Always backing ambition, the ALD has announced that its ALD Awards for Excellence, aimed at all UK-based students and recent graduates, will launch imminently, to offer an exciting, additional focus for students. The ALD Awards for Excellence reflect the association’s growing representation of lighting and video design as well as production electrics and include The Michael Northen Award for lighting design, The Fred Foster Award for Production Electrics (sponsored by ETC) and the Blue-I Media Award for Video design.Johanna Town, chair of the ALD, said: “The ALD Awards for Excellence provides an important platform for students on which they can hone their abilities to communicate their chosen medium. To be able to sell ideas and passions for a design or methodology to other industry leaders is an important skill. For this reason, The ALD’s Awards for Excellence are so important to a designer’s future.”Rory Beaton, head of the ALD’s working group for awards, added: “We’d like to encourage UK students and recent graduates to use this time to collate photos and notes for your entry. Also, to check our social media pages and the Awards section of the ALD website where those with a real interest in entering and winning the awards can find extra information and tips.”The Awards offer a chance for young designers to showcase their talent, bringing their work to the attention of experienced production professionals and the industry as a whole. As a celebration of imaginative and creative lighting and video production, awards are presented to those who demonstrate strong lighting or video designs or skills in production electrics.Further announcements will be made across all the ALD’s media platforms:ALD website: https://www.ald.org.uk/awards/awards-for-excellenceTwitter: twitter.com/the_ALDInstagram: Instagram.com/thealdofficialFacebook: facebook.com/AssociationLightingDesigners/June 2020news4Doughty makes headlines at FT-TV with Projects Department LtdWhen Projects Department Ltd won the contract to create two live studios and two breaking news spots for the Financial Times TV studio in London, Doughty Engineering was quickly brought on board to supply a range of broadcast kit.Peter Daffarn, managing director, Projects Department Ltd said: “The client briefed us to create the studios and news spots for presenting live news bulletins at short notice and for occasional use and, with Doughty being our go-to company for hoists and grids, we knew they’d be fundamental to the project from the start.”Building a bulletin studio meant that Projects Department Ltd had a smaller than usual space to work with, therefore the design and build needed to be extremely imaginative. The studios were required to be integrated into a working office space and, with a number of high profile guests visiting, from CEOs of large corporations to senior politicians, the client wanted it to be aesthetically pleasing as well as functional. The lack of height in the studios was a major factor as Peter explained: “Due to limited space, Doughty’s Dan Phillips and I spent time creating a grid that was both aesthetically pleasing and functionally slimline. Dan has been central to the reason I work a lot with Doughty. I often share early design thoughts with him and we bounce ideas between us as no two studios are ever the same. Once we are on site installing, I know I could call Dan on a Sunday and he would try his best to help.”Doughty and projects Department Ltd designed and installed the ‘Flat Grid’ which was first used at the Tate Modern and was essential to the clean look of the studio. Photon Beard also re-engineered one of its existing lamp heads into a brand new unit. The Highlight XT was designed and built for the specific needs of FT-TV. “They wanted to be able to light a presenter from the moment they came into shot and moved across the studio. Due to limited grid space we couldn’t use as many multiple lamps as you would traditionally, so the Highlight XT met this need,” added Peter.He concluded: “The team at FT-TV are extremely pleased with the result – from the quality of the product to the service provided – from quotation to aftercare. Working with Doughty on high profile projects like this is the obvious choice. From director level to warehouse dispatch team, I know I can rely on them to do their utmost to help me. Secondly, but also very important is the engineering support and knowledge and lastly but by no means least, their selection of products and build quality is second to none. Whether I’m after standard items or specially design parts, I can rely on Doughty to provide excellent service.”photo: Wave Science Technology Ltdwww.doughty-engineering.co.ukSennheiser and Extron partner for seamless conferencing solutionsSennheiser has partnered with Extron Electronics to create easy-to-deploy audio solutions for modern workspaces. With certified control drivers for Sennheiser’s TeamConnect Ceiling 2 microphone array added to the Extron DMP Plus series of audio DSPs, customers can create high-quality sound systems that are easy to control and work reliably.Partners Extron and Sennheiser provide a seamless conferencing experience for both on-site and remote participantsExtron is a leading global manufacturer of professional AV products with over 35 years of experience in the corporate, higher education, government, healthcare, and house of worship markets. The partnership with Sennheiser simplifies integration of TeamConnect Ceiling 2, Sennheiser’s automatic, adaptive beamforming microphone array, with Extron’s DMP Plus series audio DSP processors.“It is exciting for Extron to combine our industry leading control and audio DSP solutions with Sennheiser’s 75 years of microphone experience,” says Casey Hall, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Extron. “By simplifying integration between products, our shared customers will benefit from improved workflows.”“At Sennheiser, we always strive to give our customers a unique and, above all, easy-to-use product experience,” says Wienand Mensendiek, head of global business development and commercialisation at Sennheiser. “Working with an innovative company like Extron and combining TeamConnect Ceiling 2, a ceiling microphone that is unique in the market, with Extron’s DSPs makes exactly that possible.”TeamConnect Ceiling 2 is an innovative ceiling-mounted conferencing microphone. It features adaptive beamforming technology that automatically focuses on a speaker’s voice, allowing speakers to move freely during their presentation. The solution blends in harmoniously with any conference room and offers a high-performance, discrete alternative for installation in medium to large conference spaces where table-mounted systems are not suitable or possible.The new control system drivers from Extron that enable this seamless user experience have been developed and tested in partnership with Sennheiser. As part of the DMP Plus series audio DSPs, they support remote control of the microphone output level and mute state as well as LED sync with TeamConnect Ceiling 2, and distribute Sennheiser microphone audio to the entire conferencing system. The control drivers can be accessed via the Global Alliance section of the Sennheiser Business Communications website or directly from Extron.Introducing LumicoreLuminex Network Intelligence has introduced Lumicore, the newest addition to the Luminode family. Designed to allow simple, flexible control of network Lighting data from multiple sources Lumicore routes, merges, converts, restricts and allows multiple streams of ArtNet and sACN data from multiple sources to be managed in a clear intuitive way.Designed to provide simple management of the increasingly complex task of integrating different network lighting elements, Lumicore is ideal for easily managing multiple lighting consoles at a festival, routing lighting control from gallery to studio in TV, integrating remote followspot systems into a lighting system, separating Lighting data from a venue IT infrastructure, or merging media server data for pixel mapping large LED arrays.Lumicore features 64 process engines, each manipulating multiple universes of lighting data, and allowing converting, merging, routing, or backup. It is built into a robust housing taking just half the width of a single 19” 1U rack slot, or capable of being mounted on truss.Lumicore follows the core Luminex philosophy of making complex network tasks easy to manage, designed for the lighting professional.www.ac-et.com4Issue: 328news5Brompton Technology wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2020Brompton Technology has announced it has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category.Announced on 21st April, and now in its 54th year, the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise are the highest official UK awards for British business, approved by Her Majesty The Queen. Brompton Technology is one of 220 organisations nationally to be recognised with this distinguished award.“It is really gratifying to be recognised with such a prestigious award, and we want to thank all our partners globally who have been such an important part of this success story,” says Brompton’s managing director, Richard Mead. “It is all the more poignant to be receiving it at such a difficult time for our industry and the world in general.”Employing around 40 people, Brompton Technology was founded in 2011 in West London as part of the Carallon group. It is dedicated to the specialist design and manufacture of cutting-edge, industry-leading LED video processing products, used on everything from huge global world tours for bands like Metallica, Massive Attack and U2, to pioneering green screen replacement in film and TV.Brompton works with the world’s biggest rental companies, including those in the US, Europe and Australasia, who value the versatility and reliability of its products, its outstanding 24/7 global technical support, and revolutionary new innovations like its Dynamic Calibration technology and Hydra measurement system. The company has developed strong relationships with its panel manufacturer partners and customers in China, opening an office in Shenzhen in 2019.“This award is testament to the strength and dedication of the Brompton team,” concludes Mead. “Right now we are focused on supporting our partners through these challenging times, but we look forward to an even brighter future for Brompton Technology.”Charcoalblue Wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise Leading theatre, acoustic and digital design consultancy Charcoalblue has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition for its excellence in International Trade, 2020.The Queen’s Award for Enterprise is now in its 54th year and is the most prestigious business award in the UK. The awards celebrate the success of exciting and innovative businesses who lead the way with pioneering products or services, deliver impressive social mobility programmes or show their commitment to excellent sustainable development practices.The Queen’s Award recognises Charcoalblue’s outstanding success in translating its British-born innovative approach to specialised theatre design and transferring it to a diverse and wide range of international cultural buildings and venues. Charcoalblue was established in the heart of the UK theatre industry in 2004 and today operates a collaborative team across six international studios in the UK, USA and Australia, delivering projects to every corner of the globe. Group chair, Andy Hayles, says that the award has been received with deep gratitude and represents extraordinary inspiration at an unprecedented time.“Starting from a borrowed desk in a mate’s office 15 years ago, to six international studios today, our design work has led us on adventures in some of the greatest world cities. This award is a tribute to our clients’ pioneering, relentless devotion to their audiences and communities wherever they are in the world, and a salute to our talented teams of designers in the UK, USA and Australia,” says Hayles.“Therefore, we dedicate this award to our clients and collaborators, and, in this difficult time, also to those currently working on the medical frontlines, which includes a number of Charcoalblue’s extended family. Thank you for all you are doing in our international communities wherever you are. When we all come out of this, we and our clients will be ready to open our doors, raise curtains, create new and revitalised spaces that are safe for us all to come together once again.”Brompton Technology launches Chinese language websiteContinuing its commitment to supporting its customers in China, Brompton Technology has announced the launch of a customised Chinese version of its website. Including all downloadable documentation, as well as product and feature pages, it makes Brompton’s technical information readily available to the Chinese market.A major part of Brompton Technology’s strategy in recent years has been to find ways of strengthening its support for its panel manufacturer partners, most of whom are based in Shenzhen, China. The new website is the latest in a string of initiatives, the first of which was the creation of an office in Shenzhen at the beginning of 2019. Led by Elijah Ebo, Brompton’s general manager (Asia), the office is staffed by Chinese-speaking account managers and field application engineers (FAEs) who are dedicated to helping Brompton’s customers, whether it be with system integration or technical support. In addition to employing native Mandarin-speakers, the company offers free Mandarin language lessons to all Brompton Technology staff.At the beginning of 2020, Brompton released its Configuration Application (Config. App) tool in Chinese, one of a suite of tools that simplifies the integration of its Tessera processing system for panel manufacturers.“The Chinese language website is a natural continuation of this programme and allows us to better support our customers in Asia,” explains Ebo. “It provides all-important technical specifications, downloadable documentation, and information on our features and products, all with the goal of making Brompton processing more accessible for our Chinese speaking customers.”The Brompton team knows it is important that its Chinese partners receive technical and marketing communication directly from the company in their native language, so that nothing is lost in translation.“We are absolutely delighted to be able to further facilitate the needs of our customers in China by offering the website in their language,” concludes Brompton’s managing director, Richard Mead. “It is key to our global strategy to build successful partnerships with panel manufacturers, and we make sure Brompton Technology processing gives their panels a performance advantage.”June 2020news6Broadweigh Celebrates Full LEEA MembershipLeading load cell company Broadweigh has passed its final audit to be granted full membership of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association. LEEA is a representative body for all those involved in the lifting industry worldwide. It has taken three years to achieve full LEEA membership which is only available to companies that are ‘engaged for profit in the verification of lifting equipment’, and which, in the opinion of the LEEA directors, is competent and can give adequate service.Tom Lilly, application engineer at Broadweigh commented: “Three years ago Broadweigh joined LEEA as an Associate member because we strive to be the best – not only in the quality of product we offer but also in the role that we take within the entertainment industry. We then decided last year that we should be including a thorough examination in our recalibration and refurbishment service. We control the manufacture of almost every part of the Broadweigh load shackle which means that we are best placed to perform these checks.”“This last year has been busy, with production engineer Alex Maruschat and I going through a series of training and development courses. We now both hold our LEEA Team cards showing that we have passed our exams following the training. This then placed us well to have our full membership audit which is now fully signed off.”Kelly Voysey, marketing manager explained: “These aren’t just ‘turn up and pass’ types of courses. A lot of work goes into getting the qualifications and we are extremely proud of the efforts of Tom and Alex to gain these qualifications. This is hugely rewarding to us as a brand but also gives added peace of mind to our customers.”The new certification could arguably not have come at a better time for Broadweigh’s customers. The company remains open for business despite the current COVID-19 crisis and is offering support to anyone who owns its kit and who wish to use the quieter time enforced on the live events industry to perform regular inspections on their kit. As well as their standard scheme of thorough examination, customers are advised to give their kit a thorough visual inspection looking for any defects; bent/cracked parts of the hardware, battery leakage, missing parts – carry out an inventory making sure that bow serial numbers correspond to that of the pin/ electronics – keep a record of the shackle firmware and test the equipment to a known weight as this will identify if there is any drift from the calibration (+/-1 % or +/25 kg typical whichever the greater). Keeping records of the readings will allow for future comparison.“It’s also worth remembering that we are always on hand to provide free basic Broadweigh Toolkit and Log100 training and we can also upgrade your shackles too, from a recalibration to a full firmware and electronics upgrade,” said Kelly. “We have always advised our customers to get their shackles recalibrated regularly, but since 2019 this is a service that we have been able to offer in-house. It doesn’t matter how old your shackles are or how many hours of use they’ve had, and now might be an opportune moment to send them to us at our factory in Exeter for a calibration check.”As well as ramping up their servicing and inspection offering, the company’s R&D team remains busy as ever. Kelly commented: “Our engineering teams are focused right now on delivering new solutions which will be brought to market soon. 2020 started out as a year of big change for us and that commitment has not changed despite this extremely challenging landscape. Our ultimate goal is to keep all our teams safe and well and to keep being useful and relevant for our customers. We want to provide a level of service and expertise that our customers have come to expect from us.”Tom Lilly concluded: “Being a member of LEEA gives us access to a wealth of lifting know-how, backed by technical ability from members with different skills across the world. We supply kit to clients globally and the LEEA membership is recognised as carrying the highest standards across the world, sharing best lifting practice and improving safety for all.”ETC’s Mark White announces retirementMark White has announced his retirement from the company after nearly 20 years.Speaking about his departure from ETC Ltd, Mark comments: “ETC has been a fine company to work for. I am retiring at a time of new and exciting product development in the company which will keep ETC in pole position as the go-to suppliers of entertainment lighting.”Darren Beckley, sales manager, ETC Ltd, adds: “Mark has been an integral part of developing the company’s brand these past 20 years. We thank him for all of his efforts and wish him the very best on his retirement.”Jeremy Roberts, ETC Ltd regional sales manager, will take over growing the business in Ireland and progressing ETC’s stage machinery offering across the UK.www.etcconnect.comPR Lighting Releases Advanced Xrled 3000-W Framing SpotHot on the heels of the AQUA LED 1700 Framing, PR Lighting has announced another new shutter blade device, the XRLED 3000-W Framing (PR-8137).This new addition to the popular XRLED moving head series features the latest advanced 1200W white LED light source. In addition to its complete range of spotlight effects and features, the fixture’s four sets of framing blades offer endless rotation, different size and shaped graphics, and a curtain effect in a module designed and patented by PR Lighting.This extremely bright and powerful spot, which is suitable for any type of project, comes in two versions. The 6500K, 70 CRI, 55000 lumen version is suitable for concerts, major events and exhibitions while the 5600K 92 CRI 41000 lumen spot has been designed specifically for theatres, TV studios and corporate events.Thanks to the unique design of the LED engine cooling system, the noise level can be controlled at a very low level, and lower still when run in theatre mode (39dB), making it an excellent choice for both theatres and TV studios. Moreover, for pan and tilt use, PR has upgraded to a new non-contact magnetic encoder positioning system that gives the lighting designer more precision and stability. Another key feature which is sure to impress designers and operators is the 6°-54° variable light angle, with autofocus.Other highlights of the XRLED 3000-W Framing include electronic strobe (0.3-25fps) and four selectable dimming curves (0-100% linear adjustable). It offers full CMY linear colour mixing, with macros, two colour wheels each with six dichroic filters (plus open), half colour effect, variable speed rainbow effect, optional stepping or linear colour changing and linear colour temperature adjustment with 0-100% linear CTO system.The optical path also includes a rotating gobo wheel, with six replaceable gobos plus open (either glass or metal). These are bi-directionally rotatable and shakeable, at variable speed, and offer indexable scrolling. The second, fixed gobo wheel offers seven replaceable gobos (plus open).The fixture, which weighs 45kg, also contains a four-facet prism and a linear prism, bi-directionally rotatable at variable speeds and indexable, light and heavy double frost filters, replaceable animation wheel bi-directionally rotatable at variable speed, 5-100% linear adjustable Iris with macro, motorised linear focus and zoom, pan 540°, tilt 270° head movement, with auto position correction and swap and invert functions.Shipping will begin in mid-May.THE WORLD'S FIRSTTRANSFERABLE LED ENGINE#RobeInnovationJune 2020news8Allen & Heath Delivers ‘One for the Fans’ With SQ V1.5Fresh off the back of another successful awards season in which it scooped a second TEC Award, Allen & Heath has launched V1.5 firmware for its 96kHz SQ series, ensuring the mixer continues to punch well above its weight with a raft of crowd-pleasing features including new RTA options, 32-channel recording/playback on USB drives, workflow enhancements including DCA spills and new FX add-ons.“With SQs used at all levels from clubs to arenas, we get so much great feedback from users and this latest release delivers some of the most popular requests,” comments SQ’s product manager, Keith Johnson. “It’s really a thank you from us to all our SQ customers – and there’s plenty more to come.”Highlite International welcomes the Showtec ACT seriesRecently Highlite International BV introduced its latest campaign “The Power Of Entertainment” with the coming of a new updated catalogue, numerous activities and various product launches. One of these product launches was Showtec’s latest addition: the ACT series.With the ACT series Showtec offers a range of compact entry-level luminaires with a high-class finish and high CRI levels. Due to their size and output they are very well equipped for a wide range of applications and venues but also offer many advantages for the rental business. The ACT series consists of five different models. It starts with a 20WW and a 50WW Fresnel version which comes complete with matching barndoors, followed by a 60 RGBW PC unit, a 50WW Profile spot and a Flood 80 RGBW. All except the 20WW version are controllable via 3 pin DMX, have easy to handle rotary knobs at the back for dimming and, with the RGBW versions for choosing the desired colour and have OLED-displays for adjusting the requested settings. The ACT-units are virtually plug-and-play and based on the model, come complete with barndoors, filter frame, gobo holder, gobos and lens.www.highlite.comShowlight 2021 Postponed due to Coronavirus“It is with great disappointment that we announce the postponement of Showlight 2021, scheduled for May 2021 in Fontainebleau, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” announced a statement from Showlight. “This has been an extremely difficult decision, which has been made in view of both the immediate effects and anticipated recovery period that will be needed by companies and individuals across the industry in the coming months.”The state of the lighting industry, the probable extension of restrictions on gatherings and the effect that this is having on theatres, cinemas, events and concerts worldwide where audiences are involved, are immediate and catastrophic, and the resulting effect to employment and income within all aspects of performance and the technical support of entertainment at all levels, are equally devastating.“While we sincerely hope that, by May 2021, the situation will have improved, we cannot tell to what extent events and social interaction will have returned to ‘normal’. While last month we were confident enough to continue preparing for the original dates, the ongoing feedback from the industry makes it evident that the after-effects will take longer to subside. The industry will need time to recover, and companies and individuals will need to prioritise their own financial recovery.“So, while we acknowledge that Showlight is a much-loved event, the well-being of everyone in our industry comes first. We need to be sensitive to the financial situation that many of our sponsors, exhibitors and delegates may find themselves in, through no fault of their own, after the worst of the pandemic has passed. We understand the cost of exhibiting, travel and accommodation for Showlight would be an added strain on company and individual finances at a time when income and wages are severely reduced, so we feel that postponing Showlight until these have had a chance to recover is the most sensible thing to do.“In addition, Showlight is a voluntary organisation entirely dependent upon the support of its sponsors, and exhibitors. Without sponsorship from many companies and the goodwill and attendance of lighting industry exhibitors, the economics of Showlight would be severely impacted. We also have to consider our delegates, many of whom will spend a large proportion of the next few months either unemployed or furloughed, in which case attendance at Showlight, so soon after the crisis, may not be possible for a variety of reasons.“So for now we, like everyone, urge you to stay at home, be safe and keep connected (via the website (www.showlight.org), the Showlight mailing list, Twitter and Facebook) for updates on a revised date for Showlight, and we look forward to meeting you in happier, healthier times.”Triple E Launches New WebsiteAlthough the current pandemic has seen the entertainment industry diminished and the necessary furlough of many of staff, grass has not been allowed to grow under Triple E’s feet.Along with handling long term project work and dispatching orders around the world, the team has been busy with the final touches to its brand new website! The old domain will be phased out so update bookmarks to www.triplee.ltd.Featuring an improved Quote Tool, updated information and, of course, the valued cording and rigging diagrams, all are now easier to find and understand. The website now covers the full product range and services for the first time since the company expanded its machine shop.Triple E has gone live with some new case studies, showcasing the fantastic things that can be done with Triple E products. Their creativity and experience can help solve design problems in exciting ways.Lucy Edelstein, deputy director, says: “The new website has been over a year in the making. I’ve listened to feedback from our clients to ascertain what they need from our site, making sure it allows everyone to better understand the fine details of our product range and how Triple E products can expand the scope and scale of our client’s projects.“With its well-presented range of information and the powerful Quote Tool that allows a user to get a quote in a few seconds, this new website is going to be of great benefit to all our customers and clients.”www.triplee.ltd4Issue: 328news9RG Jones Celebrates VE 75VE Day was an event of particular significance for RG Jones. It is 75 years since founder Reginald Jones provided public address systems for the VE Day celebrations in London. It must have been an extraordinary experience to be involved in such an historical event; Britain and her Allies formally accepted Nazi Germany’s unconditional surrender after nearly six years of war.Long-serving RG Jones veteran Simon Honywill and Robin Jones said of their recollections: “The gig was great, very exciting as the atmosphere was really buzzing and the crowd was massive. The planes flying down The Mall was really memorable. It was one of those moments when you knew you were really involved in something totally unified. Amazing really.” Fifty years later, in 1995, RG Jones’ crew returned to continue the company’s legacy providing audio for the performance in front of the palace – the massed bands were on the forecourt, the stage was built in the central gate and featured Dame Vera, Harry Secombe and Cliff Richard. FOH was on the Victoria Memorial in the middle of the roundabout, clearly visible in the video.Simon Honywill recalls: “The only way we could make it work was by running the multis and mains under the road. Fortunately, there were ducts in place, but they hadn’t been used for decades and nobody knew exactly where they terminated in the palace forecourt. This resulted in the Royal Ferret Handler being summoned – true story! He came along with his ferrets and sent them down the ducts with a draw line attached to their harnesses. His colleague waited in the forecourt to see where they appeared and caught them. One of the ducts was blocked so were only able to use one. This ultimately meant the only way we could get signal between FOH and the stage was by removing the connectors from the 12 pair Socapex multis, running them through and then re-soldering them.“We put four stacks of Renkus CE3T on towers along the forecourt railings to cover about 500,000 people; it worked if you were within about 75m of the fence.“The biggest surprise was during the site visit. Myself and Sue Banner (show caller and general legend) went to a meeting at the Palace with Major Sir Michael Parker. Because we went in with him we waltzed through security as if we lived there, and were led up to the Japanese Room, where there was a large table and loads of beautiful Japanese furniture and art – not surprisingly.“We discussed the way the thing would work, and then came the appearance of the Royal Family on the balcony for the crowds and the flypast. It became obvious that we were going to have to get some form of monitoring up to the balcony for them to know what was going on, and Michael then said “well take a look Simon” and threw open the doors that were behind some heavy curtains and pushed me through, closely followed by Sue. We were standing there, on the very same balcony where they have all stood since Buckingham Palace has been there, both of us initially like rabbits in headlights, but very soon we were waving to all the tourists who were cheering and shouting back. Hilarious! The upshot of this was Tim Meyer scaling the front of the Palace like a burglar, traversing the front wall in climbing harness with a cable for the monitor. Any other occasion he would have been shot.“The gig was great, very exciting as the atmosphere was really buzzing and the crowd was massive. The planes flying down The Mall was really memorable. It was one of those moments when you knew you were really involved in something totally unified. Amazing really.”Reginald’s son Robin Jones took over the company after his father passed away in 1987. Robin has been instrumental at curating our history archives and has also been transcribing records from the sought after Oak Records; a highly collectable record collection created by RG Jones Studios. Robin recently transcribed audio for a client from a 78 of the Loafers Dance Band; recorded by RGJ in March 1945 at a victory celebration dance at the old Epsom Baths (they boarded over the baths to turn it into a dance hall). Robin added: “My father also provided sound reinforcement for C.O.L Military Band Lunch Hour Concerts held on steps of St Pauls’ Cathedral during war to raise morale. The concerts were so popular they continued every Thursday many years after the war ended, into the late 1990s”.Avolites unleash Q-Series Media Servers to Power Every PerformanceAvolites has announced its full range of Q Series media servers, designed to meet all pixel processing needs for every performance and project, along with Ai v12.1 release with the Pioneer PRO DJ LINK Bridge integration software. The full line-up of media servers includes the Q3, Q3pro, Q4 and Qgen, giving the complete solution to power every performance.Video content and projection mapping have become major components in many performances and installations and with Avolites’ Synergy feature set, integrating video into designs has become even easier. Hence, the next step for Avolites was to create the ideal hardware to complement its powerful Ai software.“Seeing the projects and shows Ai has been used on made us realise we needed to provide servers powerful enough to meet the creative vision of our users.” says Ciaran Abrams, Avolites, Ai lead developer.The Q3 Pro is the perfect portable server for the more demanding shows with two 4K outputs and one HD along with EDID managed HDMI outputs.The Q4 gives the power to deliver breath taking detail with four 4K outputs and flexible input modules so users can design the server to meet the most demanding needs.With the rise in use of interactive real-time generative content providers like Notch, the Qgen is designed to deliver stunning graphics with three 4K outputs and a powerful Nvidia graphics card that can deliver approximately 30,000 Notch marks + 2 year Notch play back licence.“We worked with our customers to understand what technology and features matter to them, seeing these now developed into the new Q Series range is very exciting, and is just the start for where we see future of the Q Series.” Says Paul Wong, Avolites managing director.In this release the key feature updates include:• 64 bit architecture, allowing Ai to support the latest Notch blocks for dynamic, generative content. Ai v12.1 will now only work on 64bit versions of Windows and support 64 bit Synergy and USB Expert. • AMD Texture Upload which will allow additional layers when used in conjunction with an AMD graphics card.• Supports audio standards 5.1 and 7.1 providing additional audio channels, ideal for corporate events and art installations.• Pioneer PRO DJ LINK Bridge integration. As an official partner of Pioneer DJ Avolites has developed a tight integration with PRO DJ Link Bridge compatible products such as the CDJ-TOUR1, DJM-TOUR1, CDJ-2000NXS2, and DJM-900NXS2.For full details of all the features in this release visit https://www.avolites.com/software/latest-versionwww.avolites.comNext >