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Ted Sydor: Projecting His Own Path at the Met

Sydor, an animator, helped the Met make the leap to digital imagery

Ted Sydor: Projecting His Own Path at the Met

Edmund “Ted” Sydor is an old-school analog man working in a digital world. Originally a stop-motion animator, he is now the projections supervisor for the Metropolitan Opera, and he is applying his offline, old school know-how to a brave new digital realm for both himself and his employers. “It’s the new fancy tool in the toolbox,” he acknowledges. “Half of our new productions this season have a major video component in them.” Over the years, he has played a major role in shaping the Met’s video imperative, learning and growing on the job.

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PLSN in 2000 and in 2015

PLSN Celebrates 15 Years

For a 15th Anniversary, apparently it’s appropriate to give crystal. We’ll demur, but it’s crystal clear that it has been a grand and successful adventure — one that promises to continue many years to come. Of course, we got here with a lot of help and support from our advertisers, some of whom were with us from the very beginning.

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Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour (c) Steve Jennings

Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour 2014-2015

For her 2014-15 Prismatic world tour, Katy Perry treats her loyal fans to an extravaganza of visual and musical delights. In support of her fourth studio album Prism, the show has it all — a prism LED wall along with a huge pyramid shaped extended B-stage, pyro, lasers, Katy flying through the air, and it wouldn’t be a show without cats, a Perry staple. Along the way, there are some neon scenes, an Egyptian horse and lots more to delight the eyes.

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Lecrae (c) Daniel Routh, Daniel Routh Photography

LabeLive & Lecrae: A Production Company Unites with an Artist to Step Up His Tour

Nashville and the phrase professional songwriting are practically synonymous. The city’s importance to contemporary and traditional American country music is undeniable and self-evident. But in recent years, Nashville has experienced an influx of recording artists of all stripes, positioning the capital of the Volunteer State as an emerging force in the live-event industry.

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Lighting the Los Angeles Auto Show: No-Nonsense Moving Light Gets the Job Done

Held Nov. 21-30 at the L.A. Convention Center, the Los Angeles Auto Show (LAAS) is one of the most influential auto shows in the world. Production companies TLS Productions, Inc. and Christie Lites client Creative Technology played a major role at the event, using nearly 2,000 Elation Design PARs to light cars and scenic elements for some of the world’s top car brands.

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GLP is celebrating 20 years

GLP Marks Two Decades of Growth

One of the great joys of writing features about the professional lighting industry is getting to talk to people who, even after decades in the business, are still very enthusiastic and excited about their work. Mark Ravenhill is one of those. At 44 he is the president of the U.S. operations of German Light Products, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. He speaks with the fervor of someone three weeks into a dream job, though he began his career in the light brigade at age 16, fresh out of the British equivalent of high school. “It’s all I’ve ever done,” the Southampton, England native explained.

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PixelFlex FLEXCurve (c) J Zocco

PixelFlex FLEXCurve

The idea of curving video walls is nothing new. I have watched as video crews spend countless hours trying to rig straight pieces of video tiles at angles, usually in a vain attempt to get a seamless, curved video wall. Techs spent the day messing around with this game of millimeters by using rulers, changing rigging, nudging pieces a hair, adding clamps, and eventually they would kind of achieve what they were looking for. Now I’m not saying this was bad, but I always wondered why there wasn’t an easy way to do this. Couldn’t someone physically engineer a product to do this without the rigmarole? Well, apparently so.

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The Saber 500 with diffuser

Upstaging Saber LED

Today, I’m playing with a brand new video strip just released by Upstaging Inc., based in Sycamore, IL out of the Chicago area. This stealthy, thin slice of LED packs a punch and is perfect for almost any application. They can easily be mounted to anything on display, from temporary stage sets and truss to permanent installations including museums and storefronts.

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Rogue RH1 Hybrid from CHAUVET Professional

Chauvet Professional Rogue RH1 Hybrid

The Rogue RH1 Hybrid is one of Chauvet Professional’s latest offerings in the fast-growing area of hybrid fixtures — fixtures that fulfill more than one “traditional” role in a lighting rig, be that wash, hard-edge projector, or beam fixture. I spent a few afternoons playing with this new beam / spot hybrid light to see what this new fixture from Chauvet Professional can do.

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