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Mad Mapping with Syphon

To use Siphon, place a media file in the media bin inside VDMX…

Mad Mapping with Syphon

Recently, I began experimenting with ideas for an event that will involve video onto a building, walls, and other 3D objects. Hoping to be able to use the MBox Extreme, I set up a system and proceeded to create a 3D model of a building with windows using 3D object creation software. Once the model was built, I loaded it into MBox and was easily able to add movies and images to the object with no fancy setup required.

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Laser Projecters are Coming

The Lasers Are Coming! (To a Theater Near You)

In the events biz, it’s no secret that COE (Cost Of Ownership) is an ongoing issue. There’s one area in particular that rings up the cash register on a regular basis — namely, xenon lamp replacement. Whether the projector’s part of the rental inventory or permanently installed in a theater, it’s the same situation. In terms of lamp runtime, at somewhere between 600 and 2000 hours, the lamp needs to be replaced — and the cost (per lamp) for these little hand-made high-pressure xenon beauties can top $1,000, depending on the wattage. And speaking of COE, we’ll disregard the fact (for now) that each time you light that 7K lamp, another turbine has to spin up at Hoover Dam.

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Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio, front view

Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Studio

Tapeless storage has been making some rapid advances in recent years as the need for speed and quality increases.  More and more, we’re asked to be able to record gigs not only for archive or artist review, but to have that session available for edit as rapidly as possible. While workflows on set or at the gig will vary greatly, the ability to capture the highest quality imagery with the least amount of hassle is paramount.  With the advent of super-fast SSDs and flash memory, this is getting easier and easier.

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NanoLumens NanoFlex screen

NanoLumens NanoFlex Screen

NanoFlex, NanoLumens’ new flexible LED display, breaks all of the rules of LED technology: it’s lightweight, thin, and can be flexed into concave or convex configurations, making it well-suited for digital signage and scenic applications where standard LED products just wouldn’t work.

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Swisson RDM Controller and DMX Tester

Swisson RDM Controller and DMX Tester

Swisson recently introduced the latest version of their hand-held, battery-operated DMX tester, the XMT-350. It might not give you the power to control everything in the universe, but it will give you the ability to control and test most everything in your rig — including an entire universe of DMX data. And it runs off a 9V battery.

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PLCyc LED Luminaire from Philips Strand Selecon

PLCyc LED Luminaire from Philips Strand Selecon

Philips Strand Selecon has come up with a unique product in the PLCyc LED Luminaire. The fixture utilizes various aspects of new technologies to elegantly and efficiently light cycloramas. When I first heard about this unit, I had a mixed reaction — “No way can this do what they claim,” coupled with, “Wow, someone has finally come up with the right solution.”

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Ayrton Wildsun 500

Ayrton Wildsun 500

I am staring at perhaps the coolest LED moving head on the planet. Ayrton, the French lighting manufacturer, has released the latest advance in LED technology. In extended mode, the operator has individual control of four separate rings of RGBW modules exposed in a circular array — 31 individual 13W, flicker-free LED modules that give out a collective 10,000-lumen punch; blindingly bright.

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Don’t Just Trash Old Lamps, Recycle Them!

I like to imagine a day in the not-too-distant future where I’m sitting in a rocking chair watching the world drift past my front porch with my grandson on my knee. I’ll tell him of my adventures in the theater, where I once cleaned up Jell-O molds for people with blue faces, and worked at dizzying heights with only a harness for protection. He’ll be baffled by the idea of the Blue Man Group surely, and by the time I have a grandson I expect jet pack technology will have surely come to fruition.

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Should LDs Have Managers?

One of the remarkable growth areas in the entertainment business in the last decade has been management of record producers and mixers. New shops popping up and consolidations of existing ones have increasingly crowded the big companies in that space, such as Nettwerk and World’s End. So I wondered, where are the managers who want to manage the careers of lighting designers, stage designers, video designers and the rest of the staged-arts disciplines? I’m still wondering.

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The Secret World of LED Color

The popularity of LED lighting has certainly taken ahold of our industry, and nearly every production now incorporates some form of LED-source products. Many wash lights are being replaced with LED fixtures, and now even LED ellipsoidals and automated spots are beginning to emerge from the major manufacturers. All these products generally operate very similarly to other automated luminaires, however there are important color differences that must be considered by an automated lighting programmer.

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Def Leppard Rock of Ages tour - photo Debi Moen

Phay & “Phamily” on Def Leppard, Flying Carrie Underwood, Nomadic LDs and More

It’s hours before showtime at Def Leppard’s Rock of Ages tour. They will soon take the stage with “Photograph,” “Pour Some Sugar On Me,” “Armageddon It” and other hits — with the bands Poison and Lita Ford opening. Hanging in catering with production manager Phay MacMahon, one catches up with MacMahon’s evolution in the industry.

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