So I get this call from Upstaging Lighting last week. They want to do a demo of their vast array of equipment to their clients during the Christmas time. They have asked me to put together a system that shows off the latest lighting and video toys they own.
I also find that it's much easier if you have access to all of the channels to control a fixture through a channel handle rather… Read More »Direct Access
Read More »Well this has absolutely nothing to do with lights, it has to do with this win streak I've seemed to acquire over the last 30 years. It seems that whatever town/state I move to, their NFL team becomes a winner.
Read More »Any live TV productions, and now most game shows, are filled with automated lights. Be sure to record the production and read the credits to… Read More »Gaining Inspiration
Read More »
PLSN Talks to B&D Lighting Designer/ Director Larry Boster
“The video content was produced by Marcia Kapuspin and Marcus Lyall. Both are very creative and artistic. Media Visions Entertainment was the video company. They have been with the Brooks & Dunn family for just about as many years as I have.”
“Bandit Lites is the lighting company and have been the entire time I’ve been on board with Brooks & Dunn. As a matter of fact, Mike Golden and Michael Strickland handed me this account. Thanks guys!”
Read More »
Who: Robert “Bob” Belanger, vice president sales & rental, Show Distribution Group Inc.
What: Sales and rentals of the ChainMaster variable- and fixed-speed hoists, as well as Prolyte roof, truss and stage systems.
Where: Leon-Harmel, Quebec, Canada
When: Founded in 1999.
Read More »I know you’ve seen the numbers, those little incrementing digits that appear on the video screen now and then — sometimes by accident, some-times on purpose. You’ve also run across them on many types of professional gear, including editing systems, videotape recorders, media servers, audio boards and even lighting consoles.
Read More »Ed Sullivan’s famous catch phrase takes on a new level of import as the theatrical performance industry reaches for ever-more-complex produc-tions. Just loading in the paraphernalia for the new show Fuerzabruta at the Daryl Roth Theater in New York in October, it looked as though it would require the services of more than a couple of tractor trailers proceeded by cars announcing, “Wide load coming through.” It took a 45-man crew 15 hours to bring in a 20-foot flying curtain and an oversized treadmill, in addition to a 45-foot, clear-bottom swimming pool that, secured to the ceiling, would hover above the audience.
Read More »(No, we’re not talking about shipping.)
Scenario A: It’s 3:00 a.m. You’re in the middle of an all-night programming session, and your console seems to be freaking out every few minutes. You, in turn, are freaking out too.
Scenario B: It’s ten in the morning. You’re thirty minutes into a corporate event, and you suddenly lose control of your rig. Someone eventually notices that the DMX optical isolator at dimmer beach is dead. You feel like you might lose control of your bowels.
Scenario C: It’s 8:00 p.m. The headline act of your outdoor festival has just launched into its first song. The lighting system seems to dim momentarily, and then your board suddenly reboots. You feel like your heart has rebooted as well.
Any one of these problems probably could have been prevented with a piece of equipment called a UPS (or Uninterruptible Power Supply). The primary intent of a UPS is to provide constant — or uninterrupted — power to an electrically powered device. It’s basically a battery pack for your sensitive electronics.
Read More »
[Few people are as qualified to write a product review about media servers as Vickie Claiborne. She has been a freelance programmer for a long time, and she has worked on many high-profile productions. In the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that she does conduct training seminars on the Maxedia for Martin. – ed.]
The Martin Maxedia is a powerful DMX512-controllable media server capable of handling a wide variety of digital media, including still images, video clips, 3D graphics, text, audio and more. The flexibility of the Maxedia’s digital video signal means that it will output to most types of display devices, including LED walls and digital projectors.
Read More »
With the introduction of the Alpha line several years ago, Clay Paky began an earnest push to reinvigorate its fixture offerings. Combined with an overhauled U.S.-based sales and support team, it has resulted in renewed brand awareness in North America and around the world. The newest addition to the Alpha line, the Alpha Profile 1200 moving yoke fixture is a direct answer to the framing shutter systems incorporated into the massively popular VL3500 Spot and MAC 2000 Performance fixtures.
Read on to see how the Alpha Profile 1200 stacks up.
Read More »
If you know the lighting industry, you know Genesis as much for the band’s production values as for its music. In the early 1980s, the group was instrumental in the development of the first commercially available automated lighting system, the Vari*Lite VL1, by providing the funds and the impetus for its delivery. For that reason, Lighting Designer Patrick Woodroffe cites the band’s “history of putting on big, spectacular light shows” as one of the main reasons he enthusiastically approached the design for the latest tour, Turn It on Again. He and Stage Designer Mark Fisher knew that they were dealing with “people who were knowledgeable, experienced and prepared to support a big venture…with both money and commitment,” according to Woodroffe. But they also knew it would come with challenges.
Read More »