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Randy Robertson Joins Pro Media Marketing

The lighting setup for X Japan at Madison Square Garden

Quick Cues: X Japan, Charli XCX, Bassnectar, Saturday Takeaway and More

X Japan, billed as “the most successful rock band in the history of Japan,” performed a one-off at Madison Square Garden in New York City. LD Peter Morse designed the set and the lighting for the Oct. 11 show, working with production manager Phay MacMahon. “I designed a smaller show for their warm-up concerts in Yokohama, which took place one week prior to the show at the Garden,” said Morse. “The MSG show was shot for DVD, and consisted of 600-plus fixtures, ably programmed via ESP previz by Troy Eckerman and Craig Caserta. We only had one actual day — show day — with the entire rig! So previz was an absolute necessity.”

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Building the Art-Net(work)

Building the Art-Net(work)

Who doesn’t appreciate the power of Art-Net?  Art-Net gives us the ability to manage massive amounts of DMX over a single cable with one controller?  In turn, we can control a ton of fixtures easily from one place which makes programming shows much easier.  However, while Art-Net is an amazingly cool method of control, it adds another hat to the lighting designer — Information technology administrator.  Now, we not only need to think about which gobos overlap best, but also how to make sure that our network of fixtures is running smoothly.

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Picking Up Tricks from Others

Did you go to school? Did you feel that was the end of your education? Lies, I tell you — all lies. I am a firm believer that you never stop your education. Now does that mean that you should be constantly in school or some sort of continuing education system? Hell no. Look at all the veterans in the industry. Many of them never went past high school. What they learned about our industry, they did on the road and on the job.

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Random Thoughts

Many elements of lighting design are built using symmetry; however for every symmetrical system an asymmetrical system is also conceived.  Automated lighting programmers are given the power to create randomness and chaos out of any lighting rig by simply using the tools at hand.  One of the best tools for doing so is working with random values.  Whether contained within the fixtures themselves or a product of the console, random abilities add dynamic excitement to any production such as a color chase or lightning effect.

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Illustration by Andy Au

Boss or Leader?

I had a lighting tech walk up to me one day and ask for some help. He couldn’t find a couple of gel frames that had fallen out of some PARs since the previous evenings’ performance. I asked him if he had any spare gel and frames in the work trunk. “Sure,” he responded. “But my boss will not let me have them because he thinks it’s my fault they disappeared, and he wants me to spend all morning looking for them. That’s why your light rig is still on the ground.” Not wanting to stir up any internal crew conflict, I told him that I wasn’t his boss. He replied, “You may not be the boss, but you’re our leader. Please intervene here.”

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High End Systems Announces Staff Changes

AUSTIN, TX — High End Systems/Barco Lighting Systems announced several staff changes including the departure of Craig Burross and the appointment of Ruediger Haeming, who transfers from the HES European sales team. HES also noted that Bobby Hale will move from engineering to sales in 2015.

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Adrian Plant joins A.C. Lighting

A.C. Lighting Names Adrian Plant to New Sales Rep Post

MONTREAL — A.C. Lighting named Adrian Plant as the company’s Canadian sales representative and North American Prolyte representative, a new position created in response to support growing brands including Prolyte, ArKaos and LedGo. Plant has more than 25 years of entertainment industry experience with companies including Martin Professional, Erikson Pro Audio and Montreal-based SF Marketing.

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QolorFLEX NuNeon from City Theatrical

QolorFLEX NuNeon from City Theatrical

QolorFLEX NuNeon lets users achieve the same visual effects as standard neon lights, with the reliability, brightness, and ease-of-installation of LED lighting. Totally encased in a translucent silicone material, the LEDs read as a continuous light source for a truly neon look. Sold in 50M reels or cut to length, NuNeon lighting is available in Multi-color RGB and Red.

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