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High End Systems SolaFrame 750

High End Systems SolaFrame 750

Automated framing shutters on moving lights were once not as common as they are today. The most popular framing-shutter fixture in existence is probably the venerable ellipsoidal reflector spotlight, but motorized framing shutters remained a somewhat uncommon feature on automated lights for many years. This month, I’m looking at the newest member of the High End Systems SolaFrame family, the SolaFrame 750, to see how its feature set stacks up in the world of framing shutter moving lights.

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My Friend, Audio

I have this weird friend named Audio. We’ve worked very closely together for a while now. When we’re dialed in, life is great. Everything just sort of clicks, you know? Usually everyone is really cool when we get along. If I just disappear, most people can still say that they weren’t totally dissatisfied. At least they can say they heard something. But if Audio goes away while I’m on, people flip out. They flip out more when we are both there, but out of sync. We’re still friends, and that’s all that matters, really.

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Oregon Symphony’s Music for the Eyes

Millennials, now the largest single demographic in the world, have not gravitated en masse to the concert halls frequented by their parents and grandparents. But the Oregon Symphony — the oldest continually operating symphony in the western U.S. — is not just any orchestra. With its optimistic slogan, “Moving Music Forward,” the symphony has embraced the goal of attracting new audience members with innovative visual presentations integrated with music.

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Touchdown in Times Square

Part themed attraction, part museum exhibit, “The NFL Experience,” located in New York City’s Times Square, is a new permanent interactive football experience for both the die-hard and casual fans of the game. The NFL, working with the Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, have created a multi-floor experience where visitors come in as if they were a new player in the league.

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Hand Tools

Having the ultimate set of hand tools can make you the most popular tech on a tour. It also means you will constantly be updating your kit with newer models as you replace the tools that were permanently borrowed, as well as all the expendables (screws, rivets, tape) exhausted. PLSN reached out to several online forums to ask what tool was their most indispensable.

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NAMM Gets a Video Assist

At the 2018 NAMM Show, held at the Anaheim Convention Center Jan. 25-28, one of the main attractions for the 115,085 attendees was the Yamaha Grand Plaza Stage. Mega Systems provided providing screen panels and processing units for the stage, which featured performances from Andy Grammer, OK Go and Michael McDonald to Lindsey Stirling, Butch Walker and Sam Moore.

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Absen X3v Mobile Indoor/Outdoor Video Panel

Absen’s The X3v (and its sister panels, the X2v and X5v) are made for mobile production, and they don’t care whether that quick setup and teardown is inside or outdoors. The X3v panel fronts are rated IP65. The rear of the panels rate IP54. So they can stand up to the challenges of an indoor or outdoor show with varying levels of atmospheric obstacles.

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Behind the Scenes at the Junior Theater Festival

The Junior Theater Festival (JTF) is the world’s biggest and best celebration of young people performing musical theater. The event is now produced by Timothy Allen McDonald and iTheatrics. Under the educational and artistic supervision of iTheatrics, JTF brings students, teachers and Broadway professionals from all over the world together for a weekend to celebrate outstanding student musical theater productions.

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A Look at Absen in the USA

Absen opened their headquarters in Orlando with only four employees in 2013. There are now more than 50 employees associated with the subsidiary handling the exponential growth that has taken place over the last three years. Absen’s Gary Fuller, Jeremy Fish and Alison Maxson recently gave PLSN the 411 on their growing company. We also spoke with Evolve Media Group’s Tyler Mayne.

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Porter Robinson’s ‘Virtual Self’ Tour

Pioneering electronic music producer Porter Robinson has teamed up with lighting designer Ben Coker of Orlando’s Zenith Lighting and collaborated with All Access Staging for the 2018 “Virtual Self” Tour. This isn’t your typical EDM blink blitz — Coker, the Porter Robinson team, and All Access Staging have come up with a fully ground-based, modular floor kit with absolutely no front light package.

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SKALAR in Berlin

For Skalar, a large-scale art installation that invites visitors to explore light and sound in an environment that combines the raw industrial beauty of a derelict power station with the scale that brings to mind the soaring interior space of a cathedral, light artist Christopher Bauder and musician/composer Kangding Ray made use of lighting fixtures from Robe.

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