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LED Curtain Math Class

John Legend performed at the Aria resort’s MJCI VIP party, animated by layers of PixelFLEX LED curtain.

LED Curtain Math Class

Good morning class, does everyone have a calculator? Today’s lesson is about calculating the center point of an image so we can align two LED curtains hung with space in between with different pixel pitches so that the image of one continues onto the second cleanly. The trick is to calculate where the center point is and work outward to find the starting pixel of the image. What follows is an example of how to work that math.

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Knowledge of rigging protects everyone involved.

Rigging Certification: Is It Right for You?

In my travels on Facebook, I happened upon J.R. Clancy’s “Scary Rigging Photo of the Week” page. The (anonymous, to protect the guilty) pictures there capture gasp-worthy rigging situations — rigging setups so obviously dangerous it’s hard to believe they even happen; and yet they do. It cemented even more firmly in my mind the value of a good rigger. But how do you know who is a good rigger? Well, an obvious answer is someone who is been certified in rigging by an independent, accredited organization. I had heard about the Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) in rigging, and seeing those photos made me decide to take a closer look.

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Philips Vari-Lite VL3015LT Spot

Philips Vari-Lite VL3015LT Spot

The “LT” in Philips Vari-Lite’s new VL3015LT Spot stands for “long throw,” and one of the first things you will notice about this fixture is brightness, along with a zoom range tailor made for long throw applications. With an improved output running at 1650 watts using a 1500W Osram double-ended short arc lamp, the VL3015LT Spot combines some of Vari-Lite’s latest technologies with features that designers have been relying on for years with fixtures like the VL3000 and VL3500 spots.

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Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330

Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330

Before 2010, if a lighting crew member said “sharpy,” it was probably in reference to a black felt pen (i.e., a Sharpie). Those felt-tip markers are still around, but these days, so are a lot of Sharpys — Clay Paky’s compact, lightweight and quick moving light fixtures with distinctively bright and hard-edged beams. Last fall, at LDI 2012, Clay Paky launched its Sharpy Wash 330, a little more than two years after the company’s original Sharpy fixture made its big debut at PLASA 2010 in London.

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Hoop Stand from Apollo Design Technology

Hoop Stand from Apollo Design Technology

For floor-mounted fixtures, one of the last things we think of is the actual floor base we typically use — until we get to the gig and notice that it’s missing. I can’t count the number of times floor bases have missed the truck! It can be an honest mistake, of course. But someone back at the shop is going to get an earful. To help keep that mistake from happening, Apollo Design Technology has come up with a simple, lightweight and portable design for a highly stable floor stand that can easily fit into any cramped road case, the Hoop Stand.

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Bigger Fish, Same Pond

After a big meal, you want some time to digest. That’s what mega-lighting entity Philips has done after a six-year tear of acquisitions, including its purchase of LED lighting system manufacturer Color Kinetics (announced in June 2007) and solid-state lighting technology company TIR Systems (March 2007). Then, in 2008, Philips acquired The Genlyte Group, an entity which had previously acquired JJI Lighting Group (May 2006), the U.S.- and Hong Kong-based operations of Strand Lighting (July 2006) and, a few years earlier, Vari-Lite (2002).

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LD Jim Tetlow lit this GM display

LDs at Auto Shows: The Car’s The Star

Some LDs seek out assignments during the cold-weather off season for outdoor concert touring. Michael Keller, LD for Ozzy Osbourne and other touring artists, has worked with the auto shows on and off for more than 20 years with titles ranging from designer to master electrician.  This year, Keller was involved with NAIAS in Detroit, LAAS in Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Auto Show, the St. Louis Auto Show, and CIAS in Chicago.

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Illustration by Andy Au

The Big Picture

Teamwork. It’s a big word. Everyone nods their head and agrees that, on any show, big or small, it’s about the teamwork. But lately I’ve been wondering why so many people in our business don’t really practice what they preach. Don’t get me wrong, I watch them work their butts off, doing great at the task they have been assigned. But the minute they are done with that, they are out of there. Gone from the arena. Waiting for that silly inconvenience between the load in and the load out (the show), to be done.

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Barco LiveDots C8

Barco LiveDots C8

Barco LiveDots’ new C8 joins the company’s C-series of LED displays. The new C8, “typhoon tested” for outdoor use, has a pixel pitch of 8.33 mm and 5,000 nits brightness. Also designed to withstand exposure to vibration, varying temperatures and UV rays as well as water and dirt, C8 is compatible with the same image processing, software and peripherals that support other C-series LED displays.

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American DJ Mega GO Flood Par

American DJ Mega GO Flood Par

ADJ’s Mega GO Flood Par is a battery powered, low profile LED Par Can with RGB color mixing and a 120° beam angle for stage or wall washing. The rechargeable lithium batteries let users position the fixtures anywhere. They are particularly well-suited for short, wide wall washing and backlighting of scrim. The SMD (Surface Mount Diode) LEDs, which are rated at 50,000 hours of use, have a maximum power draw of 18W.

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Ayrton MagicPanel 602

Ayrton MagicPanel 602

Ayrton’s MagicPanel 602 has 36 15W RGBW LEDs with high-output 7.5° 45-mm optics, and the fixtures also feature continuous double rotation in Pan and Tilt mode. Consuming 600W, the fixtures offer an overall luminous flux in excess of 14,000 lumens. 4G Ayrton technology gives users individual control of each LED source in expanded Full Color mode. The fixture can be used in groups to display letters or graphics via ArKaos Kling-Net or DMX RDM via its XLR connectors.

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