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Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio Pro HD Switcher

Blackmagic Design ATEM Television Studio Pro HD Switcher

Video switchers are not sexy. At least the smaller frames. Let’s face it, in terms of sheer eye candy, small event video switchers take a back seat to their audio and lighting cousins.

It’s a general rule that the larger the console, the more bells and whistles and consequently more blinky lights and buttons. The smaller fare is basic because they tend to be more utility than glam. There’s only so much you can fit in a frame anyway.

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Wiess Energy Hall within the Houston Museum of Natural Science has become a showcase for advanced projection-mapping techniques. RabCup used Green Hippo technologies met the complex projection needs. Photos courtesy Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Bringing Energy City to Life

The most comprehensive energy exhibit in the world, the Wiess Energy Hall, opened Nov. 20 in the Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS). More than two years in the making, the highlight of the exhibit is Energy City, a 2,500-square-foot 3D landscape designed and fabricated by Paul Bernhard Exhibit Design and Consulting (PBE), the design company selected to create the
Wiess Energy Hall.

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Martin MAC Encore Performance

Martin MAC Encore Performance

I recently got a chance to test the Martin MAC Encore Performance fixtures from Harman, which are available in two versions — the WRM, or “warm” version, and CLD, or “cold” version. (As of last month’s LDI, Martin added the MAC Encore Wash, also in warm and cool versions, but here, I’ll just focus on the two versions of the MAC Encore Performance.) After playing with the Performance, I concluded that it is perfect for working with cameras.

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Ultra-high-res projection-mapping extends from four to eight of the venue’s proscenium arches, and all native 14,000-by-14,000 pixels were mapped for the FOH projection. Photos courtesy Radio City/MSG.

NYC’s Radio City Christmas Show Gets Even More Spectacular

Since it premiered in 1933, the annual Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes has always wowed the New York City crowds taking a break from gawking at the big tree and window-shopping the holiday offerings lining the streets near New York’s Rockefeller Center. But the 2017 show can make a credible claim to being the most spectacular show to date, with an assist from a complete technical overhaul that includes a new 8K LED video wall and 14K digital projection-mapping extending to all eight of Radio City Music Hall’s iconic prosceniumarches.

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The company started out as Bay Fireworks, and aerial shell displays are still an important part of their business.

Pyro Engineering

Fireworks Company Now Offers Broad Array of Pyro, Lasers and Special Effects

We recently sat down with Dennis Brady, the CEO of Pyro Engineering, an effects company with main headquarters located in Bethpage, NY, a New York City suburb on Long Island. He introduced us to a company that has been blowing up explosives for more than 30 years and providing other thrilling effects in recent years.

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The show is a mix of timecode and manually-triggered lights. Pictured here, GLP impression X4 Wash fixtures can be seen lighting the stage. All photos by Kevin M. Mitchell

Mary J Blige ‘Strength of a Woman’ Tour

LD Ryan Williams Brings Arena-Style Lighting to Theater-Sized Show

Ryan Williams launched an arena-style look made for a theater tour — and at the Mary J. Blige Sept. 13 show in St. Louis’ Fabulous Fox 4,500-seat theater, he did it impressively. “The Fox is an intimate space, but believe me, we have been in even smaller venues,” William says. “We rig for where we’re at. Overall, this tour rig is a little modest compared to her normal arena tours, but it packs a bit of a punch.”

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Queen + Adam Lambert 2017 tour photos by Steve Jennings

Queen + Adam Lambert World Tour 2017

Queen + Adam Lambert are back on tour and it also happens to be the 40th Anniversary of the News of the World album, which is nicely tied into the concept of the show. We talked to two key individuals who both have history with the band from previous Queen tours, lighting designer & director Rob Sinclair and set designer Ric Lipson of Stufish.

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Sound guys can benefit, too - the Console Shade is pictured here on a DiGiCo audio mixer.

The Console Shade

It’s a hot one down here in Tennessee. I’m sweating just watching the local crew drag the control snake out to my lighting desk. The dust rises from the brown grass, the roof on the stage provides no relief from the blistering rays. My front of house platform is someone’s idea of a joke as there’s a plywood floor with some 12-inch truss slammed together around myself and two other operators that wouldn’t protect any of us in a storm. Yup, it’s another long day in a field where I must battle the elements and try my hardest to focus a moving light rig in the sun, before the crowd comes in.

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4Wall OC and 4Wall PA provided the lighting and video for the 2017 NHL All-Star Party

4Wall Entertainment – On the Move

Lighting Rental Company Expands into New Markets and Video, Acquiring Tools and Talent

With rapid growth more than doubling its number of facilities around the U.S. in just a two-year span, Las Vegas-based 4Wall Entertainment is clearly a company on the move — both geographically, and in terms of the expanding array of services it can offer to clients. But those in charge are saying that the growth is more a reflection of the needs of its thousands of clients rather than just growth for growth’s sake.

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