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The new design for the Center Bar at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel and Casino incorporates 267 ÉPIX Strip 2.0 LED linear fixtures from Chauvet Professional. Photo by Erik Kabik.

Under the Dome

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas’ Famed Center Bar Goes Full Circle

Twenty years ago, the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas introduced the concept of situating a bar at the very center of the casino, where guests could scope out the action on the floor while drinking. The idea hit the jackpot, and the layout was copied all over the city.

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Dancing with the Stars photo by Eric Hansen

‘Dancing with the Stars’ Lighting Director Matthew Cotter

It’s probably a little early for a retrospective on Matthew Cotter. He is, after all, only 35. But his 18-year career in entertainment lighting has been illustrious and illustrative. He first saw the light in the late 1990s as a student in Huntington Beach (CA) High School’s magnet program in theatrical production. A classmate’s father worked for a lighting supplier called PLS and would bring in examples of lighting gear that was newfangled at the time: Intellabeams, Martin PALs, Vari*Lites, a Wholehog 1, and several iterations of a Microstar.

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Henderson Hills Baptist Church updated its traditional services with dappled, textured looks. Photos by Hal Holland

Henderson Hills Baptist Church

Historic Church Renovates with New Lighting Technology

Located in Edmond, OK, Henderson Hills Baptist Church is nestled among the trees and rolling hills in the region. With a history that dates back to December 1959, HHBC has expanded to serve its growing congregation over the decades. The church’s members moved into their present, more spacious facility on April 25, 2004.

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The multipurpose Two70 venue offers a 270-degree ocean view during the day. Photo courtesy Atmospheres

Smooth Sailing

Video Content Enhances Upscale Atmosphere Aboard Anthem of the Seas

Anthem of the Seas joins Quantum on the world’s high seas, as Royal Caribbean International (RCI) completes the second of its three ultra-technological cruise ship wonders known as “Smart Ships” (See “Smart Sailing,” PLSN, June 2015, page 46). Once again Christopher Vlassopulos, superintendent of Stage, Lighting and Video for RCI, designed and coordinated specification for all the entertainment equipment in the ship’s public spaces. With an eye to duplicate the success of Quantum, Vlassopulos called upon the same team of vendors.

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Miranda Lambert tour photo by Ben Dickmann courtesy MooTV

Moo TV

When Scott Scovill joined up with a U2 tour years ago, he had no idea that his relationships and industry acumen would lead to the creation of one of the industry’s most respected video supply houses. Naming the company as a play on the title of U2’s later “Zoo TV” tour, he’d go on to create a company whose name in our industry commands instant recognition — Moo TV.

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Hog 4 Plots View

Hog4 Plots, Pixel Mapping and the Media Picker

Let me start by saying that, as some of you may know, I was the console training manager for High End Systems for many years — up to and through the launch of the Hog 3 platform. Because of that, it’s safe to say I’ve taught hundreds of classes on the Hog OS. And that makes it especially ironic that, in 2015, I’d be finding myself in a Hog4 training class again, but this time as a student. In the class, I had the opportunity to work with several new features, but the ones in particular I’d like to focus on here are Plots and the integration of the Media Picker.

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TourPro Crystal Display 3+ distributed by SHS Global (front view)

TourPro Crystal Display 3+

 New Panels Distributed by SHS Global

There was a time in the not-so-distant past that video walls, let alone “LED” video walls, were a complete luxury reserved only for those with big-enough wallets. I remember (not fondly, mind you) setting up huge rear-projection cube-based cabinets that took up an entire truck for what amounted to a 10-by-14-foot surface. We’d manually tweak the pincushion graph settings (red, green and blue) on each cube until a barely passable picture would emerge on a not-so-bright rear surface that was four feet deep and weighed thousands of pounds. There was one particular time when….oh crap! It was only a dream! Whew….let me wipe the sweat off and get a hold of myself.

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Front and back views of the Ascender 48-4K switcher from Analog Way.

Analog Way Ascender 48-4K

One of the big challenges for the AV switching market is to find the right combo of just how much to put in a switcher and what to leave out. There are plenty of single-space, MIMO-type boxes out there, but invariably you’ll end up having to use a bunch of adapters and powered mini-converters to get the job done.

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Martin VDO Sceptron Family. The video strip fixtures are available in a range of lengths and resolutions with easy-to-add diffuser options.

Martin VDO Sceptron Family

I am checking out Martin’s latest video product, the VDO Sceptron 10. The fixture is a single strip of LEDs built into a 1-meter sturdy aluminum frame. The VDO in the name stands for video, as in the RGB LEDs used in the fixture are the same type used in LED video tiles. The #10 dictates the pixel pitch of this particular fixture (as in 10mm).

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Elation Platinum FLX

Elation Platinum FLX

Today the industry is producing large numbers of LED based fixtures, but I’m proud to present a new fixture in a trending new fixture class. Elation Professional has recently released its newest member of the Platinum Series, the Platinum FLX.

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Chauvet Professional Strike 4

Chauvet Professional Strike 4

The Strike 4 swings into the fall season as a breath of fresh air in the world of blinders. Easily taking the place of a typical Mole Fey type fixture, this fixture does all those old models could — but so much more. And it’s sexy.

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