News

LAS VEGAS — After a $25 million facelift, MGM’s Mirage casino relaunched its Volcano attraction, which features a choreographed dance of flames, lighting, fountains and fireballs comparable to WET Design’s other big Strip attraction, the Fountains of Bellagio.

MIAMI BEACH, FL — Energy-guzzling conventional fixtures would have clashed with the shade of green that prevailed at Green Art Fair Miami, part of Art Basel 08 held recently at the Miami Beach Convention Center. So Nick Assunto, CEO of Visual Formula, lit the fair using 82 solar- and biodiesel-powered Chauvet LED wash fixtures instead. The gear included ColoRado 1, ColoRado 3, LEDsplash-2 and Q-Wash LED fixtures.

PITTSBURGH — “Rock ‘n’ Roll Train” is the first track on AC/DC’s Black Ice album, and the set for the band’s first world tour in eight years was designed with a locomotive theme in mind. “The five curved trusses represent the roof beams of a railway station,” said Dave Hill, co-lighting designer, of the 100-foot-wide arches custom made for the tour, used to form a curved array of gear including Coemar Infinity Wash XLs.

Calculated Industries’ Electri-Calc LT is geared to help electricians calculate high amperage values and voltage calculations. It can help pinpoint amps per phase, total watts, copper size, line voltage loss, KVA or KW translations and more. It calculates in all voltages and phases. It works in specific electrical terms and values and uses specialized function keys. Features include the ability to solve electrical math problems, calculate copper or aluminum wire sizes, figure parallel and de-rated wire sizes and calculate average voltage drop and grounding conductor sizes. It works like a regular calculator and has a battery-saving auto shut-off feature. It comes with a users guide, one-year warrantee and vinyl case, and is priced at $49.99.

LOS ANGELES —  Like TV screens themselves, the 60th annual Emmy Awards program went HD in a big way this year. Staged at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, HD images during the event appeared on 15 different screens, including five projection screens, four LED displays and six plasma flat panel displays.

LOS ANGELES — It may not whisper Currier & Ives, but the Christmas tree at Nokia Plaza near Staples Center, switched on by Britney Spears Dec. 4, is heralding the opening of L.A. Live with an intense, pulsing video spectacle called The Light of the Angels. The show links video imagery from the 54-foot-high metal tree’s 11,187 XL Sphere units to 12 surrounding video screens, which are permanently installed. The free spectacle is appearing nightly through Dec. 31.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Once Upon A Dream, one of the shows playing in repertoire for guests on Princess Cruises’ 3,080-passenger Ruby Princess, which launched in November, requires moving walls to transform the set into a variety of different shapes and sizes — all on the high seas, of course.

CLEVELAND — When the newly renovated Hanna Theatre reopened earlier this fall, the moving set pieces for the opening production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth were lifted by 48 PowerLift Automated Hoists, which were provided by J. R. Clancy, Inc. and installed by Beck Studios.

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The intersection of I-25 and I-40, called the “Big-I,” is getting more eye-appeal after dusk with a landscape lighting project controlled with the help of W-DMX from Wireless Solutions. The project, a joint effort funded by the state of New Mexico and the city of Albuquerque, lights walls, trees and art pieces using a single W-DMX wireless transmitter and multiple W-DMX receivers.

WARSAW, IN — Da-Lite Screen Company named Wendy Long as the company’s vice president of marketing.  Long began her career at Da Lite15 years ago. After serving as sales partner, Long was named product manager, and, in 2006, director of marketing.