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Road Test: ELC Checker, page 30 

PROJECTION 

CONNECTION 

Starts on page 31 

Vol. 11.11 

DEC 

2010 

Pete’s Big TVs, Creative Technologies and 

Rock-it Cargo Help BET TV Show Go On 

Jury Verdict Reached in 

Trial of XLTV vs. Chaos 

Visual Productions 

By Bryan Campbell 

LOS ANGELES — Justice came decisively 

if not swiftly in the landmark case 

of XL Touring Video (XLTV) against John 

Wiseman and Valdis Dauksts of Chaos 

Visual Productions. After 12 days of deliberation 

following a five week trial, the 

Los Angeles Superior Court jury found 

the defendants did not misappropriate 

any alleged trade secrets of XLTV, 

nor did Wiseman breach any fiduciary 

duty owed to XLTV in connection with 

his resignation in November 2008 and 

subsequent establishment of Chaos. 

The plaintiff’s claims of over $11 million 

in direct compensation for lost revenues 

with a further $257,000 for unauthorized 

expenses incurred by Wiseman 

while CEO of XLTV were reduced to an 

award of $23,550. The jury also rejected 

The set for BET Network’s Black Girls Rock 

XLTV’s claims for punitive damages that 

would have pushed the potential liability 

of Wiseman and Dauksts to nearly 

NEW YORK — The BET Network has recently designated Pete’s Big TVs/Performance Video of New Castle, DE, as 

$33 million. The court will re-convene 

their “go to” company for a host of shows. But even a “go to” company sometimes needs to know how to “go to” get 

in December to continued on page 6 

help when the unthinkable happens — like when their equipment does not arrive. 

Black Girls Rock!, taped Oct. 16 at the Bronx’s Paradise Theatre, made its worldwide broadcast debut Nov. 7, but 

before all that could happen, project manager Guy Benjamin needed to clear a few video hurdles. 

“The Paradise was formerly an old movie theatre, beautiful and ornate, but it wasn’t built continued on page 6 

Dean Roney of Solotech Joins 

Parnelli Board of Advisors 

LAS VEGAS — The governing 

Branam Enterprises and All Access Staging Announce Partnership body of the Parnelli Awards 

named Dean Roney of Solotech 

LOS ANGELES — Branam Enterprises, Inc. and All 

Access Staging and Productions, Inc. have forged a 

partnership in the concert touring sector, promising 

concert touring acts, producers, and promoters a “one 

stop Rock shop” for stage design/fabrication and flying/rigging 

systems. 

The new association between the two existing 

companies does not include any changes in ownership, 

and the two companies will continue to operate 

as separate firms, but the new association is also intended 

to enhance production capabilities and service 

from both companies. 

the original Disney Riggers, has been involved in theatrical 

rigging for over 40 years. “I’ve been a big fan of All 

Access since the beginning, and I’m excited to be a part 

of this new chapter in concert touring history,” he said. 

All Access Staging & Productions, Inc. was founded 

in 1991 by Clive Forrester and Erik Eastland and has 

emerged as a prominent provider of set construction 

and staging design, known for its patented Versa line 

of products for both sale and rental. 

“After almost 20 years of building staging and 

sets, it has always been our desire to expand into rigging 

and automation, and I’m elated that the time 

International Touring to the Parnelli 

Board of Advisors. Solotech is 

based in Montreal, with offices in 

Quebec City and Las Vegas. Roney 

has been in the live event business 

for 30 years and has been with Solotech 

since 2008. Based in Las Vegas, 

he is the company’s vice president 

of business development. 

“It is a great honor to be asked 

to join some of the legends in the 

business on the Parnelli Board of 

Advisors,” said Roney. “The Parnelli 

Branam Enterprises founder Joe Branam, one of has come,” Eastland said. “We’re continued on page 10 Awards are continued on page 6 

26 

36 

39 

Fulfilling 

Promises 

Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises 

Stage manager Michael J. 

Passaro shoulders the burden of 

keeping productions like Broadway’s 

Promises, Promises running 

smoothly. But sometimes things 

don’t run like clockwork, and safety 

concerns override the “show must 

go on” ethos. Fortunately, that’s a 

rarity, especially when someone 

like Passaro is running the show, 

and attending to the needs of its 

many moving parts. For more, turn 

to Inside Theatre, page 20. 

Buyers Guide 

Heavy Duty Aluminum Truss. 

The Biz 

When business and academia 

work together. 

Focus on Fundamentals 

Wireless DMX and its glamorous 

Hollywood roots. 

PRO LIGHTING SPACE 

www.ProLightingSpace.com/join

www.plsn.com 

P R O J E C T I O N , L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

DECEMBER 2010 

C O N T E N T S 

WHAT’S HO T 

WHAT’S HO T 

Production Profile 

Greg Shipley and Chris Nathan brought four Vector 

Red consoles along for the ride that was Guns N’ Roses’ 

Chinese Democracy tour. 

Production Profile 

18 

Eric Marchwinski, the LD for Trey Songz’ Passion, Pain & Pleasure 

tour, found pleasure instead of pain with the support provided 

by the lighting company, East Coast Lighting & Production 

Services (ECLPS). 

Features 

20 Inside Theatre 

As Michael J. Passaro, stage manager for 

Broadway’s Promises, Promises can attest, 

automation is on the rise, but the human 

element of theatrical productions is everpresent 

as well. 

26 Buyers Guide 

Some spell it “aluminum” (U.S.); others, 

“aluminium” (U.K.). But far more important 

than the spelling is the task of matching 

the right product to the appropriate use. 

Here’s a look at the heavy-duty end of the 

truss spectrum. 

30 Road Test 

ELC’s Checker Handheld DMX512/RDM 

toolbox begs the question. What, exactly, 

does this 5.69-by-2.9-by-1.75-inch box 

do? Richard Cadena takes a look at the 

many ways this little device can help those 

involved in setting up and troubleshooting 

DMX and RDM networks. 

Columns 

4 Editor’s Note 

If you’re the average of the five people you 

spend the most time with, you’re lucky to 

be in our industry. 

36 The Biz 

The collision between the worlds of 

Business and Academia is not a bad thing 

at all. A case in point: The new Full Sail 

Studios Gateway Project. 

38 Feeding the Machines 

Can you handle something even more 

powerful than the Grand Poobah of the 

Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, Lodge #26? 

Welcome to Grand Master Fader Control. 

39 Focus on Fundamentals 

Linking the dots between a Hollywood 

starlet’s search for information about 

breast enlargement, steering U-boatbound 

WWII torpedoes, frequencyhopping 

spread spectrum refresh rates and 

wireless DMX lighting control. 

44 LD-at-Large 

Playing along with the impromptu musical 

sets of a jam band gives new meaning to 

the expression, “living in the moment.” 

And in those circumstances, two LDs can 

definitely be better than one. 

Departments 

5 News 

8 In Brief 

8 Letters to the Editor 

8 Calendar 

11 International News 

12 On the Move 

14 Product News 

16 Showtime 

31 Projection Connection 

32 Projection Connection News 

34 Projection Connection Product 

News 

24 

Ad info:http:// foh.hotims.com

TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION 

EDITOR’S NOTE 

P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

By RichardCadena 

Five People 

The Publication of Record for the Lighting, 

Staging and Projection Industries 

Publisher 

Terry Lowe 

tlowe@plsn.com 

Here’s an interesting thought 

from the late Jim Rohn, a motivational 

speaker and author: 

“You are the average of the five people 

you spend the most time with.” 

If true, then who are the five people 

with whom you would want to spend 

the most time and why? 

You might want to surround yourself 

with people who are creative, 

intelligent, funny, industrious, determined 

and resourceful. Some of my 

favorite creative people are Frank 

Zappa, Vincent Van Gogh, Claude 

Monet, Andy Warhol and M.C. Escher. 

Of course, none of them are alive today 

so there’s a greater chance that I’ll 

be invited to Prince William’s wedding 

reception than I’ll be hanging out 

with any of them. But in this industry, 

there’s a good chance I could rub 

elbows with designers like Willie Williams, 

Roy Bennett, Jules Fisher, Bruce 

Rodgers, Jonathan Smeeton and Kieran 

Healy. 

Who else would you want to hang 

out with? How about some really intelligent 

people like Albert Einstein, 

Stephen Hawking, Leonardo da Vinci, 

Nikola Tesla and Socrates. But the 

odds of ever having a chance to sip 

tea with Stephen Hawking are, as Carl 

Sagan used to say, billions and billions 

to one against. But I’ve been lucky 

enough to spend some quality time 

with Steve Terry of ETC, Mike Wood of 

Mike Wood Consulting, Professor John 

Huntington of New York City College 

of Technology, Jim Bornhorst of PRG, 

David Cunningham, the inventor of 

the Source Four and Richard Belliveau 

of Barco/High End Systems. 

And who doesn’t like to hang out 

with funny people? Some of my favorites 

are Jon Stewart, Jerry Seinfeld, 

Andy Kaufman, Robin Williams and 

Will Ferrell. I once met Jerry Seinfeld 

on the set of Saturday Night Live, but 

he didn’t seem too interested in looking 

me up the next time he was in 

town. But there are plenty of other 

people I know that keep me in stitches, 

like Steve Shelley, Tim Saunders, 

Robert Mokry, Bill Sapsis and Butch 

Allen. 

And then there are people who 

so are persistent, resourceful and resilient 

that they are studies in human 

achievement. Wouldn’t it have been 

cool to have had the opportunity to 

spend time with Thomas Edison, who 

failed 2000 times before he finally 

found a long-lasting filament for the 

incandescent lamp; Abraham Lincoln, 

who had a number of setbacks before 

becoming president of the U.S.; 

or Django Reinhardt, who lost the 

use of the third and fourth fingers 

on his left hand in a fire when he was 

18, yet he became one of the world’s 

greatest guitarists? When it comes to 

these qualities, you could almost pick 

names of people in our industry at 

random and hold them up as examples 

of persistence, resourcefulness 

and resiliency. I think anyone who 

has pulled an all-nighter to stage a 

show or who has repaired a piece of 

gear from a perch in the truss minutes 

before doors qualifies. Randy 

Pausch, the dying professor who 

inspired the book, The Last Lecture, 

said that entertainment executive 

Jon Snoddy once told him, “Wait 

long enough, and people will surprise 

and impress you.” In our industry 

you don’t have to wait very long. 

If it’s true that you are the average 

of the five people you spend 

the most time with, and you’re 

working in the entertainment production 

industry, then you’re in 

great company. Our industry is 

filled with interesting people who 

bring a road case full of creativity, 

intelligence, humor, determination, 

passion and insight. This is an industry 

where the average person 

is above average and some are off 

the charts. And considering that we 

often spend more time with our coworkers 

than with our own families, 

that’s a heartening thought. That’s 

one of the reasons that most of us 

love our jobs — because it attracts 

the kind of people we like to be 

around. And that even includes our 

audio brethren. 

Richard Cadena can be reached by 

at least five e-mail addresses, but the 

best one to use is rcadena@plsn.com. 

PRO LIGHTING SPACE 

Editor 

Richard Cadena 

rcadena@plsn.com 

Managing Editor 

Frank Hammel 

fhammel@plsn.com 

Editorial Assistant 

Victoria Laabs 

vll@plsn.com 

Senior Staff Writer 

Kevin M. Mitchell 

Contributing Writers 

Paul Berliner, Vickie Claiborne, Dan Daley, 

David John Farinella, Steve Jennings, 

Morgan Loven, Rob Ludwig, 

Bryan Reesman, Brad Schiller, 

Nook Schoenfeld 

Photographer 

Steve Jennings 

Art Director 

Garret Petrov 

gpetrov@plsn.com 

Web Master 

Josh Harris 

jharris@plsn.com 

National 

Advertising Director 

Gregory Gallardo 

gregg@plsn.com 

Sales Manager 

Mike Devine 

md@plsn.com 

Sales Manager 

Matt Huber 

mh@plsn.com 

Production Manager 

Linda Evans 

levans@plsn.com 

General Manager 

William Hamilton Vanyo 

wvanyo@plsn.com 

Business and 

Advertising Office 

6000 South Eastern Ave. 

Suite 14J 

Las Vegas, NV 89119 

Ph: 702.932.5585 

Fax: 702.554.5340 

Editorial Office 

10305 Salida Dr. 

Austin, TX 78749 

Ph: 512.280.0384 

Fax: 512.292.0183 

Circulation 

Stark Services 

P.O. Box 16147 

North Hollywood, CA 91615 

Projection, Lights & Staging News (ISSN: 

1537-0046) Volume 11, Number 11. Published 

monthly by Timeless Communications Corp. 6000 

South Eastern Ave., Suite 14J, Las Vegas, NV 89119. It is 

distributed free to qualified individuals in the 

lighting and staging industries in the United 

States and Canada. Periodical Postage paid 

at Las Vegas, NV, office and additional offices. 

Postmaster please send address changes to: 

Projection, Lights & Staging News, P.O. Box 

16147 North Hollywood, CA 91615. Mailed in 

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Number 40033037, 1415 Janette Ave., Windsor, 

ON N8X 1Z1. Overseas subscriptions are available 

and can be obtained by calling 702.932.5585. 

Editorial submissions are encouraged, but must 

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returned. Projection, Lights & Staging News is a 

Registered Trademark. All Rights Reserved. 

Duplication, transmission by any method of 

this publication is strictly prohibited without 

permission of Projection, Lights & Staging News. 

prolightingspace.com/join 

ESTA 

ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES &


NEWS 

Peter Johansen Named Director of R&D for SGM 

LONDON — RCF Group announced that 

Peter Johansen, formerly head of Martin Professional, 

has been named director of R&D for 

its SGM lighting subsidiary. 

Based in Aarhus, Denmark, with eight 

of his former R&D team members, Johansen 

will oversee parallel development of a series 

of conventional discharge moving lights and 

LED fixtures. 

Johansen, who was welcomed to SGM 

by Arturo Vicari, managing director of the 

RCF Group, said he had no intention of reentering 

the lighting industry once his 10- 

year non-compete contract with Martin had 

expired, but he was swayed after meeting 

with Vicari. 

“I could see they would be great guys to 

work with — but I only agreed to join SGM 

on the understanding that I could get my 

old team back,” Johansen said. “I asked them 

whether they were ready to do it again — and 

they were immediately hooked on the idea.” 

A further stimulus to the new SGM R&D 

team was the belief that there was huge potential 

for development. “You are still seeing 

copies of products dating back to 1993 and 

1994. If this had not been the case, I would 

have had no intention of coming back.” 

Summing up, Johansen said, “It’s really 

exciting to be able to give my old team the 

opportunity to work on developing exclusive 

products. They are extremely enthusiastic 

and I can see the progress we are making 

from day to day.” 

Vicari, who described Johansen as an 

“icon of the lighting industry,” noted that 

“when RCF Group went public in 2007, the 

goal was to grow and to reach a significant 

position within our business. 

“Our main business has always been audio 

— but last year we decided to look for 

some other synergies and decided to acquire 

SGM, a manufacturer of lighting systems 

mainly for the professional market. 

“While SGM was a consolidated brand in 

the lighting market, it needed a significant 

restructuring. This we did, and although SGM 

can now successfully compete in the market, 

the growth of SGM, as it was, still did not have 

the momentum that we wanted. 

“We started to look for someone that 

could drive the company out of that situation 

and when I had the opportunity to talk to Peter 

Johansen, I knew that he was the person 

we were looking for. 

“To meet someone like Peter at just the 

right time was pure luck, and we are delighted 

to welcome such an iconic figure to head 

up our new R&D team. He and his engineers 

in Denmark are already well into an exciting 

development program and we look forward 

to showing the first results of this at Pro Light 

+ Sound in Frankfurt next spring. It’s great to 

have him on board with us.” 

After leaving the lighting industry in 

1998, Johansen spent his time working mainly 

in the yachting and wind turbine industries. 

However, his first venture was to set up 

Nitram Dental (“Martin” spelled backwards), 

which he eventually sold to Siemens. Converting 

smoke machine technology, he developed 

a product to clean, lubricate and 

sterilize dental handpieces and turbines in a 

single working process. 

He also started the Royal Denship yachtbuilding 

company and Dencam, which became 

the biggest manufacturer of large scale 

milling and plugs for the wind turbine industry, 

which he sold in 2007. 

Johansen developed several other successful 

companies, including Lantic Systems, 

which provided entertainment systems for 

super yachts and for private homes; Royal 

Tender, which makes luxury accessories for 

mega yachts, and Camcom, which offered 

plugs, molds and other components for the 

wind power industry. 

Along the way, Johansen set up a factory 

in Thailand, where windmill blades were 

made under the Martin Industrial Group 

brand. His manufacturing resources are also 

likely to be used for some of SGM Lighting’s 

future production. 

Peter Johansen 

ANSI E1.15-2006 

Being Considered for 

Reaffirmation 

NEW YORK — ANSI E1.15-2006, Entertainment 

Technology — Recommended Practices 

and Guidelines for the Assembly and Use of 

Theatrical Boom & Base Assemblies, is being 

considered for reaffirmation, with the ESTA 

Foundation offering public review forms for 

public comment on its website through Jan. 

3, 2011. 

2010 DECEMBER PLSN 

5

NEWS 

6 PLSN DECEMBER 2010 

consider Wiseman’s entitlement to court costs 

and attorney’s fees. 

Following the ruling, Wiseman issued 

a press release thanking the many defense 

witnesses who came forward without subpoena. 

“This affirms the keystone of our defense, 

that our industry is founded on trust 

and relationships, where the client, and not 

the court or the litigation process, gets to 

decide who they want to work with. It’s just 

that simple,” he noted. 

The plaintiff’s case focused on two distinct 

areas. In the first, they claimed that 

while Wiseman was CEO of XLTV, he used 

company funds to wine, dine and entertain 

customers who ultimately chose Chaos 

for their tour or project. On this count, 

they sought to recover $257,000 and were 

awarded $23,500. The defense brought out 

its best game to refute XLTV’s second claim 

that Wiseman misused trade secrets and 

proprietary knowledge to divert tours to 

Chaos. The team for Chaos countered with 

a simple strategy. It denied that the concert 

industry has any secrets worthy of misappropriation. 

The jury heard testimony from 20 personal 

managers, designers, tour and production 

managers drawn from concert industry 

royalty. Marc Brickman, Paul Guthrie, 

Eliot Saltzman, Chris Adamson and others 

explained how a major concert tour grew 

from tentative tour dates to early napkin 

designs to production rehearsals. In occasional 

hilarious exchanges with bemused 

attorneys, the eccentricity of the process 

was shown to feed more on rumor than 

secrecy. At times, the attorneys’ convoluted 

multi-part questions prompted the 

response, “Is there a question in there and 

can you repeat it?” However, all agreed 

that after the band meetings, design and 

scheduling changes, the video and lighting 

companies were asked to bid on the 

same written equipment list. Setting aside 

the possible effects of bribery, the playing 

field was as level as could be expected. The 

designers either retained the copyrights to 

their work or sold it to their client, but often 

had little influence on the choice of video 

company. In other cases, a video company 

might be able to offer a technology so superior 

as to wipe out any competitive bid. 

Even this tactic could not be construed as 

secret or proprietary. Attempts to compare 

the concert industry’s insider knowledge to 

the computer industry’s intellectual property 

were just not working for the plaintiffs. 

Unlike the secretive world of Silicon Valley, 

the concert business has too many people 

who know and say too much for a secret to 

have a decent shelf life. 

The tour and production managers testified 

that their job was to choose vendors 

based on price, quality of crew, equipment 

and depth of technical support. A few observed 

that “getting in early in the discussions” 

could help a vendor influence the 

choice of equipment a tour might use. Most 

of the testimony confirmed that, all other 


Jury Verdict Reached in Trial of XLTV vs. John Wiseman, Valdis Dauksts and Chaos Visual Productions 

continued from cover 

conditions being equal, a track record of 

reliability and a proven ability to address 

and solve daily road problems was the key 

to getting the tour. Other testimony confirmed 

Wiseman’s strength and credibility 

as the single point of contact regardless of 

his current company affiliation. 

In cross examination, the attorneys for 

the plaintiffs repeatedly tried to show that 

Wiseman’s early meetings with designers 

gave him access to “secret and proprietary 

knowledge” that would help him secure 

their business. Paul “Arlo” Guthrie, production 

designer for Sheryl Crow and Fleetwood 

Mac, made the point that a design 

can change so much from concept to reality 

that it doesn’t matter who sees it. Designers 

played down the video hardware as simply 

the building blocks used on every show. 

The LED screens, I-Mags, media servers, 

high- and low-resolution video walls are 

now the common currency of contemporary 

productions. Everything can be rented, 

including the video techs who work freelance 

and skip from tour to tour. In a rare 

glimpse into the decision making process, 

the jury learned that some bands leave the 

vendor choice entirely to the creative team 

while others take a more democratic approach. 

No rules and no secrets became the 

recurring theme. 

Gary Borman, the manager for Keith Urban, 

laughed off the idea that tour dates 

could or should ever be secret information. 

“We want everyone to know that we are touring. 

Once the halls are booked, we want the 

John Wiseman 

word to get out. It’s a competitive market.” 

If the dates are well-publicized and everyone 

can reach the production manager 

to bid on a tour, what exactly are the secret 

and proprietary components in play? The 

failure to explain this to the jury ultimately 

cost XLTV their chance to win this case. 

Establishing that a charismatic executive 

can retain clients and that our industry 

has no secrets, has cost both sides a lot of 

pain and, of course, money. It’s hard not to 

focus on the millions spent on attorneys 

and court fees and wonder if a settlement 

could not have been reached. With the 

possibility of an appeal from XLTV and the 

unresolved claims of the defendant’s court 

costs and stock options, both sides will 

have the chance to try a less public solution 

to their differences. 

Pete’s Big TVs, Creative Technologies and Rock-it Cargo 

Help BET TV’s Production of Black Girls Rock Go On 


with weight loads that modern buildings have,” 

Benjamin said. “It was built to hold movie screens 

and a few lights. So weight was a big decision in 

which screens we could use.” 

However, the specific LED screens they 

originally purchased for this set did not arrive 

in time for load-in. Realizing the clock was 

ticking and their overseas shipment kept getting 

bumped from freighters, a call to Creative 

Technologies in Los Angeles and fast work 

from Rock-it Cargo rescued the situation. 

“It cost us one and a half days of production 

time, but we didn’t lose the show,” Benjamin 

said. “Within 30 hours, we had the gear we 

needed. We had three different shipments because 

the equipment list was so large. We owe 

a big thanks to Creative Technologies’ Stephen 

Gray and Ethan Pico.” 

The equipment included an 11mm Basic 


always an annual highlight, and I look forward 

to contributing to them in any way we 

can.” 

For three decades Solotech has been 

providing sound, lighting, video and new 

media for clients throughout North America 

and beyond. Founded in 1977, today it 

has a team of over 300 professionals working 

on events big and small. “Throughout 

the company’s history, we’ve stood out 

through the passion we show for our profession,” 

Roney said. Over the past 15 years 

the company has supplied the majority of 

the technical equipment for three world 

expos and has worked on most of Canada’s 

award shows. Solotech has been closely 

Tech LED screen for the centerpiece and 12mm 

LED Flyer 12 screens for the “ribbons” swirling 

on each side of the set. Along with the gear, 

Creative Technologies sent along two crew 

techs — Luis Castillo and Abram Guererro — 

to help Pete’s tech crew members Matt Ellar, 

Rob Villalobos and Rob Maloney make sure the 

new gear was working well in plenty of time. 

Art Director Star Kahn created the technical/build 

drawing for the set shops and worked 

on the physical realization of the design. Show 

designer Anne Brahic designed the video elements 

to be “an elegant and multifunctional 

backdrop.” 

The last-minute change in equipment apparently 

didn’t faze Brahic, as her video vision 

came through in the end. 

“I wanted something that could change 

the look of the set through patterns, imagery 

and color throughout the show, and yet also 

act as an architectural vocabulary of its own,” 

Brahic said. “I love using negative space/black 

with video and breaking it apart into shapes 

like the stripes of video I designed here. They 

become these ribbons of scenery that retain 

their shape by the nature of the horizontal 

bands but can morph into a plethora of different 

looks because they are video and not just 

lit surfaces.” 

The “ribbons” of video were for decoration, 

with stock content fed from the MBox media 

server, which was programmed by Patrick Dierson. 

The main center screen had its own video 

feed showing live content and show logos. 

“We actually ended up using higher-resolution 

screens than we had originally specified,” 

Benjamin said, “so the show did not suffer 

with the switch.” 

Dean Roney of Solotech Joins Parnelli Board of Advisors 

involved with Cirque du Soleil since its inception, 

and for more than 20 years the 

company has been behind the Montreal 

Jazz Festival. Their world touring clients 

have included Céline Dion, Michael Bublé, 

André Rieu, Leonard Cohen, Britney Spears, 

Bryan Adams and Diana Krall, among many 

others. In addition to Céline Dion’s residency 

at Caesars Palace, the Vegas office has 

also been involved in both Cher and Bette 

Midler shows. 

“Dean is a great addition to our Parnelli 

Board of Directors, and his experience and 

insight will go far in keeping with our desire 

to continue to expand and stay a vital part 

of our industry,” said Terry Lowe, Parnelli executive 

director and publisher of PLSN and 

FOH magazines. 

Dean Roney

NEWS 

Martin Controller Training 

Dec. 13-14, 2010 

Burbank, CA 

martinpro.com 

PLSN Academy of Production 

Technology 

Jan. 10-12, 2011 

San Marcos, TX 

APTxl.com 

coolux Connect Conference 

Jan. 11-12, 2011 

Cologne, Germany 

coolux.de 

The NAMM Show 

Jan. 13-16, 2011 

Anaheim, CA 

namm.org 

USITT‐SW Winter Symposium 

January 15‐16, 2011 

San Antonio, TX 

usitt-sw.org 

CALENDAR 

Stage Lighting Super Saturday 

Jan. 22, 2011 

New York, NY 

hstech.org 

SIEL-SATIS 

Jan. 30-Feb. 1, 2011 

Paris, France 

siel-expo.com 

USITT Conference & Stage Expo 

March 10-12, 2011 

Charlotte, NC 

usitt.org 

Ongoing: 

ETC Eos/Ion Training 

etcconnect.com 

Martin “Brighter World” Road Show 

http://tinyurl.com/martin-brighterworld 

tour 

Wybron Mobile Showroom 

wybron.com 


Exterior Fire Pit, Colorful Washes Welcome 

Visitors to Vibe Nightclub in Florida 

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL — Sound and Lighting 

Solutions specified six Chauvet Intimidator 

Spot 250 moving heads and four COLORdash 

Quad wash lights for Vibe, a nightclub opened 

recently by Tim Petrillo of The Restaurant People, 

which also owns YOLO, an adjacent restaurant 

in Fort Lauderdale’s high-rise business 

district. 

Vibe’s front has a perpendicular opening 

with access to the bar, and offers outside seating 

for the bar as well as around the fire pit — 

both street side. The front of the nightclub is 

festooned with more of the white bulbous architectural 

detailing, mirroring the inside. These 

structures, the awning above and the outdoor 

fire pit are all lit with color-changing lights. 

“Lighting was everything,” said Karen Hanlon, 

president of Karen Hanlon Design, Inc. “We 

wanted it to be a beacon, drawing people to it. 

We wanted to transform the look of it with color, 

to be able to keep changing the look of the 

place like a billboard.” 

Vibe’s interior has red walls in a faux alligator 

finish, banquettes covered in geometric 

black and white fabric, and a back wall lined 

with three-dimensional, white bulbous shapes 

of the female form lit by cool, blue lighting. 

Across from the banquettes, in the opposite 

corner, is a DJ booth, and between the two, the 

dance floor. 

Overhead, there are tiles cut with geometric 

shapes interspersed with white and red glass 

drops — also reminiscent of the female form 

— which are illuminated blue. The 10 Chauvet 

fixtures dot this landscape, and help set Vibe’s 

tone. 

“Moving lights get people moving,” Hanlon 

said. “Moving lights create energy. They have 

great flexibility and fill the dance floor and add 

spark and energy to that space.” 

Jay Krause of Sound and Lighting Solutions 

agreed, adding that the Intimidator Spot 250’s 

cost, three-facet prism and “slot-n-lock gobos 

for quick changes” were key selling points. 

Vibe in Fort Lauderdale beckons with a fire pit washed by 

Chauvet fixtures. 

Vibe’s interior features suggestive forms, alluringly lit. 

IN BRIEF 

J. R. Clancy, Inc. provided customized 

rigging for the new Arthur Zankel Music 

Center on Skidmore College campus, including 

seven motorized Patriarch tracks for 

front of house and two motorized acoustical 

panel and lighting arrays onstage for the 

center’s 600-seat Filene Ladd Concert Hall… 

AG Lighting & Sound, Inc., Ronkonkoma, 

N.Y., has acquired a number of Clay Paky 

Alpha Spot HPE 1500s from A.C.T Lighting 

to supplement its inventory of Alpha Beam 

1500s…Broadcast Pix shipped its 100th 

Granite live video production system to Cisco 

Systems…Da-Lite introduced Mount Selector, 

an online tool that helps customers 

determine which Advance mount is compatible 

with a variety of flat panel monitors 

or projectors. 

It’s All 

Worth It 

(This letter was 

THE EDITOR addressed to PLSN 

publisher Terry Lowe 

—ed.) 

Hey Terry, 

Just a note to say thank you for recognizing 

crew behind the scenes. The Parnelli 

Award I received this year is very much one of 

the shining points of my career! 

I feel that those of us who have chosen 

this occupation don’t do this just for the income. 

We all do this because we love it. Professional 

crew personnel take such pride in 

their work and dedicate themselves to that 

work at least as much, if not more than the 

artists and players on stage and under the 

lights. The 20-hour work days on the road, 

time on the phone and computer when not 

on the road and the hours, days, weeks and 

months spent planning and building that 

next big production are all very worth it when 

we finally see the end product. I’m very proud 

to be a part of this business. Also, what other 

occupation could we travel the world, play 

with all the newest and coolest sound, light 

and staging toys and get to work with the 

world’s most talented people both on and off 

the stage? 

Thanks again for recognizing all of these 

great people! 

—Kevin Freeman, recipient of the 2010 Parnelli 

Award for Production Manager of the Year 

(Brad Paisley) 

Lighting Geeks Unite! 

(This letter was addressed to PLSN contributor 

Brad Schiller —ed.) 

Hey Brad, 

Just read your article in PLSN about 

lighting geeks (Feeding the Machines, PLSN, 

Oct. 2010, by Brad Schiller). Although I have 

stepped away from being a true lighting geek 

for a couple of years now, I really enjoyed the 

article. 

When the new PLSN arrives, it’s always 

Nook’s article first (no offense), followed by 

yours. You both have a great sense of humor 

about the industry and your craft. 

I guess we can add another “Lighting 

Geeks” item to the list — if you have ever e- 

mailed someone to comment on an article 

about lighting geeks to explain that you are 

one, too. 

—Chris Stinebrink 

8 PLSN DECEMBER 2010


NEWS 

Nocturnal, Catalina JazzTrax Festivals Lit with Elation Gear 

SAN BERNARDINO, CA — More than 

100 top DJs pumped out tunes for the 

Nocturnal Festival, an 11-hour marathon 

for 42,000 at the National Orange Show 

Events Center. 

For the big main stage — 156 by 400 

feet, and nearly 60 feet high — Stephen 

Lieberman of SJ Lighting and Andrew 

Gumper of AG Light & Sound chose Elation 

Professional LEDs, moving heads and 

video screens. 

Four video screens, configured with 

Elation’s EVLED 256 and EVLED 1024 low 

and medium resolution transparent LED 

video panels, were on stage, two on the 

floor and two flown in the air. Lieberman’s 

inspiration for the color-changing pyramid 

of cubes? The old video game, Q*bert. 

Elation and sister company Acclaim 

Lighting accounted for nearly 200 of the 

380 fixtures used in the venue, including 

24 Elation 700-watt Power Spot 700 CMYs, 

24 Power Wash 575s, 10 Elation Design LED 

60 TRI-Strips, 100 Acclaim X-Band 300s and 

40 Elation ELED B48 LED blinders. 

Elation gear also helped Ryan Steidinger 

of Pacific Coast Entertainment 

overcome challenges posed by the Catalina 

Island JazzTrax Festival at the Casino in 

Avalon Harbor, a three-weekend gig with 

limited access and power issues. 

“You’re dealing with the original 1929 

elevator, which is the oldest operating elevator 

in the state of California. We have 

to use it to bring everything upstairs to 

the venue, or else haul gear up a set of 

seven very steep ramps,” Steidinger said, 

crediting Elation fixtures for being “compact, 

versatile and bright” — and efficient 

enough to deal with the lack of 3-phase 

electric power. 

The all-Elation JazzTrax rig included 

six Elation Power Spot 700 CMY-IIs; eight 

Elation Design Spot 250s; 24 Elation Design 

LED 36 Bricks; Elation DMX Branch/4 

(4-way DMX distributor); and two Antari 

Fazers. 

At the sides of the stage are six 15-foothigh 

spandex columns, three on each side, 

with 12 Design LED 36 Bricks lighting them 

from the bottom. “With the DMX control 

circuits we’ve individually addressed everything, 

so we can create a rainbow of 

colors across these spandex pieces with 

the DLED 36 Bricks to convey different 

moods.” The remaining 12 Design LED 36 

Bricks were used onstage for backlighting. 

Pat Bentar 

CORRECTIONS 

Prolyte, Litestructures and LS-Live 

PLSN has learned that a news story 

posted online and published on the Oct. 

2010 cover regarding Prolyte, Litestructures 

and LS-Live was in error. To clarify, Prolyte 

and Litestructures have merged, and 

LS-Live, a former division of Litestructures, 

is operating as a separate company, with no 

connection to Prolyte. 

Nelson Enterprises 

A news story on Nelson Enterprises 

(PLSN, Nov. 2010, page 5) incorrectly stated the 

year the company was founded. It was 1985. 

LCD Soundsystem Uses Energy-Efficient 

LED Lighting System from Bandit Lites 

NEW YORK — LD Eric Cathcart lit LCD 

Soundsystem’s touring shows this year with 

25-foot wire ladders full of 80 of Bandit Lites’ 

GRNLite 3-54 Battens and 40 Thomas Linear 

4 Lites, combining a barrage of light with energy 

efficiency and minimal heat onstage. 

MAC 2000 Washes and Performances, as 

well as Vari*Lite VL 2500 Spots, PARs and Martin 

Atomic Strobes rounded out the system, 

and Cathcart chose a grandMA Lite to control 

the show. 

Tour manager Keith Anderson and production 

manager Mike Laffety have been 

overseeing the performances in support of 

the album, This is Happening, with Bandit 

drawing from its offices around the world to 

provide an assist with its lighting gear. 

Catalina JazzTrax Festival 

Erik Hess 

Green lighting specified by LD Eric Cathcart helped keep the 

stage cool. 


9

NEWS 


Rent What?, Sew What? and Bandit Lites Put Lady Antebellum Visuals on a Pedestal 

Chandeliers and star cloth added sparkle to the tour. 

NASHVILLE — Bandit Lites business development 

manager Brent Barrett started 

working with Lady Antebellum back in 

2006, before the country music trio ascended 

the charts and winners podiums at the 

ACM, CMT, Teen Choice Awards and CMA 

Awards. 

Since then, manager Gary 

Borman, tour manager Tim Kreig, 

tour coordinator Dennis Brennan, 

production manager Curt 

Jenkins and lighting designer 

Carter Fulcham all worked with 

Barrett and Bandit to support 

the band with lighting designed 

by Chris Kantrowitz and Martin 

E. Potoczny and a set design by 

Jim Lenahan. 

Lenahan called upon Rent 

What? for a variety of rental 

drapery products to bring the 

tour to life. Staging includes a 

motorized drapery lift system 

which lowers and raises a digitally printed 

“Braille” drape custom-produced by sistercompany 

Sew What? Inc. In addition, the 

tour features metal mesh drapery elements 

offering a textured stage curtain look, from 

the Rent What? Industrial Texture series. 

The very theatrical lighting system is 

a hybrid of traditional fixtures and some 

new LED products. Martin MAC 700s, 

Vari*Lite VL 3000 Spots, VL 3000 Washes, 8 

lights, 2 lights, Atomic Strobes and a single 

10K Fresnel form the base of the system, 

complemented by Bandit’s new GRNLite 

Moving Wash 3-120 and GLP Impressions. 

The GRNLite Moving Wash, with white 

LEDs in addition to the standard RGB, has 

a 25-degree beam angle and output levels 

that Bandit said is bright enough to 

keep up with the VL 3000s. Fulcham, former 

lighting director for Alabama, Kenny 

Chesney and others controls the rig via a 

grandMA console. 

The lighting has complemented an array 

of new concert and event staging effects, 

from 35-foot wide LED star fields, to 

forest scenes popping in and out of view 

and other dramatic visuals, according to 

Rent What? Inc. partner Megan Duckett. 

“This has been a full exercising of our 

potential,” Duckett said, calling the tour an 

opportunity to push the visual experience 

with drapery and drapery track and lift 

systems. “It also gives us a chance to demonstrate 

the expanded possibilities when 

combining our rental products from Rent 

What? with custom-manufactured drapes 

from Sew What?,” Duckett noted. 

In the Lady Antebellum show, a forest 

scene emerges, digitally printed over 

a theatrical cotton Sharkstooth scrim that 

becomes transparent when lit from behind, 

allowing the lighting designer to 

play with a multitude of effects. The scrim, 

sewn as a “Braille” drape, flattens out when 

lowered from the ceiling but gathers together 

when raised, and the motorized 

drapery lift system from Rent What? can 

lift drapes as large as 60 feet wide by 30 

feet high. 

Branam Enterprises and All Access Staging Announce Partnership 


now able to move into this new endeavor 

together with Branam and the incredible 

trust that the Branam name carries, and, 


better yet, we have the opportunity to 

work with such a good friend.” 

All Access and Branam Enterprises noted 

that they are capable of handling any 

size touring project and, with locations in 

the U.K., Australia and expanded national 

Scharff Weisberg Supports Three Events Following 

UN General Assembly 

NEW YORK — When the 65th Session 

of the United Nations General Assembly 

kicked off a round of international events and 

meetings at the headquarters of the world 

body, Scharff Weisberg supported three key 

events: the South Sudan Multilateral Meeting 

(SSMM) produced by The White House and 

the back-to-back Every Woman, Every Child 

event (EWEC) and the African Leaders Malaria 

Alliance meeting (ALMA), both produced by J. 

Marshall Events Inc. 

Scharff Weisberg supplied a lighting 

package for the SSMM specifically to light 

President Barrack Obama. Natasha Jameson- 

Randolph was lighting designer for the gathering 

convened by UN Secretary-General Ban 

Ki-moon and addressing a region often tragically 

in the headlines the last few years. 

The EWEC and ALMA events were held in 

the UN’s new ECOSOC (Economic and Social 

Council) Chamber where Scharff Weisberg 

provided Vari*Lite VL2500 and VL3500 spots 

plus custom VL gobos; Source Four ellipsoidal 

spots; ColorKinetics eW Cove Powercores; 

ColorKinetics ColorBlast LEDs and a High End 

Whole Hog IPC console for lighting control. 

“I’ve been told that these were the bestlooking 

events of the whole summit,” said 

Julie-Ann Marshall, head of J. Marshall Events 

Inc., adding that 

“people were really 

amazed how 

they stood out 

from more than 

100 events.” 

“The ECO- 

SOC Chamber 

was a new room 

with electrics 

and lighting 

that were unknown 

to all 

of us,” Marshall 

continued. “It 

was the first 

time that the 

The Every Woman, Every Child event at Barrett Hall 

locations in California, Michigan, Louisiana, 

Atlanta, and New York, can also provide 

around-the-clock technical support. 

General Assembly was done in that room, 

and I wanted to make sure that our events 

didn’t come off as second-rate. So I worked 

with Scharff Weisberg and LD Barrett Hall to 

let them know the signature colors and logos 

for the two events, and they developed 

gobos that could be switched to give the 

perspective of two different rooms for those 

watching on television.” 

Although the turnaround time was tight, 

Marshall noted that “Scharff Weisberg always 

had my back. They always knew what 

I wanted and were great collaborators. They 

were a joy, and the UN loves working with 

them, too.” 

LD Barrett Hall said “it was very exciting 

being part of the first team to implement a 

design at such a prestigious venue. I’ve had 

many past collaborations with Scharff Weisberg 

and never hesitate to name them as my 

go-to company for lighting because they 

consistently provide top-notch gear and 

knowledgeable support staff through every 

step of the production process.” 

In addition to lighting equipment for 

EWEC and ALMA, Scharff Weisberg also supplied 

podiums, wireless mics and wireless 

and wired headsets for the events.


INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Australian X Factor Lit with Jands, ETC, Vari-Lite Gear 

The set for The X Factor in Australia 

SYDNEY — The X Factor, broadcast on Australia’s Seven Network, featured a lighting design 

by Ian Anderson with Vari*Lite, ETC and Jands gear supplied by Chameleon Touring Systems. 

“The Vari*Lites are my preferred light for television,” Anderson said of the rig, which included 

spots (50 VL3000s, 12 VL2000s) wash fixtures (14 VL3500s, 30 VL2000s, 16 VL3000s and 14 

VL500s) and also 26 ETC Source Four Revolution fixtures, ETC Source Four profiles, 40 Chroma- 

Q Color Block LED fixtures and Jands HP12 dimmer rack. 

“We have replaced five of the standard gobos to allow some different break-up looks and a 

couple of old favorites like the cone gobo which we’ve used heaps,” Anderson said. He credited 

the Vari*Lites for their optics, zoom range, quickness, colors and bright output. 

The VL3500 Washes, he admitted, were “way to bright for television, but the big beam look 

is what I was after. I run them at 30 percent most of the time.” The VL3000s, he adds, are for audience 

lighting, and Anderson said he used the ETC Revolution fixtures for keylighting. “They’re 

reliable, bright, the shuttering works well and they get the job done.” 

As for the Chroma-Q Color Blocks LED fixtures, “they’re a good hole-filler,” Anderson said. 

“They’re not really lighting anything, but look damn pretty.” 

Unusual Rigging Assists with Automotive Displays at Ferrari World Displays in Abu Dhabi 

ABU DHABI, U.A.E. — Ferrari World 

Abu Dhabi, which opened Nov. 4, has 

more than 20 rides and attractions under 

its 2.2 million square foot roof, shaped 

like a profile of a Ferrari GT, and outside, 

visitors can take a ride on the world’s fastest 

roller coaster, which accelerates to 

150 m.p.h. in 4.9 seconds. 

For the attraction’s Galleria Ferrari 

display area, which offers an interactive 

presentation of the company and its 

cars from 1947 to the present, Unusual 

Rigging & Engineering was tasked with 

hanging three different red Ferraris on 

oversized platforms as one might mount 

a work of art. 

A second project for Unusual Rigging 

was in the “TechTransfer” area, which details 

how Ferrari’s engineering travels 

from Grand Prix race cars to sports cars 

consumers can buy. Both projects were 

completed within a two-week time frame. 

For the first project, Unusual Rigging’s 

project manager, Leon Ingram, was 

well aware of the need for a system that 

would allow for careful maneuvering for 

the final placement of platforms. He devised 

a hoist system that included a run 

of square truss and a runner beam carrying 

two hoists for each platform, enabling 

fine adjustments to be made both laterally 

and vertically. 

The bare platforms were first offered 

to the wall and positioned to enable the 

bolt holes to be pre-drilled. They were 

then lowered back to the ground, where 

the cars were fitted by the Ferrari team. 

After being given a final check by the Unusual 

Rigging and Engineering crew to 

ensure they were secure, the platforms 

and cars, which together weighed over 

1,100 lbs. each, were hoisted into position 

and fixed firmly into place with chemical 

bolts. 

The “TechTransfer” project involved 

moving two vehicles — a Ferrari F430 and 

a Fernando Alonso F1 car — out onto the 

display podium, where they can be seen 

hung vertically from a central post, revolving 

in opposite directions. 

The project required Unusual Rigging 

and Engineering to build a custom frame 

to lift and support each of the vehicles, 

the heaviest being 

the F430, which 

weighs more than a 

ton. The move was 

carried out using a 

15-meter high truss 

grid, which required 

two truss towers on 

each of two levels. 

The grid was fitted 

with I-beams on each 

side and another 

I-beam on a cross 

truss, enabling the 

vehicles to be moved 

in any direction. 

Two of the three Ferraris that Unusual Rigging helped mount on the wall. 

The Formula 1 race car in the TechTransfer exhibit. 


11

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

SAALBURG, Germany — For the Main 

Circus area at this year’s SonneMondSterne 

(SMS) Festival, an electronic dance music 

event, designer Uwe Heinrich used a Solaris+ 

LED system from G-LEC as a visual centerpiece. 

Heinrich created a chandelier with a diameter 

of more than 12 meters using 64 

ropes of Solaris+, each with a length of 8 meters. 

The Solaris+ enabled every sphere in the 

system to be addressed individually via a DVI 

video signal to create unique visual effects, 

programmed with video content that pulsed 

to the beat of the music. 

Solaris + is a video content system of low 

resolution spheres with full 360-degree viewing. 

Assembled in strings, the system lets designers 

configure and program the system 

in ways that range from a flat 2D curtain to a 

three-dimensional centerpiece. 

Along with the Solaris+, Uwe used 96 GLP 

impressions to light the Main Circus with a 

show also synched to the beat of the music. 

The gear for the Main Circus area, which featuring 

DJ Rush, Ellen Allien, Miss Kittin and 

the Turntablerockers, came from Heli-Show. 

Now in its 14th year, the SMS drew thousands 

with five stages in all. 


Uwe Heinrich Creates Giant Chandelier with LED Gear for SMS Festival 

The chandelier, made from Solaris+ LEDs, spanned 12 meters. 

ON THE MOVE 


Barco announced that Carl Peeters 

would replace Dirk De Man, who left the 

company. Peeters, a long-term senior manager 

with Barco, had until recently served 

as senior vice president of the Monitoring, 

Control and Medical (MCM) business 

group. Also, Filip Pintelon, who until recently 

was running the other business 

group, Media, Entertainment and Simulation 

(MES), will assume additional responsibility 

for the operations of the MCM business 

group and will now function as COO 

of all operations of Barco. Both Peeters and 

Pintelon report directly to Eric Van Zele, 

CEO. 

D a - L i t e 

Screen Company 

announced the 

addition of Mark 

Sidge to its sales 

consultant team. 

Sidge, based near 

Detroit, will be 

responsible for 

Da-Lite’s clients in 

Mark Sidge 

Michigan and the 

Canadian provinces 

of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New 

Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland 

and Labrador. 

Enliven Production Group named Andrew 

Hutchinson as the company’s Phoenix-based 

project manager. Hutchinson 

has more than 20 

years of experience 

as a lighting designer 

and project 

manager, working 

also at the Scottsdale 

Center for the 

Arts, the Phoenician 

Resort, Sunbelt 

Scenic Studios and 

American Audio Visual Center. 

Andrew Hutchinson 

GLP US Inc. has moved to a larger facility 

near Los Angeles. The new 11,500 

square-foot facility serves as headquarter 

of GLP’s North American operations, including 

sales, marketing, technical support, 

warehousing and logistics. GLP US 

Inc. can be reached at 10945 Pendleton 

Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352; 818.767.8899; 

818.279.9898 (Fax). 

Juice Goose named McFadden Sales, 

which was established in 1938 and is 

based in Westerfield, OH, as the company’s 

new sales representative for Ohio, Michigan, 

Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and 

western Pennsylvania. McFadden supports 

sales of products in the professional audio 

and musical instrument markets. 

Medialon announced a new exclusive 

distributorship in China with ProLSI 

Systems Consulting Co., Ltd., which has 

locations in Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai. 

ProLSI will offer factory trained sales 

representatives and technicians to specify 

and support Medialon products including 

show controllers and audio and video 

servers. 

Mega Systems, Inc. will distribute professional 

lifts in the U.S. and Mexico for Valencia, 

Spain-based Fenix lifts. Mega Systems 

will offer the lifts as an accessory to 

help crews fly line arrays, lights, truss and 

other entertainment-related equipment 

and will inventory models including the 

AT-06B, ELV-230/5 and ELV-100/31. 

M o u n t a i n 

Light Company 

named Courtney 

Walsh as its new 

sales director 

and Carl Olson 

operations director, 

a new position. 

Walsh, who 

Courtney Walsh 

has more than a 

decade of experience 

involving corporate and social events 

at a major Colorado venue, also co-founded 

the Denver Venue Roundtable Group. 

Olson will oversee day-to-day rental operations 

and client services. 

Panamax/Furman named Martha 

Brooke Eastern regional sales manager. At 

Panamax/Furman, Brooke will be responsible 

for developing 

and implementing 

strategic 

sales plans for the 

eastern region. 

Her territory encompasses 

the 

eastern seaboard, 

from Maine to 

Martha Brooke 

Florida, including 

the Southeast, 

Mid-Atlantic, and New York Metro markets. 

Brooke will be based in Pennsylvania and 

report to Jimmy Paschke, director of CI 

Sales for Panamax/Furman. 

PERA, a division of ESTA, named Harry 

Box council manager. Box, who has 

worked production in film and television 

since 1989, is the author of The Set Lighting 

Technician’s Handbook, a reference for 

lighting technicians in motion picture and 

television work. 

PR Lighting has formed an alliance 

with North American dealer, Mega Systems 

Inc, with the San Antonio, TX-based 

company taking on national distribution 

of the manufacturer’s higher-end professional 

products including the XL-575, the 

XL-1500, the XL Beam 300 and XLED 590 

LED moving head wash light and other 

gear. PR Lighting also announced that its 

present distributor, OmniSistem, would 

continue exclusive distribution of PR 


Lighting’s mid-market intelligent heads, 

such as the Solo 250, Solo 575 and Pilot 

575. Distribution of the XL-250, XS-250 

(and architectural products) will be shared 

by both companies. 

Proel Group 

named Giovanni 

Turrin as the company’s 

new chief 

financial officer. 

Turrin, who comes 

to Proel after 

working for audit 

firms and industrial 

companies, 

Giovanni Turrin 

will report to Massimo 

Signor, Proel 

Group’s managing director. Prior to Proel, 

Turrin held positions with Arthur Andersen 

& Co., Stefanel’s foreign subsidiaries 

and Roncadin in the food industry, where 

he was the administrative and financial director. 

Tinc Design & Productions has expanded 

with a recently-launched service, 

Tinc Backstage, a labor and payroll solution. 

TLS (Theatrical Lighting Systems, Inc.) 

hired Gary Ellegood for the company’s 

Nashville office. Ellegood has 25 years 

of industry experience, including work at 

Freeman Companies and Swank Audio Visuals, 

Inc. 

TV One named Paul Burfield, a 25-year 

veteran in the digital video electronics industry, 

to the position of R&D Manager. He 

has worked with BBC, IBM Microelectronics, 

NEC and Petards EIMC. 

Production Exchange (productionxchg.com) 

announced a partnership with 

IntelliEvent (intellievent.com). The partnership 

lets current authorized users of 

IntelliEvent subscribe to Lite Exchange, 

Video Exchange or Audio Exchange, individually 

or as a bundled solution. 

Rigging Services, Inc. (RSI) named 

Victor Figueroa equipment coordinator. 

Figueroa replaces interim rentals manager, 

Chesare’ Cain, who will remain on staff. 

Figueroa will manage the RSI Rental Department 

and support the Rigging Installation 

Department led by Scott Black, who 

is ETCP certified. Figueroa also will be the 

point of contact for all equipment orders, 

warehouse logistics and chain hoist services. 

Showcall Inc. 

has hired Jay Collins 

to lead the 

company’s business 

development 

efforts and named 

Jason Ivie to its 

video division. Collins, 

who comes 

to Showcall from 

Jay Collins 

Kohler Rental Power, 

where he served 

as the East Coast 

regional manager, 

has over 20 years of 

business development, 

operations 

and management 

experience. Ivie 

is a veteran video 

Jason Ivie 

designer, with gigs 

including the last three U.S.-hosted international 

summits. 

Solaris recently opened a European office 

in Germany. The company hired industry 

veteran Jerad Garza to oversee its operations. 

Stage Research added Horizon Solutions, 

based in London, Ontario, to its network 

of master distributors for its line of lighting 

and audio software, naming the company 

its master distributor for Canada. 

Tait Technologies, the Belgium-based 

joint venture between Tait Towers and Frederic 

Opsomer’s System Technologies, named 

20-year industry veteran Dirk Dhulster to 

head its recently-opened rental division. 


13

PRODUCT NEWS 

Creative Stage Lighting EPS Dura-Power 

Creative Stage Lighting’s newest entry into 

portable power distribution is Entertainment 

Power Systems Dura-Power UL-listed power 

distribution units. The modular systems are 

designed for industrial uses and touring entertainment 

productions including lighting, sound 

and video. They are made in the U.S. and feature 

dual neutral mains connectors, indicator lights, 

test points and laser engraved panels. Each distro 

is mounted inside a Northern Case ATA-style 

rack case on casters for safety, protection and 

ease of transport and use. There are four standard 

models. 

Creative Stage Lighting • 518.251.3302 

creativestagelighting.com; entertainmentpowersystems.com 

step 

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Elation LED Display Bar 

The new LED Display Bar from Elation Professional 

is a lightweight portable white light 

LED unit with 78 0.1-watt warm white LEDs 

and 78 0.1-watt cool white LEDs. It has variable 

color temperature ranging from 2800K to 

6500K. The attached removable wall or tabletype 

clamp mounting system can be replaced 

with a standard clamp for truss mounting. The 

articulating head and barn doors allow you to 

direct the light to the desired area. It weighs 

two pounds (0.9 kg) and measures 24.9” by 6.3” 

by 2.5” (631.7 by 161 by 63.2 mm). The MSRP is $199.95. 

Elation Professional • 866.245.6726 • elationlighting.com 

ETC iRFR Preview 

ETC’s new application — the iRFR Preview 

— is a companion to ETC’s standard iRFR application. 

Available now for free download 

from the Apple iTunes store, the iRFR Preview 

allows you to monitor active cue playback, by 

connecting to an Eos, Ion or Element lighting 

control console from your iPhone, iPad or iPod. 

The iRFR Preview provides playback monitoring 

only, without control or playback functions, 

so a designer previewing a show doesn’t have 

to worry about hitting the “Go” button in error. 

(Designers using the full iRFR application can disable playback for protection.) 

Electronic Theatre Controls 800.688.4116 etcconnect.com 

FocusTrack Paperwork To Go 

FocusTrack, the production lighting documentation 

system, now offers Paperwork To Go, 

allowing users to keep paperwork in electronic 

form and carry it in an iPad, iPhone or iPod 

Touch. The enabler app ($19.99 for iPhone/iPod, 

$39.99 for iPad) allows any of the FocusTrack 

data files to be transferred to, referred to, or edited 

on Apple portable devices, then returned 

to a main computer — Mac or PC. The files include 

FocusTrack, containing moving light positions; 

RigTrack, containing information about 

the rig and conventional lights focus; and Cue 

List, containing console cue data plus focus and cue reference photographs. 

Focus Track • 914.233.3809 • focustrack.co.uk 

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Additional Traction 

for Guard Dog Cable 

Protectors 

For increased traction, Guard Dog Cable 

Protectors are now available with optional 

anti-slip rubber pads for use on smooth surfaces. 

The product is designed to protect 

electrical cables and hoses from damage 

while providing a safe crossing for vehicle 

and pedestrian traffic. The hinged lid allows 

easy access to cables/hoses, and the protectors are easy to set up, disassemble and 

store. 

Checkers Industrial Safety Products, Inc. • 800.438.9336 • cableprotector.com. 



J.R. Clancy Gets Patent for PowerLift Feature 

A feature in the design of J. R. Clancy’s PowerLift automated 

hoist has been issued U. S. Patent 7,766,308. Within 

the hoist, the use of a sliding drum on a fixed shaft creates 

a zero fleet angle as the lift lines leave the drum. The more 

efficient functioning of the drum and shaft reduces both size 

and maintenance requirements. While the sliding drum is a 

new development, zero fleet angle hoists are not new. The 

company says it began building and marketing zero fleet 

angle hoists in the 1960s using the Izenour hoist design. 

J.R. Clancy • 800.836.1885 • jrclancy.com 

Lex Products Slim Dimmer Plus 

Lex Products has added DMX512 support to its Slim Dimmer 

line of compact 1.8kW dimmers in the form of the Slim 

Dimmer Plus. Designed specifically for television and film 

location work, as well as theatrical and event dimming, the 

extruded aluminum housing is designed to withstand the 

production and rental environment. With DMX capabilities, 

the Slim Dimmer Plus can also be used as a part of a larger 

dimming system and also operate in a standalone mode with 

local control through a linear fader on its face. It can also complement any full lighting package, providing 

additional dimmer capability. 

Lex Products • 800.643.4460 • lexproducts.com 

Martin Professional M-PC Lighting Controllers 

Martin Professional has launched two new PC-based 

controllers; M-PC Basic, with eight universes of output; and 

M-PC Pro, with 64 universes of output. M-PC Pro replaces the 

Maxxyz PC with the same features plus new features from the 

Martin M1 console. M-PC Pro outputs 64 DMX universes over 

ArtNet or with the Martin USB Duo DMX. M-PC Basic offers 

the same features as the M-PC Pro with a maximum of eight 

DMX universes. Both come with MSD5 (Martin ShowDesigner) 

MC Edition 3D Visualizer and one Martin USB Duo DMX. 

Martin Professional • 954.858.1800 • martin.com 

Mega Systems Disco V2.5 

Mega-Lite announced the release of version 2.5 for Disco, 

a lighting controller designed for use in nightclubs and bars. 

The new version now includes a webserver that allows users 

to remotely control their light show using any web-enabled 

device, such as the iPad, Droid phones, iPhone, or any PC or 

Mac. Other improvements include better LED matrix support 

and various minor changes. A demo version Disco can be 

downloaded from the company’s website. 

Mega Systems, Inc. • 866-460-6342 • megasystemsinc. 

com 

Stage Technologies Sculptor Animation Toolkit 

Sculptor Animation Toolkit from Stage Technologies is 

an add-on for Autodesk 3ds Max, a software package commonly 

used to animate films, movies and games. It combines 

Stage Technologies’ automation control system with the 3D 

animation environment to provide control of many hundreds 

of automated axes and scenic elements such as revolves, hydraulically-driven, 

custom-built machinery, lifts, stage trucks 

and rotating winch trolleys. The toolkit is integrated into the 

main toolbar of 3ds Max and can be used to identify axes in 

a scene as one of four different types: linear axes, rotational 

axes, trolley axes and truck axes. 

Stage Technologies, LLC • 702.798.3838 • stagetech.com 

Times Square Lighting Gobo80L 

With a single white 80-watt LED, the Gobo80L from Times 

Square Lighting will project up to 50 feet and it can manually 

zoom and focus between 19º and 35º. It has an IP rating of 65. 

Under normal conditions, the LED light source is projected to 

last 100,000 hours; it produces no UV or IR, illuminates virtually 

instantly (100 ns). It is also capable of gobo rotation at four different 

speeds. On-board DIP switches are available for stand 

alone operation, or it can run on DMX 512 controller. Optional 

USB and Ethernet control interfaces are available. 

Times Square Lighting • 845.947.3034 • tslight.com 


15

SHOWTIME P 

R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S 

ST 

Mixfest 2010 / Hanson 

Venue 

Pier Six Pavilion 

Baltimore, MD 

Crew 

Promoter/Producer: 

Upfront Promotions 

Lighting Designer: 

Afterglow Lighting 

Lighting Director: Matt Stephens 

Automated Lighting Operator: 

Mike Petrecca 

Lighting Technician: Josh Watson 

Rigger: IATSE Local 19 

Gear 

1 Flying Pig Systems Road Hog 

lighting console 

6 Martin MAC 700 Profiles 

6 Philips Color Kinetics Color 

Blaze 72s 

8 ETC Source Four 19° 

Ellipsoidals 

10 James Thomas Engineering 

PR truss sections 


12-inch GP truss sections 


6-Lites 

2 Leprecon 48x2.4K VX 

dimmer racks 

1 Reel EFX DF-50 hazer 

4 CM Lodestar 1-ton 

chain motors 

2 CM Lodestar 1/2-ton 

chain motors (backdrop) 

Lighting Co. 

Showtime Sound LLC 

Rod Stewart 

ST 

Venue 

Aventura Arts & Cultural Center 

Aventura, FL 

Crew 

Promoter/Producer/Production Manager: 

Lars Brogaard 

Lighting Designer: Mark Payne 

Lighting Technicians: Juan Ugas, Kyle Theed 

Gear 

1 Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III 

9 Martin MAC 700 Wash fixtures 


54 ETC Source Four PARs 

12 ETC Source Four Lekos 

16 3-cell Cyc Lights 

Lighting Co. 

Beachsound and Light 

ST 

Steve Aoki + Calvin Harris 

Venue 

PNE Forum 

Vancouver, BC 

Crew 

Promoter/Producer: Blueprint Events 

Production Manager/LD: Graham Hicks 

Automated Lighting Operator/Tech: 

Ian Haslauer 

Video Director: Tony Pantages 

Photo Credit: Pooya Nabei 

Gear 

2 MA Lighting grandMA Lite consoles 

50 Martin LC1140 LED video display 

panels 

2 Barco/High End Systems DL.3 digital 

luminaires 

8 Vari*Lite VL3500Q Spots 

32 iPix BB-4 LED fixtures 

12 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes 

4 20-Lite blinders 

3 ETC Source Four 50° ellipsoidals 

2 Reel EFX DF-50 hazers 

10 CM 1/2-ton chain motors 

120’ 12” aluminum truss 

8 6-way corner blocks 

1 Edirol PR80 visual 

presenter 

1 Akai APC40 MIDI controller 

1 Edirol V-4 Visual Mixer 

2 custom projection screens 

1 MacBook Pro computer 

Lighting Co. 

Epic Production 

Technologies (Vancouver) 


ST 

Match Strike 2010 

Venue 

Immanuel’s Church 

Silver Spring, MD 

Crew 

Promoter/Producer: Match Strike 

Lighting Designer/Director/Rigger: 

Brandon Eckstorm 

Lighting Technician: Mark Bollinger 

Gear 

1 MA Lighting grandMA lighting 

console 

10 Martin MAC 301s 

6 Martin MAC 250 Spots 

6 Martin MAC 700 Spots 



3 Single-cell cyc lights 


6-lighters 

2 1.2k followspots 

1 Reel EFX DF50 hazer 

1 40’x25’ Main Light Industries fiber 

optics backdrop 

2 CM 1/2-ton chain motors 

35’ 12” Aluminum Truss 

Lighting Co. 

Showcall 

KiD CuDi 

ST 

Lighting Co. 

SCS Productions 

Venue 

Welsh Ryan Arena 

Evanston, IL 

Crew 

Promoter/Producer: SCS Productions 

Production Manager: Michael Lance 

Lighting Designers: Michael Lance, John Dacosta 

Lighting Director: Jake Broenneke 

Lighting Technicians: Anthony Nuccio, Gavin 

Oldigs 

Set Design: Michael Lance 

Set Construction: SCS Productions 

Riggers: Larry Kargol, Dave Fantis 

Staging Carpenter: Bob Orr 

Staging Products: Secoa 

Video Director: Jerry Church 

Video Company: Staging Resources I 

Gear 

1 Flying Pig Systems Road Hog console 

2 Barco/High End Systems Showguns 

4 GLP Impression Zooms 

5 GLP Impressions 




36 Philips/Color Kinetics ColorBlasts 

24 CM 1-Ton chain motors 

1 Denka Atrium lift 

1 12”x18” Tomcat truss 

2 10.5’x14’ rear projection screens 

2 Christie LX-120 LCD projectors 


17

PRODUCTION PROFILE 


Guns N’ Roses 

Tour Places Video Front & Center, and Director FOH 

By Kevin M. Mitchell 

Greg Shipley, left, with Chris Nathan and two of the four Vector Red consoles. 

While it’s not surprising that the 

current Guns N’ Roses world tour 

is a big old-fashioned three-guitar 

arena show with enough pyro to make 

you think you’re in Boston on the Fourth 

of July, it’s not the typical flash and trash 

lighting rig. And even though the increasing 

importance of video in rock shows is 

nothing new, this one stands out. 

Greg Shipley goes by the title of “show 

designer,” and his duties include production 

and lighting. But he’s also largely responsible 

for just about everything else, 

including the video and the sets. 

“It’s definitely a big show,” show programmer 

Chris Nathan says. Nathan drives 

the show using a Compulite Vector Red 

lighting console from his vantage point 

right beside Shipley at the FOH. “Sitting 

together allows for great timing, because 

both lighting and video cues can jump to 

beats and we can work offer each other,” 

Shipley says. They have a total of four Vector 

Reds on the tour, two main and two 

backups. (Camera switching and I-Mag 

work is still done in video world, handled 

by Peter Moll.) 

Big Vision, Big Budget 

Shipley says the whole tour started 

with a designer’s three favorite words: 

“Budget doesn’t matter.” “I was just told 

to design something really big,” he says. 

“For me, being from the wrestling background, 

which is known for a lot of video 

showmanship, I decided to start with a 

lot of that.” The extravaganza did initially 

feature 19 video surfaces, though time, logistics, 

and the economic realities of shipping 

overseas pared it down to 11. There’s 

one center main wall, two side displays for 

I-Mag and content, and four other video 

walls, plus a few other smaller ones. 

“Originally, the show had a moving motor 

system for the circle, and we were able 

to do creative designs with that,” Shipley 

says. “We also had three center video surfaces 

in the middle and also downstage, 

so when the circle split and moved, we ran 

video on it so people could see that it was 

moving — and we moved it frequently.” 

The tour, named after the album Chinese 

Democracy, started appropriately in 

Asia and then moved to Canada. Those 

shows featured the “full design, all the bells 

and whistles.” Then they went to South 

America where the rig had to be cut down 

significantly. “And once you cut it down, 

it’s hard to get it back!” But when they hit 

Europe they did exactly that, bringing back 

the circle elements and some of the video 

wall movement. But there were other challenges; 

sometimes they could bring their 

own gear to a gig (good!) and sometimes 

they had to grab what they could (not as 

good). 

Still, there’s no “A/B/C” show per se, 

but instead, Shipley pulls out his CAD and 

tweaks the drawing right there to fit the 

venue. “There are several different scenarios 

for different situations, but every show 

is unique. Some places we take out some 

video because of the restrictions to the 

roof. One time we cut all the video. Some 

other places had full high trim and we 

could see the moving motor system. We’re 

all very flexible.” 

Teamwork 

Shipley’s journey to big rock icon 

shows is not typical. He started out handling 

lighting chores on cruise ships and 

then he did some corporate work before 

landing a gig as chief lighting programmer 

for WWE for three years. He has also 

done a little rock ‘n’ roll work, but only two 

as the designer: Smashing Pumpkins and 

now Guns N’ Roses. 

Nathan has been around the business 

a long time. When he was a kid, his stepfather 

produced shows at a playhouse 

in New Fairfield, Conn. “When I was 17, I 

ran spots for different musicals,” he says. 

By 1997 he was working professionally 

as a lighting tech. He worked his way up 

through festivals and corporate gigs and 

was lighting director for Queensrÿche and 

K.C. & the Sunshine Band, among others. 

“I first hooked up with Greg and introduced 

him to the [Compulite] console 

during his time as lead programmer on 

WWE, sometime around summer of 2006,” 

Nathan says. “When Greg secured the Guns 

N’ Roses tour back in 2009, he asked me to 

join him on the road as a programmer and 

console operator for the media servers.” 

“When I was out on wrestling, I was trying 

to find consoles to ramp up that show. 

I needed more console to do more things,” 

Shipley says. “Well, lo and behold, when I 

found the Compulite Vector Red and I was 

interested in trying it out, who brought it 

out to me? Nathan.” 

The team’s approach to creating the 

concert follows no formula. “I don’t follow 

the start-small-and-build scenario,” 

Shipley says. “The audience gets 90 percent 

of what we have for them right off the 

bat. The first four songs are full throttle. 

Then we hit a slow song and dial it back, 

but it all goes from top to bottom. I would 

like to think it’s entertaining from start to 

finish.” 

“But this approach has a lot to do with 

the band we’re dealing with,” Nathan adds. 

“That’s how they do the show — they hit 

it hard right off the bat, so the visuals follow 

suit.” 

The band is built around Axl Rose plus 

three guitars, two keyboards, bass and 

drummer. All but Rose pretty much stick to 

their places on stage, though Rose makes 

up for it. He’s a non-stop speeding bullet, 

ricocheting around the stage so much that 

keeping the focus on him keeps everyone 

on their toes. 

“I designed the set so the drums sit on 

top of the riser, with a piano that rolls out 

underneath for certain songs,” Shipley says. 

“Stairs rise up and down around the drummer 

and there’s a lot of running area for Axl. 

He likes to run, and we’ve created space for 

him to do that.” 

For lighting the band, there’s a lot of 

backlight, plus a total of six followspots. Because 

of all the action, they light the whole 

stage, though there are specific moments, 

like during “November Rain,” when the 

piano comes out and there are very specific 

lighting cues. Otherwise, they go with 

what’s happening at the moment. 

“It’s a big, spectacular show, and it all 

moves according to what the song does,” 

Nathan says. He adds that, while it’s a bit of 

a Catch-22, because of all the video, it’s actually 

lit more for television. “He’s got a big 

look all over the place, but he’ll pull back 

for a bass intro or keyboard break and then 

push it back in.” And on big moments like 

“Sweet Child O’ Mine,” the guitarists doing 

the solos tend to end up in the same spot 

and “we like those!” 

The set was built by Accurate Staging 

based on Shipley’s CAD drawings using 

Vectorworks. He had never built a set before 

and says he just visualized it and drew 

it up. “All of the show is based on circles — 

truss, sets, video — all based on a curve.” 

There’s a mix of Martin MAC 2000 Wash 

fixtures and Vari-Lite VL3000 Spots, which 

they both like working with. “Even though 

they aren’t the newest fixtures out there, 


MAC 2k washes are still one of the best if 

not the best,” Nathan points out, adding 

that they’re ubiquitous, which is certainly 

an advantage when you’re playing countries 

like Slovakia. Strictly FX handles the 

heavy pyro duties. 

Content for video came from several 

sources. For the songs on the new album 

there was a great deal of content created 

for videos that the team had access to. They 

had specific songs with built-in movies, 

and they used different elements for different 

screens. “For the rest of the show, Chris 

took elements already in the Catalyst (media 

server), tweaked it and made it great,” 

Shipley says. “I never have to say anything 

about his creative work with video.” 

Nathan says they rely on a Catalyst 

V4 media server and have three on this 

tour. He runs the video elements much as 

Shipley runs the lights. “That’s the beauty of 

running video from a Compulite console,” 

he says. “It does all the things that the lighting 

rig can do, fading content in and out, 

bumping the faders, creating white flashes 

for cymbal crashes — that’s what makes it 

really cool. 

“I think a lot of the show’s success has 

to do with the big looks that are being 

produced from lighting and video,” Nathan 

continues. For him, largely because of the 

Compulite board, it’s different in that he’s 

programming a lighting console to do video 

cues and lights and “really enjoying the 

hell out of it. In the past, you could do some 

awesome stuff with video, but it’s a lot 

faster to do with this console.” Both Shipley 

and Nathan appreciated that the Compulite 

board allowed him to be his “strong button 

pusher programmer kind of guy” as opposed 

to the touch screen aspect. 

“I personally like the ‘Live and Let Die’ 

moment,” Shipley says. “Not just because 

it’s a cool song, but it’s all white — a big, 

fast, moving white song.” Video director 

Moll uses color in the I-Mag until it kicks 

in, then goes to black and white and then 

red when the pyro goes, transitioning back 

to color for the calm part. 

“This is one of those shows where all 

the songs are good,” Nathan adds. “There 

are times when you’re working on this side 

of the business and you get tired of the 

music quickly. We’ve been doing this for a 

year and I still really enjoy it.” 

Big Guns in Pyro, Video Brought Out for GNR Tour 

Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy Tour 

When Reid Nofsinger of Strictly FX 

started working with Axl Rose’s 

right hand man, Del James, to update 

the pyro looks that had been part of 

Guns N’ Roses’ touring shows for 15 years, he 

began with a completely blank slate. “I didn’t 

even want to see what they did before.” 

The album’s title song, “Chinese Democracy,” 

which opened the show, also gave Nofsinger 

inspiration for something completely 

new. “We did a pyro chase that runs around 

the three runways, and all the sparks coming 

straight down masks the stage,” he explains. 

“Then there are some concussion drops, and 

right there Axl appears and starts singing. Every 

night the cue had to be dead-on, and it 

was. It really excited the audience. Axl loved 

it.” 

Another signature moment happened 

during “November Rain.” Instead of going with 

the whole waterfall idea, Nofsinger chose a 

series of 20 by 20 gerbs placed around the 

curving staircase. “Instead of firing all at once, 

individual gerbs went off to the beat of the 

music in half-second intervals, and the guitarist 

standing there became wrapped in sparks.” 

Once the new pyro design was set, few 

things changed during the tour, with the notable 

exception being Japan. “There, you can 

only shoot 100 pieces of product total, and 

in the opening we shoot 120 chase pieces 

alone.” But the crew made it work so that audience 

got a great show like everyone else. 

John Wiseman of Chaos Visual Productions 

was called on to supply the complicated 

video elements to the Chinese Democracy 

tour. He’s had a relationship with the band 

going back to his early days with Vari-Lite. 

Long-time GNR production manager Tom 

Mayhue said that he trusts him and his team 

completely. 

“Greg [Shipley, show designer] put together 

a really cool design; Axl saw it and 

loved it, picking him to work on the show 

out of a blind group,” Wiseman says. “He just 

knocked it out of the park, and we brought 

his vision to life.” 

Wiseman and his team worked on the 

rehearsals in Los Angeles, and seven crew 

members went to Canada, Asia, and South 

America with the tour. Once in Europe, Alex 

Leinster, who runs Chaos’ new U.K. office, got 

involved to oversee the shows. 

Among the video package supplied by 

Chaos was an Element Labs Stealth LED lowres 

video curtain, PPU HD camera system, 

and a group of “Super Catalyst” media servers. 

From Wiseman’s perspective, the video 

aspect of the show “stayed big the whole 

time. Axl wants to do the full show every time 

he can.” He complimented Shipley on his ability 

to make that happen. “There was really no 

‘B’ show — just ‘A’ and maybe ‘A minus.’” 

Wiseman has a definite opinion and 

Rose, to. “The guy has balls, and you can 

quote me on that. He spent the money to 

go large. He’s out there singing his head off 

for three and a half hours every night. He’s a 

mad genius.” 

Original Crew List: 

Production Manager: Chris Gratton 

Stage Manager/Production Manager (Europe): Tom Mayhue 

Production Designer: Greg Shipley 

Video Programmer: Chris Nathan 

Video Director: Peter Moll 

Video Engineer: Josh Alberts 

Catalyst Engineer: James De Stefano 

Control Freak System Technician: Josh Levin 

Lighting Crew Chief: Steve Roman (Epic Lighting); Glen Power (PRG Europe) 

Head Rigger: Ryan Murphy; Charles Terrell (Europe) 

SGPS Crew Chief: John Purciful 

Automation Programmer: Brian Lolly 

Video Company: Chaos Visual Productions 

Gear 

432 Element Labs Stealth tiles (110,600 pixels) 

540 Philips/Color Kinetics iColor Flex Strings (27,000 pixels) 

99 Winvision 8mm tiles (405,500 pixels) 

4 Barco R20 20k projectors 

4 Catalyst Media Servers 

1 Control Freak System 

4 Compulite Vector Red lighting consoles 

4 Compulite E- Ports 

98 Martin MAC 2000 Wash fixtures with narrow lens 

30 Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots with custom gobos 

19 Martin Atomic Strobe 3000s with Atomic color scrollers 

17 Martin Stagebar LED fixtures 

6 9-way Mole Fays 

24 PixelRange PixelLines 1044s 

2 Lycian M2 Followspots 

6 Strong Gladiator 3 followspots 

2 Reel EFX DF-50 hazers 

2 High End Systems F-100 smoke machines 

1 SGPS moving motor/tracking system 


19

INSIDE THEATRE 


By BryanReesman 

Michael 

J. Passaro 

Stage Manager 

as Translator 

Megan Sikora and Sean Hayes are just two of the 

moving parts in in Promises, Promises 

Michael J. Passaro 

Kristin Chenoweth and company with one of the changing scenic elements. Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth in another of the many scenic settings. All of the scenic transitions happen in full view of the audience. 

Promises, Promises production stage manager 

Michael J. Passaro calls PLSN just after 

his show has brought Molly Shannon 

in the key supporting role of Marge McDougall. 

It’s the same role that won Katie Finneran her 

second Tony Award this year. While oftentimes 

bringing in a new cast member, even an ensemble 

player, can induce extra effort from cast and 

crew, this transition went fairly smoothly. The 

advantage was that director Rob Ashford and his 

creative team and associates were in Los Angeles, 

where Shannon lives, as they prepared Leap 

of Faith for its L.A. run. The pre-rehearsal time before 

her New York rehearsals with scene partner 

Sean Hayes made everything work more fluidly. 

Challenges of the Craft 

plsn 

The job of a stage manager is always a juggling 

act. As Passaro points out, once the creative 

team has left a production, everyone working in 

the theatre on a given night fall under his jurisdiction. 

He is the one to keep the show running, and 

in this age of technological innovation, his job is 

both easier and trickier. “We certainly wouldn’t 

be able to stage Rob Ashford’s production of 

Promises, Promises as he envisioned it without 

the enormous amount of automation that we 

have in all departments; scenery, lighting, sound,” 

asserts Passaro. “We wouldn’t be able to do that 

accurately and safely eight times a week. We’re at 

the forefront of it and also at the mercy of it, to 

some degree.” 

But technology is one key to a show that, despite 

staying true to its traditional musical theatre 

roots from the original production four decades 

ago, is jazzed up with a couple new (if familiar) 

songs, faster choreography and quicker and 

more dazzling scene changes. “As I’m approaching 

my 23rd or 24th year stage managing — this 

is my 20th Broadway show — I’m always amazed, 

despite all the technology that we have to work 

with, coordinate and organize, it really still is a 

mom and pop business at its heart,” declares Passaro. 

“It is still handcrafted to a great degree, and 

it’s still a one-off. It’s not mass-produced. It is still 

made by people for people in a live setting, and 

to that end, my greatest challenges are always in 

coordinating a team of people to put on a show 

eight times a week. Always the challenges to me 

are how to motivate that team, how to work with 

the different personality types, how to speak all 

the different languages that the crew, actors or 

producers might have and be the central translator 

of all that information.” 

Passaro has many languages with which he 

must be proficient. He estimates that the number 

of lights cues for Promises, Promises alone 

reaches 450 to 460, including numerous point 

cues. In terms of automation cues, one cue in 

some sections of the show can move up to 15 

pieces of scenery, whether it’s something that 

the audience witnesses coming on and offstage 

or whether it is something that moves invisibly 

and silently backstage, like light ladders, winches 

or dogs getting into the right positions for the 

next setup. 

“Be that as it may, every single one of the 

transitions in Promises, Promises is done in front 

of the audience’s eyes,” says Passaro. “We never 

go to black out or bring a drop in. It all materializes 

in front of the audience. In that respect, 

stage managers have also become what I like to 

call ‘associate choreographers’ because we have 

to make the scenery move, dance and work with 

the music. Rob [Ashford] is a dancer, choreographer 

and director, so he especially is very specific 

about when things start to move, when things 

land and even internally when things are moving 

within phrases of music, so were very conscious 

of that. We could not have been able to achieve 

that without the automation that we have.” 

Safety First 

plsn 

Coordinating so many people requires not 

only precision and attention to detail but also 

concerns about individual safety. When it comes 

to safety, Passaro has no qualms about interrupting 

the show in case of a technical glitch. It 

has only happened once on Promises, Promises 

but happened a few times with the car in Chitty 

Chitty Bang Bang. “I am not one of those guys 

who’s like, ‘The show must go on’,” he reveals. 

“Or that we must have a backup plan for every 

foreseeable thing that could happen with 

85 automated effects. There’s just no way. You 

could spin yourself out of control trying to figure 

out backup plans for scenarios that may never 

happen, or when they do present themselves, 

are completely different than any other kind of 

plan you could come up with. Frankly, I don’t 

waste my time trying to figure out any of that 

stuff when it comes to this sort of thing. All we 

try to do is make sure that people are safe — cast 

and crew, audiences in some cases — and move 

on as quickly and as safely as we can.” 

The veteran stage manager has moved his 

way up the Broadway ladder since he landed 

his first stage managing gig on Starlight Express 

in 1986. While he has seen many technological 

changes since then — theatrical automation 

was just coming into play on that production 

— the human element has been the one important 

constant. “To me, difficult, challenging 

or easy always comes down to the personalities,” 

declares Passaro. “We have a fantastic group of 

production managers and crew [on my current 

show], but the technology itself has come so far 

that we’ve had very few problems; none really to 

speak of, on Promises, Promises.” 

On A Steady Rain, which he stage managed 

last year, the technology was minimal and easily 

dwarfed by the presence of the play’s two highpowered 

stars, Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman. 

“There were very few things to move in A Steady 

Rain,” recalls Passaro. “It was 90 minutes long with 

no intermission. The two actors went on stage, 

performed the play and then we went home.” It 

was business as usual, “except that we had two 

of the biggest movie stars currently in the world 

performing on that stage. They were the nicest 

men you’d ever want to meet — completely 

down-to-earth, totally separate from the characters 

they’re famous for, gentlemen in every 

respect of the word. But they also came with a lot 

of staff and security, and our job was the coordination 

of those elements to make sure that those 

guys were safe when they walked in the building 

and could just concentrate on performing a 

difficult play. Our job was to make sure that that 

was a safe space for them emotionally and physically, 

so they didn’t have to worry about anything 

when they walked in the door except doing that 

play eight times a week.” 

Learning the Ropes 

plsn 

Passaro is clearly quite adept and seasoned 

at his profession. Ironically, he never planned 

on being a stage manager. Back in 1986 he had 

been working for a general management firm 

at the time called Gatchell & Neufeld, “which 

was one of the last of the mom and pop general 

managing firms. Peter Neufeld, one of the principals 

of that firm, told me, because I wanted to 

be a company manager, that I should be a production 

assistant on one of their shows or a show 

to see how it’s done in the trenches. Work with a 

stage manager and see how the shows were put 

together before I sat down behind a desk with a 

calculator and figured out payroll.” 

The young Passaro took Neufeld’s advice 

and snagged himself a production assistant 

job on Starlight Express around the age of 

23 or 24. The show was so complicated that 


INSIDE THEATRE 


In all, there are more than 450 lighting cues, and a single automation cue can move up to 15 pieces of scenery. 

the company soon asked Passaro to come on 

board as a stage manager. “I didn’t even know 

what a stage manager did,” he confesses. “All 

I knew back then was that they were paying 

$850 a week, and that was a lot of money 

then. It still is to some people. And here I am 

20 odd years later. You learn by doing it.” 

When asked about the advice he would 

offer to up-and-coming stage managers — 

which he does with his class at Yale University 

— Passaro says, “You will learn more about 

stage managing by anything other than your 

experiences either working directly in the 

theatre or going to the theatre. By that I mean 

it’s about how you handle people, personal issues 

and personal challenges. At the end of 

the day, it’s a one-on-one mom and pop business. 

For example, working at McDonald’s 

in high school taught me more about team 

leadership than any early theatre experience 

I had or any class I had in stage management 

or theatre. Go seek out those experiences. If 

you’re a college theatre major who’s interested 

in stage management, the classes that 

you take in history, art history or accounting, 

all those classes you take outside of theatre 

will probably prepare you more for a career 

in the theatre and stage management than 

anything you know right now.” 

The production stage manager feels 

that a positive aspect of college programs is 

that they give “a seal of approval and a seal 

of legitimacy to a full-fledged career in stage 

managing. Years ago, I think people — perhaps 

[with] the generation before mine or 

perhaps some in my generation — always 

looked at stage managing as a stepping 

stone, and certainly it can be that. One of the 

things that I talk about with my students at 

Yale is that the skills you require as a stage 

manager are so valuable in the corporate 

world. I’ve seen it and experienced it myself. 

The skills of leading a team toward a common 

goal, to get a curtain up at eight o’clock every 

night or on an opening night — those time 

management and team leadership skills are 

absolutely invaluable and all come together 

in crystal-clear form as a stage manager so 

that you can transport those skills to other 

entertainment-related careers or not. But I do 

think the college programs are good because 

they do give a legitimacy to it. You can have a 

very fulfilling career as a stage manager, and 

that’s great.” 


PRODUCTION PROFILE 


Trey Songz’ Passion, 

Pain & Pleasure 

Photos by Frank Johnson 

By Richard Cadena 

The floor fixtures trade off with the overhead lighting fixtures for different songs on the tour. 

Shortly after Eric Marchwinski graduated 

from Berklee College of Music 

in Boston with a degree in Music Production 

and Engineering, he found himself 

in the hot seat of his first concert tour. The 

touring wheels were set in motion when 

production manager for Trey Songz Bryon 

“Hot Dog” Tate looked to Bob Morrissey of 

East Coast Lighting & Production Services, 

Inc. for a touring system with fresh talent. 

Bob and the ECLPS team assembled a full 

touring rig and crew in short time and the 

tour was off and running from one sold out 

venue to another. 

Penciling It In 

plsn 

Marchwinski began the design process 

by talking about the theme of the tour, 

brainstorming and sketching in pencil before 

finally ending up with some concrete 

ideas. After brainstorming with Nathan 

Almeida, Marchwinski drafted the lighting 

plot in Vectorworks 2010. Once renderings 

and ideas were approved, the final design 

was modeled in Martin Show Designer 5, 

where it could be pre-programmed and 

visualized. 

“They asked me to be at rehearsals 

for the week prior to the tour for pre-programming 

and to show Trey and the management 

renderings and visualizations,” 

Marchwinski said. “I pre-programmed 

about 60 percent of the show you see on 

stage in MSD at rehearsals.” While Marchwinski 

was at rehearsals, the ECLPS team 

was prepping the rig back at the shop. 

“This was the best-prepped lighting rig I 

had ever seen,” Marchwinski said, crediting 

technicians Nathan Almeida and Steve 

Foster. “They didn’t leave out a single detail, 

which made for very efficient load-ins 

and load-outs. 


“It was a great feeling to set up the 

whole rig, hit play on the console and see 

everything running right before my eyes, 

just as I had seen it on the computer,” 

Marchwinski added. “I felt confident after 

that moment.” 

The design included six Martin MAC 

2000 Profiles as an “anchor point” on the 

upstage truss. Surrounding the MAC 2Ks 

were six MAC 700 Wash fixtures. Since the 

stock MAC 2K Profile gobos are familiar 

to most people in the lighting industry, 

Marchwinski decided to load them with 

three custom patterns and swap around 

the existing patterns. “I had to get the 

best-looking stock gobos out of the color 

wheel and into a gobo wheel for rotation,” 

he said. 

Playing Favorites 

plsn 

During the programming session, 

Marchwinski discovered something about 

the gear. “The MAC 700 Wash has become 

my new favorite 700-watt fixture because 

of their sheer power-to-speed ratio. I love 

the tight beam you can get by running the 

zoom all the way in. That look is all over 

the show and makes for some powerful 

aerial effects.” 

The mid-stage truss has six more 700 

washes and 12 MAC 250 Entours. 

“I was leery at first about putting a 250 

against a 2000,” Marchwinski said, “but kudos 

to Martin on the updated optics in the 

250E. They aren’t equally as bright, they 

can hold their own. I never felt like their 

intensity was a limiting factor in my programming.” 

There are also six MAC 250s on the 

deck, and Marchwinski says these have 

made him the happiest out of all of the 

Martin fixtures in the rig. 

“These things are killer bright for a 250, 

“Designing with purpose has been one of 

the biggest things I value.” 

—Eric Marchwinski 

and really fast,” he enthuses. “There are a 

lot of intimate moments throughout Trey’s 

show, and I love the power of sidelight. I 

found myself loving their power and speed 

all through the programming process. 

Sexy, Intimate 

plsn 

During several songs like “Jupiter Love, 

“Can’t Be Friends,” and “Ready to Make 

Love,” the six floor fixtures take over from 

the followspots, providing “a real sexy and 

intimate feel.” Another dominant fixture in 

the rig has been the Martin Stagebar 54 S, 

of which there are 31. 

“We came up with an interesting concept 

for the placement of the Stagebars on 

the mid-stage truss,” Marchwinski said. “We 

used pre-rig with the bars removed and 

mounted two Stagebars on either end of 

an empty, stripped PAR bar, then mounted 

this in the upstage side of the pre-rig truss. 

That allowed all the data and power to live 

in the mid-stage truss, making for a ‘semiswing 

wing’ setup. All we had to do was 

bridge connections at the joints.” 

Those 12 fixtures were run in six-pixel 

mode because Marchwinski likes arrays of 

LEDs to create “intricate” effects engine visualizations. 

There are also 12 Philips/Color 

Kinetics Color Blasts, six in each truss, 

used as toners. Twelve more Stagebars 

live upstage along the cyc. Marchwinski 

controls the rig using a Flying Pig Systems 

Wholehog III and a Hog iPC running MIDI 

tracking for backup. 

Scenic Challenges 

plsn 

One of the challenges with the rig, according 

to Marchwinski, was the double 

kabuki system used on the mid-stage 

truss. Two 24-foot pipes were outrigged 

on the downstage edge of the mid-stage 

truss using six “snap lock braces.” Each 

tube had 12 solenoids — six for the diaper 

and six for the kabuki. It was used in 

conjunction with a blackout that was outrigged 

off of the upstage side of the same 

truss, which allowed the mid-stage truss to 

work double duty for the opener, becoming 

their upstage truss. 

Scenic elements on the rig included 

seven custom fabric columns from Rose 

Brand (designed by crew chief Almeida) 

and a riser/set-piece from All Access Staging. 

The “Tubes,” as they were affectionately 

called, lent a “very classy and sophisticated 

look and feel to the show,” according 

to Marchwinski. They also take light very 

well. Each tube is 2 by 2 by 20 feet in dimension 

with a 2 by 2 foot mirror in the 

top. A Stagebar lives at the bottom of each 

tube to provide uplight. Downstage are 

two MAC 2ks with two full-color dichroic 

gobos depicting the tour logo. 

“We wanted a way to tie together the 

new records in the show,” Marchwinski said, 

“and we decided that the symbolism of the

LD Eric Marchwinski used lighting to set the mood during Trey Songz’ more intimate songs. 

Marchwinski based his color choices on how the artist described the feeling of each song. 

logo would be very effective. The ‘Triple 

Ps,’ as we call them, appear throughout 

the set on all of the songs off of the new 

album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure.” 

Word Games 

plsn 

To provide more continuity in the 

show, Marchwinski used word association 

with feelings and emotions that the 

artist wanted to convey and chose the 

colors accordingly. “I found it much easier 

to take the artist’s descriptions, which 

are based in emotions, and translate that 

to color, rather than try to get the artist 

to think like a designer, or more cuebased.” 

After discussing it with the artist, he 

picked a color palette for each record, 

but kept the continuity by tying adjacent 

songs together with at least one color in 

common. 

“Although it’s somewhat subconscious,” 

he said, “I think it’s a very effective 

way to avoid ‘Color ADD.’ I value the 

extremely strong association between 

color and emotion. I’m sure you could 

write for days on that topic alone. 

“The cyc, the tubes and the rig provided 

many layers on which to paint with 

the intricate color palette,” he continued. 

“Some songs have a simple one color 

palette, including the spotlight, and other 

have up to a four-color scheme. The 

layers allow me to place color with purpose 

and not just throw it up onto any 

old fixture. Designing with purpose is 

one of the biggest things I have been 

working on over the course of beginning 

my career. It’s a great concept taught to 

me by the one and only Scott Pinkney.” 

The tour kicked off with a week of 

studio rehearsals in Atlanta, then three 

full days of production rehearsals in Mobile, 

AL at the first venue. 

“The tour has been phenomenal in 

every aspect,” Marchwinski enthused. 

“Our crew is fantastic, the band, the 

management...the whole team has really 

banded together to make this a really 

significant experience for everyone as 

Trey’s first headlining tour. I have learned 

leaps and bounds grown so much as a 

designer and a tech through being a 

working LD on this tour! Every show has 

been completely sold out to the very last 

seat, and we couldn’t ask for anything 

more. 

“To be the lighting designer for a sold 

out R&B tour has been a mind-blowing 

experience throughout every step of 

the process. I must again thank Nathan 

Almeida and Bob Morrissey from East 

Coast Lighting and Production Services 

for calling me and providing me with 

this opportunity and Steve Foster for being 

out here and working towards this 

dream with me for the past six years.” 

Trey Songz 2010 Passion Pain & Pleasure Tour 

Lighting: East Coast Lighting and Production Services (ECLPS) 

Audio: Eighth Day Audio 

Staging: All Access Staging & Productions 

Backline: Bergsten Music 

Soft Goods/Kabuki: Rent What? 

Radios: Road Radios 

Trucking: Stage Call 

Buses: Coach Quarters 

Crew 

Production Manager/FOH Engineer: Bryon “Hot Dog” Tate 

Production Coordinator: Becky Mendoza 

Lighting Designer: Eric Marchwinski 

Crew Chief: Nathan Almeida 

Lighting Technician: Steven Foster 

Monitor Engineer: Marlon John 

Audio System Engineer: Chris Berry 

Audio Technician: Derek Prescod 

Backline Technician: Joe Mora 

A Party Band Bus Driver: Kenny Forges 

Production Bus Driver: Gary Ramella 

Stage Call Driver Audio: Tommy Oplinger 

Stage Call Driver Lighting: Curtis Doster 

Tour Promoter: Jeff Sharp, AEG Live 

Tour Promoter Rep: Eddie Powell Jr., AEG Live 

Tour Accountant: Andrea Divine, AEG Live 

Team Songz Management: Kevin Liles, JoJo Brim, KWL Enterprises; 

Chris Celestine, TS Productions 

Gear 

1 Flying Pig Systems Wholehog III 

2 Flying Pig Systems Hog PC USB playback fader wings 

1 Flying Pig Systems DP 2000 DMX processor 

2 Flying Pig Systems Hog iPCs 

1 Flying Pig Systems Superwidget 

1 Flying Pig Systems Hog PC USB programming wing 

8 Martin MAC 2000 Profiles with custom gobos 


16 Martin MAC 250 Entours 



31 Martin Stagebar 54 S LED fixtures 

12 Philips Color Kinetics Color Blast 12s 

4 Philips Color Kinetics Color Blaze 48s 

1 Doug Fleenor A/B switch 

4 Doug Fleenor Opto-Isolators 

1 Applied Electronics 36ch 2.4K dimmer rack 

2 Motion Labs 24-way 208V power distros 

12 CM 1-Ton chain hoists 

48’ James Thomas Engineering 20.5” box truss 

11 Total Fabrications 93”x30” pre rig truss 

2 Reel EFX DF-50 hazer w/ fan 

30 ETC Source Four MFL PARs 

6 ETC Source Four 19° Lekos 

2 ETC Source Four 50° Lekos 

1 30x60 white muslin cyc 

2 30x30 15oz Encore black velour 

1 Sew What? 30x60 kabuki w/ diaper 

24 Rent What? 110V kabuki solenoids 

2 24’ aluminum tubes for solenoids 

6 SnapLocs outrigging braces 

2010 DECEMBER PLSN 25

BUYERS GUIDE 

What, exactly, is heavy duty? Is it dictated 

by size, load-bearing capacity, 

cost or some other means of categorizing 

truss? This month’s Buyers Guide 

on “heavy-duty” aluminum truss raises that 

legitimate question. 

Every manufacturer, in describing their 

products, must use some subjective, immeasurable 

terminology to get their point across. 

Sometimes the point is subtle and sometimes 

not, but it’s almost always a source of anxiety 

for the manufacturer. Get it right and the rewards 

can be handsomely profitable. But if 

they cross the line between superlative and 


Heavy Duty Aluminum Truss 

sensational, then they risk looking less-thanhonest 

in the eyes of the industry, which 

could cost them sales and loyalty. 

In the context of truss, heavy-duty has a 

higher load-bearing capacity than light-duty 

and medium-duty. After that, it’s up to manufacturers 

to decide how to label their own 


line of truss. The meat and potatoes, after all, 

is in the load-bearing specs accompanying 

the product. It’s up to the user — hopefully 

an ETCP Certified Rigger — to determine its 

proper application. So whatever it’s moniker, 

be sure to pay close attention to the rated capacity 

of the truss. 

Tyler Truss Systems 

Box Truss 

Tomcat Heavy Duty 

Spigoted Truss 

Performance Truss Fabrications 

Rectangular Truss 

Milos QuickTruss M950 

Total Structures 

Omni Series 16 

Heavy Duty Truss 

Athletic/Alustage Quadrosystem 

James Thomas 

Engineering 

Supermega Truss 

Heavy Duty Box Truss from 

Applied Electronics 

Truss Aluminum Factory 

(TAF) FTB-H 

Xtreme Structures 

30”x20.5” Truss 


BUYERS GUIDE 

Manufacturer Model Dimensions Available Lengths Connector Types Maximum Distributed Load In lbs. - 40’ Span 

Applied Electronics 

appliednn.com 

Athletic/Alustage 

alustage.eu 

26 x 30 PRT 26”x30” 10’, 7.5’, 5’ Grade 8 Bolts 4,400 lbs 

20.5 x 30 Box 20.5”x30” 10’, 8’, 5’, 2.5’, custom lengths Grade 8 Bolts 6,120 lbs 

20.5 x 30 Spigoted 20.5”x30” 10’, 8’, 5’, 2.5’, custom lengths Steel Spigots 8,240 lbs 

Quadrosystem 

290mm square or 

390mm square 

Spigoted 

5,732 lbs 

Galaxy 240 & 300 24” or 30” x 15” 10’ & 8’ 

Rotating Omni Fork 

Connections 

24”: 3,314 lbs UDL @ 40’; 30”: 3,320 lbs UDL @ 40’ 

(loads incl. 20% overload factor for dynamic effects as required by ANSI E1.2) 

James Thomas 

Engineering, Inc. 

jthomaseng.com 

Supermega Truss 22.7” x 42.4” 20’, 15’, 12’, 10’, 8’, 5’ 

Scaled up version of 

Supertruss Fork 

10,670 lbs UDL on 40’ span (load limited to suit max. shear capacity; loads incl. 20% 

overload factor for dynamic effects as required by ANSI E1.2) 

Supermega 42.4” x 22.7” 20’, 15’, 12’, 10’, 8’, 5’ Double Unisex Fork 10,670 

Super Truss 20.5” x 20.5” 20.5” x 20.5” 

12, 10’, 8’, 6’, 5’, 2.5’ standard; 

Custom lengths to 20’ available 

Double Fork, Unisex Pinned 

Connection 

6,435 lb. UDL on 40’ clear span (all loads incl. 20% overload factor for dynamic effects 

as required by ANSI E1.2) 

QuickTruss M950 Rect 39.37” x 22.8” 

1m (3.28’), 1.2m (3.94’), 2m (6.56’), 

2.4m (7.87’), 3m (9.84’) 

12,791 lbs 

Milos Structural 

Systems 

milosgroup.com 

QuickTruss M950 Fold 39.37” x 22.8” 

QuickTruss M520 Quatro 20.8” x 20.8” 

1m (3.28’), 1.2m (3.94’), 2m (6.56’), 

2.4m (7.87’), 3m (9.84’) 

1m (3.28’), 1.5m (4.92’), 2m (6.56’), 2.5m (8.2’), 

3m (9.84’), 3.5m (11.48’), 4m (13.12’) 

Conical Connector With 

Quick Pin & Clip 

10,195 lbs 

5,000 lbs 

QuickTruss M520 Fold 22.7” x 22.8” 1.2m (3.94’), 1.6m (5.25’), 2.4m (7.87’) 5,026 lbs 

Performance Truss 

Fabrications 

performancetruss. 

com 

Prolyte Products 

Group 

prolyte.com 

TAF USA (Truss 

Aluminum Factory) 

trussaluminium.com 

W520 Folding Truss 20.5” square .6M;.8m;1.6m;2.4m 

D530 Box Truss 20.9” square .5m; 1m; 2m; 3m 

R610 Rectangular Truss 16.5”x 24” .5m; 1m; 2m; 3m 

P610 Rectangular Truss 18.5” x 24” .5m; 1m; 2m; 3m 

S36R 267 x 359 mm 0.3m-6m / 1’-16 

S36V 359 x 359 mm 0.3m-6m / 1’-17 

Conical 

3,377 lbs 

5,812.2 lbs 

S52F 580 x 530 mm 0.3m-6m / 1’-18 Ccs7 Conical Coupler 

138 lbs/ft 

S52SV 530 x 530 mm 0.3m-6m / 1’-19 136 lbs/ft 

S66R 480 x 670 mm 0.6m-6m / 2’-20 178 lbs/ft 

FTB-H 20.5” x 30” 5’, 8’, 10’ 

Bolted Connection (M16 

Hardware) 

86 lbs/ft 

3,920 lbs 

Heavy Duty 30” x 20.5” 2’ thru 20’ Bolted Connection 3,400 lbs. UDL 

Heavy Duty 30” x 20.5” 2’ thru 20’ Spigoted 8,320 lbs. UDL 

Tomcat 

tomcatglobal.com 

Extra Heavy Duty 36” x 24” 2’ thru 20’ Spigoted 19,280 lbs. UDL 

Edge 30” x 24” 8 ft. & 10 ft. Rotating Spigots 3,760 lbs. UDL 

2x2 Box 24” x 24” 

Bolted Connection 

(Grade 8 Hardware) 

3,064 lbs UDL 

Total Structures, Inc. 

totalstructures.com 

Omni 30x36 36” x 30” 

2’ thru 12’, custom lengths available 

Omni Rotating Fork End 

Connector, Fixed Omni Fork 

End Connector 

8,266 lbs UDL 

Omni Series 16 Extra Heavy Duty 48” x 24” 10,983 lbs UDL 

Generic Extra Heavy Duty 48” x24” 2’ thru 12’ standard, custom lengths available 

Bolted Connection 

(Grade 8 Hardware) 

6,503 lbs UDL 

Heavy Duty Bolted Truss 20”x30” 20”x30” 5’, 8’, 10’ Bolt 2,080 lbs. 

Tyler Truss Systems 

tylertruss.com 

Xtreme Structures 

xsftruss.com 

Pre-Rig Fork End Truss 20.5”x36” 20.5”x36” 5’, 8’, 10’ Fork End 4,263 lbs. 

Super Duty Fork End Truss 20” 

x 30” 

Tyler True Fold 36” x 42” Single 

Diagonals 

20”x30” 5’, 8’, 10’ Fork End 4,400 lbs. 

36” x 42” 5’, 8’, 10’ Fork End 4880 lbs. 

30” x 20.5” Super Heavy Duty 30” x 20.5” 2’ up to 20’ 

30” x 30” Heavy Duty 30” x 30” 2’ up to 20’ 

30” x 30” super heavy duty 30” x 30” 2’ up to 20’ 

Steel Fork and Spade 

Connectors 

Steel Fork and Spade 

Connectors 

Steel Fork and 

Spade Connectors 

15,640 lbs. 

8,360 lbs. 

15,640 lbs. 

36”x30” super heavy duty 36” x 30” 2’ up to 20’ Steel Fork and Spade 18,300 lbs. UDL 



Maximum Distributed Load In lbs. - 20’ Span Alloy Type Compliances 

Custom Truss 

Available? 

Circular Truss 

Available? 

Corners? 

7,600 lbs 6061-T6 ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes Yes 4-Way, Custom 

Comments 

Available as PRT or standard; schedule 40 aluminum tube, 

8-bolt pattern. 

7,200 lbs 6061-T6 ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes Yes 2-Way, 4-Way, Custom Schedule 80 aluminum tube; polished finish. 

14,800 lbs 6061-T6 ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes Yes 2-Way, 4-Way, Custom Schedule 80 aluminum tube; polished finish. 

12,346 lbs n/a ISO DIN 4113 N/A Yes 2-Way, 3-Way, 4-Way And 5-Way 

24”: 7,460 lbs UDL @ 20’; 30”: 7,450 lbs UDL @ 20’ 

(load limited by max. shear capacity; loads incl. 20% 

overload factor for dynamic effects as required by 

ANSI E1.2) 

6061-T6 

ANSI E1.2, ISO 

9001:2008 

Yes Yes Corners Gates are Available 

3 mm (HD3) tube wall thickness standard, 4 mm (H4D) optional; 

stage roofs and LED gates available. 

Stackable; rotating Omni forks for max. flexibility and 2 adjustable 

mounting bars for pre-focused conventional fixtures or any size moving 

head; adjustable, removable dolly that folds away and stacks. 

10,670 lbs UDL on 40’ span (load limited to suit max. 

shear capacity; loads include 20% overload factor for 

dynamic effects as required by ANSI E1.2) 

6061-T6 

ANSI E1.2, ISO 

9001:2008 

Yes 

Yes, Corners are Available 

Developed for larger load bearing capability; end connections are 

scaled up Supertruss forks; max. clear span capability of 127’ w/o lateral 

restraint but if there is lateral restraint available mid span, 

the max. span can be up to 157’. 

10,670 6061-t6 ANSI E1.2 Yes Yes Gates and Plates 

7,405 lb UDL on 20’ clear span (load limited to suit 

max. shear capacity; all loads incl. 20% overload factor 

for dynamic effects as required by ANSI E1.2) 

12,899 lbs 

10,288 lbs 

7,266 lbs 

7,760 lbs 

5,163 lbs 

6061-T6 ANSI E1.2 Yes 

6082 T6 

RWTUV, DIN4113 

& SLV 


& SLV 


& SLV 


& SLV 

Yes, Circular 

And Curved 

Sections Of 

Truss Available 

5,163 lbs Yes Yes 

6082- T6 RWTU 

12,173.7 lbs Yes Yes 

12,173.7 lbs Yes Yes 

365 lbs/ft 

Corner Gates and Corner Blocks Available 

Yes Yes Multicube 

Yes 

Yes 

Complete Junction Range Available; 

Made To Order 

Yes Yes Multicube 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

2-Way 90° 

4-Way Cross Piece 

3-Way Tee Piece 

Bookcorner 

Range of Corners 

Yes Yes Yes 

364 lbs/ft Yes Yes Yes 

426 lbs/ft EN AW 6082 T6 

DIN 4113 /Euro 

Code 9 

Yes No Yes 



Available in 12”x12”, 18”x12”, 20.5”x20.5”, 20.5”x30”, w/ or w/o casters; 

20.5” Fold Flat, 30” Fold Flat, Pre-Rigged, Moving Light Truss. 

Lifetime warranty; 24 hr quickquote service; powder coated finishes. 

Lifetime warranty 

8,400 lbs 6082 T6 


& SLV 

Yes Yes Multi-Connection Boxes Maximum certified span - 60’; powder coating available. 

5,740 lbs. UDL 6061-T6 ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes Yes Yes 



8440 lbs. UDL 6062-T6 ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes No 2, 3 and 4-way corners 

Equipped with bolts; avail. w/ casters; main chords are 2” OD x 1/8” (50.8 

mm OD x 3.1 mm) aluminum; diagonals are 1” OD x 1/8” (25.4 mm OD x 

3.1 mm) aluminum; 2-way, 3-way and 4-way corner blocks available. 

Equipped with steel spigot; avail. w/ casters; main chords are 2” OD 

x 3/16” (50.8 mm OD x 4.7 mm) aluminum; diagonals are 1-1/2” OD x 

1/8” (20.4 mm OD x 3.1 mm) aluminum; 2-way, 3-way and 4-way corner 

blocks available. 

Standard lengths are 20’, 10’ and 5’; equipped w/ steel spigots and casters; 

main chords are 3” OD x 1/4” (76.2 mm OD x 6.3 mm) aluminum; 

diagonals are 1-1/2” OD x 1/8” (38.1 mm OD x 3.1 mm) aluminum; 

2-way, 3-way and 4-way corner blocks available. 

Standard lengths are 96” (3 bay, fits 3 moving heads) and 120” (4 bay, 

fits 4 moving heads); equipped w/ 3 lamp bars; adjustable middle bay; 

interchangeable ladders to change truss height as needed; stacking 

spigots; equipped with steel spigots; main chords are 2” OD x 3/16” 

(50.8 mm OD x 4.7 mm) aluminum; diagonals are 1-1/2” OD x 1/8” (38.1 

mm OD x 3.1 mm) aluminum; 2-way, 3-way and 4-way corner blocks 

available for standard steel spigot connections. 

6,352 lbs UDL 6061-T6 

2-way thru 6-way corner sections; 2-way 

thru 4-way sleeve sections for use with 

ground support systems. 

Maximum certified span - 60’. 

9,759 lbs UDL 

18,331 lbs UDL 

6061-T6 for 

chords, 303 stainless 

for Omni 

connector 

6061-T6 for 

chords, 303 stainless 

for Omni 

connector 

2,125 lbs UDL 6061-T6 

ANSI E1.2-2006 Yes Yes 

Spreader Gates w/ rotating omni connector 

for corner junctions; fork end connectors 

can be removed so truss may be used 

w/ conventional bolted corner sections. 

2-way thru 4-way corners; 2-way thru 

4-way sleeve sections for use w/ ground 

support systems 

4,400 lbs. 6005A T6 Yes Yes 

4,650 lbs. 6005A T6 Yes Yes 

Maximum certified span - 100’; rotating Omni fork ends may be removed 

so truss can be used w/ conventional bolted corner sections. 

Maximum certified span - 100’; 3/16” thick main chord material. 

Maximum certified span - 100’. 

4,400 lbs. 6005A T6 Yes Yes 

n/a 6005A T6 Yes Yes 

19,120 lbs. Yes Yes Yes 

17,580 lbs. Yes Yes Yes Available in standard pre-rig truss. 

19,120 lbs. Yes Yes Yes Available in standard pre-rig truss. 

20,000 lbs. UDL Yes Yes Yes Available in standard pre-rig truss. 


ROAD TEST 


ELC Checker 


ELC calls this unit the Checker Handheld 

DMX512/RDM toolbox, but unlike your father’s 

toolbox, this one is digital. It does fit 

easily in the hand and it is battery operated, making 

it truly handheld, and it does work with both 

DMX512 and RDM. But what, exactly, does it do? 

ELC 

ELC is a 14-year-old company based in the 

Netherlands, and their products are entirely 

focused on lighting control and distribution. 

Their first and probably best known products 

were the Focus Hand and Focus Brain wireless 

DMX remotes. They recently opened a U.S. 

headquarters office in the Detroit area where 

they keep stock (Cast North America, Inc., ELC 

US Headquarters, 237-A Dino Drive, Ann Arbor, 

MI; 734.253.2148). In North America they are 

distributed by Leprecon (U.S.), Audio Acústica 

y Electrónica (Mexico) and Global Showbizz 

(Canada). 

The Checker is 5.69 inches long by 2.9 inches 

wide by 1.75 inches tall (14.5cm by 7.4cm by 

4.4cm) and it weighs about 14 ounces (0.4 kg). 

On its face is a matrix of 16 backlit keys (four 

by four) and they are real contact switches, 

not membrane switches or soft switches. The 

switches, labeled 0 through 9, E, F, +, -, > and 

@, are used for keypad data entry and follow 

the same syntax as a typical lighting console. 

The Checker also has a three-line backlit LCD 

display above the keypad and a small encoder 

wheel on the side of the unit. The encoder 

wheel is used to scroll up and down through 

the display and it also serves as a pushbutton 

selector. 

On the top of the unit is an ON/OFF pushbutton 

switch and a USB port, which serves as 

both a battery charger (it comes with a cable 

and a variety of electrical connectors for different 

countries) and as a port to upload and 

download data. On the bottom on the unit are 

two 5-pin XLR connectors, one for the input 

and one for the output. 

It also comes with a belt clip that can be 

attached to the back of the unit. The housing 

is made of sheet metal and it is powder-coated 

with silkscreen printing. 

Functions 

When you first turn it on, the displays 

quickly cycles through the software version 

(we were testing V1.23) and the battery status 

(“charging” or “charging done”), and then 

it goes directly to the menu of options. These 

are: 1. Send DMX; 2. View DMX; 3. Fixture Test; 4. 

RDM Control; 5. Show Playback; 6. Show Record; 

7. Cable Test; 8. Dipswitch; and 9. Options. 

Send DMX 

The send function is a handy way to test 

cables and instruments and to use for general 

troubleshooting. The keypad entry works 

just as you would think — enter the channel 

number or combinations of channels using 

the +, - and > (through) keys and set the level 

using the @ key and a single number for the 

level (e.g., 5 = 50 percent). You can also use the 

encoder to quickly select the channel number 

or the level and pressing the encoder toggles 

between the two selections. The display shows 

the command line as you enter data. 

View DMX 

The View DMX function is a great troubleshooting 

tool. It shows you the DMX data 

coming into the DMX port in a bar graph, 

percentage, or decimal value, and it also analyzes 

several parts of the data. You can display 

the amount of time that has passed since you 

have been monitoring the data, the number of 

frames, number of DMX channels and several 

parts of the DMX data packet including the 

length of the Break, Mark After Break (MAB) 

and each frame in microseconds, the refresh 

rate in frames per second and the voltage 

levels of the data. This information comes in 

handy when you are troubleshooting compatibility 

issues between consoles and devices. 

Fixture Test 

If you have ever had to test a multi-parameter 

fixture like an automated light with a handheld 

tester, you will certainly appreciate this function. 

It has a library of fixtures that can be called up in 

order to test and set individual parameters. For 

example, you can choose from one of eight High 

End Systems fixtures stored in the library. The 

library is not exhaustive, but new fixtures can 

be added using the fixture editor, which can be 

downloaded from the ELC website. The Fixture 

Test function can help save loads of time when 

you are working with multi-parameter fixtures 

because you won’t have to refer to the user manual 

or DMX chart to call up certain parameters. 

RDM Control 

Although we didn’t have an RDM-capable 

fixture to test this function, it appears simple 

and straightforward — it discovers RDM fixtures, 

records the Unique Identifier (UID), model, 

manufacturer, label, software version, mode, slot 

footprint (number of control channels), number 

of sensors and more. It also allows you to set certain 

parameters like the DMX start address, the 

mode, lamp function, etc. 

Show Record/Playback 

These two functions allow you to capture a 

live stream of DMX and record it as a show for 

later playback. Up to 99 shows can be recorded 

and played back and the maximum capacity is 1 

GB. Shows can be played through once or they 

can be looped indefinitely. The show files are 

compatible with ELC’s ShowStore and MiniStore 

recorders, so you can save your files to Show- 

Store or MiniStore and you can download files 

from them as well. When you connect Checker to 

a computer, it appears as another storage device, 

which enables you to use it as a backup for your 

console. 

Cable Test 

The cable test function appears to be a simple 

continuity checker although it’s not specified 

in the literature. The display indicates “Open” or 

“Cable OK.” 

DIP Switch Calculator 

The built-in DIP switch calculator shows a 

graphic display of DIP switch settings for a given 

DMX start address. It has a step counter so that 

each time the encoder is advanced it jumps 

to the next valid DMX start address for a given 

fixture. For example, a Martin MAC 2000 Profile 

has a slot footprint of 21 parameters, so by setting 

the step counter to 21, when the encoder 

is advanced it will jump from 1 to 22, to 43, etc. 

There is also an offset that can be set to 0 or 1 depending 

on how the manufacturer treats all DIP 

switches off. Some call that setting DMX start address 

1 while others do not allow that setting as a 

valid DMX start address. 

Options 

The last function has a variety of housekeeping 

selections including DMX send options (timing, 

channel count, etc.), power management, 

fixture library update and battery information. 

The ELC Checker has a host of very useful 

functions for anyone involved in setting up and 

troubleshooting DMX and RDM networks. It’s 

simple to use, very self-explanatory and small 

and portable enough to fit in any toolbox or 

even in your pocket (with the possible exception 

of your skinny jeans). Its RDM functions ensure 

that it will be useful for a long time to come and 

no self-respecting lighting tech or production 

electrician should be without one. 

ELC Checker 

What it is: DMX tester, recorder and 

playback device 

Who it’s for: Anyone who sets up and/or 

troubleshoots DMX networks 

Pros: Small, lightweight, easy to use, 

powerful functions 

Cons: Fixture library is somewhat limited 

How Much: $1,160 (MSRP) 

More Info: elclighting.com 


32 

Inside... 

iPad Control 

33 

Asian Games 

Alex Doss Updates Visuals for Rio’s Fuego Night Club 

XL Video Supports 

Doctor Who U.K. Tour 

with Gear, Crew 

Fuego Nightclub at the Rio 

. 

LAS VEGAS — The Rio casino’s Fuego — formerly 

known as 3121 and tailored to the needs of its headliner, 

Prince — now features a more eclectic mix of music, from 

electronic to Latin house DJs. 

Along with the need to change the room’s visuals 

quickly, scenic designer Alex Doss envisioned the space 

resembling a single holistic light sculpture. “In connection 

with kinetic elements and media, like fog or textile fabrics 

of all kinds, one can create a complete object that becomes 

more than the sum of all its parts,” he noted. 

Working with Nicole Duerr, producer; Sven Gayer and 

Timo Weinhold, programmers; and lighting director/operator 

Ginger Fournier, Doss created mural-like panoramic 

visuals and other effects using eight coolux Pandoras Box 

Server PROs and one coolux Pandoras Box Manager STD. 

The new gear list also includes 60 beaMovers from Publitec, 

two Sanyo XF 47 projectors, 104 LED panels, VersaTubes, 

Atomic Strobes, fog machines and Gerriets retractable 

screens. 

The gap spaces in between the linear run of rear projection 

boxes were visually closed using LEDs and VersaTube 

fragments displaying video content. Doss also used the 

beaMovers with kinetic objects such as retractable screens 

and projection screens on movable frames. 

Doss credited coolux Pandoras Box for “innovative solutions 

that make being a designer a real joy,” noting the 

ability for timelines to contain complex content structures 

Projected visuals on the club’s upholstered furnishings. 

and matrix settings, and the ability for VersaTubes and other 

LEDs to be programmed with seamless fading between different 

kinds of content. 

Along with the ability for VJ turntables and other gear 

to be fed into the setup, the visuals link to the sound via 

Sonic Emotion’s 3D sound system, which can be connected 

to Pandoras Box and allows for the creation of spatial sound 

effects. 

Alex Doss’ video design, meanwhile, links content seen 

on the projection boxes with visuals projected onto walls, 

the floor, ceiling and furniture. The beaMover can move 

dynamic beam structures in haze or allow 3D-looking objects 

to appear. Projected visuals are also synchronized with 

LED panels, with visuals layered and controlled by the LED 

controller. 

For many of his recent projects, Doss has also incorporated 

lighting and projection with Sonic Emotion’s Wave 

Processor Technology in combination with the coolux Widget 

Designer PRO, creating interactive audio/visual interfaces 

that can be controlled by performers and artists. 

The projected protagonist of Doctor Who Live 

LONDON — For the current Doctor Who Live U.K. arena 

tour, The Monsters are Coming, XL Video provided crew and 

video gear including projection, cameras, PPU, media server 

and an LED TARDIS (the Doctor’s police-box shaped spacecraft 

and time machine) for the producers, BBC Worldwide. 

The show spins through time and space, featuring iconic 

Doctor Who monsters live onstage, including the Daleks, Cybermen, 

Oods and Weeping Angels, along with Nigel Planer 

as “intergalactic showman” Vorgenson. 

XL’s project manager and the tour’s venue sound designer, 

Rich Rowley, has previously worked on many other BBC 

productions. 

“This has been a great collaboration between all technical 

and creative departments that has produced an amazing 

show of which we are all very proud,” Rowley said. “Projection 

is absolutely essential to the narrative, particularly with the 

Doctor being an onscreen character to link the main storyline, 

and one of the vital parameters for the sound system 

design was that it left clear sightlines to the stage from all 

audience angles,” he added. 

The screen measures 44 feet wide by 22 feet high, and 

rear projection is achieved using three Barco FLM 20HD 

projectors, overlaid to produce a bright image. With all the 

smoke, pyro, flame jets and continued on page 32 


31

NEWS 


Webb A/V, High Resolution Systems Support Nu Skin 

Event with UDC-400 Controller, Apple iPad 

SALT LAKE CITY — Jason Spencer, show 

director for Webb A/V, used High Resolution 

Systems’ UDC-400 Universal Device Controller 

to support the AV needs for the recent 

North American regional convention for Nu 

Skin Enterprises at the Salt Palace Convention 

Center. 

The UDC-400 is a software-based control 

platform designed to simplify setup 

and improve control over devices using IP 

(TCP/UDP) or serial (232/422/485) protocols. 

Spencer used the UDC-400 to control the 

output of the router from FOH so he could 

view the different sources and two preview/ 

program feeds on his monitor. 

For the Nu Skin events, which included 

general sessions, breakouts and a performance 

by Styx on the closing night, the AV 

setup included three edge-blended screens 

spanned the 200-foot width of the stage and 

a fourth edge-blended screen positioned 

behind the center display to act as a scenic 

backdrop. 

High Resolution Systems provided a 

seven-frame Christie Vista Spyder system to 

feed the screens and a Lightware Visual Engineering 

32x32 DVI router for source management. 

Sources for the screens included live 

cameras, PowerPoint content and elements 

from four main sync rolled Playback Pro machines, 

one dedicated to each screen. The 

displays were busy illustrating everything 

from keynote speaker Kevin Carroll’s address 

to Styx’s performance. 

Drew Taylor built the controller interface 

for the UDC-400, which he ran on his 

computer backstage where he operated the 

Spyder system on a Montage II console. He 

took advantage of the UDC-400’s web server 

feature to provide Spencer with an interface 

on an Apple iPad. 

“Jason had my iPad on a little stand on 

the desk next to him in the Front of House so 

when he switched his monitor he could look 

at all the different sources,” Taylor said. “I customized 

the interface with his company logo 

that spanned four buttons not in use. That 

branded the iPad as his. It was a way to impress 

the client and get them excited about 

UDC and my involvement on the show.” 

“I loved the iPad and UDC software — it 

was so valuable that I wish I had it on every 

show,” said Spencer. “It simplified things dramatically. 

It made it 

easy for me to see 

what I wanted on my 

Front of House monitor 

and not have to 

ask anybody about 

it. Through the iPad 

I could control what 

was displayed on 

my video monitor, 

whether PowerPoint, 

prompter, cameras, 

any source. I’d highly 

recommend it for 

any show director 

sitting out at Front 

of House.” 

Taylor noted 

that, from his perspective 

backstage, 

his intercom communications with Spencer 

were also facilitated by the UDC-400. “It was 

easy to talk about what source was next, 

and helpful for troubleshooting and when 

we were building slides, screen looks and 

other elements during rehearsals. Jason 

and I could show the Nu Skin client different 

Styx performed for the convention’s final show. 

screen looks with iPad control from the Front 

of House.” 

Spencer noted feedback from Nu Skin 

calling the convention “their best show ever” 

and commended Taylor and High Resolution 

Systems for the assist they provided, calling 

Taylor “extremely knowledgeable.” 

XL Video Supports Doctor Who 

U.K. Tour with Gear, Crew 

The Monsters are Coming! 

continued from page 31 

other special effects igniting onstage, rear 

projection was the only practical option. 

The projectors are fitted with 0.8 wide 

angle lenses, as distances behind the stage 

are often limited. 

Image warp facilities are used extensively, 

both on the projectors and in the Pandora’s 

Box media server to achieve the required 

perspective correction and image alignment 

to the screen. 

All the show video content — graphics, 

animations, the Doctor’s VT play ins, and so 

on — is stored on the Pandora’s Box media 

server and played out as real time composites 

often using six or more video layers to 

create the desired on screen result. Selected 

video elements are timecode-triggered via 

QLab to play sequences specifically cut to 

the music while others are triggered manually 

direct from the media server control. 

Three timelines are used to provide this level 

of integration. 

The show’s video content was all custom-created, 

featuring clips from different 

eras of the show as well as specially shot 

material featuring Matt Smith. The edit was 

handed to XL for the final compositing and 

show programming into the Pandora’s Box 

by XL’s David Mulcahy. 

XL is supplying two Sony D55 cameras, 

one fitted with a long lens, positioned at 

front of house, and the other on a spider 

dolly in the pit. These are used to capture 

PiP footage that’s mixed by Ray “Moose” 

Shaw using a Kayak switcher/PPU — and 

output to the main screen via the Pandora’s 

Box, at strategic moments in the show. This 

is primarily of the various monsters walking 

through and interacting with the audience. 

Upstage right is the Doctor’s TARDIS. This 

is created from 60 panels of XL’s Pixled F11 

LED screen, which bursts into life at the end 

of the show, with the footage of the Doctor 

appearing on its sides and finally metamorphosing 

into the TARDIS itself — also via 

footage from the media servers. 

The mix of adventure, music and monsters 

is proving popular with young and 

older Doctor Who fans across the U.K., and 

includes a live 16-piece orchestra playing all 

the original scores written by Murray Gold. 

Other technical suppliers to the tour 

are Bandit Lites UK (LD Mark Cunniffe) and 

Adlib Audio. 

David Gallo Designs Helps Colin Quinn Cover the 

History of Civilization on Broadway 

NEW YORK — When you’re tasked with explaining the history of civilization to an audience 

in 75 minutes, it helps to have some visual support. For Broadway’s Colin Quinn Long 

Story Short, starring Colin Quinn and directed by Jerry Seinfeld at the Helen Hayes Theater, 

Quinn gets it in the form of projections and scenery from scenic designer David Gallo. 

In a coliseum-like surround, Quinn launches into his take on the history of civilization 

accompanied by images that appear on an oversized ornate framed screen on the stage, 

which helps establish context for the unveiling of man’s behavior throughout history. 

Rapidly-changing images correspond to Quinn’s quick-paced overview, and 75 minutes 

later, the complete history of civilization is unveiled, both visually and verbally. 

As the use of projections becomes more and more prevalent in theatrical productions 

around the globe, Gallo, who was once primarily a scenic designer, has honed his skills in 

effectively producing electronic imagery as well. 

In addition to Colin Quinn Long Story Short, Gallo also designed the scenery and projections 

for Memphis on Broadway, Der Schuh Des Manitu in Berlin, The History of Invulnerability 

at The Cincinnati Playhouse, The 2010 Tony Awards and Tears of Heaven, a new musical 

by Frank Wildhorn that will premiere in Seoul in January 2011. 

Gallo collaborated with Quinn and Seinfeld on the set and projections. “It’s not every 

day that you get to be surrounded by the funniest people on the planet,” said Gallo, who 

has been designing for theater, concerts, family entertainment, television, and special 

events for over 20 years. 

The visuals in Long Story Short keep pace with Colin Quinn’s explanations about pretty much everything 

that has ever mattered to anyone. 

Carol Rosegg 

Colombian Fountains Feature LED Lighting, Projection, Lasers 

MEDELLIN, Colombia — Georgia Fountain 

Company’s Vida and Interactivas fountain projects 

here relied on subcontractor MediaMation, Inc. 

(MMI)’s Virtual Fountain 3D visualization software 

and ShowFlow software for programming and 

control. 

The more elaborate Vida fountain uses 


224 RGB LED fixtures to light water from more 

than 850 fountain jets. The water feature also is 

equipped with CO2 powered water cannons and 

water-based fog systems for swaying patterns rising 

up to 30 meters skyward. 

Vida’s visuals also include a 15-meter-radius 

“wall of water” effect with projected video from 

a Barco FLM HD14, which is a 1080p HD, 14,000 

lumens three-chip DLP projector, and laser-animated 

logos from a 10-watt LPS RGB laser system. 

Interactivas, which invites visitors to run 

through the fountain jets to cool off on a hot day, 

is located about a mile away. Interactivas features 

395 RGB fixtures and more than 300 jets. 

Vida Fountain


NEWS 

Adlib Supports Video, Lighting Needs for John Barrowman U.K. Tour 

LIVERPOOL — Adlib provided lighting and 

video support for the recent John Barrowman 

U.K. tour, with Steve Rayment tour managing 

the operation and Paul Crockford as tour director. 

It was Adlib’s third tour with Barrowman and 

a full Adlib crew. 

Adlib’s Andy Rowe stretched the budget 

with a rig that could flex to meet the needs of 

the variables inherent in Barrowman’s show. 

Having system tech’d on the last two tours, this 

time around he stepped up to take on the LD 

role, working alongside Charlie Rushton and 

Chris Neary. 

Rowe ran the show on a Road Hog Full Boar 

with a Wing, which also triggered the Catalyst 

media server running the projected visuals. 

A 30-foot-wide white upstage cyc served 

as the projection surface, and the Sanyo XF47 

projector, mounted on the front truss, was fed 

content from a Catalyst v4 Pro media server. 

The visuals included a mix of colorful ambient 

moving wallpaper effects, plus some VT 

play-ins and sequences of stills of Barrowman’s 

family and personal collections, which were 

used to illustrate his stories. The crew uses a 

combination of manual cues and timecode to 

fire the cues. 

For lighting, the rig had front and back 

trusses and two gently-raked side trusses. On 

the back were eight Martin Professional MAC 

700 Profiles and seven MAC 700 Washes. On the 

sides are three MAC 700 profiles and four MAC 

301 LED Washes. 

Six MAC 700 Washes, nine Source Four 19 

degree profiles and six 2-lites for the audience 

were positioned on the front truss for the show, 

and on the floor, at the back, there were another 

six MAC 301s, together with six PixelPAR 90s 

and another two MAC 700 Washes on each side. 

John Barrowman on tour with dancers 

Lighting Up the 2010 Asian Games’ Watery Stage 

GUANGZHOU, China — The recent opening 

ceremony of the 16th Asian Games on Haixinsha 

Island featured a 2,000-square-meter main 

stage covered with 10cm of water. Decorative 

elements included four stylized sailing ships and 

eight LED velomena. 

The largest multi-sport event in Asia, the 

Asian Games (also known as Asiad) are held every 

four years, with athletes from all over Asia. 

During the 16 days of competition, the Guangzhou 

Asian Games feature 42 events, promoting 

harmony among the Asian countries. 

Barco worked with China-based event planner 

BeiAo to position 16 XLM HD30 projectors 

around the 10,000-capacity audience area. As 

the velamena opened, the visual impression was 

to give the audience the feel of being aboard a 

ship sailing east. 

The show featured Barco’s XLM HD30 projector, 

a DLP projector with a native wide-screen 

aspect ratio of 2048 by 1080 resolution and light 

output of 30,000 center lumens. It uses a liquid 

cooling system. 

The visuals supported the Games’ main 

theme: “Invigorate Asia, Spark the World.” 

“We are so pleased that we succeeded in 

creating a huge dynamic image on the stage’s 

water surface for the opening ceremony,” said 

Jiangkang Lu, production manager for the opening 

and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing 

Olympics and the 2010 Asian Games, crediting 

Barco for its “outstanding technology” and “excellent 

video lighting systems.” 

“It’s the Barco projector that makes the stage 

so stunning,” added Sha Xiaolan, lighting engineer 

for the opening ceremony. 

“We are greatly honored to participate in this 

grand event,” said Fei Yan, general director of Barco 

Greater China. “This isn’t the first time a large 

number of Barco 30,000 lumen HD projectors 

have been used in sports events, but this is the 

first time for Barco at such a world stage event in 

China,” crediting “BeiAo’s professional cooperation 

and trust” as a key factor in the event’s success. 

The opening ceremonies were lit with 16 XLM HD30 projectors. 


PRODUCT NEWS 


Barco ScreenPRO-II Software Bundle 

A new software bundle recently 

released by Barco enables 

the ScreenPRO-II with 

EOC to utilize input DVI sources 

as background or PIP sources. 

ScreenPRO-II can also be operated 

with a DVI matrix router, 

further increasing the number 

of available DVI sources. The 

EOC option also provides scalable 

analog outputs, HDSDI 

outputs and 100 still stores. 

Current owners of ScreenPRO- 

II with EOC can download the 

software bundle at Barco’s website. ScreenPRO-II HD owners can upgrade to the 

EOC model with a self-installable upgrade kit by contacting 678-475-8095. 

Barco • 866.374.7878 • barco.com 

Christie Expands 3D Projector Line 

Christie expanded its Mirage 

Series 3D DLP projector 

line with six models featuring 

a dual-input image processor 

and a range of input options 

to integrate with any 3D format. 

The lineup includes the 

DS+6K-M; DS+10K-M; HD6K- 

M; HD10K-M; WU7K-M and 

the WU12K-M projectors. The 

models come in SXGA+ (4:3), 

HD (16:9) and WUXGA (16:10) 

resolution. Christie offers an 

upgrade path for its mid to 

high-end 3-chip DLP projectors 

with the Mirage M Series 

advanced 3D functionality. 

Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc. • 714.236.8610/US; 519.744.8005/Canada 

• christiedigital.com 

Coolux Pandoras Box V4.7 

Pandoras Box Version 4.7 

update from coolux features 

enhancements like FluidFrame 

Technology, the new Pandoras 

Box Warper and Windows 

7 Professional 64-bit compatibility. 

FluidFrame Technology 

offers smooth frame rate 

cross-conversion for 2D and 3D 

that can accept any input and output frame rate, supporting both interlaced and 

progressive sources and clips. It supports 50/60 fps videos and live streams with 

Pandoras Box Servers. The proprietary encoder now supports 1920x1080@60p 

and 1920x1080@50p. The new Warper allows the user to create cut outs and mask 

while painting onto the projected surface from within PB Warp. 

Coolux GmbH • +49 221 130 654 0 • coolux.de 

Gefen ToolBox Splitters 

Gefen announced that two new 

ToolBox Splitters are shipping with 

Gefen Fast Switching Technology 

(FST) and 3DTV enabled. Sources 

using HDMI with HDCP (high-bandwidth 

digital content protection) 

will no longer introduce a delay 

when syncing. HDMI v1.4 features 

are implemented to support 3DTV. 

The ToolBox 1:4 and 1:8 Splitters 

for HDMI distribute any high definition 

source using HDMI and deliver 

it to either four or eight HDTV 

displays at the same time. A physical 

bypass switch allows users to 

select slow switching (no FST) for 

analog devices that will not work 

with more than one HDCP key. 

Gefen • 800.545.6900; 818.772.9100 • gefen.com 

Haivision Makito Encoder 

Haivision’s Makito HD H.264 video encoder supports component analog and 

DVI inputs. It combines H.264 video compression and HD video in a small form 

factor and competitive price point. The unique encoding system delivers low-latency 

of under 70 milliseconds, full-frame-rate H.264 encoding of HD video, computer 

graphics resolutions up to 1920x1080 60Hz and 1280x1024 75Hz (SXGA) or 

1080p60 video resolution. It incorporates HiLo-Streaming, the ability to encode 

once and emit both high- and low-bandwidth streams simultaneously and Multi- 

Streaming, the ability to send streams with different IP encapsulation to different 

destinations. 

Haivision • 847.362.6800 (U.S.); 514.334.5445 (Canada) • haivision.com 


THE BIZ 


Incubating Visuals 

When Business and Academia Collaborate, the Lights Come On 

By DanDaley 

Collaboration between academia and 

business has become, well, big business. 

Since 1980 there have been 

over 4,300 start-ups that were incubated in 

U.S. universities, and new spin-off and technology 

and patent licensing deals are cut 

seemingly weekly. 

A burgeoning version of that is incubating 

in the mind of Dana Roun, a director at 

Full Sail University, which has the largest 

single plant of all the media arts & sciences 

schools in the U.S. 

That campus got a little bit bigger this 

year with the opening of the Full Sail Studios 

Gateway Project, a 22,000-square-foot 

multi-purpose facility used to teach stage, 

lighting and projection crafts. 

But the Gateway center could become 

more than a gi-normous, technologically 

dazzling lecture hall and lab for the students 

in Full Sail’s stage production degree 

program — it might be the template for 

another kind of university-business collaboration 

that would have significant implications 

for LDs and others in production 

graphics. 

Taking It Up a Notch 

plsn 

What Roun envisions scrolling across 

the 48-by-16 LED display and emanating 

from the three Barco HD projectors that 

illuminate the screens around the stage is 

the fruit of collaborative labor between students, 

LDs and music and live performance 

artists for graphics and lighting design. 

“Animated graphics have become huge 

in the live music business and in other sectors 

of live performance, and poorly done 

graphics really disappoint audiences who 

have come to expect high-resolution, creative 

animation,” says Roun. But, he adds, 

high-quality animation can be expensive to 

render and produce. In addition to the boutique 

companies that currently do a lot of 

“The clients are able to get graphics at 

more cost-effective prices, but more important 

than the money this could generate 

is that it builds significant credits that 

the students could have on their resumes 

by the time they graduate.” —Dana Roun 

the custom animated content used in highend 

projection systems, students in Full 

Sail’s stage production, game creation and 

other video parts programs would offer alternatives 

through collaboration amongst 

each other across campus and their artistclients, 

such as LDs, from anywhere, using 

platforms like the new Green Hippo Hippotizer 

media server that is part of the new 

Gateway center’s technology complement 

and an extensive array of lighting systems 

from Martin and other manufacturers. 

An Asset Farm 

plsn 

“Basically, what we’re talking about 

building here is an asset farm, with creative 

content made in partnership with artists 

for their shows,” Roun explains. “It becomes 

a lab where students build a bank of visual 

assets in the form of projection video, 

graphics and lighting design and integrate 

that for any of a number of types of clients 

and integrate the content across the production 

systems.” 

The equipment the students can use is 

certainly up to the task. The Gateway Project 

is fitted with a High End Systems Catalyst 

media server, an MA Lighting grandMA 

Ultra-Light Series 2 lighting console; Martin 

MAC 700 Wash and Profile fixtures, Stagebar 

54L and MAC 401 dual moving head 

LED lighting fixtures; a dozen ETC Source 

Four Zoom 15°-30° ellipsoidal spotlights; 

Lycian 1275 followspots; and a Leprecon 

MX series 48-channel touring dimmer rack 

and moving light AC distribution rack. 

Discounts and Credits 

plsn 

The service wouldn’t be free, but neither 

is it intended to do more than fund 

further R&D for additional platforms and 

equipment for students to use. Roun suggests 

that the business could be tiered, 

ranging from letting clients choose to rent 

images and graphics designs for limited use 

from the collection built up by students as 

part of class work, right through custom 

creation of graphics that would be owned 

by the client. 

“The clients are able to get graphics at 

more cost-effective prices, but more important 

than the money this could generate is 

that it builds significant credits that the students 

could have on their resumes by the 

time they graduate,” he says. 

Roun says he’s polled his database of 

lighting designers — some who are Full Sail 

graduates — and the feedback has been 

uniformly positive. “They like the idea; they 

like that it gives their clients a much bigger 

range of ideas to choose from at costs 

every level of client can afford,” he says. “An 

LD calls up and says he needs an image of a 

blue mountain — we put it out to the students, 

and the LD can choose among the 

results from a file that’s already been created.” 

A Storehouse of Visuals 

plsn 

Roun says the infrastructure needed to put 

the idea on to a production level is not quite 

there yet, but will be by mid-2011. The business 

model could be similar to that now used for 

sound effects libraries and stock footage, with a 

la carte pricing predicated on the basis of licenses 

or buy-outs. To let the broadest range of potential 

users access images ands graphics, some 

kind of point-of-sale proposition would have 

to be developed for commodity-like end of the 

business, such as an iTunes type of Internet interface. 

Copyright and other intellectual property 

issues would also have to be addressed. 

Media schools have long had symbiotic relationships 

with equipment manufacturers, but 

they’ve generally been of the promotional sort 

that provide technology platforms for schools 

to use in exchange for an opportunity for the 

manufacturers to imprint their brands on aspiring 

media arts hopefuls just as they’re starting 

their careers. That’s mostly been a win-win for 

all involved and should continue. 

But what Dana Roun is contemplating goes 

well beyond that. As the collaboration between 

students, LDs and artists increases, manufacturers 

can participate by watching the creative 

process of graphic content creation up close, 

where the methodologies used could become 

feedback that ultimately transforms the products 

they make, thereby further streamlining 

the creative process. Now that’s a win-win-winwin. 

It’s neither gi-normous nor technologically 

dazzling, but you can still reach Dan Daley 

through his e-mail account at ddaley@plsn. 

com. 

Where 

Entertainment 

Production 

and Design 

People Meet! 

ProLightingSpace.com 


FEEDING THE MACHINES 


By BradSchiller 

The Grand Poobah of the Console 

Fred Flintstone was a member of the 

Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge 

#26 and was continually trying to 

gain leader status of this group by becoming 

the “Grand Poobah.” This high-ranking 

position would have allowed him to rule 

over all others and reign supreme over 

the group’s members. Much in the same 

manner, the grand master on your lighting 

console rules over all other masters and 

has supreme control over the intensities of 

your fixtures. Believe it or not, this slider 

and its associated DBO (Dead Black Out) 

button can be extremely useful during the 

programming and playback of automated 

lighting. 

How It Works 

plsn 

The grand master behaves in the same 

manner on most lighting consoles (but always 

consult your manual to understand 

how it operates on your console). Generally, 

the grand master adjusts the highest 

possible intensity for all fixtures. When 

the grand master is at 100 percent, then 

all fixtures can achieve 100 percent intensity 

if programmed to do so. However 

if the grand master is at 50 percent, then 

all programmed intensities will be half of 

their programmed values. For instance, a 

programmed value of 80 percent will become 

40 percent when the grand master 

is at half. 

The grand master has great control 

over intensities coming from most elements 

of the lighting console. This means 

that it not only takes effect on other playbacks, 

but also on data in your programmer 

or editor. In addition, the grand master 

will not affect values that are parked, 

nor will it affect RGB LED fixtures (unless 

it has a virtual intensity value). Remember 

also that the grand master only limits intensity 

values at the output; none of your 

data is actually changed. 

Most consoles also have a DBO button 

associated with the grand master. This 

button may be momentary or it may lock 

on. When activated, it will instantly bring 

all intensities to zero until it is released or 

activated again. Most consoles have LED 

or on-screen level indicators for the grand 

master and the DBO state. Usually the 

LEDs will flash if the grand master is not 

at 100 percent, because in most circumstances, 

you want it at 100 percent nearly 

all of the time. 

Generally, the grand master adjusts the 

highest possible intensity for all fixtures. 

The Biggest Mistake 

plsn 

At some point in everyone’s lighting 

career, they will find themselves sitting at 

a lighting console not able to figure out 

why there is no output from the desk. You 

will troubleshoot for minutes or hours trying 

to determine why nothing is coming 

up. Eventually you look across your desk 

and realize the grand master is at zero. 

Don’t worry, this happens to everyone at 

least once! (Guilty! —ed.) 

The grand master can be very useful to 

ensure that the lights are not used by others 

who do not understand the console. 

For example, if you need to walk away from 

the desk for a period of time, you might 

leave the grand master at zero so that others 

who get button happy do not end up 

turning on fixtures. When you return, however, 

you must remember the level of the 

grand master; otherwise you will become 

confused by no console output. 

A Very Special Fader 

plsn 

What makes the grand master so special? 

At any time, I can reach over and completely 

dim out all the intensities of my 

lights. I have been on productions where 

the director was asking about a light spill 

rig without having to create a special button 

to do so. However, I must be conscious 

of the fact that the grand master controls 

all intensities on the desk. So this means 

that any media servers, smoke machines, 

non-dims, etc., will also be turning on and 

off. In some cases, use of the grand master 

may not be desirable simply because it 

does control all fixtures in the desk. 

I was once programming a show for an 

LD and during a performance he began 

flashing the DBO to the beat. Suddenly he 

looked at me and yelled for help because 

he had managed to mash the button into 

the desk, locking it in permanent blackout! 

I had to quickly decide if I was going 

to switch to the backup console or see if I 

could pry the button loose. Luckily there 

were followspots illuminating the band 

and I was able to pry the button loose 

within a few seconds, like MacGyver, with 

my Swiss Army knife. 

What makes the grand master so special? 

At any time I can reach over and completely 

dim out all the intensities of my lights. 

and I could quickly bring down the grand 

master to prove it was not coming from 

my desk. Or I can use the grand master to 

lower the output to provide better lighting 

for a television camera. I also have 

brought down the grand master when the 

LD wanted to see only the followspots, or 

the rehearsal had ended. 

The point is that the quick ease of 

blacking out or dimming down at any 

given moment provides extreme power 

without having to determine what to dim. 

If during a rehearsal a band stops playing 

mid-song and the lights are strobing 

in their eyes, I can quickly dim this look 

without losing my place in the playback. 

Then when they are ready to continue, I 

can bring the grand master back up and 

continue. 

Let’s Go Live 

plsn 

In a live show, when playing back onthe-fly 

(busking, winging it, or punting), I 

find using the grand master and DBO button 

very helpful. I will often ride the grand 

master fader up and down with the beat of 

the song or flash the DBO key accordingly. 

By doing so, I can flash or pulse the entire 

A Custom Grand Master 

plsn 

Some consoles let you define fixtures 

affected by the grand master. In the patch 

configuration screen there will be a toggle 

to determine if the grand master has 

any affect on the intensity of each fixture. 

In addition, many consoles have “inhibitive 

submasters,” which is a special type 

of master that behaves just like a grand 

master, but only for the fixtures you store 

within it. For instance, you can store only 

your floor fixtures in a specific inhibitive 

submaster. Now, when this fader is at 100 

percent, your floor fixtures will have the 

ability to go to 100 percent. But if this fader 

is lowered, then so is the relative intensity 

of all the fixtures stored in the fader. 

Inhibitive submasters are extremely 

useful as they allow you to define the 

exact control of the master. Some consoles 

even allow you to create inhibitive 

submasters based on specific conditions, 

such as a position palette/preset. In this 

case, you can have a master that only 

affects fixtures that are currently in the 

“Singer” position. This is invaluable when 

your artist says the lights are too bright 

in his eyes. 

Vote for Fred! 

plsn 

Fred Flintstone wanted to be the 

Grand Poobah so he could exercise control 

over all his subjects, and your console 

gives you this ability with the slide of a 

fader. Feel free to use it as you will, but do 

not forget the power within. When used 

improperly, it can cause you heartache or 

worry, but most of the time you will find it 

very useful. Lighting control manufacturers 

make this feature available on almost 

all consoles, and with proper understanding, 

you too can get the most out of its 

power and become the Grand Poobah of 

your console. 

E-mail Brad, the Grand Imperial Poobah, at 

bschiller@plsn.com. 



FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS 


Hollywood Movie Star and Composer Helped 

Make Wireless DMX Possible 

Suppose that you are a high ranking 

U.S. naval officer just before World 

War II. Germany has successfully controlled 

the seas with superior numbers 

of submarines, Winston Churchill is very 

nervous about it, and the U.S. is feeling 

threatened. Along comes someone with 

an idea that could provide an edge in the 

undeclared war to keep shipping lanes 

open, thus insuring the survival of the Allied 

countries. The only problem is that 

the idea comes from a glamorous Hollywood 

actress and an avant-garde concert 

pianist/composer. To make matters worse, 

this new technology relies on a punched 

paper roll similar to that found in a player 

piano. 

This wasn’t a fictitious Hollywood 

script but a real-life scenario. In the 1940s, 

Hedy Lamarr learned that in addition 

to being a film composer, her neighbor 

George Antheil also wrote an advice column 

in Esquire magazine and another in 

the Chicago Sun about endocrinology — 

the study of human glands. She sought his 

advice about enlarging her breasts, and as 

you might expect, talk turned from breast 

enhancement to technological advancement. 

One thing led to another, and before 

you could say “endocrinology,” they were 

discussing how they could control torpedoes 

by radio in a way that would avoid 

detection by the enemy. 

Frequency-Hopping 

plsn 

They came up with a version of frequency-hopping, 

where the frequency 

of the control signal would constantly 

change to avoid detection. This would also 

lessen the impact of interference and lessen 

the chance of communications being 

intercepted and jammed. 

Today, this technology is commonly 

used in cordless telephones, WiFi hot 

spots, and wireless DMX transmitters and 

receivers. It has been improved significantly 

over the years and is much more robust. 

As a result, it is being used more for 

wireless DMX transmission and reception. 

To understand how wireless DMX technology 

works, it helps to understand a little 

bit about frequency-hopping and radio 

communication. 

Mad Science 

plsn 

Imagine that, in addition to your job as 

a naval officer, you also moonlight as a mad 

scientist. One of your first mad projects is 

to build a Jacob’s Ladder, 

which is a high voltage arc 

gap generator that makes 

an arc rise between two 

diverging lengths of bare 

copper wire — because 

no self-respecting mad 

scientist would be without 

one. When you first turn it 

on, you notice that the arc 

discharge produces a large 

amount of electromagnetic 

radiation, and you think 

that is s-o-o-o-o cool. So 

you decide to try to harness 

its power and use it to 

communicate a message 

to the entire world. 

If you could somehow 

connect your voice to the 

flow of the current in the 

high-voltage generator, 

you think you can make the 

electromagnetic radiation pulse with the 

voice signal, thus radiating an electromagnetic 

version of your message. You have no 

problem converting your voice to an electronic 

signal with a microphone, and after 

much trial and error, you finally succeed in 

connecting the output of the microphone 

to the voltage generator. You have an uncontrollable 

desire to toss your head back, 

fling your arms towards the heavens and 

exclaim, “It’s alive!” But upon further examination, 

you decide that such celebration 

is unwarranted because the signal can 

only travel a very limited distance. In order 

to be a world-class mad scientist, that distance 

has to be more impressive. So back 

to the drawing board you go. 

“Carrier” Signals 

plsn 

What you eventually discover is that 

your voice has a limited range of frequencies. 

If you try really hard to deepen your 

voice, you might be able to get it down 

into the hundreds of Hertz, and if you inhale 

helium gas — which, by the way, is 

very unbecoming for a mad scientist — 

then you might be able to squeak out tens 

of thousands of Hertz. But through a series 

of mad experiments, you discover that the 

higher the frequency, the farther the travel 

of the electromagnetic radiation. You 

reason that if tens of thousands of Hertz 

can travel a very limited distance, then a 

few million Hertz should carry it a very respectable 

distance. So you decide to use 

Top: program signal (voice, music, etc); Middle: amplitude modulated signal; Bottom: frequency modulated signal. 

the higher frequency as the “carrier” signal. 

Now all you have to do is to figure out how 

to make the message ride on top of that 

high frequency carrier signal. 

Late one night in the laboratory, you’re 

feeling pretty good because there is a full 

moon and you’ve been inspired by reading 

Mary Shelley. You’re in the zone and, 

almost by accident, you realize that if you 

changed the frequency of the carrier signal 

at the same rate as the frequency of 

your voice, you can encode your message 

onto the carrier signal. Then all you have to 

do is to build a receiver that strips out the 

carrier signal, and you will be left with the 

original voice message. For a world-class 

mad scientist like yourself, it was a nobrainer. 

You figured out how to “modulate” 

the frequency of the carrier signal, which 

is called “frequency modulation” or FM 

for short. (Years later, a rock band named 

Steely Dan would write a song about it.) 

In the process, you also learn that you 

can modulate the voltage level, or amplitude, 

while keeping the frequency constant. 

That’s what is known as “amplitude 

modulation,” or AM. Alternatively, you can 

modulate the phase, or the starting time, 

of the carrier signal, which is “phase modulation.” 

Radio communications typically 

use one of these modulation techniques, 

except instead of using a Jacob’s Ladder, a 

very tall and powerful antenna works, too. 

The Coyote Scenario 

plsn 

Now when you take off your mad scientist 

hat and put on your naval officer 

hat, you have the problem that when you 

try to communicate with your people using 

the radio, the enemy has just as much 

access to the radio waves as you do. So 

they can easily tune in and pick up your 

broadcast, thus spoiling the surprise you 

worked so hard to spring on them. And if 

that surprise happens to be a radio-guided 

torpedo heading for their U-boat, then all 

they have to do is to send their own radio 

broadcast at the same carrier frequency 

in order to jam the transmission. What 

you end up with is a Coyote-Roadrunner 

cartoon scene, where the torpedo turns 

around and chases the coyote. There has 

to be a better way. 

One better way is to change the carrier 

frequency several times during the broadcast 

to throw off anyone who might be trying 

to listen in. That’s what Lamarr and Antheil 

figured out, and eventually patented, 

in 1942. Their scheme was to change the 

carrier frequency periodically and synch 

the receiver at the same time using long 

rolls of paper with rows of perforations, 

which would change the tuning frequency. 

They proposed using 88 rows of perforations, 

just like a player piano, which would 

allow them to make use of 88 different carrier 

frequencies. They would synchronize 

the changes in the carrier frequency with 

the changes in the tuning frequency by 

using “calibrated constant-speed spring 

motors, such as are employed for driving 

clocks and 

continued on page 40 

The ISM band has 13 or 14 

overlapping channels, each 

of which is 22 MHz wide. The 

center frequencies range from 

2.412 MHz to 2.484 MHz. 


FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS 

Hedy Lamarr and George 

Antheil patented a frequencyhopping 

technique to control 

torpedoes and avoid detection 

and interception. 

Result Oriented 

P R O J E C T I O N L I G H T S & S TA G I N G N E W S& 

Marketing Strategies 


continued from page 39 

chronometers.” And to insure further accuracy, 

they suggested the use of a synchronizing 

pulse, which would be transmitted 

periodically to signal the receiver when to 

start the clock. 

The use of frequency-hopping would 

effectively spread the carrier signal 

among a wider spectrum of electromagnetic 

radiation. This is a technique known 

as frequency-hopping spread spectrum 

(FHSS) transmission. It differs from fixedfrequency 

transmission in that the transmitter 

and receiver are not set to a single 

frequency, as is sometimes the case with 

wireless microphones. Instead, the carrier 

signal ranges from 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz, 

which is known as the ISM band (industrial, 

scientific, and medical), or from 5.47 GHz 

to 5.725 GHz, which is known as the U-NII 

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company, East Coast Lighting & Production Services, Bob is 

sure of one thing, advertising in Projection, Lights & Staging 

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band (unlicensed national information infrastructure). 

Refresh Rates 

plsn 

The bandwidth of transmission is less 

than 1 MHz, so several hops can be made 

inside each range of frequencies. Depending 

on the manufacturer, the number of 

hops can vary from tens to thousands of 

hops each second. The maximum refresh 

rate of DMX is 43 Hz, which means that 

most wireless DMX systems are easily capable 

of transmitting the maximum number 

of data packets with plenty of room to 

spare. If there is any loss of data or data corruption, 

the data will be refreshed quickly 

enough that the error will most likely go 

undetected by the user. 

If any of the frequencies in the transmission 

band have interference, then some 

FHSS technologies will adapt by hopping 

over those frequencies. This is a technique 

known as adaptive frequency-hopping. This 

helps improve the reliability of transmission. 

For example, if someone in the production 

office decides to pop some popcorn 

in the microwave oven while you’re 

trying to control the lighting system, then 

the wireless transmitter will detect interference 

at a certain frequency and hop over 

that frequency in the course of sending a 

data transmission. 

Microwave ovens, cordless telephones 

and Bluetooth devices all operate in the 

ISM band, which can potentially cause interference. 

For that reason, many of the 

new wireless DMX devices operate in both 

the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands. When 

you see the term “dual band,” that’s what it 

means. 

FHSS offers a variety of advantages 

over fixed-frequency radio transmission. It 

helps make it more immune to interference 

by spreading the energy over a range of 

frequencies so that any narrowband interference 

has less of an impact on the entire 

transmission signal. It also allows a transmission 

to coexist with other devices in the 

same transmission band and still operate 

effectively. 

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Being on the cover of the Event Production Directory and maintaining a continuity advertising program in Projection, 

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So if your company is looking to make 2011 a breakout year, the time to ensure your success in the New Year is now. 

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Mike Devine 

702.478.8112 • md@plsn.com 

Matt Huber 

702.932.5585 • mh@plsn.com 


41 

Wireless Advances 

plsn 

Wireless DMX transmission has been 

around for several years, and it keeps getting 

better by taking advantage of improvements 

in wireless technology. In the last 

five years, it has become more reliable, easier 

to implement and less nerve-wracking 

than ever before. In my experience, those 

who argue that wireless DMX is unreliable 

are typically reflecting on a bad experience 

they had with it several years ago. If you 

give the current technology a try, chances 

are you will not be disappointed. 

These advances owe a debt of gratitude 

to a number of people who have contributed 

to the technology dating back to the 

early 20th century, including Hedy Lamarr 

and Geore Antheil. Lamarr and Antheil were 

never successful in selling their idea to the 

Navy. The mad scientist in the Naval officer 

who reviewed the patent might have been 

impressed with the resourcefulness of the 

duo, but the officer in him likely choked 

on the idea of using a low-tech solution 

in their high-tech, high-dollar submarines. 

FHSS technology was eventually used by 

the Navy, but not until the Cuban missile 

crisis in 1962, three years or so after the 

Lamarr-Antheil patent had expired. 

Get on Richard Cadena’s radar by sending an 

e-mail to rcadena@plsn.com. 

epd-plsn varifiable ad.indd 41 


12/3/10 11:30 AM

To Advertise in Marketplace, Contact: Greg • 702.454.8550 • gregg@plsn.com 

42 PLSN december 2010

To Advertise in Marketplace, Contact: Greg • 702.454.8550 • gregg@plsn.com 

ADVERTISER’S INDEX 

COMPANY PG# PH URL COMPANY PG# PH URL 

All Access Staging & Production 8 310.784.2464 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-102 

Stage Crew 38 702.682.9514 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-318 

Applied Electronics 31 800.883.0008 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-105 

Stage Gear 22 714.632.7170 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-508 

Atlanta Rigging Systems 22 404.355.4370 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-107 

Staging Dimensions 17 866.591.3471 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-145 

Bulbtronics 33 800.227.2852 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-110 

Stage Spot 12 888.567.8243 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-473 

Chaos Visual Productions 21 818.748.2200 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-367 

Strictly FX C3 847.290.0272 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-320 

Chauvet Lighting C1 800.762.1084 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-111 

Techni-Lux C2 407.857.8770 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-147 

Checkers Industrial Prod. 15 800.438.9336 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-112 

Tomcat 6 432.694.7070 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-243 

City Theatrical Inc. 15 800.230.9497 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-114 

Tyler Truss 37 317.485.5465 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-148 

Clay Paky (Italy) 7 609.812.1564 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-115 

Ultratec 2 888.655.6887 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-408 

CM Rigging 11 800.888.0985 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-116 

Upstage Video 34 610.323.7200 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-356 

Cooling & Power Rentals - CPR 36 888.871.5503 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-216 

Xtreme Structures & Fabrication 33 903.438.1100 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-159 

Creative Stage Lighting Co., Inc. 16 518.251.3302 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-118 

Daktronics 30 800.843.5843 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-217 

MARKET PLACE 

Doug Fleenor Design 15 888.436.9512 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-119 

Blackbox Electrical Products 42 562.602.1799 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-481 

East Coast Lighting & Production Services 25 404.872.0553 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-225 

City Theatrical Inc. 42 800.230.9497 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-114 

Ebulb / Bulbamerica 13 888.505.2111 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-294 

Drape Kings 42 888.372.7363 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-484 

Elation/ American DJ 41, C4 866.245.6726 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-121 

Fantasee Lighting 42 734.699.4464 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-486 

James Thomas Engineering 27 865.692.3060 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-194 

Georgia Case Products 42 888.422.2737 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-480 

Light Source, The 4 803.547.4765 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-305 

German Light Products - GLP 42 310.891.0773 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-476 

Lightronics 1 757.486.3588 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-132 

GoboMan 42 866.391.4626 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-487 

Lightwave International 3 412.965.2737 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-231 

Light Parts 42 512.873.7106 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-278 

Mega Systems 9 210.684.2600 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-470 

Light Source Inc. 42 248.685.0102 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-180 

Mountain Productions 9 570.826.5566 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-302 

Lightronics 42 757.486.3588 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-132 

Omnisistem 10 253.395.9500 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-253 

New York Case/Hybrid Case 42 800.346.4638 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-298 

Performance Truss 23 877.230.8787 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-360 

RC4 Wireless Dimming/ Theatre Wireless 42 866.258.4577 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-153 

Robe Lighting s.r.o. 5 954.615.9100 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-141 

Roadshow 42 800.861.3111 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-154 

Sharp Electronics 35 866.484.7825 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-506 

TOV Imports 42 718.237.2299 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-509 

Show FX, Inc. 14 562.903.7285 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-322 

Upstaging, Inc. 42 815.899.9888 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-158 

Soundcheck Nashville 13 615.726.1165 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-507 

Upstate Case 42 315.732.3226 http://plsn.hotims.com/29716-492 

Jobs for the Entertainment 

Production Technologists, 

Practitioners & Educators 

Job title: Tradeshow 

Job location: Sunrise, FL 33351 

Classification: Fulltime, Exempt, Salaried 

Reports to: Product Marketing Manager 

The primary objective of this position is to work with 

different levels of management to plan, organize and 

coordinate tradeshow and promotional events. 

Job Requirements: include the following essential 

duties and responsibilities. Other duties may be 

assigned. 

Assist in planning, coordinating, and executing national 

and international tradeshows and other events. 

Hands-on involvement in a variety of marketing logistics, 

including shipping, collateral coordination and 

ordering. Participate in and staff trade shows and promotional 

events as needed. 

Responsible for management of swag inventory to include 

product suggestions, pricing, procurement and 

distribution. Liaison with outside suppliers for promotional 

goods, and other related materials. Responsible 

for tracking all promotional invoices and expenses 

against established budget. Reporting regularly to 

marketing department head on related fiscal matters. 

Overnight travel required 

Education and/or Experience: High School Diploma 

and 2-4 years relevant project management experience. 

Detailed oriented with solid time management, 

organizational and project coordination skills. Ability 

to work under pressure, and possess strong math 

skills for budgeting and record keeping. Solid computer 

skills and experience with MS Office, Adobe 

Creative Suite and Internet. 

STAGING • LIGHTING • SOUND 

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2010 december PLSN 43

LD-AT-LARGE 


Lighting a Jam Band 

By NookSchoenfeld 

Sometimes I think that no concertgoing 

audience enjoys a good 

light show more than the hippies 

who attend “jam band” concerts. These 

bands don’t follow a set list like 99 percent 

of the other bands on tour. They 

usually start one song and then drift 

into an avant-garde jam session before 

finding their way back into the original 

song, or segue into another. They also 

tend to cover other artists songs at a 

different tempo than the original version. 

And the audiences tend to dance 

along as if they were in a trance. 

The Ultimate Punt Page plsn 

Most jam bands play two or three 

sets of music each night and have a 

couple hundred songs in their repertoire. 

It’s tough to program individual 

lighting cues for that many songs, especially 

since the arrangement of each 

song can change at any given time. 

What most of us who light these acts 

do is create the ultimate punt page (or 

several of them) to be able to grab cues 

on the fly and keep up with the musical 

changes as they come. The hardest part 

of this task is making the lighting nonrepetitive. 

I hate seeing the same lighting 

effects over and over at any show. 

I am an old “Dead Head” — one of 

those people who followed the career 

of the grandfather of jam bands, the 

Grateful Dead. I attended many of their 

shows, starting from when I was in high 

school. When I started working at Morpheus 

Lights in the 1980s, Candace 

Brightman, the Dead’s lighting designer, 

used this company as the lighting 

vendor. Candace and Dan English ran 

the lighting consoles, and each controlled 

different sets of moving lights. 

Candace designed the lighting rig and 

concentrated on keeping the band lit 

while Danny constructed the lighting 

COMING NEXT 

MONTH... 

Inside Theatre 

Scenic designer 

Scott Christensen 

uses lighting, video and 

costumes to recreate 

the Beatles era. 

Buyers Guide 

Automation is the new 

frontier in live event 

production. 

Usher on Tour 

LD Peter Morse lights 

Usher’s OMG tour. 

What most of us who light [jam bands] 

do is create the ultimate punt page (or 

several of them) to be able to grab cues 

on the fly and keep up with the musical 

changes as they come. 

system and then used his console to 

light air. He didn’t light anything in 

particular; he concentrated on making 

light beams look really cool and mixing 

cool patterns of gobos on assorted cycs 

and set pieces. 

Two LDs are Better than One plsn 

I covered for Danny on quite a few 

gigs and soon grasped the reason why 

two lighting directors are better than 

one with a jam band. With two operators 

controlling different type fixtures, 

it’s a lot easier to not repeat your light 

cues, because the chances of both of 

you bringing up the same look twice is 

unlikely. Plus, I like to do something a 

little different with jam bands. I like to 

give the band a bit of a light show that 

they can watch while they are playing 

on stage. I like to fly some structure 

out in the middle of the arena that can 

light the crowd, the ceiling or any multitude 

of fabricated scenic pieces I can 

fly from such a structure. 

Last month, I got a call from an old 

friend. He was doing production for a 

jam band called The String Cheese Incident. 

This act has been around for 

quite some time, but they don’t like to 

tour anymore. Instead, they play a few 

“special events” every year. They were 

going to play two nights at the Hampton 

Coliseum in Virginia to celebrate 

illustration by andy au 

Halloween. Andrew Carroll had looked 

after lighting for the band for 10 years 

and was very much involved. But they 

were looking for someone to help him 

out and design something extraordinary 

and wanted to know if I could 

pitch them an idea. I jumped at the 

thought of spending a few days grooving 

to some tasty jams and opened up 

my Mac and my imagination. 

The band had a video guy who ran 

an Arkaos media server through his 

laptop and was able to find some great 

deals on renting some 10-millimeter 

(pixel pitch) video panels. I contacted 

“Tweaker” and asked him if he could 

feed video content from his media 

server to some projectors as well. He 

assured me he could. 

Space Pumpkins 

plsn 

What the band had in mind was a 

big spaceship. What I had in mind was 

a big pumpkin. My idea was to morph 

one into another. 

So I took some curved truss and 

decided I needed a garage door-type 

opening of the show. I ran five 45-degree 

sections of truss from top to bottom, 

with the ends landing in the barricade 

area. I stretched 10-by-18-foot 

rectangles of white fabric between 

each truss finger and put two 10k lumen 

projectors by my console and projected 

them 100 feet to illuminate the garage 

door in the down position. Tweaker 

projected jack-o-lanterns and other assorted 

Halloween stuff on them while 

the crowd walked in. The fabric hid the 

band’s entrance to the stage. As they 

started tinkering with the first song, I 

raised the fingers to reveal the band 

and a plethora of LED fixtures, moving 

lights and various shaped video panels. 

Once the truss stood up on end, I had 

two more 12k projectors to illuminate 

the big screen as well. 

I knew very little of the music they 

were playing. A lot of it was bluegrass 

infused with some rock melodies. Andrew 

knew who sang each song and 

played which solo. He controlled a wall 

of Martin MAC 301s as well as some 

MAC 2k wash fixtures and Vari-Lite VL3k 

spots that I splattered around. He chose 

an Avolites Diamond 4 to run his lights 

because he likes having tons of faders. 

With this, he had enough fixtures to 

have a well-lit band and then some. I 

designed the rig to have vertical rows 

of i-Pix BB7s and Martin Stage Bar LED 

fixtures. I ran all of these from an MA 

Lighting grandMA so I could emulate a 

spaceship with tons of blinking lights. 

I also controlled the FOH “docking station.” 

Creating a Frenzy 

plsn 

I also designed a gyroscope-looking 

structure with a couple of circle trusses 

interwoven at angles. I hung a bunch of 

LED pars to tone the truss and a bunch 

of MAC 700 profiles along the outer 

rings. In the center of the structure I 

built a conglomeration of mirror balls 

that rotated in different directions at 

various speeds. At my riser position, I 

placed a bunch of Robe 2500 spot fixtures 

to under-light the mirror balls 

and splatter gobos across the roof of 

the arena. At key moments in the show, 

we blacked out the whole arena and 

just lit the mirror balls in various colors 

and spinning gobos. At other times 

lights roved thru the dancing audience, 

working them into frenzy. 

I simply followed the other guys’ 

leads. If the lighting got stagnant, or 

Tweaker was looking thru his library for 

the next video clip, I would start dancing 

the various LED fixtures in one of 

the many effects and chases I had programmed. 

I filled three pages full of 

various spaceship looks and various 

timed cues so I could match the tempo 

of each song. The grandMA was the 

perfect console for this event because 

of the many executor buttons and faders 

on which I could stash cues. 

In the end, I used every button I had 

programmed, and everyone was visually 

stimulated. In fact, the hippies in 

the crowd were the most stimulated, 

perhaps in more ways than one. 

Check out Nook Schoenfeld’s instructional 

DVD, Nook’s Ultimate Punt Pages 

DVD, at plsnbookshelf.com.

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