25 years for White Light

White Light used PLASA to celebrate its 25th anniversary and to launch the WaveFX — the latest addition to its range of optical effect units. As its name suggests, WaveFX is designed to project a realistic image of travelling waves. Other products being exhibited on the stand included GAM, Lee, Devon Glass, and Rosco colour, Mac Lux Pro, and SoftPlot lighting design software.

White Light. (Contact Details).

CPL is Top of the Pops

Concert Production Lighting (CPL) has equipped a number of musical extravaganzas including Top of the Pops at Wembley Arena as well as tours for Kula Shaker, World's Apart, and The Scorpions.

CPL won the TOTP project, which was staged in aid of Childline, in a competitive tender. CPL supplied conventional lighting for the two day event which included acts such as Bjork, Kula Shaker, East 17, and Peter (please go back to Australia) Andre. The Friday line-up comprised up and coming bands, while the Saturday show included performers more established in the pop world.

Concert Production Lighting. (Contact Details).

Owl — you're my videowall

Owl Video Systems, one of the countries leading distributors of audio-visual and entertainment equipment, used the PLASA show to give the first UK demonstration of the 12 monitor Pentractic 38 videowall — with four 38-inch monitors across its base, giving a width of over ten feet. The single Pentranic 38 multimedia monitor on its own is worth a look, which for £3,435 offers quite a lot of screen for the money.

The picture shows the Boardwalk Nightclub in Blackpool where Owl Video Systems worked closely with integrators, Cronshaw Warren, to build a 64 monitor videocube suspended above the dance floor.

Owl Video Systems Ltd. (Contact Details).

Illuminating music

OptiMusic have been developing and perfecting a new interactive light technology. The OptiMusic system now incorporates the OM-1, a light to MIDI controller that can process up to 32 beams, 16 notes per beam with many MIDI capabilities on board. The system works by the operator breaking a number of ordinary beams of light with specially reflective gloves, activating sensing units which control all MIDI applications.

The system is currently available in single beam or seven beam versions and can also be custom-made to individual specifications. Of course, those familiar with Jean Michel Jarre and his laser harp will get the idea of the technology, and it is probably understood that the OptiMusic system is more of a novelty at present than a serious music making tool, but it is easy to see it progressing into an expressive musical tool.

OptiMusic. (Contact Details).

Celco's ace Ventura

I doubt whether we'll cover news on high-end lighting consoles to any degree, but gosh, just look at all those dials and buttons. Celco have responded to the demand for fully-integrated multi-purpose show control on a lighting desk. The launch of the Ventura 1000 is the end product of a project to bring control of 1.000 channels of up to 100 automated fixtures, along with 240 dimming channels, and 18 playback faders to a single board, at a sub £7,000 price.

The Ventura's (very abbreviated) list of features includes: 100 automated fixtures of mixed parameters, with 1,000 channels in total; 240 dimmer channels arranged over ten pages, with 1024 DMX channels arranged on two lines; 16-bit internal resolution, with 8 or 16-bit output, depending on the protocol selected. Built into the memory are 500 multi-parameter cues, with up to three sequences per cue; 99 sequence patterns of up to 99 steps and 99 stack/lists of up to 999 entries each. Also of real interest is an on-board library of defined animated looks, such as Jungle Greens and Ocean Waves, to create quality dynamic effects when programming and rehearsal times are at a premium.

Celco. (Contact Details).