Ayrton is excited to announce the appointment of Matrix as its new exclusive distributor for Denmark. The appointment takes place with immediate effect.

Matrix is a young, dynamic company that has quickly established itself as one of the leading sales and distribution companies for the entertainment industry in Denmark. With a wealth of hands-on industry experience, the Matrix team brings comprehensive knowledge of the products it sells and the industry needs they address, and enjoys strong relationships with their customers and suppliers.

The company prides itself on being constantly on the lookout for new products, new business partners, new customers and new ways to do business and strives to be at the top of the market by supplying the most relevant products.

“Ayrton was the obvious choice for us, as we needed a high profile moving light brand to complete our lighting program,” says Jakob Hansen, sales manager for lighting and staging at Matrix. “The arrival of Ayrton’s new line of profiles, spots and wash fixtures was the deciding factor for us – they fit perfectly into our range of professional sound, light, stage equipment and audio-visual products.”

Matrix will focus on bringing the full Ayrton range of LED lighting products to the Danish market and the sales team are already out on the road with the new range of fixtures. “The Ayrton product range is strong and we are obviously excited about our role as Ayrton distributor,” continues Hansen. “Our expectations for the brand development are high – and very interesting when we look at everything that is currently on the international moving light market.”

“We are very proud to be represented by Matrix in Denmark,” says Linnea Ljungmark, international sales for Ayrton. “The company is known for its ability to find high quality brands and present them to the market with skill and dedication. We are extremely excited to be working with them.”

Matrix can be contacted at:
Matrix Sales – HQ / Copenhagen
Jydekrogen 8
DK 2625 Vallensbaek,
Denmark

Tel: +45 7025 5522

Email: info@matrixsales.dk  

Web: www.matrixsales.dk

 For more information on the full range of Ayrton lighting visit www.ayrton.eu

Tamlite Lighting, one of the UK’s largest privately-owned lighting companies, has secured ICEL (Industry Committee for Emergency Lighting) certification for the manufacture and testing of quality luminaires.

The ICEL is a division of the Lighting Industries Association (LIA), representing the highest level of legislation in terms of luminaire quality, specialising in emergency lighting. Membership of the ICEL confirms that Tamlite’s technologies and solutions are designed to be effective in the event of an emergency or loss of mains power, allowing a building’s occupants to evacuate quickly and safely.

The ICEL membership follows recent news that Tamlite has secured BAFE certification, confirming the quality of the Company’s emergency lighting designs. The company is also a recent winner of the inaugural LIAQA Award – whichrewards highly robust quality management systems – the commendation is regarded as a mark of confidence across the industry.

John Allden, Managing Director at Tamlite Lighting commented:

“Tamlite Lighting was a founding participant of the LIAQA scheme, and we have always been committed to its purpose. The ICEL certification offers proof that we maintain extremely high standards within the manufacturing process of our emergency luminaires – and this gives our customers an added level of confidence. It is fair to say, reliability and quality are core aspects of our culture at Tamlite – we see both values as an essential pillars of our business practises.”

Tamlite Lighting are also Full members of the LIA, Corporate members of Institute of Lighting Professionals and members of the Society of Light & Lighting.

Below: John Allden.

•  Provides an easy 1-to-1 switch while re-using your existing HPS electrical connection and infrastructure
• Can be combined with the GrowWise Control System to dim lighting and mimic dusk to dawn interval
• Replaces 1,000 W HPS lighting with the same amount of light, while consuming 40% less power

Signify (Euronext: LIGHT), the world leader in lighting, enables growers to switch more easily to LED lighting by introducing the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact to the European market. The compact, passively cooled LED toplighting provides a 1-to-1 replacement for HPS lighting that fits seamlessly in existing HPS set-ups and trellis constructions, saving time and money on installation. This new product helps growers to improve crop results and reduce energy costs. It can also be combined with the GrowWise Control System to allow growers to dim the lighting, based on the available daylight to mimic the dusk to dawn interval and enhance results for specific crops.

The LED toplighting compact delivers excellent performance. The high light output of 1,800µmol/s and an efficacy of up to 3.0 µmol/J help growers effectively optimizing crop growth, enhancing crop quality and cutting operational costs. Compared to a 1,000 W HPS fixture, the Philips GreenPower LED toplighting compact produces the same amount of light, has a similar light distribution, while consuming 40% less power and emitting considerably less radiant heat. By separating heat and light, this product gives growers independent control over their greenhouse climate.

“Since we showed this concept in January 2019, we’ve received many enthusiastic responses from growers who are eager to replace their HPS systems with LED solutions,” said Udo van Slooten, Business Leader Horticulture at Signify. “We are proud to announce that over 10 growers, like Arcadia Chrysanthemums, have already signed up for a project covering a variety of crops with the LED toplighting compact. Thanks to the optimized design of the wide beam optics, the LED toplighting compact provides excellent light distribution for most greenhouse configurations, including high-wire crops. Besides vegetables and flowers, it’s also an ideal option for growers of medicinal cannabis.”  

Easy fit for low installation costs

As the new LED toplighting fits even between sprinklers it allows growers to easily switch from HPS lighting to LED or create a hybrid LED and HPS lighting system. The dedicated brackets that come with the product make it an easy-to-install system. Specific brackets can also be provided to mount two toplighting modules next to each other when higher light levels are required.

For growers who are interested in installing the LED toplighting compact, a team of Signify plant specialists, account managers and application engineers will determine the optimal lighting solution based on the customer’s specific greenhouse situation.

Elation Professional is joining with German distribution partner LMP at Stage|Set|Scenery in Berlin, Hall 20, Stand 325, where the latest luminaires in the award-winning Artiste series will be on display along with KL series LED Fresnel lights and the new NX 2™ lighting console from Obsidian Control Systems.

Taking place June 18 to 20 at Messe Berlin, Stage|Set|Scenery is one of the top European trade shows for theater, film and event technology and the ideal medium to show the latest Artiste series theatrical grade moving heads. On display will be the 45,000-lumen Artiste Monet™, a full-featured LED Profile offering outstanding projection quality, a comprehensive FX package, dynamic framing and an innovative SpectraColor engine that produces the most vibrant primary colors ever produced by a color mixing system.

Also showing is the Artiste Picasso™, one of the brightest (23,000 lumens) and most feature-rich profile LED lighting fixtures available. Feature-packed (zoom, framing, CMY, CTO, gobo wheels, animation, prisms, frost and more), a 620W LED engine combines with advanced optics to produce a crisp yet uniform output while staying whisper quiet. The state-of-the-art Artiste Van Gogh™ will also show. This LED Wash luminaire with internal framing excels at color reproduction for color projections of the highest quality. Housing CMY and CTO color mixing as well as a 7-position color wheel, it offers a choice of PC or Fresnel lenses and is the ideal partner to the profile luminaires in the Artiste range.

Other dedicated theater and installation luminaires on display will be the KL Fresnel™ line of warm- and cold-white key lights. KL Fresnel lights are also available as pole operable units for broadcast studio and theatre applications.

As a theater-ready lighting console, LMP presents the new NX 2™ from Obsidian Control Systems. The NX 2 is a compact yet powerful fully-integrated lighting control system. As part of Obsidian Control Systems’ innovative ONYX platform, it offers a wealth of features including a bright, full-HD, multi-touch screen, eight assignable parameter encoders, a supportive mini-touch screen, a full keyboard and command panel, a dedicated master button and ten playbacks with four assignable buttons.

The LMP and Elation team look forward to a great show and invite lighting professionals to Hall 20, Stand 325 for a chat and a personal demo. Interested professionals can make an appointment in advance by calling +49 5451/59 00-800 or by e-mail at sales@lmp.de.

One of the UK’s leading industry events has this year partnered up with the recently launched Construction Innovation Hub to put innovation in the spotlight across the construction supply chain.

UK Construction Week, which has rapidly become the go-to event for building firms, engineers, architects and many others, will work in partnership with the Construction Innovation Hub to deliver an ‘Innovation Zone’ at this year’s event, which is expected to see upwards of 40,000 attendees from right across the construction supply chain and beyond.

The Construction Innovation Hub, launched in November of last year, brings together the world-class construction sector expertise of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), BRE (Building Research Establishment) and the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB). The Hub aims to be a focal point for the promotion, research and development of new digital and manufacturing technologies for the construction industry, to create high-performing buildings and infrastructure with strong levels of safety, quality and energy performance.

An innovation advisory board made up of construction clients, contractors and consultants has also met to shape how innovation is placed at the heart of this year’s event. It will assist in scrutinising the latest projects, products and technologies being pitched for the new Innovation Zone.

Arbiters from Willmott Dixon, Luton Airport, Bryden Wood, Mace, TfL, The Princes’ Foundation, Castle Planning and the Hub will decide what will appear in the Innovation Zone and will also choose the winner of UKCW’s Innovation Award 2019, which will be announced on the second day of the show.

Keith Waller, Construction Innovation Hub programme director says:

“UK Construction Week is fast becoming one of the most essential industry events of the year. At the Construction Innovation Hub, we are eager to reach out and engage with all stakeholders within the built environment. This will be crucial to our success in the coming months and years.

By partnering up with a key event like UK Construction Week, we want to give visitors the chance to experience first-hand the Hub’s vision of a transformed construction sector. We will share how we are planning to use digital and manufacturing technologies to help build smarter, greener and more efficient buildings much faster and cheaper than we currently do, and how players – big and small – from right across the construction sector, and its supply chain, can get involved.”

Nathan Garnett, UKCW event director says:

“Scratch the surface, and you find that the construction industry is actually one of the most innovative industries. It is full of examples of new ways of working, sustainable products, collaboration and continually evolving technologies. We want our visitors to experience this first-hand, to talk to others who are leading by example and to boost uptake of these significant new developments.

“That’s why working with the Construction Innovation Hub is an ideal partnership from our perspective. We chose innovation as a theme for this year’s UKCW and the Hub’s support helps us to deliver on that message. The Hub has a four-year mission to be a catalyst for change and that is exactly what we want to achieve through our event.”

John & Jane is a premium event design and production company based in Ruiselede, Belgium, run with dedication and enthusiasm by Nico Laniere and Katrien Vermeire, who are committed to providing their clients with the very best boutique live event and brand-related experiences – large and small – from concept to completion.

Delta Rent is a sister company geared to technical production and scenic supply, which works alongside and / or independently from John & Jane as required. They deal with lighting, sound and video, rigging, set staging and decor as well as project management and design.

Last summer, John & Jane made its first investment in Astera AX1 Pixel Tubes.

Always on the lookout for new and cool lighting fixtures that can be used imaginatively, Nico was immediately struck by the AX1, as they are involved in many scenarios where battery powered fixtures is an ideal solution and there is also a constant pressure to keep events as carbon conscious as possible.

The huge bonus with the Astera product is that the tubes can also be used for effects as well as for practical lighting.

At the time, they were designing a lighting scheme and providing production for a Brussels Airlines event being staged in an old townhouse, and specifically sought a light source which could be used abstractly to highlight areas of the building. Initially, they purchased AX1s for illuminating a staircase, but ended up buying more from Benelux distributor Controllux, which were used on the floor … in the style of plane emergency lighting!

The long battery life, consistent brightness and easy set-up and use are all reasons attracting them to Astera.

The Pixel Tubes are now working constantly; they’re used to light gardens, fountains buildings – interiors and exteriors – main event rooms and spaces, corridors, stairways,

stairwells, galleries and any number of ‘nooks and crannies’ that can benefit from being illuminated in a funky, interesting location.

They also proved ideal for lighting the VIP areas at a series of summer beach festivals where John & Jane provided the full technical production packages, and will be used again in the same context this year, including at WECANDANCE, a food and fashion extravaganza staged across four music stages on the beach at Zeebrugge.

“The Tubes are hugely creative and our customers all love them” commented Nico, adding they are “decorative and attractive to look at in themselves!”

When the look of the event also relies on the technology being concealed and discreet, the AX1s score again.

John & Jane wanted to be an early adopter of Astera to keep ahead of the game. “We are always looking for new, innovative and unique products which can give us an edge in the design concepts – being able to be different opens a lot of doors of us” commented Katrien.

Nico and Katrien can see Astera products becoming more prominent as they expand both their ‘traditional’ markets like corporate events, presentations and parties alongside newer segments like festival and music events which this year will include lighting elements of famous Spanish clubbing phenomenon Elrow Town at their Antwerp event.

Photos are by Jurgen de Witte and courtesy John & Jane, taken at a Brussels Airlines event.

• Gateway to a global snapshot of on-trend products from international suppliers
• Unique opportunity to meet manufacturers from across the globe, alongside the best home and gift suppliers
• 1-4 September 2019, NEC, Birmingham

Autumn Fair, the sector’s marketplace for home and gift retail, is set to launch a new international Sourcing zone as part of its new direction for 2019 this September.

With the global retail sourcing and procurement market expected to grow by nearly 12% in the period up to 2024[1], retailers looking to benefit from markets outside of the UK will be able to build essential relationships with leading international exporters and manufacturers at this year’s show.

In turn, manufacturers from key sourcing regions around the world will have the opportunity to exhibit new products and showcase techniques to the forward-looking retail market.

Throughout Hall 10, international manufacturers coming to Autumn Fair from Ghana, India, Pakistan, China, Korea and Tunisia amongst other nations, will be bringing together the biggest and best products for gift, home, toys, fashion and kitchen and dining buyers.

At the show, a dedicated Sourcing Theatre will host talks from well-known industry experts on supply chain management, partnerships, procurement, visual merchandising and more, allowing professional buyers to get one-step ahead of market rivals.

In addition, visitors will also be able to draw inspiration from the hall’s trend installation, exploring trends that will impact product development and what consumers will be looking for in Autumn/Winter 2020/21. Buyers will also be able to access an exclusive Sourcing Lounge to discuss deals, points of inspiration, procurement strategy or simply recharge.

Providing the easiest, cheapest and most effective route to access key sourcing regions around the world, Autumn Fair will offer a highly transactional setting for buyers and suppliers to deliver optimal procurement opportunities and significant ROI respectively.

Exhibitors showcasing their merchandise in Autumn Fair’s Sourcing sector will be bringing the very best products from all over the globe. From Ghana, Bellacklack Enterprise will be displaying authentic handcrafted and traditional African items such as masks, instruments and baskets. Providing quality homeware essentials will be Chinese exporter Lida Group, whilst Korean leather goods manufacturer Yeunwoo will be putting their best fashion accessories on show.

Julie Driscoll, Managing Director at Autumn Fair said: “This year’s Autumn Fair will recognise the growing demand within the retail space for quality and relevant international products. In doing so we will bring the best that the world has to offer to the NEC for four days this September.

“Retailers who may not have the time to commit to costly foreign sourcing trips will now have international sourcing opportunities at their doorstep. For those who have previously felt that the world’s most competitive, high quality and dedicated suppliers have been out of reach will can now forge significant new supplier relationships. Not only that, but we’ll be pushing to attract more international retailers to buy from the UK-based suppliers that are the foundation of our show.

“We’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that we share the latest trend intelligence for international vendors to ensure that they’re bringing the most relevant products for the UK market.”

Autumn Fair runs from the 1st to 4th September 2019 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. Register to attend for free here: https://bit.ly/2Gfs65y

[1] Retail Sourcing and Procurement Market: Global Industry Analysis, Trends, Market Size and Forecasts

Saïd M’Roumbaba – Soprano to his numerous fans – has perfected the art of combining music, politics and urban poetry with edginess, meaning, accessibility and superlative showmanship. His live shows are selling out everywhere, and he is currently touring French-speaking Europe for the rest of the year.

Young French rising star lighting designer Victorien Cayzeele is an integral part of the creative team bringing the Phoenix touring show to life, a task he is doing spectacularly with the help of around 150 Robe moving lights which are at the core of an innovative and emotive visual experience.

Victorien has worked with the artist for six years, each tour seeing the shows getting bigger and bigger as Soprano’s influence and popularity grows. The 2019 touring schedule is action packed with a mix of own shows – including 5 stadiums in September – and festival headline slots as well as over 40 arena gigs.

Soprano’s reputation as a live performer and the special connection he has with audiences is also fuelling the incredible demand for concerts. Only seeing him live can really illustrate the power and compulsive charisma that keeps everyone enrapt.

Designing lighting for the Phoenix tour has been a real ‘brain teaser’ for Victorien. Working in close collaboration with set designer and Soprano creative director Julien Mairesse … video was always going to be a massive element.

When they decided on five large moving and tracking 10 mm mesh LED screens with 80% transparency as the essential digital scenery and stage architecture, this presented some unique challenges for Victorien’s fertile imagination.

The all-axes tracking system – up / down, onstage / offstage and left and right – meant a roof filled with tracking trolleys and motors.

Additionally, an automated 9-metre-long by 2-metre-wide runway flies in from the ceiling – downstage of the tracking screens – for one section of the show. This flies up and down and tilts while Soprano and some of his dancers are performing on it!

So right from the off, Victorien had to be simultaneously pragmatic, ingenious and creative – as all the traditional over-stage truss flying positions were taken up with the video screen and the tracking and flying for that and the catwalk.

He also knew early on that he would be looking for small, compact, neat fixtures that gave maximum flexibility for the size. He loves working with Robe products – there is an excellent range of smaller and highly versatile luminaires – so that’s where he looked for the main moving lights.

Before he’d even drawn a light on the plot, the team went through a series of essential screen moves and plotted each song in terms of the stage dynamics. … which then dictated the exact positioning of the automation components.

“It was a very exciting and inspirational way to work” says Victorien, who enjoys being part of a creative team and the vibrant workflow that results from this scenario, with everyone bouncing ideas and synergies.

Once the tracking hardware was sorted, the lighting trusses were positioned, comprising seven small 2.4 metre runs squeezed into the gaps with a slight asymmetry, plus two trusses at 7 metres long, complete with a more regular 20-metre-wide front truss.

Along each side of the stage are three 5-metre trusses hung underneath each other at different heights which provide the main lighting positions. They work well in getting cross stage lighting into the main performance area, which Soprano works extensively – and hyperactively – throughout.

The total Robe counts are 55 x Spiider LED wash beams, 14 x BMFL Blades, 56 x LEDBeam 150s, 26 x MegaPointes and four BMFL Spots which are part of a RoboSpot system.

Twenty-four of the Spiiders are on the six side trusses, four per truss.

Some of the LEDBeam 150s are integrated into the video wall, along the top frames mounted on special brackets, together with some strobes and moving LED battens.

Each of the seven small trusses are loaded with a BMFL Blade, a Spiider, a MegaPointe and a strobe … the larger fixtures on the front rail of the truss and the smaller ones on the back, some of these clearing the tracking trusses by just millimetres – all credit to Dushow’s fantastic rigging crew!

The front truss is loaded with four of the BMFL Blades, four BMFL Spots and MotionCameras being controlled by three RoboSpot BaseStations, eight MegaPointes, eight Spiiders and six LED strobes.

Victorien needs a certain amount of general front light to cover the dancers and any guest vocalists, so the fixtures were all chosen for their multi-functionality. They are also used to highlight the audience for the many interactive parts of the show as Soprano captivates the crowds.

Upstage on the floor is a line of 18 moving LED battens and six MegaPointes. There are more LEDBeam 150s in ‘planter’ cases along the front of the stage and more moving LED battens on the top step of the set.

Behind the video screens is a scaffolding structure which houses the DJ and the multi-instrumentalist who are backing Soprano on level two, with additional fixtures rigged on the structure to light them. (The central video wall of the five is ground supported – only the four side pieces and roof fly / track)

The four BMFL follow spots are controlled via three RoboSpot BaseStations located side stage. Victorien loves these for the “discreet and dynamic” spotting opportunities. “It’s vital to control the physical size of the spot as tightly as possible, especially when there’s a large LED wall onstage, you can’t have light bleeding out around him. Utilising a RoboSpot system gives me this option to literally pinpoint the artists, backing singers and any guests precisely” he commented.

Victorien has control over the dimmer, while the operators have focus, iris, pan and tilt. He also comments that ‘sharing’ these parameters between them was a process that evolved very naturally as they built the show during production rehearsals.

He used Spiiders on the last Soprano tour and appreciates the small size, the rich colours, the speed and the fantastic pixel mapping capabilities.

LEDBeam 150s he’s also used before, but on Phoenix they needed some small, bright LED fixtures that were also light enough to be secured onto the LED wall without having a significant impact on the weight loadings.

“At 4kg and super-quick, it was my perfect fixture for this task” he declared.

BMFLs have been a regular choice for different recent projects and he decided to have the Blades and Spots on this for contrasting lightsources (to the LED beams and Spiiders) and to initiate all the BIG statement beamy effects that BMFLs do so well.

Admitting that the MegaPointes are “slightly under-used” as effects – he is not a big lover of gobos or more conventional looks for that matter – they play a key role in the big, fluid sweeping looks that grace the stage during epic moments.

Soprano had originally asked Victorien to work with him because of his fresh and different approach to design and his ability to think ‘out-of-the-box’. His work generally has gained traction for being pleasantly free of the ‘lighting clichés’.

Soprano is fully involved in his production and live show presentations.

He is equally as passionate as the creative team around him when it comes to aesthetics and sounds. He likes the show to be theatrical with multiple layers that are revealed to the audience as the journey progresses … and the surprises keep coming!

“He also likes everything to be tightly choreographed and is fully prepared to work with the light to get the best dramatic effects” says Victorien, “some of the songs are extremely complex and detailed in terms of technical cues and treatments”.

The show lasts nearly two and a half hours and incorporates an energetic array of visual magic; lighting and video work hard to build definite and invigorating live memories for everyone in the room.

Victorien programmed the show assisted by lighting colleague Matthieu Patriarca, with a third operator, Romain Fior taking care of the video programming during the prep period and first month of the tour.

On the road he runs all the lighting himself utilising a grandMA3 with grandMA2 software which also triggers the playback video cues – via the SMODE server – through the console. Around 70% of the show is run from timecode from DJ Majide Mazari’s Ableton session which shares the signals for video, lighting and automation.

All the lighting and audio – a d&b GSL system – is supplied from Dushow, and the video is delivered by one of their partner companies, Alabama. The impressive video content was created by Paris based Cutback Live and automation comes from Canadian company Show Distribution via MASH, also part of the Dushow group.

The IMAG camera mix is being cut by Romain Fortune and the production manager is Pascal Meley who, together with technical director Aymeric Sorriaux, is keeping everything in order on the road.

Victorien heaps credit on their amazing lighting and video crew who help it all happen for every gig – so that is chief LX Sebastien Casaban, lighting techs Pierrick Leblanc and Martial Blond, video / lighting tech Lionnel Mulet and video techs Jonas Bergot and Michael Souvy.

Photos: Louise Stickland

Obsidian Control Systems is pleased to preview a new and comprehensive data distribution range of products at InfoComm 2019, NETRON™. NETRON encompasses Ethernet to DMX gateway, DMX splitter and DMX/RDM splitter solutions, supporting applications from live production and venue installations to architectural environments.

NETRON products have been developed with the user in mind, combining tough hardware with smart software for fast setup and solid performance. Rugged, reliable and easy to configure, NETRON offers smart solutions for professional lighting and AV markets.

Obsidian Control Systems will be showing the new NETRON range June 12-14 at InfoComm Booth #7443. Designers, programmers and operators are invited for a first look.

The NETRON range offers three Ethernet to DMX gateways, the rackmount twelve-port EN12, the EN4, and the ultra-compact POE-powered EP4. All devices support sACN, Art-NET, RDM and offer web remote configuration, while internal presets for the most common uses offer plug-and-play deployments.

Three variants of RDM splitter round out the range; two compact splitters with six XLR (RDM 6XL) or RJ45 (RDM645) connections, plus the RDM 10, an advanced ten-port dual-input splitter combined with a two Universe EtherDMX gateway.