LDI
SHOW REPORT
2015
SHOW REPORT
I
t was another bountiful year in Las Vegas as the LDI (Live Design International) show hit the Convention Center for the fourth consecutive year. Over 10,000 people were on the floor to check out more
than 350 different exhibitor booths over the three-day span the floor was open. From Lighting to Lasers, Staging to Scenery, it was all here on display last Oct 23-25. One didn’t have to search far for all
the cool little gizmos we all need to keep the shows running. New inventions as well as improved versions of old standards peaked my technical interest as much as the great new lighting products. Below,
in no particular order, is a quick synopsis of the products that stood out to me at this year’s LDI.
By NookSchoenfeld
Absen: The video tile manufacturer
showed off their wide array of products in
various pixel pitches. New to the game this
year was their X5 product, a 5.2mm outdoor-rated video tile that snaps into place
with the tile next to it.
AC Lighting: Jands consoles, ArKaos visualization software and more. On display
was the lightweight Chroma-Q Color One
100, an LED Par fixture with an RGBA color system. Added this year was the Studio
One 100 — an all-white LED fixture with
variable color temperature.
Acass: They offer Modlock LED, a new
kind of modular, interlocking LED display
system designed to connect seamlessly
with their staging products in different
configurations. Modlock LED components
are designed to go together easily and
work every time.
ADJ: A beautifully lit booth showed off
several new fixtures including the Revo 4
IR, COB Cannon Wash Pearl and WiFLY Chameleon. The Vizi Beam 16RX hybrid fixture
was also impressive. With a Philips 16R
lamp, it’s plenty bright, and it moves very
fast.
Aeson: This company displayed a great
line of LED tiles for multiple applications.
Their new IP65-rated 3.9mm screen was
on display with its 5600 NITS output. It
comes in 20-inch squares. Each contain
four square modules (10 inches per side)
with magnetic fasteners, allowing for easy
removal/replacement.
Altman Lighting: The Phoenix series
of ellipsoidal fixtures was featured prominently, including a zoomable model. The
Pegasus Fresnel series included six- and
eight-inch LED models in different color
temperatures. A 130W LED work light with
10,000 lumens and a tungsten look is available now.
Analog Way: One of the industry leaders in video switchers and similar devices, they showed off the new VIO4K-V701.
Referred to as the “Swiss army knife” for
video processing, this unit was designed
to take any type of video signal in and
spit anything out effortlessly, including
4K files.
Antari: This maker of foggers, hazers
and other atmospheric elements released
the S500, their latest high output faux
snow making machine. Besides silent operation, it has a DMX-able pan control on
the nozzle as well as fans. Users can extend the main unit to the spray nozzle via
a 10-meter hose.
APG Display: They built a large NEC
55-inch X554UN video wall that promises
easy installation and sharp, 4K-resolution.
Also on display: the Green Hippo Par4Keet
video player with multi-screen configurability. APG sub-rents video walls with
full technical support, installation services
and logistics provided.
Applied Electronics: A one-stop shop
for anything hanging from (and including) a roof. They displayed truss, portable
crank stands, rigging, hoists and controllers, among other gear. What fascinated
me was the line array tower they make for
hanging P.A. systems where there’s no rigging points.
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NOVEMBER 2015 • plsn.com
Absen X5 LED tiles
AC Lighting Chroma-Q Color One 100
ADJ’s booth
Aeson 3.9mm outdoor screen
Altman Lighting’s zoomable Phoenix
Analog Way’s VIO 4K multiformat converter
Antari’s booth
Applied Electronics’ line array tower
Astera: Released the AX-7, a full color-mixing wireless-enabled LED PAR with
the ability to receive either LumenRadio or
WDMX for control. Featuring RGBW mixing, the unit has additional lenses for wall
washing or floodlight applications. Running up to 20 hours, it has TRUE1 power in
and throughs for charging.
Atmospheres: They can set the mood
for any event or public place by supplying
video content that reflects three categories - live music films, ambient films and
moods films. Designed for play on state
of the art visual presentation equipment,
multiple HD and 4K displays, LED walls or
HD and 4K projectors.
Avolites: The big news was the addition
of the Arena lighting console. The latest
improvements in the effects engine make
it the best I have ever seen. In a separate
booth, the AI media server, with all its bells
and whistles and great edge blending capabilities, was on display to teach the “easy
to learn” system.
AV Stumpfl: These makers of fine media servers, control solutions and projection screens showed off their Wings
Engine Raw (6). This is the world’s first
three-stream, uncompressed 4K60 media
server. Also released was the FHD media
player, which is now shipping.
Ayrton: Displaying a wall of their new
Dream Panel Twin fixtures, this company
rocked the floor. This square fixture has an
LED screen on one side and a block of LEDs
on the other. The MagicDot-R and CosmoPix-R LED fixtures were also on hand for
people who somehow hadn’t seen these
great fixtures yet.
Barbizon: This company stocks over
20,000 products and were on hand to offer
up their resources for sales, service, installation, and integration of lighting, dimming, grip equipment, and accessories for
the Performing Arts. They continue to be
sponsors of the Behind the Scenes Happy
Hour, helping those in need.
Barco/High End Systems: The SolaSpot
2000 and the SolaWash Pro 2000 fixtures
made quite the impact as HES included
these new fixtures in their All-LED repertoire. Designers lined up to play around
with the Hog 4 line of consoles. The HES
team was also on hand to offer media server training as well.
BBS Lighting: In their booth they
showed the Pipeline LED System. These
are LEDs inside cylindrical form factor segments. They come in one, two, three and
four-foot lengths. The Pipeline remote
phosphor promises to serve as a high CRI
soft light that is controllable and dimmable with no color shift or flickering. Good
dimmer curve at 0-10 percent.
Blizzard Lighting: Hanging no fewer than six new products from a massive
two-tiered ModTruss structure, these folks
came ready to party. They featured a great
range of effects lights such as the new
Snake Eye and Blockhead Big Eye fixtures.
The Kryo Morph moving yoke light showed
a great bright beam.
Bulbtronics: On display was the full
line of FlexAray LED products, which come
in static white, tunable white, and RGBAW
versions. Also featured was FlexAray Neo-
Astera AX-7
Avolites Arena console
AV Stumpfl Wings Engine Raw (6)
Ayrton’s Dream Panel Twin
Barbizon’s booth
Barco/HES’ SolaWash and SolaSpot display
BBS Pipeline
Blizzard Snake Eyes
Bend, a flexible silicone LED tube with
330° of light distribution. Compatible
with all their LED tapes, it mimics neon
without the bulky electronics or glass.
Canto: The Italian maker of fine spotlights was on hand to show off their three
latest models. The company offers a 2000
MSR as well as a 1500W units that are
bright, yet lightweight. Particularly impressive was the Astro 3200, with a 200W
LED light source that can produce a 3200K
light output with a high CRI.
ChamSys: This company showed off
their brilliant little model, the MagicQ
MQ80. This extremely powerful little desk
spits out 24 universes of DMX with no need
for additional processors like an NPU. Using
the powerful software as the others, it has
10 playback faders, 20 Executor buttons
and built-in UPS, and it can fit in a bag.
Chauvet: With an eye-dazzling booth,
Chauvet displayed the Strike 4, an LEDbased mole/scoop with a tungsten look.
The Ovation series E-910FC adds a lime
emitter to the RGBA color system. COLORado Solo is a single 60W cell RGBW LED
with a 6-72° zoom. There’s a new ÉPIX
touring model as well.
Christie: These makers of fine projectors had a few items from their large product line. Shown in particular was the new
H series, which featured a 12,000-lumen
DLP projector. This slick model comes with
Integrated Warping capabilities.
City Theatrical: The go-to shop for all
your accessories, I saw every beam angle
accessory one needs for most conventional fixtures. They also put their new SHoW
Baby wireless DMX system center stage,
and featured the Qolor Point, a battery operated LED fixture with an IP65 rating that
comes with SHoW Baby wireless DMX.
Clay Paky: Showed off the Scenius line
of fixtures and the Spheriscan, both of
which were just released. The Hepikos is a
Sharpy wash light on steroids with a cool
4-way prism. Most impressive was their
new Strip light, the Spazial. The fixture tilts
and offers individual control of each cell;
users can pan them left to right to finetune the focus.
Clear-Com: The industry leader of professional intercom for live events stepped
up their game considerably. On display
was their latest innovations in wireless
belt packs. The addition of a single wireless headset with a built in controls that do
not need an exterior belt pack was a pretty
clever invention.
CM Hoists: Columbus McKinnon
showed off their range of electric hoists
for the entertainment and commercial
business. These included the Lodestar
D8 model, capable of lifting 1000 kg and
geared for quieter operation and to meet
demanding international standards.
CreateLED: This company boasts a full
line of LED tiles for any type screen. Their
patented Air series of products offers brilliant colors and an easy standard design.
Extremely impressive was The 1.9mm AirMAG U and the 2.6mm version of their
ultra HD series.
Creative Stage Lighting: They showed
off their line of VMB crank lifts as well as
other products they sell. Their great new
customer portal and on-line store features
an updated design for mobile devices, account maintenance features, more products, and a cable assembly builder.
CyberHoist: XLNT Advanced Technologies’ industry respected CyberHoist II system was unveiled at LDI. The same variable
speed process is utilized. Built with new
hardware and software modifications to
handle the rigors of live event use. A new
controller for the hoists is also available.
Chauvet’s booth
Christie H Series 1DLP projector
City Theatrical’s beam control accessories
d3: They revealed the smaller d3 2x2
plus. It is the same software as the other
d3 products but is suited to smaller events
and theaters. It can control 256 universes.
Also released were new VFC cards for the
4x4 Pro model. This now enables the 4x4
to play back 16 layers of full HD video from
one media server.
Database Works: They showed the
world their new RFID product, which is a
sure game changer for all rental houses.
They have a new system for counting gear
in and out of your shop using simple RF
frequencies that are read via an encoder
attached to every cable. Great time changer to the old bar scan devices.
Dataton: Their Watchout 6 system
proves to be one of the most advanced
ways to accomplish 3D video mapping.
The device includes video playback from
multiple sources, 3D media and modeling
d3’s mini-Super Bowl Halftime display
Database Works’ RFID system
Sensor IQ
Intelligent Breaker System
Clay Paky Spazial
All-in-one breaker, switching and load sensing
Now you can control power for any combination of
tungsten, LEDs, movers, video and audio with the powerful
Sensor IQ: the first intelligent breaker system to bring you
the performance and integration of ETC’s Sensor® system
in a small footprint perfect for any venue.
Clear-Com’s new wireless products
CM Lodestar D8 hoist
CreateLED’s booth
Creative Stage Lighting’s VMB lifts
Americas
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Europe
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www.etcconnect.com
CyberHoist by XLNT
plsn.com • NOVEMBER 2015
27
SHOWREPORT
as well as previz. It features a 3D projector device that assists in programming and
lining up complex projections.
Doug Fleenor Design: The electronics
and data wizards showed their full range
of products, including the NODE2, a wall
box with Power Over Ethernet that can accept data input and output with the universe selectable on the wall box itself. Supports sACN, Art-Net, and others. Buttons
can also lock to prevent tampering.
Drape Kings: Not just the premier pipe
and drape company in the US, they had a
whole line of gadgets on display. Various
models of kabuki systems are available for
the user to choose the correct one for their
needs.
Draper: This company makes perhaps
the best projection screens. Wall mounted,
ceiling mounted, recessed — you name it.
Their optically seem-less TecVision screen
boasts it can stretch 69’ without a single
Doug Fleenor Design’s NODE2
Drape Kings’ Kabuki system
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seam. Their portable models included the
StageScreen and FocalPoint lines.
DTS: Gave us the EVO this year. A hybrid
moving light that is a beam and a spot. A
2°-39° beam is available. CMY color, color
wheel, linear CTO, gobos are included. The
dual prism system allows for cool animations and kaleidoscope effects. Extreme
brightness guaranteed with an Osram HRI
440W bulb.
Elation: Showed off perhaps the best
programmed booth on the floor. They
offered the award winning Platinum FLX
moving hybrid and the Emotion, a moving
head projector. The crowd was captivated
by the new series of ACL products. Particularly impressive was the ACL Roller 360
with infinite pan and tilt.
Enttec: Once again my favorite purveyors of Steampunk were on hand to show
everyone just how easy it is to control
thousand of pixels. They offer lighting controllers, LED luminaires and custom lighting solutions to all your LED pixel needs.
The Pixelator and the Pixel Tape driver
worked magically.
ETC: Displaying their series of LED conventional light fixtures including their line
of Variable white light fixtures. On hand
were plenty of people to teach the ETC
line of lighting consoles from beginners to
advanced students.
Eurotruss/ChainMaster: These two
combined forces to show off their latest
truss products and moving smart chain
hoists leveling truss pieces in the center
of the booth. Their world renowned Vario
Lifts were on display showing off their
variable speed functions through the
ChainMaster controller.
EXE Technology: The EXE Rise family of
chain hoists was on display. They manufacture 12 different models for your needs. An
optional load cell attachment is available,
allowing the user to see the weight being
lifted right from the actual motor. Chain
bag sizes vary allowing for up to 60 meter
of chain per motor.
Gallagher Staging: Joey Gallagher was
on hand to chat about his company’s series of G Blocks. These act as a heavy-duty ballast to support anything you do not
want to tip over. The 36-inch cube weighs
in at 3,500 pounds and can bolt to most
any truss. Joey was also on hand to talk
about the crewing company, site and app,
TourReady.
Global
Truss/Duratruss:
Their
ground-supported booth showed just how
cool and easy it is to erect a unique truss
sculpture. New products such as their lifts,
the DT Dyno wheel, torm racks were on
display. Personally, I loved the line of truss
covers they have come up with for vertical
standing truss.
GLP: German Light Products showed
off their new X4 Atom, a single source 15w
LED in a mini par body. Complete with
zoom and RGB color mixing these fixtures
can attach to each other to make a grid.
Their Cosmic truss division showed off the
versatility of the U-Torm pipes for hanging
fixtures.
GTek: Displayed the Innopix 5, a 5.9mm
LED wall. With the ability to curve 45° either direction, the tiles are IP65-rated for
use in all environments. The product also
features TRUE1 in and throughs, 120°
viewing angle, and 4,000cd/m2 (Lux) of
brightness. The tiles are one half meter
square and weigh 99 pounds each.
Harrington Hoists: This company makes
about everything you need to lift anything.
On display were their brand of ½ ton and
1 ton electric chain hoists available for the
entertainment business. Hand winches and
wire rope winches are available.
Elation’s ACL Roller 360
Enttec Pixelator
ETC’s white light ellipsoidals
Eurotruss teamed with ChainMaster
EXE Rise with load cell attachment
Joey Gallagher from Gallagher Staging
Global Truss and Duratruss’ cool shapes
GLP X4 Atom
GTek booth and team
SHOWREPORT
Harting: Once again Harting shows
they can manufacture any connector for
any use in the power and signal business
for your product manufacturing. Their
trademark rectangular connectors were
on display as well as their new variety of
push-pull devices that can be incorporated into your latest products.
Hubbell Connectors: On hand was one
of the world’s largest manufacturers of AC
connectors. They demonstrated their new
circuit tester for twist lock connectors.
Also shown were their new Kellems grips
and its 3.8 amp USB power charging centers- energy efficient receptacles filling a
great need in our current world.
IATSE: Several chapters were on hand
to discuss any labor needs anyone has for
their theatrical shows. Supplying battery
chargers for all the phones on the floor
was just another way of showing how this
union cares for all the workers in our biz.
Image Engineering: This laser family
showed off all their latest toys, especially their Light Vector laser projectors, being controlled through the revolutionary
Beam Composer software. LDs can now
program and run their own lasers from a
DMX lighting desk. The LV system can also
be run from a Pangolin controller.
InfiLED: These manufacturers of LED
display tiles showed their new product,
the IL-RSS-ORD7. Magnetic LED modules
that are very easy to replace in case of an
LED failure. Easy and ultra-fast to build a
screen with multiple size floor frames. Induction screen for interaction display. IP65
rating.
Inner Circle Distribution: Showed their
revolutionary new light/video product —
the IPIX DB1. This fixture combines a soft
edge wash light with an HD screen. The
screen acts like a giant gobo as 15 Fresnels
in each panel shoot out light beams from
the video panel. Individual panels connect
to form a grid.
Kvant: The photons were flying at the
Kvant Laser booth, where the company
was showing off their line of Spectrum
lasers, which offer IP-65 rated enclosures.
Featured powerful networking features including automatic color calibration across
networked units and built-in Wi-Fi for
monitoring performance and setup.
Le Maitre: This premier maker of fog
and similar accessories showed off it’s Artic
Snow maker model as well as the Ma5ter, a
devise capable of shooting out 5 flame jets
from one device. The MVS Hazer, a small
portable model was on display along with
many other fog and haze devices.
Leprecon: This longtime manufacturer
of lighting consoles and dimmers brought
out their new XC 350 lighting console. The
LPC software base provides an easy to use
interface and new XC features. Big encoder
wheels make it simple to change parameters on ICBF functions.
LightParts: Continues to flourish by
fixing all your tired but still worthy gear.
They can repair most fixtures and consoles
including your old Hog 2 and grandMA1
series of desks. They also sell refurbished
gear for a fraction of buying new models,
This includes slightly used Hog 4 consoles
and High End fixtures.
Lightronics: Not only does this company have a huge inventory of LED products, they now have perhaps the simplest
controller I have ever seen for controlling
architectural lighting. The Unity SC810 is
a compact 10-fader unit that can run 512
channels of DMX and recall 18 scenes with
fade times. Can hang on a wall.
Lightwave International: Displayed
a wide range of products including their
moving head fixture, the Phenom. Very
30
NOVEMBER 2015 • plsn.com
Harting’s connectors
Hubbell Connectors on display
IATSE helped visitors recharge
The Image Engineering / Light Vector booth
InfiLED’s
magnetic tile
Inner Circle Distribution’s IPIX DB1
Kvant Spectrum
Le Maitre MVS hazer
LightParts, the “fix-it” company
Impressive is their new line of full color
laser fixtures called the Lixel. Designers
can now write their own effects and pixel
map the fixture using DMX or video feeds
from their console. Lighting designers can
create spectacular laser effects in endless
geometric patterns or even full pixel mapping!
Litepanels: These makers of LED fixtures released the Brick, a compact and
powerful variable color fixture that can
withstand any elements. This fixture was
displayed quite wet in a tank where it was
continuously showered with water. Also
shown was their Sola 6C Fresnel and other
LED products for film use.
Look Solutions: Carrying on in their
tradition of building new smoke products,
they showed off 3 tiny smoke machines
including a hand held unit. The CryoGate
can create low laying fog from any pro fog
machine that uses the right fluid. It utilizes
a common high-pressure CO2 tank.
Lycian: The spotlight manufacturer was
on site showing off several models. The
newest was a prototype they referred to
as model #1299, which utilizes a miniature
xenon model with heat sinks. Expected to
included as a standard in this model is a dichroic color changing module and dimmer
controlled by DMX.
MA Lighting: A.C.T. showed off the
MA2 series and dot2 consoles released last
year. New to the arsenal, the MA Network
Switch from MA Lighting provides a full
lighting control solution. The combination
of console, switch, and networking devices simplifies the setup and management
of lighting networks.
Madrix: Located in the Inner Circle Distribution booth, Madrix showed off their
system of LED pixel management. The
Madrix 3 software runs off of Windows
platforms. In front of us was a wall of pixels
attached to the system to show how easy
it is to map your effects and crunch your
channel count.
Martin: The brightest LED strobe on
the market has been released. The white
Atomic 3000 LED model complete with internal LEDs for eye candy came out in the
same size shell as its xenon bulb predecessor. Scrollers easily attach via a built in
PSU on the back. Painfully bright at 5600K
color temp.
Mega Systems Inc.: Showed off their
new fixtures from the Mega-Lite Axis series including the Axis Grid and Axis Splash
models of LED lights as well as the Axis
Beam 2R, a small hard edge mover. Also
shown were fixtures from PR Lighting, DiColor LED panels, PLUSTRUSS and the RGBLink video processors.
ModTruss: The hands down coolest
structure on the floor was assembled by
this group. The two-tiered, ground-supported structure built entirely of this
unique truss product went up without the
use of any hoists or cranes. It was truly an
engineering marvel that set the tone for
the party atmosphere provided on site.
Nationwide Video: They’re a wholesale sub-rental company for the pro A/V
industry. With a full inventory of professional-grade video, camera, projection,
lighting, and audio, they serve the needs
of production houses only, and do not rent
directly to end users. The company has
seven locations across the US.
Neal Preston Exhibition: A.C.T Lighting provided the floor with a room for everyone to get out of the noise and enjoy
some historic photography. Built like an
expansive museum, the project included headphones that could steer viewers
through a visual journey of the lives of
rock stars as captured by this artist.
Lightronics’ Unity SC810
Lightwave International’s lasers on parade
Litepanels’ waterproof Brick
Look Solutions’ Cryo Gate for low-lying fog
MA Lighting’s dot2 console
Martin Atomic 3000 LED strobe
Mega-Lite Axis fixture
ModTruss’ distinctive booth
Neal Preston’s rock ‘n’ roll photo exhibition
SHOWREPORT
Neutrik: This popular connector company isn’t resting on its laurels as the best
AC connector manufacturer for lighting
fixtures. They brought out their whole line
of different signal connectors as well. Dazzling the tech minded was the showing of
the unprecedented 10-pole XLR connector.
Novalight: These purveyors of large
format theatrical light fixtures is at it
again with the release of their Nova-scope
fixture. This light features a cool kaleidoscope effect that is bright enough to dazzle the masses in any large arena or stadium. CMY, gobos and a great strobe on this
powerful fixture.
OmniSistem: Had a structure built from
their TrussSistems line of truss on display
along with several types of light fixtures.
These included the new line of OnyxPro
moving head LED products, as well as the
Magnum9 LED pars. The Colorblinder 150
is an LED strip light series that you can
uniquely hang in an array.
Oracle LED: Showed off their crystal
looking Black Widow Carbon 6 LED tiles
that boast of the LightLink technology. The
speed and ease with which these screens
come together is very practical and road
worthy. The tiles were nominated for a Parnelli Award for Indispensable Technology
in the new video product category.
Osram: These manufacturers showed
that they do a whole lot more than just
make Light bulbs and own Clay Paky. The
Kreios 80W Fresnel boasts 7000 lumens
and now has a RGBW version. Unveiled
was the Kreios LED FL, a 90W high performance work light with an IP65 rating and a
warm tungsten feel.
Pangolin Laser Systems: They wowed
passersby with their great arrays of beams.
High power, with an integrated FB4 network control system proved easy to program with. The show with LaserNet and
Lady Light products was a huge hit as a
constant stream of visitors stopped by.
Parasol Systems: This manufacturer
specializes in moving light fixtures along a
truss via a trolley system. They teamed up
with Lightwave Research this year to mount
moving laser heads to their rotating circle
truss to create a vortex of beams with the
light source itself in constant motion.
SHOWREPORT
OmniSistem’s booth
Oracle LED
Osram bulbs on display
Pangolin Laser Systems
Parasol Systems teamed with Lightwave International
Philips Color Kinetics
Pathway Connectivity: Gave us the
Choreo controller, a wall-mountable unit
that allows recording and playback of
lighting information in a powerful yet user-friendly interface. With a 7-inch touchscreen, it can be a playback station, or be
locked for access to just a few looks. Perfect for schools, auditoriums, ballrooms.
Philips Color Kinetics: Philips Color
Kinetics showed off various LED products.
Particularly interesting were their mesh
products of small LEDs that could wrap
around columns or hang as panels. Frosted clear panels diffused the LEDs for a sexy
look at any event.
Philips Strand and Selecon: Strand
featured their new 500ML light console:
which runs on a different platform from
the 250 models. Selecon showed us their
PL Series Mark II LED luminaires featuring
a single LED array. This series includes profile, Fresnel, and cyc models.
Philips Vari-Lite: On display was the
Vari-Lite VL4000 BeamWash with its bright
white collimated beam as well as the 4000
spot. Two new Showline luminaires were
available to check out — the SL Beam
300FX and SL PunchLite 220.
PixelFLEX: With a wide variety of FLEX
LED products available, they picked up a
Parnelli Indispensable Technology award
for their new FLEXCurtain HD, a 12 mm
product that folds accordion style into a
road case. They also showed off the FLEXLite product with pixel pitches ranging
from 3.9mm up to 12mm.
PRG: Their GroundControl Remote
Followspot System made its debut. They
mounted a camera on a 48,000 lumen Bad
Boy moving light. The camera sends a signal down to a remote control looking device backstage where an operator sits. The
operator follows his target on the stage
(through an attached monitor) the fixture
in the air follows the movement. Control
can come from a console or the operator.
Prolyte: Displayed their line of truss
and Pro Lyft chain hoists while gearing up
for their 25th anniversary in Frankfurt next
spring. They added a crowd control barricade to their product line. Each module
connects effortlessly with the next one.
Curving and bending at angles is simple.
SUPER BRIGHT
FAST SETUP
WATERPROOF
ANTI-THEFT
Philips VL4000 BeamWash
PixelFLEX FLEXCurtain on left and FLEXLite on right
PRG GroundControl Remote Followspot System
Prolyte barricade
RC4 Wireless’ products
Robe’s PATT 2013 tungsten retro soft light
ASTERA
Pioneer of Light
Lightdrop™ / 15W / 13°
SpotLite™ / 60W / 13°
SpotMax™ / 135W / 13°
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THE WORLD’S MOST COMPACT & POWERFUL WIRELESS RANGE
Astera LED Technology GmbH | Karl Schmid Str. 14 | 81829 Munich | Germany
+49 (0)89 215522530 | sales@astera-led.com | www.astera-led.com
Serapid Telescoping Masts
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NOVEMBER 2015 • plsn.com
R&R Cases: They were on hand to show
why they claim to make the world’s strongest road cases by showing off a great
designed production work case. They also
build touring cable trunks, rack mount
boxes. Cases custom made to fit your chain
hoists and anything you have the need to
have built- they can do.
RC4 Wireless: These originators of tiny
dimmers wireless dimmers and wireless
DMX devices for theatrical use are at it
again. They have just debuted the tiny RC4
Magic DMXpix. A pixel driver designed to
easily break up lines of LED tape and control over 1000 RGB pixels (3000 ch) with
only 9-500 channels of DMX.
Robe: They certainly know how to
throw a party, as evidenced by the crowd
packed at the bar and for the live show.
The new BMFL wash fixture debuted along
with their new Square: which combines
video projection, pixel animations, beam
effects and LED wash light all in a continuous rotation movement fixture.
Robert Juliat: Long regarded as a premier manufacturer of spotlights, they also
offer some other fixtures such as the Dalis,
a new innovation in LED cyc lights. With
asymmetrical reflectors and eight individual colored LEDs to break up the fixture, a
unique color system offers a smooth wall
wash for up or down lighting.
Roe Visual: On display were their hybrid screen along with the series of Black
Onyx tiles. New was the Vanish 25 video
tile, an ultra transparency LED wall designed to be seen through or have light
beams shine through it. They have designed a 90°curved tile as well to round
out the corners of their screens.
Rosco: Adding to the collection of small
LED fixtures is the PICA cube designed by
Black Tank. This 2.5-inch 2W LED fixture is
ideal for storefront windows and hiding
in small places. Rosco also demonstrated
their wide variety of haze and smoke generating devices.
Rose Brand: On hand to offer up solutions to any theatrical drape needs you
may have. On top of scenic materials they
also offer a line of pulleys and traveling
hardware necessary to rig any of your theatrical scenery. They are the exclusive US
distributor for gear such as traveler tracks,
from Triple E tracks in the U.K.
SeaChanger: These fine makers of color changers for conventional fixtures released the Prodigy at LDI. Designed for use
with fixtures that utilize a white LED light
source. The dichroic glass filters utilize
CMY + G for color mixing. They also offer
models used with tungsten and 575 watt
HMI lamps.
Serapid: This producer of stage lift systems was on hand to show off their dual
Telescoping Masts system for use lifting
trusses, PA arrays, and any scenery on a
portable stage where rigging is not an option. They also showed off a model of their
LinkLift stage system designed to raise/reveal products and performers.
SGM: Once again they make a splash at
LDI with their waterproof lighting products. Particularly noticeable was the G1
Beam fixture. An IP65 rated small fixture, it
has built in wireless DMX capabilities and
runs off a battery. With a white LED source,
it has a color wheel and great gobo projection skills.
SHS Global: These folks showed a plethora of great products starting off with the
wireless TourPro Crystal Display 3+ video
tiles. A slick moving motor system using
CyberHoists captivated passersby. TourPro
Storm strobes in full color and white models were shown.
SL Power: They specialize in making
SGM G1 Beam makes a splash
SHS Global featured their lighting and rigging products
power supplies for all kinds of products.
They are making a big mark in the design
and construction of power supplies for
LED products. On display was the LU500, a
single output 500 watt AC to DC PSU built
for LED applications. User can combine
two for a 1000W source.
Stageline: Representatives were on hand
to discuss all of Stageline’s line of load bearing mobile hydraulic stages including the recently released SAM 575. Parked right in the
center of the convention center was their
small SL 100 portable stage, which can hold
6500 lbs. and withstand 80 mph winds.
Stagemaker: The manufacturers of fine
chain hoists now make more than six separate models. This includes their variable
speed line of hoists, which can be run by the
Raynok system easily. They make their own
brand of controllers and power distribution
systems for their hoists.
Continued on page 72
Stageline SL 100 stage
Stagemaker SR5 Hoist
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Continued from page 33
Staging Concepts: This company
makes portable staging and decks for
many applications. Celebrating their 25th
year in business, they showed off three
types of decks they manufacture in particular. This includes a black polyvinyl model
as well as a clear acrylic stage deck and the
new grey colored model.
Swisson: Showing off their variety of
wireless DMX devices was just the tip of
the iceberg for these manufacturers of
quality DMX products. They showed their
latest in opto-splitter devices with an A/B
model, the 2:8. This splitter takes in 2 separate universes of DMX and the user assigns
which one to each of 8 outputs.
Syncrolite: Most impressive was the
new SyncroMite fixture. This company has
added a smaller gun to their collection
of bright beam arc lights. With a built in
power supply, dichroic colors, gobos, and
a 6-30° zoom able beam angle this beauty
is slick. Did I mention it kicks out 48,000
lumens on top of all that?
TAF: Truss Aluminum Factory built a
four-post truss grid with self-climbing motors to attract the crowd. On display were
their line of torm racks for light fixtures as
well as crank lifts, stage decks, clamps and
brackets for fixtures and truss. They also
showed off their latest barricades at the
booth.
Take1 Insurance: These guys were on
hand to educate us on why it’s so important to have sufficient coverage in these
days of stage accidents and lawsuits. They
have the knowledge to protect you and
your company from any unforeseeable
problems stemming from equipment failure to nature’s wrath.
Techni-Lux: This company carries
about every product you need for a great
light show. Brands of LED tape were on display but what caught me eye was the line
of EHRGEIZ Helios LED fixtures that run
on batteries. Get this- they accept Makita
tools rechargeable battery. Need a battery- go to Home Depot.
The Light Source: Tucked away in the
side by the Novalites booth I found one of
my favorite companies and purveyors of
cool accessories. Besides their wide range
of Mega (and other) clamps they have
great tools and the hard to find bits one
need for traveler tracks, air walls and hardware bits.
TMB: Showed off many of their accessories as well as LED fixtures from the Firefly
bulbs to LED battens. But what they were
proud of is their EZ-LAN by ProPlex. A simple, powerful Gigabit Ethernet switch that
distributes up to four discrete networks.
Swisson’s A/B opto-splitter
Syncrolite SyncroMite fixtures
TAF (Truss Aluminum Factory)
Take1 Insurance’s Marcus Paxton and Scott Carroll
Techni-Lux EHRGEIZ Helios LED mover
The Light Source showed its Mega clamps and others
Tomcat’s EVO collapsable truss
It has16 ports assignable to four 4-port
groups.
Tomcat: The greatest truss innovation on the floor was by these guys. They
showed off the EVO, a prototype for a collapsible 12-inch box truss. It folds up like
nothing you have ever seen into a small
footprint for travel. Scheduled for January
release, they will work on a 20-inch model
next.
Tyler Truss: Reps from the company
were on hand to show off the Tyler GT series of truss, they showed up with an angle bracket and a 30-inch long section of
their famous truss, just to show the masses
that they can build any custom size you require. New rotating spigots are available.
Upstaging: They were on hand to
show off the Saber. This dual line of LEDs
designed to be run as shafts of video or
light were extremely bright and could be
locked in place to assemble various sized
and widths of products. They can be run
with DMX or fed a video signal and pixel
mapped easily.
Ushio: This company showed off the
prototype of its latest Fresnel made by
Zylight. The F8-300 LED fixture boasts a
silent version that utilizes passive cooling
instead of any fans to deliver the brightness of a normal 600W HMI Fresnel. They
also displayed the F8-200 “flat Fresnel” for
the first time.
Vectorworks: The premier CAD program for the entertainment biz announced
the acquisition of ESP, the software company known for their previsualization capabilities. Vectorworks now makes it even
easier to take a rendered CAD drawing and
attach a light console to it to turn on lights
and write lighting cues.
Wenger/JR Clancy: These manufacturers of theatrical equipment from acoustic
baffling to wire winch systems to theater
seating were on hand to show off their
latest wares for performing facilities. Their
Transform Motorized Acoustical Banner
System was on display.
Whirlwind: Showing once again why
their power Distribution products are
top of the line, they did not stop there.
They showed off their new modular rack
mounted motor control panels. Each slim
panel controls two individual chain hoists
through an easy to use control system.
Wildfire: Long known as the industry
leader in UV treatments of black light artwork, the team was on hand to show off
the effects they could make on several different paintings. The crew was on hand to
show the instant changes to painted scenery that could be accomplished with their
UV LED fixtures.
XLNT: The CyberHoist II was shown for
the first time in America. This new incarnation of the variable speed hoist was augmented by a motion controller, worldwide
multi-voltage power supply (200-440V)
and absolute positioning up to 1mm. A
network controlled E-stop and dead man’s
handle are available.
XSF: Texas-based Xtreme Structures &
Fabrication built a nifty ground support
system in their booth. They lay claim to being the premier provider of standardized
truss sizes, as well as custom stages, roof
systems, hardware, rigging, risers, platforms, and exhibit components.
ZFX: Widely known as a flying company, they released the eZ-Hoist system this
year. On display at LDI were several styles
of their stocked hoists, which can be controlled on most common theatrical automation systems. The eZ-Trolley system was
in use to show us how to move scenery or
video walls easily.
Tyler Truss
Upstaging featured their Saber strips
Ushio showed the Zylight pop-open fresnel
Vectorworks’ booth also featured newly acquired ESP
Wenger/JR Clancy’s motorized banner
Whirlwind motor control module
XLNT’s CyberHoist II
XSF (Xtreme Structures & Fabrication)
ZFX eZ-Trolley system
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