NEW YORK — Television lighting designer Bruce Ferri opened his own design firm, Ferri Lighting Design & Associates (FLDA), which will focus on multi-camera television productions. Ferri, who was part of New York City Lites for the last 24 years, has worked on projects telecast by ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX and many of the cable networks.
HICKSVILLE, NY — Roger Bigger, 65, an employee at Lite-Trol Service Company for 14 years, died Nov. 18, 2008. Bigger, who had previously worked with defense contractors and their power supplies, assumed the lead role in Lite-Trol’s shop operations after joining the company in 1994, overseeing, managing and performing shop repairs and rehabs.
LOS ANGELES —Elation Professional’s Design 1400 Series DMX-512 moving heads, including the Design Wash 1400E and the Design Spot 1400E, are each equipped with a built-in wireless DMX receiver. The units can receive DMX signals wirelessly from up to 3,000 feet away, using either Elation’s EWDMXT wireless DMX transmitter (sold separately) or other wireless DMX transmitters made by Wireless Solution Sweden AB.
LAS VEGAS — ZZYZX, Inc. appointed LightDesign.at as its ESP Vision distributor for Austria, Switzerland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic. LightDesign.at will also be responsible for training and support in the region.
WASHINGTON, DC — Truck-mounted video screens are ready to join what may turn out to be a crowd of more than a million people on the Capitol Steps and National Mall when Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. The high-res mobile screens, the largest of which is 19 feet by 33 feet in size, are manufactured by Daktronics Inc. and provided by GoVision LP.
LONDON — White Light has updated some venerable London venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House and the Guildhall School, with Ethernet network infrastructures, adding versatility and ease of use. At the Royal Albert Hall, for example, DMX distribution to the dimmer room and lighting trusses has make life easier for the Hall’s staff and for visiting companies. Pictured here, from left: Richard Thomas (RAH), Roger Hennigan (WL), Nick Ware (ROH), Robin Barton (ROH) and Ollie Jeffery (RAH).
Martin Professional’s Maxedia Broadcast media composer and playback device has been optimized for playback of HD content with quad core processors, 1080p playback support and two dedicated engine outputs. Nearly a terabyte of drive space in a RAID array is available to support large shows. Two graphics cards provide a dedicated user interface plus two engine outputs. The Maxedia Broadcast also offers a touchscreen-optimized user interface, a library of media content and 16 screen view options. Maxedia can drive display devices ranging from plasma screens to projectors and LED displays. The product is sold as a complete system, and every Maxedia is tested to ensure high standards.
JOHANNESBURG — Gearhouse South Africa’s Tim Dunn had the goal of avoiding the same old thing for the City of Johannesburg’s New Year’s Eve event, and with a little help from Mother Nature, his wish was answered by the bucketfull.
LONDON — With a life-sized giraffe and elephant to contend with, AV supplier XL Events said the CBeeBies Live Treasure Hunt arena tour has been anything but child’s play. "This is the 4th year that I have been involved in this project and every year brings a new set of challenges,” said XL Events' Rich Rowley.
NEW YORK — ETC appointed Craig Fox as the company’s northeast architectural regional manager. He will work out of the Middleton, Wis.-based company’s New York office. George Doukas, who held that role prior to Fox, will focus on the southeast U.S. sales region and will be based in ETC’s Orlando office.
MILWAUKEE, WI — Amplifying the coffin motif on their latest release, Death Magnetic, Metallica’s current tour is getting visual life with eight 2-ton lighting structures equipped with 56 Coemar Infinity Wash XL lights.
Pyrotek Special Effects’ Fire-Screen propane flame effects use a modular programmable pixel-based unit for control, which can be adjusted from high to moderate speeds. The Fire-Screen systems let users shoot a lazy flame bar or fire jets to create a wall of fire on cue that measures up to eight feet in height.