Pro Systems September-October 2015

September / October 2015 R38.00

AV SyStem IntegrAtIon | InStAllAtIonS | lIVe eVentS | StudIo Pro AudIo

AV In the corPorAte Sector

theAtre In the SPotlIght

SAcIA InduStry newS

exPert oPInIon column

Bidvest on Broadway

Cover Story

A10LA10” 2-way Active Line Array

RMS Power: LF: 400W HF: 100WMaximum SPL/1m: 133dB PeakFrequency Response (-6dB): 56 ~ 18000HzLF Driver: Celto Acoustique 10MB401-4HF Driver: Celto Acoustique FCD738-8Amplifi cation: 4th gen 95% effi ciency Class DAmplifi cation Power: 1200W LF + 300W HFProcessing: 56bit fl oating point DSP with 114dBdynamic range A/D converter, 24dB/oct crossover, phase correction, EQ fi lters and dual stage limiters (4 total)Connectors: Two NEUTRIK Speakon NL4MP Cabinet Size (H x W x D) mm: 290 x 580 x 486Weight: 22kg

viva afrikaViva Afrika Sound and Light (Pty) Ltd

45 Lake Road, Longmeadow Longmeadow North Business Park

PO Box 4709, Rivonia, 2128, South AfricaTel: 011 250-3280, Fax: 011 608-4109

[email protected], www.vivaafrika.co.za

56 ~ 18000Hz

BRAND

NEW

Introducing Hybrid+ Active Line Array

All you need from one system

A218SDual 18” Active Subwoofer

RMS Power: 2400WImpedance: 4 ohmsMaximum SPL: 138dB PeakFrequency Response (-6dB): 30~95HzLF Driver: Celto Acoustique 2x18S1200-8Amplifi cation Power: 3000WProcessing: 24dB/oct crossover, phase correction, EQ fi lters and dual stage limitersConnectors: Two NEUTRIK Speakon NL4MP Cabinet Size (H x W x D) mm: 580 x 1200 x 750Weight: 89kg

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

The A10LA is a mid sized, Powered Line Array, utilising the latest switchmode power supply with power factor correction and class D amplifi cation, with DSP processing. The A218S is a high powered Dual 18” Sub Woofer, utilising the same PSU, class D amplifi cation and DSP processing. Both units feature ease of use and user presets.

APPLICATION OF PRODUCT:

Suitable for outdoor or indoor, fl own or ground stacked application, catering for between 2000-8000 people. Widely used for the following applications: Places Of Worship, Schools, Function Halls, Night Clubs, Small Rental Applications of ±2000-6000 people.

A10LA Frame

4 x A10LA

2 x A218S 3 x A218S 4 x A218S 4 x A218S

A10LA Frame

6 x A10LA

A10LA Frame

8 x A10LA

13200 Watts

±2000 people outdoor > 30m

±3000 people indoor > 30m

RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE: R223 990.00

20000 Watts




26400 Watts




A10LA Frame

4 x A10LA

2 x A218S 3 x A218S

A10LA Frame

6 x A10LA

A10LA Frame

8 x A10LA

Demos available countrywide

viva afrika – Hybrid+

A10LA10” 2-way Active Line Array

RMS Power: LF: 400W HF: 100WMaximum SPL/1m: 133dB PeakFrequency Response (-6dB): 56 ~ 18000HzLF Driver: Celto Acoustique 10MB401-4HF Driver: Celto Acoustique FCD738-8Amplifi cation: 4th gen 95% effi ciency Class DAmplifi cation Power: 1200W LF + 300W HFProcessing: 56bit fl oating point DSP with 114dBdynamic range A/D converter, 24dB/oct crossover, phase correction, EQ fi lters and dual stage limiters (4 total)Connectors: Two NEUTRIK Speakon NL4MP Cabinet Size (H x W x D) mm: 290 x 580 x 486Weight: 22kg

viva afrikaViva Afrika Sound and Light (Pty) Ltd

45 Lake Road, Longmeadow Longmeadow North Business Park

PO Box 4709, Rivonia, 2128, South AfricaTel: 011 250-3280, Fax: 011 608-4109

[email protected], www.vivaafrika.co.za

56 ~ 18000Hz

BRAND

NEW

Introducing Hybrid+ Active Line Array

All you need from one system

A218SDual 18” Active Subwoofer

RMS Power: 2400WImpedance: 4 ohmsMaximum SPL: 138dB PeakFrequency Response (-6dB): 30~95HzLF Driver: Celto Acoustique 2x18S1200-8Amplifi cation Power: 3000WProcessing: 24dB/oct crossover, phase correction, EQ fi lters and dual stage limitersConnectors: Two NEUTRIK Speakon NL4MP Cabinet Size (H x W x D) mm: 580 x 1200 x 750Weight: 89kg

BRIEF DESCRIPTION:

The A10LA is a mid sized, Powered Line Array, utilising the latest switchmode power supply with power factor correction and class D amplifi cation, with DSP processing. The A218S is a high powered Dual 18” Sub Woofer, utilising the same PSU, class D amplifi cation and DSP processing. Both units feature ease of use and user presets.

APPLICATION OF PRODUCT:

Suitable for outdoor or indoor, fl own or ground stacked application, catering for between 2000-8000 people. Widely used for the following applications: Places Of Worship, Schools, Function Halls, Night Clubs, Small Rental Applications of ±2000-6000 people.

A10LA Frame

4 x A10LA

2 x A218S 3 x A218S 4 x A218S 4 x A218S

A10LA Frame

6 x A10LA

A10LA Frame

8 x A10LA

13200 Watts




20000 Watts




26400 Watts




A10LA Frame

4 x A10LA

2 x A218S 3 x A218S

A10LA Frame

6 x A10LA

A10LA Frame

8 x A10LA


EDITOR CONTENTS

elaine strauss | A journalist and photographer, with experience in writing articles featuring a broad range of subjects, Elaine is also currently working towards completing her Masters degree in Visual Studies, while making her mark in the audio and AV industries. With a keen interest in lighting design and film studies, she is a peoples-person with a fascination for all things new and shiny. With experience in journalism, videography and marketing, she brings to her writing a passion for and understanding of various fields.

news New Managing Director for Stage Audio Works ...........................................3Peripheral Vision is on the move ....................3A tribute to industry legend, Ron Selby. ........4Avid Everywhere unleashes new version of Pro Tools ..................................4Cape Town company uses world’s most advanced visual tech at International Award Ceremony .....................6SACIA and TPSA Council to host 'Rigging Imbizo' soon ...............................6New agencies at Peripheral Vision broaden portfolio .............................................8Over 1 000 EV loudspeakers provide extensive sound solution in Doha ..................8Fine Art launches FINE 600L SPOT ...................9DiGiCo rocks with Kasabian on summer festival circuit ...............................9

saCia sPotLiGHt New professional designations recognise skills and experience in the broadcast and AV industry ..............................................10SACIA Code of Professional Conduct .........11

CorPorate av inteGration Unified communications market in SA ........12The next level of enterprise communication ...........................14Electrosonic puts Kramer in the corporate AV spotlight ..................................18Crestron opens up South Africa office ........22Omega Digital – corporate cost and efficiencies the byword ........................24Tech trends for corporate AV .......................26Questek and Televic makes inroads in corporate conferencing market ..................30

Live events Bidvest on Broadway with Gearhouse ........32Huawei launches new ..................................36P8 at prestigious event ..................................36Inspirational technology solutions at PLASA 2015 .................................................38Lucidity remains only option for SAIA ..........40Innibos Music Festival 2015 ...........................42Sounds Ideal steps up for Ugu Festival 2015 ............................................44Sister Act shines at Joburg Theatre ..............46Helen Surgeson – Splitbeam’s leading lady ..............................48Supporting the theatre sector in southern Africa ...........................................52South Africa’s National Arts Festival ...........52New controls for National Theatre of Namibia ......................................................53DWR in the footlights .....................................54Chris Bolton – present expert, future teacher ................................................56

oPinion Laser Projectors in the spotlight ....................58

Live events – review BOSE F1 System ...............................................60

soCiaL Adamson launch in SA with TID ...................63CEDIA training ................................................63Kramer K-Touch 3.0 seminar ........................64Smaart training Surgesound .........................64

Jimmy den-ouden | An entertainment technician based in Sydney, Australia. His qualifications and experience span a broad range of subjects and technologies. He writes and reviews equipment most of the week, and works freelance on various shows and installations on a weekly basis. Jimmy can be seen on most GEARBOX video reviews, available on YouTube.

CONTRIbuTORS

2

In thIS ISSue

Publisher| Simon Robinson | [email protected] editor | James Sey | [email protected] Managing editor & advertising sales | Claire Badenhorst | [email protected] in-house Journalist | Elaine Strauss | [email protected] sub-editor | Tina Heron design | Trevor Ou Tim | [email protected]

subscriPtions | Albertina Tserere | [email protected] accounts | Natasha Glavovic | [email protected]

Sun Circle Publishers (Pty) Ltd | Tel: +27 11 025-3180 | Epsom Downs Office Park, 13 Sloane Street, Bryanston, Johannesburg | PO Box 559 Fourways North 2086, South Africa

www. pro-systems.co.zaPublishers & Projects

editorial disclaimerThe views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, positions or strategies of Pro-Systems Africa News or any employee thereof. Sun Circle Publishers makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use.

Sun Circle Publishers reserves the right to delete, edit, or alter in any manner it sees fit comments that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be obscene, offensive, defamatory, threatening, in violation of trademark, copyright or other laws, or is otherwise unacceptable.

All contents of this publication are subject to worldwide copyright protection and reproduction in whole or part, in any form whatsoever, is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the Publisher.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the new edition of Prosystems Africa News. In keeping with our approach to focus on a particular end-user industry

sector in each issue, our attention in the new edition is taken up with the Corporate AV market. International research company IDG has just produced their annual report investigating the global market, calling it the Unified Communications and Collaboration sector. They estimate that growth in the sector will be strong, with a majority of businesses planning expansion and investment in equipment and solutions to enable better communications and collaboration through their AV systems. Budgets, likewise, are expected to grow over the next few years. In this issue we run a handy infographic on the market and its future outlook, as well as stories on many of the specialised companies in the SA market operating in the space.

New to this edition is the provision of some space to industry voices and experts, as a service to our industry. In what will be a regular feature from now on, we highlight some SACIA news, as well as a Code of Conduct for professionally accredited practitioners in the industry. Elsewhere, Abrie du Plooy from Electrosonic offers his expert opinion on laser projection equipment.

Our live events section continues our focus on the Corporate world, with our cover story being the massive annual Bidvest show staged by Gearhouse, as well as other corporate live events.

In a ‘sidelight’ special section in this issue we focus on specialised AV and staging work done in the theatre, a traditional area for AV companies, but often overlooked these days. This special section is dominated by an interview with Helen Surgeson, a prominent woman in a largely male-dominated environment as the technical operations manager for theatre rental company Gearhouse Splitbeam.

Don’t forget that we’re here for you – as your resource for key industry information, trends and product news. If you want to talk about any of that, have suggestions, or comments on anything you read here and in our regularly updated website and newsletter, don’t hesitate to let me know. I’m on [email protected].

Enjoy the read!James sey

Cover photo by Pieter Joubert

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On 1 October 2015, Peripheral

Vision will be operating from a new

base at 34 Kyalami Boulevard in

Kyalami Business Park.

After more than a decade in

their current office, their business,

partner, personnel and product

base has increased to the extent

that they are no longer able to

squeeze into the previous space.

Their larger and custom

designed new office will offer

Peripheral Vision’s partners a

comfortable space where they will

be able to bring their clients to

meet in one of three boardrooms,

each demonstrating the ease of

integrating the company’s product portfolio

to create the ideal boardroom VC room,

council chamber or any other AV

application. Peripheral Vision’s technical

team will also be given

extended space and a fully

equipped training room, to

enable them to continue the

high levels of support

that they currently offer

their partners.

A comprehensive demo

area, and a well-appointed

reception area to welcome

clients aims to enhance the

experience. The company

boasts that their coffee

machines and

entertainment areas are

always ready to welcome

any clients.

Peripheral Vision’s contact details remain

the same: 011 840 0860.

Stage Audio Works has recently made some

leadership changes, to further realise their

maxim of supplying complete solutions to

the industry.

According to Will Deysel, (former

managing director of Stage Audio Works),

Gustav Barnard has taken over the role of

managing director at the company full time,

while he himself has moved into the role of

Group companies development.

“Gustav started with the company at a

tender age and has been with us for more

than 14 years. He is a committed,

responsible, hardworking and driven young

man and I could not have chosen better for

this position. After all these years of holding

the reigns at Stage Audio Works, the decision

was easy, the timing was right,” Deysel says

about the change.

According to him, the main focus of these

changes is to focus more on customer

relationships and manufacturing expansion.

“We have always strived to be the best

complete solutions company in South Africa,

providing a full range of video, staging,

lighting and audio solutions to clients,” Deysel

says. “The expansion and acquisition of other

companies further reinforces our philosophy

of offering complete solutions. We are also

one of, if not the only, company that

manufactures our own product range

besides our import and distribution

business units. This means that we can now

offer even more.”

“We are focussing on developing and

adding value to the South African and the

African economy and empowering our

customers through our complete product

offering and training seminars. This is further

enhanced by our innovative Stage Plus

products manufactured and designed

by industry people for industry people

in our factories. We are building strong

long-term relationships with our

customers,” Barnard says.

“By manufacturing our own products

we are not only supporting the South

African industry, but we are also

providing products that are not linked

to global volatility,” Deysel said. “Over

the past few years our prices have

stayed constant, which again, is a great

value-add to our customers.”

Peripheral Vision is on the move

New Managing Director for Stage Audio Works

Peripheral vision’s new offices

will deysel (left) hands over the reigns to Gustav Barnard

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The sudden death of musician, sound

engineer and designer, Ron Selby, early in

August, shocked the performing arts and

entertainment industry of South Africa.

Ron’s family posted a message on the

Selby’s Productions South Africa Facebook

page, just days after his death: “On Sunday

morning, the Selby’s Team lost a great man

and leader with the passing of Ron Selby. The

Selby family would like to express once again

their sincerest thanks to the family, friends

and industry professionals who came from

near and far to pay their respects at the

memorial service at Westville Country Club.

A huge thanks also to all those who assisted

in making the evening a memorable one

and helped lift the load for Selby’s SA.”

According to the website of Selby and his

wife Lynn, (boogieband.co.za), Selby began

his musical career with his sister Dawn. The

two formed their first session band at only

nine years old, called It’s A Secret and went

on to record a 7-single entitled I Know A Man.

The band had a name change to Third

Eye during the late '60s and their recording of

Fire was successful enough to remain on the

LM hit parade for six weeks, although it was

banned on SABC.

As times changed, Third Eye proved to be

a popular show/dance band during the '70s

and '80s and Selby kept the band going with

Craig Ross on lead vocals, Gerald Knott on

guitar, Ryjk van Gelder on drums, Brett

Saunders on keyboards, with himself

playing bass.

The venues they frequented included the

Los Angeles Hotel, Wagon Wheel’s Rainbow

Club, German Club and Hotel Killarney’s

Club Med.

According to boogieband.co.za, Selby

was a 'well respected businessman and

sound engineer / sound designer. He

formed his company Selby’s Productions cc

in 1980 which has successfully served the

Audiovisual industry of SA for the past 30

years. Ron is one of the few very select

engineers who can successfully sound mix

an orchestra together with a live rock band,

mixing the classical idiom with a rock feel.'

Several key figures in the industry said their

final goodbyes to one of the greats, at

Selby’s memorial service.

According to Duncan Riley, Director of

DWR, Selby was a gentleman and an

inspiration for everyone.

“I had the honour of meeting Ron in 1996

or 1997. He was one of the founders of the

industry we are privileged to work in today.

His dry sense of humour, his humility and his

passion for the industry and for family will

never be forgotten,” Riley said.

“Ron Selby, we will miss you. You were an

example of a great human being and we

thank you for the time we could share

together. Respect, sir.”

Ofer Lapid, Joint Managing Director of

Gearhouse SA, also attended the funeral.

“It is with great sadness and respect that I

had to say goodbye to Ron Selby, a pioneer

in the live event rental industry, a

perfectionist with a great passion for music

and a mentor to newcomers like me. Hamba

Kahle Ron,” he said.

A tribute to industry legend, Ron Selby.

Avid's new version of Pro Tools offers more

plug-in bundles, new features and lower

prices. Industry-standard digital audio

software is now even more affordable and

delivers greater value to upgrade plan and

subscription customers – with more plug-ins

and enhanced workflow features…

Avid® recently announced a new

software update for the industry-standard

digital audio software, Avid Pro Tools®,

bundled plug-ins that deliver even more

value to upgrade and support plans, and a

new reduced price for perpetual licenses.

According to Avid, these latest

developments further deliver on Avid

EverywhereTM by making industry-standard

software more accessible to independent

artists and aspiring professionals, while

enabling audio professionals to stay up to

date and have access to the most current,

powerful workflows.

It is also aiming to provide more value for

Pro Tools and Pro Tools | HD customers with

annual upgrade and support plans and

subscription licenses, a new release that

includes access to premium AAX plug-in

bundles, and a host of new features.

Avid's new Pro Tools upgrade and support

plans provide more value and flexibility to

stay on top of the latest updates, access

creative tools and get professional support.

Pro Tools customers with monthly

and yearly subscriptions will also have access

to the new bundle of 17 plug-ins, in addition

to the latest updates and professional

customer support.

For Pro Tools | HD, the new annual

upgrade plans that were recently updated

with a lower renewal price now also include

access to 16 new stompbox effects and nine

additional premium AAX plug-ins.

Customers with active upgrade plans will

get access to this plug-in bundle during the

term of their plan, while all new Pro Tools |

HDX and HD Native systems come bundled

with the new annual upgrade subscription,

according to Avid.

The new version of Pro Tools includes

several key enhancements that are among

the most requested by the Pro Tools

community and will enable audio

professionals to use advanced mixing

workflows like VCA Masters, extended

metering, gain reduction metering and Disk

Cache for high-performance playback and

record, even when using slower storage.

The new Pro Tools 12.2 update is now

available and is free of charge to Pro Tools 12

customers with upgrade plans.

The Annual Upgrade Plan for Pro Tools |

HD systems starts at R9 132 + VAT for the first

year and includes upgrades, access to the

HD plug-in bundle and standard support for

one year.

All new Pro Tools | HDX and HD Native

systems come bundled with this plan which

can be renewed for R8 057 + VAT each year

thereafter. Starting in 2016, plans that lapse

can be reinstated for R13 436 + VAT.

Avid Everywhere unleashes new version of Pro Tools

ron selby

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Formative Bespoke Stage and Production

Design were recently contracted by

MTV Networks out of the UK to produce all

screen visuals and awards animations for the

MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA) on

18 July 2015.

Formative created all of the 3D awards

sequences and a combination of 2D and 3D

visuals for 10 collaborative performances

from top local and international artists, which

included Neyo, Jhene Aiko, AKA and

P-Square. All the performance visuals were

custom designed for each artist. Each had a

unique backdrop, lights and set changes

that the team were able to visualise, create

and run through fully ahead of time. A

number of performance visuals were synced

to track via time code, which made for an

incredible all-round sensory experience.

“We pre-made most of the visual content

in the studio and spent a week on site in

Durban programming, testing and modifying

the sequences to fit in with the creative

design for each performance,” says Grant

Orchard, Creative Director of Formative. “We

created three brand new performance

sequences on site.”

“The beauty of having a full animation

and graphics team on site meant that we

were able to take our creativity to a new

level, using the stage design itself to inspire

some of the special touch-ups we were able

to achieve,” says Orchard. “The creativity

started back in the studio, but really came to

life when we were able to play around using

the dynamics of the stage on site.”

For the MAMAs, Formative was tasked

with providing the content playback

system. The company is currently the only

production design and motion graphics

company in Africa to own and operate

the d3 Technologies video production

suite, leading-edge software and

hardware playback technology.

“We work with one of the world’s most

advanced graphic and video production

suites, known as

d3 Technologies,” says Gareth Hadden,

Business Director of Formative. “It is a

state-of-the-art, fully integrated playback

system that allows us to pre-visualise and

pre-programme the show to the nth

degree in a 3D space.

"We can do anything we’re able to

imagine for our customer’s live events,

and we are the only people in Africa with

this technology and the know-how to tap

into its powerful capabilities.”

Formative is well known for the work on

Skouspel 2014 and the upcoming 2015

music concert where the company will

be creating the set design and video

content. For the last two years Formative has

done stage, set and visual design for many

projects of varying types, from broadcasts

such as Afri-Visie to the V&A Waterfront’s

annual New Year’s Eve parties, one of which

was one of South Africa’s largest projection

mapping experiences.

“In an industry sometimes beset by a lack

of creativity, we are excited that a South

African company is ahead of the curve in

terms of the latest technology and creative

effects,” says Hadden. “We’re really looking

forward to seeing what lies ahead for the

entertainment industry in South Africa.”

Cape Town company uses world’s most advanced visual tech at International Award Ceremony

Mtv africa Music awards 2015

Over the past few months SACIA and the

TPSA Council have been working with the

PSA in the UK and the VPLT in Germany to

establish rigging standards that can be

applied in South Africa. They are keen to

adopt a standard that can be consistently

applied across the country, and that will

form the basis of a future training and

certification programme aligned with

international standards and recognised by

our colleagues around the world.

They are also keen to ensure that these

standards are embedded within the

education programmes delivered by

universities and training academies active in

the South African market (such as Tshwane

University of Technology’s degree/ diploma

programme in Entertainment Technology or

certificate programmes offered by

SARA and the Gearhouse Kentse

Mpahlwa Academy.)

To this end, they are planning

to host a 'Rigging Imbizo' in

Johannesburg soon.

The meeting is open to all

SACIA/ TPSA members working in

the staging and live events

industry. If anyone would like to

participate, they can send an

RSVP to [email protected]

SACIA and TPSA Council to host 'Rigging Imbizo' soon

PAVIRO is the first of a new breed of Public Address and Evacuation Systems. Not only does it provide Professional Quality Sound, it makes specification and installation faster, simpler and more efficient than ever before. Consultants will save time and define a complete system with just a few parameters. Installers will avoid unexpected costs thanks to the system’s extreme flexibility. Building owners will benefit from the low power consumption resulting in lower energy costs and fewer and less expensive batteries. Find out how you can take advantage, contact your nearest Bosch representative today or visit: www.boschsecurity.com

PAVIRO Public Address and Voice Evacuation System with Professional Sound QualityFlexibility right from the start

130616_Bosch_Paviro_Advert_210x297mm_DEF_KEYVISUAL_NEW_01-06-2015.indd 1 01-06-15 10:48

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After several years in construction, a new

tourist attraction opened recently near

Doha: Souq Al Wakrah, with restaurants,

shops and cultural installations. Helmet

Trading & Contracting installed over 1 000

Electro-Voice ZX1i loudspeakers driven by

Contractor Precision Series (CPS) power

amplifiers, to provide distributed sound to the

quarter, which extends over two kilometres.

Twelve N8000 matrices handle the

loudspeaker processing, and the entire

system is controlled with ease via

touchscreen.

Electro-Voice was chosen as the

company’s partner for the project; the

reason was simple, as engineer and project

manager Mahmoud Fahmawi from Helmet

explains: “Our past experience with the

support and quality provided by Electro-

Voice made this decision a no-brainer.”

For the design and simulations, Helmet’s

technical experts could count on support

from the Electro-Voice team. Together they

designed a virtual sound concept that

included over 1 000 ZX1i loudspeakers,

twelve N8000 matrices and Contractor

Precision Series (CPS) power amplifiers. “With

this system, we have succeeded in providing

homogeneous coverage of the entire area

– including the 500-metre-long parking lot,”

says Mahmoud Fahmawi. “The sound

performance of the loudspeakers is great.

They are equipped with high-end,

lightweight components and are also

extremely robust and weatherproof, making

them the perfect choice for outdoor

installations. With so many cabinets, the

integrated QuickSAM heavy-duty, strong-

arm mounting kit really proved useful. It

made the installation easy and

straightforward – saving us a great deal of

time and money.” To blend harmoniously

into the historic appearance of the Souq Al

Wakrah, all the loudspeakers were hidden in

recesses and covered with fabric matching

the colour of the walls.

Not only is the high performance and

quality of the system immediately evident

but it is also user friendly. The entire system –

with custom-designed IRIS-Net graphical

user interface – can be configured,

controlled and supervised

via touchscreen.

Over 1 000 EV loudspeakers provide extensive sound solution in Doha

Peripheral Vision recently acquired several

prestigious new brands, including Bosch

Communication Systems, Da-Lite Projection

Screens, Chief Mounting Solutions, SurgeX

and SVSi, which in turn has been recently

acquired by AMX by Harman.

According to Peripheral Vision’s CEO,

Wynand Langenhoven, maintaining the

superior marketing and unsurpassed

technical support that has become

synonymous with the company, could only

be achieved if they were able to offer

complete solutions with products that have

been tried and tested. Representing new

products also means having the in-house

expertise necessary at Peripheral Vision.

“As a company, we became aware of our

partners’ increasing need for a centre of

excellence that offers complete solutions to

the market. This need resulted in our

integration of formerly disparate product

lines to create seamless solutions for the

technologically advanced southern African

market. The products that we now represent

have broadened our portfolio with this

strategy in mind,” he says.

With regard to their recent growth and

future plans, Langenhoven makes it clear

that ‘brand collecting’ is not Peripheral

Vision’s goal.

“The intention is not for Peripheral Vision to

become a brand collector. The products

recently acquired were specifically selected

to complement our portfolio. Our immediate

plan with the new products is to offer

training to our partners to enable them to

market, install, commission and maintain

their installations with confidence

and competence.”

What Peripheral Vision wants their clients

to know, first and foremost, says

Langenhoven, is that Bosch Communications

Systems – a business unit of Bosch Security

Systems – is one of the world’s leading

manufacturers and suppliers of professional

audio, wireless, life safety and

communication equipment.

“Bosch Communications Systems

offers complete system solutions for the

world’s most critical, high-profile installations

and events. One of our new product ranges

is the Bosch PA / EVAC, which, if designed,

installed and maintained correctly meet

(and exceed) the SANS 7240 standard for

voice evacuation in South Africa,”

Langenhoven says.

Other new products include: the Bosch

DCN Multi Media, an IP based congress

system, the Da-Lite Idea, Parallax and UTB

Screens, the Chief ConnexSys™ Video Wall

bracket, the SurgeX SX-1215i and the SVSi

N2000 family, which delivers JPEG2000

based video anywhere on a Cat5 network or

the N3000 family, which offers web and WAN

applications based on H.264.

New agencies at Peripheral Vision broaden portfolio

Mahmoud Fahmawi von Helmet shows the installation

the Peripheral vision team

9

newS

Fine Art recently launched the FINE 600L

SPOT moving head light. FINE 600L SPOT is a

LED spot moving head light that uses 600W

LED modules as its light source that combines

various state of the art lighting technologies.

It combines the latest technology of

intelligent fan control, encoder positioning,

Gamma correction dimming, unique optical

design and the wide optical lens diameter of

180mm to output uniform spot light, which

reaches the light efficiency of a 1500W

halide lamp with luminous flux exceeding 26

000lm.

The light has the non-negotiable

attributes of long life span and low power

usage. It saves the power consumption cost

greatly and reduces the need for replacing

the lamp when compared with halide

computer lights.

It is suitable for TV stations, theatres, stages

and large-scale performance spaces.

• Lamp source: 600W LED module

• Beam angle: 9° – 55°

• CMY infinite colour mixing

• Linear CTO adjustment

• Independent frost soft effect

• Prism: 2 rotatable 4-facet prisms + 1

gradient prism, available to rotate

bi-directionally

• 5-100 % fast electric iris adjustment with

macro function and multi effect

changes

• Control channel: 28 (standard)/ 31(16 bit)/

36(extended)

• Protocol: standard DMX512, Art-Net and

wireless DMX512 for option

• Menu display: 3.5 inch LCD display

• RDM bidirectional data transmission

• Power supply: AC100-240V 50/60Hz

As Kasabian embarks on the 2015 summer

festival season – with two warm up shows at

Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg and Groningen’s

De Oosterpoort in The Netherlands, at

Belgium’s massive Rock Werchter festival and

then headlining multiple festivals across

Europe – Front of House engineer Paul

Ramsay and monitor engineer Wayne

‘Rabbit’ Sargeant explain why DiGiCo’s SD7

is their console of choice.

“We’re not taking any PA on this run, just

FOH control and monitor system,” explains

Ramsay, who has been working with the

English rock band since the end of 2011. “But

due to distances between some

of the shows we’re carrying two separate,

but identical, systems (A and B), so we

can physically get the equipment to all

the shows.”

Ramsay’s SD7 system is equipped with two

Waves extreme servers running Waves

plugins. “I have a Lake LM44 for system EQ

with a wireless tablet and Waves BCL

hardware unit over the master buss,” he says.

“Other than this I’m using no external

outboard. I use the internal SD Gates,

Compressors, Effects and Waves plugins

as required.”

Ramsay uses one full SD Rack of inputs,

with 56 channels from stage, around 10

stereo effects engines and a few playback

stems, giving approximately 90 inputs in total.

For outputs he takes AES feeds into his Lake

LM44 for PA inputs, but also has some stems

for sub mixes for the broadcast truck.

Ramsay carries out a virtual sound check

every day using a DiGiGrid MGB, both with

near fields, to tidy up Snapshots, work on

songs and in the PA itself in the morning as

the band are not able to do sound checks at

any of the festivals.

At monitors Sargeant is new boy to the

Kasabian fold, having started working with

them at the beginning of this year.

“As a monitor engineer I need to get

around things quickly and confidently and,

ideally, not take my eyes off the band. I feel

that I can do that with the SD7 because I can

custom build any of my fader banks, inputs

and outputs – in fact, everything.”

Like Ramsay, Sargeant’s outboard rig is

almost non-existent. “Everything is on the

SD7,” he says. “It’s got great EQ and

Multiband Compression and that’s really all I

need for monitors. I don’t need any outboard

other than a TC D2 and that’s simply

because [guitarist and vocalist] Sergio

[Pizzomo] particularly likes it.

“To give myself a fighting chance, I run

virtual soundcheck to tune and balance the

festival sidefills – as Ramsay said, we don’t

have any rehearsals. I’m also using an iPad

running the DiGiCo SD App to EQ while

away from the desk.

Sargeant’s set up is, he says: “A simple

system that is compact and bijou. I try to fit

everything under the desk, then I have the

SD Rack as well. I have a total of 56 inputs

and 32 outputs as a general rule, but for a lot

of the headline shows we also have a

four-piece string section, which will add to

that. I could have had a smaller console, but

I have dual redundancy backup here. It’s all

about not messing up really, isn’t it?”

Fine Art launches FINE 600L SPOT

diGiCo’s sd7 console in action

DiGiCo rocks with Kasabian on summer festival circuit

10

SAcIA SPotlIght

New professional designations recognise skills and experience in the broadcast and AV industry

SACIA has registered three professional designations for the

audio-visual sector, an Associate level designation for entry-level

technicians who can demonstrate a broad understanding of the AV

industry, a Practitioner level designation for industry technologists

who can demonstrate a deeper understanding of the science and

technology behind today’s modern AV systems, and a Professional

level designation for individuals able to demonstrate an in-depth

knowledge in an area of specialisation related to audio or visual

communications technology.

In each instance, the candidate needs to prove that they have

the requisite qualifications and work experience to qualify for the

designation. Individuals also need to sign and abide by a Code of

Professional Conduct that commits them to a higher level of ethics

and service.

Individuals awarded a professional designation are listed on the

National Learners Records Database so it’s a formal recognition of

an individual’s skills and experience, but it’s important to understand

the difference between an academic qualification awarded by a

University or College, and a professional designation awarded by a

SAQA-registered professional body. In the case of a

degree or diploma awarded by a University, the

qualification is awarded based on an evaluation of

skills and knowledge. The qualification is held

indefinitely by the recipient without any requirement

for further training or professional development.

In the case of a professional designation, recipients

start with a relevant qualification but are only

awarded the designation when they can demonstrate

related work experience, are a member of their professional body,

and have made a commitment to a code of ethics and professional

conduct. Furthermore, in order to maintain their professional

designation, individuals need to participate in a continuous

programme of professional development.

In order to fast-track this process, Nic Bonthuys, previously general

manager with the SABC’s Outside broadcast division, has been

appointed to establish an independent certification council to draft

guidelines to be used for the award of professional designations.

Under Nic’s guidance, the Council has identified an initial group of

125 industry professionals who have been invited to apply for the

CertAVprof designation. These individuals can all demonstrate 15+

years relevant work experience in the audio visual sector and are

recognised as experts in their field.

Since it was established in 2009, SACIA’s primary membership base

has been made up of corporate, government and institutional

members. Since its recognition as a professional body, SACIA had a

growing number of individual members and over the next few years,

we anticipate that it is the individual membership that will shape the

future of the Association.

As individual membership increases, it’s also important to

recognise the difference between SACIA as a professional body and

the many trade unions active in our marketplace. Membership in a

trade union is open to all workers in an industry sector and their

primary purpose is to engage in collective bargaining on behalf of

members. SACIA does not engage in collective bargaining and

individual membership is only open to industry professionals who

hold a professional designation and agree to abide by the

Association’s Code of Professional Conduct. Our members promote

the adoption of professional standards and ethical business

practices for audio-visual professionals working in the industry. We

also back up this commitment with a disciplinary process that holds

members accountable for their actions.

The SACIA Certification Council is also aware that many

professionals working in the audio visual industry lack formal training

and qualifications, and have learned their craft through on-the-job

training and real-life work experience. In order to recognise these

individuals, we have introduced an RPL programme (Recognition of

Prior Learning) that allows people who do not hold an underlying

academic qualification to earn a professional designation based on

proven competence .

ASSOCIATE PRACTITIONER PROFESSIONAL

QUALIFICATION NQF-4 NQF-5 NQF-6

EXPERIENCE Min 1 YEAR Min 3 YEARS Min 7 YEARS

EXAMINATION YES YES EXAM + SPECIALISATION

in February 2015 saCia was formally recognised by saQa as the professional body for the broadcast and professional av industry in southern africa. Professional bodies are required to develop and award industry certification programmes that recognise the skills and talents of individuals working in their sector.

11

SAcIA SPotlIght

Peripheral Vision are a team of technically skilled people who are dedicated to giving our customers our best attention.

Offering custom designed solutions, using only reputable products that we have tried and tested in our own pre-sales environment before successfully installing in many projects throughout Africa.

Is proud to announce our appointment as a distributor of Bosch Security Systems

[email protected] +27 11 840 0860

Bosch Pv

SACIA Code of Professional ConductMembers of saCia who are practitioners and professionals practicing in the broadcast, communications and professional av industry are required to subscribe to the code of professional conduct.

Five values underpin this code, namely:

1. Honour: Showing respect for myself, my organisation, my industry

and the community of clients that I serve by behaving in a manner

that reflects favourably on my profession. Acting above reproach.

Avoiding compromise of professional judgement by conflicts of

interest.

2. integrity: Acting with honesty and openness. Displaying

trustworthiness. Showing consistent good behaviour over time.

Ensuring that my words and actions correspond.

3. reliability: Undertaking what I am competent to do and fulfilling

commitments that I have made to my organisation, my industry

and the community of clients that I serve.

4. Honesty: Being truthful and accurate when executing my job even

when it sometimes might be difficult. Not misrepresenting my own

or my associate’s academic or professional qualifications. Only

undertaking assignments that I am competent to perform by way

of my education, training and experience.

5. accuracy: Ensuring that what I say, do and write are correct and

reflect the information that is required to complete the job. Where

this is not possible, ensuring that my organisation or my client

understand the factors that could influence the accuracy of the

information I have provided.

SACIA identifies that a practitioner interacts with various

stakeholders when delivering their services. To this end, it is important

that professional conduct be upheld when engaging with

colleagues, peers, employers as well as industry role-players. To this

end, a practitioner needs to uphold certain principles when

practicing in this industry, namely:

1. avoiding conflict of interest: This means understanding when a

conflict of interest arises and speaking up to the parties present

about the possible conflict to ensure that my integrity and honesty

are not brought into question. This includes opportunities when I

might be given information that I could use to my own advantage,

but that could undermine my integrity and honesty.

2. Building and enhancing relationships: When acting in the best

interest of my client, my focus is on building and enhancing long

term relationships that are built on trustworthiness and reliability.

3. Upholding safety, health and welfare of the public: As a competent

practitioner who is proficient in what I do, I have the required insight

and understanding into the laws, codes and principles governing

safety, health and welfare of the public within my area of

responsibility. I therefore ensure that the work I complete is

compliant with these laws, codes and principles to ensure the

well-being of my client, as well as the public that I affect.

4. remaining in good standing: As a practitioner in this industry, I need

to remain in good standing in terms of the laws governing South

Africa. I also need to ensure that I abide by the codes set out by

international counterparts within this industry.

Finally, it is important that I realise that the certificates, logos and

marks entrusted to me as a member of SACIA remain their property.

Should, for any reason, our relationship be terminated, I am

responsible to return this property to their care.

12

corPorAte AV IntegrAtIon REPORT

Unified communications market in SA

Now that the costs of bandwidth have tumbled and fibre-based

broadband has become commonplace in office parks and suburbs

in South African metros, many companies are looking to invest in

unified communications solutions to improve collaboration and

reduce costs.

That’s according to Stefan Mayer, managing director at Corporate

AV Integration, who says that his company is seeing rising demand for

corporate AV solutions to support unified communications

deployments at companies of all sizes.

This reflects a global trend – IDG’s 2015 Unified Communications &

Collaboration (UC&C) Study, for example, finds that 56% of large and

66% of SME organisations plan to implement or upgrade UC&C

solutions within the next year.

Mayer says that South African companies are becoming

particularly interested in videoconferencing and telepresence

elements of unified communications. In the past, internet connectivity

was too patchy and too slow to support these bandwidth-hungry

applications, particularly among smaller companies that used to

depend on ADSL lines.

“We are getting many queries from companies who want to use

high-definition video for virtual meetings, training, workshops and

more,” he adds. “For these purposes, a notebook and Skype are not

good enough. Companies also need robust video displays and audio

systems that deliver crisp video and clean sound so that users can

work together constructively.”

Mayer notes many companies are becoming aware of the

business benefits that the videoconferencing and telepresence

elements of unified communications can bring as they try to keep

business costs under control while enhancing productivity. Room-

based videoconferencing and telepresence allow people to stay

focused, work together constructively and avoid the

misunderstandings that are common in electronic communication.

The technology creates the illusion that meeting participants are in

the same room. Telepresence offers virtual high-definition

communication that is the next best thing to meeting face-to-face. Its

directional audio and crystal-clear, life-size video promotes natural

interaction and collaboration.

On a softer level, when people see each other, they can also more

quickly build a rapport that promotes teamwork. People can share

files and data on-screen, allowing for better collaboration and more

the Unified Communications and Collaboration

market refers to the contemporary tendency for

the use of corporate av systems to provide a

common platform for communication either

regionally or even globally, through internet-based

communications systems that are increasingly

able to carry high quality audio and video signals.

the growth of the market reflects not only the

maturation of the technology but the need in

many corporate markets to reduce costs and

increase efficiencies. we spoke to stefan Mayer

of local av integrator Corporate av integration for

his view.

productive discussions.

With the basic AV and network infrastructure in place, it becomes

a simple and affordable matter to put videoconferencing or

telepresence solutions in place. This means that companies can

include employees and other stakeholders in meetings without them

needing to travel, according to Mayer.

He adds: “We’re seeing a few big drivers for adoption of such

solutions: the rising costs of international travel because of the

battering the rand has taken; the need to reduce corporate carbon

footprints; and growing traffic in the major cities. Companies realise

that reducing air and land travel is a good way to help the

environment. It also improves workplace satisfaction because most

people don’t want to spend their lives in traffic or in airports.”

Says Mayer: “To determine the best AV solution to support their

unified comms needs, companies should partner with

knowledgeable and reputable integrators. The good news is there

are many opportunities to optimise management of AV solutions and

reduce operational costs because of the convergence between IT

and AV. Companies should select platforms that are energy-efficient,

automated and easy to integrate with their IT architectures.”

While convergence is a buzzword that has been around a while, it

is really the maturation of internet-based communications systems

and networks that underpin the corporate AV revolution and market

growth. Also, it provides employees, business partners and others to

use a variety of devices, even personal smartphones and tablets, to

patch into the network and collaborate – what is termed BYOD. For

corporate markets, the improvement of security protocols and the

rise of cloud computing means that AV integration – the provision

of high quality audio and video systems delivered through the

cloud – turns the potential benefits of the technology into a reality.

13

14


ON AVERAGE, BUDGETS WILL INCREASE BY

Emerging UC & C Tools Influence Business Growth

The Next Level of Enterprise Communication

WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?

Unified communications and collaboration (UC &C) solutions are designed to provide flexible ways of delivering, managing and supporting all of the various types of IP communications that an organisation requires in both horizontal and vertical industry business processes and applications.*

UC&CDEFINED

MAJOR UC&C TECHNOLOGIES IN 2012 INCLUDED: THESE TECHNOLOGIES ARE STILL PREVALENT IN 2015, BUT THERE IS INCREASED FOCUS ON: ADVANCED TELEPHONY CALLING

AND MANAGEMENT

WEB C ONFERENCING ,AUDIO CONFERENCING ,AND VIDEO CONFERENCING

VIDEO CONFERENCING ANDTELEPRESENCE SYSTEMSAND EQUIPMENT

COLLABORATIVE APPLICATIONS(ENTERPRISE SOCIAL, FILE SHARING)

MOBILE UC & C HARDWARE,SOFTWARE AND APPLICATIONSINSTANT MESSAGING (IM)

UNIFIED MESSAGING (UM)(EMAIL, F AX, AND VOICE MESSAGING COMBINED)

ENTERPRISE LEADS INNOVATIVE UC & C MOVEMENT

SIGNIFICANT GROWTH AHEAD

UC & C HEADING TOWARDS THE CLOUD

WITH ADOPTION COMES CHALLENGES

HOW CAN VENDORS SUPPORT ADOPTION?

49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%

Premises-based(100%)

Hosted/cloud(100%)

Hybrid(majority premises-based

with some cloud)

Hybrid(majority cloud-based

with some on premises)


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS

of organisations currently using UC & C solutions say cloud computing has impacted their plans.71%

of organisations currently use/run UC & C solutions55 %

44 % 42%of enterprise orgs will invest in video conferencing & telepresence systems and equipment

of enterprise orgs will invest in mobile UC & C hardware,

applications

plan to implement/ upgrade UC & C solutions within 3 years61%

IMPLEMENTATION PLANS = INCREASED SPENDING

EMERGING TECH SOLUTIONS FOR ENTERPRISE

VIDEO RISING AMONG EMPLOYEE AND CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION

OF ORGANISATIONS EXPECT THEIR UC & C BUDGET TO INCREASE

AVERAGE TOTALUC & C BUDGET

33%

9%

WHERE ARE ORGANISATIONS FOCUSING THEIR BUDGETS?

PRIMARY DRIVERS FOR UC & C INVESTMENTS ARE ...

$$ $

62% ENTERPRISE / 49% SMB 56% ENTERPRISE / 66% SMB

$8.1M ENTERPRISE / $551K SMB

VS. 32% SMBs VS. 31% SMBs

39% ENTERPRISE / 28% SMBs

$4.3 M

EMAIL, FAX & VOICEMAIL, INCLUDING UNIFIED MESSAGING

WEB, AUDIO AND VIDEO CONFERENCING SERVICES

IP TELEPHONY (IPT) CALLING & MANAGEMENT: IP PHONES

IMPROVE EMPLOYEE COLLABORATION

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY

INCREASE FLEXIBILITY FOR EMPLOYEES/MORE MOBILE WORKFORCE

42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%

How important is the use of video conferencing to your organisations UC & C solutions?

Does/will your organisation invest in telepresence technologies?

54% 34%

CRITICAL/VERY IMPORTANT

ENTERPRISE SMB

$$$$$$65 % 51%ENTERPRISE SMB

VIDEO USES FOR INTERNAL COMMUNICATION

VIDEO USES FOR EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

VIDEO CONFERENCING (desktop/screensharing where participants

cannot physically see one another)



VIDEO CONFERENCING (room system)


VIDEO CONFERENCING (Facetime, Skype, Google,

Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

TELEPRESENCE TECHNOLOGIES


64% ENTERPRISE44% SMB








TOP UC&C IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES

TOP FACTORS WHEN EVALUATING VENDORS

COST/FUNDING SECURITY/PRIVACY CONCERNS

INTEGRATION WITH EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE

38% ENTERPRISE43% SMB 39% ENTERPRISE

34% SMB36% ENTERPRISE

31% SMB

58 %

SECURITY/ABILITY TO MEET

REQUIREMENTS


45 %LOW TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP


46 %EASE OF USE


For more information, visit: www.idgenterprise.com/contact-us www.idgenterprise.com/research-reports

2015 Unified Communications & Collaboration Survey, IDG Enterprise

*SOURCE: IDC

SIGNIFICANT/MODERATE INVESTEMENT




WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC





WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC


15

REPORT corPorAte AV IntegrAtIon




WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC






WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC





WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC


16

17





WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC





WHAT’S CHANGED

SINCE 2012?


UC&CDEFINED


AND MANAGEMENT











49 %55%

42%

22%25%

19%

13%7%

20%

7%5%8%

18%17%19%

26%32%

22%

20%15%

25%

21%22%

20%


Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)




Hosted/cloud(100%)


with some cloud)



OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

OVERALL

ENTERPRISE

SMB

CURR

ENTL

YN

EXT

2 YE

ARS





applications







33%

9%



$$ $





$4.3 M







42%44 %47%

43 %

41% 36% 33%

42 % 33%



54% 34%


ENTERPRISE SMB











Hangouts, etc.)


Hangouts, etc.)

















31% SMB

58 %


REQUIREMENTS




46 %EASE OF USE




*SOURCE: IDC


Gearhouse

18


Electrosonic puts Kramer in the corporate AV spotlight

where does electrosonic see growth happening in the corporate market for Kramer products and solutions? Bruce Genricks: We definitely see growth happening in the

wireless collaboration area, with products such as Via connect and

Collage. The ‘Bring your own device (BYOD)’ approach is quickly

being adopted with the expectation that any device (laptop, tablet,

smartphone) can simply and easily be connected wirelessly to

conduct interactive presentations. Kramer’s new control product,

K-Touch is the way, I believe, all control will be done in the future. It

can utilise and control ‘off the shelf’ tablets and smart phones. The

programing is quick, easy and powerful and is application based. No

dedicated touch panel or control processors are required, making it

affordable and therefore a big growth opportunity for Kramer in

South Africa.

is convergence and application-driven it driving av growth in the corporate sector? if so, how do Kramer products fit the bill? BG:Very much so. Not only do Kramer’s wireless collaboration

devices drive growth in this sector, most, if not all, of their control

products are application based, with the programming software

sitting in the cloud.

Bruce Genricks

well-known local distributor electrosonic represents the Kramer electronics brand in southern africa. the Us headquartered specialised electronics business started out as a video technology company, but rapidly branched out into bespoke product solutions in the audio and signal processing fields. Kramer’s unparalleled product r&d processes mean that many of its products are uniquely positioned to take advantage of current developments in the convergent corporate market. we asked Bruce Genricks, Md of electrosonic, to tell us more about where they see Kramer moving in the corporate market.

Kramer vP-772

20


Has Kramer’s r&d approach changed in line with the move to converged technology and ‘unified communications’? if so, how? BG:Yes. Kramer now has products that leverage on industry

standard video/audio conference products such as Skype for

Business and Go to Meeting. They have also invested heavily in

R&D in these sectors, as they continually do with all their

product lines.

are there any differences or anomalies in the approach in the southern african market – eg. network constraints? How is electrosonic addressing these with regard to Kramer products? BG:The issues that the AV industry faces in South Africa are

mostly related to network capacity, unstable power supply,

and, particularly in Johannesburg, lightning. While larger

corporations generally have adequate network capacity,

small to medium sized companies can be hugely

disadvantaged by network constraints. This often results in a

different solution. Power surges and lightning can be

addressed by specifying more fibre products and devices that

include high voltage protection. Kramer has many products in

their range which address these issues.

insight: K-touch Byod control

Kramer has recently introduced the K-Touch version 3.0 platform, a

state-of-the-art cloud-based solution for designing and producing

user-friendly BYOD room-control and automation eco-systems ideally

suited to corporate applications or for distributed office spaces.

The platform enables integrators to design advanced control and

automation for room elements such as lights, screens, sound, HVAC,

thermostats, and any existing A/V system. Designers can scale to over

100 devices in the cloud, all controllable from any tablet or mobile

touch screen.

Kramer puts a lot of stock in the ability of the K-Touch 3.0 to easily

programme and scale, extolling its’ cost-saving potential to both

integrators and end users.

The system can be operated from any iOS or Android touch screen

and is designed for a wide variety of distributed AV environments, but is

especially suited to corporate offices. The product has a drag-and-

drop design interface which replaces expensive programming, and

comes with a range of on-board pre-programmed modules for easy

control system design. It also enables the control of room elements via

Ethernet. With a variety of controllers, room elements can be controlled

via RS-232, GPIO, relays, or IR.

Kramer claims significant cost savings and higher ROI for users by

allowing integrators to provide remote cloud-based support and

updates to customers without having to be on-site.

Kramer K-touch

Kramer vsM-4x4HFs Kramer vP-773a

22


Crestron opens up South Africa office

Denoon expands on Crestron’s strategic positioning: “Crestron see South Africa very much as a

bridgehead into the major African markets, which are in turn seen as emerging economy

growth markets. So, while our line of reporting here in SA is to the EMEA region as a whole, our

sales and support focus is very much on southern Africa and Mauritius, where we have a

flourishing market that we are looking to build and develop.”

The focus for brand building, according to Denoon, is on the provision of Crestron’s specialised

product range to its regional network of dealers, and then to support them with the technical

skills and expertise of locally-based Crestron staff. The regional southern African dealer network

is large and diverse, and each has a different business model. This means supply requirements

are specialised, and customised attention is a non-negotiable.

As far as the corporate AV sector is concerned, Denoon is excited about the possibilities: “We

in line with the company’s global strategy of servicing the market and expanding it’s global presence, Crestron is selling direct to the professional dealer network in the sadC region. Moving away from a long-standing distributor relationship, is motivated purely by business logic, says rupert denoon, regional manager of Crestron in south africa. “one of the biggest reasons for this is that Crestron has multiple solutions under one roof offering an end-to-end solutions to its integrators and customers.”

roomview for outlook

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By James Sey

23


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are attuned to the need for market education around Crestron

products in the local corporate sector. As the concept that ‘AV is IT’

gains traction, our current and potential customers understand that

real benefit from corporate AV systems will come from investment in

interoperability and collaborative systems. This is the most efficient

and cost-effective way not only to add capacity and to properly

scale systems and improve functionality. To an extent there is a need

for our customers to be educated about the advantages of

integrating different products from one manufacturer like Crestron.

This has a lot to do with compatibility and interoperability standards,

as well as the guarantees and warranties Crestron offers.”

Getting above the cloud

Denoon points out that the move to cloud computing is driving a new

wave of IT and AV integration – there are fewer large boardroom

installations in the enterprise, and more huddle and breakaway

rooms that require a more reliable system of distributed control. This

extends to facilities management, the booking of different spaces,

and asset tracking and monitoring, among others.

“We see the Bring Your Own Device trend in computing as an

extension of each employee’s personality into a managed space.

While IT professionals are driving the maturation and adoption of

cloud computing systems in the corporate world, they are also

mindful of the security risks it entails,” says Denoon. “Our advantage is

being able to offer certification documentation accepted by the US

government to use in highly secure IT environments, which tends to

allay any fears. This also helps with the fact that most corporate IT

installations of our products are often carried on existing corporate

networks. When IT departments see the operational success of our

installations, and the ease of use, progress becomes easier. In

addition, many of the sustainability advantages of the products we

offer – such as energy and asset management and control systems

which only engage electricity, aircon and AV systems when a

meeting is taking place – chime in well with the corporate drive for

environmental responsibility and best practice.”

Mediamanager product line

24


Omega Digital – corporate cost and efficiencies the byword

Omega Digital specialises in visual communications solutions for

business applications in the workplace. These generally fall into two

categories: AV solutions for pause areas, meeting rooms, boardrooms

and other physical meeting spaces in corporate offices; and video

conferencing solutions designed for business applications where

collaboration with remote participants can take place.

Pringle has seen changes in the way corporates are approaching

these solutions in recent years: “Enterprise IT budgets are big, but they

are often initiated and shaped by the line of business executives in the

company. IT is seen as a fulfilment area for the business, but this

perception has shifted somewhat with the convergence of IT and AV

technology. AV is increasingly seen as a requirement for the business.

On the conferencing side a big driver, especially in a corporate

world where companies often have globally distributed offices, is

cost savings.

Cost saving in the cloud

Along with the reduced costs enabled by remote conferencing

solutions, the move to cloud computing is also helping to reduce the

need for additional physical and IT infrastructure, says Pringle.

Omega’s focus on blue chip customers means that the

understanding of and use of cloud based solutions is more mature.

“Our competitive advantage in this area,” continues Pringle, “is being

able to calm our client’s perception of risk. Security risk is always an

issue with cloud-based applications, and we can address it

effectively through our association with respected vendors like

Polycom and Cisco. Their encryption is world-class for solutions like

internet telephony, for example.”

Omega sells services and solutions for Cisco and Polycom. While

this provides them with the credibility of these trusted global brands,

their route to market is to an extent product-agnostic. “What we really

focus on,” says Pringle, “is our installation capabilities, our

commitment to providing support for our client’s systems and

installations, and our commitment to our relationship of trust with

our clients.”

Omega offers master certified engineers for the ‘immersive

telepresence’ products from Cisco, and is also well-versed in the

best-of-breed suite of AV solutions from Polycom. “We’re confident

that our offerings from both Cisco and Polycom are the best and most

innovative end-to-end teleconferencing solutions on the market.”

with more and more attention being paid to av solutions in the corporate enterprise space as a means of linking new forms of it connectivity with workplace productivity and communications, local solutions provider omega digital is ahead of the curve. we spoke to Managing director stuart Pringle.

By James Sey

25

Moving up the value chain

Omega is determined to keep innovating and growing in the

corporate AV space. “Obviously the biggest player in the

teleconferencing area is Microsoft, with their Skype for Business suite of

solutions. Omega is in the process of becoming a Gold Certified

Microsoft partner, specialising in integrating Polycom ad Cisco

products with the MS platform,“ says Pringle. “Our goal is to be seen

as a partner who can design, implement and support a range of

physical or infrastructural AV solutions in offices and physical

corporate space, as well as all the company’s teleconferencing

needs. While we have a consultative approach, and make

recommendations about the solution, and what products are

available to our clients, our real value comes from saving them

money and improving efficiencies as quickly as possible,”

concludes Pringle.

More and more corporate AV solutions are focused on reducing

the need for additional IT or physical infrastructure as a means to both

control costs and increase efficiencies. The growing maturity of

remote teleconferencing solutions, with the reliability of the

connectivity, bandwidth, screens and control systems that form an

integral part of the solution, is beginning to make the dream a reality.

Companies such as Omega are ideally positioned to take advantage

of what will continue to be a growth market as cost pressures

continue and technology systems improve and grow more accepted

and user-friendly.

26


Tech trends for corporate AV

Before we get to the trends you need to be paying attention to, here’s

a few of things that won’t be included, and while important, you are

already behind the curve if you haven’t already at least started

incorporating them into your business.

This list won’t include AV/IT specifically, but some ancillary

influencers of its future. No AV as a service (AVaaS), because if you

aren’t at least exploring remote services I promise your competition is.

Also excluded is video conferencing/unified communications

because it is already a vital tool in the AV arsenal.

This isn’t about disruptive technology or manufacturers that are

going to change the products you turn to as a go-to solution. This list

will have things that might be outside your purview, the things you

hear whispered about in smaller pockets of this industry and

discussed loudly by some of our partner trades.

By Josh Srago

From HdCP 2.2 to spectrum space to walking, talking data, the av landscape will change over the next few years. Here’s how to keep up.

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28


1. HdCP 2.2 & other copyright/ content protection issues

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP),

version 2.2, is going to cause the AV industry

problems, but it is still only starting to make its way to

the main stream. Why is HDCP 2.2 so important to

the AV industry? Because it is a completely new Intel

chipset designed to protect copyrighted digital

content from being pirated. This means that your

older equipment operating with HDCP 2.0 or 1.X

chipsets in them will not be firmware upgradeable

to the newer content protection levels. It also means

that if your signal path has an HDCP 2.2 chipset

anywhere in it, all proceeding devices must also operate at 2.2.

The good news with regards to this content protection is that HDCP

2.2 is capable of receiving and processing content protection from

the previous generations. Display manufacturers are currently only

implementing the HDCP 2.2 chipset on a single HDMI 2.0 input for their

latest displays making it important to note which HDMI input that is

going to be, otherwise you may end up with an extremely limited

signal path, particularly if you have more than one HCDP 2.2 source.

To make matters more confusing, while it seems that all HDCP 2.2

inputs are going to be HDMI 2.0, not all HDMI 2.0 inputs will be HDCP

2.2. That means that if the AV switch manufacturers that have been

claiming 4K compliance for the last few years aren’t also working to

update their content protection chips and you attempt to run a 4K

player with HDCP 2.2 through it, you might not be getting signal. In

turn, as more people opt for

4K displays and want to view true 4K content via the HDMI 2.0 input,

current systems are going to need upgrades to accommodate this

request, or a patchwork solution must be found.

HDCP, though, is only one part of protection issues for AV to watch.

There is still a long, ongoing debate over the need for updated

copyright laws. There has been much talk about the need for real

copyright reform, with little progress. At a recent conference held by

the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the current copyright laws were

compared to building a tail by tacking on tape piece by piece to

provide regulation over each new case not previously addressed.

Copyright law is still inconsistent and must be watched; we cannot

predict what new piece of hardware or app will come about to

change how we look at a project. If something saw widespread

adoption across the industry because of its usefulness to our everyday

lives, only to then have the creator or manufacturer get caught up in

a legal dispute over the ownership of the copyright, the possible

damages could be far reaching.

It’s up to our regulators to implement copyright legislation that

moves beyond the concept of a physical medium, and explores the

ways that it must be applied in modern technology.

2. Making room for wireless

It’s the ultimate goal for many of our customers to remove clutter,

cables, and just walk into the room, have devices connect to the

system and share content. In its simplest form this already exists today

with devices from several manufacturers that allow you to either

connect with a dongle, to the device through a built-in wireless

access point, or through a client’s own wireless network. The issue

we’re going to be facing as we look to the future is going to be closely

related with the same issue we have with wireless microphones --

space in the spectrum.

Satellite television channels are being squeezed for frequencies

because the cell phone providers are seeking more space. It’s

impossible to deny the fact that creating more space for the wireless

providers is beneficial given that so many of us carry at least one

device that’s connecting to a network at all times. It is not just the cell

networks that we need to be wary of moving forward. There also must

be consideration of the requirement of wide coverage Wi-Fi. With the

continuing development of IoT and the Internet of Everything (IoE),

the urban areas are experiencing an exponentially increased

demand for connectivity of all devices. That demand is only going to

continue to tax the networks as they exist and are implemented

today, resulting in the need for expansion of services like city-wide

Wi-Fi.

User devices will dominate this landscape, so the commercial AV

industry will be hard pressed to find a case where the connectivity of

our devices, including wireless microphones, wireless video

transmission and reception, and control will be of greater concern to

users than the connection of their smart watch. The competition in this

landscape will continue to stretch physics to the limit as the need for

larger bandwidth while maintaining transmission over distance will

require the manufacturers to get creative to provide solutions that

integrators and customers are going to need.

3. Turning to fibre

The types of signals that the AV industry is starting to incorporate into

our systems are reaching the point of being entirely massive. It’s well

documented that just because a device says it is 4K compliant only

means that it abides by some version thereof. What is the refresh rate?

The bit-depth? Is it actually 4K content or is it just UHD?

These massive video signals have to get from point A to point B and

transporting them is becoming increasingly complicated due to the

sheer amount of bandwidth required. There are physical limitations to

passing signals over copper cabling. There are continuing

improvements with compression ratios to allow us to send more

content with less data. There is also the option to packetize the signals

and send them over IT networks -- not necessarily shrinking the

amount of data, just changing how it’s transported.

The end result is going to be an increased need for more fibre

terminations in local systems to handle the required capacity of the

larger signals like 4K video. Ultimately, when considering where fibre is

going to be needed in AV solutions, the answer is everywhere. Even

when we start to packetise the data, that will not resolve the issue of

there being more data than ever to be transported and solely copper

networks, while still immensely useful, are going to hit a breaking point

where they will not be able to support the amount of information that

must be moved.

It won’t just be the local networks that need to see more fibre

implementation. The ISPs are rolling out more and more fibre

networks across the country for the uses of residential and

commercial networks, but in many cases, that fibre is the backbone

with copper being the connection to the homes and businesses

themselves. It will reach a point where it will need to be fibre into

the buildings.

4. embrace of smart devices

Our world has become increasingly about data. AV-as-a-Service has

emerged, giving us the capability to monitor not only the behaviour

of the technology that we deal with, but the activity of the people

that are utilising that technology. The next progressive step is tying it

all together with control and automation that the AV industry

provides to clients in their offices and homes.

Smart devices provide users the ability to interact with simple

technology to accomplish tasks, be it texting, tracking information, or

even making an actual phone call. They also provide a direct line of

communication for companies to access that tracking information.

Applying the use of big data in order to follow people’s habits

beyond exercising and purchasing products, and then hacking them

to perform never intended tasks is the next logical step in the

progression to achieving a room that recognizes your personal

presence; putting smart device’s APIs to use in all new ways.

The amount of data being acquired about us every single day is

astounding. It’s not difficult to take the next step and apply that data

to interact with the world around us. AV will play a role beyond

providing finely tuned devices for the optimum solution. It will help

incorporate communication between those devices as well as

interaction with the people that use them.

Technology’s presence in our daily lives gets more significant with

each rotation of the clock hands. We must take action to prepare

ourselves for how this web of interconnectivity between devices and

data, devices and people, and intermingling industries is going to

coalesce. There must also be diligence in the study of where things

are going. We must be steadfast in the fight to protect the rights of

individuals using the technology, even participating in the defence

of the right to use it.

Reprinted by permission of Commercial Integrator:www.CommercialIntegrator.com

29

30


Questek and Televic makes inroads in corporate conferencing market

As would be expected in a sector of the market that is underpinned

by IT networks and IT applications, the corporate AV customer is

demanding AV solutions designed to integrate or at least co-exist

with their IT networks and applications, creating a more seamless

workflow for users and a more standardised management and

support environment.

Pro AV manufacturers are compelled to deliver converged AV/IT

solutions that aren’t just innovative and of the highest quality, but

solutions that the marketplace actually needs.

One of the challenges in this rapid evolution is for Pro AV

manufacturers and integrators to provide IT departments with

solutions that facilitate the intersection of standards-based IP

networks and the typically proprietary and closed nature of legacy

AV solutions. AV solutions that don’t seamlessly integrate with IT

networks are increasingly being ignored by purchasers or discarded

by users, to be replaced with solutions that are truly an extension of

the IT network.

Televic is leading this evolution in the conferencing solutions arena

with a fully digital product range designed in consultation with

operators and end users of their systems. Televic conference solutions

are solely distributed and supported by Questek in southern Africa,

extending the formidable Televic installation base to our shores.

Televic’s conferencing systems are designed on the Plixus network,

a network which is both closed and open at the same time. The Plixus

Engine acts as a gatekeeper handling all communication between

the outside world and the mission critical part of the conference

system. Cat5/6 cable connects chairman and delegate units to

each other and the Plixus engine, allowing controlled, tunnelled

transfer of audio, HD video, IP, document and conference control

data. Furthermore Televic’s intelligent system redundancy provides

guaranteed uninterrupted conferencing, and strict separation

between the conference data and IP traffic through IP tunnelling

means that viruses have absolutely no access to the mission-critical

part of the system.

The Dante interface on the Plixus Engine ensures open

communication to third party Dante enabled systems, creating a

wealth of possibilities for signal routing and signal processing.

Each delegate unit and the Plixus Engine have on-board DSP

capabilities so that each audio stream can be tweaked, whether it is

to adapt to the speaker’s tone of voice or to accommodate for

acoustical challenges in any part of the conference room. If desired,

the raw audio streams can be routed to an external DSP, processed

there and fed back into the conference system or any other

audio system.

In this way Plixus combines the best of both worlds and offers an

open yet secure interface at the edge of the conference network.

Televic’s Plixus powered range of wired and wireless solutions are

designed to facilitate simple moderated discussions, and discussions

requiring simultaneous interpretation, recording and voting. Televic

solutions include wired multimedia units, wired audio only, wireless

audio only and interpretation units for quick and simple set up

and use.

Currently Televic is the only conference solutions manufacturer that

enables any combination of delegate units to interoperate seamlessly

televic uniCos Multimedia Conference system

televic supplies award-winning digital conferencing solutions around the world. they are distributed locally by Questek, and both companies see great potential market growth for the networked digital conferencing solutions.

By James Sey

31


on a single network for a single event. Certain delegates may require

the touch-enabled multimedia UniCOS units to view agendas, live HD

video and conference documentation, while other delegates may

require audio only Confidea or D-Cerno units. Additionally, certain

delegates may require wireless units as an extension of a fixed venue

when larger delegations are required in a conference. This creates

flexibility for organisers and meaningful use of venues for a variety

of forums.

In May this year, a panel of 16 independent AV experts judged

Televic’s UniCOS multimedia conferencing system, first, in a direct

shootout against other leading systems. UniCOS was rated best in

Audio quality, ultra-low latency Video display, Microphone quality

and Event preparation.

Televic’s Lingua Interpreters Desk won the coveted iF Design award

in February 2015, the Rave award at Infocomm 2015 and has been

nominated for a German Design award in 2016 – recognising Televic’s

shift in product development strategy towards user-centric design.

Lingua complies fully with the new ISO standards and also has an

HDMI port to facilitate connection to any size display directly from the

desk without the need for an additional video network.

Questek is in the process of installing Televic conference solutions to

replace existing outmoded systems and equip globally represented

customers with state-of-the-art conference facilities. The company is

also working with local and African integrators to establish an élite

channel presence in the region, where growth in the corporate AV/IT

integration and increased appetite for unified communications

solutions is driving sales and market expansion.

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By James Sey

32

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Bidvest on Broadway with Gearhouse

Usually held over three nights, the event comprises of a banquet each

night and a performance of a specially created stage show for

Bidvest’s top executives and employees, who travel in from all over

the globe for the event.

In keeping with the event in recent years, the production team for

2015 was once again headed by creative director Debbie Rakusin

and producer David Bloch, who are always given the same mandate

by the charismatic CEO of Bidvest, Brian Joffe – to come up with an

innovative, captivating, boundary-pushing show.

Bidvest on Broadway

That mandate was answered by one of the most spectacular but also

technically advanced shows ever mounted for the Bidvest event. Built

on the theme of ‘Bidvest on Broadway’, a cast of singers, dancers and

bona-fide star name Broadway entertainers took an enthralled

audience through a compilation of the greatest Broadway musical

hits ever performed.

The live band for the event comprised of top local musicians, once

more under the lead baton of musical director Bryan Schimmel.

Gearhouse South Africa once again designed the event’s lighting,

visuals, sound, as well as setting and implementing the technical

parameters, working closely with Rakusin and Bloch. The company is

renowned for the ability to not only deliver cutting edge product and

support, but also to provide among the best technical and creative

expertise in the country. Particularly for the demands of this kind of

large, one-off event, Gearhouse’s global experience in design,

lighting, staging and sound helped overcome many of the potential

logistical and technical challenges that inevitably arose.

For the Bidvest on Broadway show, Gearhouse stalwart Eyal

the annual Bidvest awards Gala dinner corporate function is one of the largest on the sa corporate calendar. the international Bidvest Group, with almost 150 000 employees in countries all over the world, gathers to celebrate excellence and take stock of their performance. an international gathering this prestigious demands a special event for its entertainment.

Phot

o by

Pie

ter J

oube

rt

By James Sey

33

REPORT lIVe eVentS

Yehezkaly project managed the crack team of lighting, audio,

content and staging specialists, which also featured Bidvest event

veteran Pieter Joubert from Gearhouse company SDS as the set and

technical director.

Gearhouse luminary Tim Dunn brought his vast knowledge and

expertise to the event as show and lighting director. Dunn is renowned

for pushing the envelope on his shows in terms of aesthetics,

imagination and technical ambition. This year’s Bidvest event was no

different. Given a fair amount of free rein in terms of content and

technical delivery, Dunn and the Gearhouse team decided on the

ultimate virtual set for this year’s show. Graphics, video and full 3D on

an amazing stage set comprised of 1001 LED panels meant that Tim

and the lighting and content teams could go to town – in this case,

New York – providing all the backdrops, scenery and virtual

environments necessary on a set which never physically moves!

Each ‘stage set’ on the LED panels reflected a particular Broadway

or New York street scene, vista or interior, in keeping with the

show-stopping musical number being performed. A team of singers

and dancers performed each musical number. Two musical highlights

stood out. First, South African performer Amra-Faye Wright, who has

played the role of Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago for many years

with distinction on both London’s West End and Broadway itself, was

brought out to headline the Bidvest show. She was supported by

YouTube and Off Broadway singing impressionist sensation Christina

Bianco, also brought over especially for the show. They performed

against a set that could stage spectacular, and instantaneous,

switches between the advertising billboards of the classic Broadway

vista familiar from a thousand Hollywood films, and various outdoor

and street scenes, including one memorable number set in a

beautifully lit and entirely believable Central Park. All these scene

shifts were seamlessly accomplished.

Of course, Dunn and the Gearhouse technical team are renowned

for going where no-one else dares, and winning. In this case, putting

a purely virtual LED set behind the live crew of dancers and singers

brought some risks. As he says: “Providing the perspective and the

physical environments of the sets through graphics and lighting, as

well as set changes, meant that the cumulative intensity of the LED

panels had to be controlled to the nth degree. Even a slight

miscalculation would have meant the performers being obliterated

for the audience by the background set.”

Graeme Baker, the LED systems supervisor on the team, adds: “The

amount of detail that went into the on-screen content was amazing.

For example, clouds scudding across the skyline in an exterior scene,

as well as all of the moving billboard scenes, demanded that our

content managers and producers, our programmers, lighting teams

– in fact, everyone involved behind the scenes on the tech and

“Providing the perspective and the physical environments of the sets through graphics and lighting, as well as set changes,

meant that the cumulative intensity of the LED panels had to be controlled to the nth degree. Even a slight miscalculation

would have meant the performers being obliterated for the audience by the background set.” – tim dunn

34

lIVe eVentS REPORT

production crew, had to collaborate fully to achieve the results we

and the client wanted. A good example was the way in which the

programmers incorporated the live footage of the Bidvest

award winners into the 3D set – we achieved levels of detail that were

no small feat given that we were working with around 2 million

individual LEDs.”

Collaboration first

The collaboration theme continued with the incorporation of the

sound and musical direction into the lighting, visuals and virtual set

cueing. Says Dunn, “We designed a system in which the Wings media

system would run multitracks out through a Dante network to the

Watchout timecoding. We were using the new version of Watchout

on this production, version 6.” Jako De Wit, the audio systems

supervisor, takes up the narrative: “The cueing from the musical

director was completely integrated, through the Wings and Watchout

systems, with the audio, lighting and video cues, thus creating a

tightly integrated technical backbone for the show. Our sound

systems were appropriate for large theatre space. The bulk of

the speaker setup was from L-Acoustics, with a Klark Teknik

network bridge for the audio control. A straightforward

left-centre-right configuration gave us a great sound spread

and coverage through the Convention Centre space, and

we used Shure headset mics for a visually sleek look for the

performers. The main characteristic of the set-up, though,

was how we were able to integrate the sound, cueing and

lighting with the musicians, performers and the amazing

LED set.”

Pushing the envelope

Each iteration of the Bidvest Awards Gala brings a new

opportunity for the Gearhouse team to stretch their

imagination and creative technical expertise. The

spectacular virtual LED set for this year’s production of Bidvest

on Broadway was no exception, and again took the event to

new heights of technological and theatrical innovation.

Phot

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eter

Jou

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36

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Huawei’s new flagship handset model, the P8, was launched on

2 July, at the Johannesburg Country Club.

Tinderbox was responsible for all the technical production at the

launch, which had an impressive list of performing artists, including

Micasa, Veranda Panda, Pascal and Pearce, and the Muses, and led

by the two MCs on the night, Jeannie D and Eugene Khoza.

The event was also attended by industry-leaders, media, local

celebrities, including John Smit and Victor Matfield.

The 800 guests consisted of media, key stakeholders, international

guests from Africa, celebrities and industry experts.

Considered the biggest launch event in Tinderbox’s history, the

event required a comprehensive technical setup, utilising the best

equipment currently available in the country.

The launch needed to be technically-oriented to communicate

the technological prowess of the Huawei P8. The overriding creative

was centred on the phrase 'Inspire Creativity' and Tinderbox crafted

the experience to reflect this message.

The technical/build teams were headed up by Clinton Seery, who

was the dedicated site manager and overall technical manager.

Project manager Jason Beck ensured all elements were seamlessly

blended to create a unique experience for guests.

“To create a truly unique venue, we decided to build the event

venue from the ground up. A 6-bay Supadome as well as a 6-bay

CombiDome were erected, with the help of a 90-tonne crane, to

comfortably house the 800 guests,” said Seery. “For its central location

and ease of access The Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead

was selected. It took 13 days to erect the structures and be show

ready. These structures provided a staggering 3 602 square meters of

floor space and split into four distinct areas.”

The presentation/reveal area consisted of a projection screen

measuring 27m wide by 7m high. Tinderbox used three Christie

Roadstar HD20k (3 chip DLP HD1080p) projectors seamlessly blended

at a high profile cocktail party in Johannesburg recently, Huawei launched the new P8…

Huawei launches new P8 at prestigious event

Phot

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unca

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37

REPORT lIVe eVentS

Now Proudly Distributed by

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audiosureto create a stunning, crisp image for presentations, supplemented

with an impressive audio setup, which included x8 JBL VRX928 subs,

x12 JBL VRX928 and x11 JBL VRX932 line arrays that were flown into the

roof of the SupaDome.

A professional lighting system was also installed consisting of x8

Clay Paky Alpha 1500 Profiles, x24 Robe Robin 100 LED Beams and

Robe 700 ColourWash Electronic Ballast’s. A team of 11 technical

experts ensured a flawless, premium experience for guests.

A sophisticated and clean minimal look was used for the décor

and furniture, with Huawei’s primary brand colours of white and

red used.

Various furniture setups had to be used to cater to each area’s

specific requirements and to create conducive environments for the

guests and this created a natural flow for guests to follow, visit and

experience each area.

One of these areas was a product demonstration zone where

guests were encouraged to pick up a P8 and test out some of its

features, but in the end, the P8’s light painting feature stole the show,

giving guests the opportunity to see it in action.

Primarily a cocktail function, a large selection of canapés was

served to guests to ensure they could mingle and socialise while

being fed. The menu catered to the eclectic audience with various

influences from Asian to Italian used in the various dishes. With the

launch taking place in winter Tinderbox also provided cappuccino

stations and each guest received a heart-warming Gluhwein/Sherry

welcome drink to reduce some of the cold winter chills.

38

lIVe eVentS PREVIEW

Inspirational technology solutions at PLASA 2015

PLasa, now 38 years old, is the annual exhibition that connects the international live entertainment technology industry and ranks as one of the premier shows of its kind…

Taking place at London’s ExCel, the PLASA Show runs from 10am to

6pm on Sunday 4 October, 10am to 8pm on Saturday 5 October and

10am to 4pm on Tuesday 6 October.

PLASA presents ground breaking technology and exciting new

launches by the world’s greatest designers and engineers to an

international audience of pro audio, lighting, broadcast, AV and

stage technology experts.

The programme will include inspirational sessions from world-class

Lighting Designers, audio, video and set-design specialists and panel

sessions discussing topics such as the 4K content revolution, digital

console architecture, noise issues, ethernet for live sound and lighting,

traditional light sources to LED and the future of stage technology.

There will also be training sessions from industry experts on live

sound, projection mapping and lighting in film and television, general

industry issues ranging from the development of apprenticeships for

live event technicians and freelancers’ rates of pay, to the impact of

arts funding cuts and updates on current legislation such as CDM

2015 and sessions from a wide cross-section of industry organisations

including BECTU, ASD, ISCE, IPS, Soulsound, ALD, STLD, PSA, ABTT and

The Theatres Trust.

Seminars in the pro audio, AV, broadcast and stage, as well as

lighting and industry initiatives can be attended from early morning

on Sunday, to early afternoon on Tuesday.

seminars to look out for include:

• The Technical Standards for Places of Entertainment seminar,

11.15am to 12pm on Sunday, presented by the ABTT (Association of

British Theatre Technicians).

• The What could possibly go wrong? Planning the Eurovision Song

Contest 2016 seminar, 4:30pm to 5.30pm on Sunday, presented by

Fredrik Jönsson (Lighting Designer) and Ola Melzig (Technical

Director) of Eurovision 2016.

• The Lighting and Video Design seminar, 1.15pm to 2pm on Sunday,

presented by ALD (Association of Lightning Designers) Panel.

• The Making Music Look Good seminar, 11.15am to 12pm on

Monday, presented by Gideon Berger and Stephen Gallagher from

Block9.

• The From Pixels to Pictures: The Cinematography of Pixar’s Films

seminar, 2.15pm to 3pm on Monday, presented by Danielle

Feinberg (Director of Photography) at Pixar.

• The MORE MIDI, PLEASE – Mixing monitors for artistic temperaments

seminar, 12.30 pm to 1.15pm on Monday, presented by Jon Burton

from Soulsound and Phil Ward (Chair) from Pro Audio Panels.

• The Delighted audience. Happy neighbours seminar, 2.30pm to

3.15pm on Tuesday, presented by Steve Jones (Application Support

& Education) at d&b audiotechnik.

• The How to use lights seminar, 11am to 11.45am on Tuesday,

presented by Ian Hider from Media Trainer.

• The Taking the WEEE – whose responsibility is waste electrical and

electronic equipment? seminar, 12pm to 12.45pm on Tuesday,

presented by Tim Atkinson from Entertaining Sustainability.

This year’s show also includes a fewer number of longer sessions for

the Rigging Conference, taking place on Monday 5 October, from

9am to 6pm, in North Hall Gallery Rooms, alongside PLASA 2015 at

ExCeL London.

Each session will deal with key topics of interest to riggers all over

the world. The conference will begin with a keynote presentation by

Hedwig de Meyer, StageCo’s founder and president whose long

experience of building ground-breaking structures for the

entertainment industry speaks for itself. Sessions following this will focus

on the management of chain hoists, the impact of CDM regulations,

an update from PLASA on the NRC and trainee rigger scheme as well

as the subject of trusses and their design. Now in its sixth year, it’s the

go-to event in the calendar for riggers, rigging companies, venue

management and safety professionals alike.

For more information about the show, all other seminars, exhibitors

and awards, go to: www.plasashow.com.

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40

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Lucidity remains only option for SAIA

For all the technical, set and staging for this event, Lucidity stepped up to the plate for the eighth year, taking on this three day conference and their gala dinner with a brand new Pa system – the Martin MLa Mini.

The 18th Southern African Internal Audit Conference recently took

place at the Sandton Convention Centre for around 1 500 delegates.

For all the technical, sets and staging for this event, Lucidity

stepped up to the plate for the eighth year, taking on this three-day

conference and their gala dinner with a brand new PA system – the

Martin MLA Mini.

According to owner Paul Newman, he believes he has found

the quintessential PA system for both small and large scale

corporate events.

“In a nutshell, the speaker management software allows for you to

steer and control the sound for different situations, as well as allows

you to have the audio stop at a particular point in the room without

having to re-rig or re-hang the PA,” he says.

“The beauty about the MLA Mini system is that it is completely

versatile and modular and allows you to either ground stack,

pole-mount on the floor or hang in an array of up to 16 boxes a side.

This was evident in the gig we did for Microsoft the very day before we

set up and rigged the full system in the pavilion. We ground stacked 8

boxes a side over two sub MSX cabinets and ran a three-day

Microsoft conference and turned the room around for the gala

dinner on the fourth day.”

This event also had the biggest MLA Mini speaker set up in the

country so far.

“This is quite a revolutionary PA system and we have received

nothing but positive feedback from the client,” Newman says.

On the AV side, Lucidity ran an 18m x 4m screen three

projector blend using three Christie 14K HD projectors. They ran

four Watchout 5 systems for all the AV control.

“A lot of production went into screen animation and AV

content for the conference,” he adds. “One thing we’ve done

differently this year is taken screen surfaces and placed flat

borders around them, which we projected on as well. This

created active borders, instead of the usual static borders, which

changed the entire look and feel of the screens.”

With these, he created two seemingly three-dimensional earth

globes adjacent to the main stage that rotated during the

conference, on flat round screens.

For the gala, all the screens portrayed a crackling fire, while

the earth globes were turned into two moons, to create a

different atmosphere to the same venue.

“The entertainment for the gala evening changes every year

and this year it was a performance by Conrad Koch as well as a

60-piece choir with three or four solo vocalists.”

The lighting rig included 12 Robe Pointes, 12 Robe LED 300

Washes, eight Robe LED 600 Washes and eight Clay Paky Alphas

and 64 Robe LEDForces. The lighting side was controlled by a

GrandMA2 desk.

By Elaine Strauss

Viva Afrika Sound and Light (Pty) Ltd45 Lake Road, Longmeadow

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42

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Innibos Music Festival 2015

The 11th Innibos music festival, that took place in Nelspruit earlier this

year, was a huge success and for MGG, one of the country’s leading

technical production specialists, it was the first time they have been

involved in delivering the full technical production for this event.

Denzil Smith, General Manager of MGG, took over the event from a

technical organisation perspective right from the word go. He had

able support from the MGG crew, who are rated top in their fields,

from Fanie Pieterse, who is Head of Audio, right through to Herman

Wessels in lighting.

MGG took four days to load the full technical into a stage that was

built by SS Stage Structures, which then left them two days for

programming. By the time the general sound checks had been done,

the day before the start of the festival, it was all go for the wide variety

of entertainment that ranged from between 10 to 20 different artists

per evening. They were then ready for a hectic five days.

sound

Pieterse used JBL exclusively on the PA System, and Innibos featured

the biggest JBL VTX system used in the country to date.

“For the main PA, we used 12 VTX V25 Dual 15” Line Arrays a side

with six VTX S25 Subs flown behind that. They also had 16 x VTX G28

Subs stacked on the floor. They had three delay towers, consisting of

VTX V20 Dual 10” Line Arrays, totalling 32 boxes,” he said. “It’s a brand

new PA that’s been out for about two years and is only now starting to

get proper traction, becoming the touring PA of choice for some

international artists. The linearity in the boxes, literally from front of

house all the way to 160 metres back, was incredible.”

Everything was powered by Crown HD Amplifier V-Racks, HD

35000, HD 12000 and HD 5000 for monitors and side fills, all networked

and run by Performance Manager. Soundcraft took care of FOH with

a Vi6 and a Vi3000 Digital Console with the UAD Real Time Rack

Plug-Ins.

According to Pieterse, a DiGiCo SD10 console was used for the

monitoring which he mixed himself, along with the new VTX F15 Series

of monitors. All RF was supplied by Shure, totalling 86 channels of

wireless, all monitored on a touch screen using Shure Axient Spectrum

Manager. "My mix units were also used by the house band for the

Saturday evening event. The feedback from the artists and media

was very positive."

Lighting and video

On the lighting side, a range of Clay Paky, Phillips and about 70%

Robe made up the lighting rig. There were almost 300 lights in the rig,

ranging from Robe 1200 LED Wash, 600 LED Wash, Pointe, Sharpys, LED

100s to B-Eye K20s to RGB Nitros and finishing off the stage with some

Cuepix Elation panels, said Smith. The festival had double the amount

of lights than previous years, he said. “Using so many lights is great

because it gives you so many more options – you can do more

creatively.”

At FOH were 4 Robert Juliat Aramis Follow Spots, which had to be

complemented by awesome follow spotters. A Grand MA 2 full

lighting desk was used at control, with a MA on PC, backstage for

systems.

“On the video side we had a 4m wide x 10m high Vuepix 12mm LED

screen per side. For the nights leading up to the Saturday evening

event, which is the main event, there was a 6mm LED screen on stage

for all sponsor and supporting content. We also double stacked two

Christie Roadstar HD20K’s for the Saturday evening show. This was for

MGG took on the task of delivering the full technical production supply for this year’s innibos festival, with more lights than ever and an incredible Pa system for the event…

By Elaine Strauss

www.alustage.euwww.alustage.eu

a screen that covered the front of the stage, for the beginning of

the show. All the video was controlled using Barco FSN-1400,”

said Smith.

Challenges

According to Pieterse, one of the main challenges from the audio

side was fact that there were three stages around them that

played simultaneously.

Another challenge was that they were not allowed to sound

check with the PA on, during the event days, due to the other,

smaller stages running during the day.

“We had a PA design that was quite focussed on the area and

the fact that the boxes are so linear helped us to focus energy

where we needed and try to eliminate spill,” he said.

“We had to sound check with two monitors at FOH and the stuff

on stage. Luckily, with the PA design we had, we could eliminate a

lot of noise on the stage, so when the PA actually came on in the

evenings it wasn’t too much of a change. So it actually worked out

very well.”

According to Smith it was wonderful to be a part of the event and

the fact that everything went well and the client was happy, made

it rewarding.

“It was an honour to be a part of the show, since Innibos is now

the biggest music festival in South Africa. There were over 150 000

people who attended the festival over the five days. The main show,

which was Saturday night, catered for 45 000 people,” he said. “It

went extremely well and we experienced such professionalism from

the organisers. The event was well managed and everyone made

us feel at home, which made everything a lot less stressful.”

43

44

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Sounds Ideal steps up for Ugu Festival 2015

The Ugu Jazz and Culture Festival 2015 was staged at the Ugu Sports

and Leisure Centre in Port Shepstone earlier this year.

Sounds Ideal Productions supplied the full technical, including

screens, lighting and staging for the first time, since the festival’s start,

nine years ago.

The festival, one of the biggest multi-act jazz festivals in the KZN

region, attracted well over 10 000 people this year and featured local

and international talents, including Lira, Ringo Madlingozi, Zakes

Bantwini and Nabeel Khemir.

According to Nadeem Moosa owner of Sounds Ideal Productions,

the size of the system deployed at the event was a first for the V Series

that went up in South Africa.

“We chose to use the d&b V Series speaker systems because of its

amazing coverage , level and the unbeatable d&b sound quality.

The system was set up four days prior to the event for sign off by the

client and various stake holders. We also used our 12 x 9 TFL roof with

wings, which gave the event that much more of an international look

and feel,” he said.

sound

For the sound during the festival, Sounds Ideal made use of

24 d&b V8s, 12 d&b V12s, 8 d&b VSubs, 20 d&b B2s, 5 d&b D80s

and 12 d&b D12s.

The FOH console was a Yamaha CL5 with Rio Boxes at FOH, the

monitor console was a Yamaha- M7CL- 48 and the on stage

monitoring was done with a Quest QM700S and Nexo PS15s powered

by Nexo NX Amp4x4s.

sounds ideal Productions provided all the technical production for this year’s Ugu Jazz and Culture Festival that recently took place in Port shepstone, KZn…

By Elaine Strauss

Lighting

The lighting rig included 6 ACME XP15R spots, 24 Robe Robin 600 LED

washes, 12 Robe Robin Pointes, 10 Robe MMX spots, 6 Robe 700

washes, 12 Chauvet Legend 230SR beams and 10 2K LDR

2K fresnels.

“All the lighting was controlled with an Avolites Tiger Touch,”

said Moosa.

Sounds Ideal also made use of 48 AOTO R16 LED panels, controlled

by two RGBlink LINSN processors.

"We upgraded from normal KwikStage scaff to stage plus 360 scaff

for the LED and delay towers, which just makes it that much easier for

bracing and getting engineers to sign off the structures,” he said.

Some of the challenges they faced during the festival, according

to Moosa, was the fact that the generators were booked for show

days only, forcing Sounds Ideal to use house power for the builds.

“At times this delayed us because of load shedding times, but in

the end it wasn’t that much of a problem because once the roof is

up, array calculation was done and everything just fell into place.”

45

46

lIVe eVentS REPORT

Sister Act shines at Joburg Theatre

A new South African production of the popular musical production

Sister Act was recently onstage at the Joburg Theatre, in

downtown Johannesburg.

For this incredible show, the AV and lighting, as well as the set up

before the show, was done by lighting specialists Gearhouse

Splitbeam.

The company made use of 6 Varilite VL3500 Spots, 8 Varilite VL2500

Spots, 2 ETC Source 4 Revolutions, 6 Chroma Q Broadway Scrollers, 12

Chroma Q Plus Scrollers, 3 Chroma Q PSU Splitter 12Ways, 24 Robe

Robin 600 LED Washlights, a Robe Robin LED Wash 1200, 6 ETC

Source 4 26Deg Complete fixed 750w, 12 ETC Source 4 Pars, a

GrandMA NPU, 48 MARTIN MAC 101 LED Lights and 8 Large Mirrorballs,

for the lighting rig.

Alistair Kilbee, Managing Director of Gearhouse Splitbeam, said

that the show was programmed and run on a grandMA2 full size, and

the AV consisted of 2 SAMSUNG 20” LED Monitors, 2 Mac Mini 1Us, a

Panasonic PT-DZ 12000E Projector, 2 Catalyst Dongles, 2 Fibre Ethernet

Remote 100m, 2 Fibre Ethernet Remote 50m, 4 Lightware DVI-OPT-RX

110 Fibre Extenders, 2 TP-Link Ethernet Switcher 16P, 2 1 in 2out DVI DA

and 2 Kramer KRAVS41HDCP.

One of the prominent features of the show was a spectacular ‘rose

window’ – made up of 89 x Robe LED moving lights.

Production Designer Declan Randall united all visual elements –

lighting, video and set – in a beautifully colourful collage of finesse

and visual imagineering to match the pace and vibrancy of the

show. With a cast featuring some of the best South African musical

theatre talent, directed by award winning Janice Honeyman and

produced by Bernard Jay, it received rave reviews and

sold-out audiences.

For the centrepiece, Randall started with a single LEDWash 1200 in

the centre and then incorporated 24 x LEDWash 600s, 16 x LEDWash

800s and 48 x LEDBeam 100s.

The LEDWash 800s were pulled from the theatre’s own in house rig

and the LEDBeam 100s were supplied by MJ Event Gear (facilitated

an incredible musical theatre rendition of the popular film, Sister Act, recently entertained sold-out audiences at its debut on the south african stage…

Phot

o by

Lou

ise

stic

kla

nd

47

REPORT lIVe eVentS

tid

by DWR Distribution).

All the fixtures were run in wide mode giving individual ring control

for extra dynamics, and the whole piece consumed 7 DMX data

universes for control.

In terms of an overall look for Sister Act, Randall wanted it to feel

cinematic. The show is based on the hit movie starring Whoopi

Goldberg and Maggie Smith, and although, naturally, lit in a

completely different style, Randall wanted to evoke the same sense

of ‘suspended disbelief’ as good film lighting would also do.

The show featured both front and rear projection and much of the

meticulous scenic detail was

created with content stored

and replayed via a Catalyst

media server.

Randall worked alongside

Assistant Designer Joe Lott, one

of his second year creative

lighting control students

from Rose Bruford College in

Kent, where he is also a

part-time tutor.

Lott took care of the AV

programming, editing and

content creation. They spent a

month on site during the tech

period, and before then,

heavily WYSIWYG’d the rose

window and were also able to

complete a good amount of

previsualisation. Another Rose Bruford student, Andrew Bruce, assisted

with the WYSIWYG programming.

“The production design by Declan Randall is sumptuous,

magnificent … The scene changes are as razor sharp and effective as

film editing... Sister Act is better than the movie could ever be. It

dazzles with its finely timed choreography and sweeps you off your

feet with its dazzling ensemble acting and spirited, enthusiastic

dancing. It will blow your mind right out of the winter chills,” effused

critic Leon van Nierop.

48

lIVe eVentS INTERVIEW

Helen Surgeson – Splitbeam’s leading lady

Surgeson is a professional theatre stage manager by training, with

a long background of experience in various theatres all through

the 1990s. She has been associated with the Gearhouse Group for

around 15 years, first as a venue technical manager at Caesar’s

Palace (now Emperor’s), where she first worked with her

longstanding colleague Alistair Kilbee, the well-known LD and now

technical production manager. Surgeson worked through the

ranks, first with the Gearhouse Inhouse Venue Technical

Management operation and latterly, for the past few years, as ops

manager for the Gearhouse Splitbeam company.

Gearhouse Splitbeam is a specialised theatre rental lighting

company and the preferred suppliers for the Teatro at

Montecasino, where they stage many large-scale productions.

They provide a professional equipment hire service and

stockholding that meets the specific needs of the theatre industry,

priced favourably towards long-term rental. Over the past few

War Horse at the teatro, Montecasino

By James Sey

Helen surgeson is the unassuming, hugely experienced and efficient operations Manager of Gearhouse splitbeam, the well-known specialised theatre rental business in the Gearhouse group.

Helen surgeson

49

INTERVIEW lIVe eVentS

GetsHow

years, Splitbeam has worked on international productions such War

Horse, Lord of the Dance, Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, Sister Act, West

Side Story, Madam Zingara, The Sound of Music and many others.

These major musical productions usually have exact technical

specifications written into their rights agreements.

Surgeson initially joined as the Operations Manager while Alistair

Kilbee provided the technical direction work. “Alistair would be busy

on his big productions while we were putting equipment into the

theatre. I noticed the gap. It wasn’t enough for us to just supply the

staff or the equipment, there needed to be an element of production

management and technical expertise as well.” She has since taken

on those roles for several shows, working hand in hand with Kilbee.

“Splitbeam recently turned five,” she continues, “and its upward

growth into what it saw as a niche market opportunity has meant

expanding into a full suite of technical equipment long-term rental

offerings to the theatre sector, including lighting, audio, rigging, AV

and power supply. We look for long-term rental deals, and offer a

rental price that is more competitive than buying for the production

run, or buying equipment outright. The big difference we saw from

the start in our business approach is that we’re not just renting

equipment, we’re offering a real depth of intellectual capital and

expertise. This doesn’t only apply to myself and Alistair, but to others in

our team like Michael Inglis and Marcel Wijnberger. Our business is

the only strictly theatre-focused rental business in the country, and

that gives us a lot of credibility – as does the extensive networks and

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relationships that Alistair and I bring. A good example was with a big

production like Lord of the Dance, where Alistair did a lot of the

substitution and changing of equipment, seeing what was locally

available and what the production wanted, to finalise the quotation

that would match their needs. But then, when he was away I was on

site with the load in and working with the internationals on the

production. Our new guy Michael Inglis also does a lot of deputising

for Alistair. He has taken over a key operations role for Splitbeam.

While Alistair opened Singing in the Rain in New Zealand, Michael

stepped in to maintain the running in Johannesburg. It’s a well-oiled

machine now,” comments Surgeson.

The fact that Kilbee works this way on big international franchise

musical theatre shows is a good indicator of how the international

market works now, as Surgeson points out. South African expertise is in

demand on large touring productions, which traverse Asia-Pacific

markets and other emerging economy regions. The technical staff on

such productions often bring their expertise back to SA to run shows.

Surgeson is typically diffident and thoughtful about being a

woman in a male-dominated technical field. “You need to have a

feel for the world of theatre to do this work. It’s not the rock ‘n’ roll

concert scene, where physical labour and humping gear does make

a difference. For designers and other staff on the technical side in

theatre, more ‘female’ traits such as patience and consistency are

often more valuable. And I’ve certainly seen female roles in the

technical industry changing in the last ten years or so, with female

technicians prominent in many venues.” Her commitment and love

for the industry is always evident, and Surgeson doesn’t see herself

leaving it anytime soon. “But you’ve got to have a lot of energy,” she

says. “And I think the industry needs young people. When I started at

Gearhouse, management were in their 30s and now they’re in their

50s. Younger people don’t always calculate the risks and risk taking is

good – being able to say, ‘yes, let’s give it a shot.’”

Lord Of The Dance – Dangerous Games at the teatro, Montecasino

alistair Kilbee

ETC ColorSourceLighting versatility for every budget

Americas n Europe n Asia

www.etcconnect.com

A limited budget doesn’t have to mean poor LED lighting. Designed to offer broader colour capability than other four-colour luminaires, ColorSource Spot and ColorSource PAR bring quality LED lighting into your price range. Developed by colour experts, manufactured at ETC’s headquarters, and supported by renowned 24/7 service, ColorSource luminaires are perfect for small budgets. All ETC products are backed by high quality service and support, including end user training from official ETC dealer Prosound.

Learn more at www.etcconnect.com

ColorSource SpotAdding to its versatility, it accepts zoom and fixed field lens tubes, Source Four® LED CYC and Fresnel adapters, and other accessories.

ColorSource PAREach luminaire is optically calibrated

so you get the same uniform colour from fixture to fixture. It uses

the same standard accessories as the Selador® Desire® D40 luminaire.

Mix and match to get the most from your inventory.

www.prosound.co.za

52

lIVe eVentS REPORT

The National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape, is an

important event on the South African cultural calendar, and the

biggest annual celebration of the arts on the African continent.

The technical support for the festival was done by industry stalwart

Prosound, who noticed that many of the venues for the festival

suffered from similar issues: excess heat and lack of power.

One such venue, Vicky’s, is a small school canteen converted into

a fringe theatre with a 150 seat capacity – but in previous years, the

power supplied to the venue could not sustain its demands. To

reduce the issues caused by the lighting, this year they decided to go

all-LED, thanks not only to assistance from Prosound, but also to

sponsorship from ETC.

Prosound’s Mac Makhobotloane, who was responsible for lighting

technical support, said: “We used ETC Source Four LED fixtures, due to

their beautiful dimming curve as well as their impeccable capability

to replicate the behaviour of tungsten. They were able to give us a

wide range of saturated colour, making them by far the best for the

job. To that, we added some of the new ETC ColorSource PARs, which

provide an incredible colour spectrum and spectacular dimming

curve, at a superb low cost.”

National Arts Festival venue technician Salvatore Hamilton

Mdluli complimented both the ColorSource® PAR and the Source

Four® LED, saying: “I have yet to come across an LED PAR fixture in this

price range that is this good. They were spectacular RGB-L LEDs and

had a wide range of both round and oval diffusers.”

“The Source Four LED fixtures were very reliable, even at different

colour temperatures,” he continued.

Nicci Spalding, technical director of the festival, said the units were

given a very positive showcase: “From our perspective it was fantastic

to be able to provide the artists in Vicky’s with a more substantial rig,

something that has not been possible to date given the severe power

constraints of the building.”

Over in St Andrew’s Hall, another venue lit with the support of

Prosound and ETC, an Element console replaced the Festival’s

previous control desk which had reached the end of its life. Lighting

technician Natalia Van Eck, who had never used an ETC desk before,

said she was “surprised to be able to just power up and go without

the help of the manual.”

Elsewhere at the festival, well-known South African LD Denis

Hutchinson lit two shows in the Victoria Theatre, with ETC Source LED

Four Series 2 Lustr® luminaires and an ETC Ion® control desk, which

he’d specifically requested. Between his two shows, lighting student

Koketso Linda Maponya took control of the Ion.

“I found it powerful and magical compared to my usual control

desk,” she said. “It was very user friendly, making programming and

operating shows a great pleasure.”

One of the main theatres at the festival was the Guy Butler Theatre,

where an ETC Gio® was used alongside ETC Source Four LED Series 2

Lustr fixtures. Lighting designer Faheem Bardien lit the first show of the

festival, ‘Spring and Fall’ by the Cape Town City Ballet. After the Ballet,

the desk remained in the theatre for rest of the festival, where it was

taken over by lighting technician Abby Thatcher.

Two other halls benefitted from ETC sponsorship: Alex Mullins, and

the Memory Hall.

“We are enormously grateful to Prosound for their support of the

Festival this year, and were especially excited by the increased

support from ETC. I have always been a fan of their control systems

and having such fantastically solid and stable lighting consoles in

such key venues went a long way to ensuring a smooth festival

experience for our presenting artists,” said Spalding.

“We were able to provide top of the range equipment to our

artists without blowing the budget sky high. There were 150

technicians who came to Grahamstown to work on the Festival,

many of whom were just starting out; giving them constant exposure

to new technology and professional advice is vital for their growth as

theatre practitioners.”

Supporting the theatre sector in southern Africa

South Africa’s National Arts Festival Prosound has a long history in the sa theatre sector, and recently offered their expertise to several productions on this year’s national arts Festival in Grahamstown.

The Washerwoman and the Moon at the national arts Festival in Grahamstown

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

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53

New controls for National Theatre of Namibia

asser Kauazunda Ld at national theatre of namibia

A large scale integration and installation project for Prosound in

Namibia resulted in their expertise and experience in the theatre

sector being called upon while they were in-country. “We recently

did an extensive upgrade for the Namibian Broadcasting

Corporation, and on one of our follow up visits we called in at the

National Theatre of Namibia, where we met Technical and IT

manager Jack Francis Jnr and Head of Lighting Asser Kauazunda,”

said Prosound’s general manager, Ian Blair.

“Asser and Jack advised that their current old theatre console had

reached the end of its life – but, with the upcoming Independence

Theatre Festival, they really needed a new desk, and fast.”

Blair recommended the ETC Ion control desk, plus fader wings for

additional hands-on control.

“We couldn’t offer an Ion straight away, because all our demo

desks were out at theatres in South Africa – but we were able to get

an ETC Gio to them, which runs the same software as the Ion. That

way, they’d be able to get used to the software and its features, and

check if it was right for them, while waiting for their new desk to be

delivered,” he said.

The theatre’s staff was delighted with the arrangement, said Blair,

and are now fully up to speed with their new Ion, which will soon be

upgraded with software v2.3 – adding new functionality to effects

and implementing Open Sound Control. It also introduces new

colour controls that provide multiple options for colour spaces, new

tinting tools and live colour fade options.

the partnership between Prosound and etC continued in another theatre installation recently, the delivery of an etC ion® control desk, to the national theatre of namibia.

54

lIVe eVentS REPORT

DWR in the footlights

Sasolburg is the town rather uniquely created especially to provide a

home for employees of the original Sasol oil from coal factory in 1954.

Over the years it has expanded, and has been provided with

numerous institutions and additional infrastructure by the Sasol

company, as it also expanded. It also now runs itself as a large and

fairly populous Free State town.

A notable, and long-standing institution in the town is its landmark

theatre, the Etienne Rousseau

Theatre. Named, naturally, for

the founding Managing

Director of Sasol, the building is

a representative example of

contemporary Modernist

architecture, and was built in

1975 at a cost of R1.1m, of which

Sasol donated R750 000 as a gift

to the townspeople. The theatre

seats just over 450 patrons, and has an orchestra pit large enough for

a full symphony orchestra. Since its inception it has had a full

programme of Afrikaans theatre and musical productions, as well as

choral and jazz festivals and art exhibitions.

As with many such institutions, long years of use and a steady loss of

qualified technicians in the theatre world means that refurbishment

can sometimes be major. Dave Whitehouse and Rob Young of DWR

Distribution are specialists in theatre lighting and staging, with one of

the longest track records in the country behind them. They were

called in to get the Etienne Rousseau back up and running smoothly.

“The first phase of the work,” relates Dave, “was the mechanical

refurbishment. We’re lucky to have Rob on board for this, since he is

one of the only specialised theatre engineering people in South

Africa.”

Rob takes up the story: “We had to refurbish and replace many

components at the theatre.

The flight tower was

refurbished, and new

Prolyte trussing installed. The

proscenium bridge hand

winch and its drive unit were

replaced by a 1 ton electric

hoist. We replaced 30

lighting and storage bars in

total, placing them onto a

By James Sey

a thorough recent overhaul of the landmark etienne rousseau theatre in sasolburg threw the spotlight onto the specialist work done in the theatre sector by dave whitehouse and rob young at dwr distribution.

dave whitehouse (dwr) and Pieter-Jan Kapp 'Kappie' (PJK Project Management)

55

REPORT lIVe eVentS

+27 11 791 7009 [email protected] www.tadco.co.za

96kHz as standard 24 mic line inputs 12 analogue outs 2 AES I/O (mono) Word Clock I/O 1 GPI and 1 GPO DVI out (for an external monitor) 2 DMI Card slots (up to 64 I/O per slot) 2 Ethernet connections for Networking 2 x 24 segment master/solo meters Touch sensitive rotaries with integrated switch & HTL

2 x multi-touch screens 21 x touch sensitive moving faders 4 x layers of banks of 10 faders Customisable bank and channel layout Snapshots Integrated USB2 Audio I/O interface for recording and playback of up to 48 channels

40 x Input fl ex-channels Mono/Stereo (equivalent of 80 DSP channels)

46 busses: 16 x fl exi-busses Mono/Stereo (equivalent of 32 DSP busses), Stereo Master (2), Solo busses (2 stereo, 4 total), and 10 x 8 Matrix (8)

10 x Control Groups

1 x Compressor per channel and buss 1 x Gate per channel and buss (switch-able to ducker, or compressor with side chain access)

16 x assignable 32 band Graphic EQs 8 x FX engines (reverbs, delays, w/modulation and enhancer)

4 x assignable DiGiTuBes 4 x assignable Multiband Comps User defi nable Macros An extremely high power headphone amplifi er with 1/4 inch and mini jack socket

Specifi cations

DiGiCo UK Ltd. Unit 10 Silverglade Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2QL. Tel: +44 (0) 1372 845600

www.digico.biz

Rewriting the rule book

tadco

new hoist system for the proscenium, which measured 8mX12m. The bar installation included

a new lighting bar on the front of stage area, and two storage bars on the side stages for

spare lights. Another important part of our refurb was to fix the main curtain track, motor and

pulleys, complete with a new control panel.”

Dave was responsible for the major lighting upgrade for the Etienne Rousseau. As he says,

“replacing equipment and lights is relatively straightforward, but often in these

refurbishments the infrastructure, such as cable and power supply, needs to be upgraded to

enable new technologies to work optimally. For the Etienne Rousseau we did a lot of rewiring

and upgrading of cabling, as well as installing dimmer racks and other control equipment.

We installed a set of Robert Juliat followspots, cyc lighting and a set of Robe LED wash and

spotlights in the effects lighting set-up. The entire refurbishment went very smoothly.

Ultimately we work from the point of view of understanding the theatre environment as a

whole, including its specialised lighting demands, and the demands of the creative

environment. That specialisation we see as a big competitive advantage for us

in the industry.”

the dwr cue card

The team at DWR have a long roll call of

similarly specialised work in theatres all

over the country. In recent times

these include:

Installing a new set of Robe LED

washes in the Joburg Theatre;

A replacement of ropes and pulleys

and safety upgrade for the flight tower

of the Roodepoort Theatre;

A new MA control desk for the

Market Theatre; and new LED house

lights for its sister Laager Theatre.

An extraordinary job for the

production of musical West Side Story

for the Artscape theatre. This Fugard

Theatre production required two towers

to move across the stage, both 9m high

and weighing one and a half tonnes

each. For safety’s sake these were

suspended from trussing and fitted with

a runner and pulley system for

movement across the stage.

56


Chris Bolton – present expert, future teacher

The passion and perseverance of Chris Bolton, Production Director

and co-owner of Keystone Productions, know no bounds. With

roughly 20 years’ experience in the lighting design industry, facing

many challenges and overcoming them with a fierce determination,

Bolton has had a passion for lighting and all it entails, for years.

Developing a love for technology in high school, Bolton went on to

study electronic engineering at the Natal Technicon, but later

switched over to performing arts technology.

From electronics to performing arts technology

“I wanted to find a way to merge my knowledge of electronics, the

technology side, with the creative side. When I finished school I

worked as a performer at a play house where I did two musical,

Fiddler on the Roof and Annie, as a performer, and that was kind of

the final nail in the coffin that made me fall in love with performance

arts technology. At that time I was still doing electronics and I then

switched over from electronics to performing arts technology and

found sound engineering,” he said. “Because there were no moving

lights in those days – it was all static lights -, I found lighting quite boring

actually. The day I saw moving lights I was working at the Sneddon

Theatre in the University of Natal, with Brandon Bunyan and Michael

Broderick and Michael had brought in, at the time, the first moving

lights. I was sold. It was basically the start of my very long journey in

lighting over the years.”

In 2003, after working in the industry for a few years, Bolton,

together with Warren Liss and Jonathan le Roux, started Keystone

Productions, which after 12 years, has expanded into the Keystone

Group of Companies that include Keystone Productions, Keystone

Gear, Keystone Studios, Space Light and Soundscapes.

Going the distance

“What finally put me ahead of a lot of my peers was Martin Show

Designer, which gave me a way of showing people what I can do

with a 3D drawing. At that time, there was only one other person in

South Africa using it and there was no training available,” he said.

That did not stop Bolton, who contacted the company in Holland,

Lighthouse, who had developed the software for Martin, and went to

meet the developers.

“It’s been a very long relationship of 13 to 14 years that I’ve been

one of their beta testers, working on the development part of the

software and eventually I did five tutorials for them on Youtube,

teaching people the basics of show designer. It was such a huge

success that they flew me to the UK in 2011 to go and be a demo artist

on the stand for them, teaching people Martin Show Designer.”

By Elaine Strauss

“I have always liked sharing my

knowledge and I am one of the

few designers that I feel actually

really, truly shares my knowledge. If

anyone wants to know things I am

more than willing to teach them.” – Chris Bolton

From expert to teacher

According to Bolton he has always enjoyed teaching and would like

to teach full time sometime in the future.

“What I get a lot of joy out of, is teaching people skills and

watching people grow from not knowing much in the beginning, to

knowing a substantial amount and then becoming someone that

you can work with closely. I find that very rewarding. That is where I

will be one day, I will be a teacher. One day, I definitely want to have

a production school of sorts that trains youngsters basically all the

information that I had to go about the long way of finding

out myself.”

People that have influenced his life, according to Bolton, are John

Roughly and Michael Broderick.

“They were the first lighting people that blew me away, showed

me stuff and gave me the time of day, which was cool, he said.

“Michael was definitely one of the first guys who inspired me to

become a proper lighting designer.”

Though he loves specific products, Bolton is not a designer who

links himself to a particular brand.

“I have more product than brand favourites. One of the products I

love is the MA2 Console. For me, it is the way to go now. Others

include Hippotizer Media Servers, Robe Robin Pointe, Martin MAC

Viper, Clay Paky B-EYE and the MDG haze machine, which is CO2

based and the only one I use when doing television work. There are

hundreds of manufacturers that make fantastic products, so no, I’m

not really brand specific.”

With regard to future aspirations, Bolton seems content yet

determined, stating his goal of being the best he can be, rather than

focussing on comparisons or achievements.

“Aspirations for the future… For me there is nothing specific. I just

want to keep being the best I can be and with that comes constant

research, constant developments, constantly pushing myself to be

better, to make the next show better and make the next cue tighter. I

think that sums it up.”

57

Chris Bolton with nick Britz of dwr

58

oPInIon

Laser Projectors in the spotlight

Laser projection, albeit topical, is not just

the flavour of the day. With light-source life

expectancy of up to 20 000 hours and

almost no maintenance, the low cost of

ownership is the main appeal. This makes

for nearly 10 years of operation on an 8

hour daily, 5-day week basis.

The advantages pile up, with higher

brightness levels, higher contrast ratios

and better colour and brightness

uniformity. Also, low thermal emissions

result in low noise due to the reduced

cooling requirements. Along with a

near-instant on/off feature, these

projectors really tickle the taste buds and

also if that is not enough, lamp-less

technology results in an absence of

mercury, which makes for a fully

recyclable, environmentally

friendly product.

Traditionally, projector selection has

been based on resolution and brightness, irrespective of the light

source. The imaging-technology did play a role but unless it was

specified in a system design, it didn’t influence the decision process.

Conventional projectors use UHP (Ultra High Performance) and HID

(High-Intensity Discharge) lamps. These high-cost lamps operate at

extremely high temperatures and offer on average only 2000 to 4000

lamp hours depending on the projection conditions. Such limitations

just accentuate the giant leap forward achieved by laser technology.

With projector imaging engines being light-source agnostic, laser is

an added advantage to current DLP (Digital Light Processing), 3-LCD

(Liquid Crystal Display) and LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon)

technologies. Laser – along with LED and OLED – is classified as Solid

State Lighting (SSL) and utilises a collection of semi-conductors to

convert electrical energy into artificial light as

opposed to traditional bulbs with energised

filaments and gasses (fluorescent and

incandescent lamps). The benefits of SSL

technology include life longevity and

high-quality light intensity sustained over time.

It’s also durable, compact and energy

efficient. Laser light systems use low intensity

beam-expanded laser and can be divided

into three sub-technologies namely, RGB laser,

laser phosphor and hybrid laser.

RGB laser systems have three primary

colour laser sources: Red, Green and Blue

laser light in distinctive frequencies is delivered

directly onto a DMD (Digital Micro-mirror

Device) or LCD imaging chip. RGB laser

systems produce a very bright image with

extra wide colour gamut and brightness

uniformity. Unfortunately, they are bulky

and expensive, but are ideal for the digital

cinema market.

Laser phosphor systems optimise one blue laser beam onto a

coated phosphor surface which excites a variety of primary colours

that are processed to create a full colour spectrum image through a

3-LCD or colour-wheel DLP engine. Great colours, with a fairly

compact design and high brightness are all positives.

Hybrid laser projectors use a combination of laser and LED light to

enhance certain primary colours. Contrary to this enhanced colour

technology, it results in a narrower colour gamut and struggles to

reproduce some colours in the spectrum accurately. Lower brightness

is another limitation.

Laser projection is a game changer with an extensive list of benefits

which cannot be ignored. It brings a new dimension to the projector

market and will remain in the limelight for quite some time.

By Abrie du Plooy

abrie du Plooy

there is a saucy new item on the projector menu called lamp-less laser projection. not only is it dripping with solid state lighting goodness but it is also served with a large side order of benefits.

X-LINE ADVANCEThe result of rigorous R&D, the introduction of the new

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X-Line Advance utilizes state-of-the-art EV-engineered components and incorporates a

range of innovative new features, all of which work together to surpass the capabilities of

other line arrays, and all in a signifi cantly more compact, fl exible, and quicker-

to-set-up package.

Forward-thinking line-array design starts here.

KEY FEATURES:

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The fi rst wave of X-Line Advance products includes two full-range elements (X1-212/90 & X2-212/90) and the X12-128 — the most powerful subwoofer EV has ever developed.

Designed, engineered, and tested for ultimate reliability by Electro-Voice in the USA.

Learn more at: www.electrovoice.com/X-LineAdvance

60

lIVe eVentS REVIEW

BOSE F1 SystemBy Jimmy Den-Ouden

Bose is a company that has always liked to do things its own way. the F1 system is no exception to this – i literally can’t think of anything on the market today which is remotely similar. our test system comprised the F1 Model 812 flexible array loudspeaker with the optional F1 subwoofer. a removable frame is integrated into the rear of the subwoofer, and once this is unlatched and slotted into the top of the subwoofer, it forms a platform onto which the Model 812 can then be placed. the frame includes cable management slots, and as you’d expect from Bose, the entire system is neat and attractive in its appearance.

www.rocknrollercart.com

THE FASTEST, EASIEST, CHEAPESTWAY TO MOVE EQUIPMENT

I’ve chosen my words carefully in this story, since my default practice

of referring to the 812 as a 'top box' would be a bit inaccurate. The

812 comprises a single 12” LF driver mounted behind eight 2.25”

mid-high drivers, mounted on an adjustable baffle. Crossover

frequency is 600Hz, nominal horizontal coverage is 100 degrees, and

frequency response is listed as 52Hz – 15.5kHz (+/-3dB). So you see,

the 812 is closer to a full-range speaker than a mid-high. The

mid-high drivers are individually mounted on waveguides, and this is

where things get really interesting.

The centre two drivers are fixed in position, but the upper and

lower sets of three waveguides and drivers can be independently

tilted backward, allowing the vertical coverage of the Model 812 to

be adjusted. Each of the upper and lower sections snaps into place

in the forward or backward position courtesy of magnets concealed

within the enclosure. As each section snaps into place, subtle

changes are made to the internal processing of the array to adjust

the nominal vertical coverage. The Model 812 is internally bi-

amplified, so presumably the processing changes relate to level.

Four modes are available – straight line, J curve, reverse J curve, or

C curve. This allows the Model 812 to be used in a variety of different

situations – the F1 website illustrates this very well with diagrams.

As physics has taught us, the lower the frequency you wish to steer,

the longer the array you need to do this. For an array which is just a

little over 66cm high, the Model 812 does quite a good job of

directing sound in response to changes to the baffle configuration. It

sends the sound where you point it, which (assuming you point it in

the right direction) is a big win in reverberant spaces.

The back panel of the Model 812 includes IEC power connection

and rocker switch, as well as dual audio inputs. The first input uses a

combo XLR/TRS connector and it can be switched between mic and

61

62

lIVe eVentS REVIEW

line sensitivity, while the second input offers dual RCA or a TRS jack.

Independent level control and input signal LED is provided for each

channel, and there’s also a 'full range / with sub' switch, as well as a

switch to control the front panel LED function (power, limit or off). The

rear panel shows a power LED as well as an amp limit LED, and try as I

might, I was unable to drive the amp into limit before clipping the

input channel. We ran pink noise into the Model 812 in full range

mode, and at 1m recorded a maximum SPL of 117dBA(slow). Granted

it wasn’t sounding quite itself at this point, but it went way louder than I

was expecting it to. When you’re not completely wringing its neck, the

Model 812 sounds really good. Sonically it’s the most well-balanced

Bose speaker I’ve ever heard. Impressive as it is some users will require

more low-end extension than the single 12” offers.

The good news is that the F1 Subwoofer matches up nicely with the

Model 812. It comprises a pair of 10” drivers, and physically it’s just a

bit larger than the 812, and at 24.9kg it’s still fairly manageable for one

person. The integrated stand is a really nice idea, I just can’t help but

wish they’d made the whole thing a bit taller to give the 812 some

more elevation. The F1 subwoofer has dual XLR/TRS combo jack

inputs with line outputs and common level control. Slide switches

allow for polarity reversal and HPF on the line outputs.

While the F1 sub is clearly designed as part of the F1 system, it’s also

generic and flexible enough you could use it in conjunction with other

products. It strikes me that this is almost a new level of

‘interoperability’ for Bose, and I think it’s a very positive move indeed.

I’m of the opinion that Bose has always made good subs, and the F1

sub is no exception to this. It pushes out very respectable level for a

compact little unit, and I found I needed to turn it down a little from

the centre detent to prevent it from dominating the system.

I was not sure what to expect from the F1 system. I thought the

flexible array thing would be a bit of a gimmick, but having played

with it I can see it being quite useful in real-world applications. I like

how the system sounds, and the way it’s refreshingly compatible with

other gear. Most of all, I like the price, which is around the same as

you’d pay for a 12” and horn and subwoofer system from any other

reputable manufacturer. F1 is market competitive to start with, and

the flexible coverage options only add to its value.

retail informationBrand: BOSE

Model: F1 System

F1T Flexible array top R45 999

F1S Dual 10" Sub R45 999

RRP for complete unit, incl. VAT, R91 998.

Price correct at time of print and subject to change

Product info:

http://worldwide.bose.com/pro/en_us/web/f1_model_812/page.html

Distributor info: www.tidistribution.co.za

63

SocIAl

Mark Fourie and Christiaan Beukesdolph du Plessis and Pieter nel

adamson and tid Group

shaun Pool and Gaynor Fabry

Xolani Khuzwayo, Blessing vilakazi, Ben ngubane, Bafana dzingayi, Martin smith and shaniel Laloo

stephen Bricknell and Jochen sommer

donovan Greeff, Kobus vreden and Barend Greeffdaniel steyn and Bianca roode

Marinus van Heerden, Grant Leonard and werner Pretorius

eugene oosthuizen and Chris van staden

Adamson launch in SA with TID – Barnyard Theatre, Rivonia

CEDIA training – The Forum, Bryanston

retail informationBrand: BOSE

Model: F1 System

F1T Flexible array top R45 999

F1S Dual 10" Sub R45 999

RRP for complete unit, incl. VAT, R91 998.

Price correct at time of print and subject to change

Product info:

http://worldwide.bose.com/pro/en_us/web/f1_model_812/page.html

Distributor info: www.tidistribution.co.za

64

SocIAl

Kramer K-Touch 3.0 seminar – Innovatec Africa House, Sandton

Smaart training Surgesound – Head Office, Fourways

Paul servant, Paul okus, rhys shellard and dean Govender

Michael van rensburg, Marinus visser and Brad diedericks

neil Barrkman, richard Hill-Jowett, Clinton Barnard, Linda swart and richard schachinger

thomas Kopin and eugene Coetzee

ndumiso dhlamini and Martin Monyepao

Juan rossouw, adré Pansegrouw, Gustav Pansegrouw and Michael Joubert

werner nieman, vivian Bannatyne and timothy Kruger

abrie du Plooy and Lloyd Langenhoven

ruan Joubert

Viva Afrika Sound and Light (Pty) Ltd45 Lake Road, Longmeadow

Longmeadow North Business ParkPO Box 4709, Rivonia, 2128, South Africa

Tel: 011 250-3280, Fax: 011 [email protected], www.vivaafrika.co.za

viva afrika

K-LA210 DSP Dual 10” 2 Way Active Line Array

Frequency Response (+/- 6dB anechoic chamber):

57Hz – 20 000Hz

Drivers: HF Driver: BEYMA, 1.4” exit, 1.75” voice coil

LF/MF Driver: BEYMA, 2.5” voice coil

Signal Input/Output Connector: Female XRL Input,

Male XLR Output

Power Input/Output Connector:

Powercon NAC3MPA / NAC3MPB


Maximum calculated SPL/M

(Continuous/Program/Peak): 125dB/128dB/131dB

Amplifi er: Class D

Processor: 48KHz signal sampling, 56bit

Weight: 38.5Kg


K-LA Series – powerfully ACTIVE

NEW

PRODUCT

Series – powerfully ACTIVE

DSP Features

• K-LA Line Array Systems

features maximum simplicity in

Set up and Operation.

• A compact portable touring,

rental and installation system

that brings Line-Array

technology to an accessible

ease of use and price point

• A dynamic sound well packed

in a compact size, for the right

price , this is KLA Series

3 x K-LA 218 DSP

K-LA 210 DSP Frame

6 x K-LA 210 DSP

18900 Watts




3 x K-LA 218 DSP

K-LA 210 DSP Frame

6 x K-LA 210 DSP


IT’S ALL ABOUT THE peopleDWR Distribution contact details:Block C, Unit 1, Kimbult Industrial Park, 9 Zeiss Road, Laserpark, Honeydew, 2170, JohannesburgTel: +27 11 794 5023 | Fax: +27 11 794 5702 | [email protected] | www.dwrdistribution.co.za

Documents

Pro Systems September-October 2015