Plans installation in two studios used for live sports and entertainment shows

Montrouge, France – Hybrid, a leading provider of real-time graphics and robotic camera systems, announces that Al-Nahar TV—a global entertainment and news network leader in Egypt—has purchased Hybrid 3D virtual studio solutions and robotic camera heads. The equipment will transform two studios used for daily news, entertainment and live sports programming for Al Nahar Entertainment and Al-Nahar Sports channels respectively.

Each studio will employ the same configuration of Hybrid products: two Silver II PTZF robotic camera heads, a Cobalt control panel with Mercury control software, and one camera in the ceiling for beauty shots using Hybrid’s Neon trackless virtual set solution.

“We’ve been extremely thorough in our review of the available virtual studio systems,� said Amr El-Kahky, the Head of Al-Nahar TV Network. “We feel confident that the Hybrid virtual studio solutions and robotic camera support will meet our needs. We’re looking forward to all of the design and operational benefits they’ll provide our network.�

Al-Nahar TV Network, who’s clinched a dozen awards since launching in June 2011, has been among the top three TV networks in Egypt’s post revolution era. The Egyptian broadcaster’s management seeks modern and robust technology to jump to the top of the competitive charts.

The sale agreement was finalized at the 2013 CABSAT Show, which occurred from March 12-14, 2013 in Dubai, UAE. Systems Design and Technology KAR— two systems integration firms and Hybrid technology partners based in Egypt—facilitated the sale and will manage the installation. Al-Nahar TV, which operates a total of five satellite channels in Arabic and English, is currently designing the virtual sets.

“We’re very happy to enter into this new relationship with Al-Nahar TV. We’ve been in communication with them for a long time, so this is a very rewarding win for us. We believe that our virtual studio solution enables them to meet and expand their high-quality live program offerings,� said Olivier Cohen, CEO of Hybrid.

The trackless virtual set Neon is based upon the same core engine as Hybrid’s higher-end Krypton system, but it allows for virtual camera movements in real-time from fixed cameras on set. It requires only a PC and software and operates with a simple drag-and-drop process. It creates the illusion of sophisticated camera moves within a virtual set without use of a tracking system, chroma keyer or other accessories – this allows Neon to be a fully portable virtual studio system. Neon can import 3D scenes and models from all common modeling software, such as 3D Max, Maya, Softimage.

Al-Nahar TV also ordered two Hybrid Silver II robotic pan/tilt/zoom/focus (PTZF) camera control systems for tracking virtual studio camera moves, such as zooms from wide to close-up. A fixed camera will be mounted at ceiling height for dramatic camera tracking effects during live shows, such as camera moves that start from the studio entry and zooming in toward the talent.

“Al-Nahar TV has many current shows and plans to produce many more. So Hybrid technology will be an ideal solution,� said Ahmed Gamal, managing director of Systems Design. “They’ll be able to save money they would have spent building physical sets, plus they’ll be able to easily modify the scenes whenever necessary. With their Hybrid virtual studio solutions, they’ll be able to produce shows with greater creativity and flexibility.�

About Hybrid

Hybrid is a leading manufacturer of broadcast production technologies. The company’s mission is to develop solutions and products that allow the digital media market to produce value-added content within an integrated workflow. Our product range includes virtual studio and augmented reality solutions and broadcast robotic camera supports. Hybrid consistently develops new products and solutions that push the limits of content creation while providing a clear rationalization of costs. Further information is available at www.hybridtv.tv.

CANANDAIGUA, NEW YORK – APRIL 2013: Given its exceptional faculty and its extensive facilities for Music and Music Recording Technology, the Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua, New York is rare among community colleges. The résumés of its faculty include some of the best-known commercial recording studios in the world, and the campus is home to the Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center (CMAC), a popular outdoor venue that seats 5,000, and a John Storyk-designed recording studio. Recently, the school committed to building a new Student Life Center building, which, among many other amenities, includes a 410-seat Performing Arts Center and a smaller multipurpose room with flexible seating. The performing arts center is acoustically- and technologically-flexible and capable of effectively delivering acoustic music, high-SPL rock, and everything in-between. Both rooms rely on Danley Sound Labs loudspeakers and subwoofers to convey high-fidelity sound reinforcement with precise pattern control.

“It was only after we had designed the room for acoustic music that the school added high SPL amplified music to the list of requirements,� explained Seth Waltz, principal of AVL Designs (Penfield, New York). “It was originally designed as a classic recital hall, and we did all of the acoustic work with that in mind. Our initial plan called for a small central cluster of loudspeakers that would be used strictly for voice reinforcement. But then they changed things and wanted to be able to accommodate rock bands and dramatic theater. So we had to move backwards, working around the acoustics and the lighting positions that were already in place.� JMZ Architects (Glens Falls, New York) led the project, and AVL Designs designed the acoustics, rigging, lighting, video, and sound reinforcement for both rooms. Platinum Sound (Victor, New York) installed the audio and video systems, and BMI Supply installed the rigging and lighting.

“Given the new requirements, we had to find a very well-controlled loudspeaker that would keep energy off the walls and ceiling, yet deliver tremendous SPL with audiophile fidelity,� said Waltz. “Because of sight lines, lighting positions, and the geometry of the room, a line array was out of the question. Danley Sound Labs’ Synergy Horn technology was the obvious, and perhaps only choice.� AVL designed stereo clusters mounted at either edge of the proscenium, each composed of a Danley SH-64 with a Danley SH-95 for downfill. Four Danley TH-112 subwoofers support the low end from below the stage.

A Digidesign Venue SC48 sits at FOH and feeds an Ashly ne24.24M modular I/O processor configured four eight inputs and sixteen outputs. “In terms of sound quality for the dollar, I love the Ashly processors,� said Waltz. “The Ashly ne24.24M is the perfect FOH processor.� A pair of four-channel Lab.gruppen c48:4s power the Danley TH-112 subwoofers and the Danley SH-64 loudspeakers, and a c28:4 powers the SH-95s. Crestron control integrates all of the A/V system functionality and lights. A high-definition Christie Digital LX1500 projector illuminates a Da-Lite 270-inch screen for cinema-quality video, and ETC lighting with 192 channels of dimming allow for flexible and dramatic staging.

The design goal was not merely to make the Performing Arts Center acceptable for a wide range of music and performances, but to make it excellent across that range. Because they have such low distortion and because it is largely independent of the output volume, the Danley loudspeakers and subwoofers contribute significantly toward that goal. Going further, AVL Designs incorporated a Yamaha AFC electronic reverberation system for the room. A series of sixteen hidden microphones feed a processing engine that outputs to approximately forty hidden loudspeakers with small subwoofers built in. Using the Yamaha system, the room’s reverb can be adjusted between 1 and 2.5 seconds.

Although much smaller in scope, the multipurpose room was the first space in which the college’s discriminating faculty had an opportunity to hear Danley loudspeakers installed. A pair of Danley SH-100Bs provide stereo output with integrated subwoofer support. “The faculty – and these are all veteran recording engineers – were blown away by the Danley SH-100Bs,â€� said Waltz. “And when these people say that they like the way a loudspeaker sounds, it really means something!â€� A Yamaha 24-channel digital console feeds another Ashly ne24.24M, this time configured as 8×12. A QSC PLX 3102 amplifier powers the system.

ABOUT DANLEY SOUND LABS Danley Sound Labs is the exclusive home of Tom Danley, one of the most innovative loudspeaker designers in the industry today and recognized worldwide as a pioneer for “outside the box” thinking in professional audio technology. www.danleysoundlabs.com

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DALLAS, Texas — HARMAN’s Soundcraft continues its popular “Mixing with Professionals� (MwP) series with a stop in Dallas, Texas on May 15, 2013. MwP offers tips and tricks about using Soundcraft Vi Series consoles from some of live sound’s most accomplished engineers. Ken Newman, front of house engineer for Barry Manilow and owner of Newman Audio will conduct the Dallas sessions.

Ken Newman is currently on tour with Manilow and has done live sound for Chris Isaak, Anita Baker, Stevie Nicks, Liza Minnelli, Paul Anka and other top performers. No stranger to a front of house console, Newman began mixing sound in 1972 as a teenager and hasn’t stopped since.

Newman will give MwP attendees in-depth training on the Soundcraft Vi Series consoles in a classroom atmosphere that allows plenty of hands-on training. If participants bring a USB stick they can save their settings and take them on the road for their next gig, or keep working on their settings using the Soundcraft Virtual Vi offline editors, which is available free on the Soundcraft website.

“I really enjoy doing the Soundcraft ‘Mixing with Professionals’ seminars and so do the attendees, who learn a lot about using the Vi Series consoles in the real-world of live performance,� said Newman. “There’s no console I’d rather have in front of me than a Soundcraft Vi6—it puts everything I need at my fingertips and let’s me handle the most demanding live mixing situations with complete assurance.�

The MwP sessions will be held on May 15 at Dobbs Stanford Corporation, 2715 Electronic Lane, Dallas, TX 75220.

Two time slots will be available from 9:00 am – 12:00 noon and from 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm. The course is free to attend but registration is required and space is limited. Details are available at usa.soundcraft.com and participants can register via e-mail at Soundcraft-usa@harman.com.

HARMAN (www.harman.com) designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets — supported by 15 leading brands, including AKG®, Harman Kardon®, Infinity®, JBL®, Lexicon® and Mark Levinson®. The Company is admired by audiophiles across multiple generations and supports leading professional entertainers and the venues where they perform. More than 25 million automobiles on the road today are equipped with HARMAN audio and infotainment systems. HARMAN has a workforce of about 13,400 people across the Americas, Europe and Asia, and reported net sales of $4.4 billion for year ended June 30, 2012.

Click here to watch the movie. Also available on YouTube.

ReaLED technology from projectiondesign powers ‘Earthquake’ exhibit at California Academy of Sciences

FL32 projectors chosen for accuracy, sustainability, and low cost of ownership

Norway’s projectiondesign is delighted to announce that it has supplied its FL32 DLP® projectors to the California Academy of Sciences for use in its ‘Earthquake’ exhibit.

The projectors, which use the manufacturer’s ReaLED™ solid-state light-source technology, are used to drive the display aspects of a 20ft-wide immersive dome, which shows a three-minute film linking the concepts of geological time (plate movements over millions of years) and human time (earthquake activity, specifically in the San Francisco Bay Area).

The outputs of the projectors are seamlessly edge-blended onto a domed projection surface, with content being derived from 7thSense Delta media servers, and image processing and alignment from Scalable Display Technologies. Visual Acuity acted as an independent technology consultant for the project, effectively reprising the role the company performed in the original design of the Academy’s planetarium. Systems integration was performed by local AV systems company BBI Engineering.

This latest project for the Academy comes after projectiondesign supplied several projectors to the institution for its Morrison Planetarium, Water Planet exhibit, Hohfeld Hall pre-show area and scientific Visualization Studio in 2008.

Maria Dahl Aagaard, Product Marketing Manager, projectiondesign, adds: “When our relationship with the California Academy of Sciences started, we knew that they wanted to achieve Platinum LEED certification for sustainable building design, and we were delighted that the low power consumption and high efficiency of our projectors helped to make them first-choice.

“Four years later, with the Academy having achieved a second Platinum rating for its environmentally responsible operations and maintenance, the emphasis is even more firmly on sustainability. The ReaLED technology that powers our FL32 promises 100,000 hours of service life with no deterioration in output over time, which in addition to helping preserve our planet, also gives the customer a very low and completely predictable cost of ownership.�

Independent international technology consultant and long term partner with the California Academy of Sciences, Blair Parkin, Managing Director at Visual Acuity adds: “having worked extensively with projectiondesign and their integration partners during the 2008 opening we knew just where to go to find the latest in projection technology. Since the original project projectiondesign have made massive strides in furthering energy efficient display technology with the launch of their ReaLED product range hence it was an easy decision to select the FL32 projectors for this demanding application.�

‘Earthquake’, which contains a number of other attractions in addition to the mini-dome, occupies the entire west hall of the Academy and opened to the public for the first time on May 26, 2012. It is expected to be part of the Academy’s visitor offerings for several years.

www.projectiondesign.com

Source: Electrosonic, http://www.electrosonic.co.uk/news/electrosonic-goes-back-nature-mohonk-preserve-visitor-center

Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunk Mountains near New Paltz, New York, is marking its 50th anniversary this year with a renovation of its green design award-winning Visitor Center tucked cozily into the woods. Electrosonic was charged with creating several new exhibits for the main floor, which enable visitors to maximize their time in New York’s largest nonprofit nature preserve.

Electrosonic installed and programmed the 10-minute orientation film produced by Richard Lewis Media Group, and displayed it in a visitor orientation theater with bench seating. The theater boasts a 26-foot wide curved screen fed by four projectiondesign F12 projectors blended and warped via Dataton WATCHOUTâ„¢ multi-image display and presentation software.

“The theater was our biggest challenge,� noted Electrosonic project manager Jackson Benedict. “It’s a very small space with a low ceiling. We had to use fixed-lens projectors, which meant there was very little tolerance in installing them. We had to build a custom ceiling mount that allowed for projector adjustment in the field, as necessary. Projector airflow in the small space also had to be managed effectively.

“The very sharp curve of the screen provided a challenge for warping the blend in WATCHOUT,� Benedict said. “It was quite complicated. Shifting the projector one inch in the wrong direction would change everything.�

A small control room behind the screen houses equipment in a single rack. The content for all of the interactives can be updated remotely to keep content fresh and up to date. “Electrosonic worked with the exhibit fabricators to make sure we had relatively easy access to all equipment for service,� said Benedict.

With over 8,000 acres of mountain ridges, fields, streams, ponds and other unique and beautiful places, Mohonk Preserve is dedicated to protecting the Shawangunk Mountains by inspiring people to care for, enjoy and explore the natural world. Visitors can bike, hike, climb, ride horses, run, ski and snowshoe in the Preserve. Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership was responsible for the architecture, interiors, graphic design and exhibit design of the Visitor Center project.

www.projectiondesign.com

Entertainment technology providers, WorldStage has provided a customized iPhone software app for the new Broadway Musical, “BARE”. WorldStage also provided three videomapped Christie WX10K 10K projectors and integrated Dataton WATCHOUTâ„¢ multi-image display and presentation software package featuring display computer, production computers and a Dynamic Image Server that supports live video streaming. WATCHOUT and the servers to run it were supplied to WorldStage by Show Sage, Dataton Premium Partner for North America.

“We selected WATCHOUT because it could be deployed for the visual projections as well as integrated with an iPhone app,” says WorldStage account executive, Lars Pedersen.

In explaining how the app works, projection designer, William Cusick says: “One character is asked by another to take his picture with his iPhone. So he aims the phone and slowly the live camera feed from the phone comes up on the concrete wall behind them. Then the character snaps the picture, and we see the frozen video image. That same picture is shown two more times in the show: as a saved screen capture and in a memorial scene after the character dies. So there’s a through-line with the image.”

“Bare” is a contemporary rock musical playing at New World Stages in the heart of the Manhattan theater district, New York City and will make its debut in Switzerland in 2013. It is an emotionally charged tale of a group of teens coming to grips with issues of identity, sexuality and religion at a co-ed Catholic boarding school. It was first staged in Los Angeles over a decade ago and has had over 100 productions worldwide.

Jim Testa, President, Show Sage says: “All WorldStage projects are backed up by local technical service, hardware and software support from Show Sage.�

Fredrik Svahnberg, Marketing Director at Dataton ends: “WorldStage have always pushed the boundaries of our product in the market. It’s terrific to see WATCHOUT creatively integrated as a storytelling medium to delight and engage theatrical audiences.”

www.dataton.com
www.showsage.com

Suwanee, Georgia, April 25, 2013 — Dads and grads tend to have very different ideas of what defines an amazing gift, as one is gearing up to go to college and the other is buttoning down to pay those tuition bills. There is one thing they can agree on though, the Hisense K610 LED 3D Smart TV, feature-packed with breathtaking picture quality, is guaranteed to put on a smile on both of their faces.

With a super fine 13mm bezel and built-in WiFi, the 50� and 55� Full HD 1080p K610 series makes a statement in any room. With the latest Hisense Smart TV interface, the K610 enables access to thousands of Vudu™ HD movies, Netflix®, YouTube™, Pandora® and more, while bringing forth stunning details with crystal-clear, vibrant colors and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate.

“The Hisense K610 is the perfect gift- whether you’re trying to make your graduate’s new college dorm feel a little more like home, or upgrading your own empty nest by treating your partner for Father’s Day,� said Jonathan Frank, Vice President of Marketing, Hisense USA. “The Hisense K610 is fresh and stylish, with all the Smart functions and features on the market, making it a top gifting choice this season.�

For more information about Hisense’s range of innovative products, visit www.hisense-usa.com.

About Hisense USA Corporation
Established in 2001, Hisense USA Corporation is a Georgia based subsidiary of the Hisense Company Ltd., headquartered in Qingdao, China. Hisense USA offers a broad range of highly affordable consumer electronics products in the North American market, including televisions, refrigerators, air-conditioners, dehumidifiers, beverage coolers and freezers. In 2010 Hisense established an R&D center in Georgia to enable localized product development and innovation.

Hisense USA sells into retailers across North America, including hhgregg, Best Buy, Walmart, Costco.com, Canadian Tire and more. Around the world, Hisense has production bases in South Africa, Algeria, Egypt and sales offices in the USA, Europe, Australia, the Middle East a

When a major ATV manufacturer wanted to generate excitement at its annual dealers’ meeting, Clearwing Productions, Inc. turned to MA Lighting’s grandMA2 onPC command wing with grandMA2 onPC fader wing to program 70 moving lights and 48 feet of Color Kinetics’ ColorBlaze units and a grandMA2 light to run the show. A.C.T Lighting is the exclusive distributor of MA Lighting products in North America.

The meeting in the ballroom of the Phoenix Convention Center drew 1,5000 dealers to presentations, effects-filled product reveals, an awards ceremony and mid-show entertainment. The Phoenix office of Clearwing, which provides sound, lighting and services, includes a grandMA2 light, grandMA2 onPC command wings and its new grandMA2 onPC fader wing as part of its standard kit for live staging jobs.

“I’ve been using the grandMA2 light for the last two years and would never go back to another console,” says Aaron Hubbard, Clearwing’s director of business development and the lighting programmer for the dealers’ meeting. “The command wing system is typically our back up system. In this case we actually needed to program the show from the command wing because the position of the MA2 LIte desk was pretty far away, and with this small platform you can get right up front witch makes it’s rather convenient. “Running three touchscreens from the windows system using a simple USB>VGA video driver allowed me to use an un-modified user profile”

MA’s onPC command wing is a portable solution offering realtime control for 2,048 parameters in combination with grandMA2 onPC. Designed as the perfect hardware expansion to the grandMA2 onPC software, grandMA2 onPC command wing enables the look and feel of the software to be as close as possible to a real grandMA2 console.

Lighting designer Michael Murnane of Footcandles LLC teamed with Clearwing Productions, inc. on the dealers’ meeting. While the show itself ran from the grandMA2 light the wings remained on the active network as a tracking back up, Hubbard reports. “Until we opened the house, I had the command wing front and center in the ballroom for any adjustments and aerial positioning. I preferred to come down from my crow’s nest to use the wing and be at the center of the stage so I could see symmetry.”

One of the biggest advantages to grandMA2 onPC command wing and grandMA2 onPC fader wing is their portability. “They’re small enough to get into some interesting places,” says Hubbard. “We could move them up into the bleacher seats to program from that perspective. We could move them anywhere and program from that vantage point.”

In addition, “since the system is on a PC, I can use an iOS remote desktop connection app to control any functions directly from my iPad,” he explains. “Of course allowing me to ability to play back cues from the iPad is a huge benefit.”

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – APRIL 2013: Symetrix announces delivery of the SymNet Radius AEC, a core acoustic echo-cancelling device for deployment in teleconferencing installations of any size. The 1U rack unit contains eight mic/line wideband echo cancellers, eight line outputs, and four auxiliary line inputs. Application specific input or output expansion of a single Radius AEC is facilitated with a configurable slot supporting any SymNet I/O card including the recently released 2 Line Analog Telephone Interface.

As a building block in larger systems Radius AEC uses Dante for network audio connections to additional Radius or SymNet Edge DSPs, and to the cost-effective SymNet 12-channel I/O expanders.

Paul Roberts, Symetrix CEO was quick to point out, “We designed mega DSP into this box. In addition to the eight full-band, low-latency channels with direct outputs, we have a flexible general purpose DSP to handle all the other processing that is truly required to support high-intelligibility speech and effective communications. Corporate and educational end users are raising the bar every day. We purposefully designed Radius AEC to stay ahead of the curve.�

As with all SymNet DSP products using Composer open architecture software, Radius AEC supports an array of user controls including the ARC-WEB browser, ARC wall panels, SymVue custom user screens, and third party touchscreens.

ABOUT SYMETRIX Symetrix engineers high-end professional audio solutions, specializing in DSP hardware and software. Symetrix products are distributed worldwide, and designed and manufactured in the U.S. at the Seattle area headquarters. Since 1976, customers have enjoyed the benefits of Symetrix independent ownership and management. For more information on Symetrix professional audio products, please visit www.symetrix.co or call +1 (425) 778-7728.

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – APRIL 2013: Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures it caused left Joe W. Brown Memorial Park in east New Orleans under seven feet of water. The water sat for weeks, leaving everything below its depths to rust and rot. The march toward full recovery has advanced slowly but steadily, and now Joe Brown Park is not only back, it’s better than it was in the summer of 2005, before the fateful hurricane made landfall. Nike, the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Drew Brees Foundation joined the city to help fund the $23 million rehab, which includes a new football field and a new track and soccer field. Local A/V integration firm Technical Services Group (TSG) designed and installed sound reinforcement systems for both areas, relying on Ashly Audio processing, amplification, and user control to provide a pair of complementary system that – although different “under the hood� – function identically from the user’s perspective.

“I grew up in New Orleans, and I played high school baseball at Joe Brown Park,� said Patrick Meek, vice president of sales and marketing at TSG, who, together with A/V designer, Scott Richard won the bid and saw the project through to completion. “Being a part of this project was important to me personally. Moreover, it’s a high-profile job that’s being funded by some very big organizations. We worked hard to create a powerful, reliable system on budget, and Ashly’s performance per dollar, for processing, amplification, and user control, was a significant part of our success.�

Because an endless parade of different, non-technically-inclined teachers, park officials, parents, and others would need to be able to reliably use the systems, they had to be completely intuitive. TSG therefore led with the Ashly RW-8C, a four-gang wall plate with eight programmable channel faders and a programmable master fader, each with an on/off button. “The two systems operate as equals from the user’s perspective,� said Meek. “They can walk into either one and understand that the various available microphones and input sources, all labeled on the RW-8C, can be turned on or off and turned up or turned down. Behind the scenes, the processing, amplification, and loudspeakers are different between the two systems, but that’s invisible to them.�

The football field uses an Ashly ne24.24M processor configured with twelve inputs and eight outputs. A Denon CD player joins two Sennheiser HMD-Series headset microphones, a handheld Sennheiser e 935 microphone for vocals, and two Lectrosonics Venue-Series wireless microphones (a belt-pack transmitter lavalier system) and a handheld microphone transmitter at the inputs. Three QSC ISA-Series amplifiers power a Community array composed of two R2-77z, two R2-94z, and two R2-52z loudspeakers. In contrast, the track and field uses an Ashly Pema 8250.70 combination amplifier/processor together with a Protea processing-equipped Ashly ne2400.pe for both signal conditioning, mixing, and power. Again, a Denon CD player allows for music playback, a Sennheiser HMD-Series headset, and a wired Sennheiser e935 microphone provides input for vocals, but this time those inputs are joined by Sennheiser ew-Series wireless lavalier and handheld microphones. Two Community R.5-66TZ and two Community R.5-94TZ loudspeakers complete the system.

ABOUT ASHLY AUDIO Ashly Audio Inc. is recognized as a world leader in the design and manufacturing of high quality & high performance signal processing equipment and power amplification for use in the commercial sound contracting and professional audio markets. The 37-year old company is headquartered in Webster, New York U.S.A. www.ashly.com

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