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Taken from news.etnow.com/etnews.nsf/0/e6c515c8e895...02f089f?OpenDocument

It's a bit technie but of interest....

RADlite NG1 in Action with Australian Pink Floyd

A Radical Lighting RADlite NG1 digital media server is in action on the current Australian Pink Floyd UK arena tour which has just kicked off again with a completely new design for 2007.

   RADlite is the latest development in the all-important video and visuals element of the band?s show. It?s being used for soft-edging and masking images, movies and effects being projected onto a 60 ft wide upstage arched surface with a five metre diameter circular truss hung in front of it.

   Lighting director Phil White and show projectionist Chris Gadd were instrumental in getting RADlite specified for the tour, having used the system before and knowing that lighting and video supplier Entec has also invested in RADlite systems. They knew that it would make life infinitely easier on a number of levels for the video department, including with resizing the projections and masking as they swapped between different venues.

   Visuals are looked after during the show by Gadd, along with White and video aficionado Richard Hutton. These three are joined by super-tech Simon Howarth, another Entec regular, and the 2007 Total Production Awards "Rigger of the Year", Danny Spratt.

   Lighting has again been designed by Dave Hill, who stepped the production values up yet another level this time around with the addition of the upstage arch, echoing one of the classic structural fundamentals from Pink Floyd?s seminal ?Pulse? tour (1994/5).

   All video content for the Australian Pink Floyd?s three-hour show is produced by Damian Darlington and Bryan Kolupski. This is streamed into the RADlite via a capture card, and then edge-blended in the system to create the 60 ft wide image needed to fill the arch shaped screen with projections from two Christie LX100 projectors."There?s no other cost-effective product on the market that can touch RADlite on this function," says Hutton.

   The longer term plan is also to move storage of all the video content and sources over to the RADlite, to allow control from the lighting console, as the time allows in their hectic touring schedule.

   Video is also projected onto the middle of the trussing circle. When circle-only images are required, Gadd manually drops in the RADlite mask that blacks out anything running across the arch.

   The arched projection surface is made up of three sections, the centre strip of which can be removed, shrinking the whole thing by 8 ft for smaller stages, and there?s other situations where they might use only one projector. When this happens, all they have to do is change the screen resolution size in RADlite, and the images will automatically fit the different size and throw distances. "One click and it?s done," enthuses Gadd.

   The masks were created using a simple picture editor. There are six different arch configurations in total, all reflecting slightly different variations of the show and stage layout.

   White, Hutton and Gadd are all impressed with the support they have received from Radical Lighting?s technical director Simon Carter, who was actively involved during their short rehearsal period in ensuring the system delivered everything they specifically needed.

   This marks the third Pink Floyd association for Radical Lighting. They have also supplied a PixelDrive system for another highly credible tribute band, Off The Wall, and their PixelDrive product again featured heavily during the real Pink Floyd?s Live8 performance in London.

Fascinating stuff Ian.

And another one.... this time from news.etnow.com/etnews.nsf/0/89c7c4a8c718...053257a?OpenDocument

The Australian Pink Floyd Show Shines On
The Australian Pink Floyd Show has been around for nearly 20 years now, and those of you who have had the chance to hear them will know why. The musicians behind the show are every bit as talented as the real Floyd.
  So with this in mind, when it comes time for touring they need a lighting spectacular every bit as enthralling. And that is exactly what their 2007 tour is.
  The challenging task was put to lighting designer, David Hill, whose past experience is as broad as it is impressive ? from Swan Lake to the Rolling Stones. ?The idea for this tour has been buzzing around my head for a couple of years now. It is very loosely modelled around the Pink Floyd Pulse tour from 1994, hence the arch and circle,? explained Hill.
  ?I wanted a back wall of lights that could create a barrage of effects, the intention being to recreate some Floyd looks but at the same time build a show that is unique to The Australian Pink Floyd. We really wanted to produce a visual feast for the audience.?
  This wasn?t the easiest of tasks when a key parameter was that the whole rig had to fit into only two touring trucks. So compact yet powerful was the order of the day.
  ?I had to come up with an arch that was versatile enough to fit in many different venues. I decided to go with a black Mini-Beam truss arch, 57 foot wide x 30 foot high for arenas that could also, in stages, be reduce to 36 foot wide x 23 foot high, with a projection screen fill.?
  This versatility supported production manager Andrew Keightley?s view that no audience should be short changed and that the show must remain consistently spectacular whether in an intimate venue such as Norwich UEA or an arena like Manchester MENA.
  A mixture of LED and Moving heads on the circle and arch created a wild Catherine wheel effect while the floor was busy with MAC 700 Washes, Martin Atomic Strobes and Vari*Lite VL2500s.
  ?For lighting I chose 33 MAC 250 Wash lights to hang evenly around the inside edge of the circle. They are small and light while punchy and very fast - allowing for greater movement, colour changes and strobe effects.?
  Noreen O?Riordan from Entec Sound & Light, who provided the lights adds: ?We knew we would be tight on space so the lights specified had to not only be dynamic for large arenas, but compact. Jessica Allan from Martin demonstrated the MAC 250 Wash and it was perfect. The units are very responsive and cut through the enormous amounts of Jem smoke and Martin 24/7 haze used during the show.?
  And when it all came together ? light, laser, music and fog ? it created a stunning show that has seen people coming back for more.

Great Find Ian..... I am always interested in the behind the scenes of a production like the Aussies.

Every year I think that they cant get any better, every year I am happy that I was wrong and they have gone up another notch.

Now all we need is the flying bedstead to fly across the arena above the heads of the audience.

I agree Remy, I always enjoy reading about the poroduction side of the show.

thanks Ian...very interesting