PROLIGHT & SOUND TRADE SHOW 2012

Bruce Schwartz and Renier Smit of Electrosonic SA returned exhausted but exhilarated after attending the annual Prolight + Sound Trade Show held in March in the spacious Frankfort Messe.

This year, in honour of Martin's 25th anniversary, Bruce and Renier were accommodated at the Motel One as guests of Martin Professional, along with all their international Martin friends and colleagues, which proved to be an intense time of socialising and knowledge gathering.

To mark their 25th year anniversary, Martin organised a series of festive social events over the course of the show, including an informal 'meet and greet' and a 'Martin Welcome Party' which entertained guests with live music and very lively conversation.

Bruce and Renier's visit to Germany began with an International Martin Dealer Conference, at which they were given insight into Martin's future plans and were introduced to 12 new products, including a revolutionary new breed of high-performance moving head, the MAC Viper, which was officially launched at the show.

Other luminaires on display at the Martin stand were the new range of the popular MACIII family, the new VC–Series of creative LED video solutions, new Portable Lighting Controllers in the M-Series and the new compact Hazer in the Jem family of products.

The following new technology from Martin can be expected on Electrosonic's shelves from June:

MAC Viper™: The MAC Viper Profile is a new breed of high-output profile luminaire with an exceptional feature set and highly efficient optical system that outperforms market-leading profiles in the 1200-watt range. Its 1000-watt HID source is convincingly brighter than 1200-watt fixtures and the MAC Viper Profile also outperforms them in terms of speed and compactness. Power consumption is lower and output is approximately 50% more efficient. All in a slender, agile body that moves deceptively fast!

MAC III AirFX™: The MAC III AirFX is a highly versatile, mid-air effects luminaire in Martin's popular 1500-watt MAC III family. Capable of projecting a dense, hard-edge beam with stunning mid-air aerial effects, the fixture's unique optical system allows it to adjust from a tight beam to a radiant wash instantly for greater design flexibility. Super bright, the MAC III AirFX is powerful enough to cut through light from even the most powerful LED screens.

MAC III Wash™: The MAC III Wash is a high-performance wash luminaire with a unique internal barndoor system (shutters) and follows the MAC III AirFX as the latest 1500-watt moving head in Martin's popular MAC III family. Designed as a full-feature, full-range wash light with outstanding light quality and output, the MAC III Wash houses a new internal barndoor system, enabling designers to shape and control the light with great precision. Light output is constant throughout the entire zoom range with a fully linear zoom that gives no visible beam jump from tight to wide.

Creative LED Video Series: Martin launched the world's first series of 'true video' products to combine a new level of simplicity with a high level of quality. Instead of relying on DMX, new creative LED video elements such as Dots and Grids are driven by Martin's award-winning P3 System Controller family to give true video control with superb ergonomics. No more complicated setups involving DMX pixel mapping, loose power supplies, tons of cabling and time-consuming addressing procedures. Add video quality calibration, video frame rates, and true video processing (gamma curves, colour control, synchronisation and more) and Martin's Creative LED Video Series is a real winner.

Part of the series is formed by a variety of video dots called VC-Dot 1™, VC-Dot 4™ and VC-Dot 9™, each offering a different size and brightness. VC-Dots are the perfect solution for integrating LED video technology into a façade, stage design, ceiling or any other structure - indoors or out.

Also available is the VC-Grid 25™, a small, 200 x 200 mm LED video module with 25 mm pixel pitch. Its compact size makes it extremely suitable for integration into stage designs, set elements, lobbies, creative ceilings and more. Used with or without a front diffuser, multiple VC-Grids can be combined in countless ways for ultimate design freedom.

All creative LED video products are supported by the P3 PowerPort 1500™, an integrated power and data processor with flexible installation options. There is no need for setups involving different types of power supplies, custom cables and loose converter boxes. A single P3 PowerPort 1500 supports all products in a simple daisy-chain of hybrid cable.

M2GO™: Equipped with a fast, dual-core processor, the M2GO answers the demand for a more powerful lighting console in a smaller form. It offers a professional level of features in a portable package and has been developed with cost, ergonomics, feature set, size and weight in mind. The Martin M2GO sets a new standard as the most powerful and affordable full-featured lighting console on the market.

M2PC™: M2PC is the complementary control surface to Martin's M-PC controller software. Featuring the same layout and portable size as the M2GO, the M2PC delivers a professional level of features directly from any PC. Following the philosophy and simplicity of Martin's current controller platform, such as the Martin M1, the Martin M2PC is one of the most powerful and affordable PC-based lighting controllers on the market.

Jem Compact Hazer Pro™: The Jem Compact Hazer Pro is a versatile new haze machine from Martin Professional designed for the highly demanding professional market. Its ability to produce exceptional atmospheric haze effects in a short period of time makes it ideal for nearly any application. Low noise operation at slow fan speeds means it is suitable for noise-sensitive environments, while a host of other innovative features make the Jem Compact Hazer Pro the perfect choice for rental houses, shows, theatres, TV studios, clubs, bars, cruise ships, theme parks and more.

An interesting addition to the show was a presentation on 'The Integration of Video and Lighting Elements'. It was delivered by Martin Product Manager, Matthias Hinrichs, at the Media Systems Congress and very well received.

The show also offered Bruce and Renier the opportunity to spend time with other suppliers such as Litec, CM Entertainment Technologies, ADB and Robert Juliat.

Robert Juliat introduced two new LED light engine profile spots that combine excellent dimming with homogenous projection quality. The TIBO is a multi light source, compact and lightweight luminaire that has two digital zoom ranges, and the ZEP is a higher light output profile spot with two different colour temperatures and three zoom ranges. Both the TIBO and the ZEP offer optional wireless DMX technology and will be replacing the Alledin LED fixture in the future.

Other exciting news released at the show is that ARRI Lighting Solutions and ADB-TTV Technologies have entered into a cross marketing agreement with the double objective of exploiting the synergies between their product ranges and exploring opportunities for rationalising their product spectrum.

In the field of lighting, ARRI's strengths lie primarily in TV studio and location lighting systems, while those of ADB are in stage lighting. The agreement makes provision for each party to source complementary products from the other when bidding for specific lighting projects. Beyond this, each party will retain its total commercial independence. For Electrosonic SA this means it can now offer its clients the ARRI Studio lighting range.

In the near future, ADB will also be launching an exciting range of LED Fresnels and Profiles - the Europe F101L Fresnel and the DS105L Profile - which will be available on the market soon.

Exploring other stands and displays at the show allowed Bruce and Renier to search for new and innovative ideas, gain invaluable knowledge of interesting products launched, and observe the latest market trends. Their conclusion was that the technology most utilised in new products in all sectors was LED.

After a brief stopover in Dubai, both Bruce and Renier were back in the office with the great updates to share and 12 months to look forward to the next Prolight + Sound show.