It’s been over 20 years since Chris Kennedy and George McDuff founded ChamSys (short for Chameleon Systems) in 2003. Flying Pig Systems had recently launched the Wholehog 3, leaving a void in the market where the Wholehog 2 had been. If you knew how to program a Hog 2, you could likely program the MagicQ MQ100. Over the years, the MagicQ has grown into a powerful platform with all the features you would expect from a major league player. And now comes something completely dif

Claypaky’s Volero Cube is so versatile, it’s hard to pigeonhole. It looks like a compact, IP66-rated zoomable fixture with pan, tilt, and an RGBW light engine, although the square lenses are unique. Dig a little deeper and you find a modular building block that can be used as a pixel-mapping beam fixture, an audience blinder and strobe, or a component in a larger geometric display. Claypaky has always excelled in optics, and now the company is combining them with mechanics in

Inside the company’s strategy, people, and products GLP North America is reshaping how it serves the people who specify and use its products. That’s the clear message from recent conversations with Brad Schiller, who joined in June as director of lighting technology engagement, and Mark Ravenhill, who has returned to GLP in a new director role focused on global initiatives and, for now, also heading US sales and marketing. The picture that emerges from the conversation is a c

PORTABLE BATTERY/INVERTER SYSTEMS are becoming more common on stages and locations for a few reasons: they conveniently supply power where there is none, they’re quiet and reliable, and, when they’re set up correctly, they can be safe. Figure 1. In the event of a short circuit, the EGC/CPC creates a low impedance path for fault current back to the supply, thereby opening the circuit breaker. Image description: A line diagram illustrates a short circuit within a metal housing

In 2018, I was on the set of the Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm, and I realized that, of all the live productions I’ve ever seen,...

Technology takes the stage in Co-Founders, the musical Co-Founders, the musical, which ran at San Francisco’s American Conservatory...

InfoComm 2025, held June 7-13 in Orlando, Florida, set a show record for end-user attendance, representing 35% of verified attendees. In...

Ever since the General Device Type Format (GDTF) was developed by MA Lighting, Robe, and Vectorworks in 2019, I’ve been curious about...

WHETHER THEY ARE POWERING lighting rigs, sound systems, video displays, or back-of-house infrastructure, portable power generators enable...

In live event and motion picture production, the ability to pre-program and visualize lighting designs without the immediate need to...

ACT Entertainment’s new chapter of leadership and expansion. Under Saltzman’s leadership, ACT has grown from a 15-person lighting...

While most new lighting products come from R&D labs backed by industry giants, Candle & Switch is bucking the norm by developing apps and...

A smarter, safer alternative to counterweight rigging for high schools and regional theatres The CounterM.A.T.E.’s terminationless...

Imagine you walk into a venue to set up for a show, and you look for the normal 400-amp 3-phase company switch to power your lighting...

In the last few years, entertainment lighting manufacturers have introduced several automated lights with an LED laser source, like the...

How the 2025 GRAMMY Awards Broadcast Came Together The interior of Crypto.com Arena, where the GRAMMYs were held this year. The Cohesion...

Here's a selected look at some of the new products to be seen on the show floor at NAMM 2025, held in Anaheim, California last month:...

The LDI Show racked up another robust edition, December 6 - 8 in Las Vegas. Once again, there was a fair amount of grumbling on the show...

You have a lighting plot and a scale drawing, but limited time to hang it. Why not make a truss tape or pipe tape? It makes sense to have...

Battery chemistry matters. This diagram illustrates the basic structure and operation of a lithium-ion battery during charging and...