CX152 | OCTOBER 2019 $7.50AU LIGHTING | AUDIO | VIDEO | STAGING | INTEGRATION NEWS Free counselling INTEGRATE 2019 for crew Spin Off Festival The tech, the problems with the culture, and the positives TAG’s new Melbourne pad Labour hire laws affect production Safer trucking THE REGULARS Andy Stewart Jenny Barrett PROJECTION John O’Brien Duncan Fry ISSUE ROADSKILLS WHITE NIGHT REIMAGINED Fleetwood Mac Hilltop Hoods ILLUMINART – TRAVELLING LIGHT BRISBANE’S RIVER OF LIGHT ROAD TEST Shure Axient COLOUR QUALITY IN PROJECTION Digital Luminex GigaCore CLIPPED MUSIC VIDEO FESTIVAL and LumiNode Omega Tech THE BEST SURFACES FOR BLENDING Stage Boxes WIRELESS THAT WEARS WELL. The Axient® Digital micro-bodypack. Axient Digital defies limitations for both RF and audio excellence. With an industry-leading 2 ms of latency*, linear transient response, and wide dynamic range, nothing gets in the way of true, pure sound. Learn more at shure.com/axientdigital *From transducer to analog output, in standard transmission mode. © 2018 Shure Incorporated Distributed by www.jands.com.au Shure ADX Dress CX FP PrintAd.indd 1 4/9/19 1:22 pm CONTENTS NEWS Support Act Wellbeing Hotline – free counselling for crew 6 Spin Off Festival 2019 7 Novatech Brings It All for Splendour Offshoot Easey As: TAG Opens in Melbourne 8 Labour Hire Licenses – AV firms may breach new laws 8 Robe globally launches new ESPRITE LED in Melbourne 10 Safer Trucking - Driver Monitoring Proves Itself at ATS 10 MotoGP appoints Audio-Technica 11 Clear-Com Unveils Freespeak Edge 12 Aveo Systems Appoints Jands as Distributor 12 NEW GEAR 14 INTEGRATE 2019 Tech round-up from the show floorby Jason Allen 18 How was Integrate? Disappointing and Gross by Landell Archer 25 Integrating the Outsider by Dr Catherine Wolf 26 THE PROJECTION ISSUE The Electric Canvas - White Night Reimagined by Jason Allen 28 Colour Quality in Projection by Simon Byrne 33 River of Light by Cat Strom 35 Illuminart - Travelling Light by Cat Strom 37 Clipped Music Video Festival presented by Digital Projection 40 The perfect projection surface for blending by Norbert 42 Schmiedeberg REGULARS Listen Here: Immersive Listening by Andy Stewart 47 Drones in Drag by Jenny Barrett 50 Road Crew - what to do with your skills? by John O’Brien 57 Cry havoc and let slip the junkyard dogs by Duncan Fry 66 * Cover Photo – The Doofwagon, Mad Max: Fury Road, White Night Reimagined. Photo by Jason Allen. ROAD TEST Published by Juliusmedia Group Pty Ltd, under licence Shure Axient Digital by Marcello Lo Ricco 60 from Destination Media Pty Ltd. Locked Bag 30, Epping NSW 1710 Australia Luminex GigaCore and LumiNode by Ash Neuendorf 62 Phone: +61 2 408 498 180 Email: [email protected] Omega Tech Stage Boxes by Simon Byrne 64 Editor: Jason Allen ROADSKILLS Publisher: Julius Grafton Business development and sales: Steve James Fleetwood Mac by Cat Strom 44 Layout: mark wood design – Mark Underwood & Alisha Hill All contents COPYRIGHT CX Network Pty Ltd 2019. Hilltop Hoods by Cat Strom 53 Nothing herein to be reproduced in any format without express written consent. DIGITAL NETWORK JOIN THE CONVERSATION juliusmedia.com | cxnetwork.com.au | CX weekly news email | Roadshows facebook.com/cxmag JBL SRX800 PORTABLE SOUND DEFINED facebook.com/jblprofessionalaustralia @jbl_professional_aus Pty Music & Audio Ltd Proudly distributed Australia wide by CMI Audio.cmi.com.au Contact: [email protected] | (03) 9315 2244 NEWS Crew get free counselling and psychology Support Act detail extra services by Julius Grafton Production crew from music, AV and theatre immediate support is needed after trauma. suffer a mortality rate that is a lot higher than Clive Miller, Support Act CEO, says the the Australian societal average. Proof came perception of the Wellbeing Help Line as a when the ARCA reunion events several years last resort emergency service is wrong – he ago resulted in a list of former crew from the says it is most commonly a counselling 70s and 80s that grew to around 400 names service for any of the many things that bring – with the sobering realisation that over 130 anxiety and depression to crew. Those could were indeed no more. be work-life balance, exhaustion, stress, Since then the suicides and early deaths keep relationships, money, drug or alcohol reliance, rolling, and research by Entertainment Assist and workplace issues. proves that a career backstage can produce It’s a ‘circuit breaker of the mind’ and a very negative health outcomes – even if service that most people can’t obtain, but you are lucky enough to work full-time and all crew can – anyone who has worked in have things like worker’s compensation and Support Act dished out more than $350k last Australian music or the performing arts. It is superannuation that many never had. year, (with a maximum of $10k per grant). not tested against where you work or who These grants are provided confidentially – the Last year Support Act established a Wellbeing you work for, it is simply there for you or your only person who knows your name is the case Help Line and recently they advised that mates. You can still access it even if you have worker at Support Act. crew are not using it much, as the research left the industry. suggests they should. This is part of the If you are comfortable establishing a more Clive says backstage crew are an isolated reasoning behind the Roady4roadies events public fundraiser, you or a friend can set up cohort who are usually reluctant to reach that raised funds and awareness for crew a ‘Help a Mate’ appeal. It’s the Support Act out for help. This includes financial support, welfare last April. version of a Go Fund Me appeal. It is a proven which is available as part of Support Act’s way to raise funds direct from people who The Wellbeing Help Line is a free counselling Crisis Relief service, for any working crew know you, or know of you, or who want to service run by trained clinicians and with five year’s experience. The financial help help and also obtain a tax deduction for their psychologists attached to a service called covers anything reasonable – rent, crisis donation. AccessEAP. It’s staffed 24/7 and provides accommodation, medical bills, car expenses, immediate support that is available for legal bills and a whole lot more. It can also The Wellbeing Help Line number is employees of large organisations like fund referral to rehab which some of us really 1800 959 500; and the number for Crisis firefighters or paramedics – places where do need. Relief is 1300 731 303. Share them out. “ The entire single-stage gig was housed in a gigantic modular tent, 60 metres wide and 100 meters long.” 6 | OCTOBER 2019 NEWS systems controlling four Robe BMFLs, 19 Clay Paky Scenius Unicos, 48 GLP Impression X4s, 50 GLP X4 Bar 20s, and SPIN OFF FESTIVAL 2019 26 GLP JDC1 Strobes, plus two Hazebase base*hazers, four Hazebase classic*smokes, Novatech Brings It All for Splendour Offshoot and four BT-Hurricane DMX Fans. Lighting control provided for the house was The Spin Off Festival rocked 20,000 attendees audiotechnik M2 wedges for Catfish And The courtesy of a grandMA3 and grandMA3 light. at the Adelaide Showgrounds on Friday July Bottlemen. A full complement of industry Childish Gambino rolled in a grandMA2 and a 19. Cheekily named for its partnership with standard in-ear-monitoring systems and grandMA2 light. Catfish and The Bottlemen’s Splendour in the Grass to bring sideshows to wireless mics were on hand to cater to each LD rocked a ChamSys MQ100, while Ball SA, the single-day event brought Splendour artists’ preferences. Park Music’s lighting crew opted for a High headliner Childish Gambino to town, along Novatech provided Avid Profile mixing desks End Systems Hog 4. Art-Net switching was with Catfish And The Bottlemen, Ball Park for the house system at both FOH and ingeniously handled by a TMB ProPlex GBS Music, Ocean Alley, Wolf Alice, Hockey monitors. Touring consoles that made guest network selector, enabling seamless transition Dad, and more. Novatech Creative Event appearances at FOH included a DiGiCo from desk to desk, along with redundant fibre Technology partnered with promoters Five SD7 for Childish Gambino, a Midas Pro 2 for connection for peace-of-mind. Four Entertainment and Secret Sounds to Catfish And The Bottlemen, and a DiGiCo supply the massive tech requirements. The all-important video component saw SD10 for Ocean Alley. Monitor-land hosted huge ROE Visual Carbon 5 LED screens built The entire single-stage gig was housed in a Ocean Alley’s DiGiCo SD12, Catfish And throughout the venue; two IMAG screens gigantic modular tent, 60 metres wide and The Bottlemen’s DiGiCo SD10 and Childish left and right of the stage measuring 6x3.6m 100 meters long. Its supporting king poles Gambino’s SSL 500. All signal transport was each, a 6x3.6m delay screen hung at the could hold a massive six tonnes each, which integrated via Optocore. FOH ops position, an 8.4x4.8m screen hung was a good thing, because Spin Off had a The mighty house lighting rig supplied by upstage, and two 5.4x3m screens outside the huge requirement for LED screens, lighting, Novatech comprised eight Vari-Lite VL4000 tent. All screens were run via Brompton SX40 and PA, all supplied by Novatech. spots, 25 Martin MAC Viper Profiles, 12 LED processors, fed by fibre from Brompton The main PA consisted of 16 elements of Claypaky Sharpys, 22 Martin MAC Quantams, Tessera XD 10G data distribution units. L-Acoustics K2 line array per side, supported 10 GLP Impression X4s, 12 SGM XC-5s, 16 A Ross Carbonite flyaway kit was brought in by 32 L-Acoustics SB28 subwoofers.