The PLASA Awards for Innovation & Sustainability 2015 and the Gottelier Award, sponsored by Lighting&Sound International, were presented at the PLASA Show at London’s ExCeL yesterday evening.
This year, 31 products were nominated for the Awards for Innovation & Sustainability, with eight awards presented, including a final Gold Award for Innovation.
The winners had to satisfy the judges that they demonstrate a new style of thinking, that they improve technical practice, have introduced new technologies, materials or techniques, that they feature patents or unique intellectual property, offer a new commercial advantage, or improve safety.
This year’s Gottelier Award winner was David Cunningham, an early pioneer of computer lighting systems who developed a number of landmark products for Strand during the 1970s and 80s, including the Multi-Q memory lighting system, the Micro-Q console, the Lightpalette and the CD80 dimming system. He went on to develop the Source Four profile through his own company, Entertec, before entering into a hugely successful partnership with ETC, with whom he went on to develop many other successful products, including the Sensor dimmer.
The eight PLASA Awards for Innovation went to:
Avid for the SL6 – The judges felt that this console was extremely well-engineered and thought out with improved ergonomics and workflow, coupled with scalable flexibility. This affords it versatility for different markets including broadcast and touring.
RC4 Wireless for the RC4Magic-DMXpix – the judges said, “Sometimes things are taken at face value because that’s ‘just the way it is’. This product, though, will make life much easier for many technicians as it solves the whole logistical problem in managing pixel control in long strings of LEDs. Regardless of the manufacturer of the LED string, this device will allow a significant reduction in channel count while still enabling individual LED control in all manner of applications, from architectural lighting to costumes.”
Elation Lighting for the Platinum FLX – The panel found that this was “a versatile moving light that solves a number of problems in one fixture. The spot/beam/wash hybrid design uses clever mechanical engineering that actually delivers a useable result in a manageable size and budget.”
Robert Juliat for DALIS – The judges said “the colour rendering from this product is beautiful. The fixture is well designed and elegant with a very good uniform beam pattern and will no doubt be a feature of many stages in the future.”
d&b audiotechnik for the V7P and V10P loudspeaker – The judges found this to be “a well-engineered small and light point source speaker that delivers exceptional levels with good directivity. Its versatility will appeal to many sectors of the audio market.”
Milos/Area Four Industries for EXE Cell – The judges said, “This rigging product gives excellent vision indication by presenting load information clearly to users. It uses a combination of software and technology built into the motor to afford the user a great deal of real-time load information.” The Judges felt that this was “well designed with some innovative features.”
Eaton – Zero 88 for the FLX Lighting Console – This console was felt by the judges to give “a revolutionary approach to colour and movement for the tablet generation as part of a well thought out-desk package aimed at an accessible price point for entry-level and more professional users.”
Gold Award: ETC for the Eos Version 2.3 – The judges said, “This product seriously impressed the Judges who felt that it is a game-changer in the approach designers may take to colour control. It unlocks the potential of LEDs and matches the way that lighting designers think in terms of colour. It returns colour mixing and colour fading back to a conceptual level rather than maths and numbers. It allows the designer to choose the way a colour changes rather than letting the control decide.”
The Judges also gave commendations for what they described as worthy toolbox products. The first is the Prosight 2 from SSE Audio, which is a refinement of an elegant solution to the problem of quickly adjusting line arrays in arduous conditions. The second product, the Duke battery powered chain hoist from Safety Lifting Gear, is a simple manual handling solution that will find its way into many trunks to assist with rigging.
The Awards were assessed by a team of judges, which this year comprised chairman James Eade, a long-time contributor to LSi magazine and an independent electrical safety consultant; Paul Franklin of theatre consultancy Charcoalblue; Steve Moles, another long-time LSi magazine contributor and a specialist in live entertainment production; lighting and set designer Ben Rogers; London-based visual designer Tupac Martir; Nick Read, an experienced lighting and electrical specialist, from Howard Eaton Lighting; live sound engineer Jon Burton; Tapio Ilomaki, an acoustic consultant with Finland-based Akukon; EM Communications’ Ed Manwaring; Scott Burges of video solutions supplier, Creative Technology.
