Elation to Sponsor Dave Maxwell Seminar at Sound Check Xpo in Mexico City

Recognizing the growing importance of video in lighting design, Elation Professional is sponsoring a seminar on the subject conducted by international lighting designer, Dave Maxwell. Entitled "The Fusion of Lighting and Video," the seminar will be held on Monday, April 23, at Sound Check Xpo in Mexico City, Mexico.

"The convergence of lighting and video has been one of the major developments in our industry and it touches virtually every aspect of lighting design in stage, touring, and display applications," said Eric Loader, director of sales for Elation Professional. "We can't think of a timelier topic for a seminar, and we can't think of a more qualified and respected professional to conduct it than Dave Maxwell."

Universally regarded as one of the world's leading lighting designers, Maxwell has been widely hailed for fusing a diverse mix of elements into his work, including lighting, video, graphics, content, and stage set. He is also an HD production developer for Apple. Maxwell's "Who's Who- like" client list includes Eric Clapton, Luis Miguel, and Simply Red, in addition to corporate work for Ferrari, Disney, and VH1.

Among the topics covered in the Sound Check Xpo seminar will be the effective use of media servers, the use of media content (graphics), cueing tips, evaluating lighting and video intensity levels, the different roles of low res videos and live IMAG (and why lighting designers should leave the latter to video professionals), the creative fusion of video and lighting and more.

Maxwell will be drawing on his own extensive experience when conducting the seminar. "Over the last seven to eight years, my personal experience has gone from only lighting to a lighting and video complete package almost 100 percent of the time," he said. "I don't think anyone should fear the synergy between lighting and video, but embrace it. Lighting becomes substantially more dramatic, especially in concert applications, when you incorporate low res video into your design. This is why almost every show I have designed during the past seven to eight years has featured medium, low, and high res video panels."

Although the introduction of video represents a bold new change in lighting design, there are some fundamentals that remain unchanged. "The most important factor is to be creative with video, just as it's always been the most important factor in lighting," said Maxwell. "Originality is key; your content has to be relevant and up to date."

Maxwell will be introduced at the seminar by Mark Haney, Elation Professional's senior market manager of broadcast video and lighting. An industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience in the broadcast/touring video market, Haney has served as a stagehand, camera operator, touring video director/producer, and live music director and worked on over 2,000 live music events over the course of his career. Recently, Haney was presented with two Parnelli Awards for his work on tours for Eric Clapton and Star Wars in concert, and has toured with a number of well-known artists, including Luis Miguel.

Sound Check Xpo will take place April 22-24 at the Mexico World Trade Center, Mexico City, Mexico. Dedicated to the music, entertainment, lighting, and audio industries, the show is sponsored by Sound Check magazine.