TMB invited designers and technicians to a demo at CenterStaging (sound studios) in Burbank, CA on Monday, October 22, with folks stopping by throughout the day. Products on display included The Revolution, a new heavy-duty winch system from Unusual Rigging in the UK, which will make its first public appearance in North America at the TMB booth at LDI this year. The winch is housed within a standard 20.5”x20.5” box truss making it easy to pack and tour. Touted as the fastest 300kg variable-speed winch (or 150kg for moving people) with 30m of travel and TUV international safety rating, The Revolution was used at the demo to pick up and move a motorcycle, as seen in the photo with Alan Jacobi of Unusual Rigging, who was in town for the demo.
The motion control system was the Kinesys K2 system, which offers a 3D programming option, allowing objects to be moved simply on the screen. “You move the hoist and the computer does the math,” explains Dave Weatherhead of Kinesys, who ran the sytem at the demo. “The system gives you a visual representation of the final show,” he adds. The K2 system can also hook into a Hippotizer media server, which keeps the images on cue if screens move about the stage. Perfect for TV and rock’n roll, projects include Genesis, American Idol, and the Dixie Chicks. TMB organized this daylong event to “demo new rigging products to designers as well as special effects people from the film and TV market,” says TMB’s CEO Colin Waters, who was the host-with-the-most, and was accompanied by TMB’s president Marshall Bissett, TMB’s Tommy Stephenson (customer development), and former TMB staffer Warren Mays (see photo). Guests included LD's Noah Mitz from Bobby Dickinson’s Full Flood office, Marc Janowitz, Chris Nyfield, and Alex Reardon (in town with the Dixie Chicks at the new Nokia Theatre at LA Live) as well as freelance LD Chris Werner, and Holly O’Hair from Q1 Production Technologies.
