Brompton drives Now or Never festival
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Brompton Technology’s Tessera LED processors powered customised video content at the Royal Exhibition Building, where performances explored the adventurous and diverse nature of digital creativity.
The historic 19th century Royal Exhibition Building is a World Heritage listed venue and was built as part of the international exhibition movement of the late 1800s. It was the stage for several events as part of Now or Never 2023, with Gig Control, a technical management company with expertise across Australia’s live events, responsible for the entire design of the lighting, audio and visual elements.
On one of the festival days, the Royal Exhibition Building welcomed a rare gathering of some of the UK’s most prolific experimental electronic artists. This audio-visual sensory journey saw Greater Manchester duo Autechre, and techno producer Max Cooper perform in-front of hallucinatory shifting 3D visuals. Reliable LED processing was vital to ensure the show was an immersive spectacle.
Gig Control called upon full-service production rental company, Novatech Creative Event Technology, to look after the technical supply for five shows at the venue across four days of the festival. Events ranged from keynote talks and panel discussions to dance music parties, orchestral performances and 3D shows from leading electronic artists, meaning the scope of what needed to be achieved visually was extremely diverse.
“The venue’s age means it was a very challenging environment,” recalls Leko Novakovic, managing director at Novatech. “It has a wooden floor and very limited rigging from the wooden ceiling. With weight loading being an issue, the stage was designed around a central scaffold tower that had LED and lighting suspended from it.”
The screen displayed a range of high-resolution customised video content from the performing artists. Novatech supplied a ROE Visual Vanish V8T screen, along with a Brompton 4K Tessera SX40 LED processor and two Tessera XD data distribution units. The set-up stayed in place but was slightly modified each day to suit the varying events.
“Knowing that Brompton offers redundant signal control was very comforting, and the screen configuration allowed us to test it as it was being built,” Novakovic continues. “This meant that any modules that needed replacing could be done at ground level before it was raised to its 16-metre position above the stage. Additionally, being able to correct the brightness of the seams allowed for a much more polished look.”
“It’s always exciting to see our processors being used for such innovative projects, particularly with a valued partner like Novatech,” concludes Elijah Ebo, director of APAC operations at Brompton Technology. “It’s also gratifying to know that the Tessara software features made such a difference to the visual content. Novatech always produces great results, and this is another great example of how its team chooses the right technology to deliver for its clients.”
