UK - After events for the London Climate Change Festival were postponed in 2020, the festival returned for 2021 with a televised broadcast. The specially created concert, titled Song For Nature, debuted on Sky Arts on Earth Day, 22 April. Paul Smith of Apex Acoustics provided audio equipment for the performance and mixed sound using a DiGiCo SD10 console.
“The concert grew organically into a much larger event with performances by Brian May, Rob Brydon, Nathan Evans, Kerry Ellis, Janie Dee and Wayne Sleep, and many more along with the ENO Orchestra and choir,” says Smith. “Brian May and Kerry Ellis were only confirmed a few days before the show.”
The concert was filmed over three days at an audience-absent London Coliseum, both on stage and in other areas of this storied London venue. The atmospheric theatre hosts the English National Opera as well as being the London home of the English National Ballet. The film was directed by Emmy-winner Ross MacGibbon. The show itself was conceived by Dominic Dromgoole, former artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, and directed by Bill Buckhurst (Sweeney Todd, Ghost Quartet).
Smith's first audio challenge was to find a somewhat isolated area to use as a temporary control room: “As we were primarily recording the concert, I set up the DiGiCo SD10 in a room just off the royal box, and sharing an SD-Rack on an optical loop, we placed a DiGiCo SD12 as a monitor console, positioned stage left.”
While personal or IEM monitoring is not conventionally a part of orchestral concert
Sri Lanka - Dynamic AV Technologies recently outfitted Ceylon Theatres Regal Cinema Dematagoda with a complete Harman Professional cinema audio solution to provide immersive sound quality for moviegoers.
Ceylon Theatres is a Sri Lankan theatre chain with an 85-year history that currently operates six locations throughout the country. The latest location is a three-screen facility in Dematagoda which also houses a KFC restaurant and Food City supermarket. In order to ensure an immersive cinematic experience with clear and balanced audio quality for moviegoers, Ceylon Theatres Regal Cinema Dematagoda required modern sound systems for all three screens. Ceylon Theatres hired Dynamic AV Technologies to equip each theatre with a complete Harman Professional cinema audio solution including JBL loudspeakers and Crown amplifiers
“Working on a cinema project with Harman is easy, as they are extremely supportive in all aspects of design and commissioning," said Mohan Abeyasinghe, managing director, Dynamic AV Technologies. “The support we got from Harman was completely virtual due to the lockdown; however, it was as good as them being with us. The client is happy with the installation, as is our team.”
In two of the theatres, Dynamic AV Technologies installed JBL C221 ScreenArray cinema loudspeakers, augmented JBL 8320 compact cinema surround speakers. In the third room, the team installed JBL C222 ScreenArray cinema loudspeakers, supported by JBL 9300 cinema surround speakers. To enhance the cinematic experience with impactful low frequency extension,
Germany - Over the past six months, two German production companies have been working together to simultaneously keep their creative juices flowing during the pandemic-inflicted hiatus on in-person events and lift the production value of livestreams.
The Wharf is the latest in a series of three increasingly ambitious dedicated livestream studios that they have created using primarily ADJ lighting and video equipment. This latest project combines a series of 3D cubes, lined with ADJ Pixie Strip pixel-mapped LED fixtures, and a water tank, illuminated by ADJ Hydro Series IP65-rated moving heads, to create a stunning visual backdrop for both DJ sets and full-on live performances to be captured on video.
LaserFrame, based in Cologne, and its owner Guido Schütz, specialises in lighting for clubs, lounges, and electronic music events. Meanwhile, Creative Sounds, from nearby Düsseldorf, and its principal Patrick Hirt, focus more on tradeshows, festivals, concerts, and other largescale events. The two companies have a long history of collaboration and often worked together on larger projects prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past winter – following a year when most of the events they would have worked on had been cancelled – Guido and Patrick wanted to find an outlet for their creativity and recognized that DJ livestreams, which had become popular during lockdown, presented the perfect opportunity for production innovation.
“We were very aware that the production value of most DJ livestreams is very low,” elaborates Guido. “They usually i
UK - Thirty-eight Robe MegaPointe moving lights were an integral part of the lighting rig used by LD Chris Kempton for the UK’s 2021 Comic Relief biennial Red Nose Day telethon event which harnessed the power and inspiration of humour to raise funds for good causes.
The event was staged in March at D Studio in the BBC Elstree complex in Hertfordshire, UK, and broadcast live on the BBC.
The telethon was hosted by Sir Lenny Henry alongside Davina McCall, Paddy McGuinness, David Tennant and Alesha Dixon. It was the first Red Nose Day event to have a virtual audience - onscreen behind the presenters - due to COVID restrictions.
Lighting equipment was supplied by JLLighting Ltd., together with power distribution infrastructure and media servers to run all the playback visuals.
Chris has lit the show several times in the last few years, and this year he took Patrick Doherty’s dynamic set design - a spectacular spherical central stage flanked by two spherical podiums, surrounded by multiple LED screens on three sides plus circular trussing and ceiling elements above - as a starting point.
Along with this slick contemporary look, Chris considered the super-quick live changeovers facilitated during this fast-paced style of broadcast, and the need to be able to flip seamlessly between a variety of performance styles.
“It’s vital that the visual departments are fully aligned and enjoy a good synergy, so everything works beautifully together,” he states.
MegaPointes were the main effects fixtures of the show. They were chose
The Netherlands - Ayrton reports that its MiniPanel-FX, Huracán-X and Karif LED lighting fixtures will form a major part of the lighting design for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest which takes place at the Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Lighting designer Henk-Jan van Beek of Light-H-Art design has chosen significant numbers of each fixture for the main ambient and effects lighting for this annual music extravaganza. The full requirement of Ayrton fixtures - 386 in total - will be supplied by Eurovision 2021’s lighting, audio and rigging supplier, Ampco Flashlight.
The stage design for Eurovision 2021 by Florian Wieder is being kept under wraps for now, but those in the know at Ampco Flashlight have hinted at a wall of MiniPanel-FX which they describe on their Eurovision blog as ‘a cute little fixture that is fierce and powerful’ - and that’s just for starters.
“The reputation of Eurovision is unquestionable as one of the best global productions there is,” says Ayrton’s Michael Althaus. “To have Ayrton fixtures showcased on it is testament to the regard in which lighting designers hold our products. We are very excited to be involved once again and I can’t wait to see Henk-Jan’s design and the fantastic plans he has for our Huracán-X, Karif and MiniPanel-FX. This is a ‘first’ at Eurovision for Huracán-X and Karif, and as for MiniPanel-FX, I say ‘watch your backs!’”
The load-in at the Ahoy started on 10 April under the supervision of Erwin Rintjema, Eurovision Song Contest’s head of production f
Belgium - Game shows are more fun when they’re challenging. Perhaps that’s why Game of Talents has been such a runway success. The show, which originated in Spain and quickly spread to other countries to debut in the US on 10 March, asks two teams of contestants to use their intuition and wits to figure out the hidden talents of performers based on only a few carefully selected clues.
Game of Talents presents an interesting challenge for designers who must often simultaneously key light the contestants sitting in their chairs as well as the performers on stage, all while fitting within the parameters of a broadcast application.
Michiel Milbou and his team at Never Fear Shadows met this challenge in winning fashion when lighting the Belgian version of this show, thanks to some adroit key lighting accomplished with Chauvet Professional Maverick MK2 Profile fixtures supplied by Splendit.
“We were retained by Fremantle Production, who we have enjoyed working with many times in the past to light this program,” says Milbou. “A challenging part of this show was creating two different levels of key lighting. We had to light contestants looking at the stage, as well as the person on the stage, much as we do the jury and performer in the Masked Singer.”
“It’s difficult to light in this situation, because the ideal place to hang the key lights is in the middle of the other set,” he continues. “The camera also has to look through the key light of the other set. I try to design key light to minimize the chance of that hap
Australia - The first Robe T2 Profiles to arrive in Australia went to Perth-based lighting and visual rental and production company What Noiz and made their debut on the lighting rig designed by Matt Marshall for West Australian Ballet’s As One: Ballet at the Quarry.
This was performed as part of the 2021 Perth Festival at the Quarry Amphitheatre, an outdoor rock quarry in Perth’s coastal suburb of City Beaches.
What Noiz’s founder and owner Benjamin Fry explained that they had been looking for a powerful LED profile for some time. They loved what they saw in terms of features and functionality with Robe’s T1, but wanted something with just a bit more brightness and then along came the new T2 Profile.
The purchase was completed in time for the West Australian Ballet’s 2021 summer season with its three dynamic works combining ballet and contemporary dance.
4Seasons was a stirring existing work choreographed by Natalie Wier; Heartache was a collaborative re-working of six different pieces delivered by the company dancers and artistic team, with a concept created by artistic director Aurélien Scannella and principal rehearsal director and artistic associate Sandy Delasalle; and Moment of Joy was a new piece presented by West Australian Ballet principal dancer Dayana Hardy Acuña and soloist Juan Carlos Osma.
This outdoor venue, formerly a working limestone quarry, dates to colonial times, and West Australian Ballet is the resident company there every Perth Festival season.
The company’s lighti
Russia - On 12 April 2021, the Baikonur Cosmodrome hosted a gala concert to celebrate the spaceflight of the first cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The festivities were broadcast live by the Russia TV network.
The concert’s ‘X-factor’ was a beam of light shooting out from the pit of the launch complex that sent the Vostok-1 spaceship into orbit 60 years ago. The light beam was created by TDS, a full-service production company.
The design concept called for the light beam to be so powerful that more than 60 high-power light projectors would be needed to create it. Another way to accomplish the task was to use augmented reality technology.
“Our team landed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 9 April,” reports TDS. “We had only four days to prepare the equipment for filming, install special marks, calculate precise distances using industrial-grade range meters, calibrate five cameras, integrate the light beam into the launch facility, and fine-tune a realistic output picture.
“The broadcast was performed with the five AR cameras, of which two were tracking cameras - including one on a telescopic camera crane - and three static view cameras.
“Our primary challenge was to make the beam look realistic, and integrate it with a physical object - the launch pad, which was a very complicated structure. We accomplished the task by putting a mask on the beam itself. It produced an excellent result. We were able to achieve precise tracking at a distance of 360m (four football fields) from the cameral to the virtual object.
Using the Pi
Berlarus - Mozyr Ivan Melezh Drama Theatre in Belarus celebrated its reopening last summer after a major renovation. The building was originally built between the late 20s and early 30s of the last century, though it was seriously damaged in a fire in 2013, destroying most of the cultural monument.
Over the past few years, the building has gone through reconstruction, and Cinemanext Bel designed, supplied, installed and commissioned all the stage lighting and sound system of the large and small halls, and provided training to the newly hired staff.
“As part of the technical tender for the new equipment acquisition the theatre requested that the new fixtures had low power consumption, low heat and noiseless operation,” says Ulyana Barkova, Deputy Commercial Director at CinemaNext, adding: “With that in mind, we chose Prolights' Ruby and Jet Spot4Z for their LED source with a punchy output.”
Additionally, the theatre also took delivery of Prolight SunRise 2 blinders, Polar 3000 strobes and EclPar DY with a 5,600K source.
“We are confident that these fixtures by Prolights are a great addition to the theatre, and since they are very reliable and incredibly easy to use, the staff at the Drama Theatre will also be very satisfied,” adds Barkova.
USA - Global nutrition company Herbalife honoured its top performing sales force and distributors in an awards event staged at the Los Angeles Convention Centre in March, a streamed show that was executive & technically produced by Raj Kapoor Productions & Steffan Jones for CG Creative Studios.
Tom Sutherland from DX7 Design designed the lighting and Julio Himede from Yellow Studio was tasked with the scenic design, and Tom’s lighting design featured 1,145 Astera AX5 battery operated wireless LED PARs - one of the largest Astera installations worldwide. The luminaires were amassed by lighting vendor Felix Lighting..
Tom’s starting point for the lighting was Julio Himede’s production design which featured a 160ft-wide black gloss stage and four massive modernist style moving LED video arches.
Tom decided to surround and accentuate this epic look with an enormous four-sided grid of LED PARs covering the roof, back and two sides of the stage.
In addition to the CEO addresses, presentations, speeches and awards action, a series of Herbalife training sessions took place over the seven show days, and there were five “wow moments” comprising all-singing-all-dancing production numbers, three of which were directed by Emmy Award-winning choreographers Tabitha & Napoleon Dumo (AKA Nappytabs) which added flourishes of glamour and entertainment.
“I really needed to emulate the impressive and large-scale aesthetic of the production design,” explained Tom, “and ensure that the whole area could be flooded with quality light
Estonia - Rental company Strikken supplied the lighting design and production design and equipment for the Power Stage Live TV podium, which welcomed the 2020 winners of Rally Estonia event - part of the World Rally Championship - and was set up close to the final stage finish line, near Rally Estonia’s HQ in Tartu.
They relied on the power and versatility of Robe moving lights including LEDWash 300s, LEDWash 800s and MMX Spots to deliver spectacular looking results. The luminaires were picked for their compact size, light weight, and brightness, and all rigged on the stage ground support structure together with some outrigged pipes facilitating the front positions.
The event was broadcast in 155 countries worldwide, and the Power Stage podium featured a 20m-deep by 30m-wide platform with two drive-on / off wings at the front and a substantial LED screen upstage. Lighting for TV generally was the starting point for the design, which was created by Strikken’s Raiko Saadjärv, Mihkel Västrik and Meelis Lever in collaboration with the Rally Estonia team.
The main challenge was ensuring that the lighting fixtures looked neat and maintained the clean lines and modern look of the stage which also had clear roof skins.
The eight LEDWash 300s onstage provided back washes, with the five LEDWash 800s key lighting at the front. It was a daylight event with the additional ambient lumens emanating from the LED screen, so they needed powerful washes enabling good skin tones and the LED washes were an ideal solution.
The two MMX Blades were used
Costa Rica - The elegant Teatro Nacional Costa Rica in San Jose, completed in 1897, is the jewel of the nation’s capital city and one of the most beautiful concert halls in the Americas.
Leading up to this famed structure, the visitor can gaze on sculptures of poet Calderón de la Barca and composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Further down the entry walkway are statues of Frédéric Chopin. The message delivered by this external artwork is clear: inside is a venue that treasures artistry from around the world!
Recently, the Costa Rican Philharmonic Orchestra reaffirmed this commitment by performing a virtual concert at the site. Supporting their performance and making it more vivid to viewers was the colourful light from the theatre’s newly installed Chauvet Professional COLORado 3 Solo fixtures.
The 60W RGB LED fixtures were installed just prior to the show, when the older units at the venue began to fog up unexpectedly. Stage manager Telemaco Martínez and Illuminotécnicos del Teatro’s technical team of David Rojas Rojas, Hermes Soto Loría and Manuel Zuñiga Elizondo, addressed the issue by installing the new COLORado fixtures.
“For us, as the new generation of technicians of the National Theatre of Costa Rica, it has been exciting to be part of this change from lights with halogen and tungsten to LED fixtures,” says Hermes Soto Loría.
“Taking advantage of the COLORado 3 Solo’s smooth zoom and three 60 W RGBW LED, which project an intense and fully homogenized beam, while remaining ultra-quiet, the entire team at Teatro Naci
UK - Dream is a multi-layered mix of movement, music, visuals, cool technology and narrative magic, an immersive digital performance fusing the drama of Shakespeare with the dynamic worlds of gaming and theatre in a production by the UK’s Royal Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Manchester International Festival, Marshmallow Laser Feast, and the Philharmonia Orchestra (read a full production report in the upcoming issue of Lsi, out early May).
Staged physically in the Studio at Portsmouth Guildhall and inspired by the classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the characters were played by six real actors utilising Vicon motion capture cameras, their avatars and effects appearing onscreen - centring around the antics of cocky and capricious mischief-maker Puck. They run amok in the virtual Midsummer forest, hellraising and spoofing four other sprites during a disruptive and chaotic journey.
Matt Peel was responsible for lighting design and show control. He utilised the power - and specifically the OSC (open sound control) and DMX remote triggering capabilities - of his grandMA3 system with the new grandMA3 software.
The show was broadcast live for 10 evenings and enjoyed by thousands worldwide, who logged in, either paying for an interactive ticket - with the chance to shoot fireflies into the story to help illuminate Puck’s pathway through the forest - or simply watch the performance for free.
Dream was originally intended to be an in-person performance during 2020, but due to the pandemic, was adapted and re-work
USA - Audio quality is a difficult challenge to solve in any video conferencing application and meeting that challenge was a top concern for Charlie Fiddler, technical events specialist at Asbury Theological Seminary when he undertook the task of upgrading the seminary’s conferencing system. To meet this challenge, he turned to ClearOne.
Asbury Theological Seminary is an evangelical Christian seminary located in Wilmore, Kentucky. It is the largest seminary in the Wesleyan tradition and advocates for egalitarianism, giving equal status for men and women in ministerial roles and for ordination.
“We wanted to be able to capture the voices of instructors, with or without lapel microphones, based on individual preferences and the questions from students, regardless of whether or not they are located on campus or calling in from other locations,” Fiddler explains. “It was key that everyone be able to hear everyone else at all times.”
Fiddler says he also needed the audio conference solution to easily integrate with the other AV equipment that is already installed in each classroom because he certainly didn’t want to ask instructors or students to learn how to use a new system.
Initially, the seminary considered upgrading the audio conferencing capabilities in just one classroom but changed its mind in April 2020 when it was forced to confront the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. “We chose instead to invest in 15 hybrid instruction rooms where teachers and students in one classroom could be joined by students working from re
Spain - The public regional television station Telemadrid has recently added 75 EclPanel TWC soft light panels by Prolights to their studios in Madrid. The fixtures are used in programmes like La Redacción, a daily live news programme.
Telemadrid decided to make a new investment to modernise its facility and cut their energy consumption through use of LED technology. The fixtures were acquired through public tender, and later supplied and installed by Fluge Audiovisuales, a Spanish AV integrator.
“We decided to specify the EclPanel TWC soft panel because it provides a high luminous flux, a homogeneous diffusion, and includes a range of white colour temperatures, from daylight to tungsten tones, achieving a superior light quality with high CRI, TLCI and TM-30. All the features are exactly what we needed for broadcast environments,” said Alejo J. Arce, technical director for Fluge Audiovisuales. “The EclPanel met the technical requirements set by Telemadrid. The product exceeded all our expectations.”
Sweden - Blackmagic Design reports that its technology has been instrumental in allowing the creators behind ReaktLive.com to stream performances direct to audiences from its own platform.
Based out of the former EMI/Abbey Road Stockholm studio, the live content experience has built its live video capabilities around the Blackmagic URSA Min Pro 12K, URSA Mini Pro 4.6K G2 and Micro Studio Camera 4K with the support of Scandinavian Photo.
The full-service streaming studio and broadcast company features a studio design with six small, discreet cameras on robotic rails and jibs, reveals co-founder Nicolas Notini. “The purpose of automation for us was to ensure artists and creators have far fewer distractions and can just ‘do what they do’ more easily.
“With our background as professional musicians, this is how we feel it works, and looks, best. After a few minutes, the cameras will be ignored, and the artist can ‘get into it.’ We are also not afraid to have the technology in the frame when it makes sense, as it helps to enhance the sense of being there in the room for the viewer.”
The streams have a deliberately filmic quality. Every part of the production chain has been considered with that in mind says Notini. “From the best audio possible, in the best studio, with the best gear. And everything, including the audio, is mastered live as we broadcast.”
He continues: “From lighting design to only using cine lenses, the entire system is designed to produce a cinematic look throughout. All cameras are ISO recorded in 4K on H
Germany - Singer-songwriter David Vidano would have imagined the launch date for his debut album Slo-Mo to be something different. However, on the release date itself, the world was in the middle of a pandemic that did not treat young artists particularly kindly.
The tour had to be postponed until autumn 2021, but the album release is an event that needs to be celebrated, and so Vidano gave a small concert, observing the strictest health guidelines, in the rehearsal hall of TTL Event Solutions in his hometown Ochtrup. The event was also recorded.
Vidano’s lighting designer, Jens Hillenkötter, works globally as a designer and creative producer. For the artist's release show, he also took on the role of DoP, and for the first time deployed the GLP Creative Light1 Plus. Forty pieces of the compact, flexible LED fixtures augmented the artist's set. “These were still field test devices because the Creative Light1 Plus were not yet available,” he said. “I recognised the creative potential of Creative Light1 when I saw the prototypes for the first time at GLP’s HQ in Karlsbad. I ordered immediately and am happy that I have been able to use them.”
For Vidano's album release concert, the task was initially to create a lighting design in the form of a floor set, which on the one hand would be individual and on the other be logistically as compact as possible and easy and quick to use. The set design also needed to be quickly adaptable to different stage designs. “We agreed very early on that due to COVID-19, touring would have to adjust at sho
China - The BoomBoomRoom is a new fixture of the thriving nightlife scene in Liuzhou City, China, and the latest addition to the growing club empire of Singapore’s Disen Kaine Group. Looking to make a powerful statement with the extravagant 1,000-capacity nightspot, Disen Kaine invested in a production technologies package featuring a venue-wide PK Sound audio system sold and installed by Polar Audio, the Canadian manufacturer’s exclusive Chinese distributor.
“We pride ourselves on delivering an elite and luxurious nightlife experience across our growing network of clubs, and high-impact audio powered by PK Sound plays a big part in that at the BoomBoomRoom,” comments Disen Kaine Group’s Mr. Kane Lin. “Thanks to PK Sound’s technology, we’re able to very precisely direct sound to maximize clarity and impact throughout the venue, and the company’s reputation for hard-hitting low-end means the club can easily live up to its name.”
Located in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region’s second-largest city, the BoomBoomRoom spans three floors and, in addition to the spectacular main room, boasts several themed halls and VIP areas. Thanks to its stature, the club has attracted a slew of high-profile performers since opening its doors, including DJ KK, DJ Mei, and Black Fairy.
The new audio system is anchored by PK Sound’s T10 Install line source element, which packs the tour-proven performance of the company’s robotically controlled Trinity family into sleek, architecturally focused enclosures. The main arrays flanking the stage compr
USA - Audiovisual and lighting integrator Icon Media of Georgia is transforming a sanctuary space at Lighthouse Church in Ventura, California and has used Fuze Pendant downlights from Elation Professional for the first phase of the project.
Wanting to address their sanctuary lighting before Easter, the church initiated a house lighting overhaul as the initial step in a larger refurbishment project that will entail audio, video and lighting. Icon Media, specialists in integrated systems for houses of worship and an Elation dealer, was contacted by church leadership and strategic planning consultant’s GrowMentum to handle the project.
“We have a staff that understands the specific nuances of this market, how it operates and is structured,” states Icon Media president Brian Gore. “The HoW market requires a special approach, specific skills and sensitivities that you need to keep in mind and our experience at Icon has made us one of the front-runners. A lot of churches don't have a full-time technical staff so we help design around that and find a system that’s right for them.”
The company conducted a site survey at Lighthouse Church early in 2021 and consequently came up with a design proposal to modernize and upgrade the facility. The approximate 600-capacity worship space, a converted light industrial building, had a previous house lighting system that consisted of an array of 1000W scoop lights.
Charlie Pike, project manager at Icon Media, says the old system was both poor quality and inefficient and that LED was the obvious sol
UK - The Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation Awards recognise and celebrate the high-quality research-led innovation at Oxford University, that is having societal or economic impact. With categories including Team Work, Building Capacity, Inspiring Leadership, Early Engagement Innovators and Policy Engagement, the Awards reflect the excellence of the innovation that takes place across the University.
Established in 2018, the first two editions of the Awards were celebrated at a live event involving around 150 delegates who enjoyed panel discussions as well as a presentation ceremony. The 2020 renewal was due to take place at the Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre at Worcester College, Oxford, but the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic rendered this impossible.
Supported by events organiser Michelle Miles of Fusion Events and Weddings, the university opted to stage a virtual event. The Innovation Awards of 2020 were to remain true to their name when Oxford-based event production specialists THAT Event Company (TEC) came onboard.
TEC’s brief was to create a fully virtual and interactive replacement for the live event. Following a pre-filmed introduction from the Vice Chancellor, the event would be placed into the hands of a moderator who would manage the guest speakers, panel discussion and question and answer session with the live audience. Following detailed consultation between the stakeholders to clarify and explain the possibilities in detail, TEC began to create a bespoke virtual package.
Whilst the event was filmed live at the King’s Centre, the a
Germany - At the new Axel Springer Campus in the heart of Berlin, WeltN24 has commissioned two state-of-the-art TV studios for the WELT station. Both news studios are equipped with Ethernet/IP-capable lighting fixtures throughout, enabling IP-end-to-end communication and, therefore, efficient workflows that are fully integrated into the broadcast infrastructure. The ARRI System Group handled the consulting, planning, and turnkey installation of the studio lighting and control systems on behalf of the system integrator Qvest Media and in close partnership with the planning office mo2 design.
WELT’s two TV studios enable closer networking and collaboration with digital and print. This exchange is also reflected in the visual concept of the studios, each measuring 175sq.m and 5.5m high. Glass fronts in Studio 1 ensure transparency, visibility, and interaction. Challenges in terms of the lighting design were also the motorised and movable LED video panels on three sides and a required minimum range of movement for the presenters on set without changing the lighting fixture positions.
After extensive testing, a total of 100 soft lights from the ARRI SkyPanel series (S60-C, S30-C) and Moving Lights with the Fresnel characteristics from Robe Lighting were chosen. These are supplemented by LED bars which are affixed to the top of the motorized video panels to direct an appropriate backlight onto the presenters.
In Studio 2, especially for the green box, ARRI’s SkyPanels with different apertures (S120-C, S60-C, S30-C) were specified to achieve optimal l
Spain - Pixotope has enabled VideoReport Canarias, a regional news and entertainment broadcasting services provider, to expand its virtual production offering in six months.
VideoReport Canarias is the broadcasting services provider of a number of well-known media broadcasters in Spain, including RadioTelevision Canaria. VideoReport Canarias partnered with Pixotope to find a more resource-friendly and visually stimulating way of producing live TV. Working through Pixotope’s distributor Tangram and VideoReport Canarias’ supplier and system integrator Bienvenido Gil (BGL), an entirely new show format was created for RadioTelevision Canaria’s daily primetime weather show, Una Hora Menos.
“Innovation has always been at the core of VideoReport Canarias. This is why we were excited to introduce virtual reality in our sets, specifically in our prime-time show. What motivated us to use Pixotope was that we thought it was a great solution, affordable and pretty quick to turnaround in time,” comments Anuska Simón Gómez, general manager at VideoReport Canarias.
Moving away from traditional talk-show production sets with expensive LED screen displays and changing stage fixtures and furniture, Una Hora Menos went from a small costly production set that had limited stage resources and a single camera operation to a versatile and multi-camera operation studio that can produce a limitless number of stage scenarios to assist in the shows’ news reporting and creative storytelling.
“Pixotope allows us to save money and time by prov
Cambodia - To deliver sound reinforcement with optimal clarity and coverage at the Smile Charity Concert at Aeon Mall Sen Sok City, Smart Axiata hired Nano Sound Cambodia to deploy a Harman sound reinforcement system comprised of JBL, Crown and Soundcraft solutions.
Organised by telecommunications provider Smart Axiata, the Smile Charity Concert was created to raise money for Kantha Bopha Hospital and Angkor Hospital for Children. The concert took place at Aeon Mall Sen Sok City, a shopping centre featuring a 1,500-seat performance hall that hosts concerts, weddings, trade shows, conferences and gaming competitions.
Nano Sound reported that the client requested a high-quality audio system that could be adjusted for a variety of performance types. The client also required complete coverage for two different stages, as well as the venue’s lobby. To deliver premium sound quality throughout each space, Nano Sound selected JBL speakers for their ability to support a wide range of contemporary and classical music genres.
The system installed by Nano Sound includes JBL STX 815M main speakers, STX818S subwoofers, STX 812M floor monitors and VTX F15 multi-purpose loudspeakers. For portable sound reinforcement, Nano Sound supplemented the system with JBL EON 610 loudspeakers.
The team powered the JBL loudspeakers with Crown VRack 4x3500HD all-in-one amplification systems. In order to ensure professional-sounding mixes with plenty of dynamics and clarity, Nano Sound installed Soundcraft Vi3000, Ui24R and Notepad-12FX mixing consoles.
Smart Axiata
USA - Located on the Jamul Indian Village reservation, 20 miles east of downtown San Diego, the Jamul Casino attracts visitors from across southern California. In addition to gaming, it offers multiple restaurants, bars and lounges, the newest of which is The Rooftop.
Developed on the roof of the main casino building, it provides 360° views of the surrounding valley and is used for private parties as well as regular live music performances and theme nights. Having initially rented lighting for special events, earlier this year the casino’s management invested in a permanent house rig comprised of 80 ADJ fixtures.
For a number of years, AV support for the casino has been provided by CBC Technical Inc., located in nearby Temecula, CA. The company originally rented a lighting system to the casino for live music performances and special events at The Rooftop, following its completion last year. However, as the popularity of the venue grew and its events calendar expanded, they decided to invest in having a dedicated house rig permanently installed.
CBC Technical designed and supplied a versatile lighting system comprised exclusively of ADJ fixtures, the majority of which are IP65-rated due to the outdoor nature of the space. The company’s director of production services, Michael Hoffman, was responsible for designing the house plot, which is then adapted as necessary for special events and performances. Michael also serves as resident LD to the venue, coming in to setup custom looks for private parties or to run the lighting for featured special g