Working for production company Done and Dusted, audiovisual services company Creative Technology (CT) provided the event's demanding screen requirements, a service it has been providing to the Laureus Awards for the past three years whilst sister company, Dimension Audio, was on hand to address its audio needs.
In charge of CT's five-man crew was project manager Alex Leinster, who explains what was involved: "We used Barco OLite 612 modules for the main screen in an 8x6 module which was split into four columns that were tracked backwards and forwards on a Vertigo Rigging system during the show, to create entrances for winners and presenters to emerge through.
"We then had a further 1,296 tiles of OLite 612 that were housed in custom metal work on each side of the main screen and divided up as three 'fingers' on either side."
Barco's lightweight, transparent MiTrix modules were then used to create a 40m-wide banner around the top of the theatre's auditorium, comprising a total of 663 tiles, again housed within custom metal work. A further two panels, consisting of 174 tiles of MiTrix, were positioned on either side of the stage.
"We used another 126 tiles of MiTrix to cover the master truss that supported the tracking OLite screen," continues Leinster. "That meant we used a grand total of 1,137 tiles of MiTrix, none of which were in a standard configuration. It was a complex system, but it all went together quite smoothly."
Control for the system was via seven Barco D320PL processors, with playback from five Hippotizer media servers. "These were controlled by video services company Digital Insanity," adds Leinster. "They ran everything from the Hippotizers straight through into our system, with the tracking screen going via the OB truck so they could cut to VT content as well as live camera footage."
The 'art' for the screens was supplied to CT by graphics agency Hello Charlie and played back by Digital Insanity. Content for the main screen came from the OB truck and had already been scaled by CT and sent to the truck for mixing.
Dimension provided a d&b loudspeaker system to cover the venue's various levels, with other equipment including Sennheiser radio mics and a Yamaha PM5D mixing console at front of house, as well as utilising the in-house equipment. "We used two drops of d&b Q-Series line array," explains Staf Rowley. "This comprised six Q1 passive two-way cabinets with a Q7 per-side, plus two Q-SUBs per-side at the top of the array. We tried to use as much in-house kit as we could - it makes economic and environmental sense to transport as little equipment as possible. The Russian OB truck owned quite a lot of microphones that were ideal because we were simply lifting the orchestra."
(Jim Evans)
