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difc2
Neumann & Mueller worked with HQ to create an impressive event for the second anniversary of the Dubai International Finance Centre. Loise Stickland reports for TPi…
(Source: Total Production international February 2007)
Munich-based Neumann & Mueller worked closely with Dubai show producers HQ Creative to deliver a stunning high definition AV/projection show for DIFC 2 — a large event celebrating the achievements of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) over the last year.
The 2673sqm surface area of DIFC's magnificent 74 metre high marbled arch building — a popular Dubai landmark — including an additional central diamond shaped screen measuring 196sqm was covered in the moving, still and animated HD images. This gave an impressive total resolution of 4628 x 3990 pixels, creating an incredible high impact 3D effect.
The 25-minute DIFC corporate presentation included vertical cat-walkers zipping down the front of the building before going in to a concert starring Jose Carreras and Arab singer, Hiba Al Kawas. This included further projections and an I-Mag camera mix, also supplied by Neumann & Mueller, who also co-ordinated supply of lighting and sound equipment, and crew.
DIFC 2 built on the highly successful concept initiated last year of using the building and the surrounding space to produce the show. This time, HQ and N&M wanted to take it a stage further in terms of AV and use the full DIFC building surface for projections. "The innovation and success of last year meant we could explore the space with a lot more confidence," explained HQ's creative director Katie Viera.
N&M's project manager and technical director Bill Pugh and HQ's director of production Jo Marshall worked closely on the logistics and practicalities of Staging the event.
Viera and HQ's creative producer Daz Jamieson collaborated with Klaus Ostermayer, head of N&M's studio in Munich on creation of the show content. The images and artwork were based around a scientifically themed narrative, resulting in an artistic and intelligent piece of live communication detailing the achievements and future ambitions of DIFC.
On site, the production retained the key feature of the DIFC 'logo' truss from last year to provide lighting and sound positions. This was flown 36 metres above the stage and tucked into the arch of the building. Below that was added the 20sqm diamond shaped projection screen.
When it came to the AV programming, Ostermayer again took the 'hot seat'. He specified a Dataton Watchout System for control and design of the show, chosen for its huge flexibility, reliability and dynamic operation.
The hi-res animations were produced by a combination of HQ Creative and Atomic Arts in London as uncompressed Quicktime movies in 4620 x 3990 format. They were then split into five Windows Media files. Rendering the full resolution files took approximately 20 minutes per frame! The show content (pictures, real video and animation) was composited in the Watchout System consisting of 15 high performance show computers and one control computer.
The 15 separate feeds were vertically and horizontally soft-edged together to create one seamless image. Watchout was also used to mask images to the shape of the diamond screen in the centre.
A five-channel Surround audio plus timecode for lighting and laser (supplied by Tarm) departments was also supplied via the Watchout, and live video 'windows' were managed and integrated into the diamond screen using a Barco Encore System.
Thirty Digital Projection LlGHTNING 30sx+ projectors with 3-chip DLP technology (16,000 ANSI lumens each) were rigged onto three 30 metre high FOH towers to beam the images onto the arch. Ten covered each of the sides, six dealt with the centre section and four Barco FLM-R20s were used to cover the diamond screen.
With 18 metres of differential between the projector positions and the top of the building, some projectors required serious perspective correction, which was achieved using a Folsom VMS 100 Screen Shaper, running 3D metric software.
N&M also supplied four Thomson LDK200 cameras and a Sony MFS 2000 vision mixer with SDI for I-Mag of the performers and the speakers who introduced the evening's Performance. The cameras were used with a variety of lenses, one was positioned halfway down the seating stand and the other three near the stage. N&M's video crew of 12 was headed by Michael Würschinger.
XL Video's Chris Saunders was commissioned by HQ Creative to produce a DVD recording of the whole event, independent of the show I-Mag mix.
LIGHTING
UK based lighting designer Nick Jevons was again onboard to weave his magic in that department. His 'logo' truss — mirroring the diamond-shaped DIFC logo — was retained as a key architectural feature of the lighting design, and was again tucked neatly inside DIFC's arch, flown from seven giant i-Beams laid on top of the roof of the 74 metre high building.
"It was very much a video driven show," said Jevons, "and as such, lighting had an important but very specific role to play."
Jevons started work with Bill Pugh on creative lighting ideas two months before the show. This year, with the logo truss was trimmed so high, Jevons -needed fixtures with the punch to cut through to the stage below, so chose 10 AlphaOne Falcon Beam 3kW moving lights to cover that challenging distance.
Other lighting instruments included Martin Professional MAC 2000 profiles, High End Studio Beam PCs, some trusty PAR 64s, LED PARs to tone the truss, Martin Atomic strobes and 5kW fresnels. These were supplied by N&M along with four AlphaOne Falcon Beam 7kWs (making their world debut) that were positioned two per side on the floor illuminating the building and providing 9km long searchlight beams during the show.
Lighting was operated by Michael Baganz using a grandMA console. Jevons also had follow spots at his disposal for Carreras' and Al Kawas' performances.
AUDIO
Sound was co-ordinated for N&M by Dex Smith working closely with locally-based Andy Jackson, who was invaluable in sourcing the kit needed for Carreras and the concert section of the show. The d&b System used for the corporate presentation was supplied by N&M.
A JBL Vertec 4888 line array system was chosen for the main concert PA arrays, picked for its light weight and excellent directionability. Hung from the logo truss, there was only a limited weight allowance available. It was run with ground-stacked VerTec subs. In front of that were further d&b Q1s for outfills.
The City of London Symphonia orchestra was conducted by Brad Cohen and miked with a selection of ambient mics and closed DPAs, mixed by Simon Honeywill using a Midas Heritage 3000 console. Honeywill also took care of sound for Carreras and Al Kawas. The string quartet which opened the show and the lead orchestral instrumentalists were all given Sennheiser lEMs in addition to conventional monitoring.
The corporate presentation element of the sound was operated by Ekki Von Nordenskjöld using a Yamaha DM2000 console, which proved very flexible for all the fine tuning needed during the rehearsal period. The presentation music track was specially arranged, and the links between pieces were written by Molly Nyman and Henry Escott, who provided rough mixes beforehand allowing N&M to start off site programming of the video.
Audio playback for the corporate presentation element was stored on hard drive and run by timecode sent from the Watchout System. In addition to the d&b speakers mentioned above, the 5.1 audio system for the corporate show was completed with seven d&b Q1 speakers at the back — five in an array and two single separate enclosures used as fills.
Acoustically, the space was relatively friendly, stated Von Nordenskjöld, despite it being replete with reverberant surfaces and other surrounding buildings.
HQ's site manager was Nigel Beaton, stage manager was Davey Coates, and the show was called by Sue Banner.
DIFC 2 was a massive success. HQ Creative's Jo Marshall summed up: "The technical complexity and content of the projection was something that's never been done on this scale before, and everyone has worked really hard to make sure it happened and looked spectacular. N&M were extremely helpful — they get right behind the creative aspects as well as the technical and really added value to the production."
TPi