The piece of kit that enabled him to do this was D-Tek Industries' ingenious D-Mix Pro - a small 1U 'black box' device offering huge flexibility, plug-and-play simplicity and easy setup and operation.
The D-Mix Pro opens up new opportunities for small-to-medium sized tours to incorporate video very cost-effectively into their show, with no extra crew required. The operator can programme and sequence video mixes via any DMX user-interface, just as they would a moving light or other intelligent device. D-Mix Pro offers a truly integrated show control option, for one creative director to produce seamless visuals across both mediums, says the company.
Hardiman also produced all his own playback video sources for the show, and designed the set in addition to the lighting and video. He says: "I've always believed in total artistic control. Having one person totally responsible for all the show visuals is the only way I believe it can be done properly."
Before the tour commenced, he approached Dan Cook of D-Tek Industries, inventor of the D Mix Pro, one of a range of video integration products produced by the company, to explore the range of possibilities. He also consulted Phil Mercer and Des Fallon at XL Video, suppliers of the tour's production video. Collectively they came up with the solution of utilising the D-Mix Pro.
It was only once immersed in production rehearsals that Hardiman realised exactly how much brainspace was needed for him to process live camera direction plus operating lighting cues! This is where the programmability of the D-Mix Pro was invaluable, enabling him to pre-programme some basic camera mix building blocks, and work live 'on top' during the show.
The D-Mix Pro has four video inputs, each of which can be sent to up to four outputs via a matrix. It works with all video systems worldwide and has less frame-lag than a digital media server. It's also an extremely keenly priced option compared to other solutions and the hardware is rock solid, guaranteeing reliable operation and involving no software with crash potential, says the company.
Hardiman says of the D-Mix: "I like the 'anything-anywhere-anyplace' facility and the fact that it's a one box solution enabling me to run my M-Box playback footage and four live cameras through the WholeHog 3. DMX is finally giving me the huge potential, power and flexibility I need to focus simultaneously on the show's creative aspects."
The stage featured a large 34ft wide by 18ft tall 15mm pixel pitch Sony LED screen. This was supported by two customised ovular soft screens either side of stage, fed with Barco projectors. The cameras were three of XL's operated Sony D50s, two in the pit and one at FOH, plus a remote controlled hot head over-stage. These were run through the D-Mix Pro, along with the M-Box media server playback sources. The D-Mix effectively performs the functions of both a mixer and a switcher device.
The lighting desk and all the FOH gear is supplied by Hardiman's own company t-h-c. XL Video built him a bespoke camera monitoring system for FOH, so he can view up to 16 sources in a variety of configurations on a single flat screen.
To free up some headspace, he came up with a manoeuvre to alleviate himself from having to call four or more follow spots covering 10 band positions, in addition to live directing four cameras and operating a complex lightshow. The idea came to him after a show in Russia where he had to call 12 spots via an interpreter!
Honing his follow-spot vocabulary down to 15 basic commands, he has put the vocals into a sampler and created a system whereby the desk triggers pre-programmed macros that fire t
