MA systems in control at Eurovision
- Details
Fifteen grandMA2 consoles graced the FOH technical area, controlling 71,061 parameters and a mix of over 2,500 light sources and LED fixtures.
These were lighting the main stage – another elegant design by Florian Wieder – the auditorium and the green room.
MA was chosen by several on the creative and technical team co-ordinated by ESC’s head of production Ola Melzig, including Jack Collins, the event’s lighting systems and control specialist who has worked on several ESCs in recent years.
“The multiuser functionality and ability to control every fixture from every console and to alter fixture types to suit your needs were two big advantages of the MA architecture”, commented Collins, “plus the network’s overall stability and troubleshooting facilities.”
Once the installation was up and running and the production period commenced, Collins watched all the grandMA2 system monitors from his console and could read out every command and, if necessary, search the history, track down errors and pass the information back to the programming team.
Macros – another area where MA is very strong – were also an essential part of the lighting process for a show with short changeover times and many complex sets to accommodate. This enabled timecode information, presets, views, starting and preparing cues to be changed in an instant.
Three grandMA2 full-size plus a backup were utilised as the main show desks, and 11 grandMA2 lights - six active and five backups - were also in the lighting network, created using 20 x MA NPU (Network Processing Unit), 25 x MA 8Port Nodes and two Swisson 8-port nodes, running on 10 UPS’s.
An MA onPC command wing located backstage was used for testing set and prop practical lights that were also integrated into the system for their slots.
The lighting fixtures were supplied by several leading manufacturers, a massive job which was co-ordinated via Danish rental company Litecom, including any extras packages requested by individual delegations.
Operating the main show lighting console was Angelo Di Nella (on a grandMA2 full-size). Joshua Cutts ran the audience lighting - also a major element of the broadcast - on a grandMA2 light. The key lighting was looked after by Ivan Eftimov on another grandMA2 light, all running with backup consoles.
Playback video was operated via another light run by Yahav Tenne complete with backup, while Moti Aroshas took care of the green room lighting, again utilising a grandMA2 light with full backup. Dakar had a grandMA full-size on which he ensured that all the crucial key lighting levels and master intensities were spot on for the cameras - and Collins’ system desk was also grandMA2 light.
(Jim Evans)
