A portable WYSIWYG visualization system from Portal Design Services proved to be the solution to the problem. Portal shipped the self-contained system directly to LaBriola's house so that he could program the show in his home office. "I was able to complete the vast majority of the cueing at home," remarks LaBriola. "The pre-programming was all about information management. We could swap fixtures around in the WYSIWYG drawing easily and we could also do the same in the grandMA console we were using for control. It was difficult to get confirmation about exactly what equipment would be waiting for us in China. Being able to swap fixture types and expand or contract the major design elements while preserving the programming meant that the grandMA was the only console for the job."
With only a week to go before the tour left for China, LaBriola flew to Los Angeles with Portal's portable WYSIWYG system to meet with production and the band to go over the show's structure. LaBriola was able to show members of the production team renderings of what the show would look like that had been produced in Portal Design Services render farm by Jordan Ray. The time in Los Angeles also gave LaBriola the chance to teach DeBoer the show, before Deboer left for China with the tour, using Portal's WYSIWYG system.
Ultimately the shows went off without a hitch, despite the total reliance on 'virtual lighting design'. "This really shows what is possible with visualization software," comments LaBriola. "It has become such a cliché to say 'this show would not have happened without it,' but these shows really wouldn't have. Of course, having a company like Portal there to make sure all the technology behaves itself is a must. There are so many other things going on, the last thing you want to do is trouble shoot a computer or a computer program. It is a tribute to Portal, and in particular Jordan, that the renderings they produced are uncannily similar to the final show."
(Lee Baldock)
