The stage design not only had to be exciting enough to keep pace with the prestigious artists scheduled to perform, but it also needed to be highly visible - enough to accommodate the massive crowd and yet flexible enough to meet the unique demands for a different show each night.
Luke Bonner of Production Technology LLC used wysiwyg to model the 750+ fixtures including moving lights, Space Cannons, strobes, 8-lights, pixelines and par 64s, in addition to the enormous LED wings. Control came from two GrandMA full size consoles at FOH, one GrandMA full size behind stage with wysiwyg, and two GrandMA media servers. Bonner also programmed and operated the GrandMAs and the MA video stations. Production Technology LLC delivered most of the lighting, rigging and staging. TechnoPro supplied the LED wings.
Bonner reports, "I had spoken to Rick Wade (Production Technology LLC, project manager) and Steve Shipman (Festival LD) about the possibility of using wysiwyg on a production of this magnitude. We all agreed so I began building the 3D model in wysiwyg based on the design from Steve Shipman - which went through few changes during the design evolution and so the wysiwyg model allowed us to get a good feel of how the event would look prior to physical build.
"The primary use of wysiwyg would be to allow Steve and visiting lighting designers a facility to use anytime, day or night to pre-program for their particular show and not be required to compete for physical rig time. We set up a wysiwyg room backstage in a portable cabin at the event site with a large plasma screen.
"In my opinion, wysiwyg complimented the event by adding an invaluable facility. Using wysiwyg onsite during a festival in the UAE is virtually unheard of. Due to the success of wysiwyg, I believe that its use will become more obvious on future events as a cost and time saving tool that LDs could use as and when required."
(Jim Evans)
