Production designer, Ben M Rogers, chose the ORB to control the opening ceremony after receiving a product demonstration at the ProLight&Sound show held earlier this year in Frankfurt. "I have used the ZerOS based consoles for many years now with the Frog 2 making regular appearances in Cyprus for large scale events," reports Rogers. "What was significant about the ORB was the re-structuring of the control surface into a more theatrical style and the numerous updates and enhancements to the already strong operating system."
These recent developments include a colour picker and a full tracking back-up solution. "The tracking back-up was implemented just before the GSSE event," continued Rogers. "In some ways beta-testing such an important feature when it comes to reliability was a little daunting, but we ran through a full set of crash and burn type scenarios with the main console in advance of the show and were able to establish the stability of this feature to the point that I was very happy to have both consoles running in sync for the live show."
The complete lighting and media system was controlled by the ORB and included 40 automated fixtures by Clay Paky, six City Colours, 26 LED Panels, 148 dimmers, Arkaos Media Master (eight layers of high resolution video) that provided content to 36sq.m of Martin LC + LED, and 20sq.m of Color Web 250. In total, the system ran over four universes of DMX including two wireless universes using the SHoW DMX products, and the rest being broadcast using Zero 88 1 universe Ethernet boxes.
In addition to the main ORB console, programmed by Zero 88 product manager Peter Kirkup, a 24 channel Zero 88 Jester lighting controller was linked to the DMX to emulate submasters, which gave Ben M Rogers live fader control for white light and effects to work directly with the TV feed and ensure the appropriate balance was maintained for the 11 camera broadcast feed.
"With such a large venue, a respectively small lighting system, and a wide variety of performance and ceremonial content, it was essential that I was able to quickly and effectively realise the lighting looks for the event. The industry standard syntax, intuitive control, and reliability of the ORB console proved an ideal solution and the support offered by Zero 88 continues to be exceptional," concludes Rogers.
The sun and sea of Cyprus were the focal points at the ceremony, which was enriched with the musical tradition of the country. The ceremony featured a cast of over 2500, including 1800 children, Limassol Grammar School Choir, Greek tenor Mario Frangoulis with musical interludes by Michalis Hadjimichail, Yiorgos Perris, and 'Echodrasi'. The ceremony was broadcast live on Cyprus TV, syndicated to networks across Europe, and watched by 10,000 spectators in the stadium.
(Jim Evans)
