Creative Technology (CT) and Dimension Audio staged the annual Laureus World Sport Awards in the Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall in St Petersburg.
The two British companies, working for production house Done and Dusted, used Barco OLite 612 LED for the 8x6 module main screen, which was split into four columns that were tracked backwards and forwards on a Vertigo Rigging system during the show to create entrances for winners and presenters to emerge through.
A further 1,296 tiles of OLite 612 were housed in custom metal work on each side of the main screen and divided up as three "fingers" on either side, while 633 Barco MiTrix tile were used to create a 40mwide banner around the top of the theatre's auditorium. Another 174 MiTrix tiles were used to construct two panels on either side of the stage and another 126 tiles were used to cover the master truss supporting the tracking screen., comprising a total of 663 tiles, again housed within custom metal work. A further two panels, consisting of 174 tiles of MiTRIX, were positioned on either side of the stage.
Control for the system was via seven Barco D320PL processors, with playback from five Hippotyzer media servers, managed by video services company Digital Insanity. The art for the screens was supplied to CT by graphics agency Hello Charlie and played back by Digital Insanity, while content for the main screen came from an OB truck having already been scaled by CT and sent to the truck for mixing.
Dimension's remit was to provide a loudspeaker system that could adequately cover the steep rake of the venue's seating. "The Mariinsky was designed as an acoustic venue," said Dimension's Staf Rowley. "But when you're putting on a big television production, you have a different set of parameters from those for which the room was originally intended and this meant we had to put in a PA, which included amplifying the orchestra. We used the number of cabinets we did in the line array because of the steep rake of the seating."
Dimension provided a d&b loudspeaker system to cover the venue's various levels, with other equipment including Sennheiser radio mics and a Yamaha PM5D mixing console at front of house, as well as using the in-house equipment.
