UK – For Eric Prydz’s EDM set at his own ‘Pryda’ stage at Creamfields this year, Avolites Ai servers and an Arena console powered more than 100 light fixtures, including Clay Paky Sharpys, Robin LEDWash 600s, and various strobes, wash and blinders all supplied by Colour Sound Experiment.
More details from Avolites (www.avolites.com):
The unstoppable force of EDM, Eric Prydz, headlined his own ‘Pryda’ stage at Creamfields with another explosive visual performance powered by Avolites Ai servers and an Arena console. London-based creative technology expert Realtime Environment Systems Ltd (RES) provided the Avolites Ai media server know-how for the performance, which was a completely new and bespoke set up for Creamfields.
“We designed a custom metal frame which surrounded Eric on the stage – we wanted to move away from just huge video shows which Eric has done lots of in the past, and design a stage that used set, lighting and video to give an illusion of depth,” explains RES founder Mark Calvert.
More than 100 lighting fixtures were employed for the spectacle, including Clay Paky Sharpys, Robin LEDWash 600s, and various strobes, wash and blinders all supplied by Colour Sound Experiment. In addition, the team rigged x4 22W RGB lasers from BPM, and an 8m x 8m 15mm LED screen upstage, supplied by XL Video.
Calvert served as Show Producer, Co-Designer and VJ, working alongside Dave Green, Technical Director at RES and Ai expert. Eric Prydz’s VJ was Liam Tomaszewski and Lighting Designer was Ross Chapple.
For the visuals, RES specified an Ai S6 server and x2 Apple Macbook Pro laptops with Avolites Miami dongles. These allow users to run Ai on laptops, enabling creation, design and full 3D visualisation of projects on the move. The Ai unlock keys also allow output of HD video, enabling shows and presentations to be run directly from a laptop or a full server.
“Simply put, we worked with the S6 as given its hardware spec, we find it never drops a beat!” says Calvert. “Eric’s creative genius Liam Tomaszewski designed some incredible custom clips for the show, fired using Ai on the laptops.”
The S6 is Avolites’ most powerful server, designed to output 4 x 4K output streams and run the industry’s most challenging Apple Pro Res 4444 codec. It is built using the latest cutting edge components, housed in at custom Avolites casing designed for life on the road.
Ross Chapple used Avolites’ Arena console to control the lighhting for all of the acts on Eric Prydz’s ‘Pryda’ stage, which included Maceo Plex, Adam Beyer and special guest, Sasha. The line up was curated by Eric Prydz himself.
“The main idea behind the design was to combine ‘installation’ style lighting effects and looks with the more standard format ‘big looks’ of an electronic music show,” says Chapple. “We programmed the fixtures to provide looks and chases that accentuated the shape and internals of the structure.
“Creamfields was the first time I had used the Arena, and I’m very keen on the physical layout of the desk – the positioning of the faders on the Arena works very well, and the desk itself is a very manageable size. We rarely know what is going to be played during Eric’s performances and it is common for new tracks to be played that we have never heard before! I wanted to try the new Arena to see how the physical layout of the desk assisted in this workflow. I found that the LCD fader labelling and the ability to place a playback window in the new screen on the top-right hand corner of the desk expanded on the Avo’s already strong ability to support this working style.”
Chapple’s Arena was loaded with Titan V9, meaning he had the power of the wealth of new software features for the show.
“The new Key Frame Shape tool was ideal for creating some of the ‘internal effects’ used on fixtures within the structure,” he says. “It allowed me to break down the effects I desired into steps, using a logical workflow that allowed for quick creation.”
The Avolites Arena is the ideal console for festivals, theatres and anywhere that a larger control surface is required. It combines the popular interface of the Tiger Touch II with 30 additional Playback faders and expanded live control options and features.
The EDM extravaganza took in Daresbury, England, which ran from 28-30 August 2015.
