Four Robert Juliat 4000W HTI Lancelot fixtures were the followspots of choice for Frédéric Aldo Fayard’s Opening Ceremony of the 17th FINA World Aquatic Championships, which took place in Budapest and Balatonfüred this July.
The FINA World Championships, the largest sporting showcase Hungary has hosted, had 2,500 athletes from 180 countries and 200 events over a period of 17 days.
Aldo, the founder and designer with Concept K in Paris, created and programmed the lighting for the opening ceremony event, which was conceived and produced by the French production ECA2 Group with MUPA from Hungary.
The four 4kW Lancelot followspots were supplied by PRG France and were rigged on two technical towers front of stage. The ceremony also provided the ideal opportunity for Aldo to test out Robert Juliat’s newest product, SpotMe, where he put it through its paces under live conditions for the first time ever.
SpotMe, a 3-D real-time tracking system, turns the followspots into an innovative solution to give the position of performers on stage, without the need for emitters or cameras. The followspot is equipped with sensors, which send signals to the server, and communicates all the positions and beam size parameters to the lighting console through PSN and DMX protocols.
The opening ceremony took place on an 80m x 10m meter floating stage, situated directly on the Danube River close to the main bridge. Aldo chose to work with the Lancelot followspots for the prestigious event, as he believes them to be “the most powerful and flexible on the market.
“I have used Robert Juliat lights many times in my 30 years of international experience and I believe they produce the best profiles and followspots in the world. I know the Lancelot well, and for me, the most important features are the optics, their sheer power, and the zoom range, all of which were invaluable for the distances involved and the coverage of the event. I have worked with many manufacturers around the world, but wherever I am working, I always request Robert Juliat first,” stated Aldo.
The ceremony ended with a rendition of the official song of the World Championships, performed by Gigi Radics and Nikolas Takács, followed by a concert by CeeLo Green.
Aldo concluded: “We are happy to report SpotMe worked well in coordinating the moving lights with the movement initiated by the Lancelots. I can see this becoming a very sought after system.
“The FINA Opening Ceremony was a good test for SpotMe, both as a trial under live conditions, and to ensure it meets the true requirements of lighting designers in all aspects prior to releasing it to market. Live testing gives us the opportunity to fine tune the details and make sure it is a viable and valuable – product in ‘real’ conditions,” assured Robert Juliat’s Managing Director, François Juliat.
