For the thousands of fans throughout the UK who viewed the recent Lockdown Bingo Charity show, getting swept up in the immersive panorama supporting the livestream’s performances came quite naturally. And why not? With its seamless flow of brilliant images on its curved video wall working in harmony with vivid, colorful beams that surrounded it, the display immersed with its integrated visuals.
The tightly woven imagery captivated the livestream audience. But for the team at Tapestry Live Studio that created the stunning visuals, the massive curved video wall and lighting rig were treated as two distinct design elements.
“The LED wall and lighting installation are two completely independent installations, but they complement each other beautifully,” said Sarah Winters of Tapestry Virtual Events, which created the studio in the face of the pandemic. “Our LED wall needs to be kept most flexible as it is used for a wide range of activities, but the lighting selected allows us to add different effects to suit every use of the studio. This ranges from corporate events to DJ sets.”
Tapestry Event owners Lynsey and Alex McLaren planned the virtual studio with a clear divide between video and lighting soon after the COVID-19 pandemic brought their normal live event business to a halt, believing that this arrangement would give the production facility greater flexibility.
“In the wake of COVID we found ourselves adapting to the ever-changing landscape of the events world,” said Alex McLaren. “We therefore created our Tapestry Studio and Virtual Events Platform to offer our clients a way of delivering their events, whether it be a conference, DJ sets, live band performances, AGMs, meetings and panel discussions, charity events and more.”
While the massive video wall serves as the focal point of the virtual studio, powerful lighting elements are relied on to give each production a distinct visual quality. This has made it essential to complement the wall with high output fixtures like the CHAUVET Professional Rogue R2X Beam. The intense (134,000 lux at 15 meters) output of the 231-watt beam has the punch to stand out against the bright video wall, while the moving fixture’s 14 fixed colors in a fully scrollable, and variable speed color wheel offers designers an array of creative options.
“Given the level of productions we have been producing, it was essential that we support the curved video wall with a lighting rig that was up to this task,” said McLaren. “We could not compromise on the quality of the fixtures, which is why the R2X Beam plays such an important role in our studio. “