Technical Director Ola Melzig, who has managed the event since 2000, specified the CyberHoist II system for the Eurovision Song Contest from the official technical supplier, [LITE]COM.
[LITE]COM, which invested in 32 units and four MotionCue3D control systems prior to the event, supplied a 88-hoist system, supported by Ampco Flashlight Rental.
Melzig worked alongside [LITECOM] CyberHoist II Project Manager, Mathias Sonntag and Martin Hoop of Ampco Flashlight to design the complex moving arrangement for this year’s automation-heavy show.
“Once the set design was established back in September it was quite obvious that it required a significant automated element for both staging and lighting,” explained Melzig. “CyberMotion was about to release the second generation of CyberHoist whilst looking for the ideal large-scale platform to debut it. I jumped at the chance as we were the first ever show to use the system back on Eurovision 2003 so it closed the circle nicely.”
The hoists were required to automate the main elements of the show including the ten ARCS above the stage, six ‘flowerpot’ lighting trusses which moved from underneath the stage upwards, 12 back lighting pods which comprised TourPro AquaBeam and Clay Paky Sharpy fixtures, two LX-trusses, two pyro trusses, two trusses with Holo-Gauze projection screens plus two trusses for the two by three backlight followspots.
“The updated CyberHoist II system is really amazing,” continued Melzig. “Its advanced cues allow you to program quickly and easily. But the most interesting thing was the way we implemented it to control each automated lighting object as well as the set pieces. The fact it was all on one system saved a lot of time and money which was fantastic.”
The entire lighting rig comprised an immense 1,700 fixtures, however CyberHoist II has been specifically designed to manage and accommodate the rigours of automation design for such large-scale entertainment environments.
Eurovision 2016’s CyberHoist II operators were Joeri Swagemakers and Ingo Koenzen, assisted by CyberHoist technicians Pepijn van den Berkhof and Carsten Jäckel.
“CyberHoist II is ideal for this show as it’s extremely safe, very reliable and fast to program,” explained Swagemakers. “It allows us to efficiently make any adjustments the lighting designer requires. It is also a very safe system – with redundancy in almost every aspect of the system.”
CyberHoist II embraces EN61508/SIL 3 (Safety Integrity Level 3) compliant technology, controlled by CyberMotion’s MotionCue3D Performance Console. It is also compliant with other applicable international safety standards and codes of practice (DIN56950, BS, FEM, etc). It includeed all top-notch options, such as dual channel load cell and bi-channel high-speed communication including actual load and status information from hoists and programmed objects to the operator.
“CyberHoist II has been fundamentally designed to respond to the needs of motion control requirements in live production,” Swagemakers continued. “It is object-based, meaning we can simply select an object, use the Object Control function to move it to a certain position and record it on the MotionCue3D desk. The speed of programming on this system has even surprised the lighting designer of Eurovision and his programmers.
“One other impressive feature is the option to use two precise settings for deceleration and acceleration – Smooth and Linear. In Smooth the motion is seamless with no hard stops in between or at the end of a movement. You can actually move a circle like a rolling coin – it looks completely flawless. The Linear setting is then ideal for fast movements.”
