Dubai, UAE: Protec was delighted to support its client – SNAP, with lighting, video and rigging for the event held at Dubai International Marine Club from the 10th – 12th September 2015.
Games15 Middle East, the premier gaming event in the region hosted by ESL, saw more than 20,000 eager gaming fans brave soaring temperatures to watch global teams from ESL go head to head over 3 days, competing for the US$250,000/- prize. Visitors were able to preview and experience some of the games scheduled to be launched in the coming months.
The event was primarily for live broadcast and had a live audience. In this situation, broadcast took priority on the lighting design. 24 Clay Paky K20 B-Eye and 8 Mythos fixtures were used for the main stage. LED pixel smart fixtures added some ambient lighting in the main audience area. The large cinematic set, built out of shipping containers was subtly lit to add to the scenic surround feature.
Protec’s project manager Simon Travis explained: “Our lighting designer worked closely with the TV director to make sure colour temperatures and exposures were matched across the 10 HD cameras being used to capture the event. His biggest challenge was to light the players, but not directly, as it could have distracted them during the game.”
Aaron Russ – Protec’s lighting designer, used both side and bounce lighting to light the players in their booths. This made the process of eliminating shadows a little more of a challenge. Heat was another issue as the booths were small and confined. RGBW LED fixtures were used to light the booths, being perfect for the task. The colour temperature could be tuned for the cameras with minimal heat output, while keeping the fixtures in close proximity to the players.
To create a more ‘arena’ feel to the relativity small stage, Clay Paky Super Sharpy fixtures were used to send some big beam effects into the Dubai night sky. Their powerful beams punched through the rather bright ambient light of the Dubai Marina while their compact size didn’t eat into the valuable stage real estate.Protec Video used an Encore VP System for the Main Arena stage which worked well for the event. It needed a simple system that could handle an HD-SDI Signal with minimal latency loss. The Encore System was able to prevent any lip syncing issues that may have occurred due to the fast pace action of the event.
On the secondary exhibition stage, a smaller rig consisting of Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 700 and other fixtures were used. Protec used its new MA Lighting Dot 2 XL-F lighting consoles, which were easy for the lighting operators due to their clean layout and programming simplicity.
The director for SNAP, Darren Hodge said, “Being the first full scale gaming event in this region, it was a learning curve for all of us and to have the depth of resources that Protec have to hand was a great help. As usual nothing seemed a problem and there was always help and creative assistance immediately available from Protec.”
Protec has 13 highly experienced project managers ably supported by 130 handpicked full time staff. More than half are highly acclaimed industry professionals from the UK, USA and Europe who have decades of experience in the corporate and rock n’ roll industries across the world and within the region.