Case Study

WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES SUMMER 2025 OPENING CEREMONY

Gerdon Design used real-time effects in Notch 1.0 to create highly interactive visuals for the 2025 World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr.

The Rhine-Ruhr Games and Show Concept Creator Hans Mücke approached Gerdon Design to design and deliver a full visual concept for the opening ceremony of the Summer 2025 edition of the FISU World University Games, one of the largest multi-sport events worldwide. The Games organisers tasked Gerdon Design with developing pre-rendered backgrounds to play throughout as well as six unique real-time sequences to accompany featured musical acts, integrating live camera feeds over a canvas comprising a massive 13,500-pixel-wide LED wall and six infield towers.

The Gerdon Design team set out to craft bold looks that complemented the onstage performances, with a specific focus on placing each artist at the centre of their own visual world. Collaborating with Cologne-based Clubkind Design, they used Notch 1.0 to create widescreen scenes built around the camera feeds, incorporating the perspectives of the artists, orchestra, and band. The palette ranged from gradient colour fields separated by vertical lines to glass-like fragments with raindrops that enveloped and transformed the stage atmosphere. They also went heavy on the particles, designing a field influenced by each artist’s unique movements.

The team also created an especially distinct look for German artist Ayliva, who performed within a sea of motion-reactive particles. With Notch 1.0’s Virtual Background feature, they could use her body shape as a guide for particle movement, allowing her to influence and interact with the visual environment with every move.

Notch 1.0 proved invaluable in keeping the performance stable while still incorporating creative effects on this scale.

Marek Papke, Creative Director, Gerdon Design

For media playback of both rendered work and Notch Blocks, Gerdon Design partnered with Bildmaschine, whose expertise in using four Pixera media servers ensured smooth real-time playback throughout the three-hour ceremony.

Creative Director Marek Papke adds, “As this was one of the biggest live events in Germany in 2025, the overall creative process and technical setup was quite a challenge. But Notch 1.0’s real-time capabilities came through without any technical issues, and we are really proud of the outcome.”