Project Description
Dubai Expo Closing Ceremony 2022
Renowned events producer FiveCurrents commissioned Bild Studios to create the impressive broadcast AR for Dubai Expo’s closing ceremony – staged in its majestic centrepiece venue; the Al Wasl dome.
World Expo 2020 presented a significant opportunity for Dubai to excel globally. With the pandemic closing international borders in 2020, the event was rescheduled to accommodate a global audience from October 2021 to March 2022.
The Expo team appointed FiveCurrents to create an impressive closing ceremony to end the six months-long festival of technology and innovation. After a successful Opening Ceremony, FiveCurrents commissioned visual pioneers Bild Studios to return to produce broadcast AR for the Closing, staged in the impressive Al Wasl dome. In addition to the large-scale 360 projections inside the dome, the AR elements added dimensionality and parallax to the broadcast experience, creating visual illusions that couldn’t be made in real life.
From a technical point of view, Bild tracked six cameras distributed within the 130m x 130 x 70m dome volume, all broadcasting in 4k. The tracking data was sent to the disguise gx2c server systems deployed to render the Notch graphics, all at 50fps.
The system Bild Studios put together was a trusted combination of Notch and disguise, which gave the team speed and flexibility during the onsite installation and rehearsal period. As the dome was still open to the public during the day, the installation and rehearsal period was restricted to evenings only. The ability to live-edit within Notch allowed the team to quickly adjust the AR visuals during the rehearsals in real-time – allowing the creative directors to influence the content to ensure it aligned with their overall vision for the show.
“Notch as a system allowed us to adjust the graphics at every process stage. On top of all of the prep work that went into this show, we did a lot of editing throughout the night once we were there. Notch allowed us to edit aspects like the sunbeams in every way; the speed, contrast, positioning in 3D and the beam running along with the dome itself. Every edit was done quickly, live and in front of the client, speeding up the entire workflow and making it possible to finish the project on time.”
David Bajt, Co-Founder & Director at Bild Studios
Credits
AR Notch content creation: Bild Studios
Technical consultancy Bild Studios
Hardware supply: Bild Studios
Client: FiveCurrents @fivecurrents
Media server: disguise gx2c @disguise.one
Camera Tracking: Stype (StypeKit, Stype RedSpy) and XD Motion
Network and tracking monitoring: Stage Precision
Bild Crew List
Executive Producer: David Bajt
Senior Producer: Lauren Rogers
Production Coordinator: Christina Souris
Technical Director: Jamie Sunter
Technical Manager: Matt Villis
Creative Lead: Lewis Kyle White
Notch Artist: Marco Martignone
Notch Artist: Harrison Mead
Notch Artist: Lewis Bailey
disguise operator A: Andy Coates
disguise operator B: Krzysztof Grabowski
System Engineer: Magnus Lewren
System Engineer: Adam Baston
Stype Engineer: Matko Borsic
Stype Engineer: Ivan Cajic
