Providing the Perfect Backdrop at the ARIA Awards Connected by Telstra
As the curtain rose on the Australian Recording Industry Association’s night of nights, video services and expertise from TDC was used on an unprecedented scale.
Background
The 2014 ARIA Awards Connected By Telstra event was held for the second time at The Star Event Centre, Sydney on November 26, 2014. The event was broadcast to over half a million people on TEN and TENplay, and for the very first time was broadcast across Asia on Fox International’s Channel [V] and Star World. The ceremony was produced by Michael Long and Vicki Gerrans and set design was by Kim Buddee.
Technology
- Barco HDF-W26
- Christie Pandoras Box
- Christie Vista Spyder X20
- Radiant Hybrid 18mm LED
Industry
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With the invaluable video display from TDC, the event was seamless and capped off an extraordinary year for the Australian music industry.
“TDC has been involved in the ARIAs since the late 90s. The brief is very similar year on year, we work with set designers to utilise our expertise and in-house technologies to deliver the most cost effective and amazingly good looking solution available,” explained Michael Hassett, Managing Director at Technical Direction Company.
Ensuring that the night would go as smoothly as possible, TDC helped with a wide range of pre-planning with the ARIA production team, set designer and broadcast team. TDC provided a number of details and a virtual 3D fly-through previsualisation of the set and stage for various acts.
“This was a useful preplanning tool to present to everyone involved, showing them just how the event would look. We worked closely with a number of key musical artists to ensure their special content was created for the right surface and to help them with any technical challenges,” said Hassett.
TDC provided ultra-high brightness and high-contrast LED video screens, video projection onto customised motorised projection screens.
Hassett added: “While a small amount of the Hybrid LED product was used in the background on The X Factor Australian series recently, this was the first time it was really used to its full potential on Australian television. It’s a versatile product which combines a 18mm video LED with a 150mm light product – delivering two products in one!”
Screen colour temperature was set for broadcast use – critical for accurate colour reproduction on-air.
TDC used Coolux Pandoras Box to manage graphics replay and screen control. Image switching was achieved using the Christie Spyder X20 image processor.
At the event, the TDC team was split into managing the main video, LED technicians and crew, and a second team looked after all the content management and playback.
Michael Long, Event Producer for the ARIAs concluded: “The stage set showcased incredible Australian artists who are topping the charts in Australia and around the world. With the invaluable video display from TDC, the event was seamless and capped off an extraordinary year for the Australian music industry.”
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