D.A.S. Audio Deployed at AmericanAirlines Arena
Located in Downtown Miami, Florida along Biscayne Bay, AmericanAirlines Arena is home to the NBA’s Miami Heat basketball team. With 2,105 club seats, 80 luxury suites, 76 private boxes, and a total seating capacity of just over 21,000 people, the arena is an upscale facility in every aspect. After updating a sound reinforcement system that had been in service since 2002, the main Arena in-bowl area is now equipped with new loudspeakers from the Aero Series 2 and UX Series catalogs of Valencia, Spain-based D.A.S. Audio.
Jorge Arronte, Manager of Sound and Matrix, along with David Vickery, the Director of Broadcast Services, are the two key on-site personnel responsible for many of the arena’s key facility decisions. Over the years, the two gentlemen have upgraded numerous areas—both inside and outside—at the arena. This latest loudspeaker upgrade brings the signature sound of D.A.S. Audio to the main arena seating areas. The facility enhancement includes 128 D.A.S. Audio Aero 40A enclosures, 16 Aero 20A cabinets, along with 8 UX-218RA sub bass enclosures—all governed by Lake/Dante loudspeaker management & distribution system. Arronte and Vickery discussed the project and their reasons for deploying the D.A.S. Audio equipment.
“We started the upgrade on September 1st,” Vickery reports. “The various cluster arrays were cabled, lifted, and tested throughout the month and the new sound system came online for the Miami Heat’s first pre-season game on October 1st, 2017. As the main arena in-bowl PA sound system, it is used for all forms of audio presentation, including voice, musical instruments, Power Point presentations, video playback, special effect sound, and the like. Applications include the presentation of NBA basketball games, corporate events, concerts and shows, as well as arena facility training.”
This new loudspeaker configuration is a line array system design. As such, it facilitates even frequency response and clear sonic coverage throughout the seating areas. According to Arronte, “This line array is very steerable and is one of the key reasons it was selected for the seated audience. Based upon the sound modelling of the arena seats, eight cluster locations were designed by D.A.S. engineers in Spain for maximum coverage with minimal power requirements.”
When queried about those attributes that really distinguish the D.A.S. loudspeaker equipment, Vickery offered the following thoughts, “After the sound demonstration of the Aero 40 loudspeaker cabinets, it was obvious we could achieve the necessary SPL using a relatively compact enclosure. With the balance of the 3-way component features of the Aero 40, we could reach our audience with both speech and music clearly—without the high power typically required in large venues. This was one of the most important features we were looking for: presence without excessive power.”
With a project of this size and scope, questions inevitably arise. Arronte shared his thoughts regarding D.A.S. Audio’s customer and technical support services. “Our relationship with D.A.S. Audio—both the home office in Spain and the local office here in Miami—has grown substantially in recent years,” he said. “The responsiveness of the company to our various questions is very impressive and both offices take a genuine interest in helping us achieve our goals. Jaime Villegas, the General Manager of the Miami office, consistently checked with us to ensure every aspect of this project was proceeding efficiently and to make certain the company’s products were meeting expectations. This has been a progressive business relationship between the AA-Arena and D.A.S. Audio, and it’s one we value very much.”
With the new sound system in place and operational, Vickery reports both he and Arronte are very pleased. “The new sound system has a huge impact on the enjoyment of the audience,” he explained, “and where admission is charged, it becomes even more important to deliver consistent high-quality sound throughout all seating areas. Our goal this time was to bring sound as a presence to the seats instead of pushing sound across a large space with lots of power, which can result in a very loud and noisy experience. Sports fans attend athletic events with high expectations, and most of those expectations have very little to do with what's happening on the basketball court. They want, among other comforts, excellent lighting, sharp video presentations, and high-tech sound. With the new loudspeaker cluster locations and configuration, we have reached our audience with presence and clarity without the need to push high power across the arena facility.”
www.aaarena.com.
Robe For New Little Caesars Arena Installation
The brand new Little Caesar’s Arena in midtown Detroit is a 15 – 22,000 capacity multipurpose venue and home to the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. The venue will also be used for a wide range of concerts and events serving as the cornerstone of a new sports and entertainment district in ‘Motor City’.
Robe’s BMFL Blades and BMFL WashBeams were specified as a major element of the house lighting rig by Eric Wade at Crossfade Design LLC who was part of the venue’s project leadership team and designer of theatrical lighting and video projection.
He and his Crosssfade Design team – Jason Robinson, Michael Nevitt and John Early - also coordinated the installation and programming of the new lights, and will be brought in to assist with projects, working alongside the venue’s producer and director of events, Pete Skorich.
With long throw distances involved - between 100 – 200 ft., Eric and his colleagues wanted the brightest possible fixtures with the best optics and the most flexible future sets … and that’s why they chose 36 x Robe BMFL Blades and 24 x BMFL WashBeams, together with other lights.
They also chose Anolis ArcDots, 450 of which are mounted on the tensioned wire grid covering 80% of the ceiling and combine with 1,700 LED strips for a vibrant, dazzling environmental effect which looks cool and is a fantastic atmosphere builder.
The BMFLs Blades are around the perimeter of the ice (for the ice hockey events), with the BMFL WashBeams rigged in the high corners of the building, all trimmed at around 100 ft. above the floor.
They needed a luminaire with a framing system to work along the edges of the ice or basketball court and the BMFL Blades were perfect. “I don’t think there’s a comparable framing system available in any other light,” Eric commented, adding that the framing is so fast that it can be used as an effect in its own right.
The BMFL WashBeams are used for the same basic functionality with the addition of the massive extra throw, especially when in wash mode!
The ArcDots were selected by Eric and his business partner Michael Nevitt after looking at dozens of options! When they saw ArcDot - made by Robe’s sister architectural LED company Anolis - they realized instantly that this was THE fixture for the high-impact effect they wanted! “It had to be bright enough to read from 103 ft. and not get blown out by the 1700 LED strips … and they achieve these goals beautifully.”
Eric has used Robe fixtures for some time in this work and regularly specs Robe on his rigs for Usher, for whom he is the long term LD.
He feels Robe is “one of the leaders in our field right now” and that the reputation for reliability is also a huge factor when specifying gear for a venue like this. He added that he enjoys the personal touch from Robe, something rarely seen from manufacturers now, and mentions that getting support for designs is also invaluable - scenarios like getting demo units in front of clients – often at very short notice. He is ALWAYS grateful that someone will answer the phone at Robe North America no matter what time of the day or night.
He also enjoys the designer gatherings where experience, feedback and opinions can be shared and discussed. “Robe is definitely listening to designers and creatives, and I believe this is paying off in the products that are being released each year.”
The Arena’s moving lights are used for all the Pistons and Red Wings games and for other sporting events like WWE, where they are added to the visiting production rig. They make a massive difference to the look and feel of the arena, really bringing it alive and really enable the audience to connect more with the action through being properly lit.
Designing the system from the outset to be as flexible and friendly as possible was a smart move in making it seamless for visiting shows and productions, allowing them to easily light the audience for broadcasts, recordings and streaming events, while the ArcDot and LED strip ceiling feature is an artwork in its own right.
The new venue and its excellent all-purpose lighting installation has already benefitted several events including six ‘homecoming’ concerts by rapper Kid Rock.
His lighting and visual designer Nook Schoenfeld incorporated the house BMFLs into their lighting rig to ensure fans received an even more spectacular show.
Eric visited rental company Upstaging with Nook ahead of the Kid Rock shows and they programmed the lighting building blocks together so Eric knew exactly what Nook wanted out of the house fixtures he used.
Apparently when Nook relayed the news to ‘the boss’ that he could use the arena’s BMFLs as part of their production, the reaction was “if you’re going to use those bright-ass lights then I want them moving, strobing, flashing and flipping colors ALL night … I want to see my people and turn the whole arena into a party instead of just the one end like normal.”
So … having his instructions from the very top … Nook kept the BMFL Blades running in a series of spectacular movement chases all night.
The BMFL WashBeams in the corners, he used as “excellent” aerial gobo projectors which looked stunning and dramatic on camera. “Twenty fixtures could wash out the entire bowl – floor and lower mezzanine levels – by themselves,” enthused Nook, also stating that he loves the gobo set in the BMFL WashBeams.
Nook added 17 x Robe Pointes to his own production lighting rig that were supplied by Upstaging. His budget had to include all the visual effects – lighting, video, lasers and pyro - so he made a conscious decision for these shows to choose a hard-edged fixture without CMY colour mixing so they could slice through pyro and lasers when needed. Once he’d made that creative call … Pointe was his “beam light of preference.”
www.robe.cz
VUE Delivers Knock-Out Performance at WBO World Title Match
VUE China teamed with Jiexin Rental Company to provide audio for the now-historic WBO world title match upset at Shanghai’s Oriental Sports Centre Complex in late July. In a rags-to-riches ending, Japan’s “no-hoper” Sho Kimura upset Chinese defending flyweight world champion Zou Shiming in a sensational 11th-round knockout. Kimura, who two years prior was delivering crates to Tokyo restaurants, assumed the world title in front of an astonished, largely Chinese crowd.
The match was held in the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center’s 18,000-seat indoor arena with opening musical performances by top Chinese singers Jason Zhang and JJ Lin. According to Li Jie, chairman of Jiexin Rental Company, the decision to specify VUE was an easy one.
Jiexin’s technical team went on to praise the VUE al-class system’s fidelity and ease of setup and configuration. “Beryllium HF transducers is one of VUE’s proprietary technologies and a true differentiator,” explained FOH engineer, Lv Jie. “Due to the fidelity of the beryllium high frequency, the VUE sound is clean, rich and beautiful.”
Jie also praised VUE’s unique Continuous Source Topology (CST), which enables the assembly of seamless hybrid arrays of different-sized elements. “Thanks to CST, it is convenient to achieve precise vertical coverage with a mixture of elements while delivering absolute sonic consistency.”
Marking VUE’s first appearance at the Oriental Sports Complex, the Jiexin team assembled multiple arrays consisting of VUE al-12, al-8 and al-4 elements, along with hs-28 dual 18-inch ACM subwoofers for low-frequency support. VUEDrive System Engines provided all power and processing for the arrays.
The main FOH system included six hybrid CST arrays — four hung at each corner of the central stage/ring, that combined six al-8 elements with four al-4 elements for near-field coverage. Two additional arrays consisting of six al-12 elements each were placed in the front and at the back of the central stage directly between the al-8 / al-4 hybrid CST arrays.
VUE’s highly versatile Continuous Source Topology eliminated the disruptions associated with conventional mixed-element arrays–allowing the Jiexin team to easily achieve precise vertical coverage and absolute sonic consistency while minimizing hang weight and sight line clutter.
Twenty-four hs-28 dual 18-inch ACM subwoofers provided low-frequency support for the event. The subwoofers were configured in four groups of two units against the two longer arena walls, and two groups of two units against the two shorter arena walls.
Final coverage was achieved with help from an EASE acoustic model, which allowed the Jiexen team to design the optimal system based on audience and venue parameters while minimizing setup time. “In the preparatory phase, our technical team did different sound solution simulations through Ease Focus. In the end, we got the optimal number of elements under the premise of enough SPL.” explained VUE China sales manager, William Xu.
While the outcome of the match was a disappointment to the largely pro-Shiming audience, the sound quality impressed. “It was pleasing that six elements of al-Class could output much more massive power compared to other line arrays with the same size, and covered a really deep distance. So, while we were mostly disappointed in the loss, everyone was incredibly impressed with the system’s performance and the perfect sonic character, ” lauded Jiexen’s Chairman, Li Jie.
www.vueaudio.com
Spectrum Invests in Adamson & Deploys E-Series at King Fahd Stadium
Addressing the rapidly growing demand for premium loudspeaker systems in the Middle East and Northern Africa, Dubai’s Spectrum Entertainment Services has joined the Adamson Network with the purchase of a substantial E-Series system. The new package has already been put to work at several large-scale events, including the 2017 Saudi National Day celebrations at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.
“We’re seeing the demand for high-performance audio systems continue to grow and invested in Adamson’s E-Series due to its high-fidelity sound, phase coherence, even coverage, and clarity,” explains Julien Beyrouthy, General Manager of Spectrum Entertainment Services. “We’re following our longtime clients to bigger venues while also supporting larger festivals and major international tours. Adamson’s rider acceptance has grown significantly and promoters in our market have made it clear they’re looking for seasoned companies offering Adamson systems.”
Spectrum Entertainment Services is one of the leading providers of production technologies in the Middle East and North African region, providing turnkey audiovisual packages including audio, video, lighting, staging, and rigging services with experienced and professional operators for applications of all sizes.
Spectrum’s new Adamson system is comprised of 24 E15 and 12 E12 three-way, true line source array cabinets, 12 E219 subwoofers, and 24 compact E119 subwoofers, and they’ve wasted no time putting it to work.
The company recently supplied Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh with an expansive sound system for its Saudi National Day celebrations. The event, held Sept. 23rd, 2017, featured a performance of the operetta The National Epic for a crowd of approximately 50,000.
All of Spectrum Entertainment Service’s E-Series inventory was deployed, with the main stage arrays comprised of 12 E15s and six E12s per side. For low-end reproduction, the company relied on 12 E119 and six E219s per side. Additionally, 32 Adamson Y10s were used as delays to ensure even coverage throughout the stadium. The entire system was driven by E-Racks featuring 22 Lab.gruppen PLM+ 20K44 amplifiers with Lake processing.
“We were thrilled to use the new Adamson E-Series arrays for Saudi National Day,” comments Theodoros Gkiantsis, the FOH engineer who mixed the operetta. “The E-Series is extremely linear and it takes very little work to get the system sounding great. We received rave reviews about the quality of the sound across the board.”
www.adamsonsystems.com
A Real Sporting Spectacle: Thorn Lights Revamp PalaTrento Arena
Thorn Lighting has delivered a comprehensive new lighting system for a multipurpose sports arena in the Italian city of Trento. The new Altis Sport LED floodlights provide the perfect conditions for a range of matches and sporting events, helping the Aquila Basket Trento basketball team and Trentino Volley volleyball club enjoy both home advantage and the best possible lighting when they entertain visitors to the PalaTrento arena.
London, October 2017 – The local authorities in Trento have marked the start of the new basketball and volleyball seasons by officially opening the renovated PalaTrento municipal arena, the true home of sport in the north Italian city. A series of major works have recently been carried out at the venue, which can accommodate 4360 spectators and will soon be expanded to offer seating for 5000 sports fans. This extensive renovation project has included refurbishment of the flooring, renewal of the seating area and a completely new lighting system.
With a clear desire to mirror the high-calibre nature of the sporting performances and guarantee the public an unforgettable visitor experience, plans for the renewal of the lighting focused on designing a modern system that would minimise energy consumption and maximise lighting quality. Thorn was committed to giving the PalaTrento arena the lighting it deserves, combining norm compliance and outstanding efficiency with first-class lighting quality for both competitive matches and regular training.
The thorough product selection process finally settled on the Thorn Altis Sport, a high-power LED floodlight for sports lighting applications. Altis Sport provides exceptional flicker-free lighting, which is suitable for HDTV broadcasting, and features a flexible optical system that crafts an optimised lighting distribution, offering players the perfect environment in which to show their sporting excellence. A total of 92 symmetrical and asymmetrical floodlights can achieve lighting levels of up to 3400 lux, while a DMX system enables full individual control of dimming and directional positioning. As a result, visitors to the PalaTrento can now also experience the type of spectacular team presentations normally seen before National Basketball Association (NBA) games in America.
The new lighting system comfortably outperforms the large number of conventional discharge lamps that formed the mainstay of the old installation. Indeed, different luminaire sizes and varying lighting intensities meant that the arena was previously unable to guarantee the achievement of the regulatory standards required for high-level international competitions.
The extensive experience of Thorn with sporting applications was greatly appreciated by all parties involved in the project. The impressive new lighting system is the result of excellent collaboration between Thorn and team members such as Teknoengineering, a long-term partner of the Zumtobel Group.
www.thornlighting.com
Elation and sld mediatec Create Pre-Game Excitement for Professional German Ice Hockey Team
Player entrances and introductions are a time-honoured tradition of any sport and serve as an important way to pump up both player and fan prior to a game. This season, when professional German ice hockey club, the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers, take to the ice, lighting effects from Elation Professional Platinum 1200 Wash™, Platinum FLX™ and Platinum Beam 5R Extreme™ add an extra level of excitement to the pre-game hype.
The Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers are located in Nuremberg, Germany, and play in the country's premier league, the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Elation dealer and entertainment technology solutions provider sld mediatec GmbH, also based in Nuremberg, has proudly partnered with the team for the past seven years. For the 2017/2018 season, sld mediatec’s head of lighting and rigging, Sebastian Groß, wanted to create something special for the multisensory show that accompanies player introductions and chose 8 Platinum 1200 Wash, 4 Platinum FLX and 12 Platinum Beam 5R Extreme for the job.
The pre-game light show is used to create movement, energy and excitement before each home game. The Ice Tigers’ logo is illuminated in white light while the rink is awash in colors representing the team´s corporate design. Splayed beams of energetic light represent the players on the ice while the colored ice rink reflects the dynamism of the Ice Tigers’ team. A multisensory video presents the concept “The ice rink belongs to the Ice Tigers” as the player introduction sequence presents each individual player. The lights work with smoke and haze effects and the entire introduction show is accompanied by music.
“The Platinum 1200 Wash is exceptionally bright and puts down a nice flood of colour, even from a high trim height,” commented sld mediatec’s Daniel Danzer. “With its 19 x 65W LED engine it produces colour washes as bright as 1500W discharge fixtures and has plenty of power for this application. It also has a very nice zoom. We can zoom it out very wide to get more coverage or narrow it down for a tighter beam.” Speaking of the Platinum FLX fixtures, he said, “With the hybrid FLX fixtures we have the option to use it as a beam light for sweeps of beams on the ice or as a spot. We can use the frost as well if we want to use it more as a wash light to get more colour saturation on the ice.”
Over the years, Daniel says that sld mediatec has used a lot of Elation products at Ice Tiger games. “They’re great products and a great value and the Ice Tigers organisation has been great to work with. The players, coaches and staff really appreciate the energy that the light show gives them before each game.”
www.elationlighting.com
Place Bell Ice Arena Officially Opens
Place Bell, which is set to become one of Quebec’s most in-demand sports and entertainment destinations, is now officially open in Laval.
Place Bell features a 10,000-seat arena with NHL-compliant ice rink that can easily transform into a performance amphitheatre. The arena is the new home of the Laval Rocket – an American Hockey League (AHL) team affiliated with the Montreal Canadiens.
The venue also boasts a 2,500-seat Olympic speed and figure-skating arena, and a regular, 500-seat skating rink, both of which are accessible to the public and sports organisations.
Designed by leading architects Lemay and CannonDesign as part of a design-build project driven by Quebec construction leader Pomerleau, the new community resource benefited from an integrated design approach and the extensive use of technologies like BIM (Building Information Modeling) and VDC (Visual Design and Construction).
The opening ceremony was held in the presence of Mayor Demers, who was joined by Marcel Alexander, Chairman of the Board of Directors of La Cité de la culture et du sport de Laval; Geoff Molson, President and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens Hockey Club; Pierre Rodrigue, Vice-President, Industry Relations at Bell, as well as Francine Charbonneau, Minister responsible for Seniors and Anti-Bullying and Minister responsible for the Laval region, in order to proceed with the official inauguration of Place Bell.
"With Place Bell, Laval is installing a major landmark in the heart of its downtown area. Place Bell has been built in accordance with all rules and regulations and is a major driving force for economic development in the area. Moreover, it meets the needs expressed by the sports associations, which had long been waiting for such high-class facilities," said Laval Mayor Marc Demers.
Populous Launches Tokyo Office
Populous have announced the official opening of a new office in Tokyo and expanded global presence. The office expands Populous’ global footprint to 15 offices worldwide and its 6th in the Asia-Pacific region. Populous’ reach as one the world’s largest architecture practices is more than 500 employees around the globe.
“Japan offers a wealth of opportunity – strong culture, burgeoning sports scene, global tourist destination,” said Jeff Keas, Populous Senior Principal. “The world’s stage will shine its light here soon and we welcome an opportunity to share with Japanese community our design and event overlay expertise.”
Populous has been working with the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee since 2015 to advise them on the planning and design for all competition venues and several major non-competition venues. In providing overlay consultancy for the 2020 Olympic Games, Populous’ role is to ensure each venue and its surrounding context will comply with criteria mandated by the International Olympic Committee and International Federations.
Additionally, Populous has been working with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in their quest for a new ballpark. Renderings for that plan were recently released to the public and look to become the number one ballpark in Asia that maximises player performance on the field and international competitiveness within a mixed-use entertainment district.
“Our work to date has been focused on how to create a venue master plan that fits within the highly complex urban context of Tokyo as it relates to a multi-layered system of transportation, security, open space, credentialed access, services and the overall experience for all spectators and fans,” said Mako Ihara, Project Manager for Populous Japan. “This global expertise Populous brings to large-scale events and venues will make the 2020 Games a spectacular event.”
In addition to its expertise in planning and executing large scale events, Populous specialises in designing architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, interior design and brand activation for mixed-use development, sports venues, convention centres and aviation.
The Populous Japan office is located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Nomura Building.
Valencia CF Announce Construction Restart at Nou Mestalla
After over eight years of waiting, Valencia CF have announced that the construction of the Nou Mestalla will be restarting, meaning that the new stadium will be ready in May 2021.
The construction of the Nou Mestalla was orginally launched in 2006, though plans were abandoned in March 2009, with only the primary concrete structure in place. After mixed signals about the future of the stadium over the years, it has now been confirmed that the club are going ahead with plans in a statement.
“The club will start the proceedings with the town hall to get the permissions required for a renewed project aimed at the optimal fans'experience. Valencia CF are going to start the issuing process with Valencia town hall aiming to comply with the terms set by the Strategic Territorial Action (STA) in order to finalise the new stadium works.”
The Nou Mestalla will have a new, amended design that is significantly different from the original plans, allowing the stadium to comply with all current regulations.
The deadline for the completion of the construction is May 2021. So, if all goes to plan, Valencia should start the 2021/22 La Liga campaign in their new home.
This, of course, means that the club's legendary Estadio Mestalla will be no more, with the stadium set to be demolished in 2023.
Turner Construction Enlists Daktronics to Upgrade Alamodrome Video and Scoring Systems
Daktronics have announced that they have been selected by Turner Construction to design, manufacture and install a new multi-display system for the Alamodome. These additions are a part of overall renovations to the Alamodome in preparation for the City of San Antonio's hosting of the 2018 men's college basketball championships.
"It's a pleasure to continue our long-standing relationship with Daktronics," said Nick Langella, Alamodome General Manager. "Our goal is to continually enhance the guest experience and the improved technology that Daktronics delivers will make every event even more memorable to our fans."
The four main displays to be installed in the corners of the facility will measure approximately 33 feet high by 60 feet wide and feature 10-millimeter SMD line spacing – an increase from the previously-existing 16-millimeter Daktronics technology – to provide excellent image clarity and contrast with wide-angle visibility.
The displays are capable of variable content zoning which allows them each to show one large image across the entire display or each display can also be separated into multiple zones. These zones can then show any combination of live video, instant replays, scoring and statistic information, animations, and sponsor advertisements.
A ribbon display will wrap around the seating fascia of the entire facility. It will measure 3 feet high by more than 1,868 feet long and feature 15-millimeter line spacing. This display will be able to show complimentary content to the main displays such as up-to-the-minute statistics and animations while also providing the opportunity to highlight sponsors throughout events.
"We're proud to continue our long-standing partnership with the Alamodome, a facility that hosts numerous high-profile events such as the men's collegiate national basketball championships in 2018," said Dan Fjeldheim, Sales Representative at Daktronics. "It's a testament to our products and services when our customers continue to trust Daktronics for their high-profile events. We're excited to see this project come together this year."
Daktronics LED video and messaging display technology offers a long lifetime with consistent, industry-leading performance and low power consumption, providing value and excitement for years to come.