The hotly-anticipated Eurovision 2019 spectacular landed in Tel Aviv in May with a bold ‘Dare to Dream’ tagline and world-class staging, upon which 26 countries battled to be crowned the winner. Video returned to the core of the show, powered by a chorus of disguise vx 4 and 4x4pro servers.
Eurovision Production Manager Ola Melzig, and Head of Video and Stage Technology, Shay Bonder, approached disguise to deliver and manage a server system capable of processing the mammoth amount of data required for the vast scale of the project.
“A major challenge for us was making the pre-programming process as accurate as possible and then operating it in perfect sync, without issue. disguise’s software allowed us to pre-programme with cameras and automation - the camera directors actually showed the camera operators the render from the Designer machines in order to give them instructions, and the ability to programme one track while another is playing, plus the power to easily feed content to DMX screens and quick calibration of projectors,” he adds.
Peter Kirkup, disguise Technical Solutions Manager worked with Shay Bonder to support him in the system design process. The team specified six disguise vx 4 servers and two 4x4pro servers.
The vx 4 servers were used as Pure Master, output slaves and Backup servers. The 4x4pro servers were utilised for add-on elements and backup. The vx 4s were fully loaded with HDMI 2.0 VFC cards; the 4x4pros had on-board Quad-DVI VFC cards. disguise recently launched its vx 4 servers with more storage and a new NVMe RAID drive array.
The disguise servers received LTC, ensuring the main cues were triggered at the correct time. Much of the programming was completed in the run up to the Tel Aviv events, using disguise’s r15.3 software to pre-visualise the whole show and sequence all the content. The team used disguise’s Visualiser Camera feature and then virtually mapped and sequenced each camera shot and path to the directors’ requirements. From there, they transferred the project from the Designer machines to the actual hardware.
On disguise programming and operating duties was Gwilym Huws, workflow specialist at Bild Studios: “disguise’s feature-set made many elements of pre- and on-site production much simpler and more powerful. It was particularly useful for swapping out props when needed, as well as Screen Position Layer, for the mapping to be correct. Even generative things like radar and strobe were used for some animations in the show on the legs and catwalk.”
From commission to delivery, disguise’s support team were involved in all aspects of the video project, as Shay says: “Their support was amazing throughout. Before the setup in the venue, disguise set us an online Slack account, on which they answered any questions we had from venue setup. On-site, Jamie checked system stability throughout the process and helped us with whatever we needed.”
26 countries battled it out in the final to be crowned the winner of Eurovision 2019, with The Netherlands victorious. The live final was broadcast to 200 million viewers in Europe and around the world.
About disguise
With a focus on combining real-time 3D visualisation-based software with high performance and robust hardware, they enable the delivery of challenging creative projects at scale and with confidence.
With an ever increasing global partner network and working alongside the world’s most talented visual designers and technical teams on global concert tours for artists including U2, The Rolling Stones, Beyoncé, Pink! and Ed Sheeran, live events including Coachella and the Moscow International Festival, theatre productions such as Frozen and Harry Potter as well as an increasing number of films, live TV broadcasts, corporate and entertainment events – disguise is building the next generation of collaborative tools to help artists and technologists realise their vision.
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