KPN ISU WK Shorttrack 2017 – Ahoy Rotterdam The Netherlands – March 2017

Concert venue becomes an ice stadium!

From 10 to 12 March, the Ahoy Temple was converted into an ice stadium with space for more than 8000 visitors. After more than 20 years, the Netherlands could again receive the ISU World Short Track. In addition to the top sport performance that the skaters provided on the track, the attendants were allowed to enjoy a total experience. When topsports and entertainment meet, magic develops. The audiovisual production was held by Dionisys Show Systems in North Scharwoude (near Alkmaar).

The time that skating is limited to turning rounds on a job under bright white light is definitely over. The concept that Hugo van Heijningen of Dionisys Show Systems proposed, was agreed by the national and international skating federation and sports promoter: the KPN ISU WK Shorttrack 2017 would be a great spectacle where the experience for the athletes, the attendants in the sold out stands and the television viewer is central. Dionisys Show Systems has been very closely involved with Shorttrack ice skating since 2012. The production line is getting higher, but each year Dionisys Show Systems comes with an appropriate out of the box solution.

Ice skating is hot!

In order to properly picture the matches, light is required on the track. A lot of light! Due to the furious speed of skaters, high-speed cameras are used with long shutter speed, so light intensity is a decisive factor. Ice is also a natural product, and is not long beautiful, even white with too little light. There is also a need for sufficient side light to accentuate the faces of the skaters. Additionally, the Ahoy light ceiling hangs over 16 meters above the ice rink during this event. If you want to combine this with a light fixture that also has to generate different colors for the shows between the matches, then your possibilities are very limited. The Studio Due Citycolor RGBW, which produces an extremely high output with a symmetrical square plane was chosen. LED technology enables blackouts and color patterns to be performed immediately and sequentially, which is impossible with HQI’s. For this event, 176 of these LED luminaires were used, combined with 110 Martin Mac2000 Wash and 120 Clay Paky Sharpy moving heads for extra spectacles. 280 CM Lodestar motorways were used to get everything in the air.

The sound plan was also ambitious, because the sound can only radiate on the public and not on the ice rink, so that the skaters do not get out of their concentration. In the upper ring, L-Acoustic V-Dosc cabinets were used, for the lower rings and VIP stands were selected for DV-Dosc and Kara speakers, all controlled by LA-8 amplifiers. No separate subs were used to generate unnecessary resonance, which would cause dust to fall off the ceiling on the ice.

Also video technology was used in this production: 18mm LED wall for the center screen and 10mm for the two side screens, a total of 126 M2. The LED boarding through the hall was used for the tennis championship and was hired. About 50 plasma televisions were used to display images in crew rooms, changing rooms and VIP areas.
Around the ice skating track Prolyte Stagedecks was signed in to cover all the cooling lines carefully, which also allowed the officials to get very close to the job. The ice track itself was planted by Ice World, who worked closely together with the audiovisual production crew. The load-in and pull-out of the light bridge had to take place in 24h, and then it was waiting for the ice to become strong enough for further finishing and programming.

Dionisys Show Systems hired a crew of 110 technicians and Hugo van Heijningen emphasized the importance of making these people (mostly active in live entertainment productions) clear the importance of the concept and the environment (ice), and working according to a strict protocol. Because in the first place it is and remains a top sports event of course. The company Light Image took care of the broadcast lighting design, programming and timecode shows. The Dutch television NOS captured this event that was broadcasted in more than 50 countries.

Dionisys Show Systems appealed to AED Nederland to hire a large part of the audiovisual material. Hugo emphasizes that AED has strongly considered the choice of materials. The Studio Due RGBW Citycolors were tested first at AED Studios in Belgium, where the light intensity could be measured at a similar height to determine the correct number of luminaires. When it became clear that 176 devices were needed, AED purchased the extra fixtures from Studio Due in Italy. In this way, AED delivered the flexible material solution to realize this exceptional event. The combination of top sports, spectacle and entertainment resulted in a spectacular live experience.
credits: AED Group