Rugby World Cup - Dimension
It was always going to be big, but with the eight week Rugby World Cup tournament spread across 12 stadiums, 10 in France and two in the UK - each having hospitality areas that involve Dimension Audio crew and kit, it has turned out to be huge.
Since mid August, three 45 foot trailers of plasma screens and two 40 foot trailers of audio have gone out of the door, along with 50 crew who will have worked a total of 900 man days by the time everything arrives back in the warehouse at the end of October.
“At the beginning of the tournament, we were servicing all 12 venues and there were anything up to three hospitality areas per venue,” says Project Director Scott Burges. “Heading towards the final, we were centred in Paris where we had six hospitality areas, the largest and most prestigious of which is for RTH07’s Platinum Package clients and has a total of 10 restaurants!”
Outside this particular venue is an 11 x 4 panel Unitek LED screen, with 6 x d&b Q1’s, 4 x d&b Q subs and 4 x d&b E3’s providing crystal clear sound for the screen showing pre-recorded rugby footage for guests as they arrive – or live video feed for crew, once the guests have moved on to the stadium for the match…
Inside, Plasma Displays and a PA system is situated in each restaurant, a total of 44 x d&b Q7’s were used between all the restaurants. With more plasmas positioned in the central atrium, which also featured Play Station rugby games and an interactive ‘Kick the Ball’ game, where guests can try their hand – or foot – at kicking a rugby ball projected onto the floor through the goal on the wall. In order to achieve the sound levels required 32 x d&b E3’s were installed in this area.
The pièce de résistance, of course, is the 4.5m x 3m diameter rugby ball. Approximately 2000 OLite 612 tiles encompass the ball, placed in a kicking cup to hold it off axis. “The sound output required for this was crucial” states Dimension Project Manager, James Loveless. “The ball looked incredible, it was essential the correct type of sound was obtained to compliment the main feature. Having tested a number of in-house systems, we felt the best solution was to use 8 x d&b Ci80’s – this really helped bring the surround sound of the ball to life”.
As guests move past the rugby ball, they enter a tunnel with 4 x d&b Q7’s 4 x d&b Q subs working alongside the 10m x 2m rear projection screens on either side. Four projectors per screen are soft edged together to make one composite picture displaying iconic rugby images such as the Hacka. From here, they make their way to the restaurants, where they are wined, dined and treated to more rugby action before they head off for the game itself. The sound equipment in the restaurants included 44 x d&b Q7’s and 30 x d&b D12 Amplifiers.
In addition to the main stadium, Dimension Audio also supplied, managed and operated 17 separate venues in France and England, each venue consisted of, 4 x d&b Q7’s 1 x Yamaha LS9-16 mixer.
The scale of this project was immense, the logistics involved to ensure the correct kit was in the correct place at the correct time took a great deal of skill, experience and man power. The Dimension Audio team, headed up by James Loveless and Managed by Project Director, Scott Burges rose to the challenge and delivered a seamless event.