Lighting and video content for multiple LED surfaces at the 2010 Miss Universe Slovakia beauty pageant, staged in the SIBAMAC Arena, Bratislava, was controlled by 2 x grandMA full-size consoles, 6 x video stations with the MA VPU software (Video Processing Unit) and 6 x MA NSPs (Network Processing Units). The show – which regularly draws one of the highest annual ratings on Slovakian TV – was broadcast live on national STV1, and featured an enthusiastic audience of 5,000 people.
The show’s visuals were designed by Martin Kubanka. He worked closely with lighting and video programmers and operators Michal Schmid and Tomas Lecky, who each used a grandMA full-size console for their respective departments.
Miss Universe
Says Kubanka, “I have been using grandMA for at least 10 years on all my shows and I would not even think about using another brand, and especially not now, for shows like this which are seeing the increasing integration of video and digital light sources with the medium of lighting”.
Even after all this time, he says he’s “still discovering” new features and ways of achieving things and coming up with fresh programming ideas – “The grandMA is an exceptionally dynamic control platform,” he concludes.
Slovakia’s leading lighting & sound production company Q-99, also based in Bratislava, supplied the equipment for Miss Universe Slovenskej Republiky 2010. It was one of the first ever companies to invest in the new generation of grandMA consoles soon after they launched in the late 1990s, and the serial number for their first grandMA is 36!
You may well smile, working on Miss Universe... some people get all the best gigs!
Q-99 now owns 3 x grandMA full-size consoles, 1 x grandMA light console, 6 x MA NSPs and 9 x video stations with the MA VPU software (Video Processing Unit). Q-99’s Marek Ademik says, “From a rental standpoint, MA has been a great investment – the products are very reliable and just keep on working with minimum of fuss.”
Content for all the LED surfaces was stored on and played back from the video stations, triggered via Tomas Lecky’s grandMA console. They also took in some STV camera feeds so IMAG footage could be output to the hi-res screens via the video stations.
The show was hailed as among the most visually exciting yet seen on Slovakian TV, and was a resounding success both critically and commercially, as a live telecast and for all gathered at the SIBAMAC Arena. Kubanka comments, “Only using MA could I really unite this many visual elements so easily and seamlessly in a tight timeframe.”
The show was directed by Thomas Eibner. The set was designed by Michael Klang, and the DoP was Vladimir Durcansky.
Miss Universe Slovenskej Republiky 2010 was won by Anna Amenova, who will represent her country at the final of Miss Universe 2010 in August.
Photos: Louise Stickland
