The Beijing Olympics had many records broken, masses of medals won and
provided a sporting legacy that London dreams of replicating in 2012. But the
Avesco Group has a few winners of our own that we’re proud of -
Creative Technology and Presteigne Charter.
Creative Technology Shanghaiprovided the HD content management and playback
system for the massive 4,000m
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LED screen that was a central feature of director
Zhang Yimou’s extravagant Opening Ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
at the Bird’s Nest Stadium on 8th August.
Drawing on both equipment and skills from within its internationalorganisation, as well as the experience
gained from numerous sporting events it has been involved in, including the last Olympic Games held in
Athens in 2004, CT once again delivered a highly professional service that marks it as a leader in the field
of world class events.
For the Opening Ceremony, CT Shanghai was contracted directly by the Beijing Organising Committee of
the Olympic Games (BOCOG), and spent nearly two years working on the project.
The heart of its system consisted of six Pronto HD hard disk video player/recorders, manufactured by DVS
of Germany, feeding the six main sections of the screen, with additionalchannels feeding the legacy
screens within the stadium, as well as the video starfield that covered the entire field of play. In all, 22
channels of HD playback were utilised. Medialon Manager was used as the control system for the entire
system and the interface for incoming audio timecode and lightingDMX that provided cues for various
sections of the show.
CT’s system also employed multiple channels of Barco Encore to provide a source dimming facility, so the
lighting department could dim the screen when required. This was done using DMX and Medialon to
convert DMX in to Barco protocol. A Vista Spyder 12x4 system was also used as multi source DVI preview.
The entire system was fully redundant, with immediate switchover in the event of a component failure. A
more compact version of the system was used for the Closing Ceremony in Beijing on August 24th. Two
playback channels provided content for the existing legacy LED screens in the Stadium.
On the same day in London, four 5x4 panel LighthouseR7-ER screens were situated on The Mall, with an
additional two 5x4 panel Mitsubishi OD10 screens, one sited on Constitution Hill, the other at the Queen
Victoria Monument in front of Buckingham Palace, for the London 2012 Party on the Mall to mark the
moment the Games were officially handed over from Beijing to London.
Charlie Whittock, managing director, Creative Technology Asia Pacific, comments: “Being asked by
BOCOG to be part of the Opening Ceremony was a great honour for us, and I am immensely proud of the
team from Shanghaiand London that worked so hard to deliver what was, in many respects, a very
complex project.
“Beyond the Games, Beijing 2008 represents CT’s ability to truly deliver on a global level. CT teams from
China, the UK, and the US have worked closely together to deliver projects for diverse clients around the
world on time, on budget, and in unique and complex circumstances. Beijing 2008 also signifies CT’s very
real presence in Asia as a resource for live event producers.”
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