360-degree screen comes to life at Deloitte's latest event

LISBON - The spectacular stage setting at Deloitte’s latest corporate event in Portugal made a big impact thanks to event organizer Desafío Global and Europalco who relied on Christie^® integrated solutions to bring to life the spectacular 360-degree screen that surrounded the event.

The IRGAwards 2021 (Investor Relations and Governance Awards) ceremony recognizes Deloitte’s people and the organizations instrumental in making the capital market more efficient, transparent, socially responsible and beneficial for the Portuguese economy and society. The company has supported this initiative in Portugal for over 30 years.

Attended by 180 guests, the ceremony was held at the Carlos Lopes Pavilion in Lisbon. The interior circumference of the venue’s main hall was lined with a screen measuring 86 meters (279 feet) long and 6 meters (20 feet) high and surrounded the tables and stage. “The idea was to create an immersive stage setting for the guests, which the client called The Dream Circle,” explained Valter Barra, video technician at Europalco, which was commissioned by Desafío Global events agency to provide the audiovisuals, sound, cameras and lighting, including lasers.

To light up the awe-inspiring screen, Europalco used eight Christie 3DLP® 30,000 lumen 4K resolution projectors, which were spaced out around a circular truss at a throw distance of 20 meters (65 feet).

“We chose the Christie projectors for their power. We knew that the projectors were bright enough not to be overpowered by the front lighting needed for the stage and cameras. And on top of that, we know they are utterly reliable. Another decisive factor was their high definition, which is crucial when spectators are so close to the screen. The projectors performed just as we had hoped and expected, without the slightest hiccup. All in all, they gave us no less than a total of 240,000 lumens,” Barra added.

Europalco’s expert also spoke about having to setup and fine-tune with very little time before the final run-through. “The Christie Twist^® embedded software for warping and blending functions in the projectors made the task so much easier,” he said.

To synchronize the various video sources, Europalco used a Christie Pandoras Box^® server, with which they had previous experience using for show control. Barra explained that Pandoras Box allowed them to, “work with very high-resolution projections (30976 x 2160 pixels) while offering us a large number of outputs and trouble-free processing.”

Europalco also used a Christie Spyder X80 multi-screen processor to control the various signals, including the projectors, live PiP cameras, Pandoras Box server, teleprompter for the presenters and speakers, plus four computers for presentations, videos and notes.

“The Spyder X80 video processor never lets you down. And for a live event of this kind, you need that level of confidence. It has always performed flawlessly for us,” said Barra. The Spyder X80 can control up to 24 inputs and 16 outputs, with unmatched processing power of 80 megapixels and 4K resolution at 60Hz.

The content projected on the screen whisked the guests away on a journey in intergalactic spaceships that took them through different urban, forest and oceanic settings until reaching the inside of a space station, where the awards were presented.

“It was beyond doubt a truly unique audiovisual show, taking us on an incredible journey and giving the guests an unprecedented experience,” explained Gonçalo Oliveira, Events Manager at Desafio Global. “The content was created in 360 degrees and the results exceeded our highest expectations. We were delighted that we could put our client at the forefront of technology.”

The Europalco team were more than satisfied with the audiovisual solutions: “Our engineers are used to working with only the best quality and having to deal with the unexpected. But with Christie integrated solutions, the risk of technical setbacks is reduced to the bare minimum. It always gives us an added sense of security,” Barra concluded.