disguise powers new workflow for The House of Dancing Water posted: 18/06/2019
disguise solutions sit at the heart of the world's largest water-based theatre production in Macau, China
The House of Dancing Water is the world's largest water-based theatre production, produced by veteran Las Vegas show-maker Franco Dragone, responsible for some of the most prestigious spectacles in Las Vegas. The House of Dancing Water combines water stunts, acrobatics, aerial arts and theatre, and is considered one of the jewels in the entertainment crown in Macau, China.
The show is performed in the tailor-made 2,000-seat Dancing Water' Theatre by a cast of nearly 100 international artists, and the behind-the-scenes team see an army of 160 technicians, production staff and scuba divers working tirelessly to make sure the twice-nightly show at the City of Dreams entertainment complex runs without a hitch.
The spectacular show is performed across a multi-level stage that is part of a 3.7 million-gallon pool, with projections that transform the space into stunning locations transcending time and space throughout the 85-minute spectacle. Different projector positions, zoom and focus values are used for multiple screens, including flat stage surfaces, floating fabric being tracked through the air, uneven curtains and water fountains, delivering a captivating and truly unique water stage production.
After wowing audiences since September 2010, the world-renowned show overhauled its entire production workflow, investing in a new fixed technology infrastructure, powered by disguise. There was a unique brief on Macaus acclaimed $250 million show; to preserve Dragone's original design aesthetic, whilst increasing technology efficiencies through the upgrade of critical hardware and infrastructure.
One of the key challenges I had through this migration was to safeguard the integrity of the original video content, stated Eve Bernier, Lead Projectionist since the shows creation, Not only were we able to achieve this, but ended up adding an extra punch to our outputs, creating even more magic for the audience. This was thanks to the combination of the disguise VFC card capabilities, and the signal carrier, Lightware Ubex, which allowed for an increase in resolution, and considerable gain in surface coverage per projector.
These elements, alongside dynamic blending achieved through the disguise software, resulted in powerful and refreshed brightness. adds Eve. Details that were invisible before, are now some of the most talked about features of the show. The use of the new technology enabled a fuller experience for audience members, but still honoured the craftsmanship behind the beautiful original designs for the video projection.
Re-invigorating the workflow allowed disguise to retain and respect the original production, whilst breathing new life into it for todays demanding entertainment environment. Dragone, in connection with disguise partner OpticShock, implemented several disguise technologies that now sit at the heart of the entire fixed installation, including disguise's OmniCal system and a combination of 4x4pro's and gx 1 servers.
The decision to go with disguise was multi-layered, said David Eversfield, from OpticShock. The hardware provides a solid, industry-proven platform with a clear growth path for the future, combined with software that's powerful and flexible enough to deal with a demanding timeline composited show. The support teams available internationally and locally are knowledgeable and sensitive to production environments, all while the growing user community provides a rich pool of future crew for the show.
David also explained how using disguise OmniCal made all the difference to this world-renowned production. Working in a 270-degree theatre, the OmniCal system allowed us to align the video projection to the space in a way similar to how sound engineers tune the audio to the venue. By generating 3D point clouds of the actual space, our image alignment and soft edge blends are easier to calculate, sticking the projection onto the surfaces.
David adds, Two challenging surfaces in the production were hanging drapes with deep fullness. With OmniCal, we were able to model these with simple curved primitive in disguise, and then deform to fit the curtain, creating the desired effect from the original Dragone production.
When asked about implementing disguise solutions to enhance The House of Dancing Water workflow, Karl Jenkins, Head of Lighting at Dragone said, Our production has always been a pioneer of the use of moving head projection technology. Thanks to the newly implemented infrastructure from disguise, this has ultimately restored the delivery efficiency of the projections the show is famous for and has also future-proofed the entire production for years to come.
For The House of Dancing Water (Macau) Karl Jenkins, Eve Bernier, Todd Harris, and the whole LX/SFX team, worked on the show. Janne Husberg, Mayur Patel, Michael Adefehinti, Mit Patel and the disguise APAC & UK offices, provided support. From the OpticShock team Sam Miro Folkard Hodgson, Kyle Pharo, Andy Tsang, Brendan Albrey, Jonny Cross, Mike Skinner, and David Eversfield. For Lightware Visual Engineering (Hong Kong, Hungary): Peter Major, Bertrand Jenner.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
disguise powers new workflow for The House of Dancing Water posted: 18/06/2019 
