
Rhythm & Alps Festival closes 2020 with Hippotizer Karst posted: 01/03/2021
TomTom Productions provided three Hippotizer Karst Media Servers, one for each of the Rhythm & Alps Festivals performance stages.
It's a comfort to know that somewhere in the world, 2020 ended with a music festival. That's what happened in the shadow of New Zealand's Southern Alps, where the Rhythm & Alps Festival saw off the year with a celebratory vibe enhanced by TomTom Productions, whose Hippotizer Media Servers from Green Hippo delivered the visuals for three separate stages.
Rhythm & Alps, which has become South Island's biggest New Year's Eve party, was also celebrating its 10th anniversary with this event, which was held over the last three days of December. TomTom, based in nearby Queenstown, is the festival's regular provider of full production design and supply services. This year, their contributions included the provision of Hippotizer Karst Media Servers to meet the varying playback requirements of all three performance stages: the Alpine Arena main stage, the Where The Wild Things Are stage and the Log Cabin DJ stage.
TomTom Productions provided three Hippotizer Karst Media Servers, one for each of the Rhythm & Alps Festivals performance stages.
For the Alpine Arena, we had a standard upstage LED wall, complemented by 156m of Martin VDO Sceptron strips, says TomTom's Hamish Roberge. These covered the side walls, ceiling and part of the rear wall, allowing us to extend the LED wall content out, or run separate content for contrast.
He continues, Hippotizer control was via the lighting console over Art-Net, and the Media Servers were at FOH, which gave the LDs a direct GUI-view of what they were playing back. The Hippotizer integrates directly with the Martin P3 PC, which maps and controls the VDO Sceptron, both for control as a DMX fixture and also as a video screen.
On the Where The Wild Things Are stage, another Hippotizer Karst Media Server fed custom visual content projected from two stacked Christie HD14K-M projectors onto the large, carved Buddha face that formed the stage's central setpiece. A third Karst unit served the smallest stage, the Log Cabin, where TomTom hung SGM LB-100 LED bead strings from the ceiling. It's a product that Roberge and his colleagues at TomTom love for the flexibility it gives them when designing and mapping complex pixelmap shapes, using the Hippotizer's PixelMapper feature to overlay video onto the beads via Art-Net.
TomTom Productions provided three Hippotizer Karst Media Servers, one for each of the Rhythm & Alps Festivals performance stages.
Hippotizer's Art-Net integration, allowing control via the lighting console, is the biggest single feature for me, says Roberge. The layout is intuitive for lighting designers, so they can get the most out of the Media Server. This is especially so with the Martin VDO Sceptron being a hybrid video and lighting product. When you factor in Hippotizer's Martin P3 software integration, it's the perfect playback device.
TomTom Productions provided three Hippotizer Karst Media Servers, one for each of the Rhythm & Alps Festivals performance stages.
All in all, this was a faultless operation for TomTom. The Hippotizer is our go-to Media Server solution, says Roberge. We design our shows with the knowledge of what the Hippos can do for us. From the setup in the shop - where we created the Sceptron map - through the patching with both the Martin P3 and Art-Net for the console control, everything worked seamlessly.
Roberge concludes, My thoughts go out to our industry around the world at the moment. I think every day about how lucky we are to be running events almost as normal, when almost everywhere else is faced with either no gigs or heavily restricted events. We wish you all better times ahead.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
09/09/2026
Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...
09/09/2026
Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...
09/09/2026
Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...
09/09/2026
Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...
09/09/2026
Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14).
XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...
09/09/2026
swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...
09/09/2026
NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...
09/09/2026
LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...
09/09/2026
Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...
09/09/2026
Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...
09/09/2026
Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...
09/09/2026
Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...
09/09/2026
Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....
09/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...
09/09/2026
ESPN and Apple Music have announced a collaboration on music curation for Monday...
09/09/2026
Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacrame...
09/09/2026
NDI and NVIDIA have announced a collaboration to develop AI-powered workflows enabling broadcasters to create and distribute multilingual content from a single ...
09/09/2026
Christopher Chip Adams, Troy Aikman, Jim Dove, Jim Eady, Bucky Gunts, Robert A. Iger, Charlie Jablonski, Robert Kraft, Tom Rinaldi, and Dick Stockton to be ho...
09/09/2026
ND2 returns as the primary unit, While FNIA gets SSQC and new flexible Rover...
09/09/2026
New parts aimed at hip-hop and pop productions
The latest update to Celemony's innovative virtual session musician expands the collection of built-in in...
09/09/2026
Save up to 40% until 21 September 2026
Sonarworks are currently running their Autumn Sale, with discounts of up to 40% currently available across their rang...
09/09/2026
Upcoming title officially launches in September 2026
Bjooks' celebrations for this year's 909 Day will be welcome news amongst drum machine lovers, ...
09/09/2026
NITV to bring First Nations netball to audiences nationwide
9 September, 2026
Media releases
Every match of the 2026 First Nations Tournament will be live ...
09/09/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...
09/09/2026
Italy launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA
Milan, Italy, September 9, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, ...
09/09/2026
Planned solutions tackle accuracy, cost and latency barriers to deploying AI at ...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, introduces its new Model 791 Control Console at IBC 2026 (N...
09/09/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects and visualization, is headin...
09/09/2026
NUGEN Audio unveils DialogCheck v1.2, the latest evolution of its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at IBC 2026 (Pod P27). With a sharpene...
09/09/2026
Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Help the Entertainment Industry Tackle Everyday Security Risks
Industry-Wide Campaign Launches at IBC2...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
AI has moved firmly beyond experimentation in UK advertising, with more than eight in ten marketers (83%) now actively using or piloting AI in production, accor...
09/09/2026
IBC2026 - Stand 7.D22
At IBC2026, Pixitmedia by DataCore will showcase its latest capabilities designed to simplify distributed production, accelerate workflow...
09/09/2026
Stockholm, Sweden September 9th, 2026 At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live ...
09/09/2026
Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway is continuing the use of its Open Live Media technology for premium European football, deploying Nimbra 5...
09/09/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, will showcase four new AI-native capabilities at IBC2026, Hall 5, S...
09/09/2026
Limecraft today announces version 2026.6 of its AI-powered production platform, extending capabilities for connected media operations. An AI-assisted approach t...
09/09/2026
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the next evolution of its Practical AI strategy, evolving its comprehensive portfoli...
09/09/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the appointment of Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
09/09/2026
LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliable broadband directly into LiveU's cellular bonding EcoSystem through a singl...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
09/09/2026
Wisycom is showcasing the latest additions to its ecosystem of professional RF technologies at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.D60). This includes its new MATF Wideband Anten...
09/09/2026
AMSTERDAM, IBC2026 VisualOn, Inc. and Cires21 today released an updated joint whitepaper at IBC 2026 demonstrating measurable, high-impact improvements in visu...