It's a Love Thing for Robe at Laver Cup Tennis posted: 07/11/2017
Robe BMFL moving lights - a mix of 108 x BMFL Spots, WashBeams and Wash XFs, plus 80 x Spiider LED wash beams - proved a perfect match to light the first Laver Cup international tennis tournament. The Laver Cup is a brand new indoor hard court men's tennis competition staged for the first time in Prague's O2 Arena with the action broadcast worldwide on TV.
The BMFLs were the primary lightsources for the main show court, which saw two exciting teams - Europe (captained by Bj rn Borg) and World (captained by John McEnroe) - battle it out for the trophy!
The full lighting production was designed by SMART Productions, providing a team of 28 riggers and lighting technicians on site led by SMART's Josef Pepa Zenisek who was also the event's overall technical director for the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the host broadcaster.
It was Pepa who suggested utilising Robe moving lights to illuminate the courts. This followed a great success with BMFLs at the centre of a design for the ceremonies sections of the 2015 Fed Cup Final Tennis tournament in Prague.
We proposed the lighting design and sent visualisations and renders to the organisers to explain how the ideas would look and work efficiently he explained. It was a process on which Pepa collaborated with Australian based lighting designer Toby Harding from video and production design specialist Offset Dice who was the event's lighting director.
Offset Dice is part of Australian based live event production and solutions company Mediatec Asia Pacific who were also involved in delivering the event.
Toby works for Tennis Australia on the Australian Open and related tournaments, overseeing production of the video graphics content for the court-side LED screens and he co-designed the pre-match lighting for the Rod Laver arena in Melbourne.
Pepa explained that the lighting brief on this occasion was more demanding than for the Fed Cup as they were also lighting the main court for the games - with a target of having 2500 - 3000 Lux - on the floor, which was required for the HD TV feeds, detailed slomo playback facilities and streaming coverage.
A total of 10 trusses were installed into the O2's roof and utilised for lighting positions, with the main court lighting units positioned on two 40 metre and two 16 metre trusses rigged individually but in a box configuration directly above the court area.
The eighty Spiiders were used for lighting the audience grandstands surrounding the tennis court, distributed along a series of shorter trusses flown slightly lower around the arena.
BMFLs were chosen primarily for their power and accurate focusing confirms Pepa, adding that there is no other moving light currently on the market with this brightness, intensity or control.
The Spiiders were ideal, especially with their wide zoom and excellent colour mixing engine, for highlighting the audience with smooth, even colour washes, an effect that looked great on camera.
SMART's lighting programmer Ondrej Burian had added 14 more Spiiders to the initial plot which were rigged on the venue' s roof catwalks and used to illuminate its unique roof structure. This also looked interesting on camera and a lot more dynamic than having a black void in the ceiling!
Toby and Ondrej worked together both programming and operating using two networked grandMA2 consoles on site.
Toby comments that SMART Productions brought considerable experience in working at the venue to the table, which was invaluable for the overall smooth running of the lighting department, and he enjoyed working with Pepa and his team.
He was delighted when he first saw the plot full of Robe lights, especially as it offered the opportunity to work with some fixtures he'd not yet had the chance to use.
I could see the system was going to offer all the flexibility required for both the ceremonies and the out-of-play elements as well as the all-important tournaments .
He was impressed with the BMFL WashBeams, Very versatile with the framing shutters and beam angle, yet really effective as a wash he said, adding that they were the go-to lights for any areas needing last minute illumination
He thought the Spiiders did a fantastic job for the audience lighting, Very powerful at full spot and nicely diffused when using the zoom and these were used to illuminate various host positions for the ceremonies and pre-match items.
He explained that while the original brief was to make it theatrical with the audience dark and the court as the stage, they needed to see them on camera, and the players preferred to see some faces as well as it was a team event and a massive amount of atmosphere and vibes coming off the crowd and their support!
Talking more generally about Robe, Toby reckons they have a good range to cover all areas and disciplines of live entertainment.
The lighting equipment was sourced from a number of different rental companies due to the amount of needed explained Pepa, with German based Niclen being the primary supplier. For the PA they utilised the house racks-and-stacks with Mediatec brining in consoles and control, and video was also provided by Mediatec.
The event was a great success internationally and a huge hit with the public locally and all those who journeyed to catch the vibes live and also enjoy the beautiful environs of Prague. Robe was very proud to be involved in another premium sporting event, especially in its own stunning and charismatic capital city!
The 2018 Laver Cup will be staged in Chicago.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
It's a Love Thing for Robe at Laver Cup Tennis posted: 07/11/2017 
