Redefining the Boombox at Schlagerfestival 2018 posted: 07/05/2018
Luc Peumans and the team from Painting with Light redefined the iconic boombox, presenting this historic music making device in a fresh, new, digital dimension as the set centrepiece for Belgium's 2018 Schlagerfestival, staged in the 14,000 capacity Ethias Arena in Hasselt.
With Paco Mispelters as the lighting designer, Luc and the crew created the event's spectacular stage, set and production design and produced all the bespoke video content appearing on the boombox. It's the 13th year that Luc has been involved in Schlagerfestival for producers PSE BELGIUM, in which time he's seen a steady commitment to increasing production values, which has also enabled innovating the design each year.
The event has a festival-style programme with multiple artists and lots of quick changeovers, all backed by an extremely tight house' band of top session musicians.
At the essence of the design was the desire to make the 8 mm pitch digital scenery truly three-dimensional and have it appear genuinely scenic rather than electronic!
Once the boombox idea started to evolve - he also wanted an object instantly associated with music that could carry its own visual narrative - Luc added side panels at 90 degrees to the 20 metre wide by 9 metre high front fascia, so the audience sitting along the sides of the venue (the show was sold 270 degrees) would have a better viewing experience.
He then added two piles of retro-style scenic cassette tapes each side of the stage, which were fronted with Barco MiTrix video surfaces and which also formed part of the band risers. Their positioning and random appearance brought a whole new layer and perspective to the performance space.
The objective was to create a digital set that looked like authentic, hand-built scenery, explained Luc. Getting that quality' look was vital, and having an excellent digital toolbox - and plenty of ideas - to hand meant we could add plenty of detail and adapt and personalize the set for each artist with different looks, graphics and animations .
The show lasted three hours, so it was important to provide a dynamic and changing environment for the hugely enthusiastic Schlagerfestival fanbase, who packed into the venue to party the night away with a mega-mash of sing-and-dance-along crowd-pleasing anthems from a glittering line-up of Schlager stars.
Painting with Light supplied three video artists - a 3D modeller, a Notch expert and an animations specialist - to develop the boombox content.
The 4 metre wide cassette door in the middle of the physical structure slid open to provide stage entrance points for artists, and the 16 piece house band was positioned onstage to the left and right of the door, with some on' the piles of cassettes.
The cassette spines included handwritten titles, text slogans and comments - each relevant to the performer onstage at the time - while various related graphics and artwork were applied to the different parts of the boombox.
The cassette spine video content was produced as pixel-perfect artwork to fit the surface areas, and also scaled to the boombox so everything looked impressively in proportion.
On top of the boombox was a scenic handle, three large buttons and two antennas / antennae which helped make it look very similar to the real thing!
Three different overall looks were developed for the radio section of the boombox, including a tuner and VU metre, which were animated in real-time using Notch real-time effects and rendering software. This was linked to the disguise server, and ran scripts that translated DMX values from the lighting console and applied them to the different boombox graphic layers. These scripts were triggered via audio inputs, so the VU metre movements were synched exactly to the beat.
A similar treatment was used to pulse the speakers - utilizing a variety of graphics - in time with the music, with some animations looking identical to speaker cones vibrating and pumping with SPLs.
Lighting and video were programmed, aligned and finessed with Luc, Paco, video programmer Mark Honsbeek and lighting operator Arjan Grootenhuis all working in close collaboration - another advantage of having one creative practice designing the full visual package.
The video provided a structural and physical framework for the set, with light then adding atmosphere and depth.
The disguise gx 2 server ran all the video playback, but the atmospheric video settings, including colour, were controlled and triggered via the grandMA2 lighting console, which allowed specific parameters of lighting and video to be synchronised quickly and matched during the show, and work together harmoniously.
Paco utilized around 400 lights on the rig, including 86 x Robe Pointe multi-functional moving lights, 65 x GLP X4 Washes, 40 x Claypaky Sharpy Washes, 26 x Martin MAC Viper DX Washes, with 10 MAC x Viper Performances illuminating the thrust which comprised both vertical and horizontal runways, enabling the stars to get right out among their fans.
One hundred and twenty LED PARs were rigged on 10 pods, flown in the auditorium roof and did a great job of lighting the crowds, an important element in this event which is renowned for its audience interaction and engagement. Many of the stage lighting fixtures were also positioned so they could swing round and swoop over the audience when needed.
Thirty Chauvet STRIKE 1 LED blinders blasted out into the voluminous arena and a number of SGM Q7 LED flood / strobes were also deployed for blinding duties.
Three PRG Bad Boys running via a Ground Control remote follow spotting system ensconced under the stage were used to follow the artists as they strutted their stuff.
Programming time on site was tight, so two grandMAs were used, one for lighting and video, an
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
23/10/2025
A deadline is looming for a new carriage deal between Verizon's Fios TV and Nexstar, with both Verizon and the pay TV-backed American Television Alliance bl...
23/10/2025
NEW YORK During a high-profile session at NAB Show New York, new survey data was shared that revealed significant public concern over artificial intelligence (A...
23/10/2025
BELLEVUE, Wash. and NEW YORK Fox Weather has tapped T-Mobile has as its preferred communications provider and announced that all Fox Weather reporters are being...
23/10/2025
PBS and Amazon Web Services have announced the network is using generative AI to provide enhanced search results to viewers on the PBS App and PBS LearningMedia...
23/10/2025
Series three of the award winning, hit comedy entertainment series The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In is back on your screens, celebrating the very best of all t...
23/10/2025
Performances by Michael Flatley, Andy Irvine, Cuckoo's Nest, Foster and Allen and more
Friday 24 October, 8pm on RT One and RT Player
Fleadh Cheoil re...
23/10/2025
The nights grow longer and the shadows get bolder with Vampire The Masquerade: B...
22/10/2025
Prime Video Inks Deal To Present NFL Black Friday Game Worldwide By SVG Staff
Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 10:06 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story ...
22/10/2025
NBA Tip-Off: ESPN Goes 1080p HDR End-to-End, Flipping HDR Switch on REMI and REM...
22/10/2025
FloSports Empowers Division II, III Athletic Departments With Turnkey Production...
22/10/2025
Wall Street Video Summit Debuts, Bringing Together 200 Financial Enterprise Vide...
22/10/2025
Dueling Pianos: International Chopin Piano Competition Is as Competitive as a Ba...
22/10/2025
In 1995, a young Colombian artist released an album that would change Latin pop ...
22/10/2025
Over the past few months, a photovoltaic system has been installed on a three-he...
22/10/2025
The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis II mission is stacked on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in High Bay 3 of the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kenn...
22/10/2025
L3Harris' Hybrid SATCOM is resilient by design, offering path diversity that eliminates vulnerabilities by routing data across the best available networks i...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. Organizers of NAB Show New York said they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countries along with 260 exhibitor...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Masque Sound, a leading theatrical sound reinforcement, installation and design company, supplied an extensive gear package of professional-grade equipment for ...
22/10/2025
Lightware, a global leader in signal management and AV connectivity solutions, is seeing strong market momentum for the UCX-3x3-TPX-RX20, a compact transmitter-...
22/10/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron has released PAINT 10.2, the latest update for its telestration platform, adding support for SMPTE ST 2110 IP workflows, expanding brandin...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON Run3TV today said NBCUniversal is joining as an investor in the ATSC 3.0 Framework Authority, which develops the Run3TV NextGen TV application platfo...
22/10/2025
ATLANTA swXtch.io will feature two new networking solutions extending the company's reach across more cloud and on-prem workflows at NAB Show New York, set ...
22/10/2025
The Warner Bros. Discoverys HBO Max streaming services has increased prices for all its streaming tiers effectively immediately for new customers. Existing cust...
22/10/2025
LOS ANGELES OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how it...
22/10/2025
WASHINGTON, D.C The organizers of The 2025 NAB Show New York have announced that they are expecting more than 12,000 registered attendees from about 100 countr...
22/10/2025
Samora Pinderhughes Brings Immersive Sound to Berklee's Signature Series The artist and composer, who's worked with Herbie Hancock, Robert Glasper, Co...
22/10/2025
BMI Day at Berklee Celebrates Composer Fil Eisler and Awards Scholarship to Stud...
22/10/2025
October 22nd, 2025 TRIBECA ANNOUNCES STAR-STUDDED LINEUP OF MEMBERSHIP EVENTS F...
22/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF cooperate in drone defense Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF partner to deliver a comprehensive drone defense solution combining Rohde & S...
22/10/2025
European Broadcaster Upgrades To Grass Valley's NativeIP LDX 135 Cameras And...
22/10/2025
Everyone Gets a Better Deal on Verizon with New FOX One Perk The $15 FOX One streaming service perk is yet another way Verizon continues to add savings for cu...
22/10/2025
First Look Hidden Assets Series 3
Premieres on 9th November 9:30pm on RT One & RT Player
WATCH HERE Promo Link: Hidden Assets Series 3 | RT
The Crimin...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Although AES Show Is on Its Own, Audio Will Be a Major Part o...
21/10/2025
NAB New York 2025: Business of Broadcast and Media,' Future of Content'...
21/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Ethan Folz, Senior Director, Digital Operations and Quality of Ex...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: Livestream Offers Graphic Overlays, Predictive Gaming, Ancil...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: At the Front Bench With Producer Frank DiGraci and Director ...
21/10/2025
NBA on NBC/Peacock: NBC Sports, NEP Build Ultra-Flexible Production Plan That Se...
21/10/2025
Indigenous storytelling has been at the heart of the work of the Sundance Instit...
21/10/2025
Top L-R: Mysterious Skin, American Dream Second Row L-R: Little Miss Sunshine, D...
21/10/2025
Last week, Spotify and Columbia Records transformed Pier 4 at the Brooklyn Army ...
21/10/2025
SBS Learn's Dharug Ngurra resource empowers classrooms to meaningfully celeb...
21/10/2025
As global operators simplify and evolve their digital platforms, NPS improvement...
21/10/2025
Critical Design Review completion is a key milestone on the path toward Wideband Global Satellite Communications certification for the network in 2026, opening ...
21/10/2025
New Australian undersea training range to implement and improve warfighting tactics, proficiency and safety; enable joint/allied training that contributes to pr...
21/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
21/10/2025
September, the beginning of autumn, brought an expected revival to the TV market, largely due to the new fall TV schedules. The time spent in front of the TV sc...
Redefining the Boombox at Schlagerfestival 2018 posted: 07/05/2018 
