Kingdom illuminated

SINGAPORE: Kingdom Invasion is an annual Christian conference bringing together approximately 10,000 worshippers from Singapore and its surrounding areas. The 2017 edition marked the fifth instalment of the event, which took place at the Singapore Expo convention centre and was live streamed to a global audience.

Illuminate Productions was called upon once again to provide the full technical production for Kingdom Invasion. The Singapore-based creative and technical production company operated out of a small room backstage, dubbed ‘the command centre’. This formed the centre of operations during reported 18-hour shifts that were put in to ensure that the conference received a high calibre technical production. ‘Our success comes from our dedicated team,’ explains Huang Muen, creative and technical director of Illuminate.

On the audio front, Illuminate deployed myriad Clair Brothers i212 line array speakers for reinforcement, along with a DiGiCo SD8 console for mixing at FOH. Shure KSM-9 microphones were implemented for capturing the main vocals and Beta 58s were used for the back-up singers. Monitors were mixed via a Yamaha PM5D.

The lighting rig employed was constructed from all new fixtures that arrived on site still in their boxes. Illuminate put to use 24 Claypaky Scenius spots with the same number of B-Eye K20 washes and 48 Sharpys. Complementing the Claypaky luminaires were 48 Robe Robin 600 washes as well as more than 100 channels of standard lighting fixtures. Control of the lighting was courtesy of two networked MA Lighting grandMA2 consoles, which were also used to manage a d3 Technologies media server that synchronised the lighting with video. Lighting and video operators worked together using the grandMA2 consoles to ensure timing cues were met.

The technical production on the video side was described as ‘one of the technical highlights of this year’s conference’ – particularly in relation to the LED screen. The Illuminate team installed five 3.9mm LED screens in total. The main central screen was a 4K panoramic screen that measured 16m x 4m and was flanked by two 4m x 4m screens on each side. The total pixel count from end to end was reportedly over 8K in resolution. In addition, four Christie HD projectors were employed for the IMAG delay screens throughout the venue.

The d3 media server was used to run the main content. ‘Content output was a challenge due to the high-resolution demands,’ says Mr Huang. ‘The servers have 16 full HD outputs via VFC cards, allowing the output to be run directly from them, so there would be no need for switchers in between. This reduced latency issues and made set up simpler and quicker. Ikegami broadcast cameras were also brought in as part of the live camera setup, which delivered beyond expectations.’

In the months leading up to the event, Mr Huang and the Illuminate team prepared at its ‘previsualisation studio’ by building a virtual 3D representation of the stage for Kingdom Invasion. To do this, the team used MA’s grandMA2 3D software and d3 Designer. Due to time restrictions that were the result of there only being two days given between set up and system check, the software allowed Illuminate to rehearse the cues and identify problems before the event.

‘Illuminate was pushed to the extreme on the final day of Kingdom Invasion,’ Mr Huang comments. ‘We were working on two other major events at the same time. Nonetheless, with the team and the equipment working together, all three events were executed successfully. It’s only when you’re forced to the limit that you’re able to expand.’

The results were also pleasing to those in attendance at Kingdom Invasion: ‘Illuminate Productions are truly masters of their craft,’ notes Peter Hui, the multimedia designer at Cornerstone Community Church. ‘Their efficient responsiveness was excellent.’

www.illuminate.sg
www.kingdominvasion.sg