Solving Challenges and Creating Spectacles With Creative Technology and Stage Precision
Dubai, UAE – March 2024 – A global leader in event technology, experiential production and installations, Creative Technology recently upgraded the workflow within its Middle East team with the help of Stage Precision’s SP software. The Middle East teams, based in Saudi Arabia, Doha and Dubai, have been integrating the tools provided by SP software to help power some of the most impressive and large-scale events in the region.
“We first heard about Stage Precision about a year ago through social media,” recalls Carlos Aguilar, Deputy Head of Video at Creative Technology ME. “It was the AR tracking capabilities of the SP software that first interested us, so we reached out for more information and began onboarding the tools into our projects. In fact, we first used SP for AR tracking during the Dubai World Cup last year.”
More recently, the Creative Technology team utilised Stage Precision software at Liwa Festival in Abu Dhabi, a week-long celebration of UAE heritage held in the shadow of the 300-meter-high Moreeb dune, one of the highest sand dunes in the world. The Creative Technology team managed a massive projection mapping project involving 78 projectors, to create a mesmerising display with the help of the control capabilities of SP.
The software’s capability to handle the intricacies of controlling multiple projectors simultaneously was crucial for the success of the Liwa Festival projection. “Not all servers can do it like Stage Precision does,” echoes Aguilar. “It simplified our setup significantly, replacing the need for multiple software interfaces.”
The Liwa Festival project presented unique challenges, including the need for precise control functions, failovers and distribution control for the multiple matrices. SP not only met these challenges but also provided a responsive interface for handling cues triggered by the dynamic events taking place on the sand dune. “With SP, we’re able to take at least ten different control-type platforms and bring them into an easy-to-use workflow,” says Aguilar. “From here, we’re able to control and monitor all of our channels and all of our outputs from one place.”
“Using SP it’s easy to handle the complex cues required to execute visuals on this scale,” continues Aguilar. “The interface within SP allowed us to interact quickly and send the correct commands for various scenarios.”
Creative Technology values the strong relationship they have developed with Stage Precision, especially with the support team. The ability to quickly resolve issues and receive assistance in tweaking configurations during live projects has been a key factor in their satisfaction. “Having a relationship with the Stage Precision team has been crucial,” confirms Aguilar. “They have been super helpful with support, tweaking things for us and responding swiftly to our needs via the Slack support channel.”
Creative Technology is looking forward to further collaborations with Stage Precision in the future. While they are currently using it for specific functions, the team is interested in integrating additional Stage Precision products such as Shield, the Unreal Engine 5 dedicated plug-in for control of real-time scenes for virtual production and augmented reality workflows. “SP is a unique and powerful tool,” says Mike Walker, Sales Director at Creative Technology. “It’s been really helpful and solved challenges that no other software could.”
The successful onboarding of Stage Precision software, coupled with the execution of the Liwa Festival project has the Creative Technology team looking to the future. “We’re excited about the new features coming and expanding the use of SP tools to more projects, including a high-profile VIP Exhibition Centre in Riyadh for a permanent installation,” confirms Walker. “For our highest standards of project delivery, we need a workflow that is bullet-proof. This is what we get with Stage Precision’s tools.”
