Multimillion-selling German singer Helene Fischer hosted her annual Die Helene Fischer Show at Christmas, featuring a host of live performances by stars such as Robbie Williams.

The staging for the event comprised 21 separate LED surfaces, all of which were supported by tvONE’s Green Hippo Hippotizer media servers.

Nine Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 and two Hippotizer Tierra+ MK2 servers were deployed, alongside two Hippotizer Play licences to manage the systems. The content consisted primarily of pre-rendered visuals, provided by Gravity Germany.

Photo: Sunrise Studio GMBH

Christian van Deenen, a server system specialist at Trust.event Group, which specified and supplied the Hippotizers, says: “The video materials were delivered as individual loops, which were then programmed and assembled within the Hippotizer servers.

“Throughout the show, more than 1.5TB of data was played back, consisting of nearly 1,100 clips. There were numerous loops and effects required, with short reaction times, but the Hippotizer system’s flexible VideoMapper and Mask tools proved to be outstanding features, enabling quick and efficient responses to the production’s requirements.

Photo: Sunrise Studio GMBH

“Many adjustments could be made directly on the Hippotizer, saving significant rendering time.”

The main Hippotizer system comprised five main servers and five back-up servers, ensuring redundancy and reliability.

An additional Hippotizer Boreal + MK2 was used to provide content to the outside broadcast van, which enabled flexible playback for various audience screens. In total, the system handled 24 outputs and executed a comprehensive pixel mapping set-up.

Photo: Sunrise Studio GMBH

Taking place at the sprawling Messe Düsseldorf, the stage design by Florian Wieder of Wieder Design consisted of two kinetic LED portals, which were constructed using 5.9mm and 3.9mm LED panels.

The rear LED portal measured 35 metres by 9 metres and could be split in the middle, to cater for grand entrances from the stars. The front LED portal, with dimensions of 17 metres by 9 metres, was rigged to allow for vertical movement, adding dynamics to the stage.

Photo: Sunrise Studio GMBH

Each of the side stages featured an LED backdrop measuring 22 metres by 9 metres, built with panels with a 3.9mm pixel pitch. In addition to an LED floor mounted on a kinetic lifting platform, the stage also included eight kinetically movable LED columns and eight mobile LED cubes that could be freely positioned.

“The biggest challenge was the tight schedule and the large number of acts,” says van Deenen. “To manage the volume of titles and the associated data efficiently, we had to work effectively, which also shaped the requirements for our server setup.

“The Hippotizer system proved to be flexible, fast and reliable, while also delivering the performance required to handle the number of outputs and pixels that needed to be played back.”