Leyard creates immersive digital canvas for rock legend Roger Waters

An LED screen 650 m2 of the CarbonLight series Leyard, configured in the shape of a twelve-sided cross and suspended from the ceiling, is the centerpiece of Roger Waters' tour of the United States and Europe.

Considered his “first farewell tour”, the rock legend Roger Waters has embarked on a marathon four-month tour of North America, Canada and Mexico, which will continue next March in Europe, starting in Lisbon (Portugal).

Roger Waters joins him on tour This is not a drill of a great 360º immersion production based on a series Led screen CarbonLight from the manufacturer Leyard, of 650 m2 in the shape of a cross and suspended from the ceiling as a centerpiece, supplied by Universal Pixels (UP).

Jeremy Lloyd, co-director of the London company Wonder Works to provide production and technical design services on the tour, explains that “with the screen, audio and lighting hanging from the ceiling, This 'heavy' equipment required a lot of advance planning. UP provided a screen for the latest tour of 2018, “So it was a pleasure to work with the team again and find a solution for this unique show.”.

Despite its large size, The Leyard Led screen was chosen “because it is light enough to reduce the total load of the rig, while staying true to the overall design concept. The result is a truly immersive 360º canvas for Roger Waters' creative storytelling.", Lloyd adds..

The first task of the Wonder Works design team was to conduct a detailed weight study, since not only the proposed Led screen would be large in size, but, Since it is a touring show, there is three times more audio, lighting and video compared to a fixed show for a performance.

For this reason, the team faced the challenge of designing a lightweight system, that was logistically possible to transport and install at all locations on the tour, during the four months of duration.

Phil Mercer, professional who has been part of Roger Waters' tours since the year 2006 and in UP since 2018, notes that new production design is the most challenging to date, so it required a high specification Led product, routable and solo 15 Kg/m2.

The lightweight carbon fiber mesh construction of the paneles Led CarbonLight CLM6 de Leyard was the choice chosen by UP, since the huge screen fit the weight restrictions, in addition to offering everything expected in terms of image quality.

“Leyard is not just a natural fit for UP, since worldwide we have the largest rental stock of its CarbonLight Led range, But our investigation showed that it was the only manufacturer with a suitable product - says Mercer -. It's not just about a big screen, but a design really thought for the tour. Not only did it have to be light, but it had to be quick to load, download and mount, and that's where the ease of use of the CLM6 tile locking hardware comes in.”.

The resulting production design is a rectangular center stage, with tracks extending from each side and forming a cross. The Leyard Led screen is a mirror of the stage, also in the shape of a cross.

Building the structure to hang the screen, separated into three sections that can move as one, was entrusted to Tait Towers. The visual design is made up of 648 m2 of Leyard CLM6 panels in the shape of a twelve-sided cross, allowing the public to view video content anywhere in the venue.

Besides, The production has sixteen lasers that form giant triangles that surround the entire length of the LED screen on the stage., complemented by surround sound.

Leyard's Led screen also meets the technical requirements of the tour's visual content, providing a color depth of 10 bits, grayscale and low light features, made by video director, Icarus Wilson-Wright, according to the artistic vision of Roger Waters and his creative director, Sean Evans.

Según Wilson-Wright, “Roger and Sean had already come up with the design concept, style and workflow, but they needed me to technically integrate it into the production of the program. We create a 3D forecast project in Disguise and I was able to map the content on a server from this manufacturer”.

Leyard CLM6 “effortlessly manages the high-quality, large-sized content we produce,” he adds.. The video codec NotchLC facilitates the reproduction of 10 bits for our multimedia servers and also allows us to work with darker content, as well as using lower lighting levels with spectacular effect. Work with most content 10 bits gives us great dynamic range and appearance”.

To Luke Marler Hausen, Leyard Europe Business Development Director, “It is an honor that our CarbonLight Led screens play an important role in such a technically demanding production. Universal Pixels is a long-standing and valued customer, and we are delighted that they have trusted us once again for such an important tour”.