Alabama Media installs a spectacular Led infrastructure at the LDLC Arena

In the second largest covered pavilion in France, Middle Alabama has installed more than 450 square meters of Led screens, which includes a motorized cubic structure of 144 square meters and 17 tons custom made with technology Roll call, to surprise basketball and entertainment fans.

And spectacular Led cube of 17 tons designed, manufactured and installed by the company specialized in event production Middle Alabama, forms the centerpiece of the second largest covered pavilion in France, the avant-garde LDLC Arena from Lyon.

Middle Alabama, of the Groupe Novelty, has built its reputation and technical expertise in live entertainment events, sports, corporate and broadcast, both in France and internationally. The company is also a long-standing partner of the Ligue football giant 1, he Olympique Lyonnais. with this, Alabama was well positioned to understand and meet the requirements of the LDLC Arena integration project.

“Alabama is known in France for the quality of its service and professionalism”, confirm François Aubert, technical manager of LDLC Arena, “so it was a union between two companies committed to excellence. The fact that it is more of an events company helped a lot, and its ability to adapt to any scenario was a great advantage.”

According to Aubert, The idea for the gigantic LED installation originally came from Tony Parker, Retired NBA legend and majority owner of basketball team LDLC Asvel, what “I imagined an American style venue, which influenced our decision to incorporate iconic elements such as the large Led cube and balcony seating”.

In addition to being the headquarters of the LDLC Asvel for Euroleague matches, the LDLC Arena, with capacity for 12.000 personas (16.000 for concerts), It also becomes the setting for a large number of world-class events, including shows by big-name artists like Green Day, Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton, Shaka Ponk and the Jonas Brothers.

With this knowledge, Alabama set to work to design an LED setup flexible enough to accommodate a wide range of event types.. “Modularity was key; The possibility of moving the Led cube to the ceiling or stage adds versatility to our events”, confirma Aubert.

After being commissioned to create and integrate the stadium's entire video system, including the Led cube that would serve as the nerve center, Alabama, in collaboration with Cobalt, proposed a series of ideas about its design that diverged from the initial concept of the cube and focused on its load capacity, its detachable nature and its aesthetic appeal. The three partners collaborated closely throughout the project, in the design of both the cube and the production control room, with the help of local metalworking specialist Iron and Undo to design the structure and decoration of the cube.

With a weight of 17 metric tons, the Led cube 144 square meters is defined by its creators as an engineering masterpiece that rivals even those of the most spectacular American basketball stadiums..

Equipped with four paneles Led Absen too 3,9 mm, each of 8×4,5 metros, The bucket is also fully motorized and retractable, thanks to eight GIS D8+ electric chain hoists with a load capacity of 2,5 tons each, that effortlessly raise and lower the cube to adapt to different venue configurations.

And Secondary Led ring independent (made up of four LED panels Absent PL3.9 V10 of 6×1 metros) at its base it completes the structure. Besides, The bucket can be lowered to the ground and partially dismantled to lighten the load in larger productions and allow the assembly of other equipment, which also allows the LED panels to be used in other configurations for events and concerts.

Alabama has also installed 200 linear meters of Led Absen fascia 4 mm between the lower and upper sections of the stands and two scoring screens Led Absen too 3,9 mm (of 6×3,5 metros) to transmit information in real time to viewers, in addition to supplying 37 meters of Led Absen perimeter banner screens of 4 mm certified by FIBA ​​to be used on the edge of the court during matches.

control room

In addition to the LEDs, Alabama has supplied and integrated all video equipment for the broadcast control room, included video production and broadcast servers and tools live.

The sophisticated configuration of the room, ideal for capturing and broadcasting live events, includes a video mixer Newtek Tricaster 2 Elite con 2-Stripe control surface, a 3Play 3P1 of Vizrt and a full 4K matrix switch Lightware MX2-8×8-DH-8DPio-A. With DisplayPort input and output ports 1.2, The MX2 series matrix guarantees optimal AV signal switching and image quality, providing 4K UHD@60Hz RGB video 4:4:4, uncompressed and latency-free.

Finally, Alabama has supplied the electrical panels and wiring, as well as the control room racks. Tanto Alabama como su empresa asociada Novelty Aura prestan regularmente servicios técnicos, incluido el equipo de iluminación, para eventos tanto en el pabellón principal como en Cube, la sala VIP de 2.000 metros cuadrados del recinto.

Xavier Aucagne, director técnico de proyectos de Alabama Media, afirma que pudo aprovechar la amplia experiencia de la empresa trabajando con producciones itinerantes en Francia y en toda Europa para ofrecer un paquete de vídeo todo en uno para el LDLC Arena, uno de sus primeros grandes proyectos de integración.