Metallica boosts world tour AV experience with AV Stumpfl Pixera

The 'M72' world tour of this American heavy metal band, which has an innovative circular stage, has adopted the multimedia server system Pixera of BY Stumpfl to manage your bulk video settings.

With a circular stage to offer a innovative visual experience to his followers, the world tour M72 of the band Metallica It leaves no one indifferent due to its sophisticated and impressive technology., con eight hanging towers a 30 meters high, each configured with three Led screens of 15×9 m, with a total of twenty-four surfaces, work of Dan Braun, creative director and production designer.

This sophisticated technical infrastructure required a powerful solution to improve and Manage all massive tour video setup, for which it has been decided to use the multimedia server system Pixera of BY Stumpfl, which the band had already tried before at a music festival.

“Las rendering capabilities by Pixera, especially for the Notch effects, They are incomparable - he assures Tom Denney, tour multimedia server engineer. These boxes handle up to two simultaneous Notch effects without losing frames, what is critical for our configuration 38 dynamic cameras and visuals”.

In this line, David Leonard, multimedia server programmer and operator, highlights that “the version 25 from Pixera has been fantastic. I have had no crashes or restarts. The interface, layer based, facilitates the management of fifty different screen mappings per show, keeping the visuals fresh and involving”.

This operator programs one timeline per song y, next, make your list of cue based on the band's set for each concert, so speed to adapt on the fly is crucial, and the repertoire of songs taken from the band's vast discography, are confirmed just before the start of the show.

The Pixera system deployed, which consists of eight servers (four main and the rest of support), supports a one-to-one redundancy workflow, ensuring seamless performance.

“The band and creative team prioritize reliability, and Pixera offers it -Denney emphasizes-. Each tower receives a 4K signal, and our utility machine manages additional outputs for festivals or broadcasts, like when we streamed 3.000 cinemas around the world.

Las units of 16 TB of the system (ampliables a 60 TB) host tour content folder per show (of 3,5 TB), what allows make transitions effortless between the “main tower spectacle and the festival settings, without having to waste time downloading”.

AV Stumpfl's eight Pixera servers form one of six Custom ‘barges’ that make up the tour’s video infrastructure, and fiber lines connect them to the racks of the eight viewing towers, hundreds of meters away.

“The ‘barges’ reduced our server and camera setup time to less than an hour.”, despite the hundreds of cables -Denney points out-. The Hub tool from Pixera simplifies the management of eight servers, from network settings to fan speed, which makes our workflow incredibly efficient”.

Gene McAuliffe, video director and mentor in adopting Pixera for the tour, adds that “the system allows us to play with perspective, wrapping visuals in multiple towers or isolating them for impact. It is about offer fans a unique view from all angles. The support from your team is the best I have experienced; whether it's a fix or a new feature, They respond in all time zones”.