Gaming event lighting guru Steve Thurkettle selected Titan – the fast, powerful and
intuitive lighting and media control interface from British manufacturer Avolites – to
drive his complex audio-visual design for the 58th Insomnia Gaming Festival
(Insomnia58), the UK’s biggest ever celebration of gaming culture. The event took
place at the NEC in Birmingham over the August bank holiday weekend, from Friday
26 to Monday 29 August.
The Insomnia Gaming Festival has been running since 1999. Organised by specialist
gaming event producers Multiplay, it has become so popular that it has outgrown a
series of venues, including Newbury Racecourse Conference Centre in Berkshire and
the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. It now takes place three times a year and offers a
comprehensive series of activities, demonstrations and talks. Gamers have the
chance to play an impressive selection of the latest games in halls packed with
thousands of PCs and consoles. Lovers of esports can take part in tournaments and
watch all the live finals on a dedicated esports stage or sit back and watch live
gameplay demos. Festival-goers can also join in live Q&A sessions with YouTube
and Twitch gaming stars. Housed in nine halls at the NEC and featuring six stages,
Insomnia58 was the biggest Insomnia Gaming Festival yet – with a record
attendance of 66,783 people.
For this vast event, Multiplay’s Senior Production Project Manager Steve Thurkettle
was responsible for designing and co-ordinating all the audio-visuals – from staging
and rigging through to lighting, audio and projection equipment. The lighting director
– who built up his career by freelancing for the likes of Microsoft, Packard Bell and
Seat cars chose the Titan interface to power his final, overall design. A long-term
advocate of Avolites, he rates the user-friendliness of the products.
Insomnia58 comprised six stages/arenas. Thurkettle selected a combination of Robe
Pointes, Martin Mac 101s and Lanta Fireball Par64 Quad LED Cans to illuminate the
main arena in an immersive design with winged truss, angled to make the space
feel more enclosed.
The smaller League of Legends-themed League stage is lit by Robe 100s, Mac
Quantum profiles and more Lanta Fireball Par64s. The Robe fixtures are at two
different heights between the stage and the back truss where the Quantum Profiles
and Fireball LEDs are positioned, with Thurkettle commenting that varying levels is
his go-to design look. Each team in the League of Legend tournament had a specific
colour, which programmer Matt Evans reflected in the look for each stage as they
took their turn to play.
To control each stage’s set up, Thurkettle specified Avolites Expert Pro and Quartz
consoles according to the demands of each arena. The kit was supplied by MCL
Create and Hawthorn.
