wysiwyg is green - use it in good health to get more projects

The words "green", "carbon footprint" and "sustainability" are cropping up in almost every topic of production and event planning especially in reference to the lighting and electromechanical used these days in the entertainment industry. More and more manufacturers are heeding the call and stepping up progress toward increased energy efficiency, more eco-friendly products and better practices.

At CAST Software, going "green" goes beyond an energy-saving light or reduction of waste. It embodies a different way of working, which turns into enormous savings of energy, time and manpower through the pre-planning and pre-visualization of lighting design, interfacing with other mech technologies, pre-cuing and realtime playback.

But it's not only a matter of consciously wanting a greener planet. Companies are finding worldwide initiatives to enforce friendlier practices and even offering financial incentives to do so. A major step came with the introduction by the City of London of BS 8901: Specification for a sustainable event management system with guidance for use. In November 2007, the British Standards Institution (BSI) published this new standard, and gained worldwide attention to the growing concern.

The UK event industry's involvement in the development of BS 8901 was essentially recognition of its need for a more structured and systematic way of engaging in sustainable development, tailored to the specific nature of the industry.

The BS 8901 guidelines specifies how the City will improve its management of London's carbon footprint for performing venues and major performances (Olympics, concerts, launches) in London and how productions, including all major events and venues, will conform to the guidelines. It has even established a certification process like the ISO pointing to London's codification put in place in anticipation of the 2012 Olympics. Similar standards already exist in a number of EU countries and has begun to roll out in North America.

Venues can earn tax breaks, rebates, reduced rates and grants in most other jurisdictions by upgrading facilities, promoting off-peak use of electricity, etc. by improving their carbon footprints to become certified to meet the carbon standard.

Andy Pearson, Production Manager for Live Nation explains "Sustainability might not be a massive issue now but I think in the next few years it will become one. If you fail to do something now, you will find yourself in a position of scrambling to catch up, or simply out of business."

How CAST is contributing

wysiwyg has been a staple in many a Lighting Designer's toolbox for years, but many people value the convenience and results alone and don't stop to consider the eco-friendly decision it creates.

Durham Marenghi, one of the world's top production professionals for lighting major world-class events, gave this testimony as part of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) Procurement Policy: "With the extensive public and press interest in the carbon footprint of recent live events and the inclusion of carbon emission control as part of the ODA Procurement Policy on inspection of the energy requirement of the 2012 Olympic Ceremony lighting and its environmental impact seems timely and appropriate."

"The Live Earth concerts for example, whilst using low power LEDs and sporting a commendable array of LED fixtures attached to oil drums and used tires, missed one golden opportunity in their handling of the press cynicism as to the power used and fuel consumed to stage the concerts... wysiwyg."

wysiwyg is a computer lighting programming system whereby a major amount of lighting programming can be undertaken in the virtual world. This invaluable resource, which was not used in the Athens Olympic ceremonies, has been used regularly by Marenghi since its inception on events such as Classical Spectacular and the Winter Olympics.

Marenghi continues, "Classical Spectacular pre-wysiwyg would hire an arena and set up and run the full lighting rig for one week to create a light design prior to the show's opening at the Royal Albert Hall where time and money issues precluded the show being programmed on-site. The power consumption for this process was around 40,000 kilowatts. We now program the entire show in the virtual world with the power consumption of 1 PC for one week.

"The energy consumed whilst programming a large lighting system over the two weeks prior to an event such as the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Athens in considerable and has a massive carbon emission impact on the environment. If we take a reasonable system for this type of event of one thousand two-kilowatt lighting fixtures and runt hem for 12 hours a day over two weeks, we would need a power consumption of 336,000 kilowatts."

The wysiwyg system such as that used by Marenghi in Turin requires power consumption over the same period of less than 10 kilowatts. "Whilst we clearly need to switch on, test and focus equipment prior to the event, the integrated use of wysiwyg could reduce our power consumption and carbon emissions by at least fifty percent."

BlackBox and wysiwyg, working before and at the show, will mean much of the preproduction planning and cuing (relying on wysiwyg's previz and renderings) can occur in an office and not the venue, and BlackBox means that less rehearsal time (and more spontaneity) is required to coordinate actors, moving objects and various technologies. All of these time efficiencies will reduce the use of wasted electricity by reducing production setup times, and also orient electricity utilization more toward off-peak times. Given the importance to taking action to reduce carbon footprints today, production companies and venues will be able to offset the cost of BlackBox by receiving government grants available for companies that utilize new technologies that conserve electricity and other fuels AND gain the technology advantages too.

If wysiwyg alone can be shown to reduce consumption by 50%, the speculation is that BlackBox will far exceed that, as it eliminates the need for all other production elements to be coordinated in advance and then rehearsed.

The progressive trend in the industry for all public and major production RFPs requires the respondent to outline whether or not their work/production will be carbon neutral or better. Increasingly, the selection of winning candidates for jobs and productions depend on it. Products such as wysiwyg and BlackBox aim not only to make the results of these jobs better, but to ensure getting the job in the first place.