Second Sight Invests in CPL for VW Event

	Volkswagen Investors Update. Photo: Richard "Dickie" Burrows

Event producers Second Sight asked AV rental and technical specialist CPL to provide a 5m wide by 3m high ROE Visual Black Onyx 3mm pitch LED screen for a key live stream presentation by Volkswagen UK for its retail dealership members and investors.

This annual event was presented from Stage B at Millennium Studios in Bedford, UK.

Normally it would be a big show at a prominent event venue with a full stage set and multiple presenters, but this year -- with the pandemic -- everything was changed as they shifted to a digital format.

As brands, creative agencies, and technical delivery companies and organizations continue to come up with new and interesting ways of delivering events safely and COVID-compliantly, like so many others, the Volkswagen Investors Update flipped to a live-streamed event.

Second Sight's Guy Shayler explained how they were already producing successful monthly digital presentation events for VW since the lockdown started, so when it came to the Investors event, they retained the basic format but scaled up and added production values and extra resources including the LED wall.

As their "go-to" option for additional and specialist AV equipment, crew and expertise, Shayler asked CPL to provide the LED -- complete with a Barco S3 switcher to split the signal -- which joined the camera / PPU / graphics and media server package supplied by Second Sight.

The broadcast platforms and associated infrastructure were coordinated by Bizzabo as the selected supplier for digital event delivery at Volkswagen UK.

Initial ideas for the new style Investor's Meeting design -- which featured multiple presenters and several relevant vehicles in the studio including the brand new VW ID3 electric SUV to be released in 2021 -- were initiated by creative design agency Collider and further embellished with a virtual set extension by the Second Sight team.

The set included some painted scenic panels, and the LED wall provided an additional fully dynamic background utilized throughout the event for playback video and infographics.

The event was presented in a classic Top Gear "magazine" style with two or three cars in the studio shots, many different topics and cutaways to the screen, returning to a prominent "anchor" studio visual.

To maintain distancing and ensure that all the COVID protocols were met, with multiple presenters the anchor look soon became very wide creating a substantial amount of space to be filled, for which Second Sight built a 3D graphic. This completed a neat virtual set extension -- a flourish of visual trickery that worked brilliantly.

Adding the LED screen to the mix was key to attaining the desired style and look of the show. "With streaming and remote presentation being so competitive right now, it's all about your ability as a team to make these digital events look interesting and stimulating as well as slick and polished, and our goal with this one was to get a clean, streamlined aesthetic," stated Shayler.

Lee Gruszeckyj was at Millennium Studios to ensure all went well from CPL's angle. He commented, "It is always good to work alongside Second Sight, they are a highly innovative team who produce high quality, visually exciting, and very stylish shoots, and of course for everyone involved, it was fantastic just to be back working on site! We are already looking forward to the next one!"