WYSIWYG Previsualizes Sama-Sama Live ExperienceThe very first Sama-Sama Live Experience was held at the Madrid Arena in late 2015. It was developed by Roy Offer in conjunction with Cirque du Soleil that combines elements from live shows, theme parks, and interactive events. Sama-Sama is a unique type of entertainment, showcasing the ability and creativity of its participants, merging the spectator and performer into one. The idea is that using the variety of technology available people can create their own entertainment in the space around them. The space used is a mixture of a dance studio, rhythm gaming, green screen, and motion tracking technology as well as a stage. Eli Cochavi, Eran Klein, and Omer Israeli from expert lighting design team, Cochavi & Klein used WYSIWYG lighting design and previsualization software to program an incredible volume and complexity of lighting, video, and control for each experience area working with key stakeholders, artists, collaborators, and technology vendors. "Each experience had to be fully programmed with lights, sound, automation, performers, stage sets, and video. As well as designing the show we also had to program the technology elements including cable runs and network infrastructure. We used the great benefits of WYSIWYG previz software to accurately represent how each area would work," said Cochavi, CEO at Cochavi & Klein. Cochavi & Klein used a lot of custom and existing virtual lighting fixtures contained within WYSIWYG's library. "We worked with CAST library manager to create many new lighting fixtures. In total, the set had over 2,000 lighting fixtures and was connected to 22 DMX universes. It was controlled by four grandMA2 desks and four NPU's as included lamps and props that were required in this project and that enabled everyone to see the full picture with accuracy of details. That's even without counting the 40,000 pixels used for control and programming in MADRIX as part of the scenery!" said Klein, senior light designer at Cochavi & Klein. Specific stage parts and sceneries were created by Keith Greco, studio set designer and team at Greco Décor, Los Angeles using Sketchup 3D modelling and these were imported into WYSIWYG. "The ability to import Sketchup into WYSIWYG and export back to Sketchup helped us to communicate and explain our lighting design to the design team located 13,000km away from our offices in Tel Aviv," explained Klein. This feature has been greatly improved in WYSIWYG version R36. Users can import drawings directly from Sketchup into WYSIWYG and textures, layers, surfaces, and object groupings are preserved as they were created. The previsualizations and high-resolution renders were presented by Cochavi & Klein to each stakeholder and project partner. "WYSIWYG had a really great advantage in letting other people see the project as it would look and evolve in a live setting. It also allowed us to accomplish tasks prior to being implemented -- an amazing advantage," said Klein. The project took eight months to plan and when at the venue comprising 6,000sqm, there were just three weeks to finalize and complete programming. "We had a WYSIWYG studio located inside the venue and if we had not used WYSIWYG, then we would not have had enough time to complete the programming that summed up to over 2,300 lighting cues," added Klein. "The project was extremely successful and was one of the most complicated projects that we have worked on. Having the right tool set and the great people made the project an enjoyable experience -- including working with the amazing team at CAST!" 
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