In the Mansionpoker.net Poker Dome Challenge, the six finalists of the 43-week Speed Poker tournament, will play at the final table on week 43 for a cool $1 million.
With stakes like these, the show's designers weren't about to gamble with the visual effects - so they placed their bets with Element Labs' Versa TUBEs.
Show Partners, the company responsible for engineering and operations in collaboration with its lighting vendor, CYM Lighting, of Palm Springs, CA, chose to use Element Labs' Versa TUBEs. Both Artistic Director Chris Runnells and Assistant Artistic Director Justin Garrone thought that the Versa TUBES would work well as one of the main design elements of the new shows set. They then passed the idea on to scenic designer Tim Saunders of Broadcast Design International, who incorporated the TUBEs into the design concept.
Over 500 Versa TUBEs are built in a semicircular array in 13 bays with the TUBEs stacked horizontally. "Twelve of the bays work together as one large video wall," Garrone explains. "It serves as a background during play to help anchor each round using color as well as texture to heighten the dramatic intensity of game play."
For example, when a player chooses to bet all their money, they are said to have gone 'All In.' "When that happens, we've designed red textured moving content for the wall that swoops into the wall to punctuate the tension of that moment," Garrone explains. "The thirteenth bay stands alone, so we use it to backlight a large Mansion logoed column in the upstage right center."
Garrone and Runnells also collaborated with Lighting Designer Bruce Ferri and Associate Lighting Designer Benjiman Carlson of New York City Lites. The team created custom media using Martin's Maxedia, which is controlled by a Grand MA Lighting Console that receives MIDI show control signals triggered by the players' card play.
"With the Martin Maxedia we had endless content possibilities, as well as the ability to import pre-designed media," Garrone says. "We were going for an effect to create multiple ever-changing backgrounds that could be used to not only enhance the look of the set but to also be able to accent certain parts of the show giving it a more dramatic look.
"From the ease of installation, to the simplicity of programming, we could not have asked for a better product," Garrone concludes. "Element Labs is pushing the envelope providing designers with a plethora of new toys to play with."