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Dubai World Cup 2010 — Meydan Grandstand Opening Ceremony

The Dubai World Cup 2010 opened with a spectacular ceremony at the Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse in the UAE. Featuring the world’s largest LED screen and fifteen massive projection sails, the show created an unforgettable Son et Lumière experience.

In addition, the event offered horse racing fans and international guests the famous hospitality of the Emirates. Also, the newly built Meydan Grandstand and Racecourse, home of the Dubai World Cup, hosted eight races with a total prize fund of US $26.25 million. All of this unfolded against the stunning backdrop of the Meydan Hotel.

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One major challenge for the production company, M-is, involved keeping the races visible around the entire track. To solve this, they used automated projection sails that rose and lowered in sync with the race schedule. This approach was a remarkable engineering achievement.

The racecourse stretches over one kilometre. Therefore, projection screens had to match the 110-metre-wide track-side LED screen. To achieve this, fifteen portrait-format sails (25m x 14m each) were built by Starhire Group. Next, paired Barco XLM HD30 projectors illuminated the sails in portrait orientation. This setup ensured perfect alignment and consistent projection across all screens.

Watchout 4 controlled replay and content for both the projection sails and the track-side LED display. Additionally, backup systems supported 36 channels of playback and live video feeds. Moreover, Creative Technology supplied over 17 tonnes of equipment from London and Dubai.

Alex Rowbotham programmed the Watchout systems in London and on-site at Meydan. Meanwhile, M-is and their partners produced the concept, design, soundtrack, video content, and graphics.

Finally, images and video could not appear immediately due to contract rules. However, the media was published here later, on 24 January 2017.

Events Production Company: M-is.

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