Soccer madness lit by Martin TrackPod

In a country that has produced some of the best football players in the world, the Dutch are passionate and proud about the sport. Now a TV game show captures the enthusiasm and awards participants (who get to play alongside international football stars) with coveted tickets to FIFA’s top competitions.

The “FC Vermeegen” show is lit with the help of the TrackPod automated followspot system. Every Friday night the TrackPod tracking system is put to the test on prime-time TV as it converts 65 fixtures (48 MAC moving heads and 17 scanners) into followspots, controlled by a single operator.

Designer Alex Trebus from LD Design worked for the first time with the TrackPod system, which was supplied by Martin Rental NL. Anton Houtriet, who is now Holland’s most knowledgeable TrackPod programmer, set up the system “to have followspots shine onto the stage from different angles without the need of space for conventional followspots, which is very important in a compact TV studio.”

More and more television studios are turning to the TrackPod in situations where multiple followspots are needed yet they do not want to place operators around the stage. Unlike with conventional followspots, the TrackPod operator can be positioned on the wings of the stage, on a truss position, behind the studio audience or anywhere else there is a clear view of the stage. This flexibility helps designers keep operators out of camera view, even if they are controlling fixtures that are in the shot.

Houtriet adds: “And of course it´s possible to use every fixture you want and so create the best followspot position needed for the camera. So it´s very flexible.”

For TV and live shows, the TrackPod also has an advantage over ultrasonic tracking systems: it does not require the performer to wear a beltpack sensor in order to detect him or her. This means that the TrackPod operator can do “pick-ups” anywhere in the studio, like the public, a show host, different participants or props.