Virtual show takes centre stage at Opera House

Royal Opera House build virtual auditorium

The Royal Opera House (ROH) is using virtual reality technology to speed up performance design and production processes.

Lighting and design managers at the London-based opera house have spent two years creating a model of the main auditorium and are now using it to plan lighting and set changes.

The virtual reality system, which uses graphics processors from Nvidia and software from ESP Systems, allows technicians to work out how 200 moving lights will look during a performance. It has been used for an ROH production of Tosca that starts this month.

Using the software, designers can also inspect scenery changes and move set pieces virtually from any seat in the house before a production goes live.

‘The power of Nvidia’s technology means our virtual stage has all the properties of its real counterpart,’ said David Harvey, lighting manager at Royal Opera House. ‘We can move lights, create special effects and see shadows, and this realism means the design process is very intuitive.’

The theatre has also saved time and money with its adoption of the technology, as previously a full crew had to spend hours physically testing lighting.

Lighting movements designed in the virtual reality system can also be programmed automatically into ROH’s computer console, used to control lights in the main auditorium.

‘Where the lighting and set movements for a complex production such as The Sleeping Beauty would once have been hugely time-consuming, the design team can now come to the virtual reality room and realise their vision for the show in just a few hours,’ said Harvey.

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