DUBAI: The globally watched EMAAR New Year’s Eve Spectacular in Dubai delivered a visually ambitious celebration centred around the towering Burj Khalifa, with automated performer tracking technology from Follow-Me playing a crucial role in shaping the production’s complex lighting environment. At the heart of the system was the Follow-Me 3D SIX platform, specified by creative lighting studio NEONBLACK to track performers across a vast outdoor water-based stage that was watched live on site and by millions worldwide via broadcast and online streams.

The performance unfolded during the 20 minutes leading up to midnight and was staged across a 500 square metre performance area constructed on water around the Dubai Fountain. With the Burj Khalifa forming the dramatic visual centrepiece, producer and creative director Our Legacy Creations (OLC) envisioned a water-based production unlike anything previously attempted at the landmark venue. At its most complex, the show featured 24 moving objects on the water simultaneously, including autonomous rafts carrying performers, presenting a formidable challenge for lighting and performer tracking.

The project was led by Dominic Smith and Paul Johnson of NEONBLACK as Lighting Designers, with David Wolstenholme of Show Binary serving as Key Light Programmer. During the design phase, NEONBLACK connected with Luke Edwards, Designer Relations UK at Follow-Me, while production vendor mediaPro International brought critical expertise in Follow-Me systems and infrastructure that proved instrumental to the project’s realisation. mediaPro designed, built, supplied and deployed the tracking system, with Alexander Kotov handling lighting systems and Bianca Mastroianni contributing during show week, while overall delivery was overseen by mediaPro’s Senior Technical Director, Semynov (Sam) Dsouza.

“There were no natural hanging positions to hang lights,” explains Smith. “We were using a playing area that is essentially a loop of water about 25–30 metres wide that goes around the outside of the fountain. The challenge was figuring out how we put a lighting rig into a space that isn’t designed for it, in an outdoor environment, over massive distances.”

To address these constraints, mediaPro engineered bespoke rigging solutions, developing custom brackets mounted to handrails and speaker towers around the lake to support the primary key lights. With no conventional rigging infrastructure available, the lighting system relied on fixtures powerful enough to operate almost like theatrical sidelights across the water. In total, more than 70 fixtures were calibrated to the Follow-Me system, the majority being ROBE LTX units complemented by Ayrton Domino LTs.

The choice of Follow-Me was driven largely by the project’s logistical realities: a compressed four-month build schedule, a performance environment still evolving during on-site preparation, and the need to track 24 moving targets in real time.

“The development of the show was always going to be fluid as we built it in such a challenging environment,” says Smith. “It was one of those shows that was only ever going to come together on site, so we needed a system that was flexible – that wasn’t stuck to a particular fixture if it needed to be. That led us to the world of Follow-Me.”

The deployed system comprised six Follow-Me 3D SIX configurations with a primary and secondary server, supported by three additional servers feeding data back into the main and backup show servers. Five cameras were installed across the kilometre-wide site, with three ultimately used for operational coverage. Video-grade switching allowed camera feeds to be merged and distributed between servers, enabling operators to track a performer on one camera and seamlessly transition to another as the subject moved through the performance space. Large multi-view displays were installed so that groups of approximately four operators shared each screen, forming a collaborative tracking environment.

Shaam Pudaruth, COO of mediaPro, notes that the system’s 24-handle mouse and console configuration ranks among the largest Follow-Me deployments the company has delivered.

“All of the camera inputs being merged and sent to the different servers – all of that was seamless. There were no problems there,” says Wolstenholme. “Being able to follow a target moving on one camera and suddenly see that same target picking up somewhere else – that’s what made it work across such a huge area.”

One of the show’s most dramatic sequences saw a conductor lifted from water level high into the air using a winch system. Follow-Me’s ability to track movement along the Z axis ensured that lighting automatically followed the ascent, while the system’s manufacturer-agnostic architecture allowed fixtures to be reassigned rapidly during rehearsals.

“With the Follow-Me 3D system you just dial it in and it works every time, and you’re not relying so much on humans as you would be if you used a standard follow spot system,” says Smith. “Literally the night before we were still able to make changes. It’s as simple as turning off one beacon and turning on another. That flexibility on a show with so many unknown elements is really, useful.”

Producing the event in what is effectively a live open-air shopping district — one that remains operational throughout the day and offers no traditional backstage infrastructure — added further complexity to the operation. Despite these challenges, the production was delivered on schedule and to widespread acclaim, with the Follow-Me system maintaining stable performance throughout the tightly compressed programming and rehearsal timeline.

“The Follow-Me system performed well in what was an incredibly challenging environment, with a compressed programming and rehearsal schedule that left no room for error,” says Nick Eltis, Production Director for the event. “The team at Follow-Me were fantastic throughout. Their support was invaluable and made a real difference to the success of the show.”

“Being part of the Dubai New Year’s Eve Spectacular was an extraordinary milestone for mediaPro,” adds Pudaruth. “Our team’s established expertise with Follow-Me systems meant we could hit the ground running from day one, turning a genuinely complex set of challenges into a seamless, world-class delivery. To see the system perform flawlessly in front of millions of people, on the world’s biggest New Year’s Eve stage, was an incredibly proud moment for everyone involved.”

“We picked Follow-Me for a reason,” concludes Smith. “And in the end, it did exactly what we asked of it.”