The Live Experience

Case study

2020 was intended to bring live event production projects for Kingdom of Mind. The pieces were in motion to roll out an experiential production design concept, then the pandemic struck. All projects involving gathering came to a halt, leading KOM to migrate production plans to a digital format using the game engine, Unreal Engine.

Overview

The Live Experience was KOM's pivot while stay-at-home orders were in effect. The project provided an opportunity to implement an Agile project management approach when designing the virtual festival environment. Embarking on the Live Experience development provided value to KOM by establishing a workflow for digital production project management, expanding the company’s production service offerings, and facilitating the creation of immersive demos and content from physical project plans.

Tools:

AutoCAD, WYSIWYG Lighting Design, Unreal Engine, and Blender. The team also leveraged HDRI scanning to import an existing Los Angeles venue setting into the virtual space.

An Agile Approach

The project team implemented an Agile approach as the product features were not well defined and discovery and iteration were required to create the product. The deliverables included production lighting and stage design drawings, a CAD map of the production site, a digital environment built in Unreal Engine based on the imported design files, and a rendering of the intended production site represented by 3D assets. All design and modeling work had to be realistic and feature dynamic lighting and animation. The virtual environment created served as an MVP. The below User Story prioritization grid was created using the MoSCoW prioritization technique.

Workflow

Outcomes

The ability to produce in a 3D environment created an opportunity to iterate without stepping foot on site. As an organization, KOM was able to establish new workflows for both virtual and IRL production design, which KOM continues to implement for its in-person and virtual production projects.

The content generated from the project has been leveraged as marketing materials for future productions and allowed KOM to visualize COVID-complaint recommendations for site design to clients.

Challenges

WorkflowWhat is the best approach for importing production design files into a game engine?
ModelingCan new and pre-existing assets model a realistic live event environment?
ForecastingWhat does this rendering tell us about how event health and safety protocols will be adapted in a post-covid world?

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Solutions:

Import

The event CAD drawing was imported into the environment and served as the map to build 3D models upon.

Transform

Alter existing assets from the UE marketplace with Blender to represent production assets (ex. golf carts)

Evaluate

Test health and safety concepts such as staggered event entry and UV disinfectant lighting to prioritize worthwhile on-site health features.

Virtual Environment Benefits

Feedback

At a Distance

Gain feedback and revise production strategy remotely with the project team

Visualize

See for Yourself

Visualize production concepts with no on-site overhead or labor costs

Anticipate

Risk Management

Step inside the environment before load-in to proactively anticipate and manage risk

Promotion

Marketing Materials

Create visual aids for event marketing, promotions, and sponsorship

Align

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Establish a shared understanding of project goals through interactive renderings

Project Benefits

Benefits of the project included the ability to operate during a global pandemic, new revenue streams, and the continuation of existing project contracts for clients that chose to move to a virtual event format. The value produced by this project extends beyond the pandemic as organizational knowledge of a digital event production workflow was gained to visualize project plans in a 3D medium and offer a new range of production services.