Automated Tracking at Sea: zactrack Supports Costa’s Onboard Entertainment
Costa Cruises is renowned for its immersive Sea & Land itineraries, where guests can explore breathtaking destinations, with entertainment programs playing a central role throughout the journey. On board Costa Toscana and Costa Smeralda, zactrack SMART supports the complex theatre environments, helping deliver high-quality entertainment for all guests every day.
When making technical decisions to deliver the best possible entertainment experience on board, Roberto Iavarone, Senior Entertainment Superintendent Costa Fleet, Paolo Campanelli, Onboard Communications and Entertainment Technical Operations Director, and Amedeo Orfei of FIX Advanced Entertainment Solutions work closely together with their respective teams.
Finding the Best Solution: Testing zactrack on Board of a Costa Cruise Ship
Roberto recalls: “The initial aim was to identify an innovative follow spot system that would go beyond the traditional standards used in the cruise entertainment industry.” Together with Paolo, he explored the different solutions available on the market. zactrack caught their attention, and they began following its early development closely.
In early 2020ies, zactrack distributor RM Multimedia reached out and proposed an onboard test. This was a very important part of the process, as Roberto explains: “What works perfectly in a land-based theatre is not automatically suitable for a maritime environment. A ship presents unique operational conditions, with extensive metal structures, numerous electronic systems, and a highly complex RF environment, where multiple frequencies and radio signals must coexist without interference. Only real-world operational testing can truly validate a technology.”
Designing Lighting for a Broadcast-Ready Entertainment Environment
The need for tracking stems from the theatre configuration on the XL-class ships, which is inspired by an arena-style “Colosseum” layout, providing a highly immersive experience but also introducing significant challenges.
With the stage in the middle of the venue, the audience seated all around it, and limited options for fixture placement, achieving even lighting and good visibility from every seat requires careful planning.
Adding to this complexity, part of the experience is supported by a live television-style production, distributing images of the show to LED walls and screens in adjacent areas of the theatre along with all cabins and selected public areas. “The lighting design must meet two requirements: delivering exceptional quality for the live audience while also ensuring consistent colour rendering for television cameras,” Roberto points out.
Bringing zactrack’s Automated Tracking into the Lighting Workflow
In the past, to achieve the white lighting needed for cameras, the team sometimes had to compromise on the visual experience for the audience in the theatre.
“The introduction of zactrack represented a significant breakthrough,” says Roberto. “From the very first show, the system demonstrated a high level of accuracy in automatically tracking performers, enabling us to direct the followspot with exceptional precision and consistency. This considerably improved both the quality of the television production and the experience of guests attending the show live.”
Today, this allows for even better white lighting that works well on camera, while also improving the overall experience for live and streaming audiences. Paolo Campanelli also highlights the positive impact that introducing zactrack on the two cruise ships has had on the artists: “I like to compare the introduction of this technology with the introduction of wireless microphones, when artists became ‘free to move’.”
This milestone was made possible through close collaboration with RM Multimedia, Videlio HMS, and FIX, whose expertise was key to the successful installation and validation of the system onboard.
Setting up Automated Tracking for Daily Shows at Sea
Entertainment is a defining part of the Costa experience, and there are shows and activities scheduled every day at the theatres, with zactrack SMART contributing to the magic created on stage. Specifically, it supports the three main productions throughout the week, which feature acrobats, dancers and singers. For all other shows, using zactrack is left to the discretion of the onboard lighting technician, who can use it as they see fit.
The zactrack SMART system is configured as follows:
Control:
1 MA3 Light (Main Console)
1 MA3 RPU (Backup)
3 MA3 NPU M
2 Luminex LumiNode 12 RJ45
6 Luminex LumiSplit
Lighting Rig:
36 Clay Paky A.leda B-EYE K10 (22 patched into zactrack)
20 Clay Paky Mini Xtylos
8 Clay Paky Xtylos
20 Claypaky A.leda B-EYE K20 (8 patched into zactrack)
12 Robe Esprite
8 Robe FORTE
6 Robe Tarantula (all patched into zactrack)
For the integration between MA and zactrack, the team used a LumiNode 12 engine, giving operators a dedicated screen on the console to manage the system. From there, they can quickly assign Actors, select zones, and enable or disable zactrack entirely.
This allows onboard operators to manage key lighting for performers efficiently, giving them more time to focus on effects and on finding the right balance between the live audience and the broadcast. “The possibility of saving the profiles of individual Anchors is a plus, as it avoids the need to recalibrate the system if an
Anchor has to be replaced,” says Paolo.
Reducing Time and Stress, Leaving More Space for Creativity
Amedeo explains that the biggest challenge was finding the right placement for the Anchors within the LED-covered Colosseum, without having to alter the existing rig and while fully respecting the decorative design of the space. On the first ship, the installation was supported by RM Multimedia, while on the second, the team completed it entirely on their own.
“My biggest takeaway has been how much time and stress it saves during show setup. Once you have calibrated the space accurately, the reliability of the real-time tracking allows us to focus entirely on the creative aspects of the show”, says Amedeo.
All photos © Carnival Maritime
A special thank you to Costa Cruises, the Carnival Maritime team, Paolo Campanelli and Roberto Iavarone, as well as Amedeo Orfei from FIX, for their support and collaboration.
