At Berlin's legendary Tempelhof Airport, tracking specialist Christian Glatthor of Rocketchris, working with the design team at Light Art Studios GmbH, deployed the Follow-Me DELT∆ system for the ABOUT YOU fashion show, setting a new benchmark in runway lighting.
Staged on an 80-metre runway inside the airport's iconic 1930s hangar, the production demanded precision, flexibility and real-time control in a challenging environment with strict floor load limits and no roof rigging points. Follow-Me DELT∆ successfully met every one of these challenges.
Designing for a legendary venue
From the outset, the objective was clear: preserve the industrial aesthetic of Tempelhof Airport while delivering flawless key lighting across the entire runway. Key Light Operator Ole Güllich and Lighting Designer Raphael Grebenstein, Co-Lead Designers at Light Art Studios GmbH, established the creative direction from the very beginning.
Our main goal was to preserve the airport's aesthetic; that was the central theme of the show. We wanted a minimalist approach, with no large rigs above the runway. At the same time, we needed to ensure consistent key lighting throughout the entire runway, explains Güllich.
The venue's strict floor load restrictions and complete lack of roof rigging points made the project even more demanding. With no possibility of suspending conventional infrastructure overhead, the fixtures had to be installed on the floor, balconies and existing truss structures, in some cases at angles of up to 60 degrees. With as many as 60 models and up to four of them on the runway simultaneously, manual coordination simply wasn't an option.
"We would never have been able to achieve this with a conventional follow spot system", says Güllich. "You have four models on the runway at the same time, all in different positions, and you have to monitor four separate areas simultaneously before handing over to the next group of fixtures. That simply wouldn't be possible with any other system".
DELT∆ in action
The decision to use Follow-Me was made during the earliest stages of the project. Due to the unconventional aiming angles of approximately half of the fixtures, manual operation with four operators would have been impossible using traditional systems, or would have required a significantly larger team. Thanks to Follow-Me DELT∆, the production successfully met this challenge with just four operators while maintaining complete creative control.
Commissioned by Light Art Studios GmbH and recognised for demonstrating the capabilities of Follow-Me for many years, Rocketchris deployed four DELT∆ systems together with four Operator Boxes. The system controlled 52 spot fixtures and 48 wash lights, while cameras were positioned along the entire 80-metre truss.
One of the key innovations was DELT∆'s new Operator Box, a major advancement that significantly simplifies the work of the lighting team. Previously, operators had to manage multiple camera feeds across several monitors. In this production, each operator only viewed the performer assigned to them, while the system automatically switched between cameras as the models moved along the runway.
The result was a single monitor per operator displaying four camera views, reducing the number of screens required by half and allowing operators to remain far more focused. "Normally, on a runway this wide, you're constantly compensating, switching camera views and checking positions", explains Glatthor. "With the Follow-Me DELT∆ Operator Box, all of that simply disappears. It makes the job so much easier!"
Four long-throw Robe iForte LTX fixtures were calibrated using DELT∆'s Beam Map feature, maintaining a constant 600 lux while ensuring consistent beam size and sharpness across the full 80-metre runway. According to Glatthor, the setup proved far simpler than it might appear.
Beam Mapping sounds like a complex process, but in reality it was very straightforward. We defined our key points, carried out the checks, and everything was completed in around half an hour. From that point on, the system simply works without adding any extra complexity for the operator.
DELT∆'s Zone and Action functions automatically controlled the JB-Lighting P12 spots, Robe iForte LTX fixtures and X5 Wash luminaires, adjusting intensity and reassigning fixtures as the models moved between zones without any manual intervention. Crossfades, fixture handovers and reassignments all happened automatically in the background. "This removes an entire layer of manual coordination", says Glatthor. "Instead of worrying about solving technical issues, you can focus on how the lighting should actually look".
A world premiere
The ABOUT YOU fashion show at Tempelhof marked the first large-scale real-world deployment of Follow-Me DELT∆ and the first time Rocketchris had incorporated the system into a live production.
With 25 years of experience in the live events industry, Glatthor admits that very few technologies genuinely impress him. "I've never seen a successor system perform as well as its predecessor from day one. Our first production using DELT∆, where we fully utilised its capabilities, delivered exactly what we expected: a great experience and enormous relief for the entire team".
Rocketchris attributes the success of the project to its close collaboration with the Follow-Me support team and Technical Director Erik Berends. Feedback submitted in February—particularly the request for automatic camera switching within the Operator Box—was implemented quickly, making it possible to deploy DELT∆ on this production.
We are extremely proud to see the positive response Follow-Me DELT∆ has received. The ABOUT YOU fashion show at Tempelhof is an outstanding real-world demonstration of DELT∆'s capabilities and shows how highly complex lighting setups can be managed far more easily without compromising creative control, concludes Berends.
