From Pencil Sketch and Blue Sky thinking, we love to talk through creative challenges that push the live event horizon.
WE DEVELOP
We take those challenges and work them, test them, sometimes break them. Then make sure all aspects are not only creatively stimulating but also technically viable.
WE DESIGN
We live in a 3 dimensional world so we think, design and work in 3D. Our applications and technology follow a path to maximize creativity with technical reality – images, influences and ideas through to 3D drafting and technical layouts. We love to blend technology with creativity.
WE DELIVER
FIX8Group is exceptional in having the creativity and technical excellence in house for design and idea generation – along with production and live event operational experience which covers all forms of events and broadcasting. Our delivery encompasses the whole production flow from ideas and planning to onsite activation in one smooth process.
ABOUT US
We are Market Leaders in innovative event technical delivery.
We operate at the cutting edge of visual production. The core production team offer world beating experience and energy along with the ability to bring the most up to date and startling visual applications into the live arena.
When creativity, content management and system design operate best they operate hand in hand together providing complete solutions complex live environments.
– Projection and LED Mapping
– 3D Interactive Design
– 360º Widescreen
– Immersive Presentations
– Production, Lighting and Video Design
– Programming & Operation
– Content Creation
FIX8Group provides a centre where these complex live environments and detailed productions come to life.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch – we’d be delighted to hear from you!
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
From pixels to PAR cans and everything in between, the FIX8 team have a wealth of skill and experience of programming at the highest levels. Specialising in, but not limited to, MA2 consoles we love nothing more than getting behind a console whether it’s on site in an arena, theatre, television studio or muddy festival field or back at base in one of our 2 purpose built pre visualisation studios. To us, there is no difference between lighting and video. It is all part of a bigger visual canvas and the programmer has that important task of taking technology and using it to create something visually spectacular that always enhances and compliments the action on stage. We take this role very seriously and from creating millimetre accurate 3D models so that any pre programming seamlessly integrates with the real world set and fixtures, to tireless attention to detail, FIX8 are ready and willing to take on any programming challenge.
Production Design
Production Design
Drawing from our collective decades of experience and the diversity of our past and current clients, FIX8 are well placed to provide the perfect visual design for any concert, event or television show. We always approach every design with a view to making it service the production as a whole. Lighting should blend with scenic and video elements, not compete against them, to create a single visual canvas. We employ a variety of tools to bring our designs to life at every stage of the process. From producing photo realistic visuals, to comprehensive, detailed CAD plans as well as great relationships with some of the industry's leading rental houses, you can trust FIX8 to deliver from concept through to show time, every time.
Project Management
Project Management
The devil is in the detail and at FIX8 we are all about the details in every aspect of our projects and events. We have an experienced Project Management team on board with years of combined experience working on some of the most complex events of recent times. We can manage all technical aspects of any event or conference from initial brainstorming sessions right the way through to final delivery. We work very closely with our in house design team to ensure that briefs are being followed and that someone is always keeping an eye towards budget and schedule requirements. Our team has a friendly approachable yet highly professional manner that end clients love which helps them feel at ease when delivering their event in what can sometimes be an intimidating technology filled environment. Whatever the event requirements, FIX8 has the ability to see it through.
Technology Integration
Technology Integration
Technology is a wonderful thing but it can also be a nightmare to some people. At FIX8, we understand that there is a need to be able to take technology and seamlessly integrate it into whatever application it is required. Whether it is cutting edge projection mapping software, the most advanced multi channel moving lights or something out of the norm such as motion tracking or creative LED or virtual reality. We love to take all the new and different elements and make them work in harmony. We can take multiple technologies and blend them together or integrate into a new environment where you would not normally expect to see it. We have fantastic relationships with some cutting edge software and hardware developers who we work closely with to help realise any brief. Nothing is impossible to us.
FIX8Group are proud to announce that we’ve been awarded ISO 9001 accreditation. This means that our Quality Management System meets international best practices for business processes.
Our industry has seen and continues to see a fast pace of change but the one constant is that it is people and processes that will always deliver events to really high creative and operational standards. This is why we chose to work toward accreditation as it’s important to us that our processes are all focused around meeting the needs of our clients.
Mark Porter, Managing Director said “We were fairly confident that we had the processes and procedures in place before starting, but going through accreditation has allowed us to really think about the services and standards we want to deliver and also make sure that we’ve got a focus on continuous improvement. This is obviously great for our customers but also great for the team to know that each one of us is focused on the same goal – which is to deliver outstanding events to our customers.”
As a leading provider of creative and technical event solutions, FIX8Group has a complex relationship with technology. In some ways we rely on it – but only to an extent. Technology enables us to do lots of things – from efficient collaboration, planning and previsualisation, to the creation of powerful, flexible and reliable control systems and the delivery of amazing sound and vision for special events on the grandest scale.
Paul Williams
But technology always takes a back seat to purpose. FIX8Group exists to add value for our clients by understanding the aims of their event, and then designing the technical solutions which best meet those aims. It’s why we don’t rely on stocking a large number of ‘output devices’ – by which we mean the lights, loudspeakers, screens and projectors that deliver the sensory environment. Instead, we stock the infrastructure that sits behind it all – the networking, the control systems, the media playback systems – and work with like-minded suppliers to source the right output tools.
Technology facilitates our planning processes. The sharing of information with clients, creatives, suppliers and venues is a daily occurrence, often across borders and time-zones. The tools we use to collaborate – video conferencing, file sharing and cloud-based project management software, for example – have revolutionised the speed and efficiency of these processes.
We take time to understand the aims of your event, and then design technical solutions which best meet them
When designs need to be approved, sophisticated previsualisation software gives the client an accurate vision of the end result, before a single item of kit has left our warehouse. If even more accurate insight is needed, technology now gives us the option to provide VR previsualisation.
Then there’s the technology we’re all familiar with – smartphones, tablets, apps and social media – which also impacts on how we service projects. Clients want their events to communicate a message, and how they do that changes all the time. We have to be aware of those trends: we can’t rely on the way it was done five years ago.
An example? There are concert productions now where the set is designed in a portrait format rather than the traditional, wide-stage, landscape orientation – and the reason is Instagram. Artists and production designers are recognising how their audiences share information, and they want their shows to be Instagram-friendly photo opportunities that can go viral on the users’ favourite app.
And, of course, technology solutions are not necessarily all about how things are done now. What’s possible today is fine for a one-off event or even for a concert tour, but for a permanent installation – which may have a shelf-life of 10 years or more – we have to look into the future. When we designed the AV and networking infrastructure for a motorhome for the SportPesa Racing Point Formula 1 paddock, we had to be sure it would remain an effective marketing tool in 10 years’ time, without having to start again every year.
Just as communication technology doesn’t set the agenda of a meeting, when it comes to creating events, technology doesn’t dictate the solution. Technology is the servant, and your aim is King.
To find out more about how we can help with your next event, contact us today.
Today marks World Mental Health Day and I am sure we all know someone who has battled with this at some point in their life.
The stigma associated with mental health issues is thankfully being tackled. There is now more help than ever before but anyone suffering with such issues, the hardest part is admitting to yourself and then reaching out for the help and support.
Mark Porter
I remember when I was growing up, there wasn’t such a thing as mental health, you were told to ‘man up’, ‘stop feeling sorry for yourself’, ‘to grow a pair’ – it was masking over a very serious issue and there was a reluctance to admit there were issues in society which needed support.
Mental health can affect us in many different ways, whether it be depression, anxiety, misuse of alcohol and drugs, eating disorders, personality disorders, psychosis… It is important not to judge, but this in itself can be a difficult thing for us to do – immediately we will reach our own conclusion as to what is matter with someone, but that is such the wrong thing to do. A serious mental health issue may not be affecting that person directly, but may be a family member so wider support is needed. Listen, be considerate and just be there to support.
Personally, I have suffered from issues which have taken me to a very dark place where at one point I couldn’t see my way out of the deep pit I found myself in. For a period of time I remained in that state, where every day was a battle with the demons in my head. Eventually I found courage within myself to admit to myself that I needed help and could not manage to get through the pain myself. My friends were amazing with just listening without judgement. They gave their own viewpoint but without lecturing me. There was encouragement to seek professional help, which I did and with the support network around me, I was able to climb to the surface and fight. To this day, I still have my own demons, but I am able to handle these and keep things in perspective, but only with the support of my friends and family.
Mental health is not something which can be cured easily, but is something which in most cases can be managed very effectively. Whether to start with its talking to family, friends, using self-help guides and other support tools, at some stage it is so important to seek professional help.
I have been fortunate to be formally trained on mental health awareness and I would encourage everyone to either seek formal training or be more aware of the issues affecting many of us and how we can reach out and help. As one example from my training, for anyone wanting to know more about depression in a very simple and quick way, there was one particular tool I found useful from my training and it is highly recommended viewing. VIDEO: ‘I had a black dog, his name was depression’.
At FIX8Group, the welfare of all our employees, their families, our network of freelancers when on site is of paramount importance. We provide employee assistance programmes, manage to the best of our abilities the working hours and mental and physical strains on our teams, ensure there is sufficient rest between shifts and encourage everyone to look out for each other. I’m not for one minute trying to say we get everything perfect in our business and it should be used as a benchmark for what every company should do, but I would encourage every business to do something to offer that support network, understand and accept the issues around us and in effect embrace what we face today.
There is love and hope out there, there is the support, there is the care – admitting it to yourself is the hardest thing to do, but everyone should look out for their family, friends and colleagues and ensure they don’t suffer in silence – just be there for each other.
As a ‘creative and technical event solutions specialist’, we love technology at FIX8Group – it’s an essential part of our toolbox. But, as we all know, the tools aren’t going to build you the event of your dreams – a skilled creative and operational team is.
Ben Hyman
At FIX8 I have the privilege of working on a wide range of events around the world, from the garages of a Formula 1 pit lane to venues for high-end corporate conferencing and to arenas and stadia for live music shows. Collaboration, design and creativity form the foundation of how we work, and we apply it in a variety of ways across all the events we are involved with.
We’re working with pixel densities and video control systems that several years back would have felt like a pipedream, and it allows us to design technically advanced shows to meet that ever increasing production expectation by our clients. But we can’t lose sight of what really matters when it comes to creating an event: as incredible as this all is, technology should be an enabler rather than the mould that we have to design around. So often we’re asked, “what is the latest technology we can incorporate into the show?” For me, this is a completely misguided approach…
Here at FIX8, the only thing that comes “off-the-shelf” are coffee cups. Everything we do is designed to be correct for the intended application, and centred around bringing the event together as one, cohesive integrated system. Whether that’s sound, lighting, video, rigging, or whatever else, how the control system is designed is fundamental to giving the event the control it requires.
But of course, none of this is known without in intimate knowledge of what the event is actually trying to achieve. When somebody invites us to design their show, it’s not a case of 20 of these, 30 of those and 10 of these – we need to understand the event and what the message is that’s being conveyed. From this point, we can design and propose a technical solution that engages the audience and offers real value in terms of the audience understanding and absorbing the messaging.
“We look at events not just as a supplier, but as a stakeholder.”
Ben Hyman, Senior Project Manager
As a company, we look at events not just as a supplier, but as a stakeholder. We represent the quality of some of the largest worldwide brands, and the depiction of that brand to its audience rests in our hands. Getting this right is fundamental.
Understand the client, the brand, the message – then design the event around this! It may sound obvious, but it’s certainly not the way it’s always done in our industry. Attempting to shoehorn an event in an existing technical solution limits flexibility and more than often than not constrains design. Coming right back to the start, technology should be the enabler, not the dictator.
This is one of the reasons why FIX8 prides itself on its own sophisticated technology, based around control infrastructure, media servers and data distribution systems. However, we don’t own stocks of LED screen, projectors or moving lights, because we don’t want to be constrained by what’s available in the warehouse. We like to specify the most appropriate technology and equipment that will achieve exactly what our client requires, in collaboration with our network of equipment suppliers that we know and trust. For me, it’s about creating an individual and unique event experience every time, not a re-hashed design of the same equipment from the same warehouse.
For me, that’s the difference – that’s the FIX8 way.
Email or call me to discuss how we can get to know your brand and enhance your next event.
Working on behalf of Grounded Events and with Great Big Events to facilitate the live broadcast of the Brighton Marathon 2019, FIX8Group provided the filming, wireless communications and live video output at the event as well as recording to enable a TV programme to be created post event.
Our main objective was
achieving seamless communications and audiovisual output from a combination of
fixed and roaming camera positions (including a motorbike), as well as flexible
mobile presentation positions.
A FIX8Group team of 13 ran
the whole show for the week-long event.
Video switching and routing was performed by a range of Blackmagic
Design equipment, fed by Sony Z450 4K cameras on Cobham RF links. In addition, Panasonic 4K remote PTZ cameras
were used at the start and finish as well. We used the Dejero Live+ Broadcast platform
to ingest the camera bike over 4G, allowing for continual coverage of the lead
athletes during the race and linking start and finish sites together.
Communications were based
around a Riedel Artist IP system that allowed seamless communication between
engineering, production and presenters on course. Cobham RF links provided
wireless transmission of video and audio to remote LED screens across the beach
finish area.
We are delighted to welcome Chris Hobson to the
FIX8Group team as our new Business Development Manager!
Due to our recent growth, we have expanded our
business to include a dedicated Sales function. Chris joins us from a
conference and event management agency, bringing significant experience in the
corporate events and travel management sector.
“I was attracted to FIX8Group because of the culture, ethos, passion and drive of Neil and the team and joining has only raised my expectations,” he said.
Chris led a successful sporting-events team providing exclusive and
custom-made services, from luxury skiing events and Formula 1 Grand Prix
hospitality to extravagant golf breaks, for blue chip companies to
owner-managed businesses. He was responsible for nurturing client relationships
and expanding business opportunities.
“Chris joining the team marks another significant milestone in
FIX8Group’s growth,” said Neil Trenell, FIX8Group Founder. “He joins the
management team to help us build customer relationships and evolve our
solutions into new opportunities.”
“I’m excited for the projects we’re going to
deliver for our existing customers and to be able to bring solutions to new
ones,” Chris said.
Testimonials
"AME have chosen to appoint FIX8 as a partner on several of our blue chip client accounts to deliver both show design and event execution. FIX8 deliver exceptionally high quality service levels and production support with an eye to detail. Their team pre-event and on site are always a pleasure to work with. Due to these reasons AME have also appointed FIX8 as a contracted preferred supplier to support our business.”
Stuart Brown,Head of Production at Ashfield Meetings & Events
"Dear Neil
Please forward a big thank you to all the team for their efforts at the Boatshow . Our client was extremely happy with the new lighting and rig.
As always FIX8 exceeded our expectations
Look forward to working with you on the next one”
Steve Thorne,Managing Director at Extreme Exhibitions Limited
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch
Contact Info
Denton office:
Unit A, Oakden Drive,
Denton, M34 2QN, UK
