The ability to make live edits and adjustments on the fly has been a gamechanger
When a major Australian hip-hop act sells out arenas from Sydney to Perth, the technology holding the visual world together must be both invisible and unbreakable. Melbourne production designer Brad Hurle chose this moment — Hilltop Hoods' Never Coming Home Tour 2026 — to commit to a platform he had long observed from the sidelines, deploying AV Stumpfl's PIXERA two RS Gen.2 media server to unify a 4K LED canvas across some of the country's largest stages. It is a story about the quiet confidence required to change tools mid-career, and the way the right infrastructure can dissolve into the performance it serves.
- A sold-out national arena tour left no margin for technical hesitation — the system had to work flawlessly every night, city after city.
- Hurle was switching platforms for the first time on one of Australia's biggest hip-hop productions of 2026, a risk that demanded careful consultation and preparation.
- A pre-programming phase using PIXERA zero allowed the team to stress-test and shape the show before a single arena crowd arrived, compressing the risk window significantly.
- Real-time layer control through ChamSys MagicQ and first-time Notch integration gave the creative team the agility to reshape the visual look on the fly during rehearsals and live shows.
- Night after night, the system held — timecode-locked, low-latency, and seamless — proving the platform scalable from arenas to festivals without compromise.
Brad Hurle had been watching AV Stumpfl's PIXERA platform for years, waiting for a project worthy of the commitment. Hilltop Hoods' Never Coming Home Tour — a sold-out national run through Qudos Bank Arena, Rod Laver Arena, and RAC Arena — was that project. As founder of Melbourne's Diverse Audio Visual Events, Hurle would design and deliver the entire video production for one of 2026's most significant Australian tours.
Working with Branden Butler of Show Technology Australia, Hurle built the system around the compact PIXERA two RS Gen.2 media server. The visual centrepiece was a unified 4K canvas across INFiLED Black Widow mesh LED surfaces at 8.3mm pixel pitch — a seamless stage picture engineered for both arena scale and festival flexibility, with the low latency that keeps audiences feeling genuinely connected to the performance.
The workflow began in PIXERA zero for pre-programming, before handing off to the Gen.2 units for live playback. A ChamSys MagicQ PC Wing enabled real-time manipulation of layers and opacity, while timecode ensured precision across every date. The system simultaneously managed live camera feeds and rapid cuts — the kind of sustained demand that reveals whether a platform truly serves a creative vision or merely tolerates it.
The tour also marked Hurle's first use of Notch, in collaboration with Adelaide content designer Brenton 'Marchie' March. March found the platform navigable from the outset, and once the Notch integration was dialled in, creative possibilities expanded without threatening stability. Veteran lighting designer Paul Collison of elevendesign, a longtime PIXERA user, guided Hurle through the platform transition — a shift that proved far less disruptive than anticipated.
What the Never Coming Home Tour ultimately demonstrated was that affordability, flexibility, and scalability can coexist in a single system. The technology stayed invisible to every audience — which, as Hurle would say, is precisely the point.
Brad Hurle had been watching the PIXERA platform from a distance for years, waiting for the right project to justify the switch. When Hilltop Hoods announced their Never Coming Home Tour—a national arena run that would eventually sell out venues like Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, and RAC Arena in Perth—Hurle saw his moment. As founder of Melbourne-based Diverse Audio Visual Events, he would design and deliver the entire video production for one of Australia's biggest hip-hop tours of 2026.
Hurle chose AV Stumpfl's PIXERA two RS Gen.2 media server as the foundation of the system, a decision made in consultation with Branden Butler of Show Technology Australia. The compact 2U server promised the performance and flexibility the tour demanded without forcing compromises. The visual strategy centered on a unified 4K canvas stretched across all LED surfaces—INFiLED Black Widow mesh systems running at 8.3mm pixel pitch, creating a seamless stage picture that could scale from arenas down to festivals while maintaining the low latency that keeps a crowd feeling present and connected to what's unfolding onstage.
The production timeline was tight. Hurle's team used PIXERA zero to pre-program and refine the show before deployment, then handed off to the two RS Gen.2 units for live playback. Control flowed through a ChamSys MagicQ PC Wing, which allowed real-time manipulation of layers and opacity. The show ran on timecode for precision and repeatability night after night, while simultaneously handling extensive live camera feeds and rapid cuts—the kind of demands that separate a functional system from one that actually serves the creative vision.
What struck Hurle most was the timeline workflow. During the design phase with Hilltop Hoods and lighting director Paul 'Pauly' Owen, the ability to make live edits and adjustments on the fly transformed how quickly the team could respond to ideas. They could reshape the visual look in real time, ensuring everything locked together with the lighting design and felt right for the performers onstage. This wasn't just technical flexibility; it was creative agility.
The project also marked Hurle's first deployment of Notch, working alongside Adelaide-based content designer Brenton 'Marchie' March. March found the PIXERA platform straightforward to navigate, particularly when exporting control modules and getting Notch blocks running cleanly. Once that foundation was dialed in, the creative possibilities opened up without sacrificing system stability. Paul Collison of elevendesign, one of Australia's most experienced lighting designers and a longtime PIXERA user, provided guidance during the transition from Hurle's previous platform—a shift that proved far simpler than expected.
What ultimately sold Hurle was the balance of three things: affordability, flexibility, and scalability. The Never Coming Home Tour proved the platform could handle the demands of a major national arena tour. As the dates sold out across the country, the PIXERA system delivered night after night, managing the technical complexity while staying invisible to the audience—which is exactly how it should be.
Citas Notables
The Hilltop Hoods tour was the perfect opportunity to fully leverage PIXERA's capabilities after watching it for years.— Brad Hurle, Diverse Audio Visual Events
The timeline workflow allowed us to be incredibly reactive to any and all ideas in real time, shaping how the visual looked alongside the lighting design.— Brad Hurle
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did it take you years to actually commit to PIXERA? What was holding you back?
Honestly, I needed to see the right fit. You can't just switch platforms because the technology is good—you need a project that actually demands what that platform offers. The Hilltop Hoods tour had the scale, the complexity, the timeline pressure. It was worth the risk.
The 4K canvas across multiple arenas—that's not trivial. How much of the challenge was just keeping everything synchronized?
Timecode was our anchor. Once that's locked, you're not fighting drift. The real challenge was the live camera feeds and the cuts happening in real time. You need a system that can breathe with the show, not fight it.
You mentioned the timeline workflow being a gamechanger. Can you be specific about what changed?
Before, if the LD or the band wanted to adjust something mid-rehearsal, you'd have to stop, reprogram, restart. With PIXERA, we could tweak opacity, shift layers, recolor elements—all while the show was running. That responsiveness meant we could actually collaborate instead of just execute.
What surprised you most about moving from your previous platform?
How straightforward the transition was. I expected friction. Instead, the team at elevendesign walked us through it, and within the prep phase we were comfortable enough to integrate Notch and build something genuinely creative. It didn't feel like learning a new language—it felt like learning a new dialect.
If the tour hadn't sold out, would you still feel the same way about the platform?
Probably. But the fact that it did—that we delivered this level of production night after night across multiple major venues without a hitch—that's the real validation. The platform didn't just work. It scaled.