The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
"LightAct support has been consistently flawless."
Leo Flint
Studio Flint
In November 2025, a groundbreaking immersive production of Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy touched down at London’s Riverside Studios. To power this complex, multi-sensory journey, the creative team turned to LightAct for their media server and show control needs.
The video team was led by Leo Flint (Studio Flint), along with Salvador Bettencourt Ávila and Alex Ramsden. This production marked the team’s first foray into the LightAct ecosystem, with Salvador acting as LightAct operator.
Meticulous Preparation
Because this was the team’s debut project with our software, we went above and beyond to ensure a seamless execution. By diving into the project requirements early, we identified key workflows:
- DMX Out: control of custom DMX fixtures with sACN or Art-NET
- DMX In: controlling LightAct with incoming DMX
- OSC: responding to OSC triggers
- Content mapping: diverse types of content mapping
- Syncing: syncing to several LTC sources
Then we provided project-specific “Best Practice” guidelines which allowed the team to get a running start and proceeded quickly through the initial stages of the programming.
The Tech: Real-Time Collaboration
During the high-pressure tech rehearsals on-site, LightAct’s support team remained on standby remotely to troubleshoot in real-time. This fast-paced collaboration allowed the creative team to quickly overcome all the hurdles they encountered.”
"The LightAct team was always available to solve any problem we had—whether it was a small query or a full-on last-minute emergency."
Salvador Bettencourt Ávila
Video Programmer & Creative Technologist
The show features several independent timelines, multiple timeline sections, markers and OSC triggers. Media assets are indexed and versioned automatically.
During the handover, Salvador also created a custom layer layout that enables the operators to easily change media depending on which actor plays a specific role.
Info & Credits
Show: | The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy |
Location: | London, UK |
Video Design: | Leo Flint |
Associate Video Design: | Luke Davies |
Assistant Video Design: | Amanda Tooke |
Lead Animator: | Matti Vesanen |
Content Created by: | Studio Flint |
Video Programmer & Creative Technologist: | Salvador Ávila |
Lead Video Production Engineer: | Alex Ramsden |
Video Engineers: | Caitlyn Russell & Chris Jackson |
Video Rental: | Blue I Theatre |
Bespoke LED Creation: | Light Initiative |