Plainfield High School, located in Plainfield, NJ, recently underwent a major renovation on its campus. The project included the upgrade of the existing Plainfield High School auditorium to a professional-style performing arts center, its mini-theater converted to a black box theater, and two classrooms transformed into a new esports arena.
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It was no easy task. One focus of the renovation was on making the auditorium the main viewing space for esports events. The problem? The performing arts center and theater were adjacent to each other; however, the esports arena was on the other side of the school. PureTek Group was brought on to make the vision and future of esports at the high school a reality.
The Space Between
Considering the magnitude of the project—three unique spaces that had to be interconnected despite the space between—PureTek Group completed the renovations quickly; it was only a year and a half from inception to the ribbon cutting on June 7, 2024. According to Dan Litvin, president, PureTek Group, the primary challenges were threefold.
For one, Litvin and his team needed to create a cohesive and integrated system across three distinct yet interconnected venues, each of which incorporated innovative technologies tailored to its unique function. Ensuring these systems worked harmoniously required meticulous planning and a deep understanding of both the individual requirements of each space and how they could complement one another.
That required forward-thinking, enhanced technologies leading to a second challenge—it had to be usable by the school staff and students operating the venues. “Designing high-performance systems is only part of the equation,” Litvin added. “Ensuring they are accessible, intuitive, and support a wide range of programming and curriculum needs was essential.”
Another major challenge was to future-proof the design, ensuring the venues remain visually inspiring, technologically advanced, and educationally relevant for years to come. "This meant not just using the best available technology but also designing with adaptability and evolution in mind," Litvin said.
Of course, there was also the challenge of tying it all together and keeping the communications open from the control room to the spaced-out theaters and arena. With the auditorium and esports arena on different sides of the school, a reliable intercom system that ensured good range and coverage was non-negotiable.
Litvin and PureTek Group selected Pliant's CrewCom 2+2 Control Unit (CCU) for the auditorium control booth, with three CrewCom 900MHz Radio Transceivers (RTs) located throughout the school to provide seamless coverage. The system also includes seven CrewCom 900MHz 2-Volume/2-Conference Radio Packs with seven SmartBoom PRO single-ear headsets.
"The main benefit that we found with this system is that the radio packs can 'roam' or switch between different radio transceivers for optimal signal quality, while maintaining uninterrupted communication," Litvin detailed. "This gives the user the ability to be within any part of the larger coverage area and still have connection."
This was important for this project because the CrewCom system is used during performances to coordinate between the control booth, backstage, and sometimes the green room (either the black box theater or a repurposed classroom during events). Also, during esports tournaments, while the auditorium is used as a viewing area for the live gameplay, the main broadcast setup is in the esports arena.
"The Pliant system allows the school to coordinate between the auditorium control booth and the broadcast setup in the esports arena," Litvin explained. "This allows for clear instructions among the entire production team and provides a cohesive, professional, and incredibly memorable experience for the audience."
It was the collaboration between Plainfield High School, PureTek Group, and expert partners that got the job done so successfully. "We maintained open and consistent communication, proactively solved issues before they became problems, and stayed focused on delivering a world-class result that reflects the values and vision of the Plainfield community,” Litvin said.
Let Them Play
Plainfield Public Schools’ leadership wanted to give its students every advantage and to make their new esports arena a must-see site for competitions. What started as a small, summer initiative caught fire and required its own arena for competitions.
Viewing the competitions takes place in the 1,600-seat performing arts center. Per Litvin, spectators can watch on a new 35x14.8-foot Da-Lite screen, which is supported by a Barco UDM-4K30 projector with R9862020 lens, as the event is streamed in real time with immersive lighting in the auditorium reflecting the effects in the esports arena to engage attendees. Live sounds of the audience are captured and played over speakers in the esports arena to keep players engaged with the attendees.
Because the black box theater across campus serves as a green room for esports events, clear and concise communication between the production teams is a must. "To achieve a collaborative performance, communication is key, so reliable coverage from a distance is a necessity," Litvin explained. "With CrewCom, production personnel at the school are able to communicate clearly from the esports arena all the way to the backstage booth in the auditorium. The CrewCom system is used extensively throughout the school and produces unified performance, from standard backstage theatrical production applications, to managing cameras, lighting, and audio from room to room at a distance."
The arena itself—which is restricted to competitors, coaches, and production teams—has 20 gaming stations that accommodate four teams of five players, with additional stations that are home to broadcast operators, two sets of shoutcasters, and a replay operator. It is also used for esports practices and hands-on STEM opportunities, making it much more than a gameday production center.
As Litvin explained, Corsair/Origin gaming machines were selected for the stations, while 20 PTZOptics Studio Pro cameras were chosen to capture players’ emotions and responses in real time. Two PTZ cameras capture wide views of the arena, two additional cameras capture shoutcaster teams, and a feed from the replay operator highlighting top plays in real time are used to livestream on YouTube, Twitch, and the auditorium. Productions are managed with a Vizrt TriCaster 2 Elite video production system.
Enhancing the Arts
The auditorium was not a fresh build but a renovation, which certainly helped the timeline. According to Litvin, prior to the upgrade, the auditorium contained outdated and broken technology, a difficult-to-use control system, and an uninviting aesthetic. Litvin and PureTek Group enhanced that with professional grade technology, making the performing arts center not only an exciting venue for cheering on the Plainfield esports team, but a wide range of theatrical performances for years to come.
As Litvin described, key to the upgrade were the unRAVL Controls by PureTek, which provide streamlined intuitive controls via touchpanel for the rigging, AV, and lighting systems to maximize usage of the space by students, educators, guests, and renters with authorized system access. A 30,000-lumen 4K laser projector brings the 35x14.8-foot projection screen to life. The screen is on a motorized hoist system to be raised and lowered for usage. A line-array speaker system, including Electro-Voice and Dynacord units, flanks the stage, while fill speakers below and above the balcony ensure even and high-quality sound distribution.
Additionally, the performing arts center contains more than 1,640 feet of RGBW strip lighting by Acolyte (with controls by Madrix) on 11 runs that cover the walls and ceiling. PureTek Group lighting designers outfitted Plainfield High School with control of 4-inch increments of the strips, with various presets. Also installed were three 4K PTZ cameras and one portable handheld camera to livestream performances to the Plainfield Public School’s YouTube channel. "Students and parents can receive recordings and share, in real time, with relatives and friends from near and afar," Litvin said.
Thinking Inside the Box
According to Litvin, the 120-seat black box theater was an underutilized, existing space that wasn't properly outfitted for performances. Now it is serving multiple purposes.
"As an esports green room, athletes will be able to watch gameplay in the black box theater while they await their scheduled game time," Litvin explained. "The [theater] is also being used as a setting for drama education, theater tech practice, as well as a small intimate setting for student-run productions. It is also being utilized for professional education seminars for Plainfield Public Schools educators and administrators, while also providing a college lecture-hall style classroom setting to prepare students for university and provide an alternative setting for education."
To accomplish the multifaceted happenings in the theater, it was equipped with a comprehensive unRAVL system including new rigging, AV, and lighting. The system is tied together via intuitive controls with presets for common applications, allowing usage of the space for multiple functions by a maximum number of users.
lainfield High School and PureTek saw immediate positive results, right from the start. “During the ribbon cutting, the Pliant CrewCom intercom system was a lifesaver,” Litvin said. “We had clear communication between the esports broadcasting space, the main control booth in the auditorium, and with students running production backstage. It allowed students to take ownership as well as enabled the smooth running of a complex event that included many back-to-back performances.”
The key to communications has been its ease of use, and that has shined through the early stages of use. “Making sure that students are able to use the equipment and that the controls are streamlined enough for them is always a consideration in our equipment selection,” Litvin concluded. “The feedback from Plainfield High School on the Pliant gear has been great.”
