Lighting designer for the two high profile events that started and ended Scotland’s biggest ever sporting and cultural event – also hailed as the ‘best ever’ Commonwealth Games to date - was Tim Routledge. 

Tim has used Robe products in his work for some time and jumped at the chance to use the brand new BMFL Spot, a 1700W moving light which is the first in a series of BMFLs developed by Robe.

BMFL is a super-bright lightsource packed with features and with Robe‘s trademark reliability and excellent build quality.

At the lively, colourful Opening Ceremony staged in Celtic Park Stadium, 64 x BMFLs were positioned around the top tier lighting position, a specially installed platform rigged at the back of the seating bowl – the furthest away lighting positions from the field-of-play.

The brightness and superior throw qualities of the BMFL punched through - even during the first half of the show which was in daylight - allowing Tim to get plenty of lumens onto the pitch and light a dynamic 2 hour show.

The on-pitch action included a cast of 2000, an Athlete’s Parade presenting 4,500 competitors from 71 countries together with special guests Rod Steward, Susan Boyle and others, all culminating in HM The Queen declaring the 2014 Games open.

The closing ceremony - staged at Hampden Park Stadium - was a complete contrast.

Heavily music based, the vibrant energy-pumped show included appearances by some of Scotland’s finest music stars including the evergreen Lulu, rockers Deacon Blue and trendy Glasgow electro-synth band Prides.

The show was headlined by Pop Princess Kylie Minogue, who played a show-stopping set to the delight of the audience.

Fifty of the BMFLs were installed in a long parallel line along two upstage trusses where they could have maximum impact, with the remaining 14 positioned on the stage floor at the back, right behind the main artist performance area.

Tim Routledge comments, "Right from the start when I first saw the unit on an optical bench in the Czech Republic to the initial test in the stadium in May, I knew we were going to be using something pretty special.

“We were staggered at the brightness, and in fact I moved the units to new positions after our test as they out-performed our expectations.

“On the opening ceremony 64 BMFLs delivered the majority of the key lighting for the Athlete’s Parade, with total colour matching and evenness across the 400 metre route - unheard of!

“They are uniquely fast in all attributes, very compact for their class of fixture … and being able to focus them in daylight was a Godsend. Robe have outdone themselves again and I was very proud to debut the BMFL on a world stage!”