When Lithuanian hip-hop duo Lilas ir Innomine returned to the stage at Vilnius’s iconic Vingis Park Amphitheater, their long-awaited performance needed to deliver something truly special. The pressure was on for design and production studio Marfa Lights, who were tasked with creating a visual environment that felt both raw and refined — and that could keep up with the duo’s energy.
At the heart of the solution were Green Hippo Hippotizer Media Servers, controlled entirely via a grandMA3 lighting console. For Pijus Norušis, lighting and video designer at Marfa Lights, this setup allowed him to blur the lines between lighting and video, resulting in a seamless creative workflow.
We spoke with Pijus about the process, the challenges, and why the Hippotizer–grandMA3 pairing gave him the flexibility and control he needed.
Q: This was Lilas ir Innomine’s first major show in five years. How did you approach the video design?
Pijus Norušis: We wanted the video elements to complement the lighting design without overpowering it. The idea was to stay abstract and gritty, in line with the band’s identity. Using Hippotizer’s internal effects and generators, we could manipulate pre-made content and live IMAG feeds but also generate new looks directly inside the server. That gave us the exact balance we were looking for.
Q: Which Hippotizer systems did you deploy for the show?
PN: We specified a Hippotizer Boreal+ MK2 as the main server, with two Karst+ MK2 units as backup, supplied by Video Projektai. The system managed four SDI inputs and delivered visuals to a 9,216×3,200-pixel main screen plus six 832×1,560 IMAG screens. It was a demanding setup, but the Boreal+ MK2 was completely reliable, even when running 32 layers across two mixes at those resolutions.
Q: You controlled everything from a grandMA3 console. How did that workflow feel compared to pure lighting programming?
PN: Honestly, it felt natural. Because I come from a lighting background, it was easy to adapt. Hippotizer has a very user-friendly interface and a well-thought-out console control personality. Every feature I needed was right there in the grandMA3, so I barely had to touch the server apart from loading files. It was like programming lights — except I was programming video and IMAG effects.
Q: Was there a moment during the show where that integration really paid off?
PN: Absolutely. The ability to make changes on the fly was a huge advantage. During rehearsals, I could tweak things instantly. Even during the opening acts, I was busking IMAG effects live, straight from the console. It felt super intuitive — like jamming on lights, but with video. That kind of flexibility is rare and it made the whole process so much smoother.
Q: How did you handle content creation under time pressure?
PN: We only had about two weeks to build the full timecoded show from scratch. That’s not a lot, so we worked with short loops and clips. The beauty of Hippotizer was that playback speeds, timing, and effects could all be controlled through the grandMA3. That meant we could turn short pieces into full-length visuals by manipulating them live, layering them, and mixing them with IMAG outputs. In the end, it looked seamless. I’m really proud of how quickly we built it.
Q: Looking back, what are your biggest takeaways from this project?
PN: For me, it’s about confidence in the workflow. Hippotizer combined with grandMA3 gave me a single, unified platform to handle everything — from the main screen visuals to IMAG effects. The responsiveness was fast, the reliability was solid, and the creative control was endless. In the end, I was very happy with the whole workflow. It felt like lighting, but with video — and that’s a powerful place to be as a designer.
Lilas ir Innomine’s show also featured supporting acts Petunija, SHWR, Ade, and Micro One, bringing together some of Lithuania’s top music talent for a night that pushed both sound and visuals to new heights.
For more on Marfa Lights’ work, visit www.marfa-lights.com.
Images: © Gabrielius Jauniškis