- Introduction
The Ponsford stage is a small activation space above a raceway at the MCG. On the front of this is an LED panel.
Make sure to read the specs carefully as well as follow the best practice guidelines at the bottom of this page.
If you require assistance understanding these specs or need help creating content, MKTG Studio is here to help.
We recommend bookmarking this website and joining our MKTG specs mailing list to make sure you always have the latest information.

- Content Guidelines
Make sure you read through all our tips and best practice guidelines.
Click a sub-heading to read all about it.
Legibility
Content should fill up as much of the LED height as possible.
There are no safe areas on the LED, all pixels will be seen.


Text and graphics should be large and bold to maximise legibility from a distance.
Shorter messages perform better than longer creatives with a lot of copy.


Maximise contrast between the background and foreground elements.


Dark or bold colour backgrounds perform best on broadcast.
White and lighter colours should be avoided as the white can overpower the content.


Animated content can be a great way to draw the eye and display multiple messages over the duration of the content.
However animations must not be too distracting, scroll too fast, feature too many messages or flashing graphics.
Consider having your branding/main message on screen for the majority of the duration.
You can use photos, product images and video on the LED, however using these elements exclusively isn’t very effective in this space.

Layout
Making sure your elements are evenly spaced ensures that you don’t leave large empty spaces on the LED.
Take into consideration your content will be back to back with another file.


Make sure to populate the entire LED and not leave large gaps.
You may miss out on exposure if too much space is left blank.
Do not put two lines of text on top of each other on the LED.


Do not use your elements to cover up the seams between ANY files. Content will end up cut in half.
This does not apply for scrolling / moving content.

You should keep all logos and assets the same size throughout your LED and across all files.
Field and parapet can have different sizes to each other.


Consider your designs not only on their own but in relation to each other. If you have a tile that starts and ends with a logo such as below:

When it is tiled, you will end up with two logos next to each other before the text repeats.
There is nothing wrong with this, but it is something to keep in mind.

Some designs include a set of small logos along the bottom of the field LED.
This option can be useful if there is a close up near the LED.

Tiled LED
When using the tile spec, it is important that you design content that doesn’t create visible seams between the tiles.
To check the seams between your tiles, put the tiles you have created together end to end, to test if they blend seamlessly throughout the animation.
Animated elements that move off the side of the tile need to ‘re-appear’ on the opposite side of all tiles.


Coloured/Textured backgrounds should blend from end to end.


When tiled and 360 specs are available, it is recommended you make your content entirely with the tile OR 360 spec. However it is possible to deliver a combination of these two specs.
In Drop search the Asset Specification drop down for ‘Combo’.
Combo 1 is for tiled field and 360 parapet.
Combo 2 is for 360 field and tiled parapet.
Files
Due to the way the LED are played out, it is important that all files are the same duration.
Where a spec requires a certain duration, the files must all be exactly that duration, and not a frame more or less.
For example if you are required to make content that is 15 seconds long, you can check the duration in After Effects in the composition settings. The duration should read ‘0.00.15.00’

Sometimes when creating files in Adobe Media Encoder or Handbreak, the large dimensions of the LED files can be restricted by the default settings. Make sure to double check the output dimensions.
You may need to change the following Media Encoder settings to the following:
Profile: Main
Level: Unrestricted

- Submission & Deadlines
Submission
All content is to be provided through our upload and content management portal MKTG Drop.
You will need to be set up as a user, contact the MKTG Drop team to get started.
Instructions for how to use Drop are available here.
Instructions for re-using existing content are found here.
Deadlines
Deadline |
---|
5 working days before event |
Contact MKTG immediately if you are unable to meet these deadlines.
- Tiled LED
You are able to supply static or animated content for this space.
Any video content should only have minimal or basic animation. This creative is likely to be displayed for a long duration and shouldn’t be overly distracting.
There is no set duration for this spec, however any video file will loop. If creating an accompanying Ponsford Stage Wall creative, the durations should match.

Ponsford Stage - Dimensions
Dimensions |
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720 x 96 |
Ponsford Stage - File Format
Content | FPS | File type | Codec | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
Video | 50 | .mp4 | H.264 | Unspecified (looping) |
Static | - | .jpg or .png | RGB - 72dpi | - |
Ponsford Stage - MKTG Drop Asset
MKTG Drop Asset |
---|
Ponsford Stage |
- Contact
MKTG has an expert in-house studio, specialising in stadium content creation and conversion.
Find out more here and contact Elizabeth Cook to find out how we can help you.
For set-up and assitance with MKTG Drop contact the
MKTG Drop team.
