ZURICH, Switzerland – In comedy, timing is everything, and for Swiss entertainer Marco Rima's Die Patienten to succeed, the crew needed to accurately synchronize video projection on three independently-revolving walls. Technology from coolux helped keep the insanity onstage, where it belonged. The three walls were each capable of turning 360 degrees. They measured six meters high and approximately 2.5 meters wide. All were operated using a Widget Designer Pro with an integrated sensor link.
The crew used Widget Designer to start and stop the engines moving the walls via a GPI-contact, with each wall fitted with a sensor transmitting position feedback back to the Widget Designer. When in use, the walls were moving right until the correct sensor position had been reached.
Two emergency buttons, one onstage and the other programmed into the Widget Designer, could be used to stop the entire system if necessary. Prior to the show, all wall positions had been saved as scenes and were ready to be selected via the Widget Designer.
In total, six different wall positions were used throughout the show. During the actual revolving action, dancers were brought on and off stage.
Projections were used on four of the wall positions, making it a total of eight warping files, four for each output. A different warping file was loaded onto the timeline according to each scene.
The Pandoras Box Manager was driving the complete projection, including all film clips, via Timeline 1. A substantial part of the projection was activated through interaction with the actors on stage.
One example of such interaction was the opening of elevator doors once an actor came to stand before them. The operator then triggered the action via the timeline. Synched audio files for effects and atmos accompanied the video content.
The second timeline was used exclusively for audio files that could be accessed to precisely match the related scenes requiring audio effects. The second timeline was essentially being used as an audio sequencer.
Approximately 60 manually activated cues were programmed into the timeline.
The original content consumed almost 600 GB of space, with a mere 100 GB remaining after the compression phase.
The show's band was playing in a separate "garage-style" room, which was filmed live with a camera. This "garage" was set up to act as a green screen studio, which allowed the band to be integrated into the set during some of the show's scenes while they were playing.
Pandoras Box also handled all of the color keying, streamlining the workflow, even during moments with fast-paced action. Although the scenery was all projected content, live performers interacted with the multimedia imagery for a mélange of video, dancing and musical entertainment.
The gear included two 18K Christie HD projectors for tandem projection, one Pandoras Box Server STD, one Pandoras Box Manager PRO and one Widget Designer PRO.
Marco Rima served as producer, director and scriptwriter. LDs included Martin Kuhn and Frank Alofs. Daniel Christen was the set-and-visual designer. Andreas Iten handled animation, while Michael Müller was in charge of stage automation. Patrick Verhey programmed the Pandoras Box and Martin Kuhn operated it during the performances.
For more information, please visit www.coolux.de .
