SINGAPORE – More than 55,000 attended Singapore’s 51st birthday celebrations at Singapore’s National Stadium on Aug. 9, 2016. The elaborate projection mapping performances were planned and executed by Christie’s rental staging partner Hexogon Solution Pte Ltd. Hexogon used 66 Christie Boxer 4K30 3DLP projectors for what is being called the biggest real-time tracking 3D projection mapping show ever staged.
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A total of 66 Christie Boxer 4K30 3DLP® projectors were installed around the 4th level of the stadium to claim the biggest real-time tracking 3D projection mapping show in the world for this National Day Parade (NDP) in Singapore. A slew of bright and vibrant visuals projected onto the surfaces of the two moving structures by the Boxer 4K30s greatly enhanced the scale and excitement of the celebrations. This marks the debut of Christie Boxer 4K30s at the National Stadium since the completion of this state-of-the-art sports facility in 2014.
Adrian Goh, Group Managing Director, Hexogon Solution, said, “This is the first real-time tracking projection mapping on 3D objects at the NDP. Forty tracking cameras around the entire stadium and 260 tracking beacons were installed onto the boulder and the 3D Sky City, to enable the system to accurately track and map the visuals provided by the committee onto all surface of the structures as the objects move. The giant boulder would eventually be split into eight pieces and travel in different directions, while the 3D Sky City – made up of 15 gigantic collapsible fabric structures with an overall size of 60 meters in diameter and 20 meters in height – would be hoisted from stage level to a height of 35 meters during the Parade’s finale.”
According to Goh, the challenges faced by his team were the very short time allotted for calibration and alignment, as well as unpredictable on-site conditions. “We had to map on empty space without the actual objects in the initial stage; and only less than a week for actual mapping onto the complex structures after they were installed. In addition, we had to deal with the random movements of the fabric structure due to wind conditions, whilst executing and rendering the content in real-time on uneven deformed surfaces.”
Tapping on the valuable experience gathered during its involvement in previous NDPs and last year’s South East Asian sporting event that accomplished a new Guinness World Records title for the greatest light output in a projected image, the Hexogon team successfully overcame the challenges to deliver another outstanding show for the nation’s birthday.
“The Christie Boxer 4K30 is easy to handle and it allows us to spread the projected image without compromising the result. With strong features such as 4K resolution, 30,000 lumens, a significantly smaller footprint and omnidirectional capability, it was a breeze to position the projectors in different angles to cover the whole Sky City structure. On the other hand, the sheltered environment of the National Stadium is definitely a better location for both equipment and people to work in, as compared to the fully outdoor Marina Bay Floating Platform that was used for staging previous NDPs,” Goh said.
The result was a mesmerizing NDP extravaganza that featured over 3,500 performers on an enormous stage about the size of nine basketball courts, colorful indoor fireworks, larger-than-life props hanging from the roof and a unique song-signing segment featuring familiar NDP tunes.
Commenting on the jubilant event, Han Kim, General Manager, Christie Singapore, said, “The projection mapping performance planned and executed by Hexogon Solution has always been a major highlight of Singapore’s NDP. This year, Adrian and his team had gone one step further by incorporating projection mapping with real-time tracking technology using our award-winning Boxer 4K30 projectors, and the results were astounding. The impressive projections on the gigantic boulder and 3D Sky City structures had certainly made this year’s NDP all the more memorable.”
Lin Yu, Vice President, Christie Asia Pacific, added, “As one of the most prominent rental stagers in the region, Hexogon Solution is continually improving its capabilities and know-how to deliver spectacular and truly memorable visual experiences. I’m delighted that our Boxer 4K30 projectors had played an important role in the staging of the largest ever real-time tracking projection mapping performance at this year’s National Day Parade in Singapore. I congratulate Adrian for delivering a fantastic show to mark Singapore’s 51st birthday!”
