Lighting
This element of a trade show booth often gets overlooked on smaller shows because of budget. However, with the momentum today in development of LED lighting fixtures and a plethora of styles and price ranges available, adding some colorful detail to an otherwise sterile environment might just help catch a potential customer’s eye as he wanders the aisles. And most LED fixtures are DMX compatible, making a wide variety of control options available as well.
Video
Controlling a projector from a lighting console can be quite easy. Most projectors utilize RS232 or RS485 as a communication protocol, and with the use of devices such as Doug Fleenor’s DMX512 to RS-232 interface, it’s just a matter of using a few DMX channels to be able to control the internal functions of the projector, including zoom, focus and/or shutter (video mute). These DMX to RS232 interfaces can also be used to connect between video switchers, mixers, and DVD players. Custom channel profiles may also be created on the lighting console to enable the user to access features of these devices if desired (be sure to consult the user manual of the console, because this may require contacting the manufacturer for assistance).
Media Servers
When a corporate client has a product video or logo that they want to display prominently in a booth, most of the time they simply think, “Use a DVD player.” However, another option exists: to use a media server. There are a number of advantages of using media servers instead of DVD player to play back video content. When it’s controlled via DMX, video can be programmed in with the same cues as all other elements of the booth. That allows for more flexibility and creativity. For last year’s LDI show, for example, I received all of the separate product clips for each item in the client’s catalog. I used a media server to program a series of cues playing back these product videos, and I was also able to add in video clips like flames, smoke, and so on behind the company’s logo and apply some of the media server’s visual effects to the overall image.
DL.3 Projectors
Barco/High End Systems’ DL.3 is a projector mounted on a yoke with a media server built into the base. Having the server on the fixture makes the DL.3 a unique and handy tool for a trade show booth. Custom content can be easily uploaded into the server. Then, by using the pan/tilt functionality of the yoke, the projector can be aimed at virtually any location in the booth where the client wants the image to be projected. Since the DL.3 is controlled via DMX, the zoom, focus, and keystone correction of the image can be easily programmed into a lighting cue on the console. All of these functions can be continually adjusted as the image moves from one location to another in the booth.
Cameras and Video Switchers
If a camera is needed in the booth, the DL.3 can help with that as well — along with its own media server, each DL.3 comes with a camera built into the housing of the projector. If you intend to use the camera, you can also take advantage additional equipment like the DMX-controllable SDI-DMX Mixer Pro or the DTek DMix Pro that allow you to take the camera inputs from multiple DL.3 units, mix them from a lighting console, and then route the image to any other projector.
Multi-format Image Processors
When the video signal from a media server, DVD player, laptop computer, or any other type of video playback device needs to be routed to multiple display devices, there is one piece of video gear that should always be included in the workbox: Barco’s Folsom Image Pro-HD. Dubbed “the Swiss Army knife of video,” you can feed it almost any type of signal and it can convert it and send it back out in any type of format needed. The ImagePRO-HD can also function as a video scaler, scan converter, switcher and transcoder, making it a very useful piece of gear for a wide variety of video applications, including LED video walls, LCD HDTV displays, plasma screens and computers. With software like UDC and Catalyst, the ImagePro can easily be controlled via DMX as well.
Automation for Moving Screens and Truss
While DMX is not the preferred way of controlling automation or pyro effects because it does not allow for feedback from the device as to potentially hazardous conditions, several media servers do have functionality that allow for encoder information from an automation system to be remotely accessed for tracking moving scenery. Green Hippo’s Hippotizer and Coolux’s Pandoras Box have this type of functionality. Both of these media servers are DMX-controllable as well.
Audio
Last but not least, if a video clip contains audio, most media servers now allow for the audio portion of the clip to be used and transmitted from the audio port on the computer. This makes cueing an audio track as simple as converting it to a video clip, loading it into a media server, and then playing it back via a lighting cue.
Mundane to Dynamic
By adding a few pieces of equipment into the design of a trade show booth, a mundane booth can be transformed into a dynamic audiovisual environment. And as lighting consoles and media servers continue to evolve into show controllers, you won’t need a whole production team to achieve memorable looks and effects.
