What do you do for the pre-game player introductions of a multimillion dollar sports team that changes the entire look of their show but that hasn’t already been tried? You add video. Well, that’s been done, you say. Okay, it has, but not quite like this.
At the end of the Dallas Mavericks 2005- 06 season, the owner of the team decided he wanted to have a completely different vibe for the playoffs, so he and his creative staff contacted High End Systems about the possibility of using a Catalyst 4.0 Media Server and Orbital Head [mirror head accessory that fits onto a projector to reposition it – ed.] in their show. High End responded by providing eight media servers, eight Orbital Heads and, in partnership with Christie, eight Roadster S+16K projectors. All of this equipment had to be integrated into the existing pre-game show that runs approximately 1 minute 47 seconds, and also includes a full lighting rig and Jumbotron LED display. Well, that was no problem because the 16K ANSI lumen projectors are plenty bright enough to handle that challenge.
Where do I fit into this? I was brought in to program and as a liaison between HES, the Mavericks creative staff and the content developer, Bill Strother (www.williamstrother.com). Due to the nature of this event, we were required to use custom content featuring highlights from the 2005 season showing each of the team’s best players in their shining glory. All of those shots were then assembled along with digital animations of the Dallas Mavericks logos into a piece slightly less than two minutes in length. It was also to accompany the theme music “Eminence Front” by The Who.
What was the projection surface, you ask? Large screens? No way! The entire floor of the basketball court was used as a 90- foot long projection canvas. We were very lucky with this particular surface because it has little extra color and it does not have a million graphics plastered everywhere. However, we did have to be concerned with the brightness and contrast levels of all of the images we used simply because the basketball court isn’t white; it’s varnished wood, and images can appear dull.
With regards to programming cues, I kept movements between positions controlled with slow movement (crossfade times), while creating simple geometric formations with the projected images to allow the video to be viewed optimally from all angles. Each move was timed to match the music and highlight sections of the content being shown, while all of the in-house automated lighting was kept off of the court and focused into the crowd to add to the energy in the room.
The setup for this event took lots of manpower and determination. Two weeks prior to the first game, the techs arrived to rig all of the seemingly endless runs of fiber optic cable, Ethernet and power cables. Approximately three days before the first show I arrived to begin programming with the content developer. All of this sounds pretty straightforward, but there’s a list of reasons why this event was one of the most challenging.
Take, for example, the availability of the venue. It is home to the local pro hockey and arena football teams, both of which were in the middle of their seasons and have events nightly in the arena. Do you know how long it takes ice to cure?
Then there is the physical location of the servers, which were in the catwalk. Between navigating the elevators, stairways, ladders and security gates, it took about 20 minutes to get from the console to the servers. Then there was another 75 feet between the servers and the projectors, which were hung from trusses and fl own about 75 feet below the catwalk. The DMX512 control signal was converted and sent over Ethernet before being converted back and input to the media servers and Orbital Head. (Hint: make sure your connector ends are crimped correctly, and that your cable is rugged enough to handle the distance, bends, turns, corners and rough handling.) The video signal from the media servers was output as DVI (digital video interface) and sent over fiber optic cable to the projectors, where it was converted back to DVI. The remote focus, zoom and lens control of the projectors was controlled from the console with Catalyst v2. All of these factors contributed to the complexity of the event.
In the end we were able to overcome all of these obstacles and run the show successfully for the duration of the demo period, including three basketball games and two hockey games. But, as is often the case in our world, the show must come to an end. If you’d like to see more pictures and a video from this event, please visit my website at www.vickieclaiborne.com.
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