Video Digerati

Recently, I began experimenting with ideas for an event that will involve video onto a building, walls, and other 3D objects. Hoping to be able to use the MBox Extreme, I set up a system and proceeded to create a 3D model of a building with windows using 3D object creation software. Once the model was built, I loaded it into MBox and was easily able to add movies and images to the object with no fancy setup required.

What is Stereoscopy? Since I live in Las Vegas, I’d wager a healthy bet that we’ve all seen a 3D movie at some point in our lives. And I’m sure we’ve wondered how it works while we’re wearing those funny cardboard (or, if you’re at a theme park, they might be plastic) glasses.

Ian McDaniel has had his hands full lately with heavy-duty visual support for Swedish DJ/producer Avicii.  I caught up with him recently while the tour prepped in Las Vegas to learn more about his company, and I got an inside peek at what it takes to produce enough content to fill a 62-foot-wide stage during a two-hour DJ set.

Traditional Christian houses of worship historically have been resistant to adopt newer technologies into Sunday services.  Over the last few years, however, a new style of Christian church service has evolved, one that strives to appeal to a younger generation.  This new type of service, referred to as Contemporary Christian, is not your grandparents’ church service.  It embraces contemporary Christian music and feature bold multimedia stage presentations using professional lighting, video and audio technologies. Even media servers are being used for these energetic and dynamic services.  Let’s take a closer look.

Recently, I took on the task of incorporating DMX merging into my lighting control system. “Why?” you may be asking.  Aside from that question (I asked myself this too, along the way), I also thought of a few other questions that programmers and LDs might ask themselves about merging DMX. For example, “What does DMX merge mean?” “How do you combine two sources of control into one stream?” “Do you get something usable?” “What gear is necessary to set up a system for merging multiple sources of DMX?”

Santa Claus came early for me this year, and as a result, I’ve been propelled into the exciting world of the iPad2. I spent the first few days with it loading games and magazines (i.e. PLSN, http://plsn.com/wp/app), but then I thought about what else might be available for lighting professionals.  And that’s when a whole new world unveiled itself for me.

So you’ve decided to incorporate a bit of pixel mapping into your show (either that or you’ve bought a media server and just want to know how to use that extra feature tucked away in the advanced menu). Instantly you will ask yourself, “What kind of lighting fixture would be good to use?” And that’s when it starts — the quest to find an LED fixture that lets you map video to each and every pixel on its front panel. How easy is that? Well, let’s take a look.

DMX-controlled digital media servers range in size, features and even software platforms. How do you decide which one is right for you? For some, it boils down to this age old question: Mac or PC. That dilemma led me to ask, “What factors drive the manufacturer of a media server to choose one platform over another?”

In today’s advertising world, making an impression and getting your message across in just a few seconds is critical. In this fast-paced, visually over-stimulated ADD world we live in, print signage is considered static and likely gets just a glance in most locations. Unless you have a product that virtually sells itself, you will need to consider new and exciting ways to make an impression.

DMX has come a long way. These days, in addition to stage lighting, a DMX interface can be used to control the entire performance environment — everything from audio and video to automation. But its uses aren’t limited to a concert or theatre stage. DMX can also be used by those looking to control — and synchronize — trade show booth components from a single source.

Many shows today involve combining multiple layers of video content, either on a single display screen or across multiple screens of various resolutions. When you're working with a media server, there are some tricks that you can take advantage of to set up the scale, aspect ratio, and X & Y position palettes to reduce the need to resize your content ahead of time. Here is a little known feature available in the Mbox EXtreme v3 that can make programming easier.