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Video Digerati

Countdowns & Confetti: Prepping Media for New Year’s Eve

I'm currently prepping for another New Year's Eve event here in Las Vegas, and this year I am up to my eyeballs in video content. I've been plotting the lighting design, attending meetings and making budget refinements, but the most creative part of the preparation so far has been selecting video content for the party. Sounds easy, right? Well, it is, for the most part, but there are a few items on my checklist that help make the process flow smoother, so I thought I'd share them with you.

The Video Display Workhorse

Since moving to Las Vegas a little over two years ago, I've had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects including corporate industrials, conventions, private casino parties, televised broadcasts and concerts.

3D Mapping

There's a new trend in architectural lighting and projection involving the use of projectors fed by digital lighting media servers to illuminate the facades of buildings both for entertainment and advertising purposes. Media servers like the Green Hippo Hippotizer and the Barco High End Systems Axon have been used in some of these projects because they offer 3D surface mapping functionality. And because these media servers are capable of being controlled via a DMX lighting console, it's becoming more common for lighting programmers to be involved in these projects. So let's take a closer look at 3D mapping features of the Axon and Hippotizer.

The Mind Melds of Matt Mills

Matt Mills has been working on the Daughtry tour since March 2009 as the lighting director and programmer. It would be very easy to get complacent running the same show day in and day out. Instead, he has found ways to stay creative, changing the way the console uses pixel mapping, the way followspot cues are called, and adjusting to last minute changes to the set list.

No Media Server Required!

By now, you've probably heard the term "pixel map," and you're likely aware that a common way to apply an image to an LED display is by using a media server to optimally position the image on the display. However, using a media server is not the only way to accomplish that. The MagicQ Pro from ChamSys offers a step forward in the area of pixel mapping control: an onboard pixel mapping engine.

Multimedia Memories for “Mr. Las Vegas”

On Oct 24, 2009, Las Vegas icon Wayne Newton opened his latest, and possibly last, long term engagement in a Las Vegas showroom – Once Before I Go, staged at the Tropicana Hotel's Tiffany Theater.

The Benefits of PNG

Media servers typically support many types of still image formats. What are the benefits of using one format over another? Recently, while I was using an Apple Mac-based media server on a show, I asked myself this very question when I ran up against an issue involving the use of the Alpha channel. Here are a few reasons why I'm now a big fan of PNG.

Moving Yoke LED Fixtures

Innovations in LED technology have resulted in some very interesting lighting fixtures for the entertainment industry. Some of the advantages of LEDs include: Long lamp life — 25,000 to 50,000 hours or more (We don’t really know yet since most of the new generation fixtures haven’t been around long enough to tell); Economic benefits — Because there are no lamps to replace, this also means there are no associated labor costs involved; Time Savings — Lower maintenance because of the fixture’s limited moving parts reduces labor and the total cost of ownership as compared to conventional lighting fixtures; Low Energy Consumption — Higher efficiency means it uses less energy to produce the same amount of light.

CITP is MSEXy

ChamSys, Arkaos and Capture, three of the fastest growing software developers in the lighting and media server markets today, have developed an open network protocol called CITP/MSEX.      Companies like Martin, ETC and Green Hippo are beginning to join the parade by implementing the protocol into some of their latest products including Maxedia, Congo and Hippotizer.

Pixel Mapping

Pixel mapping, as it’s referred to in the world of digital lighting, is the use of a media server (e.g. PRG Mbox, PID Catalyst, or Martin Maxedia) or another kind of software to map an image or video clip to a grid of LEDS and/or lighting fixtures. The image can be displayed across any type of fixture that has intensity (for example, PAR cans).  In addition to intensity, an image with color information may also be displayed across automated fixtures with RGB or CMY attributes as well (for example, High End Systems Studio Color or Vari*Lite VL5).

Content Creation Software

What are some of the features that you will need to have when you are creating video content for the media servers on your next show? While we’re not recommending any one software package over another, we will talk about some of these things that you may find handy when you are building custom content for your next media server application.

The Master Raster Mapper

Imagine this scenario. You are hired as the video director for a tour, and they want to use HD. You want to display different images on seven LED screens, and you are using a media server that, at best, supports two layers of 1080p resolution media. What would you do to make this work? There is a way, and it involves creatively mapping out the raster.