MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Australian audio-visual production company, IKONIX, recently used one of their Avolites Ai RX8 Media servers to video map a Cinco de Mayo event (Day of the Dead) at Melbourne’s top trending event space, Peninsula. The Mexican-themed event marked the end of the five-day 37th Australian Dental Association (ADA) Congress 2017 with 700 guests in attendance.
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“For the Cinco de Mayo event we worked with our client to choose a selection of 3D models that we could projection map on to,” says Richard Saunders, co-director of IKONIX along with partner Zachary Burton. “We had a small 3D model printed for demos and testing before moving forward with larger custom-built models made from foam and plaster.”
Focusing on the Mexican theme, IKONIX’s animator, Daniel, created a mix of bright, bustling 3D content that Burton mapped across multiple three-meter high ‘Day of the Dead’ skulls at the event.
“Daniel did a fantastic job of working to the theme,” says Burton. “He made up some great content inspired by the traditional painted Day of the Dead skulls, using multiple layers and blending them using alpha transitions.”
IKONIX ran two outputs with a canvas resolution of 1080 x 1080 for the projection, using Ai’s Auto Map feature to automatically calibrate their projector positions and warp the content onto the models. Burton utilized remote access to fine tune the projection with a laptop.
“Using the Ai Auto Map feature, we were able to get in close and do final touching up using the model vertices on the output page,” says Burton. “Auto Map works really well and is a really fast way of programming and tweaking. Having features like Auto Map made our bump in quick which helped with a tight bump in schedule”
The Auto Map feature, popular with designers and programmers, allows the user to visually map content using a digital model. The digitally mapped model can then be transitioned to the real-world model using a simple key point selection process on screen, meaning that designers can map visually without the need of complex mathematical formulas.
IKONIX stocks Avolites Ai Media Servers exclusively for use on their bespoke video-mapping projects across Australia. The team also own two Miami Dongle based servers and an Avolites Quartz console.
“We visited the Avolites HQ in London in early 2016,” says Saunders. “Meeting the team and having one-to-one training on Ai made us love this product even more and we couldn’t wait to implement Ai on exciting projects back over in Australia.”
IKONIX has since used the Ai RX8 servers on a myriad of projects including; Queensland Training Awards and John Paul College’s production of The Whiz, and will be turning the servers to use on the upcoming Creative Generation – State Schools Onstage 2017 event next month in Brisbane, Queensland.
