Deeside College Awards
This week saw James at Deeside College in Flintshire for their annual student awards show, produced as always by CSP Audio Visual.
All equipment was provided by CSP, apart from our own Catalyst media server and Jands Vista lighting console. The lighting rig was designed by Steve from CSP and operated by James.
The set backdrop was 11m x 4m of ColorWeb 250 with a black backdrop. Over this was hung a widescreen projection surface. Using the Catalyst system, the colour scheme of the lighting, ColorWeb and projection could be easily and effectively matched.
Faithless 2010: Wolverhampton
Welcome to your first glimpse of the world's largest 'Etch-a-sketch'!
Tonight we were blessed with the large stage of the Wolverhampton Civic so all of the back screen went up and all of the riser video strips went out. A perfect chance to get a few photos for you.
From the beginning it was planned that 'Pilot' would be used as the media server for the tour, based on it's ability to do some funky pixel shifting. Due to time constraints and other influences, Intro were commissioned to produce the content for the show rather than use Pilot's built in rendering system. After a few teething problems at Brixton, I decided to try using Catalyst to run the show off my laptop. After a quick programming session at Doncaster, I had the show ready to go, all frame synced to the backing track and no issues at all. A real testament to the flexibility of the Catalyst system.
Check out the photos below to see the LC screen at the back and the MiTRIX panels on the risers.
James
Gadget Show Live @ The NEC
This week James has been at the NEC in Birmingham for the Gadget Show Live with our own Catalyst and Jands Vista combination.
XL Video are providing two Chromatek 6mm screens which are integrated into the wings of the set, into which will be fed a combination of live video, directed by Kevin Watts, and VT playback originating from Catalyst.
In previous years XL have used Doremi hard drive playback devices, however due to content arriving on site from a variety of sources including advertisers, it was decided that using a media server with an operator would be the best solution.
Despite Catalyst's ability to play almost any file format, James converted all files to the Apple Intermediate Codec, well proven for efficient live playback in Catalyst. To best achieve this Tim Riley from XL Video asked Basic Monkey to provide their own media server, complete with it's suite of video and graphics tools.
The show went without major hitch, bar a few moments requiring some ad-lib when the flying scenes didn't go quite to plan leaving Suzi Perry suspended!
Jamie Tyrer’s 21st Birthday @ Craxton Wood
Lightech Sound and Light, one of Basic Monkey's longest standing clients, have asked us to provide projectors, screens and control equipment for Jamie Tyrer's 21st Birthday Party at Craxton Wood Hotel.
The remit was simply that above, but we also provided our Catalyst system and Vista console to make best use of the lighting installed by James along with Mike, Lee and Jack from Lightech.
Our Catalyst server was used to drive the projection screens and also Lightech's Traxon Mood Tiles. They are usually driven by eCue, but James and Mike decided to use the infinitely more flexible Catalyst system on this occasion with fantastic results.
The evening had a great atmosphere, with entertainment provided by DJ Kerry Spicer.
Samsung Wave launch, Barcelona
Tonight marked a new high for Basic Monkey and for James at the Fira Barcelona. Using a huge amount of technology and an even bigger amount of time, effort and late nights, Jack Morton Worldwide have put on a truly immersive and spectacular launch for Samsung's new phone, the 'Wave'.
The vision from the team Jack Morton Worldwide was to create a 360 degree projected image around a 33m square room with 8m high white walls. The oceanic theme was chosen by the client to re-enforce the 'Wave' brand and D'strict were again chosen to provide the content that would create this under the sea experience.
Tim Riley at XL Video was asked to bring this vision to life and he enlisted the help of James to design and implement a Catalyst system to drive the 24 projectors required. This eventually required 6x Catalyst machines, including Basic Monkey's own to drive the video and surround sound audio. James converted the story board and mass of video files provided by D'strict into a fully programmed show using our Jands Vista lighting console.
For the science bit: 5x Catalyst machines were used to drive the 12x channels of projection through 12x Folsom ImageProHDs, with a 6th machine to play 5.1 channel surround sound audio and generate SMPTE timecode to synchronise the lighting to the live action performance. This demonstrates how involved all the departments of production have become and shows how the Catalyst system can be a very strong heart to this.
J.K. Shin, the President of Mobile Communications at Samsung's speech used Keynote which was input into Catalyst and output on two opposing walls, with one wall across two machines. Live camera feeds, mixed by Kevin Watts, were also displayed as picture in picture images either side of this keynote presentation. Have a look at the schematic to see how it all came together!
The show was a huge success for all involved and leaves only one problem... what's next?
Site vist for new Samsung phone launch, Barcelona
Today I'm in Barcelona at the Fira Gran Via, meeting with the team from Jack Morton Worldwide and Cheil (Samsung's marketing agency) to discuss plans for the grand unveiling of their new phone here in February.
I can't divulge too much as the details of the phone and launch are highly confidential, but it's safe to say that this event will make a huge impact and will be unlike anything the press have seen before.
The launch is at the start of the Mobile World Congress in February. Keep your eyes peeled for more info.
James
Visuals at Warehouse Project, Manchester
Tonight was a return to club visuals for Basic Monkey at a new venue, Manchester's highly successful Warehouse Project.
Long term friends of James', The Fetish Sound System, were asked to provide music in the back room while Calvin Harris and Pete Tong were playing in the main room. Along with their DJing, they wanted to make the most of the opportunity with fancy dress, usual fetish antics and a visuals show from Basic Monkey.
We provided our Catalyst media server controlled by Jands Vista S3 lighting console feeding into a central Sanyo projector onto a screen and two installed side projectors onto the brick wall.
Using a wide selection of stock content, specially designed animated texts and also live inputs from a night vision camera and special hat mounted wireless camera worn by Tom from the Fetish and various others; the visuals complemented the antics on stage.
Unilever Christmas Party 2009
Based on the success of the Catalyst and Barco iLite 12 combination at Paul Hogarth's birthday party, James was asked by CSP to reproduce the spaced screen effect for Unilever's Christmas party in a marquee at Chester Rugby Club. The event had a strong Hollywood/Oscars theme with lighting designed and implemented by James to enhance this.
Jeremy from Unilever asked that as the guests arrived, it would look as if he had spent no money on the event and as such all screens were off, intelligent lighting was off and the room left dark with only a hint of colour. After the guests had all arrived, an intro video was played on the iLite screens and projection surfaces mounted on the gable ends of the marquee (also fed by Catalyst). After this intro video, the full lighting effect was revealed and film trailers were played on the iLite pillars, a different one on each.
As the evening progressed and entertainment from the band began, stock content from Basic Monkey's large library was played on the iLite pillars along with lighting effects from the array of LED and moving fixtures to support the performance.
The night was real show piece, demonstrating the benefits of combined lighting and video design. Ideas brewing for next year already...
Catalyst and Barco iLite Demo
Check out our latest demo video for Catalyst and iLite 12. Shots taken from Paul Hogarth's 50th Birthday.
Music: "Nero - Do You Wanna"
Catalyst and Screens at Unilever’s Christmas Party
Basic Monkey has been asked to provide Barco iLite12 screens and a Catalyst media server for Unilever's Christmas party.
Steven Williams from CSP saw the photos from Paul Hogarth's birthday party and suggested to Unilever that they use the same system. A few design ideas were put forward but they've decided to go for the same layout of 5 columns of video wall, this time in a V shape plan on stage.
The Catalyst system will also be driving projection in the marquee, all geared towards the Hollywood theme. All video and lighting will be controlled using our Jands Vista S3.
James will be installing and operating the system, also creating some custom Hollywood graphics to work on the LED screen and projections. James will also be designing and operating the lighting.
Should be a great event!