As part of this event, they have been touring their 'Rainforest Dome' which is a white structure, internally projected with a rainforest canopy effect and looping videos with information about the rainforest and its destruction.

The 5x Panasonic 10k HD projectors are driven by a Pandora's Box system by Coolux, the advantage of which is its advanced projection warping ability. After working with David from XL at the Manchester event, James rigged the projectors with team from Rouge Events and adjusted the Pandora's programming to take account of the slight variances between shows.

For the past few days, James has been at Global Gathering in Stratford-upon-Avon working for XL Video who are providing video kit and support across the site.

XL provided a variety of screens and projection across the site; F-30 for main stage, Bedrock and Random arenas, Martin LC for Global Arena and 4x Barco R22+ projectors for the Godskitchen tent.

James was tasked to rig and maintain the Martin LC 2140 panels in the Global Arena, which anyone who has worked with this screen before would know is no simple task. Being the older version meant that the whole rig had to be driven with DVI which meant short cables and lots of distribution. Thanks to the keen support of the local crew, the task was made much easier. The panels were positioned on a 'virtual screen' to give an abstract spaced image across the stage, lighting poles were placed between the panels to provide an effective mix of video and lighting.

Also within James' remit was the Godskitchen Arena which was to use the 'Boombox' design that the promoters are currently touring. This involved using 4x Barco R22+ projectors onto a scaffold box with white gauze across each divide, leaving a gap for the DJ in the middle. The graphics were provided by Exyzt, who first showed this principle as Etienne De Crecy's touring rig of 2 years ago. Their software was custom written for the task by the François Wunschel who used custom visuals and live video fed over microwave link by Pier Schneider.

Their show was something to behold, with live video sampling using a PlayStation controller to create incredibly well timed video loops to match the music, all matched with their infamous geometric patterns which create a real optical illusion.

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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.

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The venue is an exhibition centre/festival site in the desert surrounding Riyadh, the route to the venue from the hotel varies every day and each has a huge number of new sights for a westerner like myself. Derelict amusement parks, go-kart tracks, vast camel trading areas and the Riyadh Aviation Club which consists of 4 tents by the side of the road.

We built the projection towers and had the projectors running on the first day with a very rough line up. The second evening I spent a few hours with Barco's Projector Toolset and some music to finish the job. Each night we have to cover the 4x Barco HD20s to shield them from the potential sandstorms at night.

Today I ventured with Jake Robertson, my assistant for the week, to the Kingdom Tower in the middle of Riyadh. After a short walk round the mall underneath, I headed up to the sky bridge to take a few photos. Quite a sight.

Some photos below, more to follow.

James

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The event involves large format projection using Barco FLM HD-20s onto a building, driven by Barco Encore.

New territory again for Basic Monkey!