LED screens 101
The following is a re-print from the good folks at LiveDesign. It’s a great article on LED screen technology originally done by Fabio Aversa of Eurodisplay.com. Looks like it’s only up for a month then it’ll have to go into digital oblivion, so read it while you can! While you’re at it, have a look at Eurodisplay’s website- it’s chock full of great info about LED’s, LED technology, and outdoor displays.
Madmapper wins LiveDesign Projection Product of the Year
Holy cow! This is a HUGE honor for the GarageCUBE team…..Madmapper, besides being the coolest mapping software on the planet, has been awarded LiveDesign’s Projection Product of the Year Award- right up there with Christie’s YK200 Nitro, the Barco ImagePRO 3G, and Advantage LED Solutions 5mm LED panel. Man, that is some serious company to be in. Congratulations to the whole GarageCUBE team for an outstanding product and a well-deserved award!
Reel Video Systems Screen Demos
Here’s a couple of videos from my friends at Reel Video Systems. Their roll-up screen are SICK and must be seen to be believed- keep in mind these can be viewed in broad daylight and still look good!. They offer a number of roll-up size options including 4,5,6, and 8 meter…..I know the guys that work there and they don’t mess around. They calibrate in-house, and can deploy screens up to 35′ high using a ground mount system. If you want some quality work with a beautiful result give them a call!. I ran a short piece on RVS a while back , but here’s a refresher if you missed it.
Skrillex is out of control
Skrillex blew up the Ultra Music Festival this last weekend and then took off in his own scissor-lift style spaceship. Here’s the proof. With Lasers, dammit! Can someone please teleport me back to being 18 again?….
Electrosonic Installs Versatile AV Technology at the University of Salford’s New MediaCityUK Development
London (March 27, 2012) – When the University of Salford opened its state-of-the-art digital learning, teaching and research space at MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, it incorporated a flexible audio-visual system that can be customised and utilised in a number of creative ways to inform, educate and entertain students and visitors about the University’s current and future projects.
The original technical design was prepared by The Centre for Virtual Environments at the University of Salford, and Electrosonic was awarded the contract to engineer and install the complete system, working directly for the University.
MediaCityUK, which is home to over 1,500 students, acts as a creative space designed to encourage creativity, innovation and collaboration between academics, students, professionals and the industry.
The new entrance area of the building is an elliptical space aptly called the Egg, and is described as “a publicly accessible digital interactive showcase for visitors and students alike”. This open public place, designed to support MediaCityUK’s ethos of collaboration, (more…)
CALL 911 NOW! UMF takes over Miami and is SOLD OUT
EDM superstars Skrillex and Fat Boy Slim are just a drop in the bucket at the Ultra Music Festival. Combine that with a stage and visual design from V Squared Labs and you get the real star of the show– the mainstage rig! Here’s a look at the rig courtesy of MTV and Vello: Get More: Music News
If V Squared is there you know it will be great….maybe rivaling the famed Amon Tobin ISAM rig….we’ll see. “We have this crazy high-definition output system taking it to the next level at Ultra this year,” Virkhaus beamed. Of course, possibly the most exciting one-up from last year’s undertaking is the presence of, wait for it, an “LED roof” over the stage that is going to be an added visual element for each set.
“This is the overhead grid that’s going to be over viewers,” Virkhaus explained. “You’ve got artists like Tiësto, Afrojack, Skrillex, Avicii — people coming who are going to make a fantastic show for the audience — and we are going to do some amazing visuals. I know [the fans] are going to be blown away with the experience we are bringing.”
Of course there are other projects going on as well. Large scale projection masters Senovva will be projectionmapping for Red Bull with 12 Barco FLM 20k’s as seen here:
Send pics please…..or a ticket and a flight to Miami….
Barco NSL-5521
Barco has announced the NSL-5521, a 55″ full HD LCD with LED backlight. You’ll probably install it in a control room with a bunch more to make a huge wall, but why not stick one in your board room or living room for that matter? As a tiled LCD solution, the NSL-5521 is ideal for personal wall environments and adjunct control rooms in Emergency Operations Centers, traffic management and surveillance centers, C4I-SR environments, utilities and process control centers and broadcast & telecom monitoring applications.
Narrow-bezel display for tiled video walls
The new NSL uses durable LED backlights positioned directly behind the LCD panel and has the (more…)
3DM Architectural Maps a Skatepark
Brazilian firm 3DM Architectural did this cool projectionmapping of a skatepark. They tell me that it started out with two 15k PJ’s but they ended up only using one with a wider lens as it achieved a better overall effect. Graphics were done with a combination of 3D max, Maya, and Premier.
Basketball Courts are the next Projectionmapping Playground
I know- it’s Superbowl week and I should be posting about all the great projection happening there (not much) but that’s a different story-
Well it was bound to happen at some point. Ever since the first one of these I saw featuring the original HES Orbital Head I thought it was a great idea. Basketball courts in arenas are the perfect medium for projection…controlled light, loud sound systems, giant canvas, captive audience. I can only hope the half-time stuff gets creative with motion tracking on the cheerleaders and mascots, etc. Team intros could be taken to the next level pretty easily. Not to mention the advertising potential- to wit, the Georgia State Lottery vid that follows. Again, it’s not so much about the “mapping”….there isn’t any really…it’s more about the content production. Although the HES stuff had the player’s headshots projected and some live video highlights, which I’d like to see more of when this takes off again. And you know it will!
ETC pixelToy
ETC has released a beta of a potentially useful app for all the lighting Freaks out there. It’s called ‘pixelToy‘ and from the looks of it I think the squints have another tool for invading video world. With the lighting folks in mind, they’ve kept the user interface completely devoid of text and totally drag-and-drop. No excuses from the lampies about complexity please! It looks like a simple effects generator for lighting instruments, LED arrays, groups of dimmers, and the like. There’s a Timeline with Tracks (more…)
UVA’s Origin: The Origin
I would absolutely love to see this in action. Unfortunately, the closest I’m going to get is through video, but alas, United Visual Artists knocked this one out of the proverbial park. There is a great write-up over at The Creator’s Project that is worth a read. UVA has had (more…)
Dig the New Elation EPV6 LED Video Screen
More details from Elation:
LOS ANGELES – The new EPV6 LED display panel from Elation Professional is equipped with 3-in-1 Tri-Color SMD LEDs. This 6mm indoor video panel features 2,500-nit brightness (more…)
Barco Releases Next-gen Image Pro II
It seems like anymore not a gig goes by where I wish I had an Image Pro…..now I can wish for a Image Pro II. The original Image Pro earned a reputation in the industry for being a bit cantankerous, but it’s one of those pieces of gear you’re glad you have when push comes to shove. It’s the original “anything in- anything out” box for super quality scaling/converting…not so much for switching- but it’ll do that too in a pinch. Barco is launching the new ImagePRO-II, a video scaler, scan converter, switcher, and transcoder in one at Integrated Systems Europe, January 31 to February 2, Amsterdam.
The company says the ImagePRO-II is the most versatile (more…)
Elation EPV762MH Moving Head Video
I guess I’m not exactly sure why you’d want to have moving video panels ….apart from the eye-candy factor…or if someone gets real creative and hangs them sideways to make a wall out of them…but they are pretty cool! Elation Professional’s EPV762 MH is a high-resolution 7.62mm pitch moving head video panel that can rotate just like a moving yoke light fixture, panning a full 540° and tilting up to 265°. The EPV762 MH’s sweeping motion gives video displays extra exposure at shows and events, since the screen is viewable from all sides and every angle. Equipped with 4,096 tri-color (red, green, blue) SMD LEDs and featuring 2,000-nit brightness, this screen can be used for high-res videos, graphics, text messages, special effects and more, “broadcasting” them around the room with its smooth pan/tilt motion. Part of the company’s (more…)
WinVsion LED Displays
WinVision is a name that has become synonymous with super-bright, rugged LED displays. You see them everywhere from Beyonce to the sides of NBA courts to the Superbowl half-time.
Winvision is manufactured by Galaxia Electronics, a huge corporation that makes everything from the Winvision panels to tube-type LED lamps to LED studio lights.
The Winvision series of panels range from a pixel pitch of 5mm to 18.75mm and can flex to form curves, or be arranged in pretty much any fashion you can dream up. Many are super lightweight and most are IP 65 rated for water. Connecting the panels together is usually accomplished by means of clamps or posts on the sides and a few of the models feature the power box directly on the panel itself, making setup time fast and easy.
Electric Zoo Festival 2011
One of the first large-scale gigs I ever worked was Lollapalooza ’92. I still get excited when I hear about multi-day festivals with tons of acts and boatloads of production…I got that same thrill when I received the news of the Electric Zoo Festival from fellow projectionfreak Mojo Video Tech (AKA VJ Doctor Mojo). MVT was contracted to act as technical consultant and projectionist for the huge event on Randall’s island by the production design company StarLight Visuals.
(more…)
Liquid Interactive’s Lightscope @ Brisbane Festival
The Liquid Interactive Lightscope is an innovative art installation developed as part of the Brisbane Festival 2011 programme. Developed to entertain and engage audiences through a combination movement, sound and design, it removes the interface from the interactive experience and the human body becomes the controller. The variations are limitless in this immersive (more…)
Low-res Storefront Skin in Frankfurt
Check out this low-res LED skin on the Zeilgalerie mall in Frankfurt. Th structure was in need of a facelift and what better medium than LED? With the size and spacing of the pixels it looks like they’ve pretty much maxed out their design in terms of complexity, but such are the vagaries of low resolution- you can only display so much. The second vid shows some details of the face and some close-ups.
UVA With Creator’s Project on PF
We recently wrote about the amazing computersystem/mapping/creativity of United Visual Artists, a London based design practice who produce all kinds of projection work as well as lighting and art installs. One of their coolest recent installs was at Coachella 2011 and it’s featured at the Creator’s Project here. Dubbed “The Orchestrion” UVA redesigned the Coachella main stage as both a platform for performance and a standalone light and sound sculpture with experimental 
music provided by fellow Creator Mira Calix. After the rave reviews UVA reworked the project and called it Conductor and featured it at Nuits sonores, the French Indie and Electronic festival in Lyon, France.
There’s a great video here that explains it a bit further. Love their work!
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If you really want to be sweet and send us to Coachella next year, or even over to UVA for a meet and greet,
Go Big or Go Home
GoVision is a company in Texas that rents GIANT mobile LED screens. Their GoBig Mobile HD Video Unit features a Daktronics 9′ x 16′ LED screen that can go to 25′ high. For those who need a size upgrade, the GoBigger Unit is 19′ x 33′ and claims to be the biggest screen of it’s kind. Mounted on an 18 wheel tractor trailer, it boasts 720p (with any acceptable signal), a self-contained generator, IP65 outdoor rating, and a full-blown mobile production studio with crew. With a deployed height of 34′, size is no issue here….
With a full line of other screens available (from custom sizes to golf scoring to pickup truck-towed units) GoVision provides a whole bunch of screen real estate. Their gear has been featured at concerts, outdoor events, and major sporting events like the recent Dallas Mavericks Championship parade. GoVision also provides optional camera rigs and personnel. Check out the size of that screen!
For a quick view of the tallest LED screen ever, check out their video at http://youtu.be/k9kyaC9q2WY
Reel Video Systems LLC
Reel Video Systems LLC has opened for business in Indiana. RVS will exclusively rent the Pix20 roll up video wall that we ran a short article on a while back. This unique, amazing unit rolls up and stores in the truss it hangs from so users can basically bolt together a whole module and fly it in less than time than it takes to unbox other comparable walls. It’s 3-in-1 SMD LED units are available in 5,6, and 8 meter widths, 4:3 (or 16:9), 6500 nits brightness, and fully IP68 rated. All power and signal routing is integrated.
We wish Reel Video Systems the best- and maybe if we save our pennies we’ll rent one….
Barco C7 at the Sky Church
Seattle’s Experience Music Project houses the Sky Church, a live performance and exhibition space. They had a huge LED screen already, but just unveiled a new, massive HD+ 60′x33′ curved screen featuring the Barco C7 surface-mounted LED tile. The C7 has a 7mm pitch with 2,000 nits brightness at 15.75″ square. With nearly 6 times as many LED’s as the previous wall, it still uses less power. Gotta love technology! Read the full press release here.
Live Design Announces it’s Projection Products of the Year Awards
LiveDesign announced the Projection Products of the Year Today. The winners of this prestigious honor are as follows:
Display: Pixled F11
Software/App: ProjectorCalc by Michael Kohler
Content Creation/Editing: Maxon Cinema 4D R12
Accessory: coolux Pandoras Box Sensor Link
The Pixled F11 is a lightweight indoor/outdoor LED video display module with a 6500 nit output and an IP/65 outdoor rating. The use of Nichia SMD LEDs – at a pixel pitch of 11.25mm – make the display an ideal solution for applications with relatively short viewing distances and wide viewing angles. It is extremely lightweight, at only 3kg/7lbs per tile (15kg/33lbs per m2), the F-11 is four times lighter than the current industry average, removing many typical design constraints and opening up new creative design possibilities for both rental and permanent installations. The ultra-light weight of the F-11 also considerably reduces transport costs and requires less manpower to install. The F-11 is a modular system (45cmx45cm/1.48′x1.48′ tile), specially designed for easy transportation and quick rigging.
really cool feature is the switchable transparency- a manual shutter release opens the space between the rails to allow the module to be opaque or see-through (with a 10% transparency).
ProjectorCalc from Michael Kohler is a program for professional lighting technicians and projectionists. Its primary purpose is to determine the size of a projected image given various information about the projector and its location. It’s for iPhone (no Android yet- big drag…we’re stuck with the TI-99) and available at the App Store.
Cinema 4D is pretty much the standard for graphic creation (at least in the projection world, Maya notwithstanding). It comes in 4 flavors, Prime, Broadcast,Visualize, and Studio- each with their own separate capabilities. Here’s the comparison chart. It’s not as pricey as some other competitors at under $1000, but it’s unbelievable software. A lot of the videos you see featured on here Projectionfreak used Cinema 4d in some way. Maxon has released Ver. R12 and it’s available here.
coolux’s Pandoras Box Sensor link is a module that allows Pandoras box to be integrated with industrial encoders, distometers, analog potentiometers, and contact closures. Sounds exciting, huh? What it means though is the video server can accept input from all these devices and cue different aspects of a show or presentation. Think interactive amusement park rides where a lot of different things happen at once. You used to have to integrate everything with time code (coolux does have a module for this too) or some other wacky get-up. Here’s a write-up from this site from a while back.
Congratulations to all the producers of this wonderful magic from Projectionfreak! Keep on making the great stuff that allows us to practice our craft…
LED Wall from Moment Factory
Check out this great interactive LED wall installed and designed by Moment Factory. Low res, but we like it anyway! Motion tracking is all the rage these days…
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