One of the current rages in the production world is Digital Lighting - the marriage of lighting and video - equipment that allows lighting designers to create, manipulate, and project video content: anything from logos and still images to animated backgrounds, virtual scenery, dazzling ariel effects, and vibrant visual accents - all controlled by a lighting console.
It is easy to see the appeal of these systems:
- They are Cost-effective. They can be a complement to traditional video - or a replacement when it is not affordable. Preexisting artwork (logos and the like) and content from stock animation packages can be used when budgets don't allow for custom-produced graphics and effects.
- They allow designers to create Dynamic visuals easily and quickly. The only limit is a designer's imagination.
- They are Expanding. They are helping video to evolve from simply being the projection of IMAG and Powerpoint presentations to being part of the creative design - to being another tool for visually enhancing productions.
- They are Unifying. As the role of video changes, these systems allow video to be tightly integrated into the lighting and scenic elements of productions.
- They can be Simplifying, in some situations replacing multiple fixtures that might have otherwise been required to create intricate backgrounds.
This page will give you a "lay-person's" introduction to this technology, using SAMC Designs' Catalyst and High End Systems' DL1 and DL2 as examples. Below you'll find:
Digital
Media Server
This is the core of the any Digital Lighting system. Shown is a Catalyst
server. It is the combination of hardware and software that allows animations
and images to be combined, scaled, shaped, rotated, keystone-corrected,
colored, and masked - using a dmx lighting console. The server produces
a video signal that is then sent to video projectors, LED panels, plasma
screens - virtually any video display device.
DL-1
Combining an LCD projector with a motorized yoke, this dmx-controlled
fixture allows projected video (generated by a Catalyst Digital Media
Server) to move from one projection surface to another. The DL1 incorporates
a dimmer to eliminate "video black" and remote-controllable
zoom and focus. In addition to using the DL1 as a moveable projector,
dazzling beam effects are possible when used similarly to a typical moving
light.
DL-2
This fixture combines an LCD projector similar to a DL-1's and a Digital
Media Server into a single unit. DL-2 adds several 3-D effects and other
advanced features, such as image tiling/blending between mulitiple units
and content optimization.
Orbital
Mirror Head
This device enables similar repositionable, moving video possibilities
as the DL-1 and DL-2. The difference is that the Orbital Mirror Head is
built to mount to a 3rd-party video projector. The Catalyst Digital Media
Server sends its signal to the projector and the head's movement is controlled
separately by a dmx lighting console.
For more detailed
information, visit SAMC
Designs' and
High
End Systems' Web sites.
Below are photos from actual Landru Design projects in which Digital Lighting was used. Click on the photos to see more images from each given event.
Backgrounds/Wallpaper
Both of these photos are from a day-long women's conference. By changing
backgrounds, a different visual tone was created for each speaker or artist
- a tone that complemented that of a given session or piece of music.
-
(Catalyst server
and 3rd-party projector)
Virtual
Scenery
For these projects, different locales and/or times of day were suggested
for different show elements.
-
(Catalyst server
and 3rd-party projectors, Catalyst server and multiple DL1s, multilple
DL2s)
Logo/Image
Display
In the first image, a client-supplied logo was animated and masked to
fit within a truss circle.
-
(Catalyst server
and DL1)
In the second, an
image of Christ was keystone- corrected and masked to fit a 3D scenic
element.
-
(Catalyst server, 3rd-party projector, and Orbital Mirror Head)
Visual
Accents
For these projects, Catalyst was used to provide visual accents that were
incorporated into the lighting for music programs.
-
(Multiple Catalyst
servers and DL1s -and- Catalyst servers and 3rd-party projectors.)
