The current rage 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, and vibrant visual accents.

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 High End Systems' Catalyst, DL1 and DL2 as examples. Below you'll find:

• A simplified overview of the equipment.
• Examples of Catalyst and DL2 in-use.

Digital Media Server
This is the core of the Catalyst system. 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 the 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.

Below are photos from actual Landru Design projects in which the Catalyst system 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.
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(Catalyst server and 3rd-party projector)

Virtual Scenery
For these projects, different locales and/or times of day were suggested for different show elements.
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(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.
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(Catalyst server and DL1)

In the second, an image of Christ was keystone- corrected and masked to fit a 3D scenic element.
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(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.
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(Catalyst server and 3rd-party projectors -and- multiple Catalyst servers and DL1s)