flat out with projects

I have managed to get the catalyst system out in the last few months to play with here are a few links to some of things we are now exploring virtual stage sets
AND we've been very busy at shangri-la Glastonbury this year. fa too busy to blog but here are some pics Glastonbury shangri-la lighting and projection
 we doing a projection project in a fortnight at Canterburyy University, we have a project at Secret Garden party, and Bestival, and finally I had a site visit at St Mary's lighthouse near Dover with the National Trust where we will be doing some projection with the new catalyst mobile branding system we are building.- more about that soon
more fun here astral page

Glastonbury content in the bag

Tim has come up with some great content for Shangri-La at Glastonbury. As well as the video mapped wall that Bruce is doing we will have Several other video installations. first off is an interactive piece using a kinect camera where the subject recreated on screen & then attacked by alien viruses which he has to fight off.
then we are hoping to introduce some infestations on buildings outside the hub area, possibly the Decon chambers and the hotel, these are a custom program of ever changing bugs swarming over the surfaces. on top of that Tim has made us a library of virus bugs that we will be tracking over the bridge and food concession area.
the whole caboodle will be driven by up to 4 catalyst media servers, an uses number of area heads and orbital head systems. we are also hoping that Ian at Robe will be loaning some digispots to the project too. needless to say control is from Avolites who are providing 2 Titan expert touch consoles to supplement the one we have and the Titan mobile we've just bought.

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So, a lot of you know I have been flirting with projection after a long absence.

This was the result of a low budget challenge to cover a building with content using stock kit. I was looking for somewhere to stretch my wings as it were and try out a few ideas, Fortunately Liam rich at Chelmsford BC gave me an opportunity. Shire Hall is the only building worth looking at in Chelmsford with any character & it is located at the very top of the high St.

 The event was Jibber jabber in Chelmsford, a storytelling festival & amongst other things we projected some animations specially made for the event. We used a catalyst media server and 4 Sanyo xp100l projectors controlled from an avolites pearl expert. We knew from the onset we were on the much on the cusp of what was possible so the entire escapade was truly a projection adventure.

Empire awards

The Empire Awards weekend is finally Coming to close. Colin firth, and Gary Oldman were amongst the winners. More pics will be here.


Astral lighting design

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senders cable & more

today was a revelation, I am a huge fan of gefen products for video, however during today's final configuration of the system I a find myself mortally disappointed with the performance of the hdmi extremes I have been holding back for this project.
Although I am changing from hdmi to dvi and back I don't expect that to be an issue. it is-the signal is intermittent and unreliable. the gefen hdmi fibre optic route, on the other hand is a Success & I will use that for 2 of the outputs for jibber jabber
in the meantime I've ordered 2 Lindy dvi cat 5 senders to road test at Chelmsford if this works ill get some more.
I was astonished to realise I am working at a higher resolution than most kit supports at 2048 pixels wide, that's because my history is in lighting & the last time I was using projection seriously it was film & as I said then (15-20years ago) film is infinite, digital is not, seams that still stands.
I had figured I was behind the pack on that & was surprised to find my projectors don't go that high either this means that the overall definition needs to be reduced to suit, which is disappointing as i want to run the system to see its limits although I am sure it will not be an issue
It is reassuring that the system I've built is high enough resolution for the most advanced of projectors and I am confident that should it all go pear shaped at glastonbury this year I can cover it.
eventually after next weekend see the finished project here. www.astraldesign.co.uk.



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masks animation and more

I've really got it going on now. Paul has some animations for jibber jabber I can't wait to see and load up to compliment the work I've been doing.Kev's is in tomorrow to help me sort out the cat5 distro system, finally we can say goodby to 5 core, VGA and endless video amps & whack it all down neutricon. thank the heavens at least 2 cables cases less per show.

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So, things are beginning to move along nicely now, we have made a few masks & rendered a few transitions in preparation, John at is improving the software for the desk & we should put the whole lot together with the server again next week, then in the first week of  March we will have a dry run in Chatham dockyard  in Kent all things going well.

Video mapping on a shoestring?

Ok,so I'm involved in events & I've commissioned a bit of video mapping.
I was wondering if you can do a good job of it on a shoestring. I'm pretty well versed in lighting & know a bit about projection, but I don't really make content, the most expensive part. 
About a 2 years ago I started experimenting with servers. I had wanted to do it 20 years ago but I didn't have the resources - servers cost more than a house at the time so the idea was literally shelved on the mezzanine floor above my studio along with some original 60,s light shows (maybe more about this later) 
I've been putting together relevant equipment now for about 12 months & I'm ready to give it a go. 
All I need is a venue -as luck would have it Liam Rich at Chelmsford has one & is up for it too. Oh & he has a tiny budget- perfect for this adventure in mapping.