It was the talk of the town, the buzz of society columns, the party of the year. The Houston Grand Opera’s high-brow crowd went high tech with the combination of equipment coupled for the first time: DL.2s and the Stratosphere.
After the formal Cinderella Ball, guests stepped out of the Wortham Center and into a high-energy Ever After party in the Stratosphere. This 60-foot diameter translucent globe, ringed inside with 8 DL.2s, surrounded partygoers with non-stop visual panoramas blanketing the sphere. Together, the two made magic.
The projections could be seen inside and outside the Stratosphere – although the inside environment featured the dance floor, DJ, bar and climate control, so there was no need to leave the dome. The excitement was within.
James Lanier of Absolute Hollywood creates environments in the Stratosphere, which he owns, for such visual experiences. “This was the first time a moving digital light was used inside the Stratosphere,” Lanier says, referring to the traditional fixed projectors used on past projects. “We provided an immersive multimedia projection experience. Normally you watch projections on a wall. Now it was wrapped around you and you’re ‘inside’ it. With this technology you can now mix image and projection into a total immersive experience.”
To create the “immersive experience,” High End Systems trekked from Austin to test out the software to make it happen. HES recently released a new Spherical Mapping software feature for DL.2, which allows the projections to wrap around a sphere in complete panoramas – however, it was created for DL.2s projecting onto external surfaces. With DL.2s inside the dome, some calculations were needed to adjust this software feature coming from a different angle.
HES Product Designer Tom Grimes used this event to beta-test what will soon be released as the Internal Spherical Mapping feature.
Lending their artistic skills to help were HES’ Lowell Fowler, Tim Grivas, Riki Rushing and programmer Vickie Claiborne.
Says Lowell Fowler, “The Stratosphere is the most interesting surface I have ever encountered. I’ve wanted to use this powerful palette for DL.2 for a year or so, ever since I first tested DL.1s in the dome. It’s so all-encompassing…”
Says Lanier, “The DL.2 created powerful effects for the clients and the party-goers. The color projections were vivid, saturated and dynamic. Plus I loved the interesting effects when the DL.2 images slid off into darkness, or when the images projected as beam effects onto the dancing crowd. Moving projection within a 360-degree realm created more interaction with the audience, a bigger ‘wow’ factor. The combination of DL.2 and Stratosphere will create a whole new field of the true multimedia experience.”
Says Guyla Pircher, Director of Special Events at Houston Grand Opera, “The Stratosphere and light show kept the excitement going all night. This technology helped elevate the Houston Opera Ball to the best party -- not just ball but party -- of the year. We’re anxious to see how we can use High End Systems technology in future events including upcoming opera productions as well.”
LD Systems of Houston supplied the 8 DL.2s and the Wholehog 3 console.
Media contact:
Debi Moen, HES marketing communications specialist, phone 512-836-2242 x 1204.
Read More at http://www.absolutehollywood.com  |
