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Winter
2000: Selected Articles |
Dot.Monkey
Swings Into the Future
By
David Lytle
It’s
called Dot.Monkey and the idea behind it is to get the hand-digitizing
monkey off the back of overworked laser artists. The new software
by Laservision Macro-Media is designed to achieve two sweeping
goals: it allows laserists to work with virtually any type of
computer graphic image while at the same time automatically optimizing
those images for playback on laser projectors.
It now takes a laserist about 20 minutes to fine-tune a frame
of laser artwork through the painstaking process of moving individual
points until the image looks acceptable. Dot.Monkey, in contrast,
can automatically transform a single raster or vector image file
into a projection-ready laser image in about 10 seconds. The
images used to create the laser graphic can be imported from
almost any commercially available imaging program, including
AutoCad, Flash and 3D Studio Max, as well as standard ILDA vector
files. Hand-drawn images and other artwork can also be captured
directly from a document scanner. The files are exported in either
ILDA or Laservision formats.
New
Worlds of Artwork
The ability to use existing computer graphics software opens
new opportunities for laserists to access a vast library of computer
graphics imagery and to take advantage of the advanced animation
tools offered by today’s mass-market graphics and animation
programs.
Although the capability to import and optimize images created
by non-laser animation programs was first demonstrated at last
year’s Lighting Dimension’s International show by Lightspeed
Design Group, there has, as yet, been no commercially-available
program for the laser industry. Lightspeed’s program, called
PrestiDigitize, was developed for in-house use and has not been
licensed to other companies. Pangolin Laser Systems will unveil
a pre-release version of a 3D Studio Max laser conversion program
at the Stuttgart ILDA Conference in October. Scheduled to be
available for sale by the end of the year, Pangolin’s plug-in
will let users directly convert 3D Studio Max images to ILDA
laser files.
Dot.Monkey, which will be offered for sale at ILDA’s Stuttgart
conference, is sold on a unique per-image basis using a hardware
security device to monitor the number of images processed. The
hardware “Actuator” plugs into a computer’s printer
port and is loaded with a predetermined number of image processing
transactions. Actuator pricing starts at just under US $1,000
for 500 images. Per-image prices drop to 99 cents when 2,500
image transactions are purchased; an Activator with 30,000 images
costs about $12,000, or about 40 cents per image.
Under development for two years, the program benefited from an
alliance between Sydney-based Laservision and the University
of Western Sydney. The school’s Department of Mechatronics
and Laservision developed models to simulate the behavior of
different scanners used in laser displays. Using these models,
Dot.Monkey can optimize images for projection on Cambridge 6800
or 6210 scanners.
Laservision President John Eustace says he sees “no discernible
difference” between the results of Dot.Monkey’s image
processing and the hand digitizing previously performed by the
company’s artists. Laservision’s artists have put away
their digitizing tablets and done all their work exclusively
on Dot.Monkey for the past month, he said.
Sydney
Olympics Show
An example of their work, called The Gift, will be seen daily
at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. A 7.5-minute laser animation
sequence in the show contains 800 hand-drawn frames and 1,500
animations frames created with the Flash graphics program. All
2,300 frames were batch processed by Dot.Monkey on an on-going
basis, allowing artists to work on new frames as just-completed
ones were sent to Dot.Monkey for conversion. Once processed,
an artist spent one-half day reviewing the results and accepting
the images as meeting the company’s quality standards. Productivity
gains of 600 percent, said Eustace, have been realized after
two weeks of using the program.
Although Laservision artists chose Flash for their Olympic’s
piece, Dot.Monkey users can access the advanced features of popular
animation packages such as 3D Studio Max and Corel Draw. The
file types that can be imported include AutoCAD (DFX), Windows
Standard and Enhanced Metafiles (WMF and EMF), and a host of
raster formats such as BMP, TIF, JPG, PCX and TGA. When it comes
to text, Laservision says Dot.Monkey is fully compatible with
Microsoft’s Rich Text Format (RTF), allowing the program
to create laser-ready images from True Type fonts. Images can
also be scanned into Dot.Monkey from desktop scanners.
The Dot.Monkey software can be downloaded at no charge (hardware
Activator not included) from Laservision’s website at: www.laservision.com.au
Laservision
Macro-Media: (+62) 29-658-1000
LOBO Laser Show Brings Spain to Norway
Bergen, Norway's Fjord
capital, August 26, 2000: The earsplitting dark sound of a ship's
horn interrupts the peaceful heart of Bergen city. Bright shining
laser beams cut through the night. In the background, a ghost-like
frigate appears mysteriously in the middle of a lake.
This is the opening of
a special event created to thank Norwegian citizens for their
order of three frigates from Bazan, the Spanish ship- building
company. Bazan entrusted the multimedia artist Albert Ripoll
i Coca and the Germany multimedia company LOBO to create a Spanish-
Norwegian dream in the center of Bergen. Coca arranged a gigantic
event combining laser, video, water and pyrotechnics. |
|
A 250-meter
long tunnel, created in yellow laser light, is enhanced with
six high-powered fog generators. |
In addition to
video and laser projections, Maria Rosa, the Spanish Queen of
Flamenco, brought Spanish flair to the evening with a dance performance
on a floating stage surrounded by laser beams.The show, seen
by 39,000 people (nearly one-fifth of the city's population),
took place on a lake 250-meters long and about 150-meters wide.
For the projection of laser and video, LOBO installed a floating
rectangular water screen in the center of the lake that provided
a smooth projection surface 30-meters wide and 11-meters high.
|
For the creation of the
laser effects, LOBO's unique laser truck system came into action.
These mobile systems, with self-contained control stations, are
pre-installed in large shipping containers and arrive ready for
operation.
A projector with
60 watts of white-light laser power made it possible to create
giant projections and three-dimensional beam effects. |
A fog
horn sounds, and ships appear on the lake, thanks to video, laser
and water screen effects. |
To ensure against
possible malfunctions, a complete backup system ran in parallel
to the primary equipment. In case of a system failure, a single
touch of a button would have been enough to make the switchover.
For beam effects, LOBO installed six high-power fog generators
on floating rafts equipped with large fans. Due to the enormous
distances involved (250 meters at one point) show operators relied
mainly on radio-controlled systems.
LOBO's technical director
Richard Pollak: "One of the major challenges of this project
is the problem of evenly spreading fog over an open area of about
40,000 m2 exposed to the variable winds of the evening hours.
In order to be prepared for all eventualities, we installed several
pyrotechnical smoke generators around the lake in addition to
the floating fog generators." |
|
The scene
in daylight, with the water screen being tested near the far
shore of the lake. |
The public response
to the project exceeded the client's expectations. LOBO technical
director Bernhard Freyman: "The enthusiastic response by
the press on the front page of the most widely read local newspaper
was just overwhelming."
LOBO: (+49) 73-61-9678-30;
www.lobo.de
LDS
Unveils Tune-It-Unit; Software Additions
Laserists that need
to calibrate their scanners, but who don’t have a dedicated
computer available to provide the signals, can now use a stand-alone
testing device created by LDS Light Design of Hamburg, Germany.
The company’s Tune-It-Unit is the first handheld device
that outputs an ILDA test patterns in less than a second. Powered
by batteries or an external power adapter, it allows users to
toggle between pre-programmed test patterns or custom test patterns
added by the manufacturer.
The Tune-It-Unit is
equipped with a 25-Pin Sub-D female connector that meets ILDA
connectivity standards and provides all necessary ILDA signals
including shutter, intensity and six color channels. The 16-bit
resolution signal can be scanned as fast as 200,000 points-per-second
with up to 60,000 individual points in the test pattern. Patterns
can also be scanned at different speeds, such as 12k or 30k.
LDs has also announced several new features to its LasCoNetwork
Laser scanning software, including the ability to run shows directly
from a locally installed web browser. The web browser feature
can be used for interactive control of the shows and for automated
systems in such locations as amusement parks and science centers.
The web feature is part of LCN’s new automated control capability
that allows users to program a different user interface with
Visual basic or any other programming tool. The user, for example,
can change the interface so that only a web browser is displayed
or buttons that say “Show1” or “Show 2.”
Clients can also purchase new shows via the Internet, using the
company’s e-commerce web site. After completing the credit
card transaction, LCN uploads the new show directly to the customer’s
computer. At the same time, log files with information about
laser power levels and maintenance requirements can be transmitted
to a remote monitoring site, eliminating the need to send a technician
to make hardware checks.
Other new features in the software include: an advanced morphing
function with automatic anchor point adjustment; an increase
in the number of colors displayed and edited by the user; and
a new sound analysis program that visually displays such audio
features as beats and high notes. LCN also added a new import
feature that allows sound effect files to be direclty imported
into the timeline of a show.
LDS Light Design, (+49), 40-8530-7453-03; www.lightdesign.de
Rodin, Lasers
and Fireworks
World-famous 19th Century sculptures and laser/fireworks shows
usually don’t share the same stage, but the North Carolina
Museum of Art chose a high-tech visual display to celebrate the
closing of the museum’s Rodin sculpture exhibit.
A standing-room-only crowd of about 5,000 flocked to the Raleigh,
NC, museum’s outdoor ampitheater to see the laser and fireworks
show by Images in Illuminations and Sunset Fireworks.
The two companies teamed
up for the first time three years ago, when they were asked to
produce a show to mark the dedication of the new museum. As happened
with the first show, the companies created visual displays to
accompany a series of musical pieces selected by George Holt,
the Museum’s Director of Public Programs.
The mostly French sound track presented quite a challenge for
Sunset Fireworks of St. Louis, as music was very lyrical without
the strong downbeats and tempo changes that pyro designers use
to structure their shows. That lyrical quality, however, worked
well for the laser display, as large waves, fans and beam sweeps
radiated over the heads of the audience.
Images In Illumination of Chicago used a 40-watt Laser Fantasy
YAG with G-120 scanners to create the effects, and located the
projector inside a cargo van to protect it from the weather.
The laser show module was produced using LaserMedia’s ZAP7
software.
A brief sprinkle hardly dampened the enthusiasm of the overflow
crowd, many of whom stayed and toured the museum after the evening’s
festivities. To accommodate the crowds, the museum kept its doors
open until 7:00 am the following morning. The laser crew faced
and overcame the usual challenges of an outdoor show: hot sun;
bugs; people wandering into the secure zone, and worst of all,
a loss of water pressure only an hour before the show was scheduled
to start. Fortunately, the Raleigh Fire Department made a timely
appearance with an adapter for a nearby fire hydrant, and the
laser’s water-to-water heat exchanger was able to quench
it’s thirst with a direct connection to the hydrant.
Images in Illuminations: (+1) 630-595-5692; www.imagesdesigns.com
Rough Magic By The Sea
Laser Magic Ltd. recently
completed what was its most bizarre show of the year, William
Shakespeare meets Mad Max on the beach! Brighton, on the south
coast of the UK, witnessed a stunning multimedia production by
Fireraisers. The performance group constructed a working platform
and towed it into position between two 100-year-old piers and
then raised it 40 feet above the water.
Laser Magic installed a number of Chroma 10 lasers and high powered
YAGs as part of the production. All the laser effects were kept
simple and as large as possible to create a very wide audience
viewing angle.
The show was based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest
and featured action on land, sea and even in the air with helicopters
, skydivers and jet skiers. The core of the show was a gigantic
salvage rig moored just offshore and linked to the beach via
a swooping bridge. About 50,000 people packed the beach front
to see the multimedia spectacle, which featured intelligent lights,
lasers, video and a stunning sound system.
Laser Magic Ltd., (+44) 1323-890752; www.lasermagic.com
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