UK – Shopping in one of Llandudno’s central high streets became an immersive ‘Winter Light’ experience over the darker months as a parade of store fronts was transformed into a giant projection-mapped surface.
Eighty metres of shop façade, with a canvas size of 9600 x 1920 pixels, displayed content imagining mystery, magic and myth, created by mapping duo, Illuminos. The visuals were driven by three Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst+ Media Servers, configured as a main, backup and ZooKeeper machine for control and content ingest. Five Panasonic 30k projectors were on projection duty.
“This was a relatively complex canvas, requiring powerful playback and a combination of 3D model and photo reference for line-up,” explains Rob Vale, from Illuminos.
“The exact projector locations could not be determined ahead of the event meaning that flexibility from the Media Servers during line-up was key. A 9600 x 1920 pixel canvas also meant that we needed punch in the playback, and we have found the Karst+ servers to be very smooth in frame rate.”
The experience, called Golau Gaeaf, was a narrative piece – a story about the chase for the ‘Conwy Mermaid’. The illuminated buildings came alive to act as ‘time travel portals’ – windows onto the centuries and a relentless chase of the mermaid.
Stars and the Northern Lights glistened, and like a reanimated painting of colour and light, great waves of water billowed and swirled outwards, the tail of the mermaid splashing through them, as Vikings sail the oceans giving chase in their longboat.
In another transformation, as the buildings became a Victorian funfair, carousels whirring and a Big Top appearing across the architecture. The shadow of the mermaid is seen across the canvas, as ringmaster gives chase accompanied by the animas of his circus, a frantic race across the Llandudno pier.
“We used SHAPE in particular, for flexibility in this case, and timeline/timecode options for sound playback,” Vale continues. “SHAPE allowed us to initially modify and adapt the C4D model both within the program and back and forth to C4D. The ability to change point positions is a benefit, and the model alignment then quickly places.
More information on Green Hippo website
