Road Test: Strong Technobeam, page 40 - PLSN.com

NEWS
PROJECTION LIGHTS & STAGING NEWS
Toyota Unveils 2009 Venza and A-BAT with LED Video
DETROIT — Toyota chose the 2008
North American International Auto
Show (NAIAS) in Detroit to unveil its
2009 Toyota Venza and Toyota A-BAT,
but the technical innovations on display
were not entirely automotive in nature.
The unveiling was supported with full
video, dynamic color transitions and virtual
scenery made possible through Creative
Technology (CT), a major provider of audio,
video and staging solutions, and Daktronics
Inc., using Daktronics’ PT-4 modular LED
video display technology, recently added
to the ProTour product line.
The 2009 Toyota models were both were
unveiled at Cobo’s Riverview Ballroom during
the NAIAS event. Event marketing company
George P. Johnson Co. and CT equipped
the stage with PT-4 modular LED video
displays. “The product’s high contrast level and
Video screens show off Toyota’s latest models at the NAIAS show in Detroit.
quiet design made it the ideal choice for
the event,” said Jeff Meyer, general manager,
CT Chicago.
The modular panels were built to
form two 3x5 meter video screens.
The screens displayed corporate logos,
graphics and video content to a
full room of attendees during Toyota’s
opening press conference. “The client
was impressed with the image detail
shown on the screens and the overall
quality of the displays,” said Meyer.
With its image processing capabilities,
picture quality, LED layout for contrast
and fanless design for silent operation,
the PT-4 was well suited to the
event. The Daktronics PT-4 joins other
ProTour models, including the Daktronics
PT-6, PT-8, PT-10 and PT-13 modular LED
video display systems.
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Video, Lighting
Multiply Impact of
BBC’s One and Only
continued from page 45
Several layers of video give Kenyon and
the show’s director a varied array of narrative
images. Camels, roads, mountains, cityscapes,
water, rain and thousands of ambient
and abstract effects are all at their fingertips.
The Catalyst-driven video and digital
lighting effects appear on five main surfaces
around the studio. At the rear of the set are
two curved surfaces made from the new
Martin Professional LC2140 panels. There are
a total of 28 of these 2 x 1 meter panels, with
a 40mm pitch.
The central screen — masked by the set
to appear round — is made up of Barco 6
mm high res LED panels. A 25mm video wall
under the circular stage floor also receives
Catalyst input.
The fourth Catalyst driven area includes
six curved scenic fins strategically positioned
around the stage perimeter, filled with semitransparent
Barco MiTrix modules.
Catalyst also drives a series of four ChromaQ
ColorWeb borders rigged above the
stage. The furthest downstage has a 2-meter
drop and the other three have a 1-meter
drop. These mask the studio roof from where
the audience sits and appear as sparkling,
animated banners.
One Catalyst machine is dedicated to the
ColorWeb and capitalizes on the system’s PixelMad
pixel-mapping capabilities, outputting
14 streams of DMX sent via Artnet from the
gallery back to the control position.
The second and third Catalysts, each
capable of running on 12 layers and outputting
10 streams of DMX, drive the LC, the
MiTrix fins, the 6mm central screen and the
25mm video floor.
Kenyon and lighting designer/director
Will Charles were early adopters among TV
lighting designers to use Catalyst systems.
They now have three machines that are
used regularly and upgraded frequently.
Catalyst reseller Projected Image Digital
supplied the systems. Roger Williams operates
the Catalysts used for the show with
a Compulite Vector lighting console. Mark
Nicholson, Rob Bradley and Julia Smith
round out the visual team.
The lighting includes over 150 moving
lights and additional LED sources. That equipment
and the video LED for the show were
supplied by a combination of two rental companies
— RML and Finelight. The MiTrix, the
Barco 6mm screen and the 25 mm LED ensconced
in the floor were supplied by CT.
46 PLSN March 2008
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