Four powerful Christie Roadster HD18K 3-chip DLP projectors provided the icing on the cake for a unique 'viral' marketing campaign that took place over three days in a tunnel in Shoreditch recently.
Curious passers-by were treated to an amazing visual installation, entitled "Get Your Energy Back", which used the latest 3D projection mapping techniques to dramatise the unique technology contained within the new Toyota Auris Hybrid car. The resulting film of the occasion has proved a massive hit on social sites. Creative advertising agency glue Isobar created and produced the event, generating 90 seconds of dynamic visual animation for the projection. The sequence showed the body of the Auris transforming and peeling back to reveal a glowing blue energy, which then escaped and interacted with various objects within the tunnel where the car was situated. The energy then returned to the car, bringing to life the amazing way in which the Auris recycles its energy as it drives.
To achieve this remarkable effect required extremely high-powered projectors, as the surfaces being illuminated included concrete, brick and asphalt as well as the white pearlescent material of the car. Colin Yellowley, Managing director of Igloo Vision, the software developers and designers responsible for the projection mapping, turned to Paul Wigfield at QED, and he recommended the Christie solution. "We were contacted when Igloo were doing initial projector tests as they realised that they needed seriously bright, vibrant projectors particularly when the content moved from the car to the environment itself, which covered a much larger area. We initially thought they would need eight 17,500 ANSI lumens Christie HD18K projectors, but after carrying out a site projection test we discovered that we were able to achieve the effect with just four."
Confirmed Colin Yellowley, "We carried out initial projection tests at our facility in Shropshire and knew we needed to project onto different surfaces. The HD18Ks were perfect for the task, particularly where the images butted up between the back wall and the pavement. Without the Christies we couldn't have used the whole environment as an immersive experience. Given that we were working with 14,000 x 14,000 pixel renderings (over 2,500 frames), overall the exercise had been a complete success. Traditional geometry mapping on the side of buildings is so forgiving and doesn't require 100% accuracy. But here everyone was getting up close and virtually interacting with the car so we couldn't afford it to be grainy or pixelated. This was one of the most demanding geometry mapping exercises we have done, and one of the most complex I have seen anyone do in a live environment. I think it was completely unique."
The four HD18K projectors were clamped to a substantial scaffolding tower using QED's specialist flying frames. Fitted with 1.1:1 lenses, they flooded the entire tunnel, with the images blended within the source software. Each projector took a separate signal from the Igloo PC at 1920 x 1080 native resolution, delivered via four fibre lines which providing each projector with both DVI signal and full Ethernet control. The projection itself ran over one evening with 15-minute intervals between each 'show'.
The Roadster HD18K 3-chip DLP projector is the highest brightness single phase native HD projector in the world in a chassis size that is substantially smaller and lighter than any other projector in its class. It offers high resolution, crisp images from 10-bit processing combined with 18,000 ANSI lumens of brightness. The 3kw Xenon lamp delivers perfect colour purity and stunning vibrancy, features that are really shown at their best in the video.
Curious passers-by were treated to an amazing visual installation, entitled "Get Your Energy Back", which used the latest 3D projection mapping techniques to dramatise the unique technology contained within the new Toyota Auris Hybrid car. The resulting film of the occasion has proved a massive hit on social sites. Creative advertising agency glue Isobar created and produced the event, generating 90 seconds of dynamic visual animation for the projection. The sequence showed the body of the Auris transforming and peeling back to reveal a glowing blue energy, which then escaped and interacted with various objects within the tunnel where the car was situated. The energy then returned to the car, bringing to life the amazing way in which the Auris recycles its energy as it drives.
To achieve this remarkable effect required extremely high-powered projectors, as the surfaces being illuminated included concrete, brick and asphalt as well as the white pearlescent material of the car. Colin Yellowley, Managing director of Igloo Vision, the software developers and designers responsible for the projection mapping, turned to Paul Wigfield at QED, and he recommended the Christie solution. "We were contacted when Igloo were doing initial projector tests as they realised that they needed seriously bright, vibrant projectors particularly when the content moved from the car to the environment itself, which covered a much larger area. We initially thought they would need eight 17,500 ANSI lumens Christie HD18K projectors, but after carrying out a site projection test we discovered that we were able to achieve the effect with just four."
Confirmed Colin Yellowley, "We carried out initial projection tests at our facility in Shropshire and knew we needed to project onto different surfaces. The HD18Ks were perfect for the task, particularly where the images butted up between the back wall and the pavement. Without the Christies we couldn't have used the whole environment as an immersive experience. Given that we were working with 14,000 x 14,000 pixel renderings (over 2,500 frames), overall the exercise had been a complete success. Traditional geometry mapping on the side of buildings is so forgiving and doesn't require 100% accuracy. But here everyone was getting up close and virtually interacting with the car so we couldn't afford it to be grainy or pixelated. This was one of the most demanding geometry mapping exercises we have done, and one of the most complex I have seen anyone do in a live environment. I think it was completely unique."
The four HD18K projectors were clamped to a substantial scaffolding tower using QED's specialist flying frames. Fitted with 1.1:1 lenses, they flooded the entire tunnel, with the images blended within the source software. Each projector took a separate signal from the Igloo PC at 1920 x 1080 native resolution, delivered via four fibre lines which providing each projector with both DVI signal and full Ethernet control. The projection itself ran over one evening with 15-minute intervals between each 'show'.
The Roadster HD18K 3-chip DLP projector is the highest brightness single phase native HD projector in the world in a chassis size that is substantially smaller and lighter than any other projector in its class. It offers high resolution, crisp images from 10-bit processing combined with 18,000 ANSI lumens of brightness. The 3kw Xenon lamp delivers perfect colour purity and stunning vibrancy, features that are really shown at their best in the video.
Key technical equipment:
- 4 x Christie HD18K 3-chip DLP projectors
- 4 x Christie 1.1:1 HD lenses
- 4 x QED Christie flying frames
- 4 x QED DVI/Ethernet fibre channels