Urban Visuals
November 6, 2008 at 12:54 pm · Filed under Current Projects, Media Installation
Responsive Video Projection with a Media Server
A media server allows for synchronized, programmed playback to video projectors. Video and still image content is uploaded to the server and can be programmed to play back at designated times and with varying frequency. Content can be uploaded over the LAN with a web browser or via the ftp protocol or can be copied from a CD or DVD locally at the device.
By utilizing a media server with multiple video projectors, it is possible to synchronize playback between the projectors. While one projector is playing video content of a particular product, another projector can be displaying relevant background information or simply the company logo. When the first projector finishes playing the clip, it can start playing on the second projector. Also if projectors are placed close enough together it is possible to create very wide screen animations with imagery spanning across multiple projectors.
The projectors will be mounted on the ceiling and fitted with short throw lenses to create a large projection for the limited projection distance to the floor (approximately 9’6”). The projected image size will be 94 inches high by 125 inches wide, which will nearly completely fill the height of the carpeted area. The two projectors will be mounted so the projected images butt up together creating an image area nearly 21 feet long.
May 7, 2008 at 10:44 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Working in collaboration with Battersby Howat Architects, we augmented the design for Shine nightclub by illuminating and controlling a series of wall panels. An algorithm was used to generate a pattern that was laser cut out of 44 steel panels, these panels are back lit by sound responsive lighting. The result is a totally immersive sound and light experience, stay tuned for more pictures and video of the system in operation.
[MEDIA=4]
May 7, 2008 at 10:21 am · Filed under Projected sets, Uncategorized
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May 6, 2008 at 10:54 am · Filed under Current Proposals, Media Installation, Proposals
We were asked by Electronic Arts to design an entrance lobby installation for the ‘Need For Speed’ design studios in downtown Vancouver.
Immediately we felt that the team working on Need For Speed should feel like they are working at an automotive design lab. We researched various automotive design houses such as Pininfarina, Bretone, Aston Martin, and BMW. We were immediately struck by the Zaha Hadid designed BMW plant, and endeavored to remix the forms of that site into screens and media for our installation. 
A key component to the installation will be the digital content presented on the screens and around the entire entrance lobby and adjacent hallway. The intention is to create content inspired by the aesthetic aspects of automotive design and production, cinematics of driving, streetscapes, and abstract macro shots of machinery. Additionally, real-time generative graphics will play a large role in the operation of the installation. These generative graphics, along with NFS staff submitted ‘work in progress’ will help keep the installation “fresh.”
In the elevator lobby, stylized panels will zigzag across the space catching imagery from projectors mounted in two opposite corners of the room. These projectors will project an array of loosely car related imagery and iconography: gauges, wind-tunnel testing, street views mixed with data and graphics. LED lighting will change colour to match the projected media.
LCD screens in the elevator lobby area will serve as graphic cornerstones to the installation, by featuring more recognizable versions of the imagery ‘fractured’ throughout the room. They will also provide a way for information to be relayed to staff as they enter and exit the floor. RFID card readers will allow the installation to ‘know’ who is entering and to display the appropriate information to that individual. That information could be fun and interactive such as displaying a unique avatar or changing the lighting to a specific colour, or informative, such as a reminder of an important staff meeting
Additional sensing and proximity reading hardware help to animate the graphics and lighting, by providing various levels of interaction with people passing through the space. For instance, if someone were to rush by the entrance to the long hallway you could hear the screeching of tires
March 6, 2008 at 12:10 pm · Filed under Media Installation
In late 2007 we were commissioned by the Vancouver International Film Centre to create a graphic presentation system for a large outdoor screen at the front of the theatre facing a busy urban street. The primary function of the sign was to display current and upcoming film screenings and to generally draw attention to the theatre from the high volume of passers by. There were distinct limitations on content creation and management that conventional ‘pre-production’ of daily/weekly animations would not suffice. There was neither the time nor the budget to create motion graphics for the screen on a weekly basis, the management side alone would have been crippling to production. One of our programmers, Manjit, had been working with a ‘generative’ graphics application developed by Apple. Manjit proposed we use this application to generate the graphics in real-time. After several weeks working with Nathan, Urban’s technical director, they pulled together a system that used a blog to generate tasteful real-time graphics for the sign.
[MEDIA=1]
The motion design was based upon several factors, a look that would work with the aesthetic of the building itself, and more importantly, a timing based upon the 30 sec. ‘viewing window’ of most passers by.
March 6, 2008 at 11:22 am · Filed under Uncategorized
Urban visuals has developed a stage show for the circlesquare live shows that is run by the music being played live. Both the visuals and the lighting are triggered by the music, a midi note sent by the drummer will trigger a specific video to play which in turn controls the colour and animation of the stage lighting. This live show has been performed and several notable festivals including Sonar 2005 and Mutek Mexico 2007.
March 6, 2008 at 9:23 am · Filed under Uncategorized
For each of our installations we create a custom control interface for the venue. This allows for a more user friendly and site specific approach, something that is created specifically for the people that use the system. With this approach the possibilities with respect to what the interface can be are endless. Sometimes are more raw literal interface is more practical, where the light patterns, colour and animation are clearly shown (above left) or an interface that refers to the physical design elements where the lights are imbedded (above right).
March 5, 2008 at 9:24 pm · Filed under Current Projects, Media Installation
For the Shine Nightclub redesign we created an animated bar top that appears to be filled with flickering candles. This application was especially challenging as we had to control 200 lights able to display 16 million different colours in an infinite amount of patterns. In its completed form the glowing wood bar-top can display a multitude of different animations that give it an surreal appearance that is hard to describe so please watch the clip.
light_embedded_bar_clip
March 5, 2008 at 8:04 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
For the Century house re-design we worked with the interior designers to integrate LED lighting into portions of the interior. Our favorite part was the creation ‘animated fabric’ wall panels, where we brought the panels to life by illumination and animation. The result was a wall of animated dots that would randomly appear within the pattern of the fabric, the animated dots can appear in any colour and respond to sound or user input via a touch screen across the room.
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Responsive Video Projection with a Media Server
