In one of the largest corporate events yet staged in mainland China, Hippotizer media servers helped launch the new Montblanc watch collection at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. The event took place on Nov. 7, featuring a custom-scored rock opera “Journey Through Time”, a tribute to the history of timekeeping.
Newly formed Creative Technology (Asia Pacific) Co. Ltd. supplied Audio-Video for the event, produced by Roger Sansom Productions of Hong Kong. Creative Technology (Asia Pacific) provided eight Hippotizer HD V3's, four of which were on temporary loan from Creative Technology UK. Additional backup machines were provided by Hippotizer's China distributor, Kupo Co. Ltd. of Shanghai. The eight primary Hippotizers were used for rear projection onto 11 circular screens (1x8m, 6x6m, 4x4m) and one 30x6m Element Labs Stealth LED screen.
The show's stunning visual displays were derived using multiple Hippotizer functions: Seven HD's in dual mode drove the various screens, with the eighth machine used for ZooKeeper control and media administration. All Hippotizers had the same media maps and were triggered and programmed by a GrandMA Series 1 console with a single NSP run over Art Net. The rock opera segment of the show was a time-coded segment with each screen having a dedicated media file.
“Using multiple synchronized servers networked together in this complex setup was a real challenge,” says programmer Neil Trenell of M2 Designs. “The servers worked well and all behaved as expected in spite of our rigorous demands. Hippotizer is such a flexible and dependable tool; it really is the Swiss army knife of media servers.”
Designer Steve Nield created a spectacular show that effectively integrated lighting and video. A wide array of custom media content was employed to create both pre-programmed and on-the-fly effects. Notably, Hippotizer's new ScreenThief plug-in was used to capture a virtual watch face image from a computer connected via HippoNet.
TMB Product Specialist Loren Barton was on hand to supply technical support and also training in some of the new Hippotizer features. “While seemingly complex, this show went together very smoothly, which can be attributed to the professionalism of everyone involved, as well as to the technical excellence, profound flexibility and extreme reliability of Hippotizer,” says Loren. “TMB and our partner distributor Kupo Co Ltd., are very proud to have supported such a prestigious event and to have worked with such a distinguished group of professionals.”
Find out more about Creative Technology at www.ctinternational.com. Hippotizer is manufactured by Green Hippo and distributed by TMB. For more information about Hippotizer, visit the TMB Hippotizer web page at www.tmb.com/products/hippotizer. Learn more about other innovative and exciting products from TMB at www.tmb.com.
