"Cirque du Soleil's stage productions are distinguished by their artistry and expressive power, and Pandoras Box proved to be a valuable tool in creating a visual narrative for ZAIA,”" said Jimmy Lakatos, who worked with fellow Geodezik founding member Raymond Saint-Jean to provide video system and content design for ZAIA. "Working with Cirque du Soleil, we have the good fortune to be able to create scenery on an unparalleled scale with total creative freedom. Pandoras Box enables dynamic blending of light and images into each scene, and the remarkable technical skill of coolux engineers has allowed us to enhance the show and its storyline using innovative 3-D visual elements."
Pandoras Box from coolux is a 3-D compositing and rendering system that provides real-time, on-location media control that is customizable to the needs of each user and project. The system, which features a 4K workspace in dual channels of 2K HD/SD outputs for on-air and pre- and post-production, allows users to arrange video and images freely; change the color, form, and position of images; synchronize 3-D sound; or animate 3-D objects.
During each production of ZAIA, Pandoras Box enables the mixing of live and pre-rendered images in real time, whether projecting video onto screens on, around, or above the stage, or creating a visual link between actors and the stage, backdrop, and set elements. The highly adaptive media server not only provides the power, speed, and versatility necessary to create uncompromising images in a live, interactive environment, but also the convenience of operation through the lighting desk, in this case a grandMA console.
Working with coolux, the Geodezik team also designed for ZAIA a self-supporting 5,000-pound moving sphere that projects images in a 360-degree radius. Six internally mounted projectors create a smoothly blended mosaic of images that turn the breathtaking sphere into the moon, the Earth, or other planets as the narrative unfolds.
Geodezik's use of Pandoras Box for ZAIA followed on the company's earlier success in providing the system for Cirque du Soleil's DELIRIUM. For this show, noted multidisciplinary artists Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon used the coolux real-time compositing media server to incorporate the magical and poetic video of DELIRIUM's creators, directors, multimedia, and scenic designers. Over the years of working with Pandoras Box, Geodezik has been able to rely on its stability, knowing that over the full run of a production, the coolux system's reliability will prevent technical issues from hindering the creative process.
"The coolux team is very focused on developing solutions that address real problems in the production world and on making those solutions accessible," added Lakatos. "We never find ourselves asking why Pandoras Box features a particular function because it's just so clever in connecting with our world."
More information about coolux International and Pandoras Box systems is available at www.coolux-us.com.
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About Geodezik
Geodezik is a Montreal-based multimedia design and production company specializing in video projection. The company offers a comprehensive vision in multimedia for stage and public spaces, from project design to final showing. Geodezik's Jimmy Lakatos, Mathieu St-Arnaud, Olivier Goulet, and Raymond Saint-Jean create original content and new technology in collaboration with a community of visual artists and stage and new media professionals. Among the recent productions undertaken by Geodezik are tours, live shows, and events for Cirque du Soleil's ZAIA, Cher, Linkin Park, Canada's 2008 Governor General's Awards, the 2008 Juno Awards, 2008 East Coast Music Awards, and Justin Timberlake. More information about Geodezik is available at www.geodezik.com.
About coolux Media Systems
coolux Media Systems is a world-leading provider of award-winning solutions for real-time, on-location media control, compositing, editing, and 3-D image processing. Based in Cologne, Germany, with its international office in Agoura Hills, Calif., coolux and its highly acclaimed Pandoras Box playback system are preferred by customers around the globe in television/broadcast, touring/concert, performing arts, and architectural markets. coolux's pioneering technology has received numerous awards and accolades including a Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award. Additional information is available at www.coolux-us.com.
ENDS