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The brief was to create an energy efficient and exciting visitors’ center which represented the Wildlife Sanctuary’s rich history of native plant and animal life, through a dynamic sensory experience using interactive displays, audio tracks and evocative lighting. Toulouse Ltd was engaged to design and install the lighting, audio, and video elements and the interactive displays.
The challenges included projection of a short film in high-definition onto a two-story wall from edge-blended projectors with a screen size of 11m x 3.5m. The moving projection was laid over graphic wallpaper that needed to fuse seamlessly as did the edge-blend of the two fixed-focus projector lenses.
Budgets kept projectors to 6,000 ANSI lumens, so a dark viewing space was imperative. Interfacing dynamic theatrical lighting with projection is always challenging, especially when the screen is to blend in with the wallpaper carrying the story form reflective image to print. Show control was simple yet very effective.
Many graphic panels, in varying colors, shapes, and positions, filled both levels of the exhibition space, with many different viewing positions. Entry to the exhibition is from a bright reception area into a darkened space filled with light-sensitive collection items, AVs, and projections.
The key element to the lighting design was an extensive grid layout of three-circuit universal lighting track, with control and dimming achieved with the Theatre Light Meteor dimmer and DMX control via a LAN box lighting controller. Show control lighting faded up and down in harmony with the film projection which was set on a 30-minute loop.
The exhibition concept encompassed many touchscreen interactive displays including a weather interactive where the user could simulate NZ weather patterns on a touch screen thus triggering changing lighting, wind, and audio. Selecon Pacific Profiles with gobos, rotators, and colored dichroic filters were affected by the user touching the screen, with separate LAN box lighting control. A fan and audio track built within the unit mimicked wind and the sounds of seabirds for a full sensory experience for the user.
The Moa interactive was designed for children to engage with two-dimensional forest creatures on a projection wall. Avatars of the audience interacted with extinct mammals using high frame-rate cameras and ambient sound to feed back into the Mac Pro computer processors as part of the interactive elements.
Creative Team
Marc Simpson, Lead Designer, AV/Lighting
Adam Walker, Lead Technician, Interactives/Lighting Control
Sarah Peachey, Lighting Designer
Equipment
Panasonic HD PT-DZ6700 Projectors With DLE055 Lenses
Panasonic Professional 50”-58” Plasma Displays
NEC WT610 Projectors
Next Window 32” And 58” Twin Touch Monitor Overlays
Gilderfluke Amp-50s
Gilderfluke SD-10 Audio Players
Apple Mac Pro
Apple Mac Mini
Bose, Turbosound, AM Speakers
Roku Media Players
Martin DMX Fans
Theatrelight Meteor Dimmer
Theatrelight DMX Splitter
Theatrelight Satellite DMX Dimmer
Selecon Aureol Beamshapers
Selecon Aureol Spotlights
Selecon Pacific 23/50 Profiles
Eternalux LED Display Lights
Low Power LED Strip