Live Design's Q&A with Ash Nehru, software director at d3 Technologies:
Please describe d3's involvement with Marvel Universe Live
D3 is the pre-visualisation platform and video projection server used on the Marvel Universe Live tour. The system is responsible for all projected video effects used in the show.
In what capacity did you work with Bob Bonniol and others on the creative team?
We provided project setup consultancy during the pre-production process, and then provided on-site technical support to make sure that any advanced or specialised features required by the show were developed to the standard required by the team.
What d3 gear is involved?
We are using d3 4U v2.5 servers, each can drive up to four HD outputs. Of these, one system was a ‘pure master’ (allowing visualisation and control) while two were understudies (able to take over from any other machine during the show). In addition, a number of laptops running d3 designer allow for multiple operators to calibrate projectors simultaneously.
What are some of the biggest challenges for d3 working on projects of similar complexity to the Marvel show?
On any large show with many departments competing for stage time, d3's visualiser is a life-saver, as it allows progress to be made without tying up the stage. Managing the large volume of video and audio content can also be a major challenge, particularly with new versions being delivered daily. To help this, we've been working on a new set of content management features, such as version and date tagging, to significantly improve and simplify these workflows.
Often complex shows help push the development of software features forward that we were already working on. d3's upcoming dynamic-edge-blend and tracking features allow the designer to project content onto multiple moving surfaces from multiple projectors, with d3 recomputing edge blend masks in real time. This gives the designer a degree of freedom and flexibility that simply wasn't possible before, as well as drastically reducing the workload of the projectionist and compressing setup period. It also enables a number of sophisticated motion effects that we believe will become a standard part of the new language of stage video design.
What considerations had to be made since it was a touring production?
For shows with large numbers of projectors and short load-in times, a major challenge is to get all projectors calibrated in time. d3's parallel collaborative workflows allow many operators to work together to get the job done faster. In this case, a team of four operators can calibrate over 20 projectors in under four hours.
What is the role of the d3 programmer and how do you interface?
The role of the programmer is to manage all editing of the timeline according to the requirements of the video director, including content management and effects programming. They are also responsible (with the projection team) for the health of the system as a whole, which includes performance, hardware, and interfacing with external elements. Finally, they are also responsible, again with the projection team, for the quality of the visible output on stage—projector calibration, brightness and colour-space management, edge-blending, sharpness, and so on.