Pixway Uses d3 for Helene Fischer Tour 2014Berlin-based d3 Studio Pixway used d3 for the projection and LED elements in German pop singer Helene Fischers' Farbenspiel Tournee 2014. Farbenspiel Tournee 2014 is the second Fischer tour Pixway Creative Visual Event Solutions have worked on for Videotechnik Bär. After a collaboration last year, Pixway was once again invited to provide visualizations, pre-programming, and sequencing for the show as well as supplying the d3 servers to control the show. Using d3 to start the design and visualization process in their Berlin-based Pixway STUDIO, the team was joined by the show's lighting designers Patrick Woodroffe and Andreas Kisters, and content creators Marcel Fiedler and Haegar, plus one of the creative minds of the production, Marvin A. Smith. Counting on d3 as a collaborative tool, they could work through the creative process of the 3 hour show together from the very first meeting. The stage design by Stufish featured a mix of projection and LED. Revealing more as layers of the design are peeled back, the show started with projections on a slightly curved 22m x 12m curtain front of stage. These opened after the second song to reveal a second, similar set of curtains halfway the stage. Six songs into the show, the curtains gave way to reveal a 22m x 12m LED wall with an illuminated tree in front of it. Two LED side walls measuring 5m x 7m completed the video elements on stage. This sequence of revealing more of the stage one step at a time was repeated after the mid show break, and could as such create a versatile space for the German star to perform in. Pixway used a d3 4U v2.5 as a master and two d3 4U v2.5s as slaves, as well as one understudy to back up the entire network. With this set up, they projected on the two sets of curtains and controlled the LED walls. d3 was also used to sequence the video show with LTC for sound synchronization. The main technical challenges for the show was related to the touring aspect: setting up a show this size on a different sized stage every time while working with mapping and content adjustments in a short amount of time required careful planning and adaptability on site. Next to this, the show also included interactive elements with content responding to the movements of Fischer, and content needed to be flexible enough to play around with separate stage elements like the tree. d3's QuickCal projection feature could especially help speed up the process of setting up while remaining highly accurate. Says Paul Meffert, who handled d3 operation on the show: "We could set up the show in under two hours including all projectors, mapping and interactive content adjustments--that was just great. d3 is a flexible platform which allows for setting up a complex video system including cameras, video mixers, projection, and LED: it could really help create an amazing visual show for the audience." d3 is the world's first fully integrated visual production system for video professionals, the company says, combining a real-time 3-D stage visualizer, timeline, video playback engine, and projection mapping tools into one product. d3's unique integrated workflow assists the designer at all stages of the project, from pitch to delivery. Credits
Stage Design: Stufish
Producer: Semmel Concerts, Dieter Semmelmann
Technical Director: Soundhouse, Alex Spengler
Production Manager: Soundhouse, Thomas Schmitt
d3 Project Setup: Pixway STUDIO, Paul Meffert
Content Production and Design: Marcel Fiedler, Haegar, Shop Studio LTD
Music/Audio Production: Christoph Papendieck
Lighting Design: Patrick Woodroffe, Andreas Kisters
Lighting Operator: Andreas Kisters d3 Supplier: Pixway - Creative Visual Event Solutions
Projection, video mixer & LED Supplier: Videotechnik Bär
Audio Supplier: Soundhouse
Lighting Supplier: Satis&Fy
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