Barco at World's Biggest Animatronics Show in Singapore

Barco, a global leader in entertainment lighting solutions, has provided the LED screen technology for Crane Dance, one of the most spectacular fixed performances ever put together. The show, located at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, features the world's largest pair of animatronics figures dancing on a barge 199' out at sea. The challenging conditions of the show, including the rapid movements of the structures and their height, required a unique solution. This involved Barco's FLX-24 LED modules and DX-700 image processing units, resulting in truly astounding visual effects.

Resorts World Sentosa is an integrated resort located off the southern coast of Singapore. It was developed by Genting Singapore; the overseas investment arm of Malaysia's Genting Group and includes major attractions, namely the region's first Universal Studios theme park, FestiveWalk, a Casino, four individually themed hotels and soon the resort will expand with a Marine Life Park (the world's largest oceanarium), two more hotels, and a Maritime Xperiental Museum.

On December 25, the resort launched Crane Dance, which tells the story of two mechanical birds whose undying love for each other transforms them into real birds. In addition to the animatronics of the two ten-story high mechanical birds, there is an audiovisual show. Production designer Jeremy Railton, of the firm Entertainment Design, contacted Barco to see if it could provide an LED solution that could visualize his challenging creative ideas.

"We immediately understood we had to provide a truly unique solution," says Eddie Tan, general manager, SEA, entertainment and simulation at Barco. "The operating conditions for the LEDs are really tough. The structures are both [78.5'] tall and located on a barge 60 meters out at sea. Furthermore, the cranes move on seven axes, at a speed of 12 degrees per second, so the solution also had to be flexible and offer the designers all the desired freedom."

Barco's FLX-24 LED modules and DX-700 image processing units were chosen to do the job. Contrary to traditional LED displays, the 24mm FLX-24 is a freeform product; it can be shaped any which way. Furthermore, this is the world's only creative LED video pixel system that can run 256 LED video pixels on one string, considerably reducing the amount of necessary cables and distribution boxes. With this system the control and power supply equipment can be located 259' away from the screen, thus giving the structure ample space in terms of height and freedom of movement and the most system critical parts to be installed centrally away from the moving cranes. Each screen measures 8m x 8m (26' x 26'), and contains a total of 65,537 pixels, at a pixel pitch of 31.25 mm. Both the screens are more than bright enough for daylight visibility under the Singapore suns. Furthermore two smaller FLX-24 screens are installed in the head of the crane that form the eyes of the birds. The DX-700, Barco's versatile multi-window image processing unit, is a suitable companion for the FLX-24; only one unit processes all content of the two main screens and the four eyes of the cranes.

"We wanted to share something really special with the world," Railton explains. "The aim was to create a spectacle that was so stunning that people would be completely drawn into the happening. To accomplish this, we not only needed a huge mechanical structure, but also overwhelming audiovisual effects. Barco succeeded in providing exactly the LED solutions we needed and the final result is truly amazing, even to me."

"Barco is well known for delivering unique solutions for the world's most challenging and unique shows and themed entertainment," comments Michael Chin, executive vice president, projects, Resorts World Sentosa. "We were confident that they were the right partner for this project and are pleased with the results achieved. Furthermore, the level of support we received from Barco, both during the entire duration of the project and the after sales phase, was truly exemplary."