Barco Assists Tsinghua University's Centenary Celebration with 3D Projection Display

On April 24, Tsinghua University in China celebrated its 100th anniversary. That night, tens of thousands of students, professors and alumni held their alma mater's birthday party in front of the university's main building. Barco's XLM HD30 projector was used in the animated projection segment of the show, presenting 3D effects that won the crowd's applause.

A design team from the Academy of Arts & Design provided the projection display, which used the main building as the projection background. The 3D effects were achieved through variations in images, color, and light. The constantly changing animated graphics worked harmoniously with the building's structure to create the illusion that the building was moving and morphing as part of the imagery.

Four Barco XLM HD30 projectors were deployed. The projector supports a 360-degree installation and uses an advanced liquid cooling design. The projector's Scheimpflug adjustment function solves the problem of inaccurate focus caused by tilted projections. Moreover, the projector can meet a variety of outdoor installation conditions. Its modular design makes it particularly suitable for large-scale events and on-site maintenance.

Mr. Chu Xiaobin, the video projection planner of Tsinghua University's centenary celebration and a professor at the Academy of Arts & Design, commented, "The essence of projection is a process of combining video art and advanced projection technology. Image requirements and the building's structure must be aligned precisely. The adjustment process fine-tunes details, aligns pixels for parts of the image, and blends the image frame. We had a very successful performance on this occasion -- and we will come up with more interesting designs in the future."

Mr. Sha Xiaolan, the chief lighting designer of the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Asia Games, was responsible for the celebration's overall lighting design: "The 3D projection show on the main building produced excellent outcomes at the beginning and end of the Tsinghua anniversary party. Four 30,000-lumen high-brightness projectors were required -- and had to be combined effectively -- to attain such a stunning visual performance. This was a very successful production, and this kind of technology application will be the trend in future large-scale theatrical performances."

Ms. Zhao Hong, the supervisor of Tsinghua's anniversary party and deputy head of the Tsinghua Arts Centre and headmaster's office, highly commended the projection effects: "The audience was immediately amazed when the projection came onto the main building. The images were clear, colorful, dynamic and creative. Barco's equipment met the stringent requirements of this program beautifully. Furthermore, Barco's service team provided support and security to ensure the program ran smoothly."

Bright, a local video and audio equipment supplier, also played a vital role in this large-scale video project.

Barco's managing director sales and service and VP sales entertainment for Greater China, Mr. Tang Feng, commented: "Barco has extensive experience in projecting light shows onto buildings - including the 2008-2010 Lyon Festival of Lights and the unparalleled sound and light landscape in the Ghent, Belgium, Light Festival 2011. Our innovative applications are leading the industry. In addition, we are very pleased that the creative lighting market is growing in China. Barco's professional high-end projection systems will continue to provide innovative applications for the visual technology industry."