GPS positioning was used to set out aiming points
LEDs outshine video screens xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yet there was one small problem. ‘When
the outside broadcast service people came in, they found that they were picking up flicker,’ explained Simpson. It turns out that lighting guidance has not kept pace with camera technology and the higher shutter speeds now in use. The solution lay in rebalancing the phases of the luminaires. ‘If you look at any individual point on
the track, you want your 2000 lux to come from the three different phases in equal amounts. By rebalancing them, we got the flicker down from 20% to about 6%.’
The lights fantastic – how LEDs made Boyle’s vision all right on the night
Beat that, Rio. Danny Boyle may not have had the budget of Beijing, but boy did he deliver an opening ceremony to remember. Boyle’s bonkers take on these Isles of Wonder, from green and pleasant land through the dark satanic mills of the industrial revolution to the birth of the NHS and beyond, was brought spectacularly to life with the help of the latest LED technology.
So we sat down as a team and that’s how we’ve ended up with the triangular towers Mike Simpson
26 CIBSE Journal September 2012
In effect, the audience became part of the presentation as mini LED units, or tablets, mounted on the backs of seats in the Stadium, turned spectators into a giant video screen. Tait Technologies, specialists in the integration of LED technology, produced more than 70,500 LED pixel tablets for the entire stadium seating grid. Each hand-held video tablet contained nine LED pixels, all of which could be individually programmed and viewed at angles of 180 degrees horizontally and vertically. Content for the opening ceremony was devised by digital imaging specialist, Crystal CG, in conjunction with Boyle and his team. Crystal CG programmed the pixels to display a series of spectacular graphics, from giant waves, to the union flag, to a section documenting the birth of the internet that lit up the audience with the
words ‘this is for everyone’. Crystal CG said this was the first time the pixel tablets have been used on such a large scale. ‘The audience literally became part of the action,’ said Will Case, creative director at Crystal. ‘No longer limited by large flat screens, we were presented with the challenge of creating animations to bring the stage and the spectators together. The live audience and those watching at home were drawn into the action. We are witnessing the death of the traditional video screen – this will transform the way event content is presented in future, becoming a more immersive experience.’
The project was delivered in 14 weeks using a team of 50 designers, with the first tests carried out on 10 July in the Olympic Stadium. A film by Crystal CG on the lighting at the opening ceremony can be seen at www.
cibsejournal.com
CIBSE/SLL members can hear more at a SLL event in October. Lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe had responsibility for both opening and closing ceremonies and he will be on hand to reveal just how they made those Olympics rings look like molten steel as they converged from the side of the stadium. LEDs anyone?
www.cibsejournal.com
pcruciatti/
shutterstock.com
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