Genius Loci Weimar 2014 -
German Nationaltheater

TASK

In 2014, a Weimar building with great cultural significance was to be staged by Genius Loci - the German National Theater.

The DNT Weimar was to be projected over a width of more than 60 meters, and the statue of the Goethe-Schiller monument in front of the building had to be excluded from the projection.

As a result, the projectors had to be positioned at very specific locations in order to create a coherent, continuous image on such a large facade area. Furthermore, since high-quality and impressive sound is essential for a video mapping installation, a sound system for potentially 5,000 viewers had to be created.

SOLUTION

The creative agency Rüstungsschmiede.de won the competition and impressively staged their work "Klang3" on the facade of the German National Theater Weimar. MXWendler's consulting, planning and operating enabled a 4K media resolution in image sequences, with 30 frames per second for impressive flowing movements and a sound system for 5,000 people for the performance.

Taking into account the size of the building and the position of the statue, the projectors were positioned so that the building was completely covered without the statue casting a shadow. Two projector towers were planned for three projectors: On the right tower, two projectors covering the upper and lower right areas; on the left tower, the third projector covering the lower left area. The FXServer and the sound system amplifier were positioned in the right tower.

The sketch shows how the projector towers were placed to avoid the statue in the center of the square. In addition, only two towers could be placed and a fiber optic extender was required. Both of these optimizations reduced material costs and construction time. The numbers in the bars were the numbers of the assigned Windows screens in the Windows 7 screen setting (see below). The project site towers are constructed of standard scaffolding material. There is a one cubic meter water tank in their bottom to ensure stability.

The Windows 7 64-bit system with an AMD Fire Pro graphics card was connected to the user interface monitor and the three projectors via Displayport-to-DVI converters. The connection to the second tower was implemented with a Fibre Extender. EDID managers were used to avoid EDID complications.

The Windows configuration mirrored the projector configuration. On the left, the user interface monitor; on the right, the three projectors. The FXServer output window spanned all three projectors.

Depending on the projector setting and the resolution of the projector, the final resolution could be calculated:

2 x WUXGA (width) = 3840x1200 - overlap = 3600x1200

2 x WUXGA (height)= 1920x2400 - overlap = 1920x2200

Final clip resolution: 3600x2200

The template was created by the artists to simplify the mapping setting. Due to the large area of the theater and the front row of columns on the facade, there were shadows in the back of the entrance. The artists decided to optimize this area.

The colored stencil was mapped onto the facade. The artists used 2-way radios and binoculars for an efficient setup, allowing one person to stay at the machine and input the values while another stood closer to the building and had a better view for the mapping details.

Applications

FXServer
Multi-Monitor-Configuration
EDID Management

StageDesigner
Keystone
Playlist

Support und Services
24/7 Support-Hotline
Mapping Service Operator
Show Service Operator

Credits

ruestungsschmiede.de (Video)

Henry Sowinski (Photographie)