126 • October 2012 • Lighting&Sound America

VIDEO MATTERS

Mining the Third DimensionBy: Richard Cadena

A couple of years ago, I had dinnerwith recording engineer extraordinaireand the inventor of the parametricequalizer, George Massenburg. Thediscussion led to art and music andthe question of what makes it great.Then he posed a simple question thathas been gnawing at me ever since:“What do you suppose people will belistening to 1,000 years from now?”

Personally, I think I’ll still be listen-ing to the Beatles and Miles Davis,assuming, of course, that the anti-aging pills I just ordered online from apharmacy in Russia really work. As faras the rest of you, it’s hard to tell if

catchy hooks will prevail over movingmelodies, clever counterpoints, or richorchestrations. But one thing is forcertain. A thousand years from now,live event production will be far moreadvanced than it is today, and videowill play an important part of it. Bythen, we might even agree on what“high definition” really is.

Whatever the medium will look likein the future, content will still be king.Regardless of delivery method, some-one is still going to have to create thepixels that feed the machines. It’s thecontent that moves people and elicitsreaction. And as video displays

become more and more sophisticated,so will the content. One day, there willbe true holographic video projection(or perception—who knows if it willneed to be projected or simply per-ceived) and the need to herd pixels inan intelligent manner will becomeincreasingly important. And peoplewho are clever at doing so will alwaysbe in demand.

Last month at PLASA, there was aneye-catching 3-D array of LEDs on theSGM booth, running programs withcontent in three dimensions. This isnot to be confused with 3-D video,which is displayed in two dimensions

The SGM booth at PLASA 2012, displaying a dazzling 3-D array of LEDs.

Pho

to: R

ichard

Cad

ena

Copyright Lighting&Sound America October 2012 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

but perceived in three, usually whilewearing a flattering pair of eyeglasses.I’m talking about a physical layout ofLEDs in three dimensions so that youcan literally walk around it and see itfrom a different perspective at everyviewing position.

Three-dimensional LED arraysprobably have more in common withholography than the Musion Eyeliner3-D effect that was recently used atthe Coachella Festival, in whichSnoop Dogg performed a duet withTupac Shakur (even though Tupachas been gone for 16 years.) That’snot to take away from the Eyelinertechnology; it’s an amazing effect. It’sjust not what I would call a hologram,which is a true 3-D image.

By the same token, a 3-D LEDarray isn’t a hologram either, but it’sa true 3-D effect. Lots of these dis-plays are popping up around theworld, mostly in nightclubs and dis-cos, and it seems that media serversand pixel mappers aren’t keeping up

with 3-D content creation for 3-DLED arrays. There are lots of 2-Deffects and canned content for 2-Ddisplays, but content for 3-D LEDarrays is harder to come by. That’sone reason that I was impressedenough with the programming on theSGM stand to inquire about the pro-grammer. I was led to a guy namedChristian Byriel, of SGM, who toldme that he used a Madrix controllerto program the show.

I asked him about where he man-aged to get the 3-D content, and hesaid he created it using 2-D videomapping and a couple of tricks. Hedescribed how he tricked the con-troller into creating 3-D effects bymapping video to a different-sizedarray than was really there. It wassimilar to the way it was describedin the online forum on the Madrixwebsite. A couple of people hadposted on the forum, asking how tocreate 3-D content using the Madrixsystem. The solution, it seems, is

VIDEO MATTERS

300 CMH Road Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482903.438.1100 www.xsftruss.com

Standard and Custom Truss Ground Support Circular Truss Roof Systems Hinges

Corner Blocks Rigging Accessories Powder Coating Engineering Technical Design

On-Site Fabrication Safety Platforms

WE RECYCLE

Xtreme Quality. Xtreme Service. Xtreme Innovation.

Contact us for all of your aluminum truss, rigging, hardware and accessory needs.

Visit us at LDI Booth #425 in Las Vegas

CIR

CLE

RE

AD

ER

SE

RV

ICE

78

Christian Byriel, the content programmer at the SGM booth, displays the Madrix con-troller he used to program the 3-D LED arrays.

Pho

to: R

ichard

Cad

ena

relatively simple. By thinking of the Z-axis as layers

of video, you can effectively trick itinto displaying content not only inthe X and Y direction but also in theZ direction. Each layer represents aplane in the Z direction. You can usesome effects just as they are, and,by nature of their random pixelassignment, you get unique looks inthe Z direction, automatically creat-ing a 3-D effect.

Other effects are more uniform,and, by duplicating it in the Z direc-tion, it simply extrudes the first layerin the Z direction. Other uniqueeffects can be created by usingmacros to offset each layer and pro-duce motion like undulation andsequences in the Y direction.

Examples of Byriel’s work atPLASA can be seen athttp://youtu.be/dj-ybvM5QzI. Startingat 0:12, you can see an undulatingeffect with a fan in the Z direction,creating a very 3-D wave effect. At

0:16, you can see the screen layoutshowing 19 layers laid out side-by-side. It shows a radial color effectmultiplied 19 times, and each layer isslightly delayed, which creates a 3-Dpinwheel effect. You can see theresults of it starting at 0:55.

For power users—that top onepercent—of Madrix software, thismethod will no doubt provide endlessoptions for configuring and creating3-D content. But for that fat part ofthe bell curve where the casual userresides, software makers would dowell to step up and design softwarespecifically for the creation of contentfor 3-D LED arrays. It’s the bridge thatwill eventually take us to holographyand the creation of abstract 3-D con-tent for holographic displays.

Most automated lighting consoleshave an effects engine that usesshape generators to create automat-ed effects. They allow you to usewaveforms like sine waves, trianglewaves, square waves, etc., to shape

any parameter like color, movement,etc. They also allow you to fan outparameters to create waves and moreorganic-looking movement. I can seea similar effects engine for LED map-ping that uses waveforms to createdimensional graphics in any directionand fanning to create spirals or color,movement, or form.

Some purists object to the use ofeffects generators because they canbe abused. There are those who relytoo heavily on automated effects, andthere are times when art is sacrificedfor speed and ease of programming.But when they are used correctly,effect generators are a powerful tool,no different than a fine paintbrush inthe hands of a good artist.

I’ve been giving it a lot of thought,and I still don’t know what musicpeople will be listening to in 1,000years. But I know that it will beaccompanied by awesome, multidi-mensional graphics, probably createdwith the help of great software.

l i g h t i n g

t r u c k i n g

p r o d u c t i o n s u p p o r t

s a l e s

s e r v i c e

s t o r a g e

8 1 5 . 8 9 9 . 9 8 8 8

CHICAGO LOS ANGELES

w w w . u p s t a g i n g . c o m

821 Park AvenueSycamore, Illinois 60178Ph. 815-899-9888Fax 815-899-1080

415 North Canon Dr., Suite 1Beverly Hills, California 90210Ph. 310-859-9800Fax 310-859-2804

Jason Robinson - Production Designer

CIRCLE READER SERVICE 79