PSAV's product management of audio and IT, Mark Consiglio, has been an advocate of ArKaos PRO media servers since he was introduced to the brand at InfoComm 2012. "When ArKaos PRO was brought to my attention, I knew this technology would be something that our team and customers would be interested in," stated Consiglio. "Media servers are normally large scale installations so we were excited to learn about this product. The ArKaos Stage Server demo - just a small scale display that mapped video extremely accurately onto a series of blocks - really blew us away with how scalable the system was. I realised how we could use the Stage Server to map video, which we could then project from small meeting-room projectors."
ArKaos' Marco Hinic and Toon Servaes followed up with a personal visit to PSAV's annual RVP meeting where they demonstrated the system to the company at large. "Suddenly our people were able to see the potential of media servers and video mapping firsthand and it really started to snowball," says Consiglio.
ArKaos PRO offers different solutions using projection mapping for presentations. The video mapping systems provide a great alternative to the standard industry fare of two screens and a pipe and drape centerpiece but can also introduce more imaginative scenic elements by 'painting' sets with video.
The appearance of the set can be manipulated easily by changing the background content and intensity, adding and manipulating logos and graphics, mapping screens and three-dimensional shapes or blending the whole together to form one scenic projection with different areas of continual content. Audio and video files can also be synched.
Training is where ArKaos MediaMaster really comes into its own: it is easy to use, fast to learn, easy to train and fully supported by the manufacturer and distributor.
MediaMaster is very simple with an interface which is easy to understand. Unlike some media servers, it is not menu driven so all that is needed is presented on one page. Users can therefore learn MediaMaster on their own simply by reading the screen.
"The training and instant response to support calls from ArKaos are so sharp that it helps us to respond professionally to our clients," says Consiglio. It is a two-way relationship as Consiglio is now on the Beta test team for ArKaos and sees many of his suggestions become a reality. "I think our partnership has helped take the technology down a road that the software developers didn't anticipate in our branch of the industry."
"We are very happy to work in such close collaboration with Mark and his colleagues at PSAV," says ArKaos' business development manager, Agnes Wojewoda. "Mark has a fantastic understanding of video technology and has been putting our software and media servers to some wonderfully creative use. He is a top-class Beta tester and his level of feedback is very important to ArKaos."
(Jim Evans)
