High End Systems' Mike Hanson worked with the duo at Ronnie Dunn's high-tech barn, where they played with Catalyst and digital images prior to production rehearsals. Joining in were video director Chris Keating (U2, Rod Stewart, Kylie Minogue) and B&D veteran video engineer Mike Bischof, both of whom are on the tour.
Hanson demonstrated the new features of Catalyst v3 software, such as the ability to create four layers of content and combine them into virtual scenery; dissolve and crossfade between all four layers; access up to 64,000 digital files; use masking functions for video, and more. The Red Dirt Road set, designed by Brooks & Dunn and Mike Swinford, features two video screens that measure 12.5ft by 16ft. Set to resemble highway billboards, the screens are slanted and tilted at different angles to give a roadside appearance. The one Catalyst system splits the output to the two screens. Control is on a Wholehog II console.
Boster explains how the show will be enhanced with the Catalyst projection onto the 'billboards'. "We overlay some existing video with colour effects, and also overlay on top of the live feed. For example, on the song 'You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone,' we put in a tribute to some musical greats who have passed away, such as June and Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and others. We overlay their photos with clouds in a crossfade from a livefeed. On the song 'Red Dirt Road,' we use lots of images of highway signs. We imported some of our own digital images, and I've designed some gobo patterns as well that I'm excited about using. Catalyst also splits an image, sizes it, rotates it - it's limitless."
Lighting contractor for the tour is Bandit Lites.
(Lee Baldock)
