Andrew Hawker, CT's technical director, worked on the project for a year, and was responsible for designing and installing the projection system. Using eight Barco XLM25HD video projectors, images were projected onto eight floating 'rock fragments' during the 'Allegory' section of the opening ceremony, played out to a narrative and soundtrack of Mahler's 3rd Symphony.
'Allegory' was the most technically-challenging part of the ceremony, and took the audience on a journey through landmark periods of Greek history - spanning thousands of years - using sculpture as a metaphor.
When the galaxy of floating rocks surrounding the central feature of a cube rose into the air, the faces of the rock fragments were transformed through video into images of human faces and bodies. Video playback was from eight channels of Dataton Watchout, running synchronously, each image projected at a resolution of 1280 x 720 to make use of the XLM25HD's widescreen chip. The widescreen images were rotated through 90°, using Catalyst moving heads mounted to each projector to display the portrait images over eight metres high, for a worldwide TV audience of over four billion.
CT used Watchout as the best playback medium because it facilitated multiple channel synchronous high resolution playback, and allowed Dave Boeck, CT's Watchout programmer/designer, to create digital projection masks so that the images could fit the abstract shape of the rock fragments. All signal paths were RGB progressive scan, and distribution around the stadium was via optical fibre.
"Andrew and his team produced brilliant results; the projected images looked stunning, both in the stadium and on TV," says Charlie Whittock, CT's project director. "Jack Morton Public Events produced an amazing show and we're extremely proud to have been part of such a prestigious and successful event."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
