The Electric Canvas has been responsible for the Sydney Opera House projections over the last four years of Vivid, providing the projection technology, technicians and architectural templates that are the backbone upon which the creative content is produced. Each year the guest artist is provided the appropriate templates, format and workflow to create their work for delivery by OnlyView media servers that feed the large array of high-powered projectors.
The Electric Canvas is also solely responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the projection system's pixel-accurate alignment with the Opera House's architecture.
An important aspect of The Electric Canvas' role in assuring successful projections for Vivid has been to offer experience and advice to inform and assist the guest artists each year prior to them embarking on the project. In 2009 the company travelled to London to meet with Brian Eno's curators, again to London in 2010 for a meeting with Laurie Anderson and last year to Amsterdam to meet with Urbanscreen.
This year, an alternate projector site had to be developed due to the presence of a cruise ship in the harbour on the opening night of Vivid. The Electric Canvas found a viable solution, specifying the location and structural details for a huge scaffolding tower located close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It was vital that the towers were extremely rigid due to the extraordinary 450m projection distance - the slightest movement of the tower could result in the projections being misaligned.
The projectors also needed to be installed at a height that prevented glare affecting the large volume of maritime traffic passing between the Opera House and the projectors. To determine a safe height The Electric Canvas took a series of time lapse videos at various heights to establish the appropriate specification for the structure.
(Jim Evans)
