CT’s 350-metre wide projection at Saudi ceremony
An opening ceremony at the birthplace of the Saudi Kingdom, required 170 Panasonic projectors at nine projector locations, together with an eight-camera PTZ system for line-up and monitoring.
Diriyah Gate is the birthplace of the Saudi Kingdom and was the original home of the Saudi Royal Family. Today it is a 19th century UNESCO World Heritage Site which is set to attract thousands of tourists as part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and HRH Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Al Saud launched an opening ceremony of Diriyah Gate with a spectacular visual show.
CT was called upon by its client Executive Visions (EVI) to deliver the technical implementation of a striking cinematic projection mapping on the historic site to tell the visual story of the kingdom’s history. The ancient ruins of the ‘mud city’ of Diriyah have been restored over the years by the Saudi Royal Family, enabling it to be the centre stage for the production. CT provided 170 Panasonic PT-RZ31K and PT-RZ21K projectors to span a projection canvas that is more than 350 metres wide.
CT was tasked with ensuring all visible surfaces across the 350m+ wide canvas were covered to enable content to run smoothly across six content zones.
“We carried out various site visits during the planning phase so we could strategically plan where the projectors would be located. This enabled us to avoid any potential issues early,” said Dan Hughes, CT’s project manager. “As this was a UNESCO World Heritage site, we needed to carefully assess where the projector locations could be positioned. We worked closely with our client EVI and the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA) to ensure all locations were approved by the DGDA ahead of time.”
CT was tasked with ensuring the projectors were not visible or in line with the performance area. This was achieved through key planning and projection studies on site. CT had a total of nine independent projector locations spread across the site, and any projector that was in view had a custom enclosure manufactured.
Tom Stocks, CT’s senior engineer explained: “We needed to cover a 350m+ wide projection canvas that had several uneven surfaces. We strategically placed all projectors to eliminate any shadows and installed an eight-camera PTZ system for full site coverage of every area. This was used for our engineers to assist with the line-up and also distributed around the site for client monitoring. A total of five SDI matrixes were used to distribute video signal to all locations around the site, totalling to over 380 independent 3G SDI feeds.”
As it was such a large scale site, CT required three remote media server locations to eliminate large amounts of fibre runs. This was achieved by installing a fully redundant Riedel MediorNet system and network ring to distribute media server control, content, multiviewer feeds and genlock around the site to each disguise server location.
Hughes continued: “We were faced with many on-site weather challenges due to extreme rain on the days leading up to the show, but thankfully all departments and clients on site pulled together to ensure the equipment was safe and ready for the event. CT had a team of 22 dedicated professionals working on this project for over a month, and I could not have asked for a better team. We overcame all anticipated challenges and delivered a show beyond our clients’ expectations. I would like to thank EVI and DGDA for trusting CT to be part of this historic moment in Saudi Arabia.”
Visit the AV Magazine website to stay up-to-date with all the latest AV industry news.
Posted: 12th March 2020