Luxury long-distance train transformed with UST projection
A Fujifilm Z5000 laser projector stands behind a travelling light installation on The Ghan, a train which covers the 2,797 kilometres from Darwin in the north of Australia to Adelaide in the south.
Working as the creative directors and producers of the 2021 Parrtjima Festival, which is owned by the Northern Territory Major Events Company (NTMEC), AGB Events produced and delivered a travelling installation on The Ghan for NT Tourism with the help of technical partner Novatech Creative Event Technology and a Fujifilm Z5000 projector.
Novatech Creative Event Technology director of sales and marketing Ashley Gabriel explained: “We needed a projector with ultra-short throw capability plus a small footprint as rear projection and long-throw projection wasn’t an option. We also needed to fill the screen with as large an image as possible in a confined space, like a train carriage. It also needed to run reliably on the train trip down from Darwin. I’m delighted to say the Fujifilm Z5000 was the perfect projection solution as it provided great ultra-short throw in a small footprint, giving bright results on the screen from sitting on the floor, so any viewing sightlines were not impeded yet a great image was displayed.”
The end result was a whole carriage of The Ghan – a 900-metre luxury train that travels the 2,797 kilometre stretch between Darwin and Adelaide – being turned into a travelling Parrtjima light installation utilising digital imagery from the 2019 Ranges Show. This imagery was projected onto a wall the entire width of the Ghan carriage measuring 2.7 metres by 1.6 metres high and was enriched by an epic musical composition and narration.
Gabriel continued: “The Z5000 projector almost became invisible as it was sitting on the floor in a custom enclosure very close to the screen. It was so discrete and enabled a great projection result based on the circumstances. It was also incredibly reliable for the entire trip and resulted in the brilliant clear images we needed.”
Due to its flexibility only a single projector was required for the entire production as it ran a programmed video set including holding slides then a video of projections in Alice Springs amongst many other amazing images.
Gabriel concluded, “We used the Z5000 as a single front projection using a simple but effective video input. It is a very flexible projector with great optics given its unique dual-axis lens. In short the Z5000 was the only projector we trusted to use in a confined space and in a unique event location such as The Ghan train travelling the length of Australia. It really was the ideal projector for the job.”
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Posted: 2nd September 2021