[New] DIRK VAN POPPEL TALKS VIDEO MAPPING

Words: Stew Hume Photos: Christie

Hosted annually in Eindhoven, Netherlands, GLOW sees some of the world’s leading creatives and specialists in the art of video mapping descend on the city to showcase the very latest in what this visual technique can achieve. Although somewhat of a departure from the typical show that appears in the pages of TPi, we were keen to speak to some of the leading experts to find out the latest developments from this side of the industry.

As in previous years, the projection equipment for the event was supplied by Sahara Benelux. Two of the centre points of this year’s event were the Main Station and the neighbouring hotel, both of which were draped in projected content produced by Dirk van Poppel from TrackTo.

“I was originally asked to manage the production and oversee the content creation for two different buildings as well as produce light artwork for the main square, Stationsplein Eindhoven,” stated Poppel.

“I was also tasked with coaching the on-site team through a mapping process that was not common for them. Together with this team, we ensured that all the 3D mapping was upheld.” The team Poppel was coaching were all employed by the event’s main sponsor. “ASML use the latest technology to make the most intricate machines to build extremely small complex chips,” commented Poppel. “It’s been interesting to see ASML combine their high technological standards with art projects such as this one.”

GLOW has earned a reputation as a platform to showcase the latest in video projection, and this year was no different.

“One of the main challenges this year was that we were projecting onto glass on the Central Station,” stated Poppel. “This is unique in the mapping world. Most of the time, the windows are forgotten, but that is not possible on the Central Station as there was so much glass to contend with. We had to put a special foil on the window that captured the light from the projectors.”

To achieve the desired effect, the production uses 350 sq m of foil to drape the building. “The public is used to being able to look through the large window into the building. We didn’t want to just block it out and the foil worked as a great solution and acted as somewhat of an optical illusion that we could play with inside and out.” Numerous Christie products were utilised on the show. For the main station, there were five Christie Griffyn 4K35RGB laser projectors, fed by Christie Pandoras Box media servers. “The audience at GLOW have become accustomed to a very high-quality standard of mapping,” Poppel said, explaining the need for innovation in the field. “It’s very important for the artist to be able to make new things, new scales, and new combinations with various techniques. That’s the reason I opted for a building with a glass façade, which is very new and provides new possibilities.”

He went on to explain that the best designers are determined to merge content onto buildings with a lot more refined detail. “This means we push each other to new levels every time because more detail in the content means clearer imaging from the projectors. We find that the software between content and the projectors is getting better and better each year. I also find that in these types of projects, there are two artists – the one making the content and the other behind the technical deployment.”

To close, Poppel addressed the all-too-common debate, which pits projection mapping against LED video technology. “The mapping technique gives the possibilities to turn everything into a theatre,” he explained. “Buildings inside, outside, big, small, old or new, you can always project on it. With 3D mapping, you can transform the world into anything you dream of and enchant the audience with this illusion. It truly gives you the ability to create a fully immersive experience.” www.gloweindhoven.nl www.christiedigital.com www.trackto.nl