In 2008 I was providing lasers for the “Dallas” TV Show reunion at Southfork Ranch north of Dallas. I could project directly upon the ranch house used for the TV show! So I did some outlining, tracing, etc.
In 2014, I booked a show for the Wharton, Texas “Freedom Fest” and we were projecting the show upon the Wharton County Courthouse! I did some minimal outlining and path following, and got to know the building.
We were back in Wharton again in 2015, and I took advantage of this to map out the building and all of the windows. I even set up a day earlier than usual so that I could work things out. I was learning how to create, edit, and organize hundreds of images in order to get the precision and effects that I wanted. This show included detailed outlining, path following of images like Stars and Stripes, and fast sequencing of architectural elements.
In 2017 I was contacted by the Arts Council in Frederick, Oklahoma about providing lasers for a street dinner that they were planning. So, I made a point to go there and see what I was working with! What I found was that they were planning a fund raiser to restore the Ramona Theatre. I proposed a full laser mapping experience after dinner sitting right in front of the theater.
I began to work on the very rich architectural details of the Ramona Theatre, getting everything digitized and organized, and then combined the laser mapping images with the music, building up layers and interpreting the sound. I was using my own much composition, “Powerful Flight” and it was working very well!
As I was working, the Nebraska State Capitol people called and BOOM! I was doing the same type of thing for them, but on a much larger scale and complexity of show! Fortunately I had access to larger lasers, so I could plan the Ramona Theatre show using 5 Watt lasers, and the Nebraska Capitol show using 30 Watt lasers. Of course, the two shows were scheduled within one day of each other LOL.
Since then it has been a great succession of fine buildings for me over the last few years! I’ll explore some of the laser mapping terms and concepts that I use –
Outlining the Building
Everyone loves to see their favorite building outlined! It is a fact. So I always start by making the main building outlines; I do at least a couple of styles, breaking them down into sub-outlines, etc. And I am taking care to save and name every last one of them in a manner that I can find them later!
Inner Details
This is where things get detailed and interesting! I will basically outline all of the inner details, windows, pediments, columns, etc. and learn all about the building that I can along the way. Sometimes there are hidden patterns that the lasers can bring out at key points during the show.
Negative Space
I always look for the negative space in between the details – will it lend itself to interesting laser patterns and movement? I begin combining images and looking at their positive and negative space qualities. Here I found a face in the Ramona Theatre!
Path Following
This is a big part of the show, especially for transitions – I define paths and then fill them with moving laser imagery. This can be words, pictures, and especially abstract patterns.
Logo Projection
Logos are Important! I look at the event logos and see how they will best fit into the building space, and create projection zones for them. Bigger is better!
Full Building Projection
I try a variety of the different images planned for the show and see how they will look on the real building. How can I do this?
The First Test (if possible)
This is at least a month ahead of the show – I set up the lasers and actually remap all of the image setting and images to the actual building, and see how things are working! I shoot a lot of video from several angles to review later, and take lots of pictures. Often you can spot things in the pictures and videos that you miss when watching live!
Laser Map Anything!
All of the above descriptions can apply to other objects – I have even laser mapped trees, a favorite of mine!
Laser Mapping is great fun both to create and to view; please feel free to contact me directly if you have an interesting building to discuss – contact Tim!