As I mentioned last time, I took a trip down to San Luis Obispo to hash out technical details for the Nov. 5 show with the venue. Top of the agenda was to experiment with different projection setups to see if we should do things differently from the 2010 show at Zellerbach. And, well… OMG – let me tell you about the projector the Cohan Center has in house!
This projector – a Barco DP2K-23B – is a beast. It’s HUGE – it’s as big as I am and weighs twice as much at roughly 300 lbs. It has its own ventilation system. It’s super bright; at only 50% power, you still get a crystal-clear image even with full house and stage lights on. At max width and height, the image spans the entire stage (and then some).
However, this guy does front projection only. We use the projections like backdrops; everything is done in front of the screen. So, what about people walking through the projection beam and casting shadows? After some tweaking, we found a stage setup that would still give us the room we needed yet put us far enough in front of the screen such that the beam would clear everyone’s heads. We’re set!
I also checked out the lights and the new (for me, anyway, since the setup wasn’t this snazzy when I worked for the venue) lighting console:
And, after all the meetings, I managed to squeeze in a quick walk around campus. Cal Poly has undergone some pretty big changes since I graduated! For example, the entire center of campus has been demolished for the new “Area 52” science and math building. And the Rec Center now has views – views!! For any fellow alums out there who haven’t seen the campus in awhile, here are some photos of the biggest changes:
Noooo… the spider building!!