The Shaanxi Tourism Group employed a range of modern technology to stage “Xi’an Incident,” marking the 80th anniversary of one of the turning points in the Chinese Civil War. The production used the most advanced lighting, sound, automation and multimedia mapping technologies to create an immersive viewing experience for audiences. Three d3 4x4pro media servers powered an extensive array of laser projectors and LED screens.
The 60-minute performance was held at Yaoguang Pavilion Theatre, in Xi’an Huaqing Palace, the location of the historical incident, which led the opposing parties in the Chinese Civil War to form a united front against invading Japanese forces.
“Xi’an Incident” reunited the Shaanxi Tourism Group and renowned director Li Hanzhong, who previously collaborated on the successful production, “Everlasting Regret.”
Redline, a d3 reseller in China, provided three d3 4x4pros, with 48 DVI outputs, to feed 36 projectors and 16 LEDs. “d3 provided access to control multiple show devices simultaneously; since it supports open interface and protocol it is compatible with many third-party systems,” explains Hu Jingfeng from Redline’s d3 support team.
Hu notes that, “d3 is more than just a visualiser – it’s a realtime stage simulator. d3 Designer software provides the stage designer with a real 3D stage environment simulating the lighting, video and space along with timeline editing. With the freedom to move around within the virtual space, it gives the designer a real sense of the space and how different elements interact with each other.”
Specifically, to accommodate high-quality visual effects during the performance, the d3 support team “created 100% of the set design inside the d3 software in the preproduction process, including the stage, projection surfaces, projectors, and lighting,” says Hu. “During the implementation period, there was constant communication between stage design, lighting, automation, projection and the video content creation departments to ensure a smooth integration of the various aspects of the production.”
Ma Gong, a technician at the Yaoguang Pavilion Theatre and the show’s d3 operator, reports that, “the director’s team was impressed by d3’s previs feature. All the design was simulated in a 3D realtime stage, truly achieving ‘what you see is what you get!”
In addition, Ma says, “d3’s content mapping was very flexible, allowing for easy realtime modification to the content. The adjustments on the feed output, such as cropping, moving, scaling, rotating and flipping, saved us a huge amount of time.”
Ma cites “d3’s well-rounded features, especially the ability to connect with many different types of control panels. There are still many d3 features that we need to discover and study, so that we can better equip ourselves for future projects. We definitely will recommend it to other users!”
Hank Liu, Redline’s technical manager, says that d3’s QuickCal feature “helped calibrate the projectors in a very short amount of time and the surface mapping was very accurate. The production used an audio console, which sent out LTC. With timecode sync within d3, the director had full confidence that the audio and video would be synchronized every time.”
“From hardware to software, high level to detailed operation, Redline provided us with very clear, thoughtful and comprehensive d3 technical support,” says Ma Gong. “We learned the basic operation and application, but if there were any problems we couldn’t solve Redline engineers helped us communicate with d3’s technical support team. We felt very well supported.”
Stage design for “Xi’an Incident” was by Feng Lei of Beijing Fire Salamander Culture Development Co., Ltd. Content was produced by Beijing Blackbow Creative Design Institution Co., Ltd.
At Redline, the d3 support team included Steve Liu, Wang Tianxin and Hu Jinfeng.
About d3
d3 is the world’s first fully integrated visual production system for video professionals, combining a real-time 3D stage visualizer, timeline, video playback engine and projection mapping tools into one product. d3’s unique integrated workflow assists the designer at all stages of the project, from pitch through development to final delivery. For more information visit www.d3technologies.com.
