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coolux Sends Pandoras Box™ on Tour With Celine Dion

AGOURA HILLS, Calif. — Oct. 28, 2008 —

Canadian singer and international superstar Celine Dion has taken her “Taking Chances” tour on the road using six Pandoras Boxâ„¢ Media Server systems from coolux. The Pandoras Box real-time compositing media servers allow lighting and stage designer Yves Aucoin, with the support of Pandoras Box operator Louis-Philippe Gaudreau, to create the visual spectacle that characterizes Dion’s live performances.

“Pandoras Box provides easy access to control features, allowing us to tweak visuals and imagery in real time rather than return to the edit room,” said Aucoin, who has worked with Dion for nearly two decades. “During a show, the coolux system allows us to adapt to the local conditions very quickly. I can make the necessary modifications in the lighting desk, and Louis-Philippe can save these straight into the timeline of the Media Manager. Instead of saving the changed characteristics in the grandMAâ„¢ console, I can leave modifications and programming of the necessary values entirely to Louis-Philippe and thus stay concentrated on what is happening on stage. It is amazing!”

Pandoras Box from coolux is a 3-D compositing and rendering system that provides real-time on-location media control that is customizable to the needs of each user and project. The system, which features a 4K workspace in dual channels of 2K HD/SD outputs for on-air and pre- and post-production, allows users to arrange video and images freely; change the color, form, and position of images; synchronize 3-D sound; or animate 3-D objects.

“I have used the coolux Pandoras Box for only one year, but I can already say that it is an absolutely reliable, powerful, and stable system,” added Gaudreau. “And what’s more, this hybrid way of working on projections with Yves is really fun!”

The “Taking Chances” Tour started in South Africa in February 2008, following Dion’s highly successful five-year run at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The tour’s impressive stage features an in-the-round design, with the audience positioned around a center stage unless the local venue requires that it be used in an end-stage configuration. In either case, Pandoras Box enables Aucoin and Gaudreau to modify the show as needed.

The center of the stage setting consists of a huge collapsible LED cube composed of 1080 Element Labs STEALTHâ„¢ V2.5 displays, and these are flagged from above by four Gerriets roll-up-screens illuminated by Christie HD projectors. Ayrton LED modules inlaid in the stage floor and the lateral catwalks light up Dion and her dancers and also display graphical content. All around the stage, plasma screens displaying feeds from eight HD cameras and an additional Pandoras Box Media Server let audience members in the first rows follow Dion’s performance closely, even when she’s on the other side of the stage.

Aucoin made the decision to control and mix all the video content using Pandoras Box Media Servers and Pandoras Box Media Manager, which communicates with a grandMA lighting desk. The three Pandoras Box Media Server systems run simultaneously to render the imagery in real time, though each uses a different display technology. One Pandoras Box system controls the extensive LED stage floor, the second feeds the Stealth LED package, and the third is used for the video switcher that mixes live camera feeds to provide stored custom visual media from the Pandoras Box Media Server RAID arrays. Three additional Pandoras Box Media Server systems provide complete redundancy for total reliability, serving as hot backups that can take over at any time.

More information about coolux Media Systems and Pandoras Box is available at

www.coolux-us.com

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About coolux Media Systems

coolux Media Systems is a world-leading provider of award-winning solutions for real-time, on-location media control, compositing, editing, and 3-D image processing. Based in Cologne, Germany, with its international office in Agoura Hills, Calif., coolux and its highly acclaimed Pandoras Box playback system are preferred by customers around the globe in television/broadcast, touring/concert, performing arts, and architectural markets. coolux’s pioneering technology has received numerous awards and accolades including a Primetime EmmyA® Engineering Award. Additional information is available at

www.coolux-us.com

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ENDS

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