A gauze drifting in a breeze, an automated bouncing ball, a performer
flying along a curved path through the auditorium - all these effects
and more can now be drawn as imagined and executed seamlessly with
Stage Technologies' standard automation systems.
Use 2 or more point hoists to allow
2 or 3d fluid movement
The award-winning Pathway technology that created the spectacular
flying effects seen at the Millennium Dome and The Witches of Eastwick
has been extended and enhanced in Visual Creator, combining astonishing
ease-of-use with a new level of capability in entertainment motion
control. Visual Creator has been used by Cirque du Soliel in Las Vegas,
and is used in the Cameron Mackintosh/Disney production of "Mary
Poppins".
Most automation systems focus on simple point-to-point moves: a cloth
flys in, a cloth flys out. A good system allows multiple axes to be
moved at different speeds to multiple different target positions.
But such moves exploit only a fraction of the creative potential of
modern automation.
Complex cues may be plotted with
ease
Paths: 2D or 3D free-form
flying
A path through 2D
or 3D space can be created while passing through
a number of known points. A path can be a single
journey or continuous loop.
Maps: the software gearbox
A
map defines, through the use of software, the position
relationship between a number of axes.
Profiles: the artistry of hand-flying plus pin-point
accuracy
Using profiles the position of an axis can be plotted
against time.
Although the position control system allows the execution of fluid
motion profiles across multiple motors, the huge complexity of calculating
such cues using traditional tools means that most users simply never
try. The underlying power of computerised position control systems
remains unavailable to most users.
In an age when audiences demand ever greater artistry, sophistication
and spectacle, creators and technicians need a tool to unlock the
hidden power of automation. This tool is Visual Creator.
Visual Creator is a motion design tool that may be used with any Stage
Technologies' console and allows three types of movement (paths, maps
and profiles) to be plotted.
The power of Visual Creator is realised when Paths, Maps, and Profiles
are recorded as Visual Creator actions. Standard features allow operator
intervention to the cue, such as changing the speed on the fly and
the ability to reverse the cue. These may be previewed on screen enabling
the proposed moves to be enhanced before they are executed on stage.
