Mercedes Benz launches the V-Class minivan creating a spectacular multimedia experience

The German animation agency m box Bewegtbild created a multimedia experience to launch the new Mercedes Benz V-Class minivans in Munich. A production in which the staging of live performances was merged, with computer generated animations. BlackTrax provided the technology for its realization.

Emphasizing the robustness and consistency of its products, as well as its high performance, BlackTrax provided the solution that allowed the monitoring of the movements that took place in this multimedia experience carried out by the production company m box Bewegtbild on the occasion of the launch of the minivan of 8 Mercedes Benz seats, V-Class. This world premiere took place on the days 30 y 31 January 2014 at the Olympiapark in Munich.

Under the creative direction of the Oliver Schrott Kommunikation agency (OSK), m box produced a show 3:40 minutes using a hybrid mix of live action and computer generated animation.

To carry out this production, four Full HD projectors were used to display the images of the backdrop of 20 metros, while five other projectors, of equal resolution, were used to display the moving images of the stage.

These multimedia elements were combined with the performance of a dance group composed of 10 artists who performed their staging around a series of mobile elements in the shape of cubes, pyramids and vertical panels.

The m box team worked closely with the show's choreographer, Alex Burgos, to ensure that the video content, lighting effects and audio soundtrack were perfectly programmed and synergized with the movement of the dancers and moving objects, while transmitting the production message that revolved around the functionalities of the new Mercedes Benz vehicle.

“We have used BlackTrax to follow the movement of the geometric objects on the stage and with the data collected we have then fed our, with the data from the BlackTrax then being fed to our V4 media servers so that the projected images could follow the performers automatically no matter how fast or how far they moved, nor in what direction”, Martin Retschitzegger, CEO of m box.

To produce accurate tracking data, were used 20 Fixed BTBeacons for objects and ten of their PoE BTSensors (which are motion capture cameras protected in the ceiling truss throughout the space) for monitoring BTBeacons . Cada BTBeacon, which is smaller than a flip-phone, contains an infrared LED, an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a small wireless radio.

3D tracking data is transmitted by an IR captured by the BTSensors, while the three-dimensional orientation information was sent by RF directly to the BTController headquarters., doing six tracking dimensions in total. All done in real time. From these multiple sources, the BTServer determines the dynamic position data in DMX and/or ArtNET.

“Using BlackTrax improves, to a large extent, the free movement of artists. They don't have to worry about hitting certain points on the stage or placing objects in the right position, at the right time. With so many objects on stage at once there is always the concern that they will become a distraction for the dancers.. In this case, BlackTrax ensured that these objects became a spectacle. Besides, “BlackTrax reduces rehearsal time as dancers do not have to repeat their movements and allows them great freedom for creativity.”, commented Retschitzegger.

Once the artists and objects to be used for staging have been tagged with BTBeacons, BlackTrax reads the entire space and becomes the 'eye’ from media server , allowing you to see and understand the complex movements of people and objects that are occurring on stage.

Retschitzegger and his team also received support from BlackTrax technicians, as he himself explains. “The use of projection to move and track objects in real time was only possible thanks to the close collaboration we had with the BlackTrax team., who wrote a custom protocol, so the BlackTrax solution could be understood with our media server”.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apNaXlf1_n4[/youtube]