Spectacular laser projections on rapper Drake's European tour

The specialist PRG XL Video has been responsible for the equipment of the Canadian rapper's 'Boy meets world' European tour; a show technologically starring a projection balloon, in which eight Panasonic laser projectors create stunning images thanks to Blacktrax and d3 technologies.

The Canadian rapper Drake is currently a world reference. With the launch in 2016 from his album 'Views’ and from the playlist 'More Life’ in 2017, this artist has started a European tour, after the success of the one carried out in the United States, in which he offers his European fans a show different from those they had already seen.

Steve Kidd, tour designer and director, together with Guy Pavelo, lighting designer and director, have worked closely with Drake for more than five years to stage his concerts, where they use equipment from the event technology provider PRG XL Video.

The design of the show offered on Drake's 'Boy meets world' European tour is very complex and incorporates various lighting and video technological elements, such as an advanced LED lighting system and a video wall, as well as a wide variety of unique projections. One of the new features is the projection balloon, in which eight laser projectors Panasonic PT-RZ31K, arranged in four double stacks, create impressive images thanks to technologies Blacktrax y d3 technologies.

This projection balloon idea, as Guy Pavelo explains, “It arose because it was part of an artistic creation inaugurated in Toronto, titled 'The Death of the Sun', and it was a round sphere of almost 14 meters located on top of a pedestal on which a projection was made. It was a progression of twelve or fifteen minutes in which the different stages of the sun could be seen., from the birth of the star through the nebula and until its final explosion”.

Added to this was the fact that the team that had created this balloon had already worked with Drake before., So they got back in touch and created the one used on this tour “using d3 and Blacktrax technologies to map and track the ball as it inflates during the concert.”, with which we can realign it and use it as we wish”, Puntaliza Pavelo.

The Blacktrax company, specialized in real-time object tracking, has developed a special system to do it through multiple dimensions, taking into account the sweep, the tilt and roll of the object, as well as its direct movement in 3D. From there this information can be provided to other sound systems, media drivers, lighting or cameras.

All technologies used in the show have the data to accurately track moving objects, so the end result is a stunning visual effect. Besides, The Panasonic PT-RZ31K projector was used with great success at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. 2016, which was then a prototype, and offers a Laser Solid Shine of 30.000 lumens, proving its effectiveness in large-scale live shows, and that is why PRG made a significant investment this year in ultra-high brightness Panasonic laser projectors.