Digital Projection brings to life the immersive Eternal Mucha exhibition

Nearly 30 laser equipment Digital Projection allow you to create large-scale video mapping in Eternal Mucha. A multi-sensory experience is offered through a projection area of 103.000 pixels, with spatial sound and olfactory technologies.

The systems integrator ETC Onlyview, based in Paris, has perfected large-scale projection mapping in the exhibition Eternal Much, where near 30 laser equipment Digital Projection help give new life to the work of the famous artist more than 80 years after his death.

Focused on iconic designs Art Nouveau by Alphonse Mucha, Eternal Mucha is the fourth exhibition of Grand Immersive Palace, a subsidiary of the Réunion des musées nationaux – Grand Palais (Rmn-GP), the state body that manages the emblematic Grand Palais in Paris, and is specialized in the production, exploitation and distribution of immersive digital audiovisual exhibitions.

Building on the success of previous Grand Palais Immersif exhibitions, Eternal Mucha uses large-scale projection mapping, to place the public within the exhibition. Uses a total projection area of 103.000 pixels, mix of spatial sound and olfactory technologies to create an authentic multisensory experience.

“We have been testing this format for a while”, explains Row Amit, director of the Grand Palais Immersive, who explains that the 'Pompeii' exhibition of 2020 -in which Digital Projection technology was also used, con 31 projectors E-Vision Laser 11000 4K-UHD– served as a proof of concept for the kind of immersive, projection-mapping shows that have quickly become the company's trademark. “This was followed by La Joconde Immersive in Marseille, then Venice Revealed and now Eternal Mucha here in Paris”.

This type of project involves great collaboration between the technical staff and the creatives., so, “In addition to forming a team with the Mucha Foundation –co-producer of the exhibition–, We work with several partners and suppliers, between them, Craftsmen of Ideas, Lund8 and Mardi8, who did a tremendous job at visual storytelling, and our technical partner, ETC Onlyview, for audiovisual installation.

For Eternal Much, the ETC Onlyview integrator, who sold the projectors to the Grand Palais Immersif (GPI) and acts as a technical service provider for exhibitions, deployed the E-Vision Laser projector 11000 4K-UHD de Digital Projection, offering solid state lighting.

Powered by a single DLP chip, the E-Vision Laser 11000 4K-UHD aspect ratio 10.500 lumens with 4K-UHD resolution (3.840×2.160) o WQXGA+ (2.716×1.528), offering installers and end users the performance and flexibility they need for their project.

“This exhibition is very sensory, with beautiful images and sound, but it also has a very deep narrative focus”, Amit continues.. Rmn-GP collaborated with Studio Radio France in the sound design and music of Eternal Mucha, while Technicoflor took care of the olfactory elements. “Immersivity is enhanced with interaction devices and digital interfaces that increase public participation.”.

However, The narrative approach mentioned by Amit is best exemplified in the content of the screening, which focuses on a three-part film around the life and work of Mucha, since his invention of Art Nouveau in Paris (first act) to his work on the Bosnia-Herzegovina pavilion at the International Exhibition of 1900 and the creation of his magnum opus The Slavic Epic (second and third acts, respectively).

the movie, along with high resolution images (50.000×70,000 px a 300 DPI) of Mucha's work, is projected on a triptych of projection surfaces – a central screen of 8,000×4,000 px, a narrow ‘strip’ of 13,000×3,000 px and a projection area of ​​8,000×4,000 px on the ground–, with all three screens designed to complement each other while content plays simultaneously. “This required a lot of prior design work, integration and synchronization, comment Nicolas Lim, by Mardi8, who produced the audiovisual content for four months.

Los 29 Digital Projection projectors used for Eternal Mucha – fifteen in the main room, ten in the triangular secondary room and four in the hallways – were calibrated using the software Onlyview ETC's own, which has an agreement with the Grand Palais Immersif for four exhibitions (Pompeii, Eternal Mucha and two more shows). Also supplied the screens (tactile and non-tactile), the audio system and automation technology for Eternal Mucha.

Laurent Segelle, head of fixed installations at ETC Onlyview, explains that the agreement includes the installation, programming, operation and maintenance of equipment, as well as on-site assistance and in technical and feasibility studies. "Normally, during the exhibition, We come one day a month to do preventive and corrective checks. We also provide the GPI with a remote maintenance service if necessary. ».

Segelle explains why the company opted for Digital Projection. “At first we chose their projectors because they had enough power for the maximum number of exposures, with minimal maintenance. We wanted equipment capable of creating large format images with high resolution and, of course, within the allocated budget”.

Lim states that, despite the double challenge posed by the tight installation deadline and the huge amount of data – 30 minutes of high-resolution video at 50 fps–, both the software and the projectors have worked very well, effortlessly enveloping the exhibition space of 441 square meters of the Grand Palais Immersif at the Opera Bastille with the decorative works of art and designs of Mucha.

“Digital technology allows us to present Mucha's works]in a different way. We can immerse ourselves in large-scale reproductions and see details we would have otherwise missed”, said Amit. “Thanks to the animation of these paintings, You can see in a very detailed and inspiring way how the movement was achieved in these drawings. And this is a real advantage of digital technology”.