Farewell To Veteran's Stadium

Summer 2003 ended in the city of brotherly love. With the passing of the season another icon of Philadelphia's summer journeyed into memory. Veteran's Stadium, birthplace of such great characters as the Philly Phanatic and Benny the Bomb, was honored by Baseball lovers, city dignitaries, and the Phillies' ownership.

Carson Group International (CGI) approached Image Engineering ® with a dream. Timing was critical. The show date was less than three weeks out and they wanted to send off the beloved stadium in a grand fashion. Initially, CGI proposed lasers and large image projections utilizing Image Engineering's exclusive Sabre Series laser projectors and Pani projection units similar to a show we did for them for the grand reopening of the Wildwood Convention Center last year, but the venue warranted a different approach. First, the throw distance to the ceiling of the venue was under 60 feet, second, he wanted multiple images that would target specific areas and cue to an audio soundtrack yet to be produced, lastly, we needed this all to work within the budget parameters.

To facilitate his request Image Engineering suggested using limited range image projectors. These projectors are versatile, much smaller than Pani projectors, less expensive, have a versatile focal range and can be cued through a conventional lighting controller. To place four units around the venue corrected concerns over power requirements, budget constraints and ultimately, focusing issues. The production designer and creative team traveled to Constitution Hall to discuss the event with CGI and the venue's operators.

"We arrived at Constitution Hall and looked up. Immediately, I could tell this wouldn't be a typical show. The ceiling consisted of multiple angled triangles set into a star pattern around the circular hall. Larry (of CGI) introduced us to the building crew and walked us through the concept. " Said graphic designer, Amy Case. "The proposed site for the white light laser wasn't going to work. From the original location we would only be able to cover a third of the ceiling. Partially this was due to the various angles we had to work with inherent in the architecture, but the location also blocked off the west third of the circle because we were set next to a wall." The location of the white light projector was moved to the floor of the hall, shooting nearly straight up and covered almost the entire ceiling from that vantage.

"I got out my sketchbook and started drawing the ceiling from floor view. It is very beautiful, but so fragmented that a single image spanning the entire ceiling would not work. I knew immediately that Pangolin was going to earn its keep because of its enhanced projection zones feature. Two years ago a show like this would not have been possible."

The projected images were another challenge. The crew could not perform a test throw during their survey. "I took lots of photos with my mini DV camera and marked the best vantage points for the image projectors. It was very easy to remember where to put them because the balcony has the floor marked every few feet with a different state. I took a photo of my feet, and the state I was standing on, so whoever was in charge of set up could duplicate the vantage point perfectly."

For the laser programming, Larry wanted a "baseball theme." Amy wasn't phased. "When a client approaches us with a "theme" and no real script, we are not that worried. Image Engineering's laser library is probably the most extensive in the industry and we were able to pull from it numerous baseball images to fill the gaps." Over 200 frames were added of baseball players sliding, hitting, catching, throwing, and running. The Phillies also requested their old and new logos be used in the show.

Image Engineering created a custom animation of Phil the mascot exclusively for this show. "He had a lot of detail and the basic image needed to portray properly in laser. In order to reduce points the mascot was portrayed as a close-up of the upper half. "We morphed the arms and other features to make him stretch to catch a ball." Custom text and still images were also created for the Veteran's Stadium logo and various events through the ballpark's rich history.

On site an updated soundtrack was provided. Jack Roemer, the on site laser designer made the updates to the show file. During rehearsal additional suggestions were made to enhance the show. Instead of limiting the laser graphics to the areas originally designated, the client requested more zones mapped and the ceiling became a full canvas for the laser.

"One of the challenges of multiple surfaces are the last minute changes on site. You have to treat the laser like an intelligent light. This was a situation where the advantage of laser graphics shines. You can project the images at various angles on numerous surfaces using adjustments available in vector that results in no loss of image integrity."

The updated laser show was synched with the image projectors' DMX signals sent from the Hog 500 lighting controller using Image Engineering's exclusive ShowLink system. The signals including the updated audio recorded to an Alesis HD-24 ADAT. With a button push, the show flowed from one source. This freed the crew to operate the ancillary equipment, which included a separate laser performing beam sequences triggered by a 16 channel NSI board. Not only did this save the client labor costs, but insured a flawless production.

Once the choreographed portion of the show concluded, the band kicked up the party. The Phillies owner requested Jack produce laser logo projections and laser wallpaper through the evening. Pangolin's Live was utilized to accomodate the request. "The client enjoyed having the laser effects and animations on the ceiling. In literally minutes I created a list of keys from the scenes that moved the performance from a 'press-play-go' show to a performance." Beams from a 3 Watt YAG laser dubbed the "micro yag" danced to the beat.

Amy sums up the experience. "Almost any laser company can throw beams around, but there are only a very select few that can accomplish this type of custom service, and no other US team that can make it a turnkey operation like we did for this event."