How the Freightliner Reveal Was Projected onto the Hoover Dam

http://www.ct-group.com/na/en/posts/hoover-dam-projection

by jaynos • 11 years ago

40 23 11 years ago

kylelibra• 11 years ago

60 projectors at 26,000 watts each were synchronized to create a single seamless image with a resolution of 4592 x 2048 pixels on a 420,000 square foot surface. Wow.

Zikes• 11 years ago

From half a mile away, even.

rconti• 11 years ago

1.56MW to run the projectors; 1,560,000W

"Presently, Hoover Dam can produce over 2,000 megawatts of capacity and a yearly average generation of 4.5 billion kilowatt hours"

2,000,000,000W capacity, but if the annual production is 4,500,000,000,000W then it's far short of the 17,520,000,000,000W max if it produced at peak for 365 days.

So really, the Hoover Dam averages 513,698,630W (arbitrary precision).

1,560,000W / 513,698,630W = 0.3% of the Hoover Dam typical production to power the projectors.

Well, that answers that question.

http://www.powerauthority.org/hoover-dam/

superuser2• 11 years ago

Lumens are not watts.

A Christie Roadster 4k projector lamped for 29k lumens burns a 4.5kW lamp.

(4.5kW/projector)(60 projectors) = 270kW = 0.27MW (not mW, thanks)

hankhill• 11 years ago

lumens != watts

butterfi• 11 years ago

I love the technical execution, but it's still tacky. They've created a very large billboard. Nice job?

peeters5• 11 years ago

I think the effects in the intro were pretty cool. E.g. seemlessly projecting the texture of the dam and then having blocks of concrete move out of the way to reveal the inner "gears" of the dam.

JoblessWonder2• 11 years ago

Those effects have been perfected for a while. With high lumen HD projectors coming into their own at the same time it has created some amazing effects. I guess I'm just trying to say that if this interests you, there are a lot of videos out there that I think are a lot cooler.

This [1] is the first company I saw doing it. This [2] is their 10 year anniversary showcase. Now just about every NBA and NHL team incorporates them into their pre-game shows. [3] [4]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2e9uulMPA

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

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17soGNnYyuk

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsZrywjPIb0

harrumph2• 11 years ago

I agree it's more commerce than art, but having seen more than my share of this kind of hype presentation and after seeing the video, I think they did a decent job of acknowledging and integrating the surface/environment they were using.

peeters5• 11 years ago

Video link:

http://on.aol.com/video/daimler-trucks-freightliner-event-at...

amadeusw• 11 years ago

Promo video of the truck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhKmKug7DXM

harrumph2• 11 years ago

Amazing bit of projection design work.

Also: robot semi-truck = a milestone in the twin, linked curves of heightened production and heightened unemployment.

Note to self: fix capitalism soon.

evan_• 11 years ago

I'm surprised they didn't get any pushback from the Hoover Dam people about creating the illusion that the dam was falling apart.

stephengillie• 11 years ago

For the Grand Coulee Dam's laser light show, they use 4 large frame Coherent Sabre Lasers - 2 red 12-watt Krypton lasers, and blue and green 30-watt argon lasers. That would probably be too complex to set up for this one publicity stunt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_light_show_%28Grand_Coule...

telmnstr• 11 years ago

Companies like Image Engineering out of Baltimore have 50 watt solid state laser projectors that can run on fairly nimble power sources without water cooling like the Sabres and other large frame ion lasers.

Laser projectors are good for beam effects and vector art but won't be able to touch Christie and Barco projectors if one managed to scan a raster image with them. (Yes, some Christie and other projectors use lasers an an illumination source but it's much different.)

npinguy• 11 years ago

Off-topic question: Why do people insist on calling The Hoover Dam "one of the top engineering marvels".

Surely, a dam that doesn't even make it into the top-25 tallest dams in the world, and is 57th in the world in power generation is not that impressive? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_dams_in_the_wor... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_hydroelectric_p...

mixologic• 11 years ago

I think "of its time" is probably left out of that top engineering marvels quote. Look at what else was achieved by 1939 when they finished all the major construction.

Zancarius• 11 years ago

There's always a critic.

I think it's important when considering lists like the ones you've linked to examine the dates these structures were built. For its time, the Hoover Dam was the largest in the world, but isn't simply the dam itself that represents an impressive feat of engineering. The work that went into diverting the Colorado River was (and still is) probably one of the most remarkable efforts undertaken, with the likely exception of the Three Gorges Dam. Either way, it's important to remember that this was a structure started in the 1930s. The age, materials available, the material science known at that time, and so forth are the reasons structures remain important samples of architectural engineering long after they've been eclipsed by more modern developments. Hence why it's difficult to tell if you're genuinely curious or simply levying unwarranted criticism against categorizing the Hoover Dam as a "marvel."

In other words, it's in our nature, for whatever reason, to continue building structures that grow ever larger, require greater understanding of materials--better materials, too--and shadow efforts of the past with new, more impressive, modern designs. However, that doesn't supplant those past efforts simply because they've been outdone. Otherwise, we wouldn't still consider the Great Wall of China one of the world's wonders (which in spite of our present technology still remains an incredible structure mostly unsurpassed by modern efforts).

You could also examine other answers to this same question if you don't find my response convincing [1].

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=why+is+hoove+dam+an+engineer...

peeters5• 11 years ago

Do you consider the great pyramids to not be an engineering marvel because it doesn't make the list of the tallest 1000 buildings in the world?

How the Freightliner Reveal Was Projected onto the Hoover Dam

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