Modulo Kinetic powers up neat projection mapping for Jenkins World Tour
For its 2018 Jenkins World Tour, CloudBees gathered a large community of developers from all
over the globe in two locations: San Francisco (USA) in September, and Nice (France) in October.
For these major rendezvous bringing together 2,500 attendees, a wide and neat video projection
with mapping was created using Modulo Kinetic, a powerful video solution by Modulo Pi.
Immersive, a cutting-edge production company based in San Francisco, was in charge of the
entire show for the 2018 Jenkins World Tour in the United States, and France.
The main stage used for keynotes consisted in two wide screens, plus a third screen with a globe
shape in front of them.
In San Francisco, 5 x Christie Boxer 30K were installed to feed the screens on a 135 feet (41
meters) stage. To deal with the challenges of this show, Sean Mason, Founder and CEO of
Immersive, decided to opt for the Modulo Kinetic media server solution: “We work with Modulo
Pi’s systems for all our projector mappings now. Modulo Kinetic is bulletproof, powerful, and
versatile. It has everything in it.”
For both events, Modulo Kinetic was used in a configuration with two Kinetic Vnode servers, both
controlled through one Kinetic Designer. The show was designed to offer maximum flexibility,
with any source that could be routed to any location. Four opening videos were
played, composed of two videos on the side screens and one on the front globe, playing
simultaneously. Immersive teams could also route the PowerPoint presentations on the walls, or
on the globe.
Immersive worked in close collaboration with CGI Interactive, the company in charge of creating
the introduction videos and PowerPoint presentations for the event. Creative teams developed all
content on a template created by Immersive.
An Ascender 32 mixer by Analog Way was in line to do all the switching for the 6 x MacBook and 6
x PCs. The outputs of the Ascender 32 were sent to the Kinetic Vnode servers in charge of playing
the content for stage left and stage right.
Sources also included 2 x cameras for IMAG, and an SDI matrix recording the laptops, mixer, and
camera feeds sent to Modulo Kinetic.
Facing the challenge of adapting the show made in San Francisco to a new venue in France, Sean
Mason and his teams could rely on Modulo Kinetic’s powerful 3D engine for show simulation: “We
were coming to a place that that we’ve never been to before. You have a floor plan and that’s it.
For this reason, we 3D modeled the entire space, and could place our projectors, making sure we
would have the correct coverage.”
The simulation study also turned out to be helpful to project on the globe screen: “In this case,
Modulo Kinetic saved us because if we shot straight on, then the globe got a big shadow. In the
projection study, we had to move the projectors all the way to the side and shoot at an angle to get
behind the globe.”
The stage in Nice being 85 feet (25 meters), Immersive had to redesign part of the show and adapt
the content. The simulation done using Modulo Kinetic also helped select 7 x Barco 30K
projectors. Sean Mason explains: “Projection study is something we always had trouble with in
the past. There’s plenty of time when we’ve done it with other software. It looks good in the
software, but when you get to the site, it’s just not working. This is not the case with Modulo
Kinetic. It includes a library with exact specifications for every projector. Even the lens choice is
accurate. We used to bring two sets of lenses, but now we don’t have to do that anymore. It actually
saves a lot of money.”
Warping and mapping over the globe were done on site, using Modulo Kinetic’s mobile remote
application. “Warp remote is a great attribute, says Mason. Thanks to it, we’re able to get right
next to the projection, and do all the fine-tuning.”
The multi-user remote control software helped save time by working simultaneously on warping
and show encoding.
All show encoding and control was done through Kinetic Designer. Around 40 tasks were created
for the show, as well as custom panels using the system’s UI Designer.
Thanks to the panels, all tasks could be triggered live using Modulo Kinetic’s iPad application.
Creating tasks through Modulo Kinetic allowed to easily deal with last minute changes in the
show, being able to add anything, programming fade outs or loops in the timeline,… “Modulo
Kinetic’s software is very easy to use. It’s very fast to write your cues and make your interface for
the iPad”.
The event that was Immersive’s first international show was a success. The company will work
on the 2019 Jenkins World Tour that will be held in San Francisco and Lisbon next year.
About Immersive:
Immersive is a cutting-edge company that creates dynamic environments for events. They specialize in corporate audio visual (AV), projection mapping, custom content creation, architectural projection mapping, sculptural projector mapping, lighting, audio, staging and rigging. Last year alone, Immersive executed over 180 events in the US. The company was founded in 2012 by Sean Mason. Some of their most iconic work are architectural projections whether on building facades and interior architecture such as The Old Mint in San Francisco, San Francisco City Hall, and Samsung Semiconductor HQ in Santa Clara.
