Technical production: A3 Visual
Creative studio: Spectre Lab
Bushmills’ Origins of Whiskey relies on Modulo Pi’s media servers in Chicago
Following the success of Bushmills’ Origins of Whiskey in New York’s Hall des Lumières, the exclusive whiskey tasting experience returned for three days in Chicago.
During the event organized by Bushmills, guests are transported into the rich history and epic landscape of the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery through an immersive environment that harmonizes with the tasting experience of rare whiskeys.
A3 Visual was entrusted with the technical production of the experience. In Chicago, Bushmills’ Origins of Whiskey took place at West Loop’s Morgan Manufacturing. From March 1-3, the sold-out event played 4 times a day, welcoming 100 guests per show.
The venue presented a number of difficulties as explains Sean Mason, CEO of A3 Visual Immersive Division: “The thing that was really challenging for this space is that we only had a 10 foot ceiling. We had to squeeze everything up within that one top foot to project on the walls all the way around, and keep all the projectors out of view.”
To create a seamless and immersive projection on the floor and walls within this particular configuration, A3 Visual worked with Modulo Pi’s Modulo Kinetic media server, and its embedded projection study tools. “The 3D study helped us design the whole rigging layout and see how we would rig it in the space.”
Given the low-ceiling, A3 Visual used some Epson projectors with the snorkel lens. A total of 40 projectors were needed, with a mix of 13K projectors for the floor, and 6K projectors for the walls. “Modulo Kinetic helped us a lot on this one because we needed to cover more surface area on the floor and make sure the luminosity was bright enough to match the walls” adds Sean Mason. “As we were working with different projectors, we used the projection study tools in Modulo Kinetic to handle that.”
In addition, Modulo Kinetic’s 3D study proved useful for the furniture layout too, by including the ever-changing furniture during the design of the project.
The projection study also helped deal with the very tight schedule, with only two days to install the rigging structure, the 40 projectors and deliver a seamless projection. During that phase, A3 Visual could count on Modulo Pi’s Warp Remote companion app. “We had multiple people blending simultaneously with the Warp Remote. It only took us 3 hours to blend everything together. The blending was a very efficient process” comments Sean Mason.
The show created to share Bushmills’ whiskey’s origins and transport the audience in Ireland’s landscapes was played by a mix of Modulo Kinetic and Modulo Player media servers synced together.
The pop-up experience is planned to travel to 8 or 10 cities.
