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Issues of The Laserist:
Summer 2000 (continued)
Show News
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Complete Summer
2000 Story List: click
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Rose
Center Uses Lasers with a Big Bang
State-of-the
Art Planetarium at the
American Museum of Natural History
By David Lytle
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You might call it the
Laser Show at the Beginning of the Universe. The subject matter
is nothing less than the Big Bang itself, and the setting is
New York City’s spectacular new Rose Center for Earth and
Space. Using the site of the old Hayden Planetarium in Central
Park, the American Museum of Natural History has constructed
a $210 million facility dedicated to using the latest technologies
to explore the nature of the universe. |
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The
sphere inside the cube houses the
new Hayden Planetarium in New York City. |
Using the site
of the old Hayden Planetarium in Central Park, the American Museum
of Natural History has constructed a $210 million facility dedicated
to using the latest technologies to explore the nature of the
universe.
The Rose Center is a seven-story transparent glass cube housing
an 87-foot diameter sphere that is strikingly visible from outside
the building.
The sphere houses the
new Hayden Planetarium, which the museum describes as the “largest
and most powerful virtual reality simulator in the world.”
The upper portion of the sphere is called the Space Theatre,
and it employs a Silicon Graphics Onyx2 InfiniteReality supercomputer
to generate realistic moving images of the universe projected
through seven high-definition video projectors. The supercomputer
also controls a Zeiss Mark IX star projector, a Spitz All-Sky
slide projection system, and an Omniscan all-dome laser projector
manufactured by AVI-Imagineering with Lasers.When combined with
a state-of-the-art sound system (complete with subwoofers mounted
in each of the 429 seats), audiences are truly immersed in a
sight-and-sound spectacle.
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In the theatre’s
premier show, Passport to the Universe, the Omniscan system is
used to draw viewers’ attention to specific stars and astronomical
features projected on the dome. The next step will be to create
entertainment programming that uses both the laser and the video
system. The original Hayden Planetarium (now demolished to make
way for the Rose Center) was one of AVI’s first venues for
entertainment shows. More laser displays at the Rose Center are
found in the lower portion of the sphere, where the Big Bang
exhibit uses lasers, intelligent lighting, and a narration by
Hollywood film star Jodie Foster. |
The
planets circle the big sphere
inside the Rose Center. |
The multimedia
show dramatizes in words and images how scientists believe the
universe may have begun. The primary show space in the Big Bang
Theater is the inside bottom surface of the sphere, viewed through
a 36-foot diameter hole in the center of the floor. Guests gather
around a glass handrail and look into the “bowl.” The
laser effects, said AVI’s Willie Castro, are used to depict
the motion of subatomic particles. The laser graphics weren’t
designed to steal the show, he said, but rather to work with
other media to support the story told by Jodie Foster.
The exhibit was created
by AVI and MY Design, Inc. which designed the show control, lighting,
and audio playback systems. Joanne Young, president of AVI, said
the companies realized from the beginning that several challenges
would have to be overcome to make the Big Bang a success. Since
construction of the theater space was well underway long before
work began on the actual show content, all equipment selected
had to allow for maximum flexibility pending the final show requirements.
Available equipment space and storage space was practically nonexistent.
The building’s architecture was designed around the planetarium
theatre that occupies the upper portion of the sphere, with the
Big Bang utilizing the “leftover” space below. To complicate
matters further, the space for the Big Bang theatre also serves
as the “pit” into which the planetarium lowers it’s
Zeiss projector and the two Spectra Physics lasers used for the
Omniscan projectors.
This is the reason, said Young, that viewers see a large shroud
in the center of the Big Bang Theater’s ceiling—it
decoratively conceals the planetarium’s projector pit. The
head of the Omniscan is centered at the bottom of the planetarium’s
projector pit and projects directly onto the bowl below.
Because of the difficulty in accessing any equipment located
above the bowl, twelve large sliding drawers were fabricated
and affixed to the ceiling. The ring of drawers houses intelligent
lighting fixtures and greatly improves maintenance access.
Despite the technical challenges, Young said the installation
fulfills the company’s main goal, which is “to make
sure that audiences have fun while they learn. Our job is to
deliver the information audiences are seeking in a novel and
fascinating way.”
AVI: (+1) 407-859-8166; www.av-imagineering.com
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Kansas
City, Oakland, Install Omniscan Systems
Lasers
Seen as Drawing Card for Education and Entertainment
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New York
City is not the only location where AVI has been busy installing
its Omniscan projectors. At the Science City in Kansas City,
Mo., Omniscan is used to provide astronomical and entertainment
programs inside a new domed space that is one of three special
theatres built as part of a renovation of the city’s landmark
Union Station train station.A large-frame movie theatre and the
planetarium will operate during the day to complement the Science
City educational exhibits, and will remain open in the evening
(along with a live theatre) to help make Union Station a nighttime
destination. |
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Nearly
full-dome video is combined with full-dome laser animations. |
For the
planetarium shows, AVI worked closely with Spitz Inc. to create
a multimedia presentation that combines lasers with the Spitz
ElectricSky video system. The Spitz system can cover nearly all
the dome, and what parts it cannot cover, the laser can reach,
said AVI’s Willie Castro. The companies also worked to carefully
align the video and laser images, so that the kinetic laser images
look at home against a video backdrop.
Castro
characterized AVI as a one-stop production house that can produce
computer-generated video and laser images. The company recently
made the decision to make its large library of laser animations
available for sale or lease, and hopes to work with other companies
that may need production assistance.
Also opening this summer is the new Chabot Space and Science
Center in Oakland, Calif., which will feature AVI’s Omniscan
in a state-of-the-art 250-seat planetarium. The planetarium is
part of a 86,000 sq. foot complex that features a Megamax theatre
(similar to Omnimax), a host of interactive exhibits, and the
largest public telescope in the United States.
AVI: (+1) 407-859-8166;
www.av-imagineering.com
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Lasers
Shine at Florida Planetarium
That Creates Multimedia Entertainment
By
Jack Dunn, Mueller Planetarium Chair, ILDA Committee on
Lasers in Planetaria and Science Centers
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Laser shows have been
a staple of planetarium theaters for almost 30 years. Despite
tremendous advances in laser display technology, I believe that
shows on the dome give the greatest thrills, especially when
well-integrated with other media. Several days before the ILDA
’99 conference in Orlando, I arrived in central Florida
and spent two |
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Florida's
Astronaut Memorial Planetarium
Gets High Marks for Thrilling Laser Shows |
days at the Astronaut
Memorial Planetarium at Brevard Community College (www.brevard.cc.fl.us/~planet/)
in Cocoa. Cocoa is just a few minutes drive from Cape Canaveral
and Kennedy Space Center—certainly an exciting enough area
for any space buff. But tucked almost out of the way on the local
Community College campus is a tremendous planetarium with a dedicated
small staff of artisans who are creating some of the most impressive
laser shows I’ve ever seen.
First, the technical
particulars: the planetarium’s laser system consists of
three X-Y scanner pairs for graphics and abstracts tuned to the
ILDA 30k standard and running RGB images from Pangolin LD Pro
cards. There are two additional pairs of scanners in the front
of the room for beams, also RGB and also run by Pangolin equipment.
All computer software
is controlled by SMPTE time code for show automation. The lasers
are Lexel 95s. Having three RGB heads with full-power for images
is unusual for planetaria, and gives quite an effect in the shows.
Dome size is 70ft. (21.3 meters). SMPTE also controls the Minolta
star projector and a Digistar computer planetarium projector.
Again, the BCC Planetarium is unusual in having both a conventional
optical star projector and the computer projector, but the combination
adds more fuel to the fire in the shows. There are also five
Barco video projectors, one for large images from the back of
the room and four more for a bit smaller (but sharper) images
located in the projector pit.
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Now to the shows themselves.
Mark Howard is Acting Director of the BCC Planetarium and also
a producer of shows at the planetarium. He is nobly aided by
having Joe Tucciarone as animator, artist and show producer.
Tucciarone has made a name for himself in the planetarium field
as a space artist and animation expert. he has a touring show
of his works called Visions of the Universe. |
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Acting
Director Mark Howard at work. |
You can see some
elements of this show on Tucciarone’s web site ( http://members.aol.com/INTERSTELL/art.html).
But Tucciarone (who is a part-time employee) doesn't only work
on laser animations, he also works on art for slides and video.
Which leads me to the style of shows Howard has adopted. From
Tucciarone’s art and ideas, Mark colors the frames and then
programs them into the shows. The shows integrate the multi-headed
full-color laser system with multiple slides, video effects and
both star projectors.
Probably their most
impressive work to date is a version of Pink Floyd’s The
Wall, which has to rank as one of the most thrilling laser shows
I’ve ever seen in a planetarium. It is the shear totality
of effects and images which make this show (to use an old 60’s
expression) a mind-blowing experience. Like one of Pink Floyd’s
latest concerts, you just keep having new experiences. The 84
minutes go by in a flash—and that’s a pretty impressive
thought by itself, as we all know that some parts of The Wall
can drag. There is an opening prologue to explain the story of
The Wall. Many of us in the laser display profession grew up
with Pink Floyd music, but we’ve got to acknowledge that
a lot of our audiences today have no idea who England fought
in any war (possibly not knowing they were ever in a war) and
may not know the story of The Wall even though they’ve heard
the music.
The background of the
story fits well in the show. During certain parts, large numbers
of archival photos appear to remind us of “Pink’s”
father in the English forces during the war. The video effects
blend in with slides and laser and these may all be on the dome
at once in any scene. Sometimes just lasers appear; at other
times there may be only Digistar; and sometimes video or slides
come to the fore. It is the variety of ways these media strike
the eye that make the show so enjoyable. In Another Brick In
the Wall Part II, we see a slide-projected blackboard with a
laser-animated teacher (one RGB head), writing in laser on the
blackboard (another RGB head), with more slides appearing throughout
the piece.
I know that I, and
a number of other planetarians, have used slides and video along
with lasers, but it is the shear number of images and their uses
that make this show an overpowering experience. And yes, people
have been doing multiple scanner pair shows in planetaria for
years; but when they are all capable of full-color, and you combine
this will all the other effects, the results are spectacular.
An image may start out as a slide which is outlined in laser
and then the slide disappears and the image becomes a laser animation.
The same can happen
to video. An image can start out as laser and turn into a slide
or video. I also should note that it’s nice to sometimes
have the optically-projected star background and sometimes the
computer one (capable of launching into 3D graphics). And yes,
with all those lasers and other projections, it IS immersive
to the max.
I also want to compliment
the beam work in the show. It was truly just the right amount
(not being used to the point of repetition). Although the beams
are currently controlled via the old Pangolin Control Panel program
on the Amiga (modified for SMPTE), a fourth Pangolin card is
being added to the main PC to coordinate all laser signals through
one computer. One other point I believe is important. This laser
show completely captures the spirit of Pink Floyd’s music.
I have seen shows where the music is edited in a way that destroys
the musical integrity. I have seen graphics and images used that
are totally unrelated to musical content. As much as any laser
show is an artistic interpretation, this show in Cocoa remained
true to the music which inspired it.
Now before some of
my star theater colleagues want to argue with me that a planetarium
is not just for light shows, I should mention that the capability
of this facility AND its staff are used in star shows as well.
Howard is working on a new planetarium show about dinosaurs (yes,
they are really popular in planetaria) that will feature some
great Tucciarone animations and artwork.
Joe also wrote the
script for this planetarium show, and it has some great humor
while maintaining a solid educational foundation. The laser graphics
system is a wonderful tool to use for illustrations along with
slides and video. Howard tells me he plans to keep it that way
in order to show the public and administrators the educational
value of having a laser projection system.
If you are visiting
Central or South Florida, take a short jaunt over to the Astronaut
Memorial Planetarium. Call ahead or surf the planetarium’s
website (www.brevard.cc.fl.us/~planet/)
to get show schedules. You may have to obtain directions to find
the place. But it WILL be worth it. Stand-alone laser shows are
impressive, but the BCC Planetarium illustrates what can happen
when you marry supreme artistry with multiple media.
I’ve heard that
the Munich Planetarium installation also uses multiple media
and lots of lasers. Hmm, ILDA 2000 is in Stuttgart. See you there!
Jack Dunn: Phone: (+1) 402-472-2641 mueller@spacelaser.com
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New Products:
European
Trade Fair
Highlights Laser Display Products
By
Patrick Murphy, Pangolin Laser Systems
www.pangolin.com
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The SIB international
trade show for the lighting, sound and laser industries is held
every two years in Rimini, Italy. SIB is heavily attended by
flamboyant Italian disco owners and workers. This leads to some
interesting spectacles, such as a woman walking through the aisles
like a giant hamster inside an 8-foot diameter plastic ball. |
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Crowds
watch LOBO's beamshow at SIB 2000 |
SIB is also one of
the world’s top shows for laser display companies. I’ve
reported on SIB in the past, and these reports, as well as an
expanded version of this article, can be accessed though Pangolin’s
website, www.pangolin.com.
What follows is a booth-by-booth tour of SIB 2000 laser exhibits.
The fair's official website is www.sibinternational.com.
DTL (http://www.DTL-laser.nl):
At DTL’s stand, you could preview any of the seventeen beam
shows that DTL recently released. They are available for sale
in single scanner format, or (at additional cost) for multiple
scanners. In addition, four graphics shows are available in two-scanner
format. The cost for a 12 month contract (one new beam show every
month for one year) is US $250.
GTL (gtlaser@mail.mata):
An interesting combination of colored sleeves for fluorescent
tubes, and YAG laser light marked the stand of GTL Laser*Light*
Neon & Special Effect of Budapest. It was disconcerting to
see the powerful YAG laser aimed out of the stand and into the
aisle at eye height. It was not possible to know how much of
a hazard this posed.
HB Laser Komponenten
(http://www.hb-laser.com):
There were a number of new items at HB’s stand. HB was showing
YAG lasers with 150, 300 and 500 mW output, direct modulating
input, and temperature stabilization. These lasers are also available
at powers of 100 and 200 mW with the direct modulating input,
but without stabilization. Another new product was the Zeus projector.
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It offered low YAG power
“for shop window and display applications,” and up
to 10 watts of YAG power for clubs and discos. Another new product
was a scanner amp suitable for Cambridge and General Scanning
scanners. “HB” stands for Harald Bohlinger, who worked
at a laser show company for eight years. HB now sells its own
line of components, including fiber-optic couplers and PCAOM
mounts. |
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Lasers
and live dancers drew
big crowds at the LSE booth. |
Kvant (http://www.kavant.com):
Kvant hails from Bratislava, Slovakia. They were selling systems
including lasers, software and projectors. In addition, they
have systems available for rental, from 200 mW at $500 per day,
to 15 watts at $3,400 per day. Kvant has two types of DPSS lasers.
The Model L has output powers from 10 mW to 200 mW. The Model
H has output power of 2, 2.5, or 3 watts.
Laser Lights: Laser Lights of Italy sells
“Luci ed effetti speciali per lo spettacolo international.”
Most of their effetti speciali are standard disco lighting fixtures.
But at SIB 2000 in Rimini, they also showed a projector based
around a powerful 160-mW helium-neon laser. The projector appeared
to have simple rotating mirrors that made flower-like patterns.
The price is 9,000,000 lire (roughly US $4500).
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LOBO (http://www.lobo.de):
The large LOBO stand presented a laser show each hour. It began
with graphics and ended with beams, as do most European shows.
The show was excellent
as always. Compared to LOBO shows in previous years that added
pyrotechnics and dancers, the SIB 2000 show was “back to
basics” by highlighting the lasers alone. |
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Fair-goers
used headsets to listen to music accompanying LOBO's light show. |
During the show,
LOBO’s Modula-5 controller was serving as a slave to their
Lacon system, primarily for the beam portion of the show. This
demonstrated the Modula-5’s versatility, with recent software
and hardware developments making it more than just a playback
device. LOBO’s Alex Hennig said the Modula-5 can be used
with one or two MIDI keyboards as a live controller, or it can
be a DMX controller as well as being controlled by DMX, or it
can be slaved to Lacon as demonstrated at SIB. There are two
versions of the Modula software, the basic software SM-5 which
offers “any elementary functions necessary for manual or
programmed playback of laser shows for one projector,” while
the ProLine software SM-5P is said to offer “a tremendously
expanded amount of functions and an online-help system.”
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LPS (http://www.lps-laser.com):
Projectors and software were featured at the LPS stand. One of
the projectors shown had a price of DM 15.900 (US $7,750) when
configured with a 100-mW YAG laser. In addition, LPS was showing
the 3D LasCat Network software; LCN software created the beam
show which attracted attendees to the stand. |
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Beam
show by LPS draws attendees. |
LSE, Laser
Entertainment (laser.system.europe@skynet.be , http://www.laserent.com):
The largest laser stand at SIB was presented jointly by Laser
System Europe (LSE) and Laser Entertainment. LSE’s Patrick
Awouters is from Belgium; he has steadily increased his presence
every SIB. Laser Entertainment’s Alberto Kellner is from
Milan; he provided the show programming in addition to much of
the equipment.
LSE and Laser Entertainment were showing some interesting “toys”,
including: a gycol-cooled weatherized moving searchlight accommodating
2kW to 7kW xenon lamps; a compact 40 watt YAG laser projector;
and a 2.5 watt YAG beam projector that is a complete solution
for beam shows—it includes a hardware controller, or can
run third-party laser show software.
Smaller booths within
the vast space showcased other companies working with LSE and
Laser Entertainment: Pangolin Laser Systems, showing the Lasershow
Designer 2000 system with DMX-512 control, a prototype CD2000
standalone playback device, and MediaLas’s VST2000 realtime
video system; Spectra-Physics, which provided the Chroma-5, Chroma-10
and Millennia X lasers used for the show; and XL Video, which
provided video support for two huge LED screens.
This booth presented
the only laser show at Rimini with synchronized video and lasers.
Three graphics heads and three scan heads were used. As with
most European shows, the graphics were presented first as an
“appetizer,” with the audience-scanning beams providing
the grand finale. The beam show was programmed on-site as a tightly
choreographed Euro-style spectacle complete with water screen
and flashpots. About halfway into the show, the crowd came to
its feet as four female dancers took the stage. Despite all the
technology, what really attracted the standing-room-only crowd’s
interest was the gyrating dancers, recruited from a Belgium nightclub.
An interesting aspect
of the show, unrealized by most viewers, was that Pangolin’s
LD2000 controlled not only the six laser scan heads, but all
the lighting as well. The show was programmed using a beta version
of LD2000 with new DMX commands.
Nu-Light (http://www.nulightsystems.demon.co.uk):
Nu-Light sells a range of lasers which it says “suits all
applications and budgets.” Their products include the MINI
and MIDI Scan, which are standalone lasers with simple rotating
mirrors that generate spirographic effects. The Proscan+ is similar,
but adds panning mirrors and controllers. The top-end Proscan+
uses a 250-mW argon laser and has DMX controlled pan and tilt,
color selection, and pattern selection.
The company calls its DMX Graphic Scan “the first graphics
laser which falls into the intelligent lighting category.”
It uses 8 DMX channels to control 26 graphic patterns, 150 degree
pan and 90 degree tilt movement, graphic spinning, modulation
and graphic size control.
The scanners in the DMX Graphic Scan had an ILDA speed of about
8K, according to Mike Hrybyk of Nu-Light. He notes that “Even
though we use low spec scanners, we are capable of creating the
classical laser effects in smoke that usually can only be done
with the higher end ones. Also coupled with this you still get
the facility of having simple graphics and text instead of the
flower patterns generated by spinning motors.”
Oracle (http://www.oraclelaser.com.au): Oracle was
highlighting the T2 Bazooka laser projector, which looks remarkably
like its namesake. Oracle says it was designed for discotheque
and advertising applications. The T2 Bazooka uses a DPSS YAG
and is controllable by DMX, standalone or Oracle’s 3D laser
software. You can display 3D text and animations; programmable
logos, graphics and animations; and over 1,000 preprogrammed
frames and animations. As with most of the projectors shown at
SIB, there are a variety of laser power and color combinations
available.
Quarton (http://www.quarton.com.tw):
One of the most surprising laser products at SIB 2000 was the
Laser Show 1000/2000 projector and LaserShop software from Quarton.
This is because they are a fairly well-known supplier of laser
pointers sold under the Infiniter brand. Both the projector and
software were sophisticated considering that they were coming
from the laser pointer industry. Even the connectors were labeled
as “ILDA DB-25,” indicating a desire to conform to
industry standards. Although language differences made it difficult
to understand pricing, the LaserShow 1000 is about $9,000 for
15 mW (including software); the LaserShow 2000 is about $12,000
for 100 mW; and the LaserShop software is about $2,000.
Quarton’s LaserShow 1000/2000 projector can be operated
as a stand-alone unit using a connected box with 1 MB of internal
memory (1000 frames), or it can be controlled by “any laser
show software” including Quarton’s LaserShop.
tarm (http://www.tarm-showlaser.com):
The laser technology highlight at tarm, and perhaps at SIB 2000,
was a laser video projector with a 10-watt solid-state RGB laser.
The projector and laser were developed with Schneider Laser Technologies
AG. The projector was shown as part of tarm’s periodic demo
show. It was difficult to gauge the crowd’s reaction. Some
of them may not have realized that the image was from a laser
rather than conventional light sources. It was very interesting
that the source material shown was of continually moving, motion-blurred
amusement park rides. While the image quality seemed high, with
consistent or perhaps even improved color rendition, the source
material had few or no still frames which could be used to judge
quality. A true judgment of the video quality will have to wait
for different source material.
Even fewer SIB attendees
realized the technical advance of the 10-watt solid-state RGB
laser used for both the laser video. A spokesman said that the
laser ran on 220VAC and drew 4 KW of electrical power. He estimated
that perhaps 50 systems would be built during the year. The cost
of just the laser alone was estimated to be around DM 300.000
to 400.000 (about US $146,000 to $195,000), compared with the
total laser video projector cost of around DM 500.000 (US $243,000).
This RGB projector produced a deep blue, giving the show a gorgeous
collection of blues and violets.
It appears that laser
video projectors may be a niche product due to their cost. From
a presentation standpoint, those who need a constant-focus video
source or improved colors will want one. Schneider’s brochure
seems to target planetariums, scenery for theater and opera,
simulation (e.g., flight simulators), and “shows and big
events.” From a programming standpoint, standard video techniques
would be used to create the video portion of the shows. Fortunately,
it is easy to add laser show scanners to the laser video projector.
Multimedia shows, where laser is overlaid onto video, are becoming
more popular.
It was interesting that the SIB 2000 presentation did not make
use of this aspect—the laser video was shown first, then
a traditional laser show. This may simply be a reflection of
limited time available to produce the SIB show, rather than any
limitations in the technology.
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