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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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