Digital Projection, a specialist in laser projectors, has revealed that its M-Vision projectors were selected by CS Prod, a French projection mapping expert, for its project celebrating the history of King Louis XIII.
CS Prod created an immersive projection mapping show at the King’s former residence in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. This honoured King Louis while celebrating the town’s history, and increasing young people’s access to culture.
Enhancing access to culture
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is in Paris’ western suburbs and has been a royal residence to numerous monarchs, but none had a greater connection to the location than King Louis XIII. The little-known king lived in the shadow of his father Henry IV and son Louis XIV (the Sun monarch), and spent much of his time in the town before deciding to make it his permanent residence in 1620.
Now a student town, over half of Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s population (23,000) are students. Providing young people with access to culture is a key objective.
Lumières sur Louis XIII (“Lights on Louis XIII”) was created with Digital Projection’s French partner, the artists’ collective CS Prod, its artistic director Christian Salès, who specialises in technological content production for history and heritage, and the town’s cultural department. The event used Digital Projection’s M-Vision laser projectors to power an immersive journey into the world of Louis XIII, and was on show in March and April.
Benoit Battistelli, Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s deputy mayor in charge of culture, says: “Organising a show of this nature was a first for us. We opted for a large-scale show that would interest young people through sound and image and encouraged them to learn in a more interesting way.”
Historical location
CS Prod was selected from 20 candidates to complete the project and was commended for its rigorous approach.
Battistelli adds: “Christian Salès from CS Prod made the production as accurate as possible. They delved deeply into the historical details, such as décor, colours and shapes, to match the story and the specific details of Louis XIII.”
The Manège royal, which dates back to the 19th century, was selected as the site of the immersive exhibition for its amazing upside-down boat hull roof and its ties to the monarch. Salès explains: “What strikes you as you enter is the framework of the building and the balcony where the king used to sit.”
The video content needed to cover the entire interior. To achieve this goal, the team installed six M-Vision 23000 Laser projectors on each side of the building, projecting on the opposite wall and ceiling, two M-Vision 27000 projectors at the back of the room with a 50-meter projection throw, and three E-Vision 15000 ultra-wide lens projectors in the back of the balcony.
“We knew the front wall had to be the most impactful for the public and show true colours and sharp images,” says Salès. “And the M-Vision 27000s truly answered our requirements.”
The balcony is central to the show, therefore CS Prod added a transparent metallic scrim from Showtex for hologram effects. Salès adds: “By installing the video projectors very low on the back of the balcony, the public couldn’t see the setup and was able to focus on the content.” CS Prod delivered the whole AVL system, which included eight loudspeakers, four subwoofers, and 30 Par can LED lights in addition to the Digital Projection laser projectors.
In developing the display, CS Prod collaborated closely with Alexandra Zvereva, curator of the city museum, and Isabelle Cadiergues, director of the city’s cultural development department. The content was inspired by research into Louis XIII’s biography, including the king’s interests in the arts, music, painting, and gardening. Salès says: “We also used the colours from the era, which we found in existing paintings and books relating to the life of the king.”
The organisation spent a month completing the research, during which time CS Prod talked with era specialists, visited Burgundy castles for inspiration on specific décor, and conducted research in a variety of libraries and museums. The content took three months to develop, with a scenario created by Salès in collaboration with Michel Piquemal.
Reliable technology
Digital Projection laser projectors are the brand of choice for CS Prod and they are confident in using the technology in their project.
“Digital Projection’s ColorBoost + Red Laser tech is amazing; it offers great images,” says Salès. “Hardware is paramount to the content creation and with Digital Projection I know exactly how it’s going to look like when we’re creating the content.”
CS Prod added seven additional M-Vision Lasers to its fleet in 2022, bringing its total to 20. Over the last year, it has added a further 12 units. This includes five of the M-Vision 27000, which Salès ascribes to its “image quality and the new [Nexus] platform allowing us to manage warping and blending in the projector, as well as lower energy consumption, lighter weight and higher brightness.”
In addition, the immersive event featured a six-minute projection mapping presentation on the building’s façade. To accomplish this, M-Vision 23000 laser projectors were installed in two side towers 30 meters from the frontage.
Lumières sur Louis XIII was an overwhelming success, with 15,000 people, including 3,500 schoolchildren, visiting the attraction during its one-month run. Battistelli says that visitors report being “surprised, amazed and impressed”.
Salès adds: “The whole project lasted for a month and a half and during that time we had zero problems with Digital Projection projectors. We are truly happy with the result.”
Digital Projection recently launched a brand-new software tech stack that can be used to design and implement an entire installation within the firm’s bespoke software platforms. The firm’s advanced electronics platform, Nexus, will enable users to benefit from automatic projector calibration, including powerful align, warp, and mix capabilities, without relying on third-party programmes.
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