Vivid Sydney 2014

A festival of light, music and ideas

When the days start to grow short, the citizens of Sydney in Australia gear up for Vivid Sydney: an immersive spectacle of light, images, and sound to mark the turning of the season. During the successful 2014 edition, from 23 May to 9 June last, the organizers pulled out all the stops to ensure a compelling experience; from creative installations to projection mappings and other technical wizardry all across town. The secret ingredient, however, was TDC’s carefully thought out deployment of no fewer than 50 state-of-the-art Barco projectors.

For 18 days straight, Vivid Sydney transformed the capital of New South Wales into an oasis of light, drawing
a record 1.42 million attendees. 140 artists from 15 countries presented 56 installations, giving an accurate cross
section of today’s creative industries. At the heart of it all was Barco’s world-renowned projection technology,
thoughtfully deployed and implemented by TDC, Australian video technology expert.

A feast for the senses
In 2014, Vivid Sydney celebrated its sixth anniversary with a magical, family-friendly journey through an amazing and dazzling world of color and music. For the occasion, Sydney’s iconic harbor and historic buildings, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Customs House, served as the backdrop to some spectacular projection mapping shows. Furthermore, cutting-edge 3D projection mapping on to the CTA Building in Martin Place was transformed into a lush green landscape.

Creative vision
To realize this ambitious project, TDC deployed its full range of professional and technical expertise in providing core video technology and services to Destination NSW. Looking for the best possible technology to complete the task, TDC quickly decided to implement Barco’s world-renowned projection solutions. “The scale of this event is enormous in regard to equipment required to bring it all together. That’s why we only trust the most reliable, high-performance projection technology,” said Michael Hassett, TDC’s Managing Director. “What’s more, because
of their extraordinary brightness and best-in-class performance, Barco’s projectors enable artists to pursue their creative vision to the fullest.”

Waking the street spirit
In total, no fewer than 50 Barco projectors were deployed, ranging from the HDQ-2K40, the brightest lamp-based projector in the world, to the HDF-W26 and FLM-R22+. As the scale of Vivid Sydney grew and new buildings and locations were added, considerable time was spent to analyze which technology best suited the artists’ vision. Subsequently, the optimal placement – as well as the number of projectors needed – was determined, along with the right media servers and lenses.

“It’s always a joy to work on large format projection projects such as Vivid Sydney,” says Olin Winton, Technical Manager at TDC. “Seeing it all come together with the help of highly-skilled technicians and leading technology, and finally witnessing all those people interacting with the buildings is extremely rewarding.”

(Pictures not to be reproduced without prior permission - © Technical Direction Company. Photography by Rodney Campbell)