Shakespeare's Birthplace

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?

It's 2 x 20k Christie Roadsters and a Dataton Watchout system, projecting a Xmas montage onto the Bard's birthplace..
Much ado about deepvisual!

In fact, so much ado, we made it into the Guardian - top UK Xmas lights

The Orb - Hebden Bridge

"The visuals are hypnotic and beautiful. The rippling bass lines shift smoothly and almost imperceptibly, pulling you into the music. You are drawn in so far that it’s almost like a rude awakening when a number comes to a close."

from gourmetgigs.com

The Orb - Chicago

The Orb - 25th Anniversary tour of America

The Orb US tour is of to a cracking start with a series of amazing West Coast shows.
Details on The Orb website here: 

Orb vs Lee 'Scratch' Perry at NuMusic Festival Stavangar

First ever live showdown between the Giant of Dub and the Giants of Ambient.
Sat Sept 7th - NuMusic Festival Stavanger

Bad weather results in cancellation of Orb show in Edinburgh

A deeply disappointing cancellation. The Orb tried to get the gig moved to a different stage in the park, but in the end H&S closed the entire site. Luckily no one was hurt, but an unfortunate start to the 25th Anniversary Tour.

MIA promo projections

Content by none other than Mr Weirdcore, projections by, well, you know right?

Orb & Kakatsitsi drummers from Ghana

The Orb & Kakatsitsi out for another jaunt in Edinburgh at the end of the month.

Charli XCX 'Untitled' magazine shoot

Mr Rhodes and my good self had enormous fun running around The Scotch of St James with this delightful young lady..

The Orb - 25th anniversary tour

Ten week tour of the USA & the UK starting mid September on the west coast and going through until the end of November

details here on the Orb website

The Orb - Glastonbury 2013

The Orb show at Glastonbury feat. Kakatsitsi master drummers from Ghana, was a sensation, as were the rest of the Glastonbury warm up shows in Cardiff & Bristol.

Glastonbury Video Stasi

Imagine my surprise when literally days before the Glastonbury Festival opens, I receive this email:

Sorry if this is a duplication email, but are you planning on using the

screen at West Holts for The Orb? If so, I need to recieve (sic) all content by

Tuesday. I have to get all footage signed off by the festival legal

department... 

Hmm, so as a precondition for The Orb being allowed to play, I am expected to simply hand over my entire video library - my life's work -  in an easily pirated format, to a complete stranger who doesn't have enough time before the show to watch it? 

This isn't going to be so easy. My work with the Orb is a visual improvisation, drawing on moods in the music and following the band as they dip in and out of the set list. I have days worth of content that I draw on as well as creating a great deal of it in real time via video synths and all kinds of tricky cleverness.

Just the  logistics of buying a hard drive, copying the files and then arranging it to be delivered takes us past the Tuesday deadline. Or I could upload it, but that will probably take us past the festival and into July. And really, I need to watermark it all to prevent it being stolen or used without permission - this happens a lot more than you would imagine - I've had very bad experiences in the past at major events with footage being copied, altered slightly and reused.  So thats going to take the best part of a week and will be completed after the festival ends, maybe even by the end of the festival season. And of course, Glastonbury wont be paying a penny towards the costs of these weeks of unnecessary work.

And thats just The Orb. Even if by some miracle all this comes to pass, on Tuesday there is going to be a portacabin in a field in Somerset with a good two months worth of footage in different formats on different hard drives from the 200 or so visual performers that will be working there over the festival. And that doesn't take into account the ones who use realtime video systems and visual synthesisers. Besides, even after all this fuss and box ticking, there is absolutely nothing to stop anyone changing the footage prior to the show, so why bother?

So I have to ask myself, is this the shape of things to come? We already have the Police in London insisting on being informed of what kinds of music will be played at events and refusing licenses on that basis. Added to this we now have inept attempts at self policing by event management, which at best amount to little more than censorship and at worst, force video performers to hand over all their content in an easily pirated digital format to an anonymous 3rd party with no safeguards whatsoever.

I have a feeling the Orb show may just well start with a disclaimer:

We would like to inform the audience that all footage being used in this performance has been vetted by the festival legal department. 

As a result of this you will not be exposed to anything radical and you might as well stay at home and watch the adverts.

footnote.
Having spoken to a very reasonable chap who was  aware of the 'lack of insight' of festival management in bringing about this whole situation (apparently Morrissey is to blame for trying to protest about dairy farming) , we are currently able to make a compromise using stills for approval ( which is ridiculous of course), but next year is another story.

E3 Square Enix video game

As video games move into immersive environments, so too do the presentations at gaming conferences. E3 in Los Angeles is the most important date on the video games calendar with all the major companies launching their new products - this with year XBox 1 and PS4 coming out.

deepvisual was asked to initially demonstrate a proof of concept for a detective game and the client loved it so much that I was brought in to execute the complex mapping of the game set onto the interior walls of the demonstration theatre. Extrusions were added to create extra depth, with a wonderful trompe l'oei where the video meets the set. It was a lot of very difficult complicated work that simply had to be 'right first time' -  and of course it was.

The Orb & Kakatsitsi drummers from Ghana

Entering into a new dynamic, The Orb have leap frogged their fascination with all things dub and have gone direct to its African core. Together with the Kakatsitsi drummers they have crafted a live reworking of Orb classics that takes you from world weary England and lands you smack in the center of Ghana. The drummers ae amazing, the dancing magnificent and The Orb of course, as ever, sublime. If you see one show this year, catch this one as The Orb are on fire.

Lana Del Ray

The shadows aren't shadows, they are projections - by deepvisual of course!

TV Mania Promo.

Ooops.
I forgot to post the Beautiful Clothes video.
Just dont ask me how long it took to edit.

Chilly Gonzales - Cadogan Hall, Chelsea

I clearly remember saying during load in, that its the small gigs with one projector that are always the most difficult.

Sure enough, nothing in theory could be easier and of course nothing could prove to be more difficult. The main problem being the camera 10m up in the air, where we cant focus it. It has a remote control, but the range is only around 3m, so its out with the tallest ladder you have ever seen and up I go. Now usually, I have a good head for heights, but this ladder swayed around 20cm per step and got worse as I got higher. Thankfully my nerve held long enough for the IR remote to spring to life and we had a perfect show, Mr Gonzo, being the consumate entertainer. I'd never heard of him before and I was very impressed.

Promo Videos

Work in the film industry is invariably top end, but with big budgets comes long hours and high pressure. Directors are used to being surrounded by highly skilled professionals with a can do attitude, so you'll make yourself few friends if you keep a crew of 50 waiting while you re-render the files that are often provided for playback. 

Thankfully as well as being a core component of live visuals, Modul8 is an ideal tool for fine tuning projections in real-time and with projection spilling out into everywhere, its no surprise that high power projectors are now popular methods for providing instant backdrops on film sets. While deepvisual have been working as projectionists on films for many years,  recently we've also  been asked to provide playback as well, in the form of versatile and instantaneous video manipulation via the magic of Modul8. Directors can now have video parameters tweaked instantly to their requirements.
LT clip control module is invaluable for this particular kind of work, enabling accurate cueing, pause and playback all in one panel.. no more setting the playback speed to zero to pause a clip. You'll find a MIDI controller handy too. The Korg Nano comes with me to every gig.

One thing the DOP will be needing is a scan rate from the projector that matches the frame rate on the camera. This isn't as easy as it sounds as the conventional refresh rates of computer monitors and projectors create horrific scan lines on projected footage in camera.

If you find yourself using adult projectors like the Christie Roadsters, you can set the EDID out to camera friendly rates such as 1080 25p, otherwise you'll be needing the services of a DVI parrot or my personal favourite, the Kramer EDID recorder. Failing that, you can always fall back on SwitchResX.

Another very important thing to remember is to read the call sheet before you turn up and make a point of learning the first names of everyone on set. That way you'll fit into the production family like a long lost friend, which will come in really handy when you need help lifting the projector onto that scissor lift..

photo - Stereophonics - Rewind 

Abqaiq

Working overseas is never quite what you expect it to be and our multi-projector show in Abqaiq, 60 miles out in the great sand desert of Saudi Arabia certainly was anything but routine.

From hoards of Termites eating the MDF projector stands, to bolts of lightning from the heavens, to the theft of much of the video infrastructure, it was challenge after challenge. Of course, it goes without saying that deepvisual rose to the occasion and delivered a perfect  show. 

The Orb - Brixton Electric

A spectacular evening's entertainment to a packed house with The Orb on tip top form playing their first two albums live.
Technically a very challenging day for deepvisual, but an absolute joy to be able to work the seeming endless possibilities coming from the combination of Modul8, Resolume, Syphon, onstage PTZ cams and the mighty Vixid..
It was through the doors of The Fridge that I wheeled my very first flight case all those years ago and the day was a tumble of memories, all of them good. Twenty odd years later, a zillion shows and a half century of countries worked in, it was good to be back home.

Gaye Bykers On Acid

My very first walk on part, holding an 8mm cine projector on my shoulder in the front row of a GBOA gig in 1989

Happy Birthday Dear Pop Star

Another walk on part in the lives of the famous - this time Simon Lebon's birthday in Toronto 2011. He ended up wearing the cake instead of eating it. If you look closely you can see the Gucci labels on my Peltors.

Beautiful Clothes - TV Mania

It's nearly 14 weeks since we shot the video for Beautiful Clothes and much love and affection has been poured into making it into something wonderful. It's finally ready and will no doubt be released very very soon..

EART HL I NG Tour 1997

Yes, i did indeed get a walk on part in the career of David Bowie. Thats me on the left walking offstage mid song after fixing a projector on the bass drum.. We got the static effect by playing blank tapes in the VHS machines.

Duran Bootleg - Latest & Greatest - 1998

Another still from another bootleg, this time the Wembley show in the Dec 98 UK tour - being my first time out with Duran Duran. Lead Singer Simon Lebon asked the Tour Manager who the guy was in yellow headphones running around onstage during the show. When told, he then said "Well, this is Duran Duran. If he is onstage he either wears black or Gucci." Which is how I came to have Gucci logos on my ear defenders.
2x xenon HFX 35mm slide projectors & 2x xenon EIKI 16mm cine Projectors

Duran Bootleg - Pop Trash - 1999

Sadly deepvisual have no photos of their Duran projections from the 1998-2000 tours as the negs were handed over to someone else, never to be returned.. Its very hard to find stills or video from back then, but this has surfaced from a bootleg recorded by the in house CCTV at the House of Blues Chicago.. which I am sure is very naughty of them..
Large format scroll film projection from 7kW HFX projector.

The Orb - More Adventures...

Projection Mapping Pioneers

Given the massive explosion of Projection Mapping its hard to imagine a time when this specialised technique was all but unknown outside of a small circle of specialists. If you try Googling for "3D Projection Mapping" you won't find anything earlier than 2007.
deepvisual started doing Projection Mapping in 1993, quickly innovating the ponderous techniques that French companies were using for architectural projection into a simple and effective way of preparing images - at that time large format slides- for projection onto buildings..

of course deepvisual didn't invent Projection Mapping, but we did single-handedly make it accessible to the whole world by posting two videos on youtube in 2007, explaining our unique method for accurately aligning projected imagery to objects. From that small beginning Projection Mapping has snowballed into a global phenomenon.

deepvisual projection mapping Taejon Expo 1993

more on deepvisual and the history of Projection Mapping

Nick Rhodes: Bei Incubi

The Force Behind Duran Duran Reveals His Photographic Talent in a New Series

A chameleonic woman shape-shifts to adopt a multitude of personas in these seductive Polaroids by Duran Duran keyboardist-turned-photographer Nick Rhodes. A founding member of the legendary New Romantic pop outfit, Birmingham-born Rhodes had originally intended the shots to feature on the sleeve to forthcoming album from side-project TV Mania. ” The works on display follow the many metamorphoses of an imagined character—the fame-obsessed daughter of a futuristic, dysfunctional family—as she transforms from a photogenic beauty to an abstract, even nightmarish vision. “One of the main challenges for me was to try to create photos that look like paintings, but without using computers in post-production,” says Rhodes. “Live dangerously—take a Polaroid.
Needless to say, deepvisual have been involved in every stage of this project, including the big party last night.
It's not always work work work...

Studio Shoot

Changeover on set and the Gaffer springs into action. 

Bespoke HD content was accurately mapped onto the set on a one day video shoot for a prominent games company - by deepvisual of course! 

Christie 8k & Modul8

Projection Mapping IHG

A refurbished hotel in central London needed an event with a difference. Cue deepvisual with some bespoke projection mapping on the facade..
4x 20k Christie Roadsters and Watchout

TV Mania

Back in the mid-90s, Duran Duran's  Nick Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo had what turned out to be a premonition of a society in which voyeurism was woven into the cultural fabric. In wanting to share their vision of the future, they created its soundtrack in the form of an album called TV Mania: Bored With Prozac and The Internet? Lost until recently the album is on the brink of release. 
deepvisual is currently working with Nick Rhodes on a series of visual TV Mania delights for you all to enjoy.

The Orb

deepvisual has performed live visuals for 90s ambient supergroup The Orb since 2000 performing  a successful run of shows in  Europe, the US and Japan on a variety of screens and stages. Hot on the heels of their latest album with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, deepvisual generate a spontaneous free form visual joyride as backdrop to The Orb onstage.

Duran Duran

Now heading into their 14th year at the helm of Duran Duran's visual onstage presence, deepvisual crafted content from diverse sources into a spectacular backdrop for the band's 2011-2012 World Tour.

The show was such a success there was a DVD release of the Manchester 2011 concert - A Diamond In The Mind.

Behind the scenes, the multiscreen content was run live, with some sequences triggered by timecode, while other sections of the show used deepvisual's touring CCTV system to place intimate live shots of the performers and audience onscreen.

Absolute Hollywood

Always the most challenging of our projects, working in Absolute Hollywood's giant domes draws on skills as diverse as rope access, fulldome content creation and planetarium projection system installation and alignment. We've done some amazing work together including the Four Host Nations Pavilion at the Vancouver Winter Olympics and at events across the globe

Mobile Planetarium - Madrid

A badly installed Planetarium projection system in Madrid was turned around by deepvisual, resulting in a perfect line up and a delighted client. Just by chance, we ended up saving the Planet (arium) on the same day some of the more superstitious members of spaceship earth were convinced was the end of the world. 

Nollywood Film Premiere

Last minute problems with HDCP copy protection almost sank the glamorous UK launch of the Nigerian movie 'Turning Point' .  deepvisual saved the day of course and the hilarious movie nearly brought the house down..

Girls Aloud

An elaborate NDA prevents us from saying much beyond "Aren't the projections on the new Girls Aloud video fantastic"

Hartnell ~ RNIB simulator

Working in conjunction with Hartnell Creative Communication, deepvisual created an award winning interactive game system with a VDMX engine that simulates the symptoms of progressive eye disease, for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Musion

The content curators at Musion liked our custom made footage for their Musion Eyeliner competition so much they bought it!

Nokia Projection Art Gallery

How could anyone expect an international projection artist to actually know how to do projections? Enter deepvisual who took all the flash based content that really didn't want to work and made it run like clockwork to timecode.

On tour / Off tour

Willard: [voiceover] Saigon... shit; I'm still only in Saigon... Every time I think I'm gonna wake up back in the jungle.  When I was home after my first tour, it was worse. [grabs at flying insect]  I'd wake up and there'd be nothing. I hardly said a word to my wife, until I said "yes" to a divorce. When I was here, I wanted to be there; when I was there, all I could think of was getting back into the jungle. I'm here a week now... waiting for a mission... getting softer. Every minute I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every minute Charlie squats in the bush, he gets stronger. Each time I looked around the walls moved in a little tighter.

Yeah, its not easy being off the road for any length of time. You try to rest a little and maybe catch up on all the thousands of things that need doing, then before you know it the phone rings and a voice says "Can you go to Madrid today?" or "Can you go to rehearsals in Brixton right now and just do whatever they ask? You'll be back in 14 weeks."