Swedish show control developer and manufacturer, Dataton, is providing the digital scenography for a new production of the iconic musical “Hair” at the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv.
Their WATCHOUT multi-display production and playback system orchestrates the visuals in a dynamic set consisting of 50 monitors rigged to look like old TV screens plus a panoramic three-projector backdrop.
Located in the centre of Tel Aviv, the Cameri Theatre stages up to twelve new productions a year as well as touring both nationally and internationally. The theatre has utilised WATCHOUT for projection design in the past but this is the first time they have used WATCHPAX media players, too.
“It is our first project with WATCHPAX media players and we had some very good reasons for choosing them, ” says Ohad Levitan, the theater's video specialist. “Later this year the show will travel to different theatres all over the country, and we want to minimise the hardware that has to travel with it. The geometry correction in WATCHOUT is also a must when moving into different halls.”
The plug and play WATCHPAX units feature a rugged aluminium shell and built-in WATCHOUT. The small form factor (just 127 x 148 x 22 mm) has made them a hit with system integrators.
Levitan adds: “It's a great system – simple to start using but on the other hand you can do a lot of complex things. It's very easy to teach an operator and even in one day you can learn how to program.”
Local Premium Partner, Digital AV, supplied WATCHOUT expertise and the WATCHPAX servers. "The video arts creator saw WATCHOUT in action for the first time last year, and loved the features, such as the ability to multi-task, ” reports Digital AV’s Michael Humash. “Multiple timelines open up for interactive capabilities, and, since Hair is a musical, syncing to sound and stage was the most important issue. The video operator wants the option for a system to be slaved to the sound, while still being able to run it manually in other parts. We solved it by feeding timecode into the production, and when needed, the operator manually ran other tasks."
Lars Sandlund, COO at Dataton remarks, “Touring productions call for technology that is both high-performance and easy to use in different venues, often with limited rehearsal time. Hair is a case in point and the new digital set ensures this entertainment classic translates into 2015 with real flair!”
