USA - It may not have looked like your grandma's Empire State Building (ESB), but a grandMA2 full-size enhanced the dazzling pixel mapping of the New York City landmark that launched the building's new lighting system.
The world-famous ESB recently revealed its new, one-of-a-kind LED tower lights with a first-ever light show on the landmark, which was designed by noted lighting designer Marc Brickman. The stunning display featured six Hippo media servers, controlled by a grandMA2 full-size and operated in conjunction with the Philips Color Kinetics (PCK) LSM control system and its associated network. The media servers drove 11,500 pixel-mapped DMX channels to four types of Philips Color Kinetics RGB and white fixtures located on the building's top four tiers where they replaced old metal halide and fluorescent fixtures. All four sides of the structure were pixel mapped making the landmark visible throughout the city and surrounding areas.
"It was an honour to work on the project," says Brickman. "Philips and their team did an incredible job, and I had a great team. Everyone wanted to try something new and create a special musical show, and we did."
He explains that Philips "felt they needed to enhance their control system" to implement the pixel mapping. "grandMA2 would have been any designer's choice for this application," he says. "I was familiar with using pixels; it's still animated light. And the grandMA2 full-size worked great."
Brickman was assisted by programmer Tony Fransen, 3D artist Dietrich Juengling and Hippo programmer Darian Koop.
