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Catalyst is Everywhere

With two highly successful ‘Digital Video Workshops’ staged by Projected Image Digital this year – presenting the power and versatility of the Catalyst V4 digital media server in a hands-on situation - the system is proving more popular and dynamic than ever.

Leading UK rental company Lite Alternative has now invested in three Catalyst v 4 systems (run on Mac Pro G5 machines). Lighting and visual designer Paul Normandale realises that it is now essential to have the creative opportunities of integrated video within a lighting design, rather than as an added extra. Catalyst gives him these creative options.

Lite Alternative’s Catalyst systems have been on many live shows and concert tours throughout the year, from Radio One’s ‘Big Weekend’ to Arcade Fire’s ‘Neon Bible’ world tour, featuring lighting and set design by Normandale with visual design and video direction by Richard Stembridge.

Others include Maximo Park (LD Stevie Marr), Interpol (LD Lucas Cotterham), and Paul McCartney and Kings of Leon (LD for both, Paul Normandale). Normandale also used PixelMAD - the pixel-mapping plug-in - on recent James Blunt and Mark Ronson tours, and a Catalyst system will be utilized on James Blunt’s 2008 world tour.

The “beauty” of Catalyst is its ability to modify - in all ways - the content on site, as opposed to needing expensive editing post and pre-production facilities says Normandale. He particularly likes the image framing and the easy size image scaling facilities, and being able to customise software for specific projects is a real asset. Another major appeal factor is having the support of Richard Bleasdale – whom PID also brought in to present elements of both Digital Video Workshops. As a designer, “the advent of Catalyst has raised the visual potential to encompass video in a realistic manner,” concludes Normandale.

UK based lighting designer/directors Ross Williams and Svend Pedersen set up a partnership at the end of 2002 to purchase their first Catalyst system for use with their television lighting work. They were one of the first to use such equipment in this way, their machine making its debut on the Ant and Dec show with lighting director Tom Kinane.

Why invest? “It was the first product we’d seen for a long while which really excited us,” says Williams, adding that they could foresee the potential for such technology within their work. “It was also good to enter a whole new world - video - and start learning from the ground up about this side of the industry as well developing content creation skills.”

They were also the first to purchase software only versions of Catalyst, choosing to custom-build their machines, and have worked closely with software developer Richard Bleasdale from the outset. Today Pedersen & Williams are on their fifth generation of hardware, and have five active Catalysts in rental including both Lite and HD Ready versions, plus well over 10,000 digital media files. Their systems have worked on countless shows over the years, often several a week. Catalyst has always been quick to integrate new technology and demands into its product range as it’s become available, and much of its current feature set has been end-user driven.

“Catalyst has made a huge difference to the scope of our work,” continues Williams. It adds another resource to offer clients and has certainly generated new avenues of work. Sometimes it’s the hire of a video wall that has driven a need for a Catalyst, sometimes it’s the other way around. It has been essential to work alongside the large video rental companies who have all been very supportive.

Fons Hogenes, from Dutch company Improve, believes that having four Catalyst V4 PRO servers has placed them firmly on the map. Recently the company staged seminars at Delft Digital Lighting University where they received positive feedback from all participants, particularly on the Catalyst system.

They use Catalyst on a wide variety of the shows which they design and operate themselves. The majority of Improve’s work is in the corporate world and it includes numerous presentation dinners. In these situations it is extremely useful to be able to play movies with sound, and link movies to external timecode. Catalyst’s ability to use several layers on top of each other and the facility to create wide screen applications with multiple servers is a powerful tool and something Hogenes particularly likes.

Manchester-based production services company Basic Monkey’s director James Cooksey has invested in Catalyst equipment having been impressed by the sales information he received from PID and on the internet. As a result he purchased a Catalyst Express from PID, which he’s used for a number of private parties – all designed and operated by himself. He is looking forward to new content packages which will assist him in moving onto awards show applications, replacing dull PowerPoint award stings.

Cooksey likes the fact that the system has almost universal media acceptance and will accept almost anything in whatever formats. And as a lighting designer it has enabled him to offer his clients more innovative and creative uses of LED and AV equipment.

In picture: Arcade Fire tour - lighting designed by Paul Normandale, visuals designed by Richard Stembridge.

http[://www.pi-digital.co.uk

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Catalyst is Everywhere

3rd December 2007

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