Post 3: Why Would Rotary Trail be a Great setting for a Light Festival

    Even before Rotary Trail existed, I had envisioned projecting on the walls of the old railroad tracks, and now that it has been totally cleaned up and reinvented into a great promenade, it is even more fitted for the purpose of staging a Light Festival: 
      A self contained area 3 blocks long, hundreds of feet of concrete walls

, several staircases  

, a ramp

 , two underpasses 

with great patterns of pebbles and rocks on the ground that could through the Magic of vertical Projection be turned into a stream of blue water running in a grassy field

, two concrete freeform wavy slabs that can be mapped and projected on 

, dozens of yellow stands to display smaller "Light Sculptures"

, "smart" seating areas with solar panel powered recharge stations

, a small amphitheater

 , a clean concrete path that can take interactive vertical projections.
    The Hardwick Company wonderfully weathered brick and tin sheds on each side could take major projections and mapping if big projectors are provided

     And if need be, at the end of it, the expressway underpass could receive A LOT of light graffiti

    The back of the entrance gate could be covered in white cloth and used for projection mapping and the red pipes could be fitted with running colored LED's:

 The gate we built for Light Dreams at Alys Stephens could possibly be used, or reproduced in a smaller lighter version, and the extensive mapping animations I did for it could be replayed in a different setting.

Post 2: Technical Implementation

    It would of course be great if we could use the numerous power outlets available throughout the city, and especially along Rotary Trail, to plug in Projectors and Sound Systems, but that is unlikely.
    That means that we must carry with us our own source of power. There are two options: 
          1. A powerful inverter connected to a car battery. That would work for Bombing on street buildings out of the side door of a van, but not in a fenced and enclosed space like Rotary Trail, or a place like Railroad Park of Avondale Park where automobiles are not allowed.
          2. A small Gasolin Powered Generator. Harbor Freight happened to put on sale their smallest 700 watts 2 HP generator last week, and I bought one:

    I bought as well as a sturdy blue "diablo"(hand truck):

    On top of it, I will built an M.B.U. (Mobile Bombing Unit) that will be made up of a large speaker, and amplifier, and an adjustable ball head projector mount. I want to be able to project from ground level, over railings, and even with the projector mounted upside down on a 10 foot pole when necessary. I also want the option of projecting vertically down on the ground.

Post 1: Another Idea, Another Project!

    This idea has been brewing for a little while, but since I have now taken the first steps to get the Project going,  I feel it is time to start yet a new Blog on a new Project...
    This is just a variation on a concept that has been around for years in larger cities like New York or LA, but has not as far as I know been attempted in Birmingham:" Projection Bombing".
    The whole thing was precipitated by a few walks through our brand new "Rotary Trail", and the recognition of its huge potential as a venue for Digital Projection and the exhibition of Light Sculpture. It could be the perfect setting for a new "Light Dreams" type Festival.
   
    Since I was the first person to bring Architectural Mapping to this city more than 5 years ago at the first Paint The Town Red Festival, and have done several large scale mapping and projection shows since with Alys Stephens and the ASO, I feel sort of "qualified" to get this concept going down here. 
    I own four projectors, a regular 5K home theatre projector with a zoom, and 3 matching ultra wide angle 4.5K classroom projectors(with the option to borrow a fourth one from a good friend). 
  Now, the idea is certainly not new, people have been staging "bombings"  in New York and other large cities for several years now, and I can take several forms, at the most basic just a few words or a shape projected on the side of a building:

    A more elaborate concept involves the use of an iPad or Android tablet and drawing/painting or graffiti software to create temporary light graffiti or Artwork:

   There can be interactivity with the public there letting them create their own designs.If one had a 35Kprojector, it could be envisioned on a huge scale:

      I was in fact done on the famous Sydney Opera House several times:

        Now, I am not that ambitious, and feel a great deal could be accomplished with small home theatre, boardroom,  and classroom projectors.
        Another type of projection surface I am interested in would be trees and shrubbery. There was a whole festival in Korea at some point that achieved very powerful effects fitting faces on trees:

        Yet another avenue to explore is a kind of "rough live projection mapping", whereby the projector covers an entire building, and a drawing is created that follows the outlines and architectural features of the structure. It can be very rough:

or not so rough:

or more precise and refined:

       The same thing can be done on cars, trucks, or construction equipment:

and even loosely on trees to great effect:

     A last, but more complicated option is to do  an actual accurate mapping of a small building, part of a building,  or architectural detail. For example, I am working on a test to be projected on the front steps of the Rose Building on 20th Street South: