Ecuador. The facades of six emblematic buildings in Guayaquil have recently served as the setting for a spectacular video mapping show to commemorate the bicentennial of the city's independence.
The Mapping Route, as the event was called, was developed for a week with Christie 3DLP technology projectors by the Ecuadorian rental & staging company 3Laser.
This show was part of the program of activities, which included a show with 300 drones, organized by the Municipality of Guayaquil in conjunction with the Municipal Public Tourism Company.
One of the sites chosen for mapping was The Point, which with its 137 meters high is the tallest building in the city and an architectural icon due to the spiral design of its structure. Here a projection of 100m high by 30m wide was made where animated graphics of the change of the city and other representative elements of various eras of the city were shown, such as the railway, river trade and architecture.
Another of the mappeados buildings was the Municipal Palace of Guayaquil, in this case in a projection of 80m wide by 30m high, where episodes of the Buenos Aires foundation, the invasion of pirates, the process of liberating deed, and the cultural and ethnic diversity of the city were projected.
It was also projected on the Clock Tower, another of the emblematic symbols of the city, and on the Metropolitan Cathedral of Guayaquil. Each of the screenings was accompanied by a performance by a popular music artist. As the capacity had to be reduced by the pandemic, all the mappings were broadcast live through social networks.
To fit the images on the very irregular projection surfaces where it was projected, 3Laser used the photographic technique. "It is very fast and allows us to map all the details in the perspective of the projectors," explained Ángel Cuesta, director of 3Laser. "First we put together the structure of the projectors, then we take the photograph and make a projection of the area to be covered with which we calculate the pixels. With the help of laser meters, we measure the actual surface and calculate the zoom of the lenses from the projection site. We always try to go as far as possible so as not to cover the audience with the projection scaffolding."
3Laser used a fleet of eight projectors of 20,000 lumens of Christie 3DLP technology that were moved daily to the different buildings, since one mapping was carried out per day. A team of six 3Laser technicians was in charge of the movements and management of the equipment.
"In that sense, Christie projectors are 100% reliable," Angel Cuesta said. "We take them on tour from show to show and they're always ready to work. We only change the air filters and lamps from time to time, and they are able to run for hours on end without heating or failure."
The truth is that the projections of the bicentennial of Guayaquil left the spectators amazed, who had never before seen the most important buildings of their city flooded with colors. The success was such that Mayor Cynthia Viteri plans to install The Mapping Route as an event to be repeated every year in the city for the enjoyment of citizens and tourists.
Ángel Cuesta concluded: "Live events do not allow you post production. They work or they don't work, there are no intermediate points. And, in this case, once again, the Christie projectors performed extraordinarily well and allowed us to exceed all expectations."
