More than 50,000 party people enjoyed Arcadia's music line up each night of the event beneath the sculpture for three nights, complete with spectacular visuals created by Video Illusions and blinkinLAB, with projection supplied by west Midlands based video production specialists, Central Presentations Ltd (CPL).
The highly visual Arcadia concept - originated by Bertie Coles and Pip Rush - transforms scrapped military and other hardware into environments that celebrate harmony and the human spirit. It is a fusion of industrial art and innovation that's captured the hearts and minds of festival goers.
Live performances at Arcadia this year included shows from Disclosure, Jack Beats, Nero, Edible, Mr Scruff, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, David Rodigan and many, many more.
CPL was invited back to Arcadia after their successful collaboration at last year's Glastonbury extravaganza, and this year their team was led by Matthew 'Max' Boyse and Jimmy Smith.
They again worked closely with Video Illusions' Dave Whiteoak - who first came up with the whole concept of bringing the spider to life with video, a project that has energised him for the last four years - and with blinkinLAB's Tom Wall, who created all the bespoke footage and animations for the visuals show.
Together, CPL and Video Illusions designed the dynamic HD projection system - using six of CPL's Panasonic PT-DZ 21K projectors - one for the back and one for the front of each of the spider's three massive legs.
This year, with the whole Arcadia space being increased to allow a greater capacity audience to catch the vibes, the custom projector towers complete with scenic surrounds were moved back another 20m - so the machines had to throw a distance of 40m.
Each image projected was 11m wide by about 15m high and these were mapped precisely onto the spider's legs using an Avolites AI media server which stored and replayed all the video content.
In addition to the projected visuals, Video Illusions supplied their own 10 mm LED screen panels which were integrated into the structure around the DJ booth, forming the mouth and the brain of the spider, with the projections effectively becoming its skin!
The bespoke content for the 2014 show was originated by blinkinLAB who received a 3D CAD model of the spider from Arcadia and created a simplified UV mapped 3D model for use in the Avolites AI media server.
The timecoded AV footage created for the 2014 'landing' show lasted around 35 minutes. The spectacle included a hi-energy choreographed montage of aerialists, lasers, flames and cranes complete with pumping soundtrack.
Max from CPL comments, "It was incredible to be part of the Arcadia experience again this year. We really enjoyed the great synergy with Video Illusions and blinkinLAB, and we're very happy to be part of one the most unique, talked-about and most enjoyed elements of the Festival."
Dave Whiteoak says, "I was very keen to work with CPL after last year's success, and once again everyone worked tirelessly with 24 hour days to produce a show-stopping production."
In addition to providing the Arcadia projections, CPL also supplied PF Events who technically produced Shangri-La with sound, lighting and video kit for various stages in the Shangri La area.
Also for the Hell stage, CPL supplied 24 new Core 30 battery operated LED uplighters that were used to highlight the outside of the stage. These were picked for their rugged construction, wireless data connectivity and cable-free installation, all making them ideal for outdoor applications.
(Jim Evans)
