The entire future of automated lighting and, the application of high powered video projection, moved a big step forward at Showtech in Berlin this week, with the European soft-launch of High End System’s new product, Catalyst. Developed for HES by English design company, Wynne Wilson Gottelier (WWG), the alpha version of Catalyst created a considerable stir at the show. Mounted on the front of a Barco ELM R12, a 12,000 ANSI lumens output, triple-DMD video projector, Catalyst allows an image to be moved smoothly and positioned accurately, time after time, within a global envelope. As it is video-based, Catalyst allows truly unlimited colour mixing, with a selection of masks that act as framing shutters or overlays on video clips.

The system is delivered with hundreds of gobo patterns, that can again be overlaid, including the entire DHA and High End libraries. All of these facilities are accessible from any DMX desk, and were demonstrated at Showtech from a Wholehog 2. The package, which consists of the dynamic hardware, a control rack, DMX system control software, and video processing software, is to be marketed by High End Systems to rental companies which already own suitable DLP projectors, as an add-on. Aside from Barco, these could include models from Christie Digital Systems, Digital Projection, NEC, Panasonic and others.

Catalyst can next be seen at Showlight 2001 in Edinburgh where Tony Gottelier and Peter Wynne Willson will include it in their presentation ‘Lumières sans Frontières’, following which High End will again be showing the alpha system at Infocomm in Las Vegas in the second week of June. The official launch of the production version of Catalyst will be at this year’s PLASA Show.


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