ChefConf 2016 enriches annual convention with Ventuz powered projection setup

The annual convention for the DevOps company, Chef, took place in one of the most artistic cities in the US: Austin, Texas. Good Company Communications produced the event and designed the staging and content – commissioning Meru Interactive, a division of their long-time production partner, Mountain View Staging, to create and deliver a projection installation that highlighted the art and music culture Austin is known for, and the content of the speakers at the event.

Good Company was specific about what they wanted the screens and PIPs to look like, so Meru Interactive used Ventuz and created a three-piece projection solution with a main stage at the center and two additional projections on either side. The outboard screens were illuminated by one 20k Panasonic projector each and showed presentations, video playback, brand content and images. The center screen, however, used a blended setup of two 20k Panasonic projectors. The content consisted of moving and static background portraying the ChefConf brand and Austin. Four picture in picture windows were layered on top of the background image and used to visualize the art scene of Austin as well as additional Chef brand information. A larger fifth picture in picture window at the center of the screen mirrored the outboard screen content – all allowing Good Company to change content or creative requirements on the fly – and Meru had no trouble delivering the new looks nearly in real time.

The intricate picture in picture setup was realized using Ventuz as a media server. Ventuz allowed for a smooth transition between three different looks – one for entry, one for presentations and one for a Talk Show segment – and managed playback of all different content elements while switching between live feeds, graphics and content provided by third parties. Meru Interactive chose Ventuz for this task in order to simplify their workflow and provide for a robust mapping setup. Good Company CEO and Producer Johnny Good shared: “Our client was really happy with the GS look and we were blown away at how fast our creative content could be updated and realized with the Ventuz solution. MVS and Menu Interactive did a fantastic job!” An added note of appreciation was received by other technicians when viewing the color and the alignment tools of Ventuz in action.