|
The new visitors center at the Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) in Atlanta features a multi-story atrium
with 18 image areas whose ever-changing image sequences
are created by Dataton WATCHOUT modules under the
control of a Medialon Manager system. Medialon Manager
also integrates environmental lighting control.
The CDC’s media producer “wanted to do a continuous show
that was totally non-repeating, completely random” and
unpredictable, notes Tim Creed, president of CED
Communications Electronic Design in Louisville ,
Kentucky , which was responsible for the systems
integration. The show also had to be capable of being
updated with new imagery when desired. Several playback
formats and control systems were tested and the best
option to meet these parameters was deemed to be a
Dataton WATCHOUT system under the control of a Medialon
Manager system. The screen content is a combination of
stills, video and graphics pertaining to public health
throughout the world.
The system also incorporates an extensive switching,
routing and scaling configuration, which gives the CDC
the ability to display multiple video and graphic
sources on selected screens for special events such as
VIP visits or for breaking health news or live health
conferences.
The WATCHOUT show consists of three stories, composed of
still images, multiple HD video streams encoded for PC
playback, graphics with audio stings, and transitions,
which can be called up to play on an array of 18 rear
projection and 50-inch plasma screens. “All of the
playback logic comes from Medialon,” notes Creed. “John
Sacrenty wrote a seven-day-a-week module that makes it
possible for the client to go in and have the random
engine bypass certain snippets or weigh other snippets
to play more often.”
“We’re very impressed with Medialon; we love it,” says
Creed. “It was our first time doing a live-style show
system, and we found Medialon was very easy to use. It
also controlled most of the devices through the network
IP.”
Douglas Mesney served as WATCHOUT programmer on the
project and John Sacrenty was the Medialon programmer. |
