It’s one thing to just pass by a UNESCO World Heritage site, but it’s quite another to have it speak to you while emblazoned with lights and color. Audience members at the Nocturnal Experience in Teotihuacan, a 45-minute projection mapping show at the Teotihuacan Pyramids, experience 20 million different color tones displaying themes of the site’s history — on top of the structures themselves.
Seen by more than 45,000 spectators since its inauguration a year-and-a-half ago, the shows feature the voice of a narrator telling the history of the Teotihuacan culture and visuals to match the vibrancy of that history.
After putting in place a team of researchers, storytellers, lighting designers, scriptwriters, animators, programmers and engineers, multimedia tech company Cocolab created a nocturnal experience for the Teotihuacan Pyramids archaeological site, developing the technology and content for the show.
A total of 19 Christie Roadie 4K45 projectors illuminate the Pyramid of the Sun, the Avenue of the Dead, and finally, the Pyramid of the Moon.
The Setup at Teotihuacan Pyramids
The Christie projectors are placed in two mobile units and are run from Mac Pros with NUUP software developed by Cocolab. The total brightness of the image powered by the 19 projectors was in excess of 850,000 lumens, a figure Christie says was never before seen in Mexico. [related]
Christie Roadie 4K45 with 3DLP has a native 4K resolution at 60Hz projects 45,000 lumens, making them among the brightest lamp-based projectors in the market. The Roadies integrate warping and blending capabilities to facilitate projection mapping on any surface.
Ernesto Armus, general manager, Christie Mexico, says he has trouble imagining what other projector could have fit so well.
“We are delighted that our Christie Roadie 4K45 projectors have contributed to this stunning projection-mapping show, which is sure to linger in the audience’s minds for a long time. It’s not often that you get to see such a large number of powerful projectors in a single event in Mexico.”
Cocolab ensures that the integrity of the structures and their cultural, historic and artistic values were never jeopardized at any time during the project. More from them on the experience:
People arrive at dusk and receive an audio guide that will retell the story of Teotihuacan.
As you walk down the avenue of the dead you can use the guide to see how the buildings were like more than 2000 years ago. You learn about the architecture and art of this great city as smart beacons recognize where you are and the interactive guide invites you to listen to different tracks depending of your surroundings.
The Nocturnal Experience in Teotihuacan continues this month.
