CeBIT 09 - yeah yeah right, CeBIT. And again for Microsoft. And again in Hannover. For whoever wants to know how Hannoer looks and feels, please feel free to indulge in last year’s post.

http://live.stereolize.com/2008/02/28/199/cebit-again-cebit08-groundhog-day.html

I got nothing to add, it’s exactly the same - the grey city, the cold, the rain, the urge to put a bullit in your head. Everything exactly the same, how do they do that, here in Hannover?

This year we got 13 tracks for the Microsoft cinema. That’s 5 more than last year - so that did change but we really don’t want to complain

We invaded the grey city with 17 people this year, so we are going to cope! 

And here a few more impressions - but like I said, I could also have posted last year’s pics.

Markus, just like last year…

and the other Markus, like last year, and the year before that, and the year before that…

Gizmo from Farbrausch/Glare Studios with colleague Tom (you can’t see Tom on this one but again, you will find him on last year’s pics. And he didn’t change either…)         

Almost forgot: Something changed this year! We took the dog!

And he really likes Hannover - no clue why…

Dear Ventuz community, if you would like to meet us and would like to see Ventuz (and us) in action,

come and find us on the Microsoft stand… including the dog…

As mentioned, we were in Dubai for the Zayed Future Energy Prize project. And for some reason I had the feeling that there was a lot more rain this year, than ever before. Now logically, a desert country like this one is not necessarily built to deal with water that comes from… the sky. Why should it? Ergo, they don’t have things like drainage or sewer systems. Nothing, nada, niente - and the water keeps piling up on the streets and in the gardens and everywhere, for days! And this did not happen only once, every time another few drops fell down, there was another flood. Kinda scary to see how a whole city drowns in the floods. 

I admit that even we were a little overwhelmed with the amounts of water we had to cope with while driving, but just imagine all those people who come from countries where 80% of the transportation goes by bike or by walking, that are now driving cars in Dubai….

Being experienced in conspiracy theories, here is how think the deal goes:
They sell us the oil.
We buy it and burn it.
And pollute our air and destroy our environment. The clima change…
All the sudden there is more rain in the desert and the everything turns green.
Where we live turns into a desert or ice-desert. Depends…
And with our money they build one new city after the other where we have to buy expensive apartments. Since it’s so nice and green there.

So actually we make their weather and have to pay for it in the end??? Or so….

Ever been to Berlin Mahrzan ?

…and here is a little update on our column "by the way". Whoever thinks that this looks complicated, just imagine to have to touch every single keyframe, just because you want to change the handles for "speed in" and "speed out". Actually it’s only annoying as hell for the first two hours, after that the whole process does get something meditative… go ahead and try it.

@ Ventuz: Dear Ventuz programmers, how about multi-selection - maybe even for the handles. Or even better: multi-selection and then input of the speed in and speed out values via property (e.g. 30% in and 60% out) - this would save years. I think I have even seen something like that before - the name of the software was also something with V and Z :-) 

send tons of stupid videos through and therewith annoy everyone. But this one screams for an exception!

Well, and then came Doha.

After the Zayed Future Energy Prize we went straight on to Doha.
Big one as always. And some of us are still there.

Unfortunately we cannot say (again…) for who and for what we realized this project.
(but that will come)

At least we can give you a few impressions of Doha.

Apparently architects can do whatever they want here.

And this time we brought some more stuff… as mentioned, this one is a little bigger.

A construction site, initially we wanted to make a 360 panoramic picture but honestly, no use…the other angles look exactly the same :-) 

And…another construction site.

And don’t you think our selection of pictures was one-sided. Things actually look like that in Doha….

No offense but somehow even the sand is kinda ugly here

And for whoever got in the mood to travel to Doha and explore the desert - be warned, there’s no alcohol and that’s truly not making it easier.

Well, and here we are off to the project. But as mentioned, you are unfortunately not allowed to enter (just yet)…

Let´s get to another big project we realized recently. Big - but again not big enough… The Zayed Future Energy Prize is an award that was launched within this year´s World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE and is awarded to those who have made significant contributions in the field of future energy. The winner is awarded 1.5 million $. The award, which is modelled on the status and integrity of the Nobel Prize is set to be one of the driving forces behind energy solutions in the future.

When we have a little more time (and who knows when that´s gonna be…) we´ll make a real news out if this. But for now - just a few pictures:

HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan with entourage

The show content for the award ceremony, which was a dazzling array of multi-media fetaures was created by….us…who else? On a variable screen set-up that was 32m wide and 5m high with movable screens and a 16m wide and 2.50m high LED strip that could shift up and down, the story of the Zayed Future Energy Prize was told in form of an 18 minute visual symphony with an ever changing scenery. Performers were moving on two levels, interacting with the projection and through special props such as movable gauze screens that were partly transparent, amazing effects could be generated.

In order to get this, it would have to be a film. The guy in the white suit is NICO. He moves synchronized with the animation as if we had animated him with the timeline.

And all in all, with a few more wrinkles, a few more grey hairs and many hours lost in terms of sleep, the Zayed Future Energy Prize was yet another a big success.

And here a few impressions of the set-up and rehearsals:

Even if you don´t believe it…yes it takes that many monitors:

1 x PC for the front projection = 4 x 1024 x 768

1 x PC for the rear projection = 4 x 1024 x 768

1 x PC for the LED = 2 x 1024 x 768

1 PC for the movable screens = 1x 1024 x 768

and then there was a staircase made of LED steps.

Well, and since the Sheikh and 2.000 other people were there and we didn´t want to take a risk - take everything times 2 - you never know…

Oh and by the way - of course everything in realtime - did somebody say watchout or so???

Who wants to know where to get the T-shirts - email to my account

And this one would actually go under "BIG SCREENS" - but who cares?

Another interesting thing - the globe, the mountain scenery and many other were kompletely rendered in 3D, guaranteed no pre produced stuff.

The biggest THANK YOU to Tom and Gizmo from glarestudios who modelled and textured the stuff. These guys know their shit!!!!