Patrick Dierson
Patrick Dierson
We were pretty chuffed to discover that Patrick Dierson was using Hippotizer for the 2005 Eddy Awards firstly because there's no better way to recieve a product award than on a show using one, and secondly Patrick is so well known throughout the industry that it was a wee bit flattering. But Patrick took it a step further by being the first person to employ Hippotizer's ability to run audio and subsequently the whole damn show was generated by the Hippotizer and controlled from a single desk. We just had to shake his hand afterwards since the event was flawless and it was just him and a console plus a pile of kit. Commendable. Patrick's name is all over the place if you do a search but we know the following from his bio:
Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Patrick has built an impressive career designing the production, lighting and projections for large-scale concerts, television broadcasts and corporate appearances. Dierson's expertise has been called upon for numerous high-level productions, including the promotional world tour of Latin pop sensation Shakira, the Wynn Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, the MTV Video Music Awards, VH-1's Hip Hop Honors and various architectural projects. He earned an Emmy(r) Award nomination for his work on the post September 11th musical telethon America: A Tribute to Heroes. He is also an associate designer and art director with the aRtfag, LLC design firm and partner in Idyll Hands Imagery, Inc. a company specializing in projection content creation for the entertainment industry.
Your Name: Patrick Dierson
Company Name: Dierson Design Group, Inc./ Idyll Hands Imagery, Inc.
Website address www.diersondesign.com www.idyllhandsimagery.com
Name of Project(s) related to Hippotizer: Eddy Awards
Date used: May 2005
How would you best describe yourself?
Production, Lighting, & Video Designer for concerts, special events, & television.
How did you first hear about the Hippotizer?
LDI Tradeshow
Did you specify the Hippotizer or was it supplied to you?
Specified
Have you used other media servers before you encountered Hippotizer?
Yes
Which Model of Hippotizer are you using?
Stage
How are you displaying the media?
Projection & SoftLED Curtains
What display mode are you running?
Dual
Are you using Pixel Mapper on the project?
No
What features of the Hippotizer do you like most?
Extremely smooth playback, great frame blending, audio playback.
What features would you like to see in future versions?
Volume and pitch control of audio playback
I specified the Hippotizer on this project for two reasons First, I had never had an opportunity to work with it and was extremely curious. Secondly, It was being awarded an Eddy for it's technical achievements so it seemed only fitting that it be used to run the show media for the evening.
Soon after media pre-production started I realized that the latest version of Hippo software that I was issued was not only capable of playing back digital audio files but it had never been done in a live environment before. Brand new features, a beta release of software, never before show-tested, I simply couldn't resist using it! A proposal to the production management was put in that would allow me to have complete control over lighting, video projection, SoftLED elements, AND audio playback for the entire show. A whole new level of media prep was to follow being that we now wanted to create custom audio mixes for the evening's cueing structure. A whole new level of creativity soon followed as well since the flow of lighting, video, & audio were able to merge in a truly cohesive fashion. Realistically speaking, you rarely see this type of creative compatibility on smaller scale shows and the Hippotizer was able to give us that ability.
The show went off without a hitch. Hippotizer worked flawlessly for all of its playback & I was sold on it's ability to be used with confidence on large-scale, professional productions. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing its software advance as we progress into the future of digital production.
Note from Green Hippo: We'd like to thank Patrick for taking the time to give us his feedback. We'd like to add that he's also a down to earth fellow with time for everyone.
