The University of Applied Sciences (HAW) in Hamburg is currently the second largest university in the Hanseatic city with over 17,000 students in four faculties. The light laboratory located in the media technology department of the design, media and information faculty is used to bring lighting technology closer to the students in practical exercises and applications.
In order to be able to test the design of LED surfaces and projections even better in the future, the HAW recently invested in a Hippotizer Karst + media server from Green Hippo. The device was supplied by the Green Hippo Germany distributor cast. The server is permanently prepared for work by the students in the light laboratory but is also used for various projects.
The Karst + is a feature-rich media server for real-time media playback, breathtaking pixel mapping and groundbreaking 3D projection mapping. In the tried and tested Hippotizer manner, it combines FlexRes Codec, PixelMapper, SHAPE 3D Mapping, Visualizer, HippoNet, Real-Time Playback, Output Mapping and Media Management. With the Karst +, students have a professional media server solution at their disposal that allows them to work in a practical manner.
“Due to the pandemic situation, the server is not yet in practical student use, but is used, for example, in lectures to explain how media servers work,” says Fabian Oving, research assistant in the light laboratory. In the future, the server will primarily be used for mappings – both of 3D objects and facade projections – or for TV productions.
“As a university, we train neutrally, and we always try to convey the current state of the art to the students. For this reason, a server that is used in many professional event and TV productions in Germany and across Europe should not be missing. We are particularly interested in the 3D mapping and the opportunity to bring students closer to the working methods of the Hippotizer family and to train them to use it. In terms of size and performance, the Karst + is completely sufficient for us as a university. ”
The media server was first used in a project that took place at the end of June in the Virtual Production Studio of PM Blue in Hamburg. A live broadcast was implemented here, in which the moderator’s guests were connected by video. This live input was sent as SDI-In from the video control room to the server and then played back at the appropriate places on the LED wall. For this purpose, a Green Hippo Boreal + Server was used on loan from the company cast to display the LED wall with 6912×1728 pixels. HAW’s own Karst + served as a zookeeper and CMS machine at the FOH. Everything was controlled by a GrandMA2 light. In preparation, the setup was set up in the HAW light laboratory a week beforehand, so that the output could be output with pixel accuracy on site.
The Hippotizer Karst + is available in three versions (2x DVI, 2x SDI and 2x DP). The HAW light laboratory opted for the variant with two DVI outputs and a 3G SDI input card.
“The DVI variant was a perfect match for us because we are using a DVI matrix anyway and can therefore work in a compatible manner,” continues Oving. “Since we also do a lot of live mapping projects and want high-quality input for them, the SDI input opens up many possibilities for us.”
Image credit: © HAW / Fabian Oving
