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Summer 2014

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Such state-of-the-art digital projection transformed 13th-century Asia and entertained opera viewers during 麻豆精品 S淭he Red Silk Thread: An Epic Tale of Marco Polo. 麻豆精品 S� It 麻豆精品 S檚 a trend that Stella Sung, a composer and professor in the UCF School of Visual Arts and Design (SVAD), applauds.

麻豆精品 S淢辞谤别 opera and theater companies are using technology and virtual effects, 麻豆精品 S� Sung says. 麻豆精品 S淭he sets are active, not static, and with the animation you can build in movements and scene changes 麻豆精品 S� things that you cannot do with regular sets. 麻豆精品 S�

In 2012 Sung, who serves as director of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 Center for Research and Education in Arts, Technology and Entertainment (CREATE), approached Winter Springs, Florida, animation company Ninjaneer Studios to collaborate on the opera production. She had previously worked with the firm 麻豆精品 S檚 founders 麻豆精品 S� Chris Brown, 麻豆精品 S�11, Heather Knott, 麻豆精品 S�11, and Joe Rosa, 麻豆精品 S�11 麻豆精品 S� when they were SVAD students.

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The Ninjaneers showed her examples of 3-D projection mapping, which casts animated digital images onto irregular surfaces to create the illusion of depth, movement and real objects where none exist. Sung found their ideas to be imaginative, and together they began the laborious process of designing a virtual world for her opera.

Starting with Sung 麻豆精品 S檚 music for inspiration and timing queues, the team researched the era of Marco Polo to guide their interpretation of the court of Kublai Khan, an ancient Mongol emperor. They enhanced each scene with subtle animation, such as flickering sunbeams, swaying lanterns and moving clouds.

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Knott led a crew of nine animators to create seven scenes for the two-hour performance. Some scenes, such as a Chinese junk surrounded by shimmering water and moving shadows, took the combined power of four custom-built computers more than a month to render. Says Knott, 麻豆精品 S淲e can do things within the animation that would be very difficult or physically impossible with a regular set. 麻豆精品 S�

Once the digital sets were complete, installing and calibrating the projectors at the theater took about a day. 麻豆精品 S淚 麻豆精品 S檝e seen a few traditional sets that are on a grand scale that have taken a month to get [installed], 麻豆精品 S� says Knott. And the digital approach offers yet another benefit: 麻豆精品 S淚t 麻豆精品 S檚 more of a green opera since you don 麻豆精品 S檛 have all the sets to build, 麻豆精品 S� Rosa says. 麻豆精品 S淵ou save trees. 麻豆精品 S�

The completed opera, which premiered at the University of Florida, drew positive reviews from audiences, including a standing ovation that lured Rosa to the stage to take a bow with the performers. 麻豆精品 S淭hat was the first time I 麻豆精品 S檝e done anything like that, 麻豆精品 S� Rosa says. 麻豆精品 S淚t was surreal because we 麻豆精品 S檙e usually the behind-the-scenes people. 麻豆精品 S�

麻豆精品 S淪o many people were asking, 麻豆精品 S楬ow did you make that work? 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� says Sung, who hopes to produce the opera at other venues. 麻豆精品 S淚 think the future of digital sets is very bright, and I 麻豆精品 S檓 happy to have several projects in the works with the Ninjaneers. 麻豆精品 S�