Greetings from all of us at Thorburn Associates and welcome to our August eNewsletter. We hope the summer is treating you well and you have been able to balance a little summer fun with a healthy workload.

The fall trade-show season is just around the corner, and we’re making our plans now. If you happen to be at any of these shows, please look us up and say hello.

• Planning for Classroom Technology Workshop - Anaheim, CA, October 11
• EDUCAUSE - Anaheim, CA, October 12 - 15
• AIA South Carolina - Hilton Head Island, SC, October 21-24
• ArchEX East - Richmond, VA, November 3-5
• WFX - Atlanta, GA, November 3-5
• Healthcare Design.10 - Las Vegas, NV, November 13-16
• IAPPA - Orlando, FL, November 16-19

As always, it is our goal to make sure that Thorburn Associates is your single point of contact for all your Technology and Acoustical Design services. If you have an idea, question, or suggestions, please drop us a note at enews@ta-inc.com.

Lighting is often the forgotten design element. Though its effects are powerful, the medium itself is rather intangible. Because lighting can drastically affect atmosphere, and since it generally flies in under most people’s conscious radar, good lighting is an economical and easy way to change and transform the atmosphere of a facility.

Understanding color is crucial to any lighting project. Color is often overlooked because people feel that white light is sufficient- it is what they are used to and comfortable with. But white light is actually a combination of colors. Everyone knows the primary colors of pigment are red, blue and yellow, and when mixed together become black. But the primary colors of light are different, they are red, blue, and green (just like the three colors that make up your television) and the secondary colors of light are cyan (blue and green), magenta (red and blue), and believe it or not yellow (red and green). When red, blue and green light are mixed together, they create white light.

If you light with the same color as the object you are lighting is painted it helps make the object pop out. But in the same way, if you light something from the opposite side of the spectrum it may make the object look unflattering. For example, if a building is yellow and you light it with yellow light it will appear more vibrant. But if you light it with blue light (which is the color opposite from yellow on the lighting spectrum) it will make the building appear dull and lifeless. Of course, keep in mind the mantra “everything in moderation.”

Lighting is a subjective art and understanding color is a good way to start identifying how lighting can affect and improve any project.

Designing presentation facilities can be challenging, yet the basic principles are not difficult. In the August 2010 issue, we looked at how to determine the screen size for a presentation facility, taking into account the 4-6-8 rule that dictates the image height based on the type of content being presented.

The next step in the design process is to look at the space and determine the minimum distance from the floor to the bottom of the image. The most precise method to achieve this is use ray tracing from the furthest viewer using an eye height of approximately three and a half feet above the finished floor and looking over the top of seated heads at four feet above the finished floor. This will indicate how low the bottom of the screen can be without having the person’s head in front of a viewer obstruct the image.

Okay, now for the napkin version: The boardroom ceiling is 10 feet high. We want to start at the bottom of the image/screen at 4 feet above finished floor in order to get over the heads of other viewers. From there we want to make the image as tall as possible, yet keeping it six inches below the ceiling to miss the track lights and sprinkler heads. From that our image height is 10 feet minus 4 feet minus 6 inches or 5 feet- 6 inches. We then look at standard screen sizes and round up to the next biggest size.

The final step is determining the viewing cone or viewing angle that the projected image can cover in the room without creating problems for the viewer. Generally, a 90 degree viewing cone is preferred. To measure, a scaled floor plan should be marked with a straight line from the center of the screen, perpendicular to the screen. Then measure 45 degrees to either side of that center line. Anyone within this cone should see the image well. If seats or viewers are going to be located outside of this area then additional screens should be added to provide coverage. That may mean having two side-by-side images in a wide room or having supplemental displays on the side walls in a deep room.

These basic principles should be applied to any presentation space design. While compromises may be necessary, by following these guides the best choices can be made for everyone involved.

Students at Campbell University, located in Buies Creek, NC, were used to playing basketball in the cramped Carter Gym on campus, which held just shy of 1,000 spectators. In 2008, however, the school announced plans to build a new athletic facility large enough to handle the growing number of athletes and their cheering fans. Plans for the John W. Pope, Jr. Convocation Center called for a 106,000 square foot multi-use building housing a host of sports-related facilities and the 15,360 square foot Gilbert Craig Gore arena.

The arena is the heart of the facility and supports a variety of events, including basketball and volleyball games, gymnastics competitions, conferences and trade shows, as well as concerts, dinners and graduation ceremonies. The arena seats over 3,000 for sporting events, and over 5,000 for staged events. This wide array of uses required an audio system, designed by Thorburn Associates, that would be flexibility and easy to operate.

The main loudspeaker system consists of an exploded central cluster design with overhead court loudspeakers and stage end loudspeakers. The overhead court loudspeakers can be easily muted for court sports (such as basketball or volleyball) or activated for events where individuals on the court need to hear the audio (such as gymnastics or concerts).

At the stage end of the arena, full range loudspeaker arrays are located to the left and right of the stage. Audio from stage events is supported by the overhead system, aligned to maximize speech and music intelligibility. A distributed loudspeaker system provides coverage throughout the concourse, restrooms and Viewing Suites (which have individual volume controls).

Audio signals are routed through a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) that delays and adjusts the electronic signal to different loudspeaker clusters based on the orientation of the room.

With the multitude of different events the facility hosts, a variety of different audio input sources were required. For court sports microphone and CD/MP3 inputs are available at the announcer’s table. A coaches’ practice table also contains microphone and CD/MP3 inputs. A lockable wall box contains a handheld microphone and input for music. For stage events, eight microphone inputs with remote volume controls are available. In order to minimize need for a sound system technician, a 16-channel automatic mixer is utilized when the sound booth manual controls are not staffed.

The completed facility now hosts hundreds of events annually both for the university and the surrounding community.

Christie’s new MicroTiles may become the new standard in video walls. Unveiled over the last year at various trade shows and events, MicroTiles are small display units measuring roughly 12 inches x 16 inches x 10 inches. Each weighs about 20 pounds and utilize DLP technology to create some of the most sharp and vividly colored images available on the market. Think LEGO meets digital signage. There is no practical limit to how many MicroTiles can be connected, allowing for the ultimate in creative flexibility.

Infrared sensors detect other MicroTiles in the array and automatically position each unit – allowing for quick setup and easy operation. The units continuously auto-calibrate across the array to prevent brightness discrepancies and auto-color-correct as well. Although the displays are rated for a 7 year lifespan at 24/7 operation, any serviceable parts can be accessed from the front of the display.

Christie MicroTiles™ won the Best New Product of the year at InfoComm 2010. For more information: www.microtiles.com.