Barco Media Servers Enhance Vegas Ventriloquist Act

Sacramento, CA — 23 March 2009 — Visualization pioneer Barco announced today that Terry Fator & His Cast of Thousands recently opened a five-year run at The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas, using a full range of High End Systems' lighting products and five Axon Media Servers. Show previews started on 14 February, and following the set design's lock-in, the full run started in March. Fator, a remarkable ventriloquist, singer, comedian and impressionist, drew the nation's attention as the winner of NBC's “America's Got Talent” competition in 2007.

The Terry Fator Theatre, formerly the Danny Gans Theatre, is a 1,265-seat venue within The Mirage. With his cast of eight puppets that “sing” along with him, Fator performs five shows per week — impersonating “thousands” of celebrities ranging from Elvis and Marvin Gaye, to James Blunt and Maroon 5.

For the show, lighting designer Ted Mizrahi specified five High End Systems' Axon Media Servers, supplied by PRG Las Vegas. The remainder of the rig is comprised of 30 High End Systems' Studio Spot 575s, 30 Studio Color 575s and eight Cyberlights. The Axon servers, in particular, not only provided the required content flexibility and curved surface support, but proved to be a key factor in saving budget.

“With Terry Fator, the objective was to make the concept fit to budget” said lighting designer Ted Mizrahi. “The set designer, Andy Walmsley of 'American Idol' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' fame, had a concept that included 500 LEDs for a light box montage, plus another 6-foot by 110-foot ribbon of LED video. We all knew that would cost millions, so I brought in the concept of going with projectors and the five Axon servers.”

Powered by the award-winning DL.3 graphics engine and featuring an extensive onboard collection of images, the Axon Media Server proved to be the content solution as well as the economic solution. “Using the Axon, we were able to save $30,000 on content,” explained Mizrahi. “Originally, we had a $40,000 video budget for custom content, but there's such a large content library in the Axon, that we only needed to spend $10,000 of the budget on content.”
“I use the Axon for more than just video,” continued Mizrahi. “The server replaces the need to have backdrops painted, so on the set I have fake curtains, artwork, paintings and video — all making it appear as if there's more lights and more depth. In addition, I'm using every feature of the Axon, from convex and concave keystoning on top of custom masks, to the SDI input for live camera effects.”

Mizrahi selected Axon for multiple reasons, including the wealth of content, the keystoning for curved surface support, and the server's ease of use. “There's no real set-up involved,” noted Mizrahi. “Axon is completely DMX-driven. You just set your DMX addresses, and you're ready to get to work. I enjoy its simplicity, plus, the price per output is lower with Axon.”

With the Axon Media Servers at the core, the show's uniqueness comes from the uniqueness of Terry Fator himself. “To see a singing ventriloquist is highly unusual,” said Mizrahi, “but then, once you hear him, you can't believe he's so good, so talented and so hilarious. And his lips never move!”

About Production Resource Group
Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG) is the world's leading supplier of entertainment technology solutions, including lighting, audio, video, scenery, and automation systems. PRG serves a wide range of markets, including theatre, concert tours, tradeshows, corporate and special events, television and film, and themed environments. PRG provides its services worldwide through more than 17 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops visualization products for a variety of selected professional markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with about 3500 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 725 million euro in 2008.
© Copyright 2009 by Barco - May be reproduced by professional press only.

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Nancy Xiao
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Barco n.v.

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Barco n.v.

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