Green Hippo and Barco join forces

"Green Hippo and Barco join forces.

UK-based media server specialists Green Hippo have teamed up with Barco to offer an integrated media server for the recently released Barco DML 1200 digital moving light. The DML 1200 is a very bright digital moving light, with a wide zoom-range and integrated CMY colour-changer that also has powerful projector capabilities. Barco says the new unit "tears down boundaries between projection and lighting."
This amalgamation of video and lighting capabilities combines Barco's projection technology with Green Hippo's widely recognised and user friendly Hippotizer V3 software technology.
According to Barco: "With its brightness, unlimited image selection and instant switching between light beam and video projection, cue by cue, the DML-1200 provides lighting designers with pure creativity at their fingertips. With its on-board media player, lighting designers are no longer limited to static, pre-selected patterns and colours. Any image, static or animated, can be created and projected at a touch of a button. The DML-1200 is completely controlled over DMX, when using the integrated media server as well as the live video inputs, allowing it to be driven directly from any lighting desk."
After nearly 10 years in Barco's R&D department, Joost De Frene has taken up the role of digital lighting product manager and says: "We are convinced that it is an advantage to have an integrated media server based on Hippotizer V3 and we make a point of mentioning this in all of our external communication."

Source L&SI Online www.lsionline.co.uk"

Given the recent situation of HES being bought out, would this make sense for barco to extend their media server market by buying hippo? There's nothing on the website but it's probably on the cards I think...

this isnt news- its been this for a while.

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Originally Posted by mground

"Green Hippo and Barco join forces.

UK-based media server specialists Green Hippo have teamed up with Barco to offer an integrated media server for the recently released Barco DML 1200 digital moving light. The DML 1200 is a very bright digital moving light, with a wide zoom-range and integrated CMY colour-changer that also has powerful projector capabilities. Barco says the new unit "tears down boundaries between projection and lighting."
This amalgamation of video and lighting capabilities combines Barco's projection technology with Green Hippo's widely recognised and user friendly Hippotizer V3 software technology.
According to Barco: "With its brightness, unlimited image selection and instant switching between light beam and video projection, cue by cue, the DML-1200 provides lighting designers with pure creativity at their fingertips. With its on-board media player, lighting designers are no longer limited to static, pre-selected patterns and colours. Any image, static or animated, can be created and projected at a touch of a button. The DML-1200 is completely controlled over DMX, when using the integrated media server as well as the live video inputs, allowing it to be driven directly from any lighting desk."
After nearly 10 years in Barco's R&D department, Joost De Frene has taken up the role of digital lighting product manager and says: "We are convinced that it is an advantage to have an integrated media server based on Hippotizer V3 and we make a point of mentioning this in all of our external communication."

Source L&SI Online www.lsionline.co.uk"

Given the recent situation of HES being bought out, would this make sense for barco to extend their media server market by buying hippo? There's nothing on the website but it's probably on the cards I think...

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I'm not sure I want my media server built into my projector any more than I want my lighting desk built into a light.... and what about content protection?

Ross

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Originally Posted by rosswill

I'm not sure I want my media server built into my projector any more than I want my lighting desk built into a light.... and what about content protection?

Ross

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Well Series 200 had the desk integrated in the Light it self ... but this is an other story ....

Now that barco owns high end aren't they in direct competition with themselves, the new barco moving projector versus the dl3 and the axon media server versus green hippo? Anyone taken a look at sgm's new moving fixture that has a digital iris and 2 layers of digital media as well as digital shutters, it seems to me from the specs at least to be a good stab at a digital light without jumping straight to video?

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Originally Posted by Mick Murray

Now that barco owns high end aren't they in direct competition with themselves, the new barco moving projector versus the dl3 and the axon media server versus green hippo? Anyone taken a look at sgm's new moving fixture that has a digital iris and 2 layers of digital media as well as digital shutters, it seems to me from the specs at least to be a good stab at a digital light without jumping straight to video?

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Sgm it's only black and white ... And no enought light output

Well, no, they aren't really in direct competition with themselves.

Barco's digital light would be the top end of the digital lighting market, closer to the equivalent of the 1200 watt fixtures.

The DL3 would be a little closer to the 575 watt fixtures.

Barco doesn't own Green Hippo, they are licensing a version of it for their digital light, and it is not just a regular hippo, it is a customized version of it.
Also, their digital light has a number of unique features that make it more of a digital light, than the DLs from high end which are really just moving projectors with a dowser on it.

I'm sure there will be changes to the product lines in the future (maybe no more cristie projectors in the DLs) and some changes to the servers, but personally, I much prefer the Hippo to the axon, and I hope they go more towards that route than towards the axon.

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Originally Posted by jasonrudolph

Barco's digital light would be the top end of the digital lighting market, closer to the equivalent of the 1200 watt fixtures.

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Yes and no....the units are not nearly as bright as the claims that are made. One you start pushing content though it....it is almost the same as DL.3.....most probably b/c DL.3 is a single lamp source whereas the BARCO uses 4. In addition to "light optimization" which Hippo still hasn't really figured out how to handle for "digital lighting" applications.

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Originally Posted by jasonrudolph

The DL3 would be a little closer to the 575 watt fixtures.

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Personally I'd put DL.2s closer to 575 watt fixtures and DL.3s closer to 700 watt ones based on my experiences with both.

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Originally Posted by jasonrudolph

Barco doesn't own Green Hippo, they are licensing a version of it for their digital light, and it is not just a regular hippo, it is a customized version of it.

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Yup....and not nearly as good as a regular Hippo either.

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Originally Posted by jasonrudolph

Also, their digital light has a number of unique features that make it more of a digital light, than the DLs from high end which are really just moving projectors with a dowser on it.

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Totally true for DL.1, but not for DL.2 and DL.3....they have got some really nice features with the on-board server...."collage" being just one of them.

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Originally Posted by jasonrudolph

I'm sure there will be changes to the product lines in the future (maybe no more cristie projectors in the DLs) and some changes to the servers, but personally, I much prefer the Hippo to the axon, and I hope they go more towards that route than towards the axon.

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I agree that it is going to be interesting to see what happens, but I think ultimately it will really be a good marriage of companies.....I have to disagree with you on the Hippos though.....far too clunky for my programming tastes....AXON is really great for certain things.....and for anything bigger.....I go with CATALYST of course;)

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Originally Posted by emilianomorgia

Well Series 200 had the desk integrated in the Light it self ... but this is an other story ....

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Cue data sure, not the board data though. I'm not against onboard processing to a degree (as per series 200) and things like collage is a great example of onboard use. I want control of everything else locally. You can't even preview what the damn things are doing at the desk! Until they can successfully broadcast their displays back to me I'm not interested. Furthmore, my vision of future consoles includes the far closer integration of media servers, something way beyond simply pulling up thumnails. I'm not sure this would ever work with a distributed fixture processing media server system.

Ross

A while ago High End had posted in the Job section a position for a software developer. So far as I know, the posting is still there. The specific requirements were for a developer who knows Direct 3D. Direct 3D is the core technology most developers would use to create a Windows based Media Server.

Under the circumstances and the fact that Axon 2 has been out for a while, it wouldn't be surprising if High End releases a new version of their media server. Chances are this is something Barco will have influence on. Chances are also that Barco has several ideas for "DL.x" type fixtures as well which is why buying High End was of value. Barco has many small and powerful projectors and I'd personally like to see something brighter than DL.1, DL.2, and DL.3 in the future.

Obviously though, we're all just speculating right now. As far as putting a media server in a moving projector, I am torn on if I like that or not. I can give a million reasons why each way is good.

High End has what seems to be a clear mission. They want a device that does all the work for you so that as an end client, you can just turn it on and use it without making tons of configurations.

Not everyone in the lighting industry has as much knowledge and expertise as us Catalyst Geeks.