Digital Projection illuminates the historic Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte over Christmas

This French palace offers a spectacular projection thanks to two pairs of teams M-Vision Laser 21000 WU, located in different areas and with a reach ratio thanks to its diversity of lenses.

Located in the French town of Maincy, to 50 km. southeast of Paris, Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte It is famous for its beautiful gardens of the seventeenth century and for being the largest private estate listed as a historical monument.

For the last fifteen years it has hosted an incredible Christmas show called The illuminations of Vaux-le-Vicomte, which invites guests to a festive exploration around the estate. In the previous two years, a videomapping has also been exhibited, ending the event with a stunning projection on the façade of the palace.

This year, the equipment behind the lighting, French stage integrator and decorator BS Technology, has relied on the power of the M-Vision Laser model 21000 WU of Digital Projection for the videomapping of the Façade of Vaux-le-Vicomte.

"The recent and innovative technologies of Digital Projection, as the remote laser light source, they are probably what sparked an initial interest in the company," explained Eric L'Herminier., Technical Director and CEO of BS Technology-. We saw this as a good opportunity to work with them on this project.".

The projection on the baroque castle needed to cover the entire Christmas season, from the beginning of October to the 3 January 2021. Mapping is done every thirty minutes, of 18:00 to 20:00 hours, which means that the team must create an automated system that works perfectly without the need for additional direction.

For this purpose, two pairs of M-Vision Laser projectors have been installed 21000 WU, one on top of the other and two on the side, covering the vaulted center of the building, and the other two covering the sections on each side.

The lenses of these projectors differ in the scope ratio, as two of them were equipped, respectively, with Digital Projection lenses 2.0 – 4.0, and the other two with 1.5 – 2.0.

With a power of 21.000 lumens and a contrast ratio of 10.000:1, This lampless phosphor-laser projector uses Colorboost+Red Laser technology to obtain more realistic and saturated colors at previously unimaginable luminance levels.

This power and precision, combined with a new intelligent color processing, "Bringing overall performance closer and closer to that of a DLP projector. 3 chips at a price of 1 only chip", point from the manufacturer.

For this show, fiber optic cabling is used to connect the projectors to the FOH towers with the media server of MODULE PI, that manages the content (created by Alexis Gabirot, of Mageo Productions) for videomapping. The sound system, consisting of four Fohhn LX601, it is also integrated into the towers that overlook the public.

The entire system is hidden under two oval aluminum towers, located on both sides of the castle, camouflaged in vegetation and with a hole for image projection, which makes the system both discreet and safe for the public.

"We also need to be discreet," says L'Herminier.. We couldn't make them more than 3 meters high, as they can interfere with the public's view, but they also had to be big enough for projectors and any cooling system.".

Another challenge was the haste in the installation: "The collaboration of the teams made it possible for us to meet the tight deadline, that only left us one day and two nights for mapping and installation. Simon Gambiez helped us with this collaboration and with the technical elements", remember L'Herminier.

Under normal conditions, this space would receive between 4.000 and 5.000 visitors every day, from schoolchildren to families. However, with current conditions, the castle has had to adapt to national COVID-19 guidelines and, after a second closure last October, was able to reopen its gardens and videomapping show in the past 28 November, with plans currently underway to resume visits to the castle from 16 December.

"We have had an excellent relationship with Stéphane Bourdon, by Digital Projection France, throughout this project, who also had the support of the UK team. We knew we could count on them if we needed them," says L'Herminier.. The result is a successful projection that meets expectations.".

Ascanio de Vogüé, CEO and co-owner (together with his brothers Alexandre and Jean-Charles) of Vaux-le-Vicomte, points out that "audiovisual technology, when done correctly, is able to revitalize ancient historical sites and bring them to life for younger generations”.

For this project, the goal was “strike a balance between making the visit an enjoyable Christmas experience and, at the same time, honor the history of the castle -points out-. I think the projection on the Vaux-le-Vicomte achieves this, not only highlighting the architecture of the monument, but also respecting their culture and their past.

Other articles on BS Technology, Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte, Digital Projection, Fohhn Audio, Mageo Productions, MODULE PI