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Entertainment
Engineering
VOLUME 5 ISSUE 7
Persun & Wiebusch, Inc.
Publishers/Editors:
Terry Persun
Bruce Wiebusch
Design & Production:
verv creative group
info@vervcreative.com
Editorial Contributors:
Dan Cook, Ph.D.,
Program Coordinator, Entertainment Engineering
and Design, UNLV
Gerald Braude
S. Korobeinik
Richard Mandel
Mark Persun
Editorial Board:
Greg Hale, VP Advanced Technology
Disney Parks and Resorts
Kevin Russelburg, Sr. Project Engineer
ITW Pancon
John Lewis, Sr. Writer, Cognex Corp.
Sales Territories
National Sales Manager & West Coast—
WA, OR, ID, NV, CAAZ
TJ Persun
phone: 206.284.7118
email: tj@EntertainmentEngineering.com
East Coast Sales Manager
Northeast—ME, VT, NH, MA, NY, RI,
CT, PA, NJ
Southeast—WV, DE, MD, VA, DC, NC,
SC, GA, FL
Mike Hilts
phone: 518.833.0718
email: mike@EntertainmentEngineering.com
Subscriptions:
www.EntertainmentEngineering.com
www.EntertainmentEngineering.com 3
I grew up watching the popular television series Kung Fu. For
years, I always thought that kung fu was just a form of martial arts,
but now I know it’s really more about excellence of self and hard
work.
Part of the reason I was drawn to produce the story later in this
issue about the movie Kung Fu Panda is because it’s about striving
to be your best, no matter what you choose to be. Along the way, I
learned that behind the movie was a real-life story of an engineer
who wrestled with the question of what to do with his life.
If you have seen the movie, you know that Po, the main character,
struggles with becoming a master of kung fu. But not many people
know that Mr. Ping, Po’s goose father and the owner of a noodle
shop in the movie, is voiced by James Hong, an actor with a long
history of playing a variety of amazingly different roles in more than
600 movies (everything from “Blade Runner” to “Mulan”) and TV
shows (“Seinfeld” to “Law & Order”).
As it turns out, Hong himself is actually the son of a noodle
maker, whose father had a noodle shop, just like the character he
voices in the movie. And so, as a kid, Hong made noodles. He
totally understood the experience that Po was going through because
Hong’s family wanted him to be an engineer.
As Hong explains, he and Po share a somewhat similar story: “I
obeyed my father. I did my work. I went to college and graduated in
engineering. And then, I became an actor. But during the engineer-
ing days is when the rebellion started. While I was in college, I start-
ed to do drama. But since I wanted to please my parents, I took up
engineering, because that’s a solid profession. I graduated, finally,
from USC as a civil engineer, making bridges. But that’s when my
real ambition kicked in, just like with Po. I started to do extra work
even when I was going to USC. By the time I graduated, I was get-
ting roles, and I simply dropped engineering for acting. What kind
of engineer could I have been? I don’t know. As an actor, though, I
did pretty well.”
Kung Fu
Engineer
Bruce Wiebusch
bruce@entertainmentengineering.com

TECHNOLOGY. CREATIVITY. FUN. Volume 5 Issue 7
EntertainmentEngineering
KungKungK Fu COMPuTErS
HP Helps Dreamworks Produce Kung Fu Pandap6
gAMing TErrAinS
Small Company Produces Terrains for Board Gamesp10
nASCAr LinKED TO FOrD FLEX
Technology Transfer from Race Cars to Production Vehicles
PrinCE CASPiAn
Gets the Royal Treatment
p8
p5
COLOr COrrECTiOn SYSTEM
Improves 3D Movies
p12
FiBEr OPTiCS
Enhances Night Club’s Ambiance
ADVAnCED LigHTing TECHnOLOgY
Ribbon Fibers Light Up Office Building
p14
p17
rOOF LrOOF Lr inEr SPEAKErS
Toyota Trucks Get Tricked
THEATriCAL TrAiLErS
Multiple Editors Work from One Storage Platform
p16
p18
Entertainment Engineering TV
The Muscles in the Monsters
Learn how animatronics experts create smooth, realistic motion.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH

Prince Caspian
Gets the Royal Treatment
Flawless review process used for on-time completion of latest feature in Narnia series.
Digital Ordnance has announced that Prince Caspian,
the latest in the Chronicles of Narnia series uses the
company’s Frame Thrower™ networked review and
approval system extensively in production and post pro-
duction of the project.
Dean Wright, Prince Caspian VFX Supervisor, said,
“The Frame Thrower™ worked flawlessly throughout
production and post production. During production we
used the Frame Thrower periodically on location in
New Zealand and Prague where it helped speed up our
review of the day’s material with its instant capability to
check the look of our recordings.”
Frame ThrowerTM is a network attached real-time
playback system designed for film and HD content. It
was designed to integrate smoothly into a production
pipeline. As a turnkey system, including both custom
hardware and software, Flame Thrower was designed to
assure the best user experience and performance posi-
ble. It can be connected to any display device via dual
link DVI or dual link HD-SDI depending on the model.
Unlike other systems, multiple users can simply and
easily load frames onto the system using a web browser
on their workstation, which allows them to be more
productive. Frame Thrower also provides administra-
tion tools over its web interface to easily manage the
system and disk space. Frame Thrower reads frame
based images and audio from Windows, Macintosh, or
Unix file servers using gigabit ethernet. It also has ports
available allowing fibre channel, infiniband, or 10 giga-
bit ethernet connections for maximum performance.
A custom jog/shuttle controller is used for playback,
which makes Frame Thrower very easy to use and per-
fect for screening rooms. Frame Thrower allows users
to perform a wide variety of operations on the images
during real time play back to insure they are of the
highest quality.
The company’s range of premium uncompressed
products is extraordinarily easy to use, and the com-
pany is fully conversant with the very specific needs
of today’s motion picture, post production, and visual
effects clients.
For More Information:
Digital Ordnance Home:
www.digitalordnance.com

6 www.EntertainmentEngineering.com
Kung Fu Computers
HP helps Dreamworks produce Kung Fu Panda
Anyone who has ever struggled against the odds can
empathize with Po, the hero in the Dreamworks film
Kung Fu Panda. When directors John Stevenson and
Mark Osborne and producer Melissa Cobb were pre-
sented with the story about the obstacle- strewn journey
of Po, the Kung Fu Panda, it touched a chord in each
of them. Director John Stevenson begins, “We’re all
parents, you know? I have two daughters and Mark
and Melissa have kids. We wanted the film to have
something that our kids could take away. ‘Be your own
hero,’ which means don’t look outside of yourself for
the answer. Don’t expect someone else to make things
right. You are empowered to achieve anything you
want, if you set your mind to it. Be the best that you
can be.”
Stevenson has been in the animation business for
many years. He started out working with Jim Henson
as a puppeteer and has worked extensively as a story-
board artist on films. He came to Kung Fu Panda with
a commanding understanding of the animation process.
Having been through so many movies, he had a sort of
Zen attitude about directing the movie. “It’ll all work
out in the end, and we just have to keep doing a great
job,” he would say. He was very involved in the look of
the movie and the design of the characters and constant-
ly pushing the design team to challenge themselves, to
take things further and to really explore where anima-
tion could go.
Though linked in the Western mind (at least to mar-
tial arts), ‘kung fu’ also refers to the excellence of self
and its attainment through hard work. At its heart, Kung
Fu Panda is about being the best ‘you’ that you can pos-
sibly be…to be your own hero.
The ultimate irony is that if you fail at your dreams,
you fail big time. This was a perfect basis for Po’s inner
conflict; he’d rather keep his kung fu dreams as a safe
haven to escape to, than risk the ‘Cosmic Shame’ of try-
ing to realize it and fail. Po doesn’t believe in himself
enough to think he can make his dream come true. His
accidental hero’s journey, however, ultimately takes him
to a place where he must try with all his heart.
For producer Melissa Cobb, it wasn’t only the film’s
content that intrigued her; it was also the way in which
Po’s story would be told: “From the very beginning,
the directors really saw the film in CinemaScope, a
wide-screen format. The CinemaScope frame, with its
more expansive view, gave us the opportunity to make
One of the principles that we
came up with early on was
based on Chinese art — ‘beauty
in emptiness.’

a much more epic movie, which was really consis-
tent with the genre of kung fu. It also really gave us a
chance to explore the look of China. Our goal was to
make a movie that had a distinct look, taking advan-
tage of the latest technology in animation. One of the
principles that we came up with early on was based on
Chinese art — ‘beauty in emptiness.’ We tried to be
disciplined in the cinematography and the design. We
wanted to maintain simplicity in the shots, to allow the
eye to focus on the character and the amazing sets that
had been created.
Visual Effects Supervisor Markus Manninen was
responsible for the visuals in collaboration with produc-
tion designer Raymond Zibach. The prospect of a CG
action film excited Manninen, as did the visuals and the
earthy story.
Key to producing those extraordinary onscreen
moments was the involvement of Hewlett-Packard,
which proved integral to the animated artistry displayed
in Kung Fu Panda. Says Manninen, “HP is a fantastic
partner, to the company and the studio. For us, it was
crucial. About midway through production, we discov-
ered that some of the things that we were trying to do
were just really difficult to accomplish. Some of the lat-
est HP hardware really saved us. We were at the border-
line of not being able to execute some of our scenes and
this, actually, helped us achieve the kind of production
value we wanted for the movie.”
Dreamworks used HP’s ProLiant DL145 servers,
BL465c server blades, xw9300 and xw9400 worksta-
tions powered by AMD 64-bit Multi-Core Opteron
processors. Over 400 HP workstations were used in the
production of Kung Fu Panda. The DreamWorks stan-
dard configuration incorporated HP’s high performance
xw9400 Workstation, which proved to be significantly
faster (as much as 50% for some applications) than their
predecessors.
While animators still “animate” both 2D and
CG styles, the tools they use are vastly different.
DreamWorks 3D animation is created inside comput-
ers — harnessing enormous amounts of memory and
software, creating models and manipulating them inside
a virtual space, like puppets — while 2D animation
tangibly exists as hand-drawn images, executed frame-
by-frame (at 24 frames per second). So, two minutes of
2D footage requires about 3,000 separate drawings done
by hand. Baxter confesses that he can animate about a
second a day, so to maximize his time, he used a dozen
artists to create the 3,000.
An animator has to know how to make things move
around convincingly in either 2D or CG. “These days,
you can put anything onscreen,” continues Baxter, “so
filmmakers have to ask themselves, ‘How do I want the
audience to feel when they see it?’ and [then] choose
the appropriate technique. Computer-generated anima-
tion is really good at making things look tactile, like
you could step right in and touch everything. The great
thing about hand-drawn animation is that it allows you
to play with composition; you can cheat things in terms
of their graphic shape and design. When you watch it,
you get the sense of a drawing come to life.”
HP Workstations: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/
wwpc/us/en/sm/WF25a/12454-12454-296719-3079
07-296721-3211286.html?jumpid=re_R295_
prodexp/busproducts/computing/hp-xw9400-work
station-overview&psn=desktops_workstations/
workstation
AMD Processors: www.amd.com
Kung Fu Panda Home: www.kungfupanda.com

For Louis Jamail, the love of cars started at a young
age. “I was always interested in cars, tinkering around
many of my family’s and friends cars, learning what-
ever I could.”
After high school, he went off to college at The Ohio
State University, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
During his Freshman year, he became a member of
the OSU Formula SAE team for 4 years and was the
Engine Team Leader where was tasked to conceptual-
ize, design, and build his own Formula style racecar.
“It was one of the best learning experiences of my
engineering career,” says Jamail. “Just like professional
racing, you have to apply your engineering knowledge
to a real world, competing against more than 100 teams
from around the world.” After college, he volunteered
as a team steward and, over the last 4 years, served as a
design judge for the competition.
After graduation from Ohio State University, he
moved to Michigan to start work at Ford. While at
Ford, he has worked in many different capacities,
including Ford Edge/Lincoln MKX Development
Engineer, 2000 Cobra R Chassis Engineer, and Ford
Dyno Testing Engineer. He also worked with Jay Novak
on some of the initial chassis projects for Ford Motor
with NASCAR.
“We were doing chassis development and we were
also working with the teams to run some test vehicles,”
says Jamail. One of the main teams he worked on was
with Ricky Rudd, who, at the time, was a single-car
team owner. He worked with him down in his shop in
Mooresville, basically getting the car set up, taking data
at test sessions, and spending a good amount of track
time with the car. One of the big things he gained was
also developing a rapport with the teams and showing
them some of the engineering tools that he used at Ford
Racing to help them out from a company standpoint.
Jamail worked as a chassis development engineer
for Ford Racing Chassis in 1999 before assuming his
current role as Vehicle Dynamics Engineer for the new
Ford Flex. He is the engineer responsible for refining
the driving dynamics of Ford’s provocative new cross-
over, which is scheduled to hit dealer showrooms later
this year.
“I’d say the biggest thing is not necessarily just the
engineering tools and fundamentals as it is the work
ethic and the mindset of racing,” explains Jamail.
“Basically, in racing it’s all about teamwork, commit-
NASCAR linked to New Ford Flex
What transfers from race cars to production vehicles? A lot more than just components.
“Basically, in racing it’s all about
teamwork, commitment, goals,
and doing what it takes to get
the job done and that’s one of
the biggest transfers into the
mainstream.”

ment, goals, and doing what it takes to get the job done
and that’s one of the biggest transfers into the main-
stream.”
He adds that one the biggest things he learned was
the process and short time that one gets in racing to get
things done. “One of the biggest things I transferred
into my engineering side of production vehicles at Ford
is the time commitment it takes to do your homework
and develop vehicles in a timely fashion,” says Jamail.
“That’s what I’ve transferred into the production side
-- the process of engineering and tuning from a funda-
mental standpoint all the way to the work ethic side.”
Jamail thinks that he his experience in racing gives
him a heightened level of commitment
and time from the fast pace of the race
world into the production side. “The
high-performance nature of people that
work in racing can also transfer into the
tuning of a production car and making it
fun to drive,” he says.
“That was my goal with the Flex,”
explains Jamail. “Yes, it’s big, it’s long,
but I try to make it drive a lot smaller
than it is so that it’s actually enticing and
fun to drive, yet still has a good purpose
of what it was intended for.”
Jamail is particularly proud of how the
Ford Flex handles more like a sport car
than a big family vehicle. “We’ve done a
lot to limit body roll and make the vehi-
cle very controlled and composed in any
situation,” notes Jamail. “Whether it’s
loaded up with seven people or you’re
driving it by yourself, the vehicle is very
capable.”
He did do some handling course tun-
ing with the new Ford vehicle to make sure that it was
stable in all situations, including some limit-type driv-
ing on a handling course and all of the normal loaded
handling tests. “You can take it on a twisty road full
of people and it will stay composed. That’s the sur-
prise and delight of the Flex: its capability and car-like
features and car-like driving experience with a seven-
passenger crossover.”
For more information:
Ford Flex: www.fordvehicles.com/flex
SAE Competitions: http://students.sae.org/
competitions/formulaseries/
540/552-3011 800/336-2112 (USA) mcg@moog.com
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together with your design team.

gAMing
TTEErrrrAAininSS
Two students from high school decided toTwo students from high school decided to
make their own gaming terrains —make their own gaming terrains —
then decided to start their own company.then decided to start their own company.
For those in our society who argue that there is noFor those in our society who argue that there is no
creativity coming from our schools, Entertainmentcreativity coming from our schools, Entertainment
Engineering has news for them. Video and board gamesEngineering has news for them. Video and board games
are a big thing with teenagers these days, and whetherare a big thing with teenagers these days, and whether
we like it or not there is inspiration in play—after all,we like it or not there is inspiration in play—after all,
that’s where most creativity comes from. In the casethat’s where most creativity comes from. In the case
of two high-school friends, Gabe Kime and Codyof two high-school friends, Gabe Kime and Cody
Thompson, it has led to more than just fun.Thompson, it has led to more than just fun.
As their website explains, this isn’t where you’ll findAs their website explains, this isn’t where you’ll find
shrubbery to offset a dollhouse, or a train station forshrubbery to offset a dollhouse, or a train station for
your HO model trains. No, this is the dark terrain knownyour HO model trains. No, this is the dark terrain known
to gamers around the world who play Warhammerto gamers around the world who play Warhammer
40,000 (from Games Workshop). Cody and Gabe have40,000 (from Games Workshop). Cody and Gabe have
created a company, SiegeWorks Terrain, out of theircreated a company, SiegeWorks Terrain, out of their
love of gaming.love of gaming.
“We wanted to create something more realistic than“We wanted to create something more realistic than
the plastic sets you can buy elsewhere,” Cody explains.the plastic sets you can buy elsewhere,” Cody explains.
“We were especially interested in creating something“We were especially interested in creating something
as grimy-looking, rubble-strewn, shot-to-hell, and justas grimy-looking, rubble-strewn, shot-to-hell, and just
plain bad-ass looking as you’d expect from playingplain bad-ass looking as you’d expect from playing
the game.” Cody started the Warhammer Club with histhe game.” Cody started the Warhammer Club with his
friends eight years ago. And after many years of buildfriends eight years ago. And after many years of build--
ing models, the idea of creating a company naturallying models, the idea of creating a company naturally
came into play.came into play.
Their company delivers custom-made, high qualityTheir company delivers custom-made, high quality
wargaming terrains that help to bring the user’s tabletopwargaming terrains that help to bring the user’s tabletop
battles one step closer to reality. These guys are dedibattles one step closer to reality. These guys are dedi--
cated modelers who have brought their own dreams ofcated modelers who have brought their own dreams of
gaming, in the most realistic and interesting environgaming, in the most realistic and interesting environ--
ment possible, to life. “We aim to have each piece bement possible, to life. “We aim to have each piece be
more than just a wargaming terrain, we’re out to createmore than just a wargaming terrain, we’re out to create
individual works of art,” Cody said.individual works of art,” Cody said.
The general build process works like this: the twoThe general build process works like this: the two
come up with a building or bunker concept, after whichcome up with a building or bunker concept, after which
they create some general plans for the project. Once thethey create some general plans for the project. Once the
plans are completed, they construct a shell, or skeleton,plans are completed, they construct a shell, or skeleton,
of the model. “It’s now that the fun starts,” Cody said.of the model. “It’s now that the fun starts,” Cody said.
“We start adding pipes, wires, rubble, and much more“We start adding pipes, wires, rubble, and much more
random junk to the model.” Finally, the piece is paintedrandom junk to the model.” Finally, the piece is painted
using an undercoat of black and working up to the finusing an undercoat of black and working up to the fin--
ished product.ished product.
Gabe and Cody make the terrains from a variety ofGabe and Cody make the terrains from a variety of
materials, polystyrene installation foam being one ofmaterials, polystyrene installation foam being one of
them. “You can pick it up at most home supply stores,”them. “You can pick it up at most home supply stores,”
Cody said. They also use Foamcore, random scrapsCody said. They also use Foamcore, random scraps
from models they pick up at yard sales, straws, sand,from models they pick up at yard sales, straws, sand,
10 www.EntertainmentEngineering.com10 www.EntertainmentEngineering.com

glue, and “whatever looks like it will fit. Sometimes resin plastic or balsa
wood works well.” The terrains are designed using their own creativity and
are not meant to copy anything that’s available anywhere else. “We base
everything off a sort of gothic, WWII-type of feel that we get from playing
the game and reading the books,” Cody said.
SiegeWorks offers eight terrains at the moment, but many more are to
come quickly behind these. The terrains come completely assembled and
painted, and run from about $15 dollars to about $56, depending what
you’re looking for. Gabe and Cody are experimenting with something new,
too, a Custom Terrain Generator. “Customers get to put in a limited num-
ber of specs,” Cody said, “and we’ll make a unique piece just for them.”
Options include size, environment, and condition, as well as such things as
light and heavy detailing for the interior and the exterior of the piece, and
how much rubble a customer might want.
The game’s background pits a technologically advanced but declining
humanity against an array of aliens, mutants, and heretics in a battle for
galactic survival. This is played out on the table-top where gamers collect
an army, paint it, and clash head-on over lovingly crafted battlefields.
At the beginning of July, Games Workshop will be releasing their fifth
edition of Warhammer 40,000, which first saw the light of day as a rule-
book known as Rogue Trader back in 1987.
Games Workshop is one of the largest tabletop fantasy and futuristic
battle-games companies in the world. Their major brands are Warhammer
and Warhammer 40,000. In addition, they hold a global license from New
Line Cinema for a tabletop battle-game based on director Peter Jackson’s
BAFTA and Academy award winning film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.
They have over 300 retail stores globally dedicated to selling only their
products and teaching people how to assemble their models, to paint and
play. In addition, they can be found in thousands of independent shops
around the world.
The Killing Ground by Graham McNeill
http://www.blacklibrary.com/author.asp?id=63
In the nightmare universe of Warhammer 40,000, no servants of the
Imperium are more dedicated than the Ultramarines, who follow the teach-
ings of the legendary Codex Astartes to the letter. Having escaped from the
Eye of Terror, Uriel Ventris and Pasanius now face an epic journey through
a hostile universe in their quest to get home to Ultramar to safety and
redemption.
Daemon World by Ben Counter
http://www.blacklibrary.com/author.asp?id=17
Deep within the twisted hell-storms of the warp lies the demon world of
Torvendis. a planet damned by the dark powers of Chaos. Savage battle has
raged for so long that a strata of war dead lies within the very rocks. But
the arrival of a stranger threatens to upset the balance of power currently
held by Lady Charybdia, princess of Slaanesh and as discontent becomes
revolt, revolt turns to bloody revolution. But are the stranger’s motives as
straightforward as he claims or do the fickle powers of Chaos have one last
trick to play?
SiegeWorks Home: http://www.SiegeWorks-Terrain.com
SiegeWorks Gallery: http://shop.siegeworks-terrain.com/main.sc
Games Workshop Home: http://www.games-workshop.com
The Black Library Home: http://www.blacklibrary.com/default.asp

With the specialized color correction requirements
of 3D movies and the exploding demand for high-end
color correction as more media delivery technologies
come online, the construction of color correction suites
in greater Los Angeles is on the rise.
System designer Charles Pell of Cobalt Blue
Technology has completed a color correction suite/digi-
tal theater for cinematographer super-couple Dominique
Martinez and Salvador Lleo’s Laurel Canyon estate,
in conjunction with Colin Ritchie of Aarmadillo Inc.,
Quantel Corp, Chris Fichera of Blue Sky, and master
studio builder Ray Bermudez. The facility houses a
state-of-the-art Quantel Pablo color correction system
(3D capable), a Cine-tal Cinemage color grading moni-
toring system, and a Blue Sky 5.1 audio monitor system
featuring Big Blue, ION surround speakers and bass
management controller. This system is capable of han-
dling any electronic media project.
Because the color correction system outputs four pairs
of AES audio, a D to A converter is required for audio
monitoring. Audio delay is also needed, as nearly all
DLP video projectors are usually three to four frames
behind the audio, and LCD monitors can be up to two
frames behind, due to video processing requirements.
To handle these needs, Pell installed a Lucid 88192 A/D
and D/A converter and three Symetrix Deuce 722 digital
signal processors in the audio path. These devices trans-
parently solved these problems to deliver frame-accurate
audio.
Only a few years ago, Pell would have specified a
digital delay to solve this problem, but with the tre-
mendous advances in DSP technology, no one makes a
delay-only unit any more. After a little bit of research,
Pell discovered that Symetrix has engineered the solu-
tion.
The Symetrix Deuce 722 is a modest DSP unit with
two inputs and two outputs that contains the most fre-
quently used processing blocks found in their SymNet
brand of full-blown, open-architecture DSP systems.
And among those blocks, of course, are the simple,
Color Correction System
Improves 3D Movies
Cobalt Blue Technology, a design/installation company, learned that the Lucid D/A Converter and Symetrix
Deuce 722 transparently deliver frame-accurate audio in conjunction with electronic media equipment

but accurate delays he needed. Using his laptop and an
Ethernet interface, Pell programmed the three 722s to
deliver a fully coherent 5.1 channel delay. Critical to
allowing the room to operate as either a color correction
suite or a theater, the 722s also include user presets for
easy switching between the Cine-tal (1.5 frames delay)
and the SIM 2 HT-5000 (4 frames delay).
“The Lucid 88192 is stunning,” said Pell. “It’s like
there’s no conversion going on at all, and the system
now has the flexibility to route any source to any desti-
nation, regardless of the format.” The 88192 smoothly
handles 192kHz sampling rates with bit depths up to
24 bits, and boasts eight analog inputs, eight analog
outputs, four pairs of AES/EBU digital inputs and out-
puts, two ADAT light pipe inputs and outputs for all
channels, and word-clock inputs and outputs. Input for-
mats are user-selectable in pairs and all outputs operate
simultaneously. “A true Clydesdale workhorse of digital
audio!” adds Pell.
The Pablo Systems SIM 2 HT-5000 projector contains
three DLP chips with capabilities that underscore the
fact that today’s technology is the stuff of last decade’s
science fiction. Each chip contains nearly one million
tiny mirrors that physically move to project the stellar
image that is the hallmark of these projectors.
Providing a true, reliable reference for the image color
is the job of the Cine-tal Cinemage LCD display.
“These timing issues will continue to pop up,”
remarked Pell, “so it’s nice to know that there is a sim-
ple, inexpensive, and, yet utterly, professional solution. I
plan to use the 88192 and 722s in all my future designs.
And although this room didn’t call for it, the 722 has
a ton of filtering and equalization capabilities so I can
tune future rooms without any additional outboard pro-
cessors. That will save my clients money and make my
job much easier!”
For More Information
Symetrix: www.symetrixaudio.com
SymNet: www.symnetaudio.com
AirTools: www.airtoolsaudio.com
Lucid Audio: www.lucidaudio.com
“The Lucid 88192 is stunning,”
said Pell. “It’s like there’s no
conversion going on at all, and
the system now has the flex-
ibility to route any source to
any destination, regardless of
the format.”

Charlotte, NC -- Rising from the rubble of Charlotte’s
old convention center is the city’s newest mixed-use
complex, The Epicentre. This $275-million project
features the Whisky River bar, one of the Epicentre’s
night clubs built with funding from racing legend Dale
Earnhardt Jr.
The club’s unique bar is the work of many people,
including bar designer Scott Lucas of Harp Renovations
(Charlotte, NC) and Energy Focus Inc. (Solon, OH), the
supplier of thousands of Star Kit™ fiber optics lights
that illuminate the unique bar.
“I had read about the fiber optics in concrete and a
fellow from Florida was giving a one-day course on
How-To,” says Lucas. “I attended, learned, experi-
mented, failed, tried again, and offered the idea to the
Whisky River folks who lit up on hearing the sugges-
tion.”
Lucas first built a form to hold the concrete until
it hardened. Then he drilled holes .5 mm and smaller
to hold the fiber optic cables. Next, he threaded the
sheathed fiber optics through the upside down form one
fiber at a time and taped the fibers to the underside.
“This part is maddening, but beer helps lubricate the
process,” he adds.
With the hundreds of fibers secured, Lucas mixed the
concrete, colored it, poured it in the form, vibrated the
form, and “screed” the top. Several days later after the
concrete dried, he flipped over the slab and carefully
removed the melamine form board griping the fibers,
shaved off the fibers with a razor, and ground the top
with diamonds.
“I plugged the sheathed fiber optics into a quartz
halogen illuminator, fired it up, and gaped at the starry,
starry slab,” explains Lucas. “I gape little these days,
being jaded by overexposure.”
One particular challenge for the bar was figuring out
how many lights he could jamb into the tops. “Energy
Focus helped figure out how many sheathed cables we
could fit in every illuminator and how long the indi-
vidual fibers should be to give us uniform illumination,”
notes Lucas. “Then, we had to find a spot behind the
bar for the illuminators, where they could breathe, and
wouldn’t get jostled or doused with beer.” They ended
up with about eight lights per square foot, or about
2,600 total lights in the entire bar.
“Energy Focus was invaluable in the design process,”
adds Lucas. “Application Design Specialist Randy
Fisher from Energy Focus traveled to the Epicentre
to oversee the first fiber installations by Onex, the
Charlotte-based concrete company that poured the final
bar slab and incorporated the fiber optics into the bar for
Fisher. The process required 97 hours in addition to the
Fiber Optics
Enhance Night Club’s Ambiance
Custom countertops light up the night with thousands of fiber optic lights

High Performance,
Reliable, Intelligent
Motion Control
Electromechanical Rod Actuators, DNCE
DNCE actuators provide high precision, speed,
long life, and highly flexible motion control.
• High repeatability: up to +/- 0.02mm
• High speed: up to 1 m/s
• High acceleration: up to 6 m/s2
• Stroke length: up to 800mm
• Feed force: up to 2500 N
Available with a ball screw or lead screw drive,
DNCE actuators have a non-rotating round
piston rod, and are lubricated-for-life for
maintenance-free operation. DNCE actuators
can be supplied as either a stand-alone
mechanical axis or as a complete motion
control solution integrated with a variety of
motors and controllers, including the MTR-DCI
intelligent motor and controller.
For more information visit:
www.festo.com/us/dnce/ee
normal forming and pouring of the concrete bar top.
Fisher brought equipment and showed Harp Renovations and Onex peo-
ple how to make the fiber optic connections. “He showed us tricks to cut
and install the cable, without which we would have eventually run scream-
ing out the third floor window,” adds Lucas. “He took a vested interest
in having us not screw up. And his equipment, including the illuminator
color wheels, was affordable and never failed us. He was my Hero of the
Month.”
To add more twinkle to the bar, Fisher recommended the use of color
wheels to the fiber optic illuminators that had faster motor speeds. “We
were also careful to keep the illuminators close to the ends of the fiber
cables, so as not to loose light intensity over long spans of fiber optic
cables,” he says.
Energy Focus personnel traveled to Charlotte a second time to help
Onex with the first pieces and to make sure they understood how to install
the fiber optics. “They have been wonderful to work with,” says Onex’s
Design Manager Ashleigh Walters. “Randy sent us an illuminator so that
we could light it up for potential clients to see. Energy Focus has also
been great in sharing information with us about the product lines and help-
ing us understand what products we need to use in current installations.
Their customer service has been fantastic and we look forward to doing
many projects with them in the future.”
“One of the coolest things about the fiber optic lights is that they pro-
duce no heat and no UV,” says Fisher. “The light from them creates an
environment that’s healthy and pleasing to the eye.”
Energy Focus fiber optic technology was originally developed for mili-
tary applications on board US Navy ships that required lights with low
power consumption, which were also durable enough to endure the long
periods of time when the ships were at sea. Energy Focus lighting prod-
ucts already meet the efficiency requirements mandated for the year 2020
under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was
signed into law by President Bush on December 19, 2007.
Additional applications for the Energy Focus lighting products include
spas and pools, hospitals, museums, grocery store food and freezer cases,
retail displays, commercial and industrial buildings, and other military
applications.
Energy Focus Inc. Home: www.energyfocusinc.com
Dale Earnhardt Jr. video describing Whiskey River bar:
http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/pgStory?contentId=8043810#sport=
NASCAR&photo=8043736
Onex Concrete Home: www.onexconcrete.com

Toyota uses Roof Liner
Speaker Systems
2009 Tacoma is available with NXT’s roof liner speaker systems
The Access Cab variant of the new Toyota Tacoma will be fitted with an
NXT-equipped roof liner speaker system as standard when it goes on sale in
North America this summer. The Tacoma is the biggest selling mid-size truck
in North America and the latest model features multiple interior and exterior
equipment upgrades, including the NXT system.
The Tacoma is available in three body styles; Regular Cab, Access Cab
and Double Cab. The Access Cab variant is available with a choice of three
audio options. The first system includes an AM/FM/CD with NXT roof liner
speaker system, the second adds a subwoofer for extended bass response,
and the top line system includes an AM/FM 6-disc changer CD with NXT
roof liner speaker and subwoofer.
Toyota employs the NXT technology-based roof liner speaker to improve
the audio system’s staging and spatial effects, enhancing the overall
entertainment experience for driver and passengers.
NXT plc previously announced that two of the three new variants of
Toyota Alphard and Vellfire will also be fitted with NXT-equipped roof liner
speaker systems as standard when they go on sale in Japan.
“The availability of another Toyota model featuring NXT’s roof liner
speaker system is a further endorsement of our technology’s ability to
deliver an enhanced experience in the acoustically challenging vehicle cabin
environment,” says NXT Chief Executive, Peter Thoms.
The Toyota Tacoma, Alphard, and Vellfire models join the growing list
of Toyota vehicles already available with NXT technology, which includes
the FJ Cruiser in North America and the Estima, Voxy and Noah models
also sold in Japan. Alphard and Vellfire models are predominantly marketed
in Japan but also available in other Asian markets including Hong Kong,
Malaysia, and Thailand.
Toyota’s latest luxury minivans are available in seven or eight-seater
configurations with 2.4 and 3.5-litre engines in different models. Within the
model range, three audio systems can be specified by the customer, two of
which feature NXT-equipped roof liner speaker systems – the ‘Panoramic
Super Live Sound System’ option, and an option supplied with NXT-based
roof liner and conventional speakers but without a head unit, leaving the
customer to install this after delivery.
Designed to improve the audio system’s staging and spatial effects, the
NXT technology-based roof liner speaker raises the high frequencies within
the vehicle’s cabin.
NXT’s commitment to inventiveness in sound and touch has enabled it to
deliver new technologies already deployed in audio systems, TVs, PCs and
laptops, mobile phones, PA systems, cars, aircraft, and in public buildings
and facilities around the world.
NXT Home: www.nxtsound.com
NXT Technologies: www.nxtsound.com/index.php?id=technologies
About NXT: www.nxtsound.com/index.php?id=aboutnxt
Contact NXT: www.nxtsound.com/index.php?id=aboutnxt

Architect Philip Wu wanted to light up two sides of a high-end renovated
commercial building on the sixth floor. What he needed was a way to
illuminate nineteen, 11-foot long vertical lighting panels that were 11-inches
wide.
Wu’s greatest challenges included how to provide even, colored light
between the sandwiched, and inaccessible, glass blocks. He also needed to
provide a low maintenance system that was easily controlled by the building
owner.
After researching the project, Wu decided to use TapeLite modules (a
product of Amphenol Spectra-Strip) and sandwich them between Bendheim
LINIT brand Channel Glass. The modules were made of clear Lexan panels
that were mounted with two parallel 1.5-inch wide TapeLite strips. Each
strip had tails that led to a 150 watt metal halide illuminator. A series of
synchronized, motorized control wheel were used to sequence the lights
through various colors.
The 404N illuminator used for the job is manufactured with a durable
polycarbonate case and is U.L. listed for wet locations (like the rooftops
of buildings). The metal halide lamp is available in two different color
temperatures, using Energy Focus Inc. designed and patented reflectors to
deliver maximum light to the fiber. The unit can be used in any outdoor
application for non-electric illumination.
TapeLite Home: www.tapelites.com
Spectra-Strip Home: www.spectra-strip.com/default.CFM
Energy Focus Inc: http://www.efoi.com
Advanced
Lighting Technology
TapeLite is a ribbon fiber technology and is available for large and
small lighting jobs in literally every market available from aerospace
to construction.

DataDirect Networks, said to be the data
infrastructure provider for the most extreme, content-
intensive environments in the world, has announced that
its customer, Pacific Title & Art Studio, successfully
used S2A storage platforms to produce dynamic
theatrical trailers and visual effects for Warner Bros.
Pictures’ “The Dark Knight,” which opens in U.S.
theaters nationwide on July 18, 2008.
“With such a high profile project and a demanding
shooting schedule, the director and studio required the
highest standards of creativity, content integrity, and
delivery times,” said Andy Tran, COO and CTO of
Pacific Title & Art Studio. “That meant we required
the extreme power and flexibility that would enable
multiple users to quickly and easily access and manage
multiple high resolution data streams, and ultimately
help us complete projects on schedule and as promised.
DataDirect Networks’ S2A storage platforms delivered
the performance, consistency, and capabilities we
needed to make it happen each and every day.”
“Pacific Title was chartered with creating a multitude
of 4K, 2K, and HD trailers and effects,” said Alex
Bouzari, CEO of DataDirect Networks. For companies
with throughput-intensive, real-time environments,
DataDirect Networks offers a storage platform that
writes as fast it reads with guaranteed QoS, ensuring
consistently predictable performance for extremely
large content files. The S2A is a purpose-built
architecture using custom FPGAs with extreme levels
of intelligence, designed to solve the data infrastructure
problems that many other systems can’t supply.
In “The Dark Knight,” Christian Bale once again
embodies the man behind the mask. The film reunites
Bale with director Christopher Nolan and takes Batman
across the world in his quest to fight a growing criminal
threat. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary
Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron
Eckhart), Batman has been making headway against
local crime... until a rising criminal mastermind known
as The Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a fresh reign of
chaos across Gotham City. To stop this devious new
menace—Batman’s most personal and vicious enemy
yet—he will have to use every high-tech weapon in his
arsenal and confront everything he believes.
DataDirect Networks Home:
www.datadirectnet.com
Pacific Tile Home: www.pactitle.com/
THEATriCAL TrAiLErS & ViSuAL EFFECTS
Multiple artists and editors can now work from a single,
centralized storage platform for real-time operations.

IFC: NAT’L MANUFACTURING
WEEK
P9: MOOG
P11: LEDTRONICS
P13: MAXON
P15: FESTO
P16: ALL MOTION
P17: NEW AGE
P19: MOTIONSHOP.COM
P20: IEN MAGAZINE
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