CS Prod takes the crown for mapping show thanks to Digital Projection

Located in the western suburbs of Paris, the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye has hosted many monarchs throughout its history, serving as their royal residence, but none had as strong a connection to the town as Louis XIII. The little-known king, hidden in the shadow of his father Henry IV and his son Louis XIV (the Sun King), spent most of his time there and chose the town as his permanent residence in 1620. Today, Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a student town, with almost half of the population (23,000) being students, where access to culture for young people is a major objective.

Lumières sur Louis XIII (“Lights on Louis XIII”) was created in collaboration with Digital Projection’s French partner CS Prod – a collective of artists, Christian Salès, with technical knowledge focusing on content creation related to history and heritage – and the town’s cultural department. The event enabled visitors to go on an immersive journey into the memories of Louis XIII between March and April this year, courtesy of Digital Projection’s M-Vision laser projectors. “Organising a show of this nature was a first for us,” says Benoit Battistelli, Saint-Germain-en-Laye’s deputy mayor in charge of culture. “We opted for a large-scale show that would interest young people through sound and image and encouraged them to learn in a more interesting way.”

CS Prod was chosen from 20 candidates to undertake the project, being recognised for its thorough approach. “Christian Salès from CS Prod made the production as accurate as possible,” explains Battistelli. “They delved deeply into the historical details, such as décor, colours and shapes, to match the story and the specific details of Louis XIII.”

Built in the 19th Century, the Manège royal was chosen to host the immersive show for its magnificent upside-down boat hull roof and the connection with the king. “What strikes you as you enter is the framework of the building and the balcony where the king used to sit,” says Christian Salès, artistic director of CS Prod, who aimed to cover all the inside areas with video content. In order to achieve this, the team installed three E-Vision 15000 ultra-wide lens projectors in the back of the balcony; six M-Vision 23000 Laser projectors on each side of the building, projecting on the opposite wall and onto the ceiling; and two M-Vision 27000 at the back of the room with a 50-metre projection throw. “We knew the front wall had to be the most impactful for the public and show true colours and sharp images. And the M-Vision 27000s truly answered our requirements,” he explains.

On the balcony, which is central to the show, CS Prod installed a transparent metallic scrim for hologram effects, courtesy of Showtex. “By installing the video projectors very low on the back of the balcony, the public couldn’t see the setup and was able to focus on the content,” adds Salès. CS Prod provided the entire AVL system – accompanying the Digital Projection laser projectors were eight loudspeakers, four subwoofers and 30 Par can LED lights.

To prepare for the cultural installation, CS Prod worked closely with Alexandra Zvereva, the curator of the city museum and Isabelle Cadiergues, head of the city’s cultural development department. The projection mapping expert then studied the life of Louis XIII, including the king’s passion for the arts, music, painting and gardening, and used this as inspiration for the content. “We also used the colours from the era, which we found in existing paintings and books relating to the life of the king,” explains Salès. It took the company an entire month to do the research, during which time CS Prod met with specialists from the era, visited castles in Burgundy to gain inspiration from specific décor, and researched in a number of libraries and museums. It then took three months to create the content and the scenario was co-written by Christian Salès and Michel Piquemal.

The idea of utilising Digital Projection laser projectors came naturally to Salès, with the company’s laser projectors being the only brand CS Prod feels confident using in their projects. “ Digital Projection’s ColorBoost + Red Laser tech is amazing; it offers great images,” he explains. “Hardware is paramount to the content creation and with Digital Projection I know exactly how it’s going to look like when we’re creating the content.” In 2022, CS Prod added seven additional M-Vision Lasers to its inventory, up to a total of 20, and in the past year the company added 12 more, including five M-Vision 27000, due to the “image quality and the new [Nexus] platform allowing us to manage warping and blending in the projector, as well as lower energy consumption, lighter weight and higher brightness.”

The immersive show also included a six-minute projection mapping display on the building’s exterior façade each night. This was achieved by installing M-Vision 23000 laser projectors in two side towers, situated 30 metres away from the façade.

Lumières sur Louis XIII was an astounding success, attracting 15,000 visitors, including 3,500 school-children in one month. According to Battistelli, the show was a triumph, and the feedback positive, with the spectators being “surprised, amazed and impressed.” Salès agrees and praises the M-Vision, stating: “The whole project lasted for a month and a half and during that time we had zero problems with Digital Projection projectors. We are truly happy with the result.”