Digital Media, Projection Design, and Technology for Theatre

This book covers foundational skills, best practices, and real-world considerations of integrating digital media and projections into theatre. Come and get it in MoBo.

Digital Media, Projection Design, and Technology for Theatre, by Alex Oliszewski, Daniel Fine, Daniel Roth. Routledge, 1st Edition 2018, 230 pages.

The digital media/projection designer’s workflow is outlined into nine phases. From the very first steps of landing the job, to reading and analyzing the script and creating content, all the way through to opening night and archiving a design. Analysis, tips, case studies, and best practices for crafting a practical schedule and budget, to rehearsing with digital media, working with actors and directors, to creating a unified design for the stage with lighting, set, sound, costumes, and props is discussed.

The fundamentals of content creation, detailing the basic building blocks of creating and executing digital content within a design is offered in context of the most commonly used content creation methods, including: photography and still images, video, animation, real-time effects, generative art, data, and interactive digital media. Standard professional industry equipment, including media servers, projectors, projection surfaces, emissive displays, cameras, sensors, etc. is detailed. The book also offers a breakdown of all key related technical tasks, such as converging, warping, and blending projectors, to calculating surface brightness/luminance, screen size and throw distance, to using masks, warping content and projection mapping, making this a complete guide to digital media and projection design today.