During a preview Thursday night, one of the most anticipated elements of the show — hundreds of light-bearing drones programmed to create a 3-D image in the sky — was canceled because of strong winds.
"Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle," a light show that plays across the famous wizarding school using projection mapping technology, was previewed Thursday at Universal Studios Hollywood. Hundreds of drones were expected to be in the show, but the wind had other ideas.
“One thing we don’t control is the environment, so wind and rain and other things are factors that can affect these special effects,” said Anil V. Nanduri, drone group general manager at Intel Corp., the company that operates the drones for the light show. “There are limits where the technology works.”
The light show relies on special software to operate high-powered projectors that cast moving images onto the surface of buildings and attractions to create 3-D illusions on the uneven surfaces.Main Street during its 60th anniversary celebration in 2015. The show is expected to climax with hundreds of lighted drones taking the shape of the Patronus in the night sky next to the castle.
Intel’s drone technology has been used in night aerial shows during the most recent Super Bowl, last year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and during the closing ceremonies of the last winter Olympics. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., used 300 drones for aUniversal Studios Hollywood representatives say the new show may be the first time a theme park has combined drones with projection mapping in a nightly show.
Nanduri said such drone shows are usually operated by a master computer that launches and directs hundreds or even thousands of drones at the same time. The program that controls the drones can be quickly rewritten to create a new show for a new event or holiday, he said.
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