Tech Company Brings Tupac Back Via Hologram

April 16, 2012

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San Diego-based AV Concepts executed the technology and content behind an unexpected performance at this year’s Coachella Music Festival.

More than 100,000 fans witnessed the “return of Tupac” as a hologram performing on stage with hip-hop music legends Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, made by advanced projection technology from AV Concepts.

The production followed months of collaborative planning between Dr. Dre’s production company and AV Concepts’ creative and technical experts to design and engineer the special effect.

“This show was by far one of the most exciting yet challenging projects we have ever worked on,” said Nick Smith, president of AV Concepts. “A highly choreographed, live, outdoor holographic production of this magnitude with hundreds of thousands of people watching gave us the added incentive, and pressure, to deliver.

AV Concepts utilized Eyeliner display technology along with a custom rigging and mechanical solution to deliver the perceived 3-dimensional life-sized holographic illusion.

AV Concepts partnered closely with Digital Domain Productions to shoot videos and deliver the life-like imagery.

AV Concepts’ success in Coachella comes on the heels of projection mapping projects for Chris Brown at the Grammy’s and the American Music Awards.

These events utilized AV Concepts’ proprietary Liquid Scenic server to deliver uncompressed HD video, which can be projected as holograms in an entertainment setting or as 3-D imagery on building exteriors, interior walls, stage sets and other structures.

The exact cost of bringing Pac back to life for one night is undisclosed, but is estimated in the price range of $100,000 to upwards of $400,000.

OMG!!! I would have lost my ever loving mind had I seen this in person!!! That was fucking awesome!!!

[img:$uid]http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r606/WKRP-FM/batpac.jpg[/img:$uid]

Identity said:

April 16, 2012

Link

Rapper Tupac joined Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Annual Festival Sunday.

Yes, you read that right. The rapper, who died in 1996, was brought to life as a hologram to perform his hits, “Hail Mary” and “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted.”

Thanks to technology, the hologram even greeted the crowd with a “What’s up Coachella?”

Jeans sagging and bare chested, the hologram may have freaked out some in the audience. One concertgoer wrote on Twitter: “This place just went silent. People are genuinely horrified by the Tupac hologram.”

didnt gorillaz do this a few yrs ago.

no thanks.

The Hologram looked really lifelike, until the performance with Snoop.

This technology is gonna get fuckin' ABUSED!

They're gonna use it to have Chris Brown performing with Marvin Gaye.

Katy Perry performing with Kurt Cobain.

Rihanna performing with Janis Joplin.

It's gonna make those old vacuum commercials with Fred Astaire look dignified by comparison!

thats so very wrong ... not good

Paris9748430 said:

The Hologram looked really lifelike, until the performance with Snoop.

This technology is gonna get fuckin' ABUSED!

They're gonna use it to have Chris Brown performing with Marvin Gaye.

Katy Perry performing with Kurt Cobain.

Rihanna performing with Janis Joplin.

It's gonna make those old vacuum commercials with Fred Astaire look dignified by comparison!

re:This technology is gonna get fuckin' ABUSED!

I hope you're wrong...but I know you're 1000% correct. Even though some of them could be cool.

The grammy's have their next show. They called and emergency meeting after they saw this clip!

G3000 said:

Paris9748430 said:

The Hologram looked really lifelike, until the performance with Snoop.

This technology is gonna get fuckin' ABUSED!

They're gonna use it to have Chris Brown performing with Marvin Gaye.

Katy Perry performing with Kurt Cobain.

Rihanna performing with Janis Joplin.

It's gonna make those old vacuum commercials with Fred Astaire look dignified by comparison!

re:This technology is gonna get fuckin' ABUSED!

I hope you're wrong...but I know you're 1000% correct. Even though some of them could be cool.

The grammy's have their next show. They called and emergency meeting after they saw this clip!

how much you wanna bet there will be a either a Whitney or Michael tribute next year

i was creeped out!

SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!

I want to see MJ Sing PYT!

Japan has had a holographic pop star for a while. I would maybe go to one of her concerts just for the experience, to people watch but not necessarily for the music.

It is kinda creepy though.

It was the event of the weekend: Tupac, who died in 1996, was brought to life as a hologram and joined Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at Coachella Music Festival. Ethan Smith on The News Hub looks at the technology. Photo: Getty Images.

The biggest buzz at Sunday's Coachella music festival in California wasn't for a hot new DJ or indie-rock band. It was for Tupac Shakur, the rapper who died more than 15 years ago and "performed" Sunday night alongside Snoop Dogg and producer Dr. Dre.

Internet video of the Sunday evening show became an instant sensation on Monday morning. That response is helping push the possibility of a virtual Tupac tour in coming months.

The rapper's ghostly image was created by Digital Domain Media Group Inc., DDMG +0.78% the visual-effects house responsible for making the virtual versions of Brad Pitt that populated 2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." The movie won the Oscar for visual effects.

Representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg plan to discuss logistics for a tour involving the two performers and the virtual Tupac, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Tupac Hologram Performs at Coachella

A holographic image of deceased rapper Tupac Shakur performed at the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 15 in Indio, Calif.

View Slideshow

Getty Images

Virtual Tupac Shakur on Sunday

Speakeasy

• Tupac Hologram Performs a...la (Video)

One option would be a tour in stadiums, involving other hip-hop stars, including Eminem, 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa. Alternately, they could stage a more limited tour, featuring only Dre, Snoop Dogg and the virtual Tupac, in smaller arenas.

Digital Domain is a publicly traded company that reported revenue last year of $98.6 million. The thinly-traded company has a market capitalization of $211 million. Its stock is down 15% year-to-date.

"To create a completely synthetic human being is the most complicated thing that can be done," Digital Domain's chief creative officer, Ed Ulbrich, said in a phone interview Monday.

He said that the performances of the rapper's hits "Hail Mary" and "2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted" weren't simply old ones captured on film and repurposed: "This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion."

"This is just the beginning," Mr. Ulbrich said. "Dre has a massive vision for this."

Spokeswomen for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg declined to comment.

Mr. Shakur was shot to death in Las Vegas in 1996, at age 25. Because the shooting has never been solved by authorities, it has become grist for conspiracy theories akin to the "Elvis lives" rumors a generation earlier.

Dr. Dre and his production team first approached Digital Domain a year ago to discuss the possibility of creating a virtual Tupac. They began work in earnest on the Coachella performance around four months ago.

Tupac joined Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on stage at the Coachella Valley music festival Sunday. Yes, you read that right. The rapper, who died in 1996, was brought to life, as Christopher Farley explains on Lunch Break. Photo: Getty Images.

First, the image was created on a computer, using physical characteristics and movements captured from recorded performances.

Advances in computer graphics and video projection allowed Sunday night's illusion to be far more lifelike than other recent efforts.

For the projection aspect, a San Diego company called AV Concepts used a variation of a visual effect that was discovered in the 19th century, known as Pepper's Ghost.

Though the projected image has been widely described as a "hologram," it is a 2-D image and not a hologram, which is 3-D.

The effect was first used in an 1862 dramatization of Charles Dickens' novella "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain," staged at the Royal Polytechnic Institute in London, according to Jim Steinmeyer, an illusion designer who has written extensively about the history of his craft, including Pepper's Ghost.

The effect relies on an angled piece of glass in which a "ghostly" image is reflected. "A piece of glass can be both transparent and reflective at the same time, depending on how it's situated relative to the audience," said Mr. Steinmeyer, pointing out the secret.

In the Victorian version of the trick, the glass reflected an actual actor, situated out of sight in near the orchestra. On Sunday night, the image was projected on a piece of Mylar—a highly reflective, lightweight plastic—stretched on a clear frame.

"What's happening in Coachella is virtually the same thing that was happening in 1862," Mr. Steinmeyer said. One difference: In the Victorian era, Pepper's Ghost was normally used to reflect actual, physical objects or actors, making them appear "dimensional" in ways that the projected or computer-generated imagery typically used today do not.

Mr. Steinmeyer used similar technology to create an illusion in which Frank Sinatra appeared at a 2003 concert.

A London-based company called Musion Systems Ltd. owns the patent for using a Mylar screen in the illusion. Musion said it licenses its technology to around 30 companies around the world, including AV Concepts. Its technology was also used for the 2006 Grammy Awards, when an animated rock band called the Gorillaz appeared to perform live on stage with Madonna.

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AV Concepts President Nick Smith says that his company typically uses the technology for corporate events.

Tupac Shakur is the first dead entertainer the company has presented "live."

But Mr. Smith said the company has used the same technology to resurrect several late executives.

"We've brought past CEOs and things that like that back to life," Mr. Smith said, without getting more specific, citing non-disclosure agreements.

A tour with the virtual Tupac is likely but not guaranteed, said the person familiar with the situation. The nascent plans could fall apart for any number of reasons.

If the tour were to proceed, it would take many months of creative and technical planning, this person added.

This man had so much presence. Still after over 15 years gone, His spirit is still felt. Only other rapper with that much presence now is TI....

She was there also my new crush.....

Katy Perry's a California flower gurl

Singer's transparent frock at Coachella festival

Pants look ... Katy Perry at Coachella

Barcroft Media

By MATT QUINTON/KCOOL

Last Updated: 16th April 2012

The Firework singer hit California's Coachella festival with her underwear on display through her sheer dress.

And she topped off the daring floral frock with a large red bloom attached to her chest and a garland of flowers in her hair.

But the 27-year-old star was clearly well-prepared for the festival experience, accessorising the revealing get-up with a pair of heavy-duty boots.

And she certainly got the most out of the legendary bash, tweeting: "Enjoying music so much this wknd!"

Rihanna and Katy are Coach-ella, ella Gurls

Pop pals ... Katy Perry and Rihanna

[Edited 4/16/12 20:03pm]

Timmy84 said:

Oh no you didn't

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

Oh no you didn't

lol I found more crazy pics.

Timmy84 said:

aardvark15 said:

Oh no you didn't

lol I found more crazy pics.

Care to share?

aardvark15 said:

Timmy84 said:

lol I found more crazy pics.

Care to share?

I'll try to find one.

This is some brilliant technology people are making fun of. Plus, it was Tupac, of all people. I don't see the humor. All I see is genius.

I just realised something, what about those Nate Dogg rumors? Do you think it was just mis-information or that another "hologram" will perform?

aardvark15 said:

I just realised something, what about those Nate Dogg rumors? Do you think it was just mis-information or that another "hologram" will perform?

I read they tried to do a Nate Dogg hologram but decided on video tape memories.

It would have been major if they could have done a Hologram of Nate dogg.It would have cost too much. I went to his viewing last year in Long beach CA...

I thought this was AMAZING! I would have loved to have been in the audience. I can't wait to see how this technology develops over the coming years. If this is what they were able to do with existing footage of Tupac, I can't wait to see what it looks like when they shoot a performer specifically for the purpose of using that footage as a hologram.

I thought the performance was pretty good. I kinda freaked out a bit myself when I saw the "Thug Life" tattoos. I was like "Oh shit! Illuminati!"

Remember when Janet used holograms back in 2010?

Timmy84 said:

I'm still thrown off by the accuracy of the human movements, chain swinging, minor variations and that's even before the Tattoos - and this is a TOTAL SYNTHETIC RECREATION... eerie...

wonder who the stunt voice was and if they had to rotoscope movements, who was the stunt double?

I still can't sleep...

'dre