Quince Imaging chose AV Stumpfl’s PIXERA media-server platform to provide the processing power for a state-of-the-art new projection-mapping installation at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California. The visual display and design expert, based near Washington DC, was hired by National Hockey League (NHL) team the Anaheim Ducks to design and integrate a projection-mapping system as part of a wider AV overhaul of their home ground, the 17,174-capacity Honda Centre arena. The installation complemented a significant rebranding for the Ducks ahead of the 2024–25 NHL season which also included a new logo, colour scheme (including orange, a nod to the team’s roots in Orange County) and captain announcement.
Quince Imaging’s brief for the Honda Centre project was to provide the Ducks with a turnkey projection-mapping system featuring league-leading brightness and quality, as well as a rigging package, a 3D motion-capture system and real-time data integration, explains Eric Gazzillo – the company’s VP of innovation, who serves as programme director of a Quince Imaging team that installs, programmes and supports projection-mapping systems across the NHL, NBA (National Basketball Association) and NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
At the Honda Centre, Quince Imaging deployed two PIXERA servers (running PIXERA Director and PIXERA control CORE licences) with custom playback hardware, along with 12 Griffyn 4K50-RGB pure laser projectors, to deliver 4K video content from source to the ice. Commenting on Quince Imaging’s choice for PIXERA for the Honda Centre install, Gazzillo says: “Quince Imaging has been a strong proponent of PIXERA from the beginning. The performance, flexibility and inclusion of the Control product make it indispensable for projection-mapping installations.”
Alongside the PIXERA media servers and Griffyn projectors (calibrated with Christie’s Mystique Pro Venue Edition software), Quince Imaging utilised a Ross Video ULTRIX-FR1 router, an OptiTrack motion-capture tracking system, and its own Zelus visualiser technology for real-time player and game stats. The new projection-mapping system made its debut on 16 October 2024, when the Anaheim Ducks played their first home game of the new season against the Utah Hockey Club. The Ducks won their ninth consecutive home opener, triumphing 5–4 against the backdrop of a spectacular opening-night AVL display produced by the Ducks’ production department and in-house motion graphics producers, in partnership with Related Grey (3D animation and motion graphics) and Sexy Lites (lighting). Regular ongoing projection-mapped content comes in the form of 4K videos and effects created by the Anaheim Ducks and their creative team, in addition to real-time stats visualisation provided by Quince and live real-time fan games on the ice.
Gazzillo hails the support provided by the AV Stumpfl USA team as being key to getting the new system up and running and delivering the high-performance visuals that continue to dazzle ice-hockey fans in Anaheim. “AV Stumpfl was incredibly supportive throughout the process, including working with Quince to ensure reliable playback across multi-GPU devices,” he says. He also praises the ability of PIXERA to simplify Quince Imaging’s workflows, describing the media-server platform as capable of doing the job of multiple products due to its numerous third-party integrations. “In broadcast or theme entertainment workflows, what PIXERA can do one product might otherwise be broken out into three or four separate products or ecosystems,” explains Gazzillo. “In particular, the PIXERA ability to integrate commands from numerous third-party devices helped us to provide seamless playback in sync with all arena displays.”
The Honda Centre installation is the latest successful collaboration between Quince Imaging and AV Stumpfl, with previous projects including designing similar projection-mapping systems for ice-hockey club the Boston Bruins and the Missouri Tigers basketball team. Concludes Gazzillo: “We’re thrilled the Ducks production team is happy with the system at the Honda Centre – and it’s even more rewarding to see the fans loving it.”