Taking events to the next level with the BLK360

Author: Tamara Stakic

The Bakery Design Co. specialises in providing design solutions to the events and entertainment industry. The projects that the company undertakes are often concerts and unique events with a strong focus on visual experience and production design. This encompasses anything from lighting, video and set design.

Adopting digitisation, more specifically reality capture, has enabled The Bakery Design Co. to expand its business portfolio by delivering 3D models and CAD drawings faster and with more detail compared to traditional methods.

The imperative of accuracy

Recently Jayden Sutherland, founder of The Bakery Design Co. invested in the Leica BLK360 imagining laser scanner, opening new opportunities for his company. Using the 3D imaging scanner, The Bakery Design Co.  discovered a fast and uncomplicated way to capture measurements and as-built information. With the BLK360, Jayden has optimised his approach to projects with an efficient workflow to make 2D floorplans, cross sections and 3D models. “The BLK360 solves the challenge of being able to capture the right information for each project,” Jayden said.

The Bakery Design Co. relies on the portability, simplicity and sophistication of the BLK360 to map an indoor or outdoor environment at which an event is going to be held.  Detail and accuracy is imperative to their work.  “A lot of our work is done in venues that don’t have accurate 2D plans and, in most cases, no 3D plans at all. Our projects are usually very detailed and specific, typically requiring me to work in a 3D environment when designing –  having an accurate virtual space to design in is imperative to me,” explains Jayden.

Extra dimensions: projecting onto 3D surfaces

The BLK360 is also used by The Bakery Design Co. for the projection of mapping projects. Projection mapping, like video mapping and spatial augmented reality, involves mapping video projectors onto 3D surfaces rather than flat 2D screens to create a visual display.  Projection technology is used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into a display surface for video projection.

These objects may be complex industrial landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects or theatrical stages. A 2D or 3D dimensional object is spatially mapped on a virtual program to mimic the real environment it is to be projected on.

For Jayden, a significant part of the work flow is having accurate models of the surface to be projected onto. This is important for artists creating video content and for technicians aligning projectors. It enables content creators to understand the environment and provides media playback systems a virtual environment to correctly map the video surface.

Self-sufficiency with the help of technology

In the past, The Bakery Design Co. has relied on outsourcing and contracting specialist companies to provide the point clouds, to later turn them into simplified 3D models.  “Since the BLK360 was announced my eye was on it,” said Jayden.  “It’s made this type of work more accessible in our industry and, as a result, I’m now able to provide a full-service solution and in turn increase my service capabilities.”  

Jayden contacted C.R. Kennedy, the exclusive Leica Geosystems distributor in Australia to learn more about the BLK360 and how his business could benefit by adopting reality capture solutions. C.R. Kennedy’s technical consultant, Matt Rumbelow, supported Jayden with application demonstrations at the Adelaide Casino to conduct scans in lead up to the Chinese New Year, a project that The Bakery Design Co. was working on. It didn’t take long for Jayden to realise the true potential of the BLK360 and its impact to growing his business becoming more self-sufficient.

The real-world application demonstration helped realise the full potential of the BLK360 and how The Bakery Design Co. could integrate reality capture to grow their business, offering and deliver projects more efficiently. The Bakery Design Co. has used the BLK360 for over a year and is one of the earlier adopters of the smallest imaging laser scanner.