As part of a re-design of the offices of Really Useful Theatre Group Ltd., Lee Fitzgerald Architects required an 8 metre x 2.57 metre vinyl print of the Auditorium of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, to be displayed in the Group offices, segmented and applied to a cabinet system.
The cropping necessary to achieve these dimensions would reduce the available resolution for making such a large print, which was calculated to be 50 pixels per inch. A Leaf Aptus II 10 was hired, offering the longest sensor of any medium format digital back available at that time. Stitching together two (or better, three) horizontal images using this back would yield a long print side of 14,334 pixels and a cropped short print side of 4,318 pixels; allowing for some overlap when stitching, a final print resolution of circa 50 pixels per inch would therefore just be possible.
The final print file resolution achieved was 46.8 pixels per inch at 8 metres x 2.57 metres, producing impressive sharpness even close to, with auditorium seat numbers clearly legible mid-print. Diverse light sources were balanced and blended in post processing and the "Grey Man" - the Theatre Royal's resident ghost - was added in faint ethereal form at top left !
Auditorium of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (file for 8 metres x 2.57 metres print)
Print installation applied to the cabinet system (snap shot quality photograph with foreground documents blurred)
Insert - Grand Circle seat numbers at 100 per cent
Detail of print installation close to, showing cabinet system sliding door with handle and lock (snap shot quality photograph)
