The Tech Behind a Nine Inch Nails Show

inetstorm, who has "been a NIN fan for ages," sends along a Wired profile giving a look behind the scenes at the tech underlying the current NIN concert tour. "... this time around, NIN has pulled out all the stops, creating a groundbreaking, fully interactive visual display that is as much a part of the show as the band's instruments ... The core of the show is a sophisticated trio of transparent 'stealth' screens, which are raised and lowered during the performance... For the interactive portions of the show, all the onscreen video is rendered by Moment Factory's custom rig, a trio of Linux-based devices collectively known as 'the brain.'"

Re:The power of Linux

[no reason to be here]

The original unaltered picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ltrandazzo/2783768632/in/set-72157606864141506/ [flickr.com]

Taken by amy Randazzo, sister of one of the guys responsible for http://theninhotline.com/ [theninhotline.com]

Just want to give attribution where it's due.

Also, I'm so pissed off I wasn't able to see them this time around, and everytime I hear about how amazing and groundbreaking the show is, it makes me that much more upset. I really hope I can make it to one of the shows when they come back through the US again.

Re:The power of Linux

[RealGrouchy]

FTA:

But Reznor, who is an unabashed Mac fan, is also playful about having to partially rely on Windows boxes for some of the show's visuals.

"We purposefully put one frame of the Blue Screen of Death in this collage of static that comes up at the end of 'Great Destroyer,' and right away people caught it," he says.

That is not a fail; it's win all the way.

- RG>

Re:The power of Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

thats really too bad. in my world, there is no "wasn't" or "can't" for i make my way to see nin.

as for the show, it was the best nin visual show i have seen in the 14 years i have been attending nin concerts. there are things done with with trent and the screens that simply took my breath away. things i never would have thought possible at a "music" concert. this recent show i saw in inglewood, ca was far from being a simple "concert" or "music show." it's something else. something bigger. something that push the envelope.

The BSOD was on purpose

[azrael29a]

This BSOD was set up on purpose - it was a part of the decoration. See http://blog.internetnews.com/apatrizio/2008/09/the-fail-er-joke-is-on-the-web.html [internetnews.com]

Trent kicks ass

[runlevelfour]

Trent is a pretty cool dude. He tries to embrace technology and make it work for him and he is a big opponent of the current entrenched system (RIAA etc). Trent sees them as crooks who prey upon the fans and artists alike and did everything in his power to get independent. As soon as he did he started to release albums free with options to donate and ability to purchase physical and/or high rez formats. Needless to say it was a success and now other artists are using his inspiration and trying to change things as well. Normally I detest Mac and all their little fanboys but not Trent because he is not just an empty headed user who is being a partisan simply because of Apple's slick marketing. Trent loves technology and if a tool is good for a job he embraces it. If it works great, if it sucks he denounces it. You have to respect someone like that. We need more of that attitude in every aspect of life.

Re:Ripping apart a monkey on stage?

[Deuxsonic]

That seems highly unlikely for someone who did a video for PETA, you know?

Re:Ripping apart a monkey on stage?

[nawcom]

About the only thing I can think relating Trent to a monkey is the one strapped onto a crucifix on the Closer video. It's called symbolism. I'm sure the monkey was fine. He's never done anything with animals on stage. Your friend's mind is twisted.

Hip like a broadway musical

[Anonymous Coward]

The "stealth" screens they talk about are really just Stealth(TM) branded LED screens, which have a fairly wide dot pitch to allow gaps to see through. They are being used right now on such cutting edge projects as Broadway musicals, trade shows, etc. etc. They neither are invisible to radar nor move like ninjas.

Re:The BSOD was on purpose

[Sebilrazen]

Pretty much standard fare at a concert of decent size these days. Even before camera phones were basically standard, people would wave their phones in the air, creating a similar effect to a crowd full of lighters.

Not only this, but Trent wants fans to bootleg and remix his shit, he releases albums under creative commons specifically for this purpose.