Advances in stage automation and projection design in recent years have provided new design tools to bridge the visual conversation of contemporary theatre into the technology driven 21st century. A variety of solutions exist to achieve fluid design. This project explored the concept of moving projection images around a stage by using an existing automation and projection software partnership with Creative Conners' Spikemark™ automation software and Dataton's Watchout™ projection software. Using the automation system, I moved a projection screen along a motion path. The automation software sent its position information to the projection software so the projected content followed the moving screen. Proof of this technology's ability to enhance the visual movement of stage design was showcased in the projection design for the SDSU School of Theatre's production of Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, an adaptation of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland. Amidst a multiscreen projection environment, I used tracking projections to further enhance the visual interest created by the overall projection design. The overall goal for this project was to deliver an analysis of my user experience with this software partnership in order to make contributions to the research for improving the system's tuning process that would achieve greater tracking image quality. Separately, these two technology systems are readily available in both regional and university theatre. Thus, improving the process of this system partnership will have a far reaching effect on improving fluid projection design in theatrical environments.
