Sziget 2007 Media Farm *
Andras Frenyo (myself) started the panoramic coverage of the Sziget Festival in 2001. An that time he posted 30+ panoramas in a map driven java-based virual tour. Typical home user internet bandwidth limitations and that of my resources wore thin quickly upon repeating the coverage for three years to come. I had to realize he and the festival could do better with a collaborative effort. Like on a farm. Except with digital media.
. . . it all started out as an impromptu idea early in the year 2005 to meet up in Budapest. However, Andras Frenyo (USA) and Daniel Maurer (Germany) soon thereafter found themselves planning what they delivered as a multi-media coverage of the festival. The result was the hugely succesful sziget2005.com.
In August 2005, Aldo Hoeben (Holland) and Bernhard Vogl (Austria) joined to round out the international team, assuring that neither one of us had to ever drink alone between the photoshoots . . . We had a blast and such warm reception to our efforts, that we bring you sziget2006.com with a brand new set of fresh panoramas, photos and videos posted daily during the festival (and for time to come beyond it).
Special thanks to vrMag, who was the first to recognize our work through a panorama from 2004.
In 2006, with some help from our sponsors, we created ever more imagery of all kinds. To help us achieve that goal, we had great help - in the spirit of the festival - from all over Europe. We welcomed Krisztina Imre (Hungary), Mickael Therer (Belgium) and Gilles Vidal (France) - all of whom reunited once again for Sziget 2007.
Why HuGe?
When Andras and Daniel originally started the Media Farm, they dubbed the project HuGe, reflecting upon not only the scope of the undertaking, but also the native tongues of the two.
Although, the HuGe project quickly expended to incorporate languages from other parts of the world, HuGeHoAuBeFR seemed to roll off the tongue much less easily and we couldn't quite come up with a catchy meaning to go along with it . . . so hoping to grow ever the bigger, we remained HuGe.
You can read more about of the Media Farmers of this year's HuGe project below.
Andras Frenyo
Born in Budapest, currently draining his creative vein in the U.S., Andras has taken up VR Photography in 1995. His efforts over the years prior to 2005 to create a multimedia record of Sziget have been formidable, yet failed to satisfy his vision.
His idea of creating a living/breathing site which not only archives the event for time to come, but journals it while in process, quickly spread his resources too thin 2001-2004. In comes Daniel Maurer for the rescue: a kin spirit, he needed little persuasion to part-take and share the workload (as well as the beer and ear candy) at the 2005 event.
Be sure to check out the imagery from the previous years in the archive. Andras has been busy covering many other live event such as the Virgin Festival 2006 in Baltimore and the New Orleans Jazzfest 2007.
Andras maintains a panoramic photoblog at panoramablog.com.
Aldo Hoeben
Aldo Hoeben saw his first virtual tour of a museum in 1996. Hungry to see and learn more, Aldo created his first tour the same year. He deployed several different viewing technologies, discovering the merits and limitations of each technology.
With a steady development of mainstream computer graphics hardware and the arrival of broadband internet, the time to initiate new innovations in the field of panoramic imaging has come. In october 2004, Aldo's company fieldOfView introduced the SPi-V engine, the first publically available, cross platform, hardware accelerated panorama viewer.
Gilles Vidal
After more than eleven years of architecure, Gilles Vidal, a former design student at the Beaux-Arts of Toulouse (France), discovered the multimedia world in 1998 almost by accident. He earned a certificate as a multimedia project manager, and then trained as a technician in image synthesis.
Since 2000, he has focused on delivering spherical panoramas through his web site. The interactive panorama format allows Gilles to combine the pleasure of playing with shapes and images and his desire to explore new digital horizons.
His underlying obsession remains the same: to capture and share the beauty of the fragile, fugitive moments of the world surrounding him.
Krisztina Imre
Born in Budapest some time ago. As there's no significance of a year or two when considered in such an interval, it can be said: her interest in photography has accompanied her all along.
The advent of digital photography brought upon new creative opportunities, not withstanding panoramic photography which quickly became her passion. Krisztina learnt her skills through the works of the accomplished on the internet, and she remains grateful to all those teaching her indirectly, by sharing their knowledge in tutorials and alike.
Beyond posting her selected work on her own website, she is also an active contributor to the leading site in introducing Hungary through interactive panoramic images. Constantly growing equipment, (she is currently using a Nikon D200/DX 10.5mm combo), a supporting family background - what else can you ask for?
Although the little one often declares: Mom, you're not bringing the tripod again!
Bernhard Vogl
Bernhard simply claims: My friends say, the only reason I am creating panoramic images is, because I can't decide on any one aspect of a scene...
Whatever his inner need for creating panoramas, Bernhard is a constant tinkerer. He not only uses the technology to create rich media content, he also shares his non-stop innovations of delivery with the community. His automated panoramic head experiment has gained a lot of attention, and it's easy to see why, even if you are not a panographic photographer.
Bernhard initiated a collaborative project to document the places, sites and events of Austria, in an always growing collection of interactive images. To read his reviews and about his undertakings and see his diverse panoramas, please mosey over to his site.