A Night Under the Stars: Yosemite XR Cinema

Creative inspiration: Yosemite after dark

The concept was born from a simple question: What if the lobby could become part of the experience? Drawing on the vast landscapes of Yosemite National Park - its majestic waterfalls, verdant plant and animal life, and granite monoliths - the creative direction aimed to evoke the quiet magic of a night outdoors. Not a photorealistic simulation, but a stylized, animated homage: dreamlike, symbolic, and immersive. Embers from a camp fire drift upward and become stars. Trees sway gently in synchrony. Distant animals emerge briefly from the dark. It’s a meditative transition space - designed to slow guests down, ground them in the moment, to emotionally prepare for the atmospheric VR experience to come.

Designing for change

To manage an evolving physical layout due to ongoing renovations, and to accommodate stakeholder feedback on the fly, we built a 3D floor plan in Gravity Sketch, a VR-native design tool that allowed us to quickly prototype and iterate in full scale. This gave both the production team and the client an intuitive way to visualize projector angles, seating layouts, and spatial constraints from within the experience itself. Because Gravity Sketch supports real-time adjustments in scale, lighting, and object placement, we were able to test projection coverage, seating density, and sightlines across multiple installation scenarios without needing to rebuild from scratch.

The Challenge

Make it breathtaking, keep it quiet, don't break the budget - and make sure it doesn’t interfere with a 360° motion chair. This was a live architectural installation that had to do a few things at once:

• Set the mood for a ticketed VR experience without overwhelming it

• Tell a self-contained story across five (eventually seven) projection surfaces

• Coordinate several discrete channels of spatial audio

• Withstand daily commercial use

• Be executed on a rolling install timeline without access to a full tech rehearsal

So we built it in tiers. A flexible creative and technical plan that scaled depending on resources, from a basic 4-wall ambient loop to a ceiling-draping, sound-reactive light-and-motion spectacle.

The Work

Phase 1: Visuals

We began with animation, developed in close collaboration with Bezier, an award-winning creative studio specializing in custom motion and experiential media. Working from early environmental sketches and a detailed projection map, Bezier crafted a seamless 2-minute loop that reinterprets Yosemite's iconic landscapes in painterly, dreamlike motion. The animation was designed specifically for spatial integration, stitched across five projectors with precise focal points for fire, waterfall, and celestial transitions. Client feedback guided key narrative choices: a parent - child silhouette by a campfire, soft fire flickers, gently flowing water, synchronized wind across grass and trees, and a constellation of animals that subtly emerge in sync with the soundtrack. Every pixel was placed to reinforce serenity, scale, and story, without competing with the VR experience to come.

Afterwards, projection mapping - establishing a multi-wall layout powered by networked BrightSign HD1024 players and Epson PowerLite ultra-short-throw projectors. We modeled the space in VR to test sightlines and keystone angles. Each wall held part of a larger moving composition.

By splitting animation and editing responsibilities, we maintained maximum flexibility for on-site content changes.

Phase 2: Sound

Initial integration proposals weren’t aligning with the room’s layout or use case. To avoid a rigid four-channel architecture that didn’t serve the experience, or the spatial layout, my client eventually decided to recycle existing configs, and pivot to a new AV partner with a flexible system that could support localized, ambient sound design. This included waterfall FX, nighttime soundscapes, and low-key ambient washes that gently guided guests from hallway to VR chair.

A “set and forget” configuration was essential, as everything was routed through a rack-mounted amp and triggered via StreamDeck.

The Result

By the time Yosemite Cinema opened its doors for the summer season, guests weren’t just attending a VR screening, they were stepping into a full-bodied XR environment. From the moment of entry, they experienced gently animated projections and ambient sound, guiding them into a vibrant version of the nocturnal, immersive sights and sounds of Yosemite National Park.