The backdrop puzzle

Studio 100 Art Director Piet De Koninck created these fairy tale illustrations as the backdrops to various rides and park areas at Plopsa Indoor Coevorden.

The new backdrops differ from previous Plopsa theme parks because of the extra details like shadows, reflections, and color shading.

In fact, the images were so elaborate it seemed impossible to scan them in to be printed on the giant backdrops. Not only that, the rest of the rides, restaurants, and other buildings weren't there yet when the curtains had to be measured and printed. Koen Van Kerkhoven, one of the founders of ShowTex and project manager for Plopsa Indoor Coevorden explains: "Everything, from the mountains to the city scape of houses and entrances and exits in front of the backdrops was theoretical. We had a clay model to work with, but all the backdrop panels had to precisely match up, not just with each other,  but with whatever structure or ride would come in front of it."

That meant that our measurements per three meter wide panel were given to the illustrator as a basis for making the final image. We also had the technology in house to digitize the image at the highest possible resolution, resulting in a print that retains the fine detail of the original drawings.