I need ideas on projection material for photography

[RandyB]

let me start off by telling you what I am trying to do and where I am doing it. I want to create a space in my studio for photography using virtual backgrounds. the walls and ceiling are painted flat black. the shoot area is 17 X 36 with 13' ceilings. I use tungsten soft boxes and spots for studio lighting.

from a projection aspect I think rear will be best. my budget for a projector is $1500-2000. I would appreciate any suggestions.

I am also looking for suggestions on projection screen material. I am able to make my own screen with the proper material. my best screen size would be about 8 x 10. Being this is for photography. the room light will have to be rather bright. Screen material budget is $1500.

Thanks for any suggestions

 

[NickVon]

not much of a photo/video guy mysefl, but with a space like that and your budget. Ever consider Greenscreen and then post processing in your Backgrounds?

you could paint one wall or a portion green (though might actually need fabric to get a correct texture.) then after the photos are taken drop in what ever backgrounds or what know you like?

 

[ajb]

With that budget, you should be able to easily afford enough raw RP screen to do what you want. Rose Brand can sell it to you, and has a bunch of finishing options (grommets and ties, pipe pockets, etc)--or you can just staple it to a 1x4 frame. Or you might be able to buy a pre-made screen, which would save you a good deal of effort. RP can be a right pain to get stretched properly, so definitely give that some consideration. Also, you can get collapsible screens in case you ever want to do something on location. If you build it yourself, I'd recommend either doing it in metal or using the nicest 1x4 pine you can find, and half-lapping the corners. The 1x4 should be flat to the plane of the screen so that they can withstand the stretch of the screen without bowing too much. Note that projectors generally use standard computer resolutions (VGA, XGA, etc), so take a look at that as you decide on the aspect ratio of your screen. If it suits your style and content, you might consider a native widescreen projector and matching screen.

You can get screens in a couple different colors, ranging from translucent to black. The lighter the color, the wider the viewing angle, but also the more ambient light will reflect from the front--so lighter screens are more susceptible to getting washed out by your other studio lighting. I would recommend you go with a black screen (~60° viewing cone) unless you need the wider viewing angle (up to ~140° cone with white). You will still need to be very careful with your placement and focus of your studio lights to avoid washing out the screen. You might even find it helpful to invest in a few ERS units for tighter control and some barn doors and black wrap to fight spill.

As far as projectors, I'd say go for the brightest you can afford. Projector Central has a large database of projectors and a nice calculator that can help you figure out the photometrics to see how it will actually fit in your space.

 

[seanandkate]

I'd also do the green screen option. There are kits available with software and backgrounds. Check the B&H Photo website:
Green Screen
If you have a single colour background (although black can be somewhat tricky), you can already substitute a background in Photoshop. If you wanted to do rear projection, you would have to be really careful that light from your softboxes doesn't find it's way back to the screen, that you don't get a hotspot from the projector (which might be OK if your subject is always in between you and the projector). Doing it post-shoot, you don't have to worry about light values of your subject AND your background. Hope this helps!

 

[SHARYNF]

Personally I don't think you are going to be happy trying to use rear projecton and photo things in front of it

Rear projection with the proper screen masks the hot spot but your camera is likely to pick it up, and avoiding the hot spot means that you will need to put the projector a an angle that keeps the projector hot spot out of the camera

In addition, what you will find is the the quality of the projection is going to be much lower than you camera so the subjects in front will look like different resolutions.

I know this all sounds like a good idea but since you are using backgrounds anyway I would invest in setting up a very good green screen system, with a seamless green background and carefully placed lights that will give you a very even lighting. Then you can just drop in a high res background image

Sharyn

 

[RandyB]

Thanks for the input folks, let me reply to a few of the ideas, I have considered green screen and am trying to avoid it because of post production work. I like to hand my clients all their photos on a DVD when they leave (so far this has been a big selling point). Another positive point to having the backgrounds there while shooting, is the client tends to become excited about how good things are looking and that brings out the positive energy.

Along with the photo studio I own a small manufacturing facility and can easily make a good frame from aluminum. I am thinking I will want a dark grey or black screen as well. Most of the photos will be taken nearly straight on so viewing angle does not need to be large.

I did a test this last weekend using a rented Stumfl screen and a borrowed Mitsubishi projector.

While this is not by any means the end result I am looking for, My friend Amy was happy with her photo.

Thanks for the advice and I look forward to hearing more