I am not sure if this topic would fall under lights or under FX, but what the heck.
I am currently designing and hanging a "dance show" for my daughters HS. This years Song and dance theme is "Planes, trains, and Automobiles" (think 60's). The the lights are your typical modified
McCandless warm cool mixture with strong back/top light (and a few side lights - limited places to hang).
We are hanging a
drop in the back to project images in theme with the music. I am truly hoping to do this by rear projection (ie: kid running laptop and
powerpoint). My concern is that the images would be washed out by the washes. I've done this in small black boxes with varying degree of successes.
Does anyone have experience with video /
image projection in LOW budget venues?
Yes...so I might be able to offer some tips.. Your
drop in the back--best if it is a REAL "rear
screen" as that is often very helpful for light transmission of the
projector AND for clarity sake of the images shown.. Using spandex or a regular
cyc or plastic
screen won't really cut it and you will lose
intensity.. Anyone who has tried to use a front
screen in rear knows how awful the
image quality can be and how half the
intensity can get lost. So if possible--a real rear
screen is best Also--FRONT projection may be a better option for you simply for
image size control unless you have 15-20 feet behind the
drop to mount a
projector.. If you only have a few feet--your
image size will be dependant on the lenses that are available for the
projector you rent...and that is often not as easy..
What you can do--ideally get the brightest
projector you can afford to rent..something in the 5k lumens area or better is often bright enough for most general
stage lighting to be seen.. The generic Office-type projectors are usually too dim or in the 1500-2k
lumen range but they work great for boardrooms. Failing a really super bright projector--and if you have the time and patience, you can try to run two smaller
lumen projectors that
image overlap and stack them on top of each other(they make
projector mounts that do this stacking and lock into place for alignments).. Put a piece of
gaff tape over the
projector IR window when you adjust each of the projectors if they are identical and use the same remote. You then need to run a signal splitter or see if the projectors have the ablity to parallel the input signal...
Coming out of a laptop--VGA is OK but SVideo would be best for quality overall...match your inputs of the
projector to what the laptop can put out. Depending on distance you are running from laptop to
projector depends on whether you need an
RGB amp or a other signal booster/converter or a video or Crestron-type box of some sort to help....
IDEALLY and the last thought--you would want to put a
video switcher or even a video
mixer between the laptop and the projectors--to help process and adjust the images--but moreso to allow you to do a BLACK out or other
fade when there are no images or you have to reboot or
switch to another scene
etc...otherwise everything done or that occurs on the laptop
screen could go straight to the projectors..
If you do Audio out of the laptop--you will need a PC
Direct box...
Hope that help get you started... feel free to ask questions..and I'm sure others will be able to offer alternate suggestions to mine.
-w