Live Projection in High School Concert?

Should I incorporate live (and recorded) video?

  • Yes! Including live video would be cool.

    Votes: 21 91.3%
  • No! The video would be distracting and detracting.

    Votes: 2 8.7%

  • Total voters
    23
Is it really $700 to rent that?
 
$700 to buy, at least.


I've found on rental place in the plausible area in the Lighting and Sound America Directory, that'll rent a whopping 20' x 20' screen for $300 a week. That's too much money, and too much screen D:.
 
Last edited:
Go on ebay search for Fastfold and you will see many rear projection surfaces being sold and also full screen setups, and they are going pretty cheap.
A lot of the older square or basic rectangle sizes are being discarded by the rental houses, yet they can work very well

Sharyn
 
Sharyn, there is no such function on these boards that could fully comprehend the "THANK YOU"-ness I wish to bestow upon you.

"Rear mat" means "rear projection," correct?
 
Someone had suggested earlier to run them wiht the same image overlapping for more brightness, but that'd produce a weird image wouldn't? Double vision?QUOTE]

What I meant was if you can get them to be perfectly syncrohnized with eachother. Have the 2 projectors (1 just a little above the other, but with enough room for ventilation, and to work the buttons) and get them to be exactly the same. Keystone them both to be exactly square. It's like the 3D movies in a sense that they are 2 images from different projectors focused on the same screen.

Either that or icewolf's idea of splitting the image (different halves of the image) with a projector for each half.
 
Sharyn, there is no such function on these boards that could fully comprehend the "THANK YOU"-ness I wish to bestow upon you.
"Rear mat" means "rear projection," correct?
My pleasure, yes rear mat is rear surface.
If they are dirty then can be cleaned with IsoP Alcohol. I use a number of them all the way from 4x6 up to 12x12. I use the 4x6 for band logo etc, Remeber that projection brightness is the output divided over the size of the area. so if you need high level of brightness, use a smaller size 8x8 10x10 and the non square sizes show up all the time. AV guys from Atlanta sell tons of them ;-))
Sharyn
 
getting two images to perfectly overlap is not simple, I would not recommend it, Sony used to do this for early HD projection at trade shows with their crt units, it took HOURS to get it set up.

Splitting the size of your image in half, using a design that has a clean break point can work.

Sharyn
 
First, thanks for the heads up on the rear mat :D

Second, Unless the angle is terrible, I'm just going to go with the one projector, and hope for the best D:
 
As for your MLs, I'm not sure if you've worked with the Mac700s before but the profile is an incredible little instrument. Do yourself a favor though, if your rental house has an additional stock of MAC gobos, ask them to put in some more interesting ones than the stock 700 gobos. Don't get me wrong, their nice, but there are definately more interesting ones availible. If your spending that much on a rental, you might as well get what you really want.

PS, not sure how high your grid is/where your movers are going to be but the 700 Profiles have quite a wide zoom when out at full w/ diffusion. You might want to think about changing the wash units over to profiles and gainging alot more versitility. Just a thought. What kind of console are you planning to use?
 
I've worked with the Profiles last year. Hadn't thought about the gobos, something worth looking into.

As for the washes, I'm getting a mix of M700 Profiles and Washes, and a couple Studio Colors because I needed two more wash lights for cheaper $$. I need the washes because my throw distances are pretty short and I need to use them for skits, bands, talents, dances, etc. etc. etc. (I don't understand how changing washes to profiles would add versatility, heh). I'm renting a Hog2 to run everything.

Though, if we could, keep this thread to video related topics. I can post the whole rig setup in like, the pictures of your shows thread if people want though.
 
Sorry, I just saw Mac700 and that popped into my head. By changing the wash fixtures to profiles you get ton's more options in terms of projection, color, effects, etc. However, I understand your grid heigh concerns.

I attempted projection at myHS last year. Rear projection wasn't an option so I went with two 8'x8' screens out in the house. It was all pre-recorded media, so I was able to sync it up real nice with the lighting. Worked great. I've never done live video mixed with alternative media but I'm sure you'll figure it out.

For our musical this year, Les Mis, we will be renting a number of DL1s and DL2s for various types of projection/live video. I'll let you know how that turns out, they seem like a stellar instrument.
 
From the looks of it, you might have too much ambient light to use that projector. But you might just have to try it out.
 
If you can curtain off the sides between the projector and the screen, it should help some. But yeah, you'll have to watch your brightness of lights when the video is crucial. Otherwise, it'll be a little faded...not necessarily a horrible thing.
 
"not necessarily a horrible thing" was kind of in my thoughts, heh. I know my Director's worried about the distraction factor aswell.
 
My thoughts are yes if:
You have content to put on the screen. Getting a projector is great..but make sure you have something to fill it with ahead of time. Having cameras is good, but make sure the projector won't dominate their shot often. Video feedback happens like sound feedback happens. Consider adding a computer with some content. If you don't own any you could consider using WinAMP AVS's or something similar.
The screen will not be in the performers eyes. I remember hearing of US Officials looking at the damage from 'Gadget' the first atomic bomb to explode. They were standing right where it exploded. Anyone today could tell you not to do that because of the radiation, but they didn't know it then. Perhaps in 20 years we'll look back and be like no, you don't hold a cell phone up to your head..the electromagnetic waves mess with your brain, or don't stand in front of the projector and look at it, it could mess your eyes up. I do know people who have had their vision messed up from this.
It is practical. Don't spend so much time getting a projection rig going you neglect the lighting. If time isn't of excess and you were pinched last year adding this and not adding time in the setup process may not be wise. Also make sure competent people are there to do the cameras and the switcher. If they are earthquaking with the camera it isn't a good idea.

Those are my thoughts.
 
If you can rent a video mixer, like a Panasonic MX50 or 30, then get a pc that has s video out, and you can use it for win amp type stuff or titles, etc, even power point type visual things. At the same time if you use a mixer with frame sync that allows you to glitch free mix like these panasonics do, then feedback is not an issue. in fact I have situations all the time when the projector screen will also show up in the video input, the video delay in the processing eliminated any feedback, just like a delay in the audio system will also eliminate feedback
lo

The other trick is to make sure that your lights dont shine on the rear surface, and having a drape that blocks off light from the stage on the side between projector and screen works . I use 1700 lumen notevision projectors all the time for this, if brightness is a factor, move the projector closer to the screen, remember it is light spread over area, so the smaller the image, the brighter it is
Sharyn
 
Last edited:
First, to soundman, I think you misunderstood, heh--I'm worried about the audience being distracted from the rest of the show and just focusing on the screen. That'd have to be some pretty bad band members, to get distracted by themselves...(I kid. That probably happens all the time.)

I'm looking into a video mixer, part of the good thing about being at a school is that we have one lying around (if I can get it working, I've used video switchers before but this one is confusing as hell, gotta find a manual). I'm also going to get a video card so I can output from a computer, as it'll make my life a lot easier.

With the lights hitting the pit, unfortunately I'll have to play that one by ear. I'm putting four intel washlights in the pit for front light (no good foh/front hanging positions!), which if positioned badly would mean instant and pretty bad direct spill onto the screen. Hopefully though, I'll be able to direct the beams so they cross the stage/get the talents, but don't wash out the screen. We'll see, unfortunately.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back