Rosco iPro Image Projector

lazor

Member
Anyone used one of the Rosco iPro Image Projectors?

My technical director/scene designer saw one used for a high school UIL competition and declared that we had to have four. And that he would be able to print any picture he wanted to and just project it instead of having to paint a drop.

Of course he didn't look way into it and to see that each slide is $35 and they say they only last 15-50hrs. And if you want to print your own you have to at least buy the one time use slide kit that's $25.

How badly do the slides burn up? If we are doing a two week long production with a week of tech, do I need to buy multiples?

Also, just wanted to see what people's opinions are of them.
 
We picked up 2 I-Pro's this year. They are nice little gizmos but they are not up to the task of scenic projection. My experience using Altman Shakespeares as the fixture results in images that are kind of fuzzy, and never have the punch or clarity of a glass or steel gobo, or video projector.

Slides will last a good while, but will fade over time. It depends how long they are up for.

You can make your own slides using InkJet Transparency Film, available from any office store, though Rosco won't say that.

I'm using them now for fast custom logos and gobos. We used them for a scenic projection of a cityscape for one scene in "Guys and Dolls" and also for the "Fasten Seatbelts" sign to Cuba.

You can not use a 750W lamp in an I Pro or the Slide will ignite. That's why they tend to be on the dim side.

Go with a video projector and a PC for quick and dirty digital scenery.
 
I think buying a couple of Selecon's is a better approach. I've been told you can't use standard transparency film in an I-pro... don't know first hand.

A Selecon has this crazy bent bananna shape design. 90% (maybe more) of the heat get's radiated out the top of the fixture making the light extremely cool when it get's to where the gobo holder is. You have to use 575 lamps and they have this special heat shield gobo holder for transparencies but other than that it's ok to use any standard transparancies.

Total cost for a Selecon Pacific 23-50 Zoom and a Heat shield is going to be around $550... and you get a really cool new fixture for your inventory when you aren't using it to project images.

Neither an I-cue or a Selecon will be as bright as a custom color gobo. But they can do a decent job and are good for many places. Call you local dealer and ask for a demo!

Read more about the wonders of Selecon Pacific here. I have an all Source four inventory with 8 Selecon Pacifics I use just for gobo projection. They are so cool to work with. Yes they are more expensive than a standard S4... but they only cost about $30 more than a S4 zoom and are a far superior product to an S4 zoom.
 
The Selecons are very tasty indeed. Rosco demo'd IPros in Selecons at last years USITT (08) and they were amazing. My assistant saw the demo and tried to get me to invest in them.

You can use regular transparency film in Ipros as well. Rosco advises against using Color Laser Printers for image generation though. If you use standard transparency film in an INkjet, the Ink will never set and the slide can easily be smudged or the ink runs.

The "one time kits" can be used multiple times. You have to be careful when disassembling the slide holder.
 
We own 4 of the Rosco iPros. We print all of our slides on HP's Heavy Duty Transparency stock that is made for use on our HP inkjet printers. You must let the transparency sheet sit for 10 or 15 minutes to dry throughly before trimming to iPro size. We also use the slide holders over until the heat shield plastic layer starts to degrade. You must never touch the heat shield with your fingers, wear cotton or disposable gloves when handling the slide holders and your transparencies. for the second and subsequent uses of your slide holder, use some 3M Scotch clear double stick tape around the image hole, directly over the original Rosco tape surface. You need to support and trap the transparency securely to the slide holder, or the transparency will warp under the heat.

The less saturated the colors used in your images, the longer the slide will last. Try to avoid using Black at all costs!

Dave Horn
Children's Theater Company
 
I'm trying an Ipro slide for the first time this afternoon with an ETC S4. I have EDLTs so I'll let you know how it goes. I'm using a stock pattern from Rosco for a show that goes up in three weeks.
 
We used a few of those with the EDLT Lens tubes in the S4's. Personally I found the image cheesy and always fuzzy and always awkwardly key stoned. Unless you can crop your image before print, you're going to have to deal with the scallops of the light which could lead to some pretty ugly shuttering. Forget about the iPro Images and buy your self a really nice projector, or hey maybe even a high end systems DL3!!!
 
We own three I-Pros and have had quite a lot of success with them. You must be very, very patient if you plan on projecting scenery. We projected several houses as our backdrop for our production of "Danny, King of the Basement" and the effect was magical - as if the actors were in a children's picture. However, it took about an hour for each unit to get the focus just right. Our production ran one and a half weeks and we had not noticeable fading.
 

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