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Stand-alone video projector for effects/backgrounds?
Can you see a use for a cheap, stand-alone video projector for effects/backgrounds?
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3 Replies
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Yes, I do. We have a generic talk show set with a wall section designed with projections as a consideration. Green screens are useful in many ways, but often, for a set like this, projections are more cost-effective than doing the keying and maybe the motion-tracking to allow for live camera moves while the background stays locked.
I can project and change show logos right on our set walls this way, without having to spend 50 bucks to have Rosco cut a gobo for the ellipsoidal spotlight. The main issue though is, is the projector powerful enough to really “punch” that logo as brightly as say a Source Four Junior spotlight can.
Sets are less brightly lit in general now, since cameras have gotten more light-sensitive, and projectors have gotten brighter yet cheaper at the same time. So it is easier than it used to be to make this work.
I have found our old video projector to be useful in unusual ways. For some dramatic effects work, we used it to fly text crawls along the contours of real on-set objects like cars or helmets or tools, to get some really neat effects that would have taken days to composite otherwise.
If you have, say, old and not very good-looking archival footage of a historic nature, one thing that looks nice is to set up a still life of prop objects related to the story, then use the projector to play the footage across and in between these dimensional objects, while simultaneously flying a camera around the scene in slow dolly or tracking shots. Brings dead objects and bad footage to life in a dramatic way.
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Thanks for the input…
This projector is LED based (12Watt LED), therefor its output is not as bright as some of the 300 – 1000W projectors. I do think it some situations, such as dark areas on a set, night indoor/outdoor displays, etc would be a good market. The key is its stand-alone operation – it will install like a lamp and just play continuously!Thanks again.
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What that LED based projector might be fun for is to use in Halloween haunted houses along with a sheet of tightly-pulled clear plastic to get a “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion going, or likewise hidden under a coffee table to project up into a lexan sheet for a practical effect tabletop “hologram” display. I am skeptical that an LED based projector has the punch to throw bright graphics on an already-lit set though.
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