What are the ideal settings/compression for rendering of a 3072×768 after effects video for projection?

[Eugene Park]

Thanks for your quick reply. As of now I’m thinking a dvd would be the best.

The situation is that I’m creating this movie for a design firm exhibition. And we will be suspending a laptop, synmodule, and 3 projectors at the ceiling.
Since the exhibition will be overseas and I will only be there to install and set up exhibit, I thought that bringing a dvd would be easiest for the production team to come by every morning and play it.

Is this isn’t the right answer, please clarify. thanks for your help

[Eugene Park]

Would it hurt to keep working in 3072×768 and render out as NTSC/PAL and have the syncmodule split the video off of the desktop of the laptop?

Also how do I render into three separate files when the movie is creating as a whole (all three projections will be connected as one).. The dvd player would be on a laptop and the laptop is being provided in Seoul, South Korea.

Hope I don’t make you sick of this post, it’s a real important event and I must be completely thorough. I’ve read your past posts and i believe you will be very helpful in guiding me with this project.

[Eugene Park]

I had no idea I was walking down the valley of the shadow of video death with the ratio i was working in. I think I will resize and recreate the video in “2160×480 in the NTSC DV pixel aspect ratio at 29.97”

Sorry to confuse you. What I actually meant is that a laptop would be attached to a expansion module (something similar to matrox triple head 2 go graphics eXpansion module analog edition convertor) So the three projectors would be hooked to the module. I’m no expert but from what I’ve been told, I would be able to play the dvd on the laptop and have it split into three by the module described (almost as if i had three monitors)..

[Walter Soyka]

Your aspect ratios don’t match. The pixel space you quoted is 4:1, but the projection space you quoted is 3.6:1. Are you sure that your pixel space is really 3072×768?

Projectors should never be edge-butted to create a widescreen image, but the pixel dimensions you have quoted suggests edge-butted 1024×768 projectors. They are usually edge-blended to make the transition from one projector to the next seamless. The narrower aspect ratio of your projection space suggests such a blend. You should confirm your playback requirements and system before you try to design for it.

There are a variety of playback solutions specifically designed for this kind of work. We do widescreen design and consulting on projects like these, and you can find a lot of great information on the Live & Stage Events forum here on the COW.

Finally, 3072×768 video isn’t as scary in its bit rate requirements as it sounds. It’s only 13% bigger than 1920×1080.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Eugene Park]

Thanks Walter. So what would be the ideal ratio and setting you think? considering I have a laptop, espansion module, and 3 vertical/horizontal keystoning projectors? The width I have to be at is 9meters regardless. The height only has to be proportional and i have about 4 height for that.

This is actually my first time doing a project like this, and definitely don’t want to risk getting fired over this. Although I have already started creating the movie, I’m more than happy to do it over as long as I can get the movie to play smoothly.

sorry, I’m a total rookie.

[Eugene Park]

my apologies for posting in the wrong forum

[Walter Soyka]

[eugene park] “So what would be the ideal ratio and setting you think? “

The answer is “it depends.” You are working backwards right now. First you need to define the physical space, then the display devices, then the projection pixel space, then the playback system, and then finally your AE setup.

[eugene park] “This is actually my first time doing a project like this, and definitely don’t want to risk getting fired over this.”

And from another post:
[eugene park] “I will only be there to install and set up exhibit”

Are you working with anyone else on this? An AV or event production company? Who is responsible for setting up the projectors at the venue? Is there more to the installation than your module?

If you’re responsible for all of this, including the physical installation, then I’m afraid you’re in over your head a bit right now. There are a lot of considerations on the engineering side as well as the content creation side.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Walter Soyka]

Dave, you hit the nail on the head with your first post:

[Dave LaRonde] “Here’s the crucial question: how is the completed video going to be played back when it’s projected?”

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production

[Eugene Park]

Thanks walter and dave

walter<< yes there will be people on site to set up the physical hardware: laptop, projectors, expansion module. because the location is overseas i am still waiting for detail specs on the exact equipment being used. What i requested were projectors capable of vert/horiz keystoning, expansion module, laptop (an av rental/agency will be providing this service)/ Originally i was told by someone who claims to be an AV specialist at a local institution that i would be projecting ("edge-butting") the projections side by side to fill up the 9meter width requirement and the height of the ceiling is pretty high so as long as the 9meters was filled the height could be whatever is proportional. (sorry if that may sound ignorant) yes i must have completely misunderstood, and thank God I thought to ask again on creative cow. because I've been creating the movie at 3072x768 thinking i could burn it and just shove it into the laptop and let it play for 2 weeks. I really apologize for not knowing a thing. Sometimes, when the economy is rough and there isn't anything left to build, us architects have to take on other projects such as these head on. wish it wasn't so. if you would like this discussion to continue elsewhere I could post this reply in the appropriate thread..

[Walter Soyka]

Hi Eugene,

I just responded to your post in the Live Events forum — but I must have missed this one before I responded.

Rather than asking your AV contact for a specific setup, in which case you will get what you ask for, maybe you could describe to them what you are trying to accomplish. Ask them about blended projection. See what they come back to you with. You can use them as a resource to help you get this done right. They may be able to help out with the rental of a playback system designed for multiple displays, from a synchronized DVD system as Dave has mentioned, to a Dataton Watchout system, to sync-rolled DDRs.

Walter Soyka, Principal
Keen Live, Inc.
Presentation, Motion Graphics & Widescreen Design
RenderBreak: A Blog on Innovation in Production