Advice For Video Installation

[only child]

Hi there, I am setting up a video installation for my end of year degree show and need a bit of help. I have a rather large space and plan to hopefully project 3 screens side by side and flushed from the floor to the ceiling. I wanted advice on;

 

=the best surface to project onto, is there a special fabric or will a plain white wall do.

=hire companies for equipment (3xprojectors & speaker system) based in London, ideally S.W

 

Thanks

 

Kate

 

 

Moderation : topic title edited to remove annoying ALL-CAPS FORMATTING.

[ThaiLD]

Walls are a really good surface to project on... how big is the wall though... and how bright do you want the images to be rendered on the wall? (e.g. just some text floating about at a corporate event) or something more spectacular (like saturated colors, dancing squares etc) that needs to be seen clearly. If your budget will stretch that far try making a wall of LED panels looks really nice (although DAMN expensive).

 

I fond that people who have video and projection equipment always seems to have the name 'marketing' or 'communications after their name, such as GL Marketing, PM Communications etc... (then again thats here not there...)

 

As projectors go I only follow Christie (its the only one available here) I would look for an SXGA projector at 4000+ lumens if you want it spectacular (I saw a Christie LX45 and it is BRIGHT) on the Christie website they have a list of rental companies here.

 

Sorry my projector/video theory is a bit naff I don't normally rent projectors... my school has LOADS (literally over a hundred) so whenever I do video projects I just borrow a few and point them in random places (tried to use it to replace intelligent lighting once...:))

[Pete McCrea]

As ThaiLD says you can pretty much project onto any surface. If there are flat walls in the space your using then they may well work fine. If there are some in-perfections they may add to the overall feel- your call really.

 

You say several projectors. Is that for a wide screen where the projectors create one wide image, or is it several distinct images? If so that's not a problem. Neither is soft edge blending, just costs more.

 

Will there be normal or high levels of ambient light? If it's a naturally bright room, then brighter projectors will be needed and cost more. If it's going to be dim, then 4500 Lumens will cut through quite well.

 

Cast your net a bit wider for hire companies. There are several just outside london that may be cheaper. On several counts we've discovered that we can be cheaper than London companies even when we've trucked in from Cheltenham as our initial rates are lower.

[only child]

I've chosen the space because there's enough room to project large images. I'm hoping to have 3 seperate individual images lined up next to each other in a strip. Each image ideally will be 6-8 ft in height so the image needs to be clear. The content of the films are mainly people talking etc. and will be played on DVD.

 

I plan to black out the room so the images need to be clear and bright, spectacular would be even better but money is tight and I ideally want 3 projectors.

 

The only light in the room will be from the projections.

 

The space is great but it's a portacabin so I'm not sure if they'll let me do any building in there yet, I find out on monday. I was thinking of building frames and covering in a projection friendly fabric or thin ply???

[andy_s]

Gerriets do a nice range of projection screen material - information is on their website. It's not too expensive, I don't know whether they'd offer good terms to students, but it's probably worth an ask.

 

Gerriets Catalogue

[Pete McCrea]

If it's a blacked out portacabin then 4500 Lumen should be getting closer to 'spectacular'. One thought is the positioning of the projector. If going for front project, i.e. projector on the audiance side of the screen then you'll have to be aware that people could block the image if they walk infront of the projector. Wit hrear projection there won't be a problem, but you need the extra space behind the screen. Using a Christie LX45 with short throw lense, and a 6' high by 8' wide screen needs 6.6' from the front edge of the projector lense to the screen. See Here.