View from Below (click for larger view)

View from Above (click for larger view)

I’ll post again later on with more info on how I got on with the software and hardware – but overall it was very good, having 8 channels of video to mix with is great, and the ease of use makes selecting videos quick… during one song I did have 7 layers of video in use at the same time!

Here I’m projecting images of a stained glass Christmas scene on to an otherwise blank wall, but I’ve masked out sections so that the image is only projected in the arches of the wall. An effective way to bring some Christmas decoration on to an otherwise empty wall!

The Results

I wasn’t overly pleased with the results but I think it’s workable, here’s what it was like:

Church building projection (Click for larger view)

I used a 5,000 lumen Christie projector with a 0.8 wide angle lens – as there isn’t much space between the building and the pavement and road. Unfortunately there are quite a few street lights around, and the closest one does a good job of lighting the building too!

Tips

Here are some tips and notes if you are thinking of doing something like this, and have less that a perfect environment:

• Simple Black and White images/text works best
• Our brick is red/brown, and projection still works
• Pull down the blinds on windows – otherwise you project on to the room inside which distorts the projection
• If you have large windows and less brick work, then turn off the inside lights (if possible)
• Fast moving video is eye-catching
• Colour doesn’t really come out well, black on white or white on black is best.
• Projecting at the top of the building is better, as there is less ambient light up there – as well as being more noticeable in the street.
• Use video/text that is clear and sharp – a video of fire just looked odd, as it wasn’t clear what it was!

The main 2 things that can improve this and give more scope for what can be projected are: more powerful projectors, and less ambient lighting – this would make the best projection setting!

I will now think how we can use this in the future…

Other people are doing this much better than I, take a look at WorshipVJ.com for starters!

Environmental-Projection

“Environmental Projection” is a term used where you use video projectors to project not on to screens, but on to walls, ceilings etc -- ie using multiple video projectors you’d try to cover as much of the walls as possible. There’s no limit really! Inside or outside! I’ve tried it in our church…

Environmental Projection

Our building is Victorian and has recently had the internals refurbished. All the ceilings and walls are white -- which I thought would be ideal for some large projection opportunities! I went to the hall when no one was there and played around a bit. I’m actually thinking of using this kind of setup at a youth event in a few weeks time.

Here are some Photos:

These photos aren’t the best quality, but you get the idea of big images projected on to walls

In these examples, we have:

• a projected image on the left
  (we would have on on the right too, but at the time I didn’t have another projector available).
• a projector aimed at the ceiling
• a projector producing the large image on the main wall.
• we are also using our installed projector which is projecting lyrics over the top

I’m projecting some space videos, as they look quite good!

(Click on the images for a larger version.)

Video:

Ok, a pretty bad quality video… but hey!

How to make it better?

Here are some things I’m going to improve for next time:

Fuzzy Edges

The projected image is rather obvious where it starts and stops -- Using some cardboard with a hole in it I hope to make a ‘filter’ for the projector that will make the edges fuzzy

Making Black ‘Blacker’

Even when projecting ‘black’ it actually projects a dark grey -- as it’s still projecting light. -- often we won’t want to project anything apart from black, but projecting dark grey images will look a little odd. I’ll either turn the brightness down, or/and create a cover for the projector lens that can be moved in to place during these time of black out.

Better Align Projectors

So as to make it look less ‘blocky’ and appear as one projected image rather than several

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Edge Blending etc?

When the ‘professionals’ do this kind of thing -- projecting with multiple projectors they tend to use hardware that ‘blends’ one projector’s image in to the next -- making the projection seamless -- they also use ‘matched’ projectors -- projectors that have been tested to produce the same colours/brightness etc. But here, we’re on a shoestring budget!

All we have here are some bog-standard projectors (4x 2000 lumens, and 1x 5,000 lumen), plugged in to a computer via a distribution amplifier. This is environmental projection on a budget -- but trying to do the best with what I’ve got!

More Information on ‘Environmental Projection’

You can google, but here are some great pages and examples:

http://worshipvj.com/category/creativity/environmental-projection-creativity/

Not all the features I’ve been suggesting over the years have been put in (did I hear someone say ‘liturgy tab’?)

New Features:

Anyway, the main new features are:

• 3rd Screen Support - a screen aimed at people on the ’stage’ rather than for the congregation.
• VJ mode – Easily change images/videos during a song
• Web site presentation – web pages can be navigated and displayed
• Better audio playback – playing MP3’s for example is now easier, and can be run along side a song being presented
• Shiny interface - the buttons etc are now a bit more modern… whether you prefer this is your own taste – it’s nothing drastic!

Cost

There is a cost to upgrade – nothing that will break the bank mind…

more at: www.easyworship.com

By using Test Patterns along with the colour/brightness/contrast and other settings on your projector will give you best results. We have created a PowerPoint file with 32 test patterns that will help you calibrate your video projector…

Preview:

Click to cycle through the screens:

These have been useful to me when setting up and aligning projectors, that are given on that basis – nothing more – I don’t garantee that it will help, these are not ‘prefessionaly’ created – but in using PowerPoint – they are as flexible as possible and by using powerpoint it’s simple and easy for any one to use!

Test Patterns

There are lots of familiar test patter screens – colour bars etc – as well as screens to help centre and align your screen.

There are individual colour screens – White, red, green, blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black – these are there to help spot duff pixels and ensure an even colour spread.

There are a couple of greyscale screens to help set up the contrast and brightness of the projector correctly, as well as photos to help ensure skin tone looks as best as possible. There is a slides with different text sizes so you can easily figure out what font size works best on your screen, a colour hues screen to check clarity of colour etc…  – oh, and a freaky brain-animation at the end, just for fun!

Download:

This is available for free, download now:
PowerPoint Projector Calibration Test Patterns (863)

All we ask is that you don’t redistrubute it (feel free to link to this page) and don’t complain if it doesn’t help you

Feel free to leave comments!