# My Peppers Ghost progress



## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

Here's a clip of the illusion as of today:

http://members.shaw.ca/clawback/Peppers_test.wmv

The scene is "life size", built into a tented structure in my yard, and if i knew ahead of time how much work getting this rolling was going to be.....

Anyway, the video doesn't do true justice to the effect - it looks great. I still need to tackle a number of lighting issues - I'm not happy with the way the headless diner looks. If I flood the area with too much light, I dim the projected spector. Perhaps tightly targeted LED spots?
I also need to add a hanging chandelier of some type to give the spector a solid object too pass through. I've used UV lighting to give it an ethereal look (incandesent illumination in the "secret chamber" produces too much spill for my setup), but it works best if it interacts directly with something in the targeted viewing chamber.

Back at it tomorrow....


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## shaunathan (Sep 18, 2005)

movie didn't work for me?


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

looks pretty sweet Kevin!


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Very cool! Another prop that i never seem to get around to!


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## Richie (Jan 4, 2007)

Man, that is amazing! Kevin, I'm hoping you'll give us the details on how this is done. Your illusion easily tops a Scream TV illusion.


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## Lagrousome (Apr 12, 2007)

shaunathan said:


> movie didn't work for me?


Sometimes (especially w/firefox) you have to right click on the link and select to open in a new window, then it will work.

The ghost is FREAKIN' AWSOME!!!!!
I didn't really understand what pepper's ghost was, until now!
Thanks for the share!


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

I love that. Looks really good.


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## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

Whomever said "Hell is in the Details" must have built a large scale Peppers 
The mechanics of this display are almost fool proof - Big chunk of glass, two chambers, and it all works. But getting the lighting right in an outdoor setting is a real challenge.
I'm not satisfied with just pulling this off - I want it to "POP". Once the sun goes down, the UV lighting kicks in and the Spector looks great, but the target chamber starts to lose definition. The next few evenings will be spent testing a varity of bulb combinations and light balances.
I'm keeping a Photo Journal of the project, so I'll post some "Lessons Learned" later.


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## Gloomy_Gus (Jul 11, 2006)

Looks amazing. My Brother-in-law is in a band and I'd love to create a pepper's ghost projecting his band onto real instruments. Not sure I'll ever get around to it, but it's on the to-do list.


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## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

Gus, You'll need a big-arse piece of glass for that one 

Here an updated video clip - it's about 1.3 meg. The camera is in "night mode", so the color isn't great. I've got a 40 Watt spot inside the viewing area masked with some blue Cheese cloth - still needs some tweaking. The overall effect is about where I want it (still need to add some blood and detail to the Headless Diner and mask the spotlight from the viewer).... except I have this urge to pull the animating motor assembly apart and rebuild it with a pistoning FCG principle. Oh well, maybe next year.

http://members.shaw.ca/clawback/peppers6.wmv


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## edwood saucer (Aug 21, 2006)

I agree with Richie - nothing beats a great Peppers Ghost - it's the whole Haunted Mansion memory thing for me.

Has anybody tried this with a 6ft peice of plate glass?

If so - how thick does it have to be? (How expensive??)

I have the perfect porch to try it - it's "L" shaped up to the door.


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## buckaneerbabe (Jun 5, 2007)

That is sooo cool! I would love a how to for next years haunt.


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## edwood saucer (Aug 21, 2006)

Driving down the street this morning - I had a revelation... actually - neighbors had a full glass shower door out for the trash man...

I bet that would work. We have a shower door I could use one night a year!


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## arcuhtek (Oct 5, 2007)

Are you using glass or large clear plastic film? I always wondered if film would work, because you can get large sheets of it for cheap.


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## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

I'm using a 4' x 6' sheet of 3/8" tempered glass that cost me $40. It's saftey rated - meaning if it breaks it'll turn into 235,956 little pieces of dull chunks that I'll have to spend the nest 4 months cleaning up.

Search your local Yellow pages for a glass complany that sells used material. Surplus Tempered Glass can be cheaper than Plexi of other alternate materials, and will give you superior results. I did some tests with Plexi and film, and was not satisfied with the clarity.

If you're planning this display, get the glass first, and design your project around it's dimensions (since it sits at a 45deg angle, a 48" wide sheet give you about a 34" optical combining chamber).


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

That video is, in the immortal words of Napoleon Dynamite, flippin' sweet.

Total Disney... you rock.


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## arcuhtek (Oct 5, 2007)

Well I am not doing this indoors. I am doing this at the opening of my carport so the viewing area is rather large....I am guessing 8'x8'.

I have everything needed for a makeshift "trussbox" as shown in this series of photos: http://www.eventworks.ae/html/setup_specs.html except the glass or the foil as they call it. I thought a high mil plastic "clear" vapor barrier at Lowes might work....if pulled and stretched tight. What is your projector? I have a 3700 lumens projector and this site calls for 20,000 lumens....and of course I write that off as the "professional" version / build. I HOPE mine will work.

I am going to test a small 3'x3' piece of the vapor barrier membrane soon....just trying to pick your brain because your movie is just ....awesome.

Below is a link to a photograph of my carport (at the right in the photo) It is tall and narrow and perfect for a LARGE peppers ghost. I have all the details in my head....except the glass. I have access to a glass company, but even then I am not sure I will be able to get a piece this large.

http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd145/arcuhtek/Front2.jpg


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## Liam (Mar 23, 2007)

Kevin, that is amazing! I have always wanted to build a Pepper's Ghost, just have never gotten around to it. Yours is great, excellent work!


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## KevinS (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks for the compliments folks. This is proving to be a very involved, yet extremely interesting build.

Arcuhtek, using that whole space would be awesome.

I'm not using a projector - the spector is a motorized prop hidden in a blacked out "offstage" area, illuminated by UV light. 
As I go through the testing and tweaking, i keep coming up with other ideas on how to apply it. (I'm already modeling next years effort).
For example, if the spector began movement from a point geometrically "deeper" that the targeted viewing area, could I make it appear to emerge from a Window frame on the back wall?
Oh the things i intend to play with this winter....


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## arcuhtek (Oct 5, 2007)

Very interesting.....I am VERY intrigued.


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

KevinS said:


> For example, if the spector began movement from a point geometrically "deeper" that the targeted viewing area, could I make it appear to emerge from a Window frame on the back wall?
> Oh the things i intend to play with this winter....


as long as your prop's moving space is properly scaled and lined up to superimpose the reflection on your staged space, any 3D pathway it moves in will be mimicked in the illusion. But the more specific you want its path to be, the more it will rely on the observer standing in the right spot.

And remember that the ghost image will always be "on top", so if you want it to look like it's flying behind or through something on your set, be sure to set up black barriers for the ghost prop to fly behind to mask its reflection in the spots where the actual set prop would be blocking it. I watched video of some people setting up a peppers illusion with an actor-ghost walking through the room passing behind desks, sitting on furniture, etc... Was a bear to set up but it looked great.


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