# AtmosfearFX hollusion effect



## Wolverine (Oct 19, 2016)

I searched the forum and didn't find anything on this topic. 
I am attempting to set up my Hollusion effect with bone chillers. Problem I am having is the projection onto the material looks as if I am projecting something instead of looking as if something is just materializing in thin air. The material lights up, the projection is bleeding out from the material onto the background and it just doesn't work like the company says it should. Has anyone worked with this before and if so, any pointers on how to get this to work like it should.I have used their Zombie effect in my window and that works beyond expectations. It's actually really cool. However this effect isn't working as advertised.

I followed their advice on the website to the tee and nothing seems to work. Help? They also haven't responded to my request for help from their support email on the website.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

We've only done the window projection, so no experience with projecting onto a scrim. However, I see they have this comment on their digital projection tip page: _"Depending on how bright your projector is and how close your material is to a flat surface like a wall, front projecting can cause your image to be displayed on both your projection material and the surface behind it, causing a distracting double image."_ Is that what you mean when you say the projection is bleeding onto the background? They do recommend rear projection if the illusion is being set up in a small room or short hallway for that reason.

Are you using their projection material? It's not required but they recommend it because it has the right amount of transparency for the hologram effect to work.


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## Wolverine (Oct 19, 2016)

Yes and no. If I tone down the brightness the image isn't bright enough to show up. If I use background lighting as the website states is good, it bleeds out the image being projected and you can't really see the image being projected. I'm actually doing this outside in the front yard. I've attempted to use different lighting effects placing them in all different locations and positions to see what works and nothing works. It either looks like I am projecting something onto material or It bleeds out and you can't really see the image. Problem is, based on the website it should look like something is materializing in thin air. However, if that isn't the result then setting it up it pointless as people will just say, "oh he's projecting something up on a screen".

The support crew for this company is ignoring my requests for help via email.(that's all they provide no phone number) So I am left to struggle with this alone. I just can't get it to do what they say it will. As I stated the window effect works flawlessly and does what it says it will.


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## gma (Apr 20, 2012)

I have a similar setup...in my case I'm projecting from the rear onto tulle (think veil material). I'm using a very low power projector - the Sharper Image Entertainment el-cheapo-supreme. The fact that I'm rear-projecting helps with the brightness from the low power projector.
One thing that helps with this setup is to have something lit behind the screen that draws the eye - in my case I use a big ornate gravestone.
Also if you have the room, set the projector low and off to the side, then angle the projection up so it goes off into space over your viewers heads.
Check out my video in the videos forum - Chanting Corpse Cathedral. The dancing ghosts are done this way.

Let us know what your projector orientation is and more about what fabric you're using.


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## Wolverine (Oct 19, 2016)

Using a viel material as well. Followed the suggestions from AtmosfearFX website on what it should be and perform even took a flashlight. I should state that I am using this effect like they are by having it look like skeletons are rising from my yard in the middle of the yard so it's not in a doorway or a confined space. It's out in the open. The issue or problem is that no matter what I do it looks like I am projecting something onto a material. You can see the material and it looks like something is in the middle of my yard and I am projecting something onto it. Of course in their video it is suppose to look like something materializes in your yard. I've tried front projection and rear.I've tried dark material which helped but of course the dark material doesn't show the image as clearly or as sharply as the lighter material. I've tried back lighting, front lighting and the issue with that is that the lighting no matter how dim or bright reveals the edges of the projection material. If I could get material that wasn't limited to a bolt of cloth that would help but you can't material in that large a width from a retail store. The other issue is that if it were in almost complete darkness it would work awesome but I am using this in a cemetery scene with small LED spots for effect and while the lighting helps the effect it actually helps reveal the edges of the projection material as well.


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## Aquayne (Sep 1, 2008)

The edges of the material must be hidden by a frame that fits into the scene. Gate pillars or tall tombstones would work. im going to use two ajoining trees this year. ill let you know how it turns out.


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## Aquayne (Sep 1, 2008)

a cemetery sign with the name arching over the top would be perfect.


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## spiney99 (May 6, 2013)

I tried a big "no see um" mosquito net in the front graveyard..8 x 10 ft screen (maybe bigger) in the front yard. I also project on my entire house as well..My opinion was that the screen was a failure.. obviously you could see a screen in the yard, it was transparent so you could see through it but still blatantly obvious... i knew where the projector was hidden even with having the beam shoot up from behind so that the bleed would land in the trees across the street..etc.. But then I realized that this was up against two neighbors who turn off their lights and another neighbor who has three plastic pumpkins on their porch.. My failure was the talk of the neighborhood and people were giving me high fives.. Unfortunately you need to treat it as an illusion..control the lighting and the border as mentioned by others.. an open screen in the middle of a yard will be discernible to the eye because there is open air all around it and a difference in the txture....as mentioned by others if completely inside a gateway or arch or mausoleum then you are much better off...


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## aidtopia (Sep 15, 2016)

I'm assuming your image appears roughly in the center of the screen, and the problem is that the "black" part of the video is actually coming out dark gray, and that's lighting up the edges of the screen and showing a telltale rectangle of light.

If that's the case, then I have a few suggestions:

1. Make a small rough hole in some heavy paper or cardboard, and aim the projector through it. This allows the imagery in the middle to project at full brightness but can cause a vignetting (dimming of the corners and edges of the projection) which should help. If the hole is an irregular shape, it will be less of a giveaway than the sharp rectangle. Experiment with differently sized holes at different distances from the projector lends.

2. Apply black spray paint to the corners and edges of the screen material to darken them without reducing the reflectivity in the center where the imagery will be.

3. Make sure no other light sources spill onto the screen material. My graveyard scene is fairly bright, but I arrange to put my tombstone projection effect into a spot that's naturally in complete shadow from all the lights that illuminate the rest of the scene.

4. Put some brightly lit objects in the background, but not right in the where the imagery is supposed to appear. When the viewer looks through your screen, the setting should be dark in the center (where the apparitions appear) but bright in the off-center places.

5. You might consider a different type of projector with better "black levels." Generally speaking, DLP projectors are better at black than LCD or CMOS ones. Unfortunately, they also tend to be more expensive.


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## JCO (Mar 7, 2014)

The single most important thing about Hollusion projections is that the entire viewing area must be covered by the scrim, otherwise you'll have exactly the problem you're describing. 

For instance, if you have two adjacent windows looking in on the same room and only one of them has scrim, the difference will be obvious. 

Likewise outdoors. If you put a screen in the middle of the yard, it will be blatantly visible. But now - stretch it between two trees or two buildings or whatever and MAKE SURE THE AUDIENCE CAN'T SEE ANYTHING FARTHER AWAY WITHOUT HAVING TO LOOK THROUGH THE SCREEN - suddenly that screen disappears entirely because the viewer has no other frame of reference. 

Bleed-through is always something you have to deal with when doing this effect, there's just no way around it. The answer is to position the projector in such away that the audience simply can't see it - it's showing up on a surface that is out of their line-of-sight, or it travels a great distance before hitting anything so that the image is too large and dim to be anything coherent. 

When I do this effect in my living room window I put the projector on the floor and don't allow the audience to get close enough to look in the window and see it. The bleed-through sails right over their heads and off into the sky. 

In my opinion AtmosFX provides poor examples of this on their website. When you see the skeletons crawling out of the ground, you can see both the screen and the hot spot of the projector. When you see the ghostly bride hovering in the doorway, you can see the bleed-through off to the right.

Hollusion projections are both fun and frustrating. The conditions and setup have to be within fairly tight parameters or the illusion will be spoiled. It can't be done anywhere and everywhere; and sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and admit it can't be done in the circumstances you're forced to deal with.


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