# how to use projectors & which Projectior should I use



## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

I liked an idea suggested by a member to have some ghosts darting amongst the trees in our haunted woods. After thinking on it some, I though the idea of using a projector would be cool. It would give that transparent ghost effect. Which kinds of projectors should I use? The Home theater projectors would be ideal, but I just don't have hundreds of dollars to sink into one of those set ups right now. I saw some projectors online that basically are used to project an image on the side of your house or whatever. Could I use one of those? Maybe I could paint & make my own projector "slide" out of transparent plastic & make it move by actually moving the projector? Also, how well would it project against trees?


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Speaking of projectors, Joiseygal posted a thread earlier today about a sale on projectors at CVS that might be of interest:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=30509


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## stagehand1975 (Feb 22, 2010)

There are a couple of.companies that make dvds of things that you can project for Halloween. One is of real looking ghost that you can project into a wall of fog. A good video projector can be expensive but it could be the effect that brings more people into the haunt. A projector like the one from cvs can be good for close up projections. You can randomly find used projectors on eBay for a decent price but shop carefully. I bought an older one years ago and now it needs a bulb and I guess no one makes it anymore. More recently I bought an led projector. I still think it was a purchase. It is Hd capable. With the led light source it will last a long time. It was less than $200. And though I bought it for things.like halloween, I am currently using it for.movies in the house.


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## Bascombe (May 18, 2010)

I saw someone project ghosts on a disco mirror ball once which cast ghosts everywhere. Don't remember where I saw it though.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You might look at using a standard slide projector and having a rotating wheel in front of it that has cutouts of ghosts and such so that as the wheel turns the ghosts fly up from the ground and into the sky or the trees. Disneyland uses this effect in the Haunted Mansion, in fact they have two projectors going at the same time, with one having a wheel or disk that is rotating clockwise, and the other going counter clockwise. They project the ghosts against a fairly transparent cloth screen that sits at an angle so that the ghosts change size and definition as they fly upwards. You can get the theatrical scrim quite easily online. The projectors that run from your computer or DVD use very expensive lamps/bulbs and for simple projections, they are prohibitive in cost, and very open to theft. The slide projectors are very cheap to get, and you can use and old turntable/record player or reel to reel tape recorder to give you the mechanism for the rotating wheel/disk with the ghosts on it. Putting a fan on the scrim will make the cloth ripple, making the ghosts look like they are wavering/wiggling as they fly up.


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## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

Oh wow, I just checked out Joisey Girl's post about the projectors. I am gonna be at CVS at 9am when they open to see if they have any here. Thanks for letting me know, what a deal! Hope I can find one!


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Wishing I was there too!!!! I need one for my daughter's 21st next month. WOW they are expensive even to hire.


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Does anyone know if the Digital Galaxy DG-737 (or the dg-747) projectors are any good? It's not real cheap, but more affordable than many. I think it sounds like it might give a better image than the small projectors. I'm looking for something that would work with something like Hallowindows.


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## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

The main features you want to look for on any projector are brightness (measured in lumens), and resolution.

For resolution, focus on what your source player/media will be. If you are projecting standard definition NTSC or PAL video (from a DVD player or other non-HD player) you can save a lot of money by avoiding HD projectors.

But if you can afford it (and have a HD video player and source media), your projection will look a lot better with a 1080p HD projector. You can also have the projector run double duty as a home entertainment projector, helping justify some of the cost.

The single most important factor is brightness. Projectors work best in dark environments, as they don't have to compete with as much ambient light (street lights, house lights, moon light, your halloween lighting, etc). To make up for ambient light you will need a brighter projector. Also, the further you want to project, the brighter your projector will need to be. This is because the image spreads over distance and becomes larger, losing brightness.

2000 lumens is my bare minimum for a cheap projector, as that will be able to compete with some ambient light and throw a reasonably large image without too much quality loss.

*AV Nerd Math Warning:*

Lets say you have a 2000 lumen projector, and you want to project on an area that is 12 feet tall by 16 feet wide.
*12x16 = 192 square feet* of projection surface.

To figure out how bright your image will be, take the ANSI lumens of your projector (2000) and divide them by the square feet (192).
*2000/192 = 10.4 lumens per square foot* (on a screen with no gain. aka a flat white wall)

A good target minimum contrast ratio is 5:1, meaning for every 1 lumen of ambient light you have 5 times as many lumens per square foot in your projection.
*10.4/5 = 2.08 lumens* (max ambient light)

This means to maintain a 5:1 contrast ratio you need your environment to have no more than 2.08 lumens of ambient light. As the ambient light goes up, your image will start to wash out. Your blacks become gray, and your colors lose saturation.

Many yard haunts will have several times that level of ambient light, and haunters rarely ever project on a surface that has 0 gain (a white wall). We typically project onto the sides of houses or other surfaces that will dramatically reduce the brightness and contrast of our projections.

For projecting ghosts in trees, or other simple home haunt effects, we can push things much further than what people expect for watching a movie. But that said, it's a good idea to still aim for a brighter image.

Also, avoid used projectors. Normally it would be a good idea to save some money on used hardware, but the lamp (bulb) inside projectors has a finite number of hours that it will burn for. These lamps are often quite expensive to replace. ($100-$400 in some cases) So you want a new projector with plenty of "lamp hours" on it.

By all means get am model that is a few years old, just not one that someone has been running and consuming lamp life on.

Hope that info helps!


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## Demon Dog (Mar 30, 2009)

Spooky1 said:


> Does anyone know if the Digital Galaxy DG-737 (or the dg-747) projectors are any good? It's not real cheap, but more affordable than many. I think it sounds like it might give a better image than the small projectors. I'm looking for something that would work with something like Hallowindows.


Spooky1, try this thread http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=24098&highlight=projector
or this one http://www.halloweenforum.com/hallo...o-you-own-one-better-model-similar-price.html

Both posters have purchased one of the Digital Galaxy projectors.


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## 661yardhaunt (Oct 4, 2011)

Projections are EXTREMELY easy. All three effects in my setup are from a $50 WonderWall ptojector available at Kohls. It is also rebranded and sold under the Sharper Image label I believe. Would a more epensive model be more impressive? You bet, but my results spek for themselfs. Somebody bumped my projector on my Leota which is why it is off. Overall I would deffinately reccomend it though


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## imthegoddess (Feb 3, 2012)

Here is the link. http://www.haunteddriveway.com/projected_ghosts.html



Bascombe said:


> I saw someone project ghosts on a disco mirror ball once which cast ghosts everywhere. Don't remember where I saw it though.


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## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

661yardhaunt said:


> Projections are EXTREMELY easy. All three effects in my setup are from a $50 WonderWall ptojector available at Kohls. It is also rebranded and sold under the Sharper Image label I believe. Would a more epensive model be more impressive? You bet, but my results spek for themselfs. Somebody bumped my projector on my Leota which is why it is off. Overall I would deffinately reccomend it though
> 2011 yard haunt - YouTube


Thanks for the video & info....very helpful!


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## Scarypumpkinpie (Feb 1, 2012)

imthegoddess said:


> Here is the link. http://www.haunteddriveway.com/projected_ghosts.html


Awesome, Thank-you!


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## Just Whisper (Jan 19, 2009)

Has anyone bought and used the Ultra Projector? It looks and sounds amazing. It is $200 but it is totally self-contained. You don't need to use a DVD player, TV, or computer, etc. And it only weighs one pound. I would love to have a couple of these (actually would love to have a bunch of these).
*Ultra Projector link*

In the meantime I may go with the Wonderwall for $20.00. I would like to eventually have 4 or 5 projectors going in my haunt.


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## Lunatic (Oct 3, 2006)

I agree with VexFX....the more lumens the better. Some of the effects I've seen in the past are way cool but need to be in a dark setting. The more powerful projectors are expensive. Golly gee I really wish I had a projector but sadly I don't.


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## Hanke's_Haunt (Oct 14, 2013)

*Projector Requirements*

I was browsing on this Forum and found a link for ghostly special effects - SpectralIllusions.com. I was really impressed with the quality of their projections, and had several conversations with the owner. He suggests using the best projector you can afford, but he warns that you are buying a used one, to be aware of the remaining bulb life because that's the most expensive part to replace. He also suggested that CVS has some really excellent deals on basic projectors.

Good luck.


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## Mattimus (Oct 23, 2013)

I received a projector this year for my birthday and I use it in my zombie attack. I have a Digital Galaxy DG-737L LED Projector and I am using 2mm painters plastic over a window. I really like the quality and flexibility of the AtmosfearFX DVDs (especially "Zombie Invasion") even though they are a little pricey at $39. You have a lot of scenes to choose from.





 Here is a link to someone using their "Ghostly Apparitions" DVD in their window. You may consider checking them out too.


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