Image Projection - How To

This article outlines the typical aspects of a projection application based on a large scale projection we did with NASA Ames in Mountain View California. Even for smaller projects, such as indoor projection, the following steps are essentially the same.

NASA wanted the gables of two hangars illuminated with logos. These hangars house the worlds largest wind tunnel. The goal was to fill the gables with a projection size of about 40 - 50 ft. The images should be visible from the freeways 101, 85 and 237.

The Projector
For this task, we selected our top of the line architectural projector, the Clay Paky VIP 1200.
 

While being ideal for challenging large scale projections, it is also a highly reliable instrument with rock solid electronics and copper ballast. The VIP 1200 usually goes 60,000+ hours without any problems, which makes it a perfect choice for permanent installations.

Like all our VIP projectors, the VIP 1200 features a modular system for optional optical effects and interchangeable projection lenses.

The Projection Site

Projection Angle
The projectors had to go on buildings that are much lower than the hangars. This means that we had to project upwards at an angle. In order to keep the projection angle (and therefore the resulting keystone distortion) low, we opted for a long throw by utilizing a tele lens and we went with the Clay Paky 250mm lens for the VIP 1200.

The aerial view below shows the site. The red lines represent the projection path and the red dots the projectors. The resulting projection distances for the two projectors were 280 ft for projector 1 and 240 ft for projector 2. The projectors were equipped with rain covers, which are available as optional items.

Projector 2 Position

The following image shows Projector 2, the Clay Paky VIP 1200 with rain cover mounted. The shot was taken early evening when it was not completely dark yet. The projection distance is 240 ft. and the projected image has a size of a 43ft. The photo camera focused on the projector rather than the projected logo, which therefore appears slightly fuzzy

Infos for your particular application:
You can find information about projection distance, resulting image projection size, lens type, and projection brightness for the VIP 1200 by going to the VIP 1200 Projection Size Chart. Charts for the other Clay Paky VIP projectors typically used in architectural lighting you can find here: VIP Projection Size Chart. Charts for many common projectors including Theatrical Projectors you can find here.

The Event Logo

Would typically be provided on white background as shown on the right. We reversed the black artwork to white. White represents the clear area on the gobo and therefore projects in light.

There is no need to size the artwork, we will take care of this based on the gobo type for your particular projector. See our Artwork Guidelines for details on the artwork format.

The resulting Gobo Proof

The black circle represents the gobo carrier and the image is usually sized to the max. image diameter that still allows a good overall focus. There is typically a trade off between achievable image size and projection quality. The larger the image on the gobo, the harder it is to achieve a clear projection. This is especially true for less sophisticated projectors such as Ellipsoidals or theatrical lights. we will typically select an image for you sized based on our experience. 

Black is blocked light and does not show in the projection, therefore the black disc will not show. Had we kept the words “Yuri’s Night” in black, they would not project. Colors other than black project as the original color and the white projects as light. In order to make the gray-blue of the original more visible, we changed it to a Pantone 072C Dark Blue.

The Yuris’s Night Logo Projection

This is a night shot of the original image projection. The projection size is about 43 ft.

The NASA Logo

This logo did not have to be altered in order to generate a good projection so we transferred it to the gobo as is.

The NASA Logo Projection

This is a night shot of the original image projection. The projection size is about 50 ft.

The picture is taken from the side (actually cropped from the site projection photo above) and therefore it appears distorted. In reality it was almost perfectly round.