Chapter 2: Etch or sketch?

In Chapter 1 of this series I talked about the history and the technology of theatrical spotlights, and how that allowed pattern projection to develop to where it is today. Now I want to provide a little bit broader of a context to this discussion. There are more ways than just using theatrical lights to project imagery, and each has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Static Slides

35mm

These come in the 35mm variety, common to anyone who has taken a lot of photos on their vacation and brought them back to a darkened living room to share with the next-door neighbors. It's a positive image transparency, usually mounted to a cardboard frame, but sometime glass mounts can be used instead for higher heat tolerance and increased longevity.

The disadvantages to this medium are that the small size of the original limits the power of the projector somewhat. You can get special professional versions of the traditional carousel projector, but they are costly and still don't allow certain things to be done with the image. That's because the image is static. It can't be moved without losing the focus. You can change to another image, but the order in which they come is predetermined, based upon how you stuff them into the carousel.

Economy is the chief advantage. The other good thing about 35mm slides is they are inexpensive to create and duplicate, compared to everything except digital projection, where there is nothing to create.

Large Format

A more heat resistant type of transparency designed for very large format projection exists for certain very special applications. Typically, the image is a 4" x 5" positive, mounted to a metal frame. This can withstand long periods of exposure to high heat lamp sources with less chance of warpage or fading. It is a technology which was developed with opera scenery in mind. The good news is that big surfaces from far away are no problem. If you have a large budget, you can get it very bright, and very big.

The bad news is that the hardware needed to project this way is large, heavy, highly specialized and delicate, and quite expensive even to rent. Purchasing is probably not an option unless a 6 figure budget is being considered. But when you've got to have it done right, and you need one or 10 or 30 images to cover the side of a barn across a football field, this is your method of choice.

Video Projection

Static images, even when you can dissolve from one to the next, are just not as interesting sometimes as moving ones. If you have a really intricate series of animated moves that your brand logo should make, or it the message is going to change frequently, consider a video projector and a computer dedicated to driving it. This can then be a conventional movie, a FLASH graphic file, a PowerPoint style presentation or just a simple graphic composition that gets changed once in a while. It might not be as bright as the other options we'll discuss in this chapter, but for flexibility it can't be beat.

Lighting Template

Take a theatrical light, put a template into it, and point it at the sidewalk, or a wall or ceiling, and you make the ordinary become more special. You dress up the boring by adding a dash of entertainment to it. This technology doesn't have to be static though. There are now devices which would enable you to rotate the image, or choose one of 3 different images to place in the light by remote control. There are ways of changing the color of the image, also remotely, and of causing the image to pan and tilt, thereby moving its appearance to other parts of a room. There's also the possibility, by adding multiple lights, of placing other copies of the image, or instances of other logos, on the surface at the same time. Maybe not all at the same time, but more than one at once. This is something that the slide projector and video projector might not be able to do, because they rely on one projection mechanism, which may be very sophisticated, but it is still one set of parts, not two or three, unless you double or triple up on the expensive equipment.

Theatrical lighting can be very bright, and is usually rather flexible in how it is installed and pointed in the field. It can be choreographed to do a number of different exotic tricks, and it can be timed if a control system is added, to do them at quite flexible or repetitive intervals. There is a larger expense in manufacturing custom templates here than anywhere else, but the units into which these templates fit are among the least expensive options here presented.

They share one disadvantage of large format static images, the turnaround time on making a new template can be slow, compared to all digital projection technology (where you just have to draw it on a monitor screen and it can instantly be projected 10 feet tall). These templates can be relatively cost effective for black and white designs etched out steel, but the cost will skyrocket for colored glass images.

Summary

As far as trends go, hardware signage is on the way out. The new mandate is to bring your own photons. If you want to make an impression on the public, use your visual brand's image to shine a beacon of light that will direct their eyes to where you want them to go. Make a statement that burrows into their subconscious like the sun pokes its way through the trees. This shows off your product/corporate identity advantageously, while at the same time giving you options you never had before when you bought a piece of vinyl or had someone print it in ink on foamboard.

Please contact Tri-Luminary Inc, or one of our affiliated companies, LightingDesigners.com or Intuitive Technology Solutions to get a free consultation on which of the above methods of projection would best suit your needs.

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Jeremy Kumin is Tri-Luminary's founder and CEO. With 18 years professional lighting design experience, he has a body of work which often employes textured lighting and vibrant color. His corporate clients have been the beneficiary of his expert use of projected imagery since 1995.