projector stand/placement

[epoch]

i have a gig coming up this friday but i am a bit perplexed on how to mount/place the projectors at this point. basically the room is about 30ft wide by about 70ft in length. they want to use white walls on either side as the screens with me setup in the middle of the room near a column. i am fine with this, but am not sure how to go about mounting the projectors. i can not attach anything to the walls or ceiling , it is a museum. so i figure i have to use a stand. i am trying to come up with a way to make this safe while putting both projectors on one stand. i have an old lighting stand that i could make a platform for. but how can i go about distributing the weight of the projector(s)? safety is a major concern. anyone used a setup like this before? should i use 2 stands to deal with the weight issue? i am not using super lightweight portable projectors, they are a bit older and weight about 15-20bs a piece. any help/ideas would be great.

[KillingFrenzy]

My advice is to pick up a speaker monitor stand and a mounting bracket, then attach a hinged top onto that. The stand should extend to above a tall persons head level, be sure to see how high it goes with the legs extended.
Lighting stands are nice, but generally much more pricey, and not built to a large scale (they might tip over.) Monitor stands can be found at places like Guitar Center, and are way cheaper than lighting gear. A C-Stand to do the same thing might be around $150.

So - 1 three prong speaker monitor stand with standard wide head - $50
- 1 mounting bracket for standard wide head -$8
- 2 flat boards with a hinge at one end -$7
- Ratchet strap, or other device to hold projector on -$5

Total cost... somewhere around $70 each, or less. This is pretty much a maximum price, you may have or be able to scrounge up some parts... or get them used.

A bit of an investment, but having a good stand is MUCH better for most situations than worrying about hanging the projector. For small gigs, it will get you out at 4am when people are starting to clear out instead of 6am when people are off the dance floor entirely. I hate having to leave my projector at a gig, because of the logistics of getting it down in the middle of a party. A stand is a much better way to be able to pick up and leave when you want to. I always have a stand and mount in my car, just in case the logistics of the situation recquire a funky setup.

Two stands will give you better ability to aim, and more versatility for future events.

Hanging projectors almost always gives the best results, but having the option of a stand/stands for your projector will give you much more freedom in strange shaped environments.

[epoch]

yeah i am actually going to be a room off to the side of the actual museum. so it will not be near any exhibits. i thought about hiring some stands but have been having a hard time sourcing them. i still have a couple of places to call today. i will let you know how it turns out.


Originally posted by *****


If Its a museum the home made options are OUT.

Unicol stands on hire for a day. anything less for a museum will get you laughed out of town. Thats not the place to take risks or look like you havent got the equipmet to pull it off, most museums have AV experience already and will be expecting a high standard in general.

And remember, things in museums are hard to replace.. they get huffy if you look like your a risk to their exibits.

G

[epoch]

thanks killing....

ok so i am a little confused as to how this thing would go together. i assume that i am attaching the "mounting bracket for standard wide head" onto the board. now what is the hinge for?

ahh the joys of building stuff yourself.



Originally posted by KillingFrenzy
My advice is to pick up a speaker monitor stand and a mounting bracket, then attach a hinged top onto that. The stand should extend to above a tall persons head level, be sure to see how high it goes with the legs extended.
Lighting stands are nice, but generally much more pricey, and not built to a large scale (they might tip over.) Monitor stands can be found at places like Guitar Center, and are way cheaper than lighting gear. A C-Stand to do the same thing might be around $150.

So - 1 three prong speaker monitor stand with standard wide head - $50
- 1 mounting bracket for standard wide head -$8
- 2 flat boards with a hinge at one end -$7
- Ratchet strap, or other device to hold projector on -$5

Total cost... somewhere around $70 each, or less. This is pretty much a maximum price, you may have or be able to scrounge up some parts... or get them used.

A bit of an investment, but having a good stand is MUCH better for most situations than worrying about hanging the projector. For small gigs, it will get you out at 4am when people are starting to clear out instead of 6am when people are off the dance floor entirely. I hate having to leave my projector at a gig, because of the logistics of getting it down in the middle of a party. A stand is a much better way to be able to pick up and leave when you want to. I always have a stand and mount in my car, just in case the logistics of the situation recquire a funky setup.

Two stands will give you better ability to aim, and more versatility for future events.

Hanging projectors almost always gives the best results, but having the option of a stand/stands for your projector will give you much more freedom in strange shaped environments.

[KillingFrenzy]

I attached one board to the mounting bracket, and then used two heavy hinges to attach another board on top of it.
Then, you can strap your projector onto the other board, and by varying the angle you get more freedom to aim up or down (depending on which way you face it.) Use bolts instead of woodscrews, and a good piece of wood so your creation will last longer. You can run long bolts. through the upper board and actually attach your projector to it by the mounts on the projector. You can also use a variety of means to fix the angle. I used an old piece of drum kit to create a knob on the base to adjust angle, but I suppose it amounts to what you have at your disposal. A little black spraypaint, and these look as good as a C-stand with mounting kit that costs a fair amount more. Unless you buy the actually mounting kit for your projector, you're going to be adapting anyway. I find audio gear to be much more reasonably priced, based on quantity of scale of the industry. If you can find roughly the same thing, it will often be much less expensive. I also find audio gear is often built for "the road" whereas lighting/video gear is often for the studio. It also might just be that Seattle has particularly overpriced gear stores for lighting/film, and more competitive prices for music gear.

[murph]

Scaffolding works well too, and a small piece of scaff can be rented very cheaply. ($20) Depends mostly on the space restraints though, as they do take up more room than a monitor-style stand.

[lumenshroom]

Monitor stands intstead of lighting tripods..... What a jolly good idea...
Checking costs now....