Newbie question about projectors..

[ArmchairPope]

Hi I'm very new to the whole aspect of VJing. I am an graduate of art school who has had desires to incorporate video with performance but have yet to find the community, until now! It seems you Brits are a bit more ahead of the curve then some of us here in states, because except for raves and a few rock shows I have seen very few bands use live video.

So with that I propose a question about projectors. Is there a certain formula on can disern the proper light projected by a video projector onto the wall of a club? Is there some sort of disopation scale of Lumens to feet? What are the minimum Lumens that I should have when purchasing a projector?

Thanks for your help and keep up the great discussions, I am learning so much!

AP
:)

[stevefromNewcastle]

checkout www.projectorcentral.com it has info on loads of projectors, the sizes they can project up to, there throw distances everthing you could need.
I would suggests don't get a projector with less than a 1000 lumens if you can afford it. Also don't fell that you have to own a projector, but for me it has helped a lot.

[Amukidi]

I would suggest avoiding, at all costs, buying a projector!! It's a bit like people spending $500 on a 1 megapixel digital still camera 2 years ago! The technology is on the move and a whole new range of gear is, as ever, on the horizon. As the user base of these things is inexorably expanding, they will get better and cheaper very quickly and at ?5 ($7-9 per hour on top of the initial outlay, you will probably be losing money each time you switch it on! This is not to mention that you probably need 2 of the buggers anyway and I'd not settle got ANYTHING less that 2000 lumens any way so you need to do a lot of gigs to pay for that lot. Try to persuade your venue to rent/buy projectors for the time being - My policy is to only accept work from promoters who show some committment to our art buy supplying the gear (how many DJs do YOU know who have to take 2 dex, a mixer and a PA system to a gig??) None eh? All we need to do is educate the promoters - if they want top VJs, then they supply the gear for them. Pushy, I know, but so far its worked for me, so give it a go and save your money!

[many2]

Originally posted by jaffa808
Try to persuade your venue to rent/buy projectors for the time being - My policy is to only accept work from promoters who show some committment to our art buy supplying the gear (how many DJs do YOU know who have to take 2 dex, a mixer and a PA system to a gig??) None eh?

This is exactly what I think and exactly what I'm doing. I don't want promoters to rent my gear, I want them to want me as a VJ, nothing else.

Many-2

[MoRpH]

Hehehe I have been on that trip for years... and have been actively promoting it here and via the web, great to see ppl deciding the same :)

[dronkie]

You guys are absolutely right. I live in Belgium where you have a lot of VJing. And it's also the homeland of Barco (y'all know those big projectors don't you). And I can assure the people that there is no such thing as the ideal projector. I mean : the projection machinery has to adapt to the gig. A 1000 ansi lumen projector will do for some gigs, whereas in other cases, it will look as there is more light coming out of you laptop. Last week we did the First Lounge MusicFestival in Europe, and they had a 7700 lumen projector OUTSIDE ! And believe me : in open air even 15000 Lumen wouldn't do.
So .... Two solutions : either you buy a secondhand and very cheap projector for your home use, with the appropriate amount of light output (not to much (don't start buying a 2500 lumen for you bedroom unless you want to wear shades) , not to low) and use it occasionally on a gig...
or have the promotors deliver the gear. And believe me : they don't work that often with only a 1000 ansi lumen projector. They use the big ones that cost as much in rent for a day as a secondhand 1000 ansi lumen...

Greetz ... from Dronkie

ChristieStreet 555
2640 PanasonicTown
BarcoLand
Europe

(That's the address I'm dreaming of :) :) :) )

[sleepytom]

owning a small projector can be a good thing as you can do gigs for people that can't afford the commercial hire charges of large av hire firms (eg bennifit gigs)

if you keep tabs on the amount of use it gets and make shure that you charge commercial hire rates to big promoters (and keep the money seperate to your wages!) you'll find that it probably works out to be a little cheaper than allways hiring (and you know the projector - you don't have to trust promoters to hire you the right one)

it is not allways easy to hire projectors - in brighton where i live you can't hire a projector from anyone for use in a club (all the hire contracts specify a smoke free enviroment) and you'll often find that they are not in the best of condition (the VJS.net gig hired 3 projectors - one had a broken zoom and another had the wrong lens!!)

if you do buy make sure you have a spare bulb (expensive but essential) and insurance is a very good idea.