New Video bar questions

[CA]

Hi,

This ones a little long but I think there's some good talking points in here.

So my club is into the idea of setting up our 2nd room as a video bar. By this I mean they want to show popular music videos on a mix of projectors and tvs and play the audio over the sound system.

They were contemplating buying 2 dvj-x1's but decided that they were too expensive. (by the way if anyone still has that link that showed the sweet ass demo I would like to show it to my GM.)

Our current plan is to subscribe to a Music video service that would send us the "latest and greatest" tracks from todays "hottest stars" on DVD. I would then take these and rip them to a computer, set up play lists and let the thing go on Auto Pilot.

A few things I wanted to get opinions on are:

1. What is a good program that I can run a play list like this. I was checking out GRID 2.0.1, thinking that I could just set it to go to the next trac after the last one was done and at the same time set up some in and out points to cut off the leaders and stuff. But how F-ing long is it going to take to up load 3+ hours in to grid? Also, anyone know anything about ripping DVDs. Im not sure if they will be protected or not. How long does this take? If it too long Im gonna see if they can just send us the raw data files.

2. What are some good Video subscription services? I have found a few but none of them seem to do much past dance, pop, hip hop. There may be a need for retro videos some night in the future and Im just wondering if any of you know where to find them. We also have a industrial night that might be fun to show some videos in that scene too.

3. The room holds about 200 ppl. I could guess that its dimensions are 30 ft by 35 ft. Right now we have four 17" tv in a square next to each other and two 42" tv that we are mounting above the smallish dance floor. We will be getting a projector to hit on one of the walls that is wide open. We also want to put smaller flat panels on the back wall, maybe 3 to 4, if the price is right. My question here is how much light is too much for a room this small.

4. Im thinking that I can save money on a projector if I get one with lower lumens but I still want a good contrast ratio. Any suggestions? Recommendations?

5. As a VJ, what would your ideal video set up be. From a performers perspective...what would make a room like this really cool to play in. I ask this because it might be another venue that the Mid-west kids that have been getting shit together at RODAN in Chicago might want to look at as well.


Here are a few pics of the room. Sorry for the long link. Our website doesn't have it galley up right now. It the room with the checkered floor.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.paxahau.com/photos/nye_necto/images/133-3367_IMG.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.paxahau.com/photos/nye_necto/pages/133-3367_IMG.htm&h=413&w=550&sz=76&tbnid=fNoev-WvkVQJ:&tbnh=97&tbnw=129&start=29&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnecto%26start%3D20%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D% 26sa%3DN

Thanx a lot,

Your man on the inside

CA

[sleepytom]

this is not a job for software - grid will not be able to work with 3 hours of video loaded into it

have a look at the pioneer dvd jukebox (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/detail/0,,2076_15020669_33506,00.html) this is the best solution for unattended music video playback - saves ripping all the disks and recompressing the video

[CA]

Thanx Tom

My only question with this is how long is the down time when it is switching between DVDs. If it s any thing over 3 secs then I dont know if it will be usable considering that we want more of the "seamless" transition of a vj/dj. I know that a automated system can never fully do this but there has to be something out there right.

Or should I tell my boss to suck it up and pay me for mixing content 2 to 3 nights a week? lol

[holly]

You could just quote a ridiculously high expense so your live-vj fee seems much more reasonable...:P Otherwise: mixtapes?

GRID has been converted into a jukebox before, but I didn't actually see the results.

This might help:
http://www.trolltouch.com/Slipcoverinfo.jpg

It is a touchscreen for powerbook from these people (http://www.trolltouch.com/slipcover.html).

[krokodril]

4. Im thinking that I can save money on a projector if I get one with lower lumens but I still want a good contrast ratio. Any suggestions? Recommendations


first get a good screen, obvious

second, put on al your discolights and normal lighting, but not the beamer.

if the screen lits up somewhere this means trouble, a passe partout 10 inches in front of the screen often helps a lot , but this all depends on location,


third place the projector as close as possible to the screen, loss of light is exponential doubling the distance meeans loosing 80/90 % of your light

we see the difference in light, our eyes adjust to intensity, so good contrast and as little disturbing lights as possible(lights also aimed at/lighting the projection surface) will help

just do a test... get several lprojectors and compare it

My question here is how much light is too much for a room this small.
the smaller flat panels radiate light almost without a clear direction, also put a passepartout a few inches in front of it and be amazed by the extra darkness it yields in the rest of the room
(just a few inches, otherwise you have to stand straight in front of the screens to see anything)

[mjz55]

I use Elite by www.tyrannosoft.com

Ultra will also work if you want nothing fancy.

[rickmaersk]

Sorry to hijack your post with a technicality but....

third place the projector as close as possible to the screen, loss of light is exponential doubling the distance meeans loosing 80/90 % of your light


er.... wrong

Most portable projectors come with a zoom lens. On the wide setting of the zoom you need to be closer to the screen. On the long setting on the zoom with the same screen you have to put the projector slightly farther away.

Same projector, same screen, same lamp, same brightness. Slightly different throw distances.

You CAN get an incredibly bright image by putting a projector as near to a screen as it will focus. This usually gives an image that is too small to be useful. THE INVERSE SQUARE LAW IN ACTION.

In a nightclub the atmosphere might effect the image. However if the difference between putting a projector 8ft away from a screen or 12ft had a massive effect on the image due to particles in the air then the only people who could see the screen would be those standing right next to it anyway.

Example: Cinemas have projectors located at the back of the room. The screen looks just as bright if you sit in the back row or right at the front.

I've installed nearly 100 ceiling mounted projectors in the last 5 years. Usually the projector position depends on the ceiling structure and what's already in the ceiling void. On a 8ft wide screen the distance between near and far zoom positions is typically about 4ft. There's never any need to consider atmospheric conditions, physics therory or complex maths.

I'm a really easy going person but if you want to wind me up just post nonsense about the inverse square law or projector light beams having to fight against other light beams they cross on the way to the screen.

AAARGH

Rick