HOW TO SAVE OVER 16,000 USD AND NOT BUY A SPHEREICAL PROJECTOR
OH MY GOD I HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE I JUST SAVED MYSELF FUCKING 16,000++++ USD OF PROJECTION EQUIPMENT USING A MAPPING MATRIX, SPHERICAL MIRROR AND A PROJECTOR.
initially i was going to use a spherical projector and inflatable dome from Elumenti (who has patent on it btw) but they didn't reply my email and it would have cost me thousands. THOUSANDS. even with grants/sponsorship i could never afford that - especially since it would be for 3 weeks for exhibition. so here's how it works to create a full 360 immersive enviroment without paying a fucktonne of cash.
1. get your image
2. get your projector
3. get a spherical mirror
convert your image to a fisheye image with a 32 degree wrap (approx)
place your projector behind the sphere, with the focussing distance of X.
X = size of room divided by min. focussing distance according to aspect ratio (or something like that, i worked it out in my head) basically the distance should be scaled via the aspect ratio so that the projection will be as sharp as possible. in any case if you dump it on a rolling trolley you can move it around until you get the perfect angle. it is also possible to use trig distancing if you want to project *downwards* at an angle (say... your projector is on the ceiling, with a spherical mirror at 45 degrees)
it works by cancelling each other out. a warped image projected on a sphere (-35 degrees from the fisheye compensated by +35 degrees from sphere) = PERFECT UNDISTORTED IMAGE. if you want to be accurate about it, download a cubic mapping form, project it and then you can calculate the exact angles of wrap in each room (it would be like creating a profile). the angle of warpping also depends on the aspect ratio of your projector..... a 16:8 projector would have a stronger wrap but also be sharper. Increasing the lumens value is another way of ensuring clarity and focus (since you lose a couple of pixels each time you warp)
ok folks, im outta here. im gonna test it out by playing IMMERSIVE KATAMARI DARMACY HELL YEAH :D
*a variation of this (for a full 360 experience) is to hang a spherical mirror ball ABOVE a projector like a disco ball. the wrap values will be totally different though, but I'm quite game to try it....
initially i was going to use a spherical projector and inflatable dome from Elumenti (who has patent on it btw) but they didn't reply my email and it would have cost me thousands. THOUSANDS. even with grants/sponsorship i could never afford that - especially since it would be for 3 weeks for exhibition. so here's how it works to create a full 360 immersive enviroment without paying a fucktonne of cash.
1. get your image
2. get your projector
3. get a spherical mirror
convert your image to a fisheye image with a 32 degree wrap (approx)
place your projector behind the sphere, with the focussing distance of X.
X = size of room divided by min. focussing distance according to aspect ratio (or something like that, i worked it out in my head) basically the distance should be scaled via the aspect ratio so that the projection will be as sharp as possible. in any case if you dump it on a rolling trolley you can move it around until you get the perfect angle. it is also possible to use trig distancing if you want to project *downwards* at an angle (say... your projector is on the ceiling, with a spherical mirror at 45 degrees)
it works by cancelling each other out. a warped image projected on a sphere (-35 degrees from the fisheye compensated by +35 degrees from sphere) = PERFECT UNDISTORTED IMAGE. if you want to be accurate about it, download a cubic mapping form, project it and then you can calculate the exact angles of wrap in each room (it would be like creating a profile). the angle of warpping also depends on the aspect ratio of your projector..... a 16:8 projector would have a stronger wrap but also be sharper. Increasing the lumens value is another way of ensuring clarity and focus (since you lose a couple of pixels each time you warp)
ok folks, im outta here. im gonna test it out by playing IMMERSIVE KATAMARI DARMACY HELL YEAH :D
*a variation of this (for a full 360 experience) is to hang a spherical mirror ball ABOVE a projector like a disco ball. the wrap values will be totally different though, but I'm quite game to try it....