Environmental Projection
This weekend at Calvary Church we rolled out an environmental projection system for our Easter stage design. There are two components that I thought I’d share with you: the projection system and the wall we created to project on.
Note: It’s worth saying that neither of these concepts are our creations. We borrowed and custom-tailored them both for our needs. Deron Yevoli is really the mastermind behind our setup (and I think he took a lot of inspiration from Stephen Proctor.
The Projection System
We are using a setup using a Mac Pro tower and an iMac with ProPresenter and ProVideoPlayer from Renewed Vision. Below is an overly simplified diagram of how the system works. Basically, we cue videos for our main side screens with ProVideoPlayer. When we fire a video, it automatically triggers ProPresenter to play a corresponding environmental video that is set out to two projectors using a TripleHead2Go hardware device. ProPresenter also sends out lyrics (which are keyed over our IMAG or our side screen motion videos through our switcher) and graphics to a stage display (LCD TV mounted on our back wall).
Though it sounds pretty complicated, it’s quite easy to set up, especially given all the tutorials from Renewed Vision.
The Wall
The second key element to our environmental projection was the 22 ft by 45 ft wall we built out of coroplast to display the projection on. We basically created a wood frame and stapled the coroplast sheets to it to make a textured wall to project on. When we’re not projecting, the coroplast makes a great surface to put lights on. We’re pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Below are some photos of it.
Wall With No Lights
Wall Front Lit With Lights
Wall Front - Up Close
Wall - Rear Construction
Wall - Rear Construction
Wall - Rear Construction
Background During A Drama Element
Background During Worship
Looks great man…turned out well! I’d like to help others as well if they have questions.
From the perspective of being in the audience. This was AWESOME! I love the different scenes and the transitions. I found it to enhance my worship experience.
Thanks for the feedback Steve!
Camron…thanks for your help. If we hear from anyone, we’ll be sure to send them your way!
Love that churches in St. Charles area are getting into some environmental projection stuff and using visuals in a creative way.
Also love that I can read a blog about a church I know of in St. Charles and it mentions a friend of mine (proctor) in nashville.
Small world
Kyle…small world indeed! (I met a guy at a conference this week in CA who lives in Portland whose sister graduated high school with me in a small town in GA).
how much did this cost?
Looks awesome!
If you don’t mind me asking ow many projectors did you use and what kind were they?
Joshua & Kyle…I’m working on getting that information for you. I know we use two projectors…but I can’t recall off the top of my head on how bright they are and how much they cost. But I’ve got an email in to our Tech guru to get all the info for you. Stay tuned…
Kyle & Josh, we used 2 Hitachi CPX5021N projectors, which are 5000 lumen LCD projectors (we have a 120′ throw), and run in the ~$2200 each.
We already owned the Macs, but ProPresenter software, upgrades, TripleHead2Go cost ~$1000. The wall (wood & corrugated plastic) was ~500. We also bought triple-wide content that ran us ~$500. So all said and done we put this together for around $6500.
The one piece we were missing for a while was the edge-blending module from ProPresenter which has really helped make it look even better. It’s ~$600.
This definitely isn’t for the faint of heart and took a lot of careful setup, but it’s got some sweet upside to it!
Hello Chuck,
Came across your article on environmental projection and was very impressed by the projection on uneven backdrop. We’ve tried that on a larger scale in Singapore, with our client Hope Church Singapore, with an irregular tetrahedral surface form and were quite impressed with the resultant effect. I believe this is the way forward for environmental projections in HOWs.