Building a portable projector setup for RPG mapping

[Janx]

I'm talking like a 3 inch mirror, and a base board that's like 3" longer in front of the projector than the projector itself.

Not a whole lot bigger. And camera tripods fold up. So one trip, especially if you put it all in a duffel bag.

the further benefit of my design is that the projector itself sits at its traditional angle, so the heat rises from the top, rather than into the rest of the machine.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'm talking like a 3 inch mirror, and a base board that's like 3" longer in front of the projector than the projector itself.

Not a whole lot bigger. And camera tripods fold up. So one trip, especially if you put it all in a duffel bag.

the further benefit of my design is that the projector itself sits at its traditional angle, so the heat rises from the top, rather than into the rest of the machine.

I'm afraid I'm still having a hard time picturing exactly how this mirror will be mounted, despite your description. It sounds like you're suggesting I put a longish board on top of a camera tripod, put the projector on that board, and put the mirror a short distance in front of it on that same board, angled so that the projector image will hit the mirror and then go down. This would imply a large hole drilled in the board somewhere between the lens and the mirror for the reflected image to go down through... and it still doesn't help me understand what is holding the mirror at the 45 degree angle.

I'm sure what you're saying makes perfect sense if I could just visualize it, but I'm having a hard time doing so.

Also, my friend who works with projectors professionally assures me that mounting it vertically will not cause any damage from inadequate heat dissipation. Several people here on EN World have warned me otherwise, but I'm going to trust my friend. Maybe he's wrong, and if so I'll be ruining my projector in a hurry, but that's the risk I'm running.

In other news, I've finished building my rig - everything except for the projector mount itself, which is on its way in the mail. Exciting times!

 

[OnlineDM]

Good news: The new rig is done! Well, almost - I'm still waiting for the actual projector mount to arrive, so I currently have it rigged with (ahem) coat hangers. But the thing works! Picture below, more details on the blog.

The summary is that I went with the single-pole design.

• Heavy board, about 12" square, for the base
• Screw a flange for 1" galvanized pipe to the base
• Attach a 36" long, 1" diameter galvanized pipe to the flange
• Attach a 90" angle, a 2" pipe and another flange to the top
• Screw that top flange to another chunk of wood
• Screw the projector mount to the other side of that top chunk of wood (or, as I'm currently doing, use coat hangers)
• Put a 30-pound sandbag around the base of the rig, sitting on the base plate, with more of the weight on the side opposite the projector.

It's inexpensive (about $60 for the whole rig), portable and surprisingly stable. I can't wait to put it into action!

Thanks everyone for your help - I'm really happy with the results.

 

[FoxWander]

Looks good. Glad you got it all worked out.

But, to illustrate what I think Janx is talking about with the small mirror- see my attached picture.

Put the projector level and hang a small, angled mirror in front of the lens. My picture shows a board and L-bracket but you could replace all that with a long strip of metal bent to the correct angle at the mirror end.

 

[OnlineDM]

Looks good. Glad you got it all worked out.

But, to illustrate what I think Janx is talking about with the small mirror- see my attached picture.

Put the projector level and hang a small, angled mirror in front of the lens. My picture shows a board and L-bracket but you could replace all that with a long strip of metal bent to the correct angle at the mirror end.

FoxWander: Thank you for the illustration. That definitely helps. Now my question is, how do I attach that board to the top of the projector? Also, that's where the buttons are on the projector, so I can't make that area too hard to get to (though the projector also has a remote control that I could use).

I'm still open to this mirror approach - it wouldn't be hard for me to just take off the 90 degree elbow in my setup and put the projector on top of a horizontal platform at the top of the pipe. If I knew how to get the mirror out in front, I'd be willing to give it a shot.

As an alternative to what you've drawn, I could perhaps miter a couple of pieces of wood so that they would come up and forward from the sides of the projector platform. I could then mount a mirror on a lightweight piece of wood and suspend that wood between the arms using thumb screws that I could loosen and tighten to adjust the angle of the mirror.

 

[Janx]

FoxWander: Thank you for the illustration. That definitely helps. Now my question is, how do I attach that board to the top of the projector? Also, that's where the buttons are on the projector, so I can't make that area too hard to get to (though the projector also has a remote control that I could use).

I'm still open to this mirror approach - it wouldn't be hard for me to just take off the 90 degree elbow in my setup and put the projector on top of a horizontal platform at the top of the pipe. If I knew how to get the mirror out in front, I'd be willing to give it a shot.

As an alternative to what you've drawn, I could perhaps miter a couple of pieces of wood so that they would come up and forward from the sides of the projector platform. I could then mount a mirror on a lightweight piece of wood and suspend that wood between the arms using thumb screws that I could loosen and tighten to adjust the angle of the mirror.

My intent is for the board to be under the projector, kinda like what you have in your actual build.

From there, the mounting bracket/notch for the light and mirror will have to be figured out based on what parts you can find.

On the other hand, if the heat isn't a problem, most camera tripods allow for doing a full camera tilt, so just the board mount would suffice to recreate the stand you built, but on a professional tripod.

indymogul.com has a series on DIY FX. One of the projects is for a small track mounted camera on a tripid. The method used to mount the board's tripod mount nut is all you need from that project.

basically, get the right nut for the tripod's mount screw. Glue the nut into the board (1/4" masonite may be fine). Fasten the projector on the board (zip ties? or whatever's built into the design of the projector).

Now just attach the baseboard to the tripod, and rotate it to vertical positioning like you have in the photo.

No mirror needed, unless, as I indicated earlier, you really need the projector on the level.

In both of my scenarios, the mount board goes on the bottom of the projector. I intended for the projector's buttons to be fully available.

 

[falcarrion]

Good news: The new rig is done! Well, almost - I'm still waiting for the actual projector mount to arrive, so I currently have it rigged with (ahem) coat hangers. But the thing works! Picture below, more details on the blog.

The summary is that I went with the single-pole design.

• Heavy board, about 12" square, for the base
• Screw a flange for 1" galvanized pipe to the base
• Attach a 36" long, 1" diameter galvanized pipe to the flange
• Attach a 90" angle, a 2" pipe and another flange to the top
• Screw that top flange to another chunk of wood
• Screw the projector mount to the other side of that top chunk of wood (or, as I'm currently doing, use coat hangers)
• Put a 30-pound sandbag around the base of the rig, sitting on the base plate, with more of the weight on the side opposite the projector.

It's inexpensive (about $60 for the whole rig), portable and surprisingly stable. I can't wait to put it into action!

Thanks everyone for your help - I'm really happy with the results.

Glad I could help.

 

[falcarrion]

another thing you can do is slide barbell weights down the pole. As long as the weight hole in the center is the same dia as the pole.

 

[falcarrion]

I finally have pics up my 3m pro 120. It is definetly a low light setup. But with led lights under the out side of the table will give enough light for the players.
Or clip boards with a book led light on it will also work.

 

[OnlineDM]

Thanks for the pics of the new rig! It looks cool; too bad about the low-light requirement, but it sounds like you've managed to make that work.

I've made a modification to my setup to be more in line with what I believe you had suggested earlier - getting a longer support pole (6 feet) and putting it on the floor instead of on the table. I realized that I had scratched up my dining room table with the existing rig, and that it does take up a lot of space on the table.

The floor mount works pretty well so far - now I just have to adjust the support spires beneath the projector to have it aim farther out onto the table.

I'll have to see if I can get barbell weights with the appropriate diameter hole. I like the concept, but I want to carry the ballast separately from the rig itself just for weight purposes (putting the ballast in a rolling suitcase and carrying the pole/base in my other hand). With the barbell weights, I don't think that would be a possibility unless I want to unscrew the support pole from the base (which I guess I could do if I needed to).