Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.

[Blakey]

Hmmm, I think I am going to have to sweet talk the GF into letting me buy a universal ceiling mount for this projector. The Unicol Gyrolock GKC looks like the business and can tilt and swivel in all directions, so I think this one should do the trick if mounted pretty much as close to the centre of the room as possible.

This leads me to two more questions (sorry!!):

1. How much of an angle can you get away with projecting from and still get a square image using keystone correction? I am looking at a throw distance of 4'6" so how far away from the centre of the games table can I expect to be able to place my projector and not get a corkscrewed image?

2. What happens if you end up getting a projector with a 4'6" minimum throw distance but mount it just 4' above your table? Presumably it wont ever come into focus resulting in a completely unworkable situation? The reason for this question is that the space I have is 64" to work with. The BenQ PB6210 is 8.5" deep. So allow 10" for the front of the projector from the ceiling (including 1.5" breathing space) and I have 54" or 4'6" throw distance to the table. The PB6210 has a 4'6" minimum distance. Does this mean that if I have my calculations out by say an inch, it will be a complete no show and I won't be able to get it to work??

Sorry for all the questions but I'm not spending £1000 without some serious research and consideration!!

Cheers
Blakey

 

[Steel_Wind]

The Pocket Projector still seems invisible on store shelves so far.

But if the technology hinted at in thie article can be scaled up for industrial use, it looks like we'll all be seeing things differently in a few years time.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9777070/

As I mentioned earlier in this thread - the technology only gets better.

 

[Blakey]

1. How much of an angle can you get away with projecting from and still get a square image using keystone correction? I am looking at a throw distance of 4'6" so how far away from the centre of the games table can I expect to be able to place my projector and not get a corkscrewed image?

2. What happens if you end up getting a projector with a 4'6" minimum throw distance but mount it just 4' above your table? Presumably it wont ever come into focus resulting in a completely unworkable situation? The reason for this question is that the space I have is 64" to work with. The BenQ PB6210 is 8.5" deep. So allow 10" for the front of the projector from the ceiling (including 1.5" breathing space) and I have 54" or 4'6" throw distance to the table. The PB6210 has a 4'6" minimum distance. Does this mean that if I have my calculations out by say an inch, it will be a complete no show and I won't be able to get it to work??

Steel Wind - any chance of an answer to these questions? Thanks, mate!

I have just changed the light fitting in the Games Room to allow a projector to be mounted along side it and I've managed to convince the GF that a ceiling mount would be okay. So I'm really close to actually buying a projector now. Just need these questions answering.

Also, I am seriously considering changing the set up in the Games Room from a sit up at the table room to a "snug" in which case we'd be playing at coffee table height and suddenly my problems with throw distance would go away - which would be ace!

Cheers
Blakey

 

[Blakey]

Got My Projector

Well, I've gone ahead and taken the plunge. Bought myself a BenQ PB6210. I also have the Gyrolock ceiling/wall mount on order which looks like it's going to be the business.

I set the projector up last night, connected it to my tablet pc and stood on a chair, holding the projector in my hands and trying it in various locations about the ceiling to see what I could get away with.

First thing to note is that although the PB6210 claims to have a minimum throw distance of 4'6" on www.projectorcentral.com, the value in the user manual is actually 1 meter (a little over 3'). So any fears I had about it not having enough space to work are totally unfounded.

Secondly, due to the fact that the image comes out parallel to the bottom of the projector and extends upwards from there, it actually makes more sense to mount the projector offset from the centre of the table by a couple of feet and angle it in a bit. That extra distance makes all the difference in projected image size on the table. I don't have it all set up properly yet as I say, but I think I can get an image about 30" x 40" give or take. I have to use a little keystone correction to get the image square but nothing like as much as I expected to have to use. All that is on a dining table height, not coffee table height and in a pretty standard bedroom with a normal ceiling height. This fact possibly opens up this whole approach to others who game sat up at dining room tables.

When the gyrolock turns up (hopefully this weekend), I will see how I can set it up. I will either have it hanging from the ceiling, or quite possibly have it attached to the wall and extending out to about the same spot - and in both cases angle it down to the table. I'll have to try a few options before selecting which to go for.

Once it's all set up and running, I'll post some pictures.

I tried out using FM7 (from NBOS) last night and that works like a charm with the built in GM's Screen option. It means you have to build any dungeon maps you want to use - effectively I trace existing JPG images inside FM7 to build FM7 copies of my dungeon levels. And you do this in small 30' sections or so. You place the whole lot on the GM's Secret layer and then as the PCs arrive at places you simply move them to the General layer and they are automatically exposed on the GM's Screen - which is displayed via the projector onto the table top. I ran it through a test with the projector pointing at the wall and it worked great. Look forward to using it in anger when the projector is finally properly mounted.

Cheers
Blakey

 

[Blakey]

Projector Pics

Gyrolock turned up early so last night we set it up in the Games Room. Well pleased with the results.

We spent about an hour trying different configurations of projector placement and set ups to get the best image on the table top. All in all I am very pleased with the end result. The resultant image on the tabletop is basically square, however it does stretch a little the further away from the projector you go, so the 1" squares on the board are not quite square. However I really don't think that its all that noticeable and I certainly don't think it will cause any problems during play.

When up and running the projector was quieter than I thought and you couldn't hear it with just me and the guy who helped set it up chatting - so once we have 5+ of us in there, plus music on the Jukebox, plus various laptops humming along we'll not notice it at all I don't think.

I have stuck a big whiteboard on the tabletop. It fits really well, being slightly larger than the table itself. This is to allow us to continue to write on the tabletop when needed - I think this is too useful/important to give up. So we can do that still - and in fact the writeable playing area is now loads bigger than it was using tact tiles. And of course we can write all over the "map" without it getting in the way of the map image which is useful. We can also roll rice all over the board again now - we avoided doing so on the tact tiles.

The size of the map image on the tabletop is such that there space all around it for laptops/books to be placed on the board. And of course if you stick your book on top of the map there is no chance you'll get the map smudged or get pen on your book.

Images of the fitting and a couple of pics of the resultant maps can be found here: http://www.rodinia.info/GamesRoom/index.htm

If the map images are blurry thats a function of a bad photographer, not a bad image.

Will post more images to that site after our all day session tomorrow when the projector will get its first full test. A whole day from 9am through about 1am with all lighting conditions you could imagine for it to be tested in.

Cheers
Blakey

 

[wedgeski]

Following your progress with interest - looks like a successful first test!

 

[Blakey]

Cheers.

I should point out that we are playing at dining room height on a standard dining room table in a fairly small bedroom (which is now our Games Room). As you can see from the pics, the projector is mounted on the side wall of the room and happily projects an image down onto the table. The Gyrolock system for mounting is *superb* and I highly recommend it.

Directly across from the table is a window but should it have been a blank wall, I could also have used the projector as a TV screen from that same mount point, just by swivelling the mount - which is a 2 second job. I make this point because if anyone plays at dining room table height and has thought about whether you could use the same set up to watch the projector/DVD combo and play D&D - you can. Definitely.

Cheers
Blakey

 

[Thanael]

Hey what's up with the original pics in the first post? I get only three popups asking me a password to view the pics...

 

[Aramis Simara]

Anyone else having problems viewing Blake's pictures or is it just me?

http://peteblake.fotopic.net/c750739_1.html

 

[Blakey]

Anyone else having problems viewing Blake's pictures or is it just me?

http://peteblake.fotopic.net/c750739_1.html

Sorry, the pictures got moved. They are now here:

http://www.rodinia.info/GamesRoom/index.htm

I have also edited my post above to the new location.

Thanks
Blakey