Question for the photo gearheads

pior

Hey all!

After watching the amazing Drew Struzan Hellboy poster DVD...

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf-xlYvR1CY[/ame]

... I have been inspired to try my hand at projection techniques for illustration. Basically : projecting an enlarged loose sketch to a clean surface in order to refine an illustration further (as opposed to blue pencil and light table work, both requiring the loose sketch and the final cleanup to be drawn at the same scale.)

Turns out, I am absolutely loving this as it allows one to work fast and clean. I went out and got the cheapest portable projector I could find, the Optoma pico :

I put it to the test on some quick sketches and it worked really well. Make a loose thumbnail on paper or photoshop, scan it/save it to SD card, project it on paper, draw further. I am loving this!

Now I want to find a good sturdy solution to beam the image straight down to my desk work surface. The projector has the usual camera mount screw hole (not sure how it's called...), therefore any telescopic/articulated arm allowing a camera to point down would do the trick. Note that I would need a solution allowing me to clamp it all on the edge of my desk since a tripod would get in the way and wouldn't work.

All I could find so far is this :
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-196B-2-2-Section-Articulated-Bracket/dp/B000OPWSYM/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I35H2MQOQ2Q92L&colid=15KNT31NSHSDE[/ame]

+ this :
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-035RL-Super-Clamp-Standard/dp/B0018LQVIA/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=ITQXFDQUGNIH0&colid=15KNT31NSHSDE[/ame]


I also found this thing, maybe to be combined with some sort of screw mount flexible extension "snake" but I don't even know if this exists at all haha
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/PEDCO-P-UCA-Pedco-UltraClamp-Assembly/dp/B000ABB4HC/ref=pd_cp_p_2[/ame]


Would any of this work at all ? I am clueless when it comes to photography gear ...
Thanks in advance!

haikai

I don't know if this would work for you, but have you thought of an animation camera stand? This page might give you a few ideas:
http://smfaanimation.blogspot.com/2010/02/diy-camera-stand.html

Not really photography related, but some of these are nice because you can adjust the height straight up and down.

I'm kind of intrigued about projection too. I sometimes use a lightbox with a digitally enlarged sketch, but it can be cumbersome and difficult to see. I'm not sure if I have the space for even a simple set up though.

pior

Yeah, my lightbox just died so I thought it would be a good time to do things differently
Interesting link ... and yeah, whatever device letting me hang something above my desk to point it down would work...

Maybe I should just hack some desk lamp and bolt an easy release flash mount on it ...

pior

Like, projecting things ?

pior

projecting an enlarged loose sketch to a clean surface in order to refine an illustration further (as opposed to blue pencil and light table work, both requiring the loose sketch and the final cleanup to be drawn at the same scale.)

That about sums it up!

MM

i seen someone do this before

these should work but dont know if they fit the mini projectors.

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Gagne-Porta-Trace-Adjustable-Tabletop-Projector/dp/B003550RUU[/ame]

there is something similar too for cake decorators but it doesnt have a digital projector i think.

edit, here is the cake thingy. it just projects from a physical source so you would have to print out your thumb sketch if it is digital.

http://www.madisonartshop.com/kocadema.html

AlecMoody

The Mafer clamp you posted wont attach to a flat surface like a desk very well. Your best bet for a clamp would probably be a matthellini grip. Then you would attach two gobo arms forming an L and then something like this on the end to convert the 5/8 pin to a threaded mount:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Mini-Ball-Camera-Mount/dp/B000L47AHG/ref=pd_rhf_shvl_1[/ame]


gobo arm:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Avenger-D520LB-40-Inch-Extension-Black/dp/B0000E1OPJ/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1306649150&sr=1-8[/ame]

matthellini grip:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/164358-REG/Matthews_B420101_Matthellini_Grip_3.html

Grip equipment is pretty overpriced. If you have any fabrication skill at all I think you would be better off building something yourself.

Entity

Hboybowen wrote: »

im still confused but I'm no illustrator

basically you can draw a really small thumbnail and project that thing 4-5x bigger onto a canvas and trace over that. I've done that a couple of times in the past when I did oil painting.