Hallowindow

[AtomSmasher]

http://www.hallowindow.com/



It's a shame he doesn't offer his video for sale as a download because I have a window which would be perfect for this and a projector I'm not using.  If anyone knows where I can find a video similar to this to show in a window, please let me know.

[ChadTower]

Oh sonofa... I could do that, too.  My storm door is one pane glass.

[Hoopz]

That would be awesome to do.  Looks like more DVDs will be there on Oct 30 which doesn't work for this year but maybe next.  I have a projector that would work for this too.

 

[ChadTower]

Seems like if you were going to do it next year you may as well wait for the next version... looks like he does one every year now.  Just make sure to order it in like July.  If you follow that site into the Halloween forum there is some startingly cool props people make.

[Chemixtry]

That is ridiculously cool! 

[tomdotcom]

omg i want that!!

[Hoopz]

Thanks for the link PBJ.  I downloaded a few. 

[AtomSmasher]

Neat idea.  I poked around on Google and found a guy doing something similar and posting the clips for free...

Maybe someone here could string them together and make a DVD out of it?

http://backyardtheater.com/forums/index.php?topic=3082.0

Nice find, thanks.  It's no where near as good as the official Hallowindow, but it's hard to argue with free 
It shouldn't be too hard to string the videos together, and loop them over and over to fill a dvd.  He made each video start and end by fading to black, and with 5 videos at 1 minute each, it should make for a decent effect.

[2600]

Very Cool.  I think I am going to pick this up for next year.  I'll have to experiment to see how it would look if I opened up the garage door and put a sheet up there?

[ChadTower]

Tried a quick experiment with my storm door last night... no go.  Too cold.  The inside of the storm door was fogged up completely within 2 minutes because of the heat loss through the glass.  I'm a bit afraid of what would happen to the projector lens if I used it outdoors at 30 degrees, too.

[shardian]

I am just baffled that the guy doesn't have it as a paid download. I'm trying to find a torrent somewhere. I'd be happy to pay the guy money, but he's really blowing it in my opinion, especially after it gets national attention via Kim Kommando and other sources.

[AtomSmasher]

I am just baffled that the guy doesn't have it as a paid download. I'm trying to find a torrent somewhere. I'd be happy to pay the guy money, but he's really blowing it in my opinion, especially after it gets national attention via Kim Kommando and other sources.

I looked for a torrent before I started this thread, but couldn't find one.  The guy said he didn't want to put it online because he's afraid it'll get pirated too easily (although it's not exactly difficult to rip a dvd), and so far it looks like he's right, but he's also making a lot less sales then he could be.

[Hoopz]

Very Cool.  I think I am going to pick this up for next year.  I'll have to experiment to see how it would look if I opened up the garage door and put a sheet up there?

I had thought the same thing.  I have a window in my house that's almost identical to his so I am not sure what will work best.

[shardian]

Well let's consider his retarded logic.

He has maybe 500 dvd's to sell, which require an insane amount of work and postage. He sold them all and that is it. Now lets look at digital media. Now that it is on Digg, Kim Komando, etc. The average layperson would send him $5-$10 for a download no problem. Kim Kommando alone could have netted him several thousand downloads more than likely. Even if he got only 1000 downloads ever, that could be $10,000!!!!

Even pirated, he would have still made great profits for his work. Sorry, but 99% of pirateers weren't going to buy your stuff anyways.

[shardian]

I have a double window that is like 6' wide in my living room. It would be perfect for this.

[ChadTower]

Well let's consider his retarded logic.

He has maybe 500 dvd's to sell, which require an insane amount of work and postage. He sold them all and that is it. Now lets look at digital media. Now that it is on Digg, Kim Komando, etc. The average layperson would send him $5-$10 for a download no problem. Kim Kommando alone could have netted him several thousand downloads more than likely. Even if he got only 1000 downloads ever, that could be $10,000!!!!

Even pirated, he would have still made great profits for his work. Sorry, but 99% of pirateers weren't going to buy your stuff anyways.

Let's consider that he didn't anticipate being dugg and that he didn't prepare for that type of serving of data.  Missed opportunity, sure, but calling it retarded isn't fair.  You know damn well how random the net can be about what is hot at what moment.

[Hoopz]

I think mine is slightly smaller but right by the front door so its almost identical to his setup.

I played around and put the videos from PBJs site together.  They don't look bad.  I was really impressed with the number of things that guy had in his that he was selling.  The eye, then eyes, then to the spiders etc really just made quite an impression.  I appreciate the guy on the outdoor theater site put his stuff up for free though.

I agree about the downloads.  I looked for a torrent but would much rather pay the guy for his time.  The more this spreads, the more chances he has to bank some serious cash.  Or the more he misses the boat.

[shardian]

Hell, even if I found a torrent I would like to send him money.

Come next year, he'll have competitors. There might even be a commercial version available.

[ChadTower]

I have a pretty big picture window that would be perfect, it's a few feet across, but I'd have to route people around the house to see it.  Not all that practical.

[ahofle]

Damn I have the perfect window for this too.  I can't believe that guy doesn't accept online payments for download.  I would buy it right now.  I can't even find it on usenet! 

[ark_ader]

Where I'm living, I would get arrested.

[shardian]

The way it is so popular today, I figure someone will track down a person who has the cd. A torrent might show up over the weekend.

If not, I will use the free stuff.

[ChadTower]

It's stuff like this that annoys the crap out of me that the season here invariably turns to freezing at night the week before Halloween.  Every year.

[ahofle]

So you projected it on a sheet or white shower curtain from inside and it fogged up your window? 

[ChadTower]

No, I didn't even get that far.  I was setting up a sheet and the door fogged up on its own because it was 68 degrees inside and 30 degrees outside.

[RayB]

Doesn't the window NEED fogging or some sort of slight opacity to even have an image projected on to begin with?

From his site: "I pinned a white sheet to the inside of my window and aimed the projector at it. "

So instead of a sheet, use white paper affixed to the window. It won't fog.

[ChadTower]

It probably would.  It was bad.  That was just after 3 minutes.  After 10 or so the condensation on the inside was actually running down a little bit.  I have no idea why it would be that bad - it's a new storm door and it's a full sheet of tempered glass.

[shardian]

Hmmm, maybe I'll try the paper thing. I have 36" plotter paper here at work. At the least, it will be much easier to hang than a sheet.

[ahofle]

Just got this setup tonight.  Another idea which works PERFECTLY is one of those mattress skirt things.  I couldn't find any plain white sheets, but came across one of them in a closet.  These things sit under the mattress, have a 'skirt' around them, and are a perfect slightly opaque white material under the mattress part.  It almost appears that I put a big screen TV in front of the window from the outside. 

[Hoopz]

DOWNLOAD NOW AVAILABLE!

$6 Canadian! 

http://www.hallowindow.com/index-dl.html

[Hoopz]

Got it.  It was about $4.85 US and it was a fast download.  With all of the message boards posting about this, I am sure it's going to blow up.

Plus, those who would have bought the DVD at $30+ for all the ones he had made, will find paying $5 pretty easy.  I think it's definitely worth that instead of downloading it which I am sure will be available soon. 

[ahofle]

Wait the downloadable version is only 1 minute and 45 seconds?  How long is the full DVD?
Hoopz was it worth it?  I was hoping for a little longer video.  The free ones are 5 minutes.
Great idea about the screensavers...I'm going to check those out now.

EDIT: I bought it anyway.  Combined in a playlist with the free ones, this is going to be great!

[Hoopz]

Wait the downloadable version is only 1 minute and 45 seconds?  How long is the full DVD?
Hoopz was it worth it?  I was hoping for a little longer video.  The free ones are 5 minutes.
Great idea about the screensavers...I'm going to check those out now.

EDIT: I bought it anyway.  Combined in a playlist with the free ones, this is going to be great!

I agree.  $5 for the quality is worth it.  I was surprised that it was so inexpensive.  If he was selling the DVD for $30 with shipping, then I expected this to be $10-12 at the minimum.  I haven't had a chance to look at those screen savers yet so I may go that route also.

[AtomSmasher]

Just paid the $6 CAD and downloaded Hallowindow and bought a $5 white sheet from walmart, so I'm all set  

I'll set it up and have it's first test run tonight.  I'll be combining some of the free stuff pbj found with the eye and hallowindow to create something 6 or 7 minutes long, which will run in a loop.

[ahofle]

That's exactly what I did.  Except I didn't merge the video files, I just used Media Player Classic and added all the files to a playlist that repeats.  That way I don't have to worry about the different formats/resolutions and just run it full screen. 

[AtomSmasher]

That's exactly what I did.  Except I didn't merge the video files, I just used Media Player Classic and added all the files to a playlist that repeats.  That way I don't have to worry about the different formats/resolutions and just run it full screen. 

I'm actually connecting my projector to a dvd player, not a computer, which is why I had to merge the files.  I have a program that makes it extremely simple to combine video files of different resolutions and formats and make a dvd, so there wasn't much to it.  I even created two different movies on the dvd, one is the montage I mentioned before and one is just the giant eye.  The program even had a halloween themed menu which worked perfectly

[AtomSmasher]

Well it works great, although most of the free ones don't look too good.  The window I'm using is on the second story and several of the free ones would fade out a bit to give the illusion of depth.  Unfortunately that means they don't have the sharp contrasts that make it stand out, so unless you're really looking at the window, you don't notice anything is there.

On the other hand, the giant eye and hallowindow itself look great.  I think I'll mainly keep it on the giant eye, then switch it to play hallowindow if I see a bunch of people outside.  Although, I'll make sure to make a video that plays the eye for 10 minutes, then hallowindow just in case theres constantly a lot of people and I can then just let it run.

*edit* just started burning the new dvd.  It now has 4 options: just the eye, just hallowindow, 10 minutes of the eye followed by hallowindow, and 30 minutes of the eye followed by hallowindow.  I figure that should cover all of my bases.

[protokatie]

Has anyone thought of spraying fixative on the window? It is basically a "clear" plastic coating, but with multiple layers it becomes semi-opaque. It can be removed easily too. (Razorblade and some windex)

[shardian]

Glad to see he got this up and running. I happily sent him my $4 and some odd cents.

[Hoopz]

I did a test run last night.  I have a side window that my wife wanted it done in as opposed to the family room window.  It worked well but couldn't easily be seen from the street.  You could see it from the front porch and drive way but I just didn't like it there.  I'm probably going to change it to the main window and see how that looks.

I had a white sheet in our Halloween decorations tub that was left over from the kids' party a couple of years ago that I used.  I'm definitely going to have to iron it as any wrinkles showed up fairly clearly. 

I decided to just use the file that I downloaded. I figured 2 minutes is about the length that people will watch.  I let it play for about 10 minutes or so last night and thought it looked good. 

[ChadTower]

How would it work out if you had a single window to project on?  I might be able to do that but the window is a fairly small one.

[Hoopz]

Scoot your projector close enough and its fine.  The only concern would be how well it can be seen from the outside.  May be too small.

[ChadTower]

That window is right next to the door trick or treaters would come to and they walk right past it... so maybe.

[Hoopz]

May work then.  How about lighting?  My porch light may affect how it looks when I move it to the other window.  Will try it and see. 

[ChadTower]

Porch light doesn't work, anyway.  I have to pull it out sometime and figure out why.  Probably just wasn't sealed properly against the weather when prior owner installed it. 

[ahofle]

*edit* just started burning the new dvd.  It now has 4 options: just the eye, just hallowindow, 10 minutes of the eye followed by hallowindow, and 30 minutes of the eye followed by hallowindow.  I figure that should cover all of my bases.

That's funny...I thought 2 minutes of the eye was too long and repetitive so I shortened it to 50 seconds.  I wanted to be sure all the trick or treaters get to see the main hallowindow animation.  I really wish the hallowindow animation was much longer though as it's by far the best. 
That's cool how you setup the DVD (I'm just using a laptop, so playing the video files was much easier).

I am now obsessed with this.  When I drive around I notice houses along busy streets and say to myself how great certain windows would be for this.  I almost hit a deer the other day while looking around at peoples' windows LOL.

[AtomSmasher]

That's funny...I thought 2 minutes of the eye was too long and repetitive so I shortened it to 50 seconds.  I wanted to be sure all the trick or treaters get to see the main hallowindow animation. 

If I had it on my front porch, then I would probably agree with you, but it's on the second story overlooking the street (215 degree view of the entire street as it curves a bit around my house) and I'll be blasting the audio so that you'll easily be able to hear it as soon as it's partially in sight.  I figure I don't want to piss off the neighbors too much, so every ten minutes should do   Plus the location it's in really makes the eyeball look fantastic.

[HairyDVD]

Wow, just saw this thread today and downloaded some of the video clips.  Paid the guy for the main hallowindow file - only cost about 3 british pounds - excellant value for money.

Did a little showing using my projector in the dining room onto the back yard window.  It has vertical blinds but played ok, left the door open so they could hear the sounds coming from my laptop.  Just at the end of the clip I stood in front of the projector light casting a shadow on the window....... they knew it was me, but all jumped out of their skins when I peered through the blinds wearing a werewold mask !!!!

Doesn't matter how old you get, doesn't get any better than seeing peoples faces when you show them something unusual then make them jump outta their skins.......  grrrrrrrrr

[polaris]

chad, did you try projecting onto the window itself when it misted up, or another idea, motorcyclists i know put washing up liquid on their visors to help stop condensation so you can use the sheet.
i'm on a roll , ill go for three, windolene, window polish, get a hand mister and spray that on the window lightly, it'll turn the window white for the projection, i think if applied well that could really work

[Ummon]

That's pretty neat. I don't like any of the 'scenes' because that turns it into a show and hence not scary. All the things that look like they're actually inside coming out to get you are cool.

[AwesomeAlbert]

I paid for the hallowindow download...downloaded the free videos (the free videos dont look that good)
someone with skills, download this and cut the beginning and email it to me !!

[shardian]

I paid for the hallowindow download...downloaded the free videos (the free videos dont look that good)
someone with skills, download this and cut the beginning and email it to me !!

I was disappointed that video was not included in the download. I would have paid a few more bucks to get it! Grrr..

I'm ripping it from youtube now, but I'm not too sure how to cut the vid file down.

[shardian]

I tested this out last night on my big living room window. I used a very sheer bedskirt as a window mask. It looked great. My main complaint is that my windows are side-by-side, so there is a 4-5" solid piece in the middle. It kind of messes up 'the eye' video.

I think I will use a slightly higher threadcount sheet, and put the projector lower and shoot at an angle. The way my test was, you could see the projector in the background. That takes away from the experience.

[ChadTower]

chad, did you try projecting onto the window itself when it misted up, or another idea, motorcyclists i know put washing up liquid on their visors to help stop condensation so you can use the sheet.
i'm on a roll , ill go for three, windolene, window polish, get a hand mister and spray that on the window lightly, it'll turn the window white for the projection, i think if applied well that could really work

Didn't try any of that, but given that I did the no-fog solutions for years with my hockey visors, I can tell you they won't work in this case.  Liquid solutions aren't going to hold up in a heavy condensation area.  Too much water.  It did occur to me, though, that maybe it is because the temp change is happening so damn fast.  It's 68 inside and 30 outside... it may stabilize later on.  It may also stay that way and just keep sucking heat out the door, though.  The window next to it is actually a much better solution if I ever get the chance to try it before Halloween.

[ahofle]

I was disappointed that video was not included in the download. I would have paid a few more bucks to get it! Grrr..

I'm ripping it from youtube now, but I'm not too sure how to cut the vid file down.

I ripped it, converted it, and cut it down using virtualdub.  It looks pretty bad given the extremely low resolution of youtube though, so I probably won't be using it.

[Hoopz]

I tested this out last night on my big living room window. I used a very sheer bedskirt as a window mask. It looked great. My main complaint is that my windows are side-by-side, so there is a 4-5" solid piece in the middle. It kind of messes up 'the eye' video.

I think I will use a slightly higher threadcount sheet, and put the projector lower and shoot at an angle. The way my test was, you could see the projector in the background. That takes away from the experience.

My window has a solid piece but it's only 3 inches or so.  I was worried about that.

This may be a stupid question but could you see the projector or the light?  I had all the lights off in the room I was using and didn't have any issues seeing either.  No idea what thread count the sheet has but it was a bargain buy so I can't think it's that high.

[shardian]

I could see the projector big time. That is why I will use keystone correction and shoot from the floor at an angle.


I also ripped the video and trimmed it. The vid ended up looking just fine, but the sound is absolutely horrible. If I do use it, the sound has to go.

[shardian]

So... how did everyone's window go? We need a roll call of who did it, or who will be doing it tonight.

Mine went absolutely friggin awesome! In the second hour of trick or treating, we had people driving by from other neighborhoods to see it. In the end I used a 250 thread count sheet, which worked absolutely great.

Once the trick-or-treaters dried up at around 7:30, I popped in Monster house for all the neighborhood kids and served popcorn and hot chocolate. The window frame surprisingly didn't bother me too much for normal movie viewing. I think I will use this setup when spring/summer comes for starlite movie screenings. Rear projection from inside is much less of a hassle than front projection on my hillside lot.

[Hoopz]

So... how did everyone's window go? We need a roll call of who did it, or who will be doing it tonight.

Mine went absolutely friggin awesome! In the second hour of trick or treating, we had people driving by from other neighborhoods to see it. In the end I used a 250 thread count sheet, which worked absolutely great.

Once the trick-or-treaters dried up at around 7:30, I popped in Monster house for all the neighborhood kids and served popcorn and hot chocolate. The window frame surprisingly didn't bother me too much for normal movie viewing. I think I will use this setup when spring/summer comes for starlite movie screenings. Rear projection from inside is much less of a hassle than front projection on my hillside lot.

So they had the kids go around last night instead of tonight?  Seems a little odd since tonight is Friday and most/all of the kids don't have school tomorrow.

Glad it went well though.   

[shardian]

I think the local governments moved it to Thursday because they were afraid of kids being out walking on a Friday halloween - drunk drivers and all you know.

It was always a Tuesday or Thursday when I was a kid - never a Friday.

[ChadTower]

Rear projection from inside is much less of a hassle than front projection on my hillside lot.

I was just thinking about this this morning.  I may give it a shot some night with our picture window - the only issue, I think, is that it moves control of the source away from where you actually are.  Having done it a couple times now I definitely see a problem there - lots of pausing, or tweaking of settings, and such go on at least the first few times you do it.  This might be mitigated if you use real DVDs instead of downloaded divx content, though.

[shardian]

I was just thinking about this this morning.  I may give it a shot some night with our picture window - the only issue, I think, is that it moves control of the source away from where you actually are.  Having done it a couple times now I definitely see a problem there - lots of pausing, or tweaking of settings, and such go on at least the first few times you do it.  This might be mitigated if you use real DVDs instead of downloaded divx content, though.

Not really. This way you can set it up hours/days in advance and not worry about theft or weather damage.

What tweaking are you speaking of? Once you know where to put the projector to shoot the full window, there is no tweaking. Right now, I could be set up and ready for a movie in 5-10 minutes.

[Ed_McCarron]

I'm still waiting for someone to write the code to render the eyes/mouth in realtime, and have the mouth respond to voice levels from the sound card mic.  Then, have the eyes track based on joystick input or something... You could have some fun with that...

[ChadTower]

I'm still waiting for someone to write the code to render the eyes/mouth in realtime, and have the mouth respond to voice levels from the sound card mic.  Then, have the eyes track based on joystick input or something... You could have some fun with that...

Google "Talking Thru Boris" and I think you'll find something very much like what you're looking for.  Many, many fantastic realtime halloween props have been made out of that.

[Ed_McCarron]

Google "Talking Thru Boris" and I think you'll find something very much like what you're looking for. 

Except that ones a 6" skull and the other is a 6' tall projection...

Still cool though.  I can picture two of them talking to eachother.

[ChadTower]

Except that ones a 6" skull and the other is a 6' tall projection...

Still cool though.  I can picture two of them talking to eachother.

It's a 6" skull that is to proper scale, though.  Most people took them and put them onto full size skeletons.  You can hack the input so it takes any audio source and the jaw still syncs.  Can't say I've seen a better bang for the time/money investment than that thing.  A big projection is definitely cool but there's something more there when it's a real physical object.

I bet you could get close to what you're talking about with a standard video camera feeding to the projector.  You'd need an actor but you'd have a whole lot more freedom than a basic rendered mouth.

[AwesomeAlbert]

i put it hallowindow on my window.  the lady that lives in front of me likes it  .. im thinking for next year decorate the house and add clips of horror movies to run as well.

[AtomSmasher]

Hallowindow worked great....but there was probably 1/3 of the trick or treaters that I had last year.  I don't know if it's all of the foreclosures in my area or what, but looking down my street there were maybe 5 other houses had their porch lights on when probably 20 or more had them on last year.

Now I have a massive amount of leftover candy, which I guess I'll give to my neice and nephew the next time I see them.  My sister is a big control freak over the amount of sugar they can eat, so I'll have to make sure to sneak the candy to them

[ahofle]

Same here, not nearly as many as in previous years.  They also stopped earlier (usually they are still knocking past 9).
The Hallowindow was great though.  I think next year I'll shorten the free clips (1 minute seemed too long for most of them, like the floating candles and ghosts). 

Thanks for posting up about this!

[ChadTower]

Same here.  Normally on our block we'll see 30 or so kids in groups of 3-4.  This year, we saw probably 4 groups smaller than that.  We left our candy out on the porch while we trick or treated and when we came back it was nearly all still there.  I wonder wtf happened everywhere.

[mccoy178]

Our street has had a resurgence the past two years.  It's kind of neat to see how things have changed over the past six years.  I downloaded the short version and used it as the background on our school news show, but I would like to purchase the regular disc and use it at the house.

[koz319]

I'm still waiting for someone to write the code to render the eyes/mouth in realtime, and have the mouth respond to voice levels from the sound card mic.  Then, have the eyes track based on joystick input or something... You could have some fun with that...

http://www.imagineerieing.com/products.html

These guys have something similar to what you are talking about, even a free download although it's a lo rez verzion.  It will even sync to microphone input, but they recommend against it.


Koz