Hallowindow

[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