Front and 45-degree View with ONE PROJECTOR

[Guest pookie]

Please provide feedback on my design for using one projector and six mirrors to create a front view and both left and right 45-degree views.********************************************************************Here's how it works:1. The "image" that gets projected from the projector is made up of three un-docked windows (45-left view, front view, 45-right view).2. The image gets projected onto the 3 smaller mirrors (each is about 2' wide by 1.5' tall). The side view mirrors are angled out the get the image to bounce outwards.3. The large mirrors are about 4' wide by 3' tall.4. The images get rear-projected. The front view is 5' wide by 4' tall. The side views are also 4' tall, but only about 3.5' wide.*********************************************************************I created this using GMAX with the exact dimensions and specifications from the projector I have. I know the angles are correct and the distances will work. Since each image bounces off the same amount of mirrors, there won't be one image that's backwards. The total distance from front to back is about 7' (from the projector to the screen). The width of this display requires a total of about 18'.http://pookiedom.com/b1900d/images/cockpit..._with_lines.jpghttp://pookiedom.com/b1900d/images/cockpit...mirros_only.jpghttp://pookiedom.com/b1900d/images/cockpit..._with_lines.jpghttp://pookiedom.com/b1900d/images/cockpit...nly_mirrors.jpg*********************THIS IS NOT A SAMPLE OF THE ABOVE DESIGN - THIS IS MY OLD SETUP USING ONE PROJECTOR. THE ABOVE DESIGN WILL MAKE THE 45-DEGREE VIEWS MUCH BETTERhttp://pookiedom.com/b1900d/images/cockpit...gress/setup.jpgPlease give me feedback and challenge the design so that I can fix any issues BEFORE I start building it.

[Guest Peter Skotte]

One thing comes to my mind! How will you create the 45dg projections in FS with one projection? What you basically do with this setup it wrap a planar projection into -45, 0, 45. So when you (think) you look to the sides its actually a twisted forward projection!!Just my 2 cents. But impressive planning.RegardsPeter

[Guest PoRrEkE]

my thought is that this will give you the same result as you had before .. a deformed view.it's obvious that the distance from your projector lens to the screens remain eqully ofset as before.what you should (could) try is work with a mirror that is bended in a U shape. Then again same problem occurs. hmmmmmzI think the only way to go is a wide-angle lens and you probably won't get super results without that.

[Guest pookie]

Actually, the image above (of my old setup) is one planar projection with no side views projected onto a screen that is curved on the sides. This is the reason for the skewing of the -45 and +45 side views. The new plan, using mirrors, splits the projection into 3 images and bounces the side images around so that they get projected straight onto the side panels, elliminating any skewing.The image that will be projected contains three un-docked windows. They will all be virtual cockpit displays (with no VC) and each will be sized so that the resulting image gets projected properly.Am I totally wrong on this or am I just not explaining it correctly? Actually, if you image it, this the same setup if I was using 3 projectors. Except, in my case, rather than projecting each view from its own projector, I'm projecting a "complex" image from the same projector. MSFS allows this with its "undock window" feature.

[Guest High Octane]

Philippe Vanagt Remember on other forum, I was telling you about your convertible cockpit and the projector?? Now, It was Pookie's one with "convertible cockpit" and a projector. Sorry about the confusion here. = ) To anyone About the Projector... The projector I currently have is the old one, the resolution is probablly 800X600 at Max is this possible have it running with FS2004(have not tried) and have it set at 45 degree with mirror spilter? Just intrigued. I would probablly buy another brand of projector... Maybe not maybe collamated mirror (hopefully if I can get a good deal)

[Guest Erups]

>Am I totally wrong on this or am I just not explaining it>correctly? Actually, if you image it, this the same setup if>I was using 3 projectors. Except, in my case, rather than>projecting each view from its own projector, I'm projecting a>"complex" image from the same projector. MSFS allows this>with its "undock window" feature.Displaying three different 3D views is beyond actual computers' power.Just try to create one other 3D view in addition to the main one, and you'll see the drastic drop in framerate.Then try to open another one, and see FS grasp for air!This does not take into account the fact that by using such a setup, you're going to have a very limited horizontal resolution: the total horizontal resolution available is splitted in three while the vertical is the same for all three.This means poor graphics.In addition to this, the shrinking of the three images resulting from unsufficient horizontal resolution, makes round mirrors mandatory to recreate the native width of the original image shrinked to fit in the projector.To this already big list of cons, add the fact that setting up a multiple mirror projection system like that is a very though task.I think that in the end the sum of all the pros and cons, tells it's not worth it.My 2 cents

[Guest pookie]

Claudio,Thanks for the feedback. I think you hit one of my concerns; opening more than one 3D view. I think this is what will stop me from doing this. I can test this though with my current setup.Regarding the horizontal resolution; the design takes this into account since I designed it for horizontal width. The height of the images actually is much taller than needed, but these will just go beyond the screens (to the ceiling).Perhaps I need to investigate a large wide angle view and project the one image onto a curved screen. Any ideas or designs out there for this?

[Guest Erups]

>Regarding the horizontal resolution; the design takes this>into account since I designed it for horizontal width. The>height of the images actually is much taller than needed, but>these will just go beyond the screens (to the ceiling).Then you are waisting both computing power and money:your computer is drawing a scene of a certain number of pixels, and your projector is projecting that image.Not using some parts of the image means you are using computer power for nothing, and wasting projector lamp life, light and resolution.Also by using multiple mirrors you'll loose a lot of the emitted light due to scattering.This means you'd need a very very powerful projector.Also i do not know what happens when you have the central screen which is a lot nearer to the projector then the side screens...More light dissipation on them, but probably also focus problems?

[Guest pookie]

Claudio ... again, thanks for your comments. I believe the 3 screens are the same distance from the projector. In other words, the image needs to travel a total distance of 21 feet for each of the 3 views. This means all 3 images will be in focus. Yes, it takes a certain amount of power and lamp life to project an image. Since I am trying to project a very wide image, I will lose some height since I want a wide, short image. It takes just as much power to and light to generate a small image as it does to create one wide, short image. I agree that perhaps the resolution won't be as good since the image is blown up so large, but again, one projector draws a lot less power than three.

[Guest pookie]

I just tested the 3 "undocked windows" out of my one projector and I got a frame rate drop of about 3-5 fps. I then reduced some of my sliders from their max setting to something more reasonable and quickly made up the framerate deficit. I think this idea is going to work !!!Because of the narrow front display, I had to zoom in 2.00 to make it appear normal. The 45 degree views are even narrower (on my test screen) so I zoomed in 7.00 on those. Once I got the horizon lined up I did a few cicuits and everything worked great. The traffic and clouds moved from one display to the next with only a little delay (less than a second) since the displays are surrounded by a blue border. As soon as I was at Vr, I forgot all about the borders.I'll keep you posted ...

[Guest MattOlieman]

Please DO keep us posted.... I'm very interested in your experimentation using one projector. Your mirror idea seems logical. One projector is cheaper then three:) Keep up the good work.

[Guest David Lee 2]

Actually, I'm still pretty impressed with your old setup! It seems to me the skewing you see on the 45degree views could be managed by repositioning the projecter up to your eye level as you sit in the chair. Maybe it is and I just can't see that. I'm very close to taking the leap to a projector but do not have the room for rear projection unfortunately. Will be watching you progress closely!David

[Guest skotten]

I actually also tried the "undocked windows" a few days ago.Just for testing purposes I had 12 windows undocked (GeForce 6800) on a 2560x1024 resolution and still maintaining 28 fps +/- a few.But my main concern was to adjust the views. And later on keep the settings. Thats a bi*ch. So if anybody had any luck getting the views adjusted correctly please explain.RegardsPeter

[Guest kdfossum]

This is a great topic. Thank's for testing this out. If you are successful at this, I might go for this approach as well.You wont really know untill you've tried, and you're probably the first to try this. So don't let anyone discourage you for taking a creative approach. That's what this hobby is all about.Even if it wastes computer power, lamp life etc. Replacing one lamp is cheaper than replacing three.Go for it, I'm curious how you do, so keep us updated.Thanks for great work.Best regards,