I’m getting commissioned to do a mural soon and needed to buy a projector. I’ve seen so many that are hundreds of dollars, but all I really need is one that can just project a clear crisp image so I can trace. Is there a decent one i can get for less than $100?
(Idc about price if there’s a better one please comment I’d love any recommendations.)
Nice to meet a fellow mural artist! Is it your first time doing a mural?
Regarding projectors, I have no personal experience with them, though I should possibly consider one for my next mural. Hopefully someone who have used them before can add their thoughts to this topic. The best thing you can do is some research online if you haven’t already. I’m sure you can get a reasonable projector for under 100$, but their will likely be drawbacks, like visual quality or brightness. It also depends on how big of a canvas/wall your working on.
here’s a few links- Know that some projectors are different, some are simple and project a physical picture that is placed beneath/in them them. While some will connect through hdmi to computer, or with sd cards/usb drives. Understand what your requirements and needs are, and keep this in mind when buying.
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwpEpnjXr3k
-https://www.secretasianman.com/best-digital-projector-for-artists/
Here’s a REALLY simple DIY projector, not good for a giant wall or if you want to project a complex image. But a cheap creative attempt for projecting.
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5eJ2Lyi7pg
I’ve used a projector before for murals and found them to be a bit of a pain to work with. They have to be set up at exactly the right Height and distance or the image will warp. Cheap projectors usually don’t have any image correction features like keystoning. You also need to be able to darken the room a lot.
It’s a bit more work but look up the Grid method for image transfers. You print out your image and draw a grid on it then Transfer that grid to the wall and then draw in what is in each grid. You may also try a software like Poster razor that will print the image across several sheets of paper. Needless to say you don’t want it to be in color but by reducing the image to 2 color line art you save a lot of ink.
https://www.ronyasoft.com/products/proposter/
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You might acquire a projector with the mindset of making a ROI. I find it really good idea to start with 100$ but eventually in the future if you go well in your work is correct mindset to go for even pricier ones.
Also one of my ideas here is to use a combination with Grid + Projector to fix any lens errors. You might draw some grid lines on the wall so you can have strong points of reference. Then take the picture in photoshop and draw some grid lines again. Then you would project the image to the wall and applying some lens distortion effects until you get a good match (Spherize: -30 = counter balance any lens errors - if any).
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will look into it thanks!!