Projection mapping is a way to use projected light to “escape” the bounds of monitors and fit a physical object or structure.
Projectors are meant to beam a video output, coming from a computer or some other equipment, to a flat surface like a wall or a projection screen.
That way you can choose the size of the output screen depending on the distance between the projector itself, and the target surface.
[image of a simple projection on flat surface]
Nothing incredible. But what if you project on a complex, irregular surface instead?
Think about a wall corner, an irregular billboard, or a stack of boxes: the source image will be distorted on each and every single surface that receives light.
Projectors have keystone correction to deal with slight variations of the projection angle, but that can be applied only to the whole output image so it will never be enough.
[image of a projection on complex surface without mapping]
With the Projection Mapping (or Video Mapping) technique, every single surface that composes the whole output can be individually corrected using perspective, resulting in an image that fits exactly the physical object receiving light.
[image of a projection on complex surface with mapping]
Doing this manually is only possible modifying the source images or video, an extremely difficult and time-consuming process that is not repeatable. All the work on the source must be done again if the position of the projector, or the surfaces, is slightly moved.
Projection mapping software let you do this in realtime, choosing media files and assigning them a sub-portion of the output screen whose perspective can be independently corrected.
That’s good news, but it usually takes a technician, a VJ or a digital artist geek to get a proper setup done in a small time with regular tools because those are targeted to technical people.
That’s why FaçadeSignage has been created: to simplify the whole task so that you only need to know where your surfaces are and which media you want to project. The whole setup is as easy as grabbing your wireless mouse and moving vertices.
[image of FCD]
Projection mapping is changing the way we perceive digital creations in space, where LCD monitors or videowalls are expensive and cumbersome, digital projection is lightweight, transparent and magical.
In addition FaçadeSignage has some unique features that help you organize small to large media campaigns with full remote control, or even connecting your existing digital signage solution.
And what about using multiple projectors at once in order to create even more complex digital structures?
That’s another area where FaçadeSignage excels. Read about it here.