Editing projectors

This sub-chapter explains the definition of the projector properties. These properties can be edited using the projector editor. To understand how to use the properties please see the sub-chapter Manual Calibration and QuickCal.

Editing a projector

To edit a projector, either right-click directly on a projector in the Stage, or right-click the projector from the screens list in the Stage editor

General projector properties

Resolution

The x and y resolution of the projector, set in pixels. This should ideally be the native resolution of the physical projector model you’re using.

Currently outputting

Type of output mode that currently is active.

• Content: Outputs the content played on the timeline.

• Wireframe: Outputs the wireframe of the model.

• Identify: Full colour image with the projectors name on it.

• Grid: Outputs a coloured grid applied to the projection object.

• None: Outputs nothing (except reference points during QuickCal lineup).

Settings

Offset

The x, y and z position of the projector based from the origin point (0,0,0), set in meters.

Rotation

The rotation of the projector around the x, y and z axes respectively, in degrees.

Look At

The x, y and z position (in meters) of the Look At point. The projector always rotates to point at the Look At point.

Look Distance

The absolute distance between the projector position and its Look At position, in meters.

Throw ratio

The throw ratio is defined as the throw distance “D” divided by the width of the projected image, “W”. Since D and W are both in meters, the throw ratio quantity itself has no unit. Simply, the larger the throw ratio, the narrower the focus. Projector lenses are usually rated at particular throw ratios; you would simply type in the lens throw ratio here.

Field of View

Field of view in degrees for the specified throw ratio.

Lens shift

Represents horizontal and vertical lens shift. When horizontal shift is set to 0, there is no shift; when it’s set to 1, the left edge of the projected image lines up with the central projection axis. The same applies to negative numbers (-1 lines up the right edge) and to the vertical shift (bottom and top edges respectively).

Radial distortion

Radial lens distortion coefficients k1, k2, k3

Tangential distortion

Tangential lens distortion coefficients p1, p2

Surfaces

The list of screen surfaces the projector will project onto. The projectors view of the virtual stage will only contain these surfaces. Expanding the Projectors field in a Screen editor will similarly display the list of projectors assigned to that surface.

To add a projection surface to the list:

1. Left-click the + button to open the Surfaces manager.
2. Select the surfaces you wish the projector to see.

Mask objects

The list of objects this projector should render as black.

To add a mask object to the list:

1. Left-click the + button to open the Objects manager.
2. Select the objects you wish the projector to mask out (render black)

Mask scale

Mask scale allows you to scale the texture that is generated as the mask.

Blur shadow

Blur shadow allows you to add a blur effect to the edges of the generated mask.

Mask resolution

Mask resolution, set to Full by default, allows you to only generate the mask at half and quarter resolution for times when full resolution is not needed, or to save performance.

Appearance

Colour

The colour of the projector beam in the visualiser.

Render Mode

Switches the projector’s output in the virtual stage for easier identification of testing.

Types of render mode:

• Hidden
• Beam
• Wire
• Beam & Wire

Calibration

Configuration

The configuration of a projector stores its calibration - a precise measurement of its actual position and lens settings. Calibrated quantities are not necessarily the same as the properties you enter in the preceding boxes, but will usually match fairly closely.

• Left-click on the configuration property to open the library of settings for all projectors. You can also create multiple configuration files for the same projector.

• Right-click configuration to start a QuickCal lineup.

Output

Master Fade

Controls the output brightness.

Note

The Master fade only controls the brightness of the output feed. The brightness in the stage visualiser is not affected.

Feather

Shrinks or grows screens in the projector’s view, to fix over-projection.

Final Adjust

Adjust the offset added to a projector’s position, in meters.

Final Adjust Rotation

Offset added to a projector’s rotation, in degrees.

Anti-Aliasing

The anti-aliasing options for the projector.

Warning

Enabling anti-aliasing on projectors can cause performance degradation.

• None
• 2X FXAA
• 2X MSAA
• 4X MSAA
• 8X MSAA

Face Cull Mode

Use this to skip rendering faces with normals pointing toward (Front) or away (Back) from the projector.

Colour shift

The Colour shift property allows you to perform a number of colour-correction operations on the output of a projector.

To apply a Colour shift to a projector:

• Left-click Colour shift to open the Colour shift manager
• Either create a new Colour shift by typing a name into the newcolour shift text box and hit Enter , or select a colour shift configuration from the list.

To edit a Colour shift :

Right-click a Colour shift in the Colour shift manager to bring up the Colour shift editor.

Colour Profile

Colour/gamma space of the output display.

Colour LUT

Cube LUT applied to correct display device output; does not appear in the visualizer.

Hold Output

Stops the output of this display until unchecked.

Change Output Mode

Left-click to change the type of output mode that currently is active.

• Content:  Outputs the content played on the timeline.

• Wireframe: Outputs the wireframe of the model.

• Identify: Full colour image with the projectors name on it.

• Grid: Outputs a coloured grid applied to the projection object

• None: Outputs nothing (except reference points during QuickCal lineup)

• BlackTrax: For Blacktrax line up

Dynamic Blend

Dynamic Blend is a feature of Designer that enables automatic calculation of soft edge blends across projectors.

Dynamic Blend in Projector Widget

Dynamic Blend

Allows you to enable/disable Dynamic blend on individual projectors.

Gamma bias

Adjusts the estimate of this projector’s gamma relative to the Stage’s global blend gamma.

Cutoff Angle (deg)

The Cutoff Angle (in degrees) is a threshold for the angle between the projector’s incidence ray and the normal vector at a pixel.

Any angle equal to or larger than this value will result in zero contribution from this projector for the given pixel.

By default, this value is set to 90 degrees, which means that pixels on a surface that is perpendicular to the projector will have zero contribution from this projector. Using 90 degrees is equivalent to the Dynamic Blend behaviour before the Cutoff Angle was introduced.

Barn door (top)

Top edge of the Dynamic Blend.

Barn door (left)

Left edge of the Dynamic Blend.

Barn door (bottom)

Bottom edge of the Dynamic Blend.

Barn door (right)

Right edge of the Dynamic Blend.

Use Snapshot

This allows you to capture a snapshot of the soft edge mask generated by Dynamic Blend, edit it in an external program, and then re-apply it to the projector.

To update the snapshot, you can directly modify the snapshot file: objects/DxTexture/Dynamic Blend snapshots/<projectorName>.tif.

Steps to edit Dynamic Blend mask snapshot

1. Enable Use Snapshot.
   • This will create a DSE mask file (<projectorName>.tif) in the objects/DxTexture/Dynamic Blend snapshots folder.
   • Saved Dynamic Blend Snapshot
2. Edit the .tif file (DSE mask) using an external program (Microsoft Paint is used as an example).
   • Editing Dynamic Blend Snapshot using Paint (Before and After)
3. See the edited mask being updated in D3.
   • Updated Dynamic Blend Snapshot in D3 (Before and After)

Note

Any action that updates the mask, such as moving the projector or the projection surface, will overwrite the snapshot.

Resolution Factor

This determines the resolution used for calculating Dynamic Blend projector contributions. The default Resolution Factor value is 1/16th of the projector resolution (i.e. dividing width and height each by 4).

Higher resolutions improve the resulting blend mask, reducing visual artifacts such as overspill. However, this also increases the computational cost of calculating the blend. Projectors should use reduced resolutions if there are regular changes that cause Dynamic Blend to be recalculated.

Any change which affects the spatial relationship between the projector and the projection surfaces will cause Dynamic Blend to be recalculated. Common examples of these changes include:

• Moving or modifying projection surfaces involved in Dynamic Blend.
• Moving or modifying objects used for masks
• Moving or modifying projector properties

Note

When a screen or projector is controlled by a tracking source, even if it’s standing still the values from the tracking source may jitter slightly, which also results in recalculation. Make sure that when using tracked objects you consider the performance cost of Dynamic Blend.

Membership Function

Linear/Radial/Linear to Radial. This controls how the blend is calculated for the individual projector.

Warning

Currently, only Linear is supported, and other membership functions may not work as intended.

Exclude Projectors

Projectors excluded from the Dynamic Blend.

Hierarchy

For more information on Hierarchy, visit this link.