About 3D Projection Mapping:

Movies speak to you, move ‘figurative’ mountains, inspiring you to do the unthinkable, create the unimaginable. However, even movies have their limits, the message they carry gets out of touch with reality and obsolete rather fast than you’d want to. Then what would rule your audience’s heart and move them at the same time? Strangely enough, 3D Projection Mapping has gained a stronghold in the advertising, music, international festivals like Fête des Lumières to name a few.

So let’s get to know more about 3D Projection Mapping:

Projection Mapping, what is it?

Actually, Projection Mapping has been in existence since the 1960s, albeit known as video mapping, and its various subsets spatial augmented reality (1998), and shader lamps (1999), so it is a pretty old school projection technique when you come to think of it. However, it has evolved with the times and that too for the better.

As to what it actually does is turn your everyday 3D object into a display screen. Projection Mapping works just well on rough surfaces/objects as it does on an evenly shaped object/surfaces. These objects can be of the simplest appearance or of a complex architectural genius, like monuments, and historical landmarks, complex industrial landscapes in form. Surely, by now you’ve figured out that Projection Mapping works on almost all surfaces and it works great.

How and Where to put to Projection Mapping to the best use?

Not only its applications have been used by multiple industries to promote their Products and services, Projection Mapping is an art form in itself which made artists out of engineers, and engineers out of artists, carving out a feast for the eyes without having to chip off a building (not by much anyway). Shoutout to one of the greats in Projection Mapping Michael Naimark.

These works of art are recordings, the combination of videography, photography, and computer animation among other things that make this field the next best thing. In the first place, we need to have the knowledge of the Projection Mapping essentials:

You’d need the set of images and videos that you want to be projected. With only images, you must create a Presentation, as if presenting on a normal white background. Projection Mapping works as such that background being used is made suitable for the purpose without the need for unnecessary than what is needed, projecting as expected.

The projection in its entirety can be mapped in 3D, thereby masking the image on the framework.

The Where,

• Projection Mapping has been an effective crowd attraction tool and it’s not just limited to it, companies realized its worth when guerrilla advertising came into play and other areas such electronic music, namely:
• Live events such as interactive and musical events use Projection Mapping to mesmerize their audiences, often at the helm of this is the video jockey/VJ controlling the pre-programmed set of images and videos, worked out in software or recorded bits from the real environment, often consisting of effects and effect overlays.
• ‘Cued’ on demand projections or preset projections have a hit with the theatrical society. Often played to match the beat or the rhythm of the onstage performance or dance. Also, interactive projection mapping can be used as done by Nokia for their Ovi maps advertising campaign.
• In videos, made over long durations, projection mapping presents a single fluid interactive video with a start, middle and end
• Interactive Projection Mapping

One for the History Books

Without any special effects, Bot & Dolly delivered a modern masterpiece. To put it in simple terms, whole new world forms as the performer engages with the set, aided by a robotic mechanism and state of the art robotic camera systems ‘Iris’ and ‘Scout’, this technique allows for millimeter precision of the robot arms.

So, Projection Mapping is here to stay and it will for the better.