Hi

Still looking into how to do a wall mount installation of 2-6 viewers.

There's light boxes as well as EL lights. The latter is very very thin
- same as the flashing t-shirts.

So what have people worked with in the past?

M

Mark wrote:

> Hi
>
> Still looking into how to do a wall mount installation of 2-6 viewers.
>
> There's light boxes as well as EL lights. The latter is very very thin
> - same as the flashing t-shirts.
>
> So what have people worked with in the past?

I've been meaning to get back with you on this, Mark, but
I've been under a year-end crunch at work.

You should consider the color temperature of your light
sources. I looked at EL lighting for a viewer a couple of
years ago and found it was decidedly un-white and totally
unsuited to lighting viewers.

White LEDs are high output and low power, but finding them
with a consistent color temperature and brightness is a
challenge. I worked with a batch of them last year and found
they were all over the color map.

Fluorescent is still my choice for "low power" lighting with
options of color temperature. They do well in constant-on
use as they change color as they warm. They don't do well in
instant-on/momentary use.

Halogen incandescent is my choice where heat, power
consumption, and depth aren't problems.

Your choice of lighting is going to be strongly driven by
your gallery arrangement and mechanical installation. If you
are going to wall-mount your viewers, then putting a long
light-box behind them is a good choice. This arrangement,
however, makes your audience stand up-close-and-personal with
the wall which isn't very friendly.

I did an installation once where I internally lit one of the
MFPV/3d-World STL viewers and mounted it on an articulated
arm. It was then hight adjustable. It was expensive to
build so I can't recommend it for a dozen images. You could
consider, however, mounting the STL viewers on articulated
arms in front of a light panel (rather than internally
lighting each). They would be adjustable but the user would
have to point them towards the provided light. You could put
a transparency representation of each image on the surface of
the wall-mounted light so people could anticipate what they
would see inside.

If you were going to have loose viewers laying on tables, you
could have light boxes on the walls. I can envision
something like a Cray-1 with vertical lights in the middle
and a table around the perimeter.

Can you tell us any more of your installation parameters?
How big a space? Combined with prints on the walls? A
single 24 hour event? A three week presentation?
________________________________________
John Thurston
Juneau, Alaska
http://stereo.thurstons.us

> I've been meaning to get back with you on this, Mark, but
> I've been under a year-end crunch at work.

know the feeling. spent that time playing catch up.

> You should consider the color temperature of your light
> sources. I looked at EL lighting for a viewer a couple of
> years ago and found it was decidedly un-white and totally
> unsuited to lighting viewers.

but was it bright enough? I CC gel is easy enough to get or simply
shoot the light and come up with the neuralising colour in photoshop,
then print to film.

> White LEDs are high output and low power, but finding them
> with a consistent color temperature and brightness is a
> challenge. I worked with a batch of them last year and found
> they were all over the color map.

with my geometric primitive i did than and had to chuck a few leds but
generally they were ok. there' was enough bouncing in the box that it
evened out.

www.myspace.com/geometricprimitiv

> Fluorescent is still my choice for "low power" lighting with
> options of color temperature. They do well in constant-on
> use as they change color as they warm. They don't do well in
> instant-on/momentary use.

yup

> Halogen incandescent is my choice where heat, power
> consumption, and depth aren't problems.
>
> Your choice of lighting is going to be strongly driven by
> your gallery arrangement and mechanical installation. If you
> are going to wall-mount your viewers, then putting a long
> light-box behind them is a good choice. This arrangement,
> however, makes your audience stand up-close-and-personal with
> the wall which isn't very friendly.

though strangely appropriate for the venue as its a hotel and makes it
all fall into the 'what the butler saw' idea and theme.

> I did an installation once where I internally lit one of the
> MFPV/3d-World STL viewers and mounted it on an articulated
> arm. It was then hight adjustable. It was expensive to
> build so I can't recommend it for a dozen images. You could
> consider, however, mounting the STL viewers on articulated
> arms in front of a light panel (rather than internally
> lighting each). They would be adjustable but the user would
> have to point them towards the provided light. You could put
> a transparency representation of each image on the surface of
> the wall-mounted light so people could anticipate what they
> would see inside.

actually i play with idea without the warning with my geometric
primitive and then augmented reality experiments I've been running.

> If you were going to have loose viewers laying on tables, you
> could have light boxes on the walls. I can envision
> something like a Cray-1 with vertical lights in the middle
> and a table around the perimeter.
>
> Can you tell us any more of your installation parameters?
> How big a space? Combined with prints on the walls? A
> single 24 hour event? A three week presentation?

i'm not exactly sure. Site visit this week and it maybe semi permanent.

M

Regarding the choice of backlighting for a display, it is worth
remembering that the human eye and brain form a pretty good Automatic
White Balance unit and adapt to different lighting quickly. In my
experience, it is only that first look at any given backlighting that
will make you think of the lighting as warm or cool as the case may
be. After that, your eye adapts and accepts the light.

To see how your eyes adapt, just put on any pair of anaglyph glasses
for a few minutes and then take them off and look at your surroundings
through each eye. You'll perceive two different colours (or levels of
warmth) for a while - until your brain resets your own white balance.

Matching your backlighting to the surrounding light in the venue would
be best to take away that initial perception of appearing too much one
way or the other, but either way, the eyes will adjust.

regards,

Harry Calderbank