I'm pretty new to vjing, and atm I've vjayed at two parties with resolume 3 and the source of boundless envy from my girlfriend -> my lovable apc40.
At both gigs I've borrowed two Acer P1100 projectors and used them through a triplehead in backthrow mode, and actually they weren't all that bad, I didn't notice the much debated rainbow effect and there was enough lumens to see the contours of my loops at the other end of the room (30metres). The only con I noticed was that black weren't as black as i would like it to be, I'm guessing that's a contrast ratio issue? Or maybe the cloth that was being projected on?
Anyway.. Now I am hooked and want to step my vj game, so I've decided that it's time to invest in my own projector specifically for vjing. Therefore I have been scanning the internet the past couple of days for information on projectors and vjing, reading reviews, comparing specs and prizes. The thing is, I'm definately more knowledgeable now about the different aspects of projection, but at the same time, I'm now very confused because of all those options in the marked and not least: all those opinions uttered on various blogs and forums.. Some hail LCD as the only solution, others say that dlp have come along way and "rainbowing" isn't a big issue, some even suggest LED+Laser projectors. And then there is the presumably more sensible ones, saying that every gig is different and therefore requires different features. I tend to agree with the latter, but that doesn't leave me any less confused as a freshman of vjing. Also, some of the discussions I've read were as old as 2005, but I can imagine that a thing or two has happened since? Where I'm getting at is basicly that of all the things I've read, none of the advice given were particularly good with regards to a first time buyer with a limited budget, experience, and future outlook.
Imagine you was a vj-noob, and you were thinking of buying a projector, you're not exactly shure what kind of gigs you are going to be using it at (most likely not a stadium, more likely small/mediumsized clubs), maybe you would like to try out 3d mapping some cubes like you've seen others do in ooh so many youtube videos and maybe you would also like it to work adequately with some ambient light. You don't want to mess to much with cleaning the thing and adjusting to many parametres before it looks good and runs smooth - you just want it to work with as little effort as possible... And then there's your budget, because honestly: you don't know if you're going to make money from your gigs in the future, atm you're just eager to vj without being broke (Vj's need food too) so you are ready to spend up to and around 1000 american dollar (provided it's a convincing deal) on a projector - which one would you buy? And would it be the same projector if you were to buy two of them (I'm considering this option)?
Thanks in advance and cheers to the developers of resolume for making such intuitive software - You guys rock!
