# Singing Pumpkins Effect best practices.



## Jack-o-Lantern King (Aug 3, 2012)

Hey gang!

By now many of you have seen my WORLD FAMOUS Singing Pumpkins. If you haven't, where have you been? Visit our website NOW! *www.TheSingingPumpkin.com*

For those who HAVE seen our products, I'd like to share a few pointers on how to make the Singing Pumpkins Effect work and look good. The following is from the "Tutorial" section of our website.


First, let's talk about how to set things up. 

*Set-up:*

1) First you have to decide WHERE you are going to set up your display. A likely place is somewhere it's going to be most visible, but not cause a traffic jam to see the rest of your display. Make it close enough for people to see, but out of the traffic flow. 

2) Place the pumpkins in a row, on a flat surface, with the large one in the center and each of the two smaller pumpkins on either side of the large one. We suggest placing the pumpkins about waist high, so as to be more visible.

3) Next, place the video projector about 4'-6' away (your results may vary) from the pumpkins. Make sure it is shooting straight on and as close to the same level as the pumpkins are. Try to avoid having the projector shooting at too much of an angle, or else the images will distort or move off the pumpkins and ruin the effect.

4) Plug in all your equipment as per manufacturers recomendations.

5) Place the speakers near the pumpkins so the music sounds like it's coming from them.

6) Load the animations onto your media player/computer/DVD player and press "PLAY". Fine-tune the placement of the faces so they are centered on the pumpkins. You may find you have to move your projector around to get the placement just right.

7) That's IT! Sit back and watch the show!


*Tips:*

1) The theme of your set-up is up to you. Many people set their pumpkins on a crate, or tombstone, or bale of straw. The way you hide your projector should go along with the theme of your display. 

2) You will need to build a hiding place for your video projector and other equipment. Whatever you build, make sure the projector has enough ventilation so it doesn't overheat and shut off in the middle of a show.

3) Try to have a little bit of ambient light around your display, as that will help hide any projector overcast that may show up. However, too much light can drown out the projected image and make the effect not as bright.

4) For reference, in our videos, we are using an old NEC HT-410 projector. It has 1,000 lumens. The surrounding lights (2 porch lights, actually) are all fully on!

5) Set the media player you are playing the animations with to loop continuously. You don't want to have to press play over and over again all night!

6) Because the Jack-o-Lantern faces in our Singing Pumpkins Effects start and end in the same postions on EVERY video, the animations can be played back to back and will seamlessly transition from one animation to the next! Our 3-minute "Intermission" is a GREAT way to break up the songs or to give your show a rest for a few minutes.


So, there you have it! There are some resources links for equipment (projectors, media players, speakers) to help you get started in the "Tutorial" section of our website as well. Take some time to visit our site again and look around. Our Singing Pumpkins are guaranteed to be a hit with your guests this Halloween!

HAPPY HAUNTING!

John
*TheSingingPumpkin.com*


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## malcolm uk (May 19, 2013)

Hi John I'll be in touch in a day or so to order a couple more 

Malc


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## Scary Papa (Jan 31, 2012)

Hey Johh. Thanks for the tips. My signing pumpkins have been the hit of our Haunted Forest party for three years now. I have been trying to see the new 'Host" effect but youtube says it is not available. Where can I preview this new one?


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## Jack-o-Lantern King (Aug 3, 2012)

Scary Papa said:


> Hey Johh. Thanks for the tips. My signing pumpkins have been the hit of our Haunted Forest party for three years now. I have been trying to see the new 'Host" effect but youtube says it is not available. Where can I preview this new one?


If you are trying to view it on a mobile device, YouTube may have blocked it as per the copyright owner's request. If not, here's the link to "Ghost Host"


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## jsink49er (Sep 4, 2020)

John, I was thinking of adding your animations to my set this year. Before I buy a pack, can you confirm if they will play nice with the pumpkins I have set-up for an existing AtmoxFX animations? My concern is if the placement will be off when I switch from their video file to yours and vice versa. Just curious... Thanks! -Jonathan


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