# Help Please - Recommendations For singing pumpkins projectors



## nightcast (Sep 8, 2011)

I am looking to add the Singing Pumpkins to my yard haunt this year. With all the younger TOT'er's I think they will get a kick out it.

I have been searching the forum and reading all the different posts about the projectors. Since the Singing Pumpkins is not needing to be Cinema Quality, I am wondering what people are really using as projectors. One of the most helpful things I came across was KICKTHEFOG's video review of three projectors. I agreed with him that the Mitsubishi xd500u is a great projector to have for larger displays ( window's, doors, etc...). But for the Singing Pumpkins? 

I am looking for something more reasonable I think. I am generally thinking the smaller units, with multimedia built in for the video, and an external speaker port for better sound. This way it is easier to disguise in the yard. But there are so many units, many looking to be the same unit under different names, and some even different properties. It is enough to drive one nuts.

For all of you actually displaying the Singing Pumpkins out there . . . What are you using as a projector? What native resolution does it have and how many lumens?

Don't get me wrong I realize the brighter the better, I do. But this project will only be used for the Singing Pumpkins. I am not worried about seeing it in DAYLIGHT. I want something to be seen from dusk to dark. There will always be some ambient light, never complete darkness.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My brain is mush at this point.


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

Best bet is ebay. There's always a lot of units for sale cheap just be sure to get one that has a lot of hours left on the lamp. Epsons are a good choice.


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## JCO (Dec 4, 2013)

J-Man said:


> Best bet is ebay. There's always a lot of units for sale cheap just be sure to get one that has a lot of hours left on the lamp. Epsons are a good choice.


Exactly right on all counts. I have three projectors. All are Epsons, all came from eBay, all are over 2000 lumens, and they ranged in price from $112 to $250. The only thing I would add to J-Man's post is to make sure it has the connections you need. Not all projectors have HDMI, for instance, or Audio Out ports, etc etc.


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## Skeletoncrew (Oct 10, 2013)

Below is copied and pasted off of Amazon, this is what we have. It's very small, easy to hide and works fine .. Even with a street light on that side of the house. I'm not home right now .. Later I will try to upload a video of our singing pumpkins from last year though. 

3M MP225a Mobile Projector
by 3M

Up to 2 hours of battery life per charge (or runs continuously on AC power)
Projects a screen size of up to 80 inches diagonally
Compatible with iPhone, iPod, iPad, iPad 2, laptops and gaming devices.
32 lumens of brightness
Audio out for external speakers or headphones


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## Skeletoncrew (Oct 10, 2013)

Forgot got I had one uploaded to youtube .. Not the best quality, but shows the projector gets the job done. We plug it into my daughters beat box, which is small, easy to hide and loud!


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## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

A friend at work picked up an Epson projector when the local community college was selling off some equipment. $25.00. She wasn't sure how many hours was on the bulb, but at that price you can afford to get a replacement. SVGA resolution.


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

Craigslist always works for me.


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## nightcast (Sep 8, 2011)

Skeletoncrew said:


> Below is copied and pasted off of Amazon, this is what we have. It's very small, easy to hide and works fine .. Even with a street light on that side of the house. I'm not home right now .. Later I will try to upload a video of our singing pumpkins from last year though.
> 
> 3M MP225a Mobile Projector
> by 3M
> ...



Video looks great actually. You are really using only a 32 lumen projector with that? 

I have looked at a number of these smaller and cheaper units ranging from 80 to 150 lumens. What gets me is so many reviews say they are worthless. But I wonder what they are really projecting with it. I just want to do the Singing Pumpkins.

I am a bit concerned about not being able to get the correct cables for the 3M unit since I dont have ANY Apple products. Also, the 3M is a bit pricier than I would like to go for this specific need / project. I am already planning on the XD2000u for another project.


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## nightcast (Sep 8, 2011)

I want to thank everyone who has responded so far. Thank You.

Is everyone really using the higher (2000+) lumen projectors for projecting the Singing Pumpkin?

I do plan on getting the XD2000u, but I have that in mind for larger more detailed projections like the Grim Reaper or floating ghosts in windows and doorways.

So once again . . . Can anyone pipe in about the smaller projectors? I have been all over the forum, ebay, amazon, etc.... That's why I am confused and looking for peoples real experience with these.


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

I used this last time I did a singing pumpkin display. Worked perfectly fine for me and is very small. 

http://www.aaxatech.com/products/p4_pico_projector.htm


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## J-Man (Feb 1, 2011)

nightcast said:


> I want to thank everyone who has responded so far. Thank You.
> 
> Is everyone really using the higher (2000+) lumen projectors for projecting the Singing Pumpkin?
> 
> ...


While I can't speak for everyone. I use a 2000 lumen Epson for my Pumpkin Projections. Again, if you watch the listings on ebay you can usually get a decent working Epson for around $100. While you may get by with something less powerful, a 2000 lumen projector will give you flexibility down the road should you decide to do something different.


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

I agree with J-Man. However I have three pico projectors (the small ones) and they work just fine for singing pumpkins. I think you just need to see if you want it for pumpkins or to use with other things down the road. Now--- to add even more to your decision making. I did a little review of those 50$ Projectors on amazon a while back and posted it up here. That also seemed to work well. I will put a link up to a video I made for you to compare.






In this video all projections were done with pico projectors. One aaxa p4 for the pirate ship- one gigaware which they don't sell anymore and the cheap 50$ one at the end for the pumpkins. This was also shot with my phone and the light on so that added a little more light making things less dark. I can say everyone loved the pumpkins and they were done with a cheap projector. One thing I would add is- I don't think I would use that projector for anything else though. It has poor resolution and may not be good for much else. Especially if it is a detailed projection you want to do.


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## Skeletoncrew (Oct 10, 2013)

Nightcast .. I can totally understand you not wanting to spend that on a projector and I think everyone's ideas on cutting cost are great. I bought mine back in 2013 and paid about $60 less, even then I hemmed and hawed, but it was too close to Halloween to go any other route. I will say we've gotten our money out of it, since I have teenagers ... The girls and their friends use it a lot to hook up to gaming, computers, DVD .. All sorts of stuff. It's apple compatible .. But hooks up to everything. That video was shot with my ipad, handy .. But grainy in the dark. ?

As far as smaller projectors, this is the only one I've had experience with and can really vouch for. 


Here's how we use ours. There is a cord to buy to hook it up to a DVD player. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HIM428/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1


We hook it up to the DVD and hide them in an antique wooden tool chest out of an old mill I bought at auction. I leave the top cracked just enough to project out of. It's rustic and blends with the vignette I set up to disguise it. We live in town and on a corner lot, there is a street light right across the road from where this is being projected and one several yard down the road in back of it. We also have lots of blue and green lights around the area too. Hopefully the pics help. 

1) the projector in the box with lid open
2) the scene from the front of the box
3) daytime where we are projecting on to
The rest are just some of the light issues we are dealing with.


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## Icepick (Nov 24, 2013)

You can get away with toy like projectors (wonder wall, eye clops) but their prices are still from 25-100$. With the pumpkins you don't need as much resolution or lumens (lower the lumens, the closer you will have to place the projector,and less ambient light you can get away with). That being said, you will have way more option buying a better one. Trust me. I bought an eye clops and a wonder wall. The two cost as much (more after shipping) as a descent used projector. With a better projector you could "map" a section of the video for your pumpkins, while the rest of the viewable surface lands on another prop. It's sorta like doing picture in picture, but using video editing software, you can make any size or amount of PIP's as you want.


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

Icepick---can you elaborate more on mapping or PIP? Maybe on another thread? I am very interested in this but have no clue how to do it. I do have Adobe premiere pro and was interested in doing some editing. Sorry to ask here but you "Picked" my interest. Pun intended.


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## Icepick (Nov 24, 2013)

http://www.halloweenforum.com/tutor...6-projection-mapping-tutorial.html?highlight=

I don't want to hijack the thread,but here's a link to a tutorial I whipped up. Shows the basics that should apply to most software.


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## redmms250713 (Apr 28, 2014)

not sure your budjet but here is a 3000 lums projector for only $325 shipped AND its 3D with hdmi and regular computer monitor (xga).

http://sellout.woot.com/offers/benq...erm=0_c5ca76da11-4bd8806579-281293850#tracked


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## Rob_Raz (Sep 16, 2012)

I got my XD500U on ebay for 80 bucks shipped if I recall correctly, and I have seen some even cheaper. It may be a little overkill for singing pumpkins, but any other smaller projector isn't going to be alot cheaper and you have the option to use it later for bigger projections. Planning on getting another one this year for singing pumpkins myself.


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## JCO (Dec 4, 2013)

Look on eBay right now and you'll find lots of results searching for Epson projectors under $100 and more than a few under $50. This one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-Power...235?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fc18d863 is currently bidding under a dollar and ends in less than 48 hours.


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## nightcast (Sep 8, 2011)

JCO said:


> Look on eBay right now and you'll find lots of results searching for Epson projectors under $100 and more than a few under $50. This one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Epson-Power...235?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27fc18d863 is currently bidding under a dollar and ends in less than 48 hours.


Appreciate the help. I am currently watching and considering this. I still would like to do a small less powerful unit with the multimedia built in for the pumpkins. Less equipment and power to deal with out in the yard, but this might just make me rethink doing more this year, like in the windows.


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## nightcast (Sep 8, 2011)

redmms250713 said:


> not sure your budjet but here is a 3000 lums projector for only $325 shipped AND its 3D with hdmi and regular computer monitor (xga).


I missed it. I haven't used WOOT before. I saw a Pyle Projector a while back but down in the fine print it made me a bit worried. They had disclaimers that pretty much said... buyer beware. Didn't look like it followed the WOOT policies for buy/returns they had posted, and products might not actually be "new". Made me a bit unsure about WOOT. Have you used them before?


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## Danski (Mar 26, 2014)

nightcast said:


> Appreciate the help. I am currently watching and considering this. I still would like to do a small less powerful unit with the multimedia built in for the pumpkins. Less equipment and power to deal with out in the yard, but this might just make me rethink doing more this year, like in the windows.


I can't help but agree here. I used the usb last year and it was really a treat not having to use a media player or dvd player.


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## RCIAG (Jul 19, 2010)

I've used Woot! a TON but never for any electronics. Usually there's a discussion section where people give reviews or post links to the last sale of a similar item. I do know that a lot of their stuff is reconditioned & while Woot! may not cover any problems the manufacturer might. So read the discussion section & if there's any questions you can ask there & will usually get or find an answer. You do need to join Woot! to join in the discussions but Woot! is worth it.

In fact right now I am wearing one of the many shirts I've bought. They usually have some cool Halloween shirts in October. And you do have to jump on the offer when you see it because it may not be there later.


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## creepymagic (Apr 16, 2012)

We use a ViewSonic, we bought it new for around $300 and it has served us well for the past few years. Our singing pumpkins are in a somewhat lighted area (behind a bar during a Halloween Party) so we felt we needed 3000L.






The bar provides the music for the party, but there are only about 6 singing pumpkin songs that we have so we improvise with the pumpkins just rolling their eyes over and over for other music (munster theme, addams family theme, Halloween theme, etc, these songs are all instrumental). Hopefully there will be more singing pumpkin songs this year.


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

I use wonderwall projectors,way cheap and work great so long as its pretty dark where you set them up.


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

creepymagic said:


> We use a ViewSonic, we bought it new for around $300 and it has served us well for the past few years. Our singing pumpkins are in a somewhat lighted area (behind a bar during a Halloween Party) so we felt we needed 3000L.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Hey gang!

Just thought I'd chime in with my recommendations and tips for video projectors for singing pumpkins, as I actually create and sell Singing Pumpkins Effects.

Many of the comments and suggestions on here are SPOT ON. When it comes to projecting singing pumpkins, you don't have to necessarily have the brightest projector on the market. I suggest 1,000 lumens, only because that is what I use, and it provides a sharp, bright image that doesn't have to fight with the ambient light coming from the rest of your display or other lighting. HOWEVER, the smaller pico projectors, with considerably less lumens, will work as well. You just have to watch the brightness of the ambient light around your singing pumpkins display.

When people ask me what projector I suggest, I usually tell them to get the brightest projector their budget will allow. If it's a 90 lumens AAXA pico projector, or a 75 lumens off-brand LED projector, or a 100 lumens whatever, as long as it fits the budget, is serviceable, and provides a clear image, it will work just fine. Because of the relative close proximity of the projector to the pumpins, it isn't necessary to have a top-shelf projector. However, if you find that the image isn't showing up as well, you might need to address the ambient light in the area and take it down a notch.

I actually have some projectors I suggest in the "Tutorials" section of my website. The links take you to Amazon, and they represent a decent range of quality and price. Take a look here..."Tutorials"

As for song selection: I currently have 12 songs for our Singing Pumpkins Effects, with a few more coming for 2015. You can see them all here...."Singing Pumpkins Effects"

Hope that helps, everyone! If you all still have questions for me, just send me a message via our website!

*Happy Haunting!*
John
TheSingingPumpkin.com


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## spookydave (May 14, 2014)

I use a wonderwall for my pumpkins, works fine, is loud enough and was 15 bucks


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