Thread: Another Problem with Pepper's Ghost

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Okay guys... I know that there have been a million posts about pepper's ghost effect, but I have yet to encounter a tutorial or post (on this website or any other) that will explain/solve the problem I'm having with my prop.

Basically I'm having a problem with the size and look of the image. I went to staples and got one of those page magnifiers, taped it to a cardboard box the size of my T.V., set up the plexi-glass, brightened the image on the T.V., and increased the contrast.

The size of the image is still way too small for what I want. Even with the page magnifier, the reflected image only gets about 18"x12" ... And on top of that, you can clearly see the edges of where the image starts and stops, despite increased contrast/brightness, and everything except the image (person) I want to project being black.

I've been working on this prop since last year and have yet figured out how to get it to work. I wanted to incorporate it into my haunt last year, but we simply couldn't get it to work in time for the big day. I have yet to figure this out and am stumped.

Help? Pretty please with sugar on top?

Okay, I've fiddle with my set up a little more since last night, and there's some additional information that I want to include.

First of all, I forgot to mention that the T.V. I have is a 19" or 20" screen. I've also figured out that part of the problem was the angel I had the glass at. The biggest I can get the image is when I lean the plexi against the bottom half of the window. But it's still not nearly big enough, and I wanted to be able to have it at least the size of a regular full-sized torso.

I hope this additional information will encourage someone to post. Thanks for any/all advice in advance.

I don't consider myself an expert on this but we do have a peppers ghost and a projected ghost in our haunt. I think a peppers ghost is a reflection of an image on a clear pane of glass or plexiglas. Like any other reflection, the farther away the reflected image is from the original the smaller it gets. Projecting directly onto the glass won't work like a reflection does. The reflection is what gives it the transparent ghost effect on the glass.

It sounds like you are trying to make the image larger than the TV. If that is so, I'm thinking it needs to be magnified and projected from the TV onto a mirror that is turned toward the plexi. I use a "short throw" projector for a an image we project it onto a scrim. The scrim is simply a big sheet of sheer black cloth. You can see through it it but when an image is projected onto it it at night it also looks transparent. Like you, I was also trying to make the image larger and since I had such a short distance from the projection source to the scrim I had to use a mirror. If an image is projected onto a mirror it effectively increases the distance from the projector to the screen. This is true for projected images but not for reflected images. If you increase the distance of a reflected image it gets smaller.


I've seen the homemade tv projectors that use the page magnifier in a box. A hole is cut in one end of the box, the magnifier is placed over the hole and then the tv is placed in the box. Once the right distance is achieved from the tv to the hole and from the hole to the wall you get a fairly focused image. This projected image will be larger than the tv. If this is what you are doing, you are projecting and either need to use a mirror to create a reflection onto your plexi or somehow make use of a scrim to project the image directly on.

Okay, so let me know if I'm right with my interpretation of what you're saying.

If I wanted to make my image bigger than the T.V., I would need a magnifier (which I've already made), but I would need to put it further away from the T.V. to encompass the rest of the image (right now it's about 5-6" from the T.V.). Then, I'd need to project the magnified image onto a mirror, and the further away the projector/magnifier is from the mirror, the larger the image will be. After I project the image onto a mirror, I could then do a one to one reflection of the image onto a piece of plexi.

And I would need the mirror because I am working with relatively limited space.

Let me know if I got what you're trying to say right. I'm not very good at physics. =P...

Yes. I don't understand how but the magnifier and the hole somehow create a lens. The lens you create is then set some distance from the tv screen. Pics I remember seeing on the internet showed the tv screen probably 18 inches to maybe 36 inches from the "lens". The tv and the lens were "enclosed" with tape and more cardboard to keep any of the tv light from escaping except thru the lens. This is the only way I know of to make your tv image bigger.

The scrim projection we have in our haunt has maybe 4ft between the scrim and the "short trow" projector. That distance includes about 18inches from the projector to the mirror. A short throw projector has a lens in it that gives you a large projection at a short distance. With what we have I get an image that is a little over 4ft long which works well enough for our purposes. Our peppers ghost is fairly small. The tv we use is a 19" about 3ft away from the plexi. The image is small but it is placed about 5ft in front of a tombstone. The distance from the tombstone makes it appear larger because it is closer to the viewer than the tombstone it appears in front of.

I tried lots of solutions trying to avoid the expense of buying a projector. I tried a peppers ghost effect using a 30" widescreen lcd. I tried to use a rear projection tv lens to enlarge the image of a 7" dvd player. I tried making a projector with an overhead projector and a 19" lcd computer monitor. I gave up. I just didn't have enough room in the space I had to cram it in. Now one thing I should say that made what I wanted even more difficult is that I was obsessed with making sure that you could not see the bright projector light.

Here is a link to a very short and not so good video that you'll have to pause to see. The projection is a woman in a white dress laying on her back hovering above a coffin in the back of a hearse. The peppers ghost is a skeleton but the video is so dark you can't see the tombstone behind it.

YouTube- Hearse Ghost

I can see why you had such a problem with limited space, with your Pepper's Ghost effect being in the back of a hearse. ... Fortunately, I have a bit more space to work with, so this is what I was thinking for the setup:



(Please let me know if the image isn't visible.)

Do you think this would work? Or do I need the mirror and plexiglass at a different angle?

The best way would be to use a projector and a screen. Then the plexi will reflect the full size image thats on the screen. You can get pretty cheap projectors these days. I saw a cheapo at Best Buy for 99.00. I bought one for 79.00 (wonderwall)
These are pretty poor at detail and brightness though. If you can find a real one with low lamp hours on CL or something that may be the ticket.
Pete

Originally Posted by captpete

The best way would be to use a projector and a screen. Then the plexi will reflect the full size image thats on the screen. You can get pretty cheap projectors these days. I saw a cheapo at Best Buy for 99.00. I bought one for 79.00 (wonderwall)
These are pretty poor at detail and brightness though. If you can find a real one with low lamp hours on CL or something that may be the ticket.
Pete

Unfortunately I don't have the resources to shell out $70-$90 for a projector (even a cheap one). I don't mind a complicated setup, or something that requires tedious or even labor intensive procedures, just as long as it's not too expensive. I'm trying to find a solution to match the materials I have now (T.V., page magnifier, and plexiglass), and maybe buying one or two inexpensive additional parts.

Ahh, I think I see now. Edit!

Originally Posted by lksmart

I can see why you had such a problem with limited space, with your Pepper's Ghost effect being in the back of a hearse. ... Fortunately, I have a bit more space to work with, so this is what I was thinking for the setup:



(Please let me know if the image isn't visible.)

Do you think this would work? Or do I need the mirror and plexiglass at a different angle?

Your effect is to be viewed from inside. Ok. hmmm this changes things. So you I'm guessing you want something to appear in "front" of the window and that's why you are doing it inside and why you have the angle of the plexi facing the door. What you have drawn would send your projected image through the plexi and would only reflect the light from the box on the mirror. I think what you would see in the plexi would be the same as what you would see if you looking at the projector in the mirror. The projected image needs to splash on some kind of screen surface where you have the mirror drawn. I don't know if you will get the size or brightness you want though. The image will be magnified onto the screen surface in the corner where you have the mirror drawn but it will be reduced in size by the distance of the plexi to the screen.

What is it you are projecting? Could you get the effect you want from outside of the house?