[Spook Show]

My wife said she will buy me one for my bday

Only I don't know anything about them


I want to be able to do something like this

[/QUOTE]



Will the basic cheap projector do this and are the cheap ones any good? I don't really want her to spend to much since I will only use it once a year.

 

[Icepick]

A cheap (assuming you mean wonder wall types)projector will give mediocre (at best) results. If it were singing pumpkins or something simple that wouldn't need any detail, then the cheap projectors will do. Good projectors can be found at reasonable prices around the net. I can tell you that for what I use mine for, lumens is key and not so much contrast ratio. I have a lot of ambient (street light) light, so I can get a low contrast model with good lumens. If I had absolutely no ambient light, then a higher contrast would be needed.

 

[Spook Show]

I have a street light right in front of my house. What brands should I look for that she can get for like $100 or cheaper? I know zero about them so what are things I should be looking for? Would a mini projector work?

 

[Icepick]

I can't answer on mini projectors, as I haven't used one. If it's for a single small area, as in the linked video, I would assume those minis would work. I myself need a lot more coverage than a door way, so I went with a 3300 lumens projector, to cover 3/4 of my house. For the linked video, I would think one with 500 or so lumens would work.

 

[Spook Show]

It will be used for just a door way.

 

[DaveintheGrave]

I found a decent used projector on E-bay last year. If I remember correctly, I paid $60 for it and I has around 2200 lumens.
I've used it for Dminor's "Ghost Maid" projection for the last two Halloweens and it's worked great!

 

[Abunai]

The video you linked is from AtmosFearFX's "Ghostly Apparitions" DVD (got it for Christmas).
They sell it on their website for $40. You can occasionally find it cheaper on the Web.
If you're just doing it for a doorway, and you are trying to stay under $100, I'd look around on Ebay, or even Craigslist (if you don't mind used) for the highest lumen projector that you can find in your price range.

 

[MadCityHaunt]

I would say for the budget range you listed to focus on Lumens and Resolution for your projector.

It needs to be able to do at least 720x480 (DVD) which some of the micro / toy projectors may not do. The higher the Lumens the farther the throw distance of the projector is and the less ambient light will wash out your picture. Also note that many projectors have an Eco setting they may be set to by default. Turning this off can increase your light output to it's full potential but will also decrease the life of the bulb.

 

[EviLEye]

It really depends on the setting, but for the best visual effect you need to have something well over 1,000 lumen IMO. I have one of those 400 lumen LED projectors that are all over ebay, and it served its purpose well in shining one of the creepy crawler videos down onto a floor (looked like spiders running around). But the area was only lit with a black light and any other ambient light would've negated the effect. Plus with that video, it wasn't as important regarding resolution as we just needed the contrast of black things scurrying around.