Beamer project's image onto wall - How to?

[Drawehn]

Hi all,
I need to do an image that shows a beamer which projects a photo onto a wall.

Does anyone have an idea how to go about it? The room will be dark apart from the projection so there should probably be volumetric light from the beamer to the wall as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[Alan Iglesias]

You can project an image using Max's standard Spotlight. Create a Spotlight and then add a Projector Map (under Advanced Effects) for your image, and then add the volume effect which is under Atmospheres & Effects (Add/Volume Light - a little noise is always nice here, too). Be sure to use the standard Max Shadow Map with the Spotlight.

Hope this helps,

-Alan

[Deflaminis]

Make sure to make the light square instead of round in the light properties...

[Drawehn]

Thanks a lot guys! It's working quite well although I am a tiny bit disappointed that there is no Vray light to achieve the same effect.

Thanks also for your reference image, Alan, it was quite helpful!

[Alan Iglesias]

Most welcome Stefanie.

When I first started using Vray, I too was a bit disappointed that they did not have a spot-type light. Then, as I looked closer I found that it would have been pretty much re-inventing the wheel, as you can do plenty of "Vray stuff" with the Max spotlight, especially when using Vray shadows with it. I guess the main thing I miss is the fact that the Max spotlight is a point light, and it would be nice to have a Vray "adjustable" area light to use as a spot.

So...since Vray lights are physically correct, I wonder if it is possible to take a Vray spherical light, arrange it with a parabolic reflector and lens, and get some sort of spot effect, like in real life? Hmmm..I'll have to mess with that when I get a chance...

That being said, using the old Max spotlight for projection and rendering with GI takes an old trick and really makes it look great. I can remember years ago having to fake the reflected light off the screen, but with GI it's all automatic and for those of us that have been doing this for a long time, it's a kick to see that happen so easily.

Oh yeah, regarding the image, the Bugs Bunny model was something I did way back when using spline patch modeling back before there was any sort of subdiv modeling in Max!

Just an old guy hanging around...

-Alan