How-to: Easy Crystal Ball Illusion Using a Projector and Hollusion Fabric
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- Here is a quick and easy how-to for making your very own crystal ball illusion using a mini projector and hollusion fabric. #Halloween #digitaldecorating #AaxaTech#MiniProjector #HalloweenProjector (See below for all of the gear used in this video!)
Aaxa HP2 Mini Projector
- 100 LED lumens
- Built-in media player
- Micro SD card slot
- USB-C (for charging and smart phone mirroring)
- 1 watt speak
- Bluetooth enabled
- Comes pre-loaded with 5 Spectral Illusions digital decorations (a $70 value)
amzn.to/3nsiee6
Fortune Teller Digital Decoration
AtmosFX Halloween Hosts | Fortune Teller | Decorating Disc Display Mode
bit.ly/3vDU3gN
12" Clear Acrylic Globe
amzn.to/3GfDpJ3
12" Photography Light Diffuser
amzn.to/3B4M9hq
AtmosFX Hollusion Fabric
bit.ly/3n67rrE
Alternative Hollusion Fabric
Power Mesh (Grey)
amzn.to/3yKkCn0
AtmosFX and Amazon links listed above are affiliate links. If you purchase directly from these links, I will receive a small commission which will help operate this channel.
Music: Jester's Playground by Robert Austin
Hi! Thanks so much for this tutorial. So helpful and so cool! I’ve gotten everything set up and I noticed that the projection goes through my material and projects on the wall too. Is this because I’m using the grey mesh fabric instead of hollusion? Or does this happen to you too?
Hey Amanda. Thank you and thanks for watching! Are you projecting in front of or behind the crystal ball?
@@ToilandTroublesDIY I plan on projecting from behind. I tested it last night by putting the projector on the floor and projecting up to the ball on a table. It looks great on the mesh screen inside the ball, but it also goes through and projects on the wall, ceiling behind. Is that normal?
Yes, this is normal. The fabric is going to catch a lot of the light but it still allows it to pass through. For the best viewing experience, I would recommend that you place your set-up outside so that the light that passes through the crystal ball has nothing to land on. If you need to place it inside and the light spilling onto a surface is inevitable, I would turn down the brightness on your projector or use a projector with a low lumen count like I did in the video. Hope that helps!
@@ToilandTroublesDIY thank you! I purchased the projector you recommended! Just glad it wasn’t user error on my part 😂
@@amandagadd601 Another situation where 'Less is More!'
Spendy little project. But I'm excited to finally see how it's done. Thanks!
Absolutely! Enjoy!
I’ve been wanting to do a madam leota hollusion but couldn’t figure out the best way to do it. Looks great!
Thanks! I have wanted to do one for a while as well but the whole process of getting a styrofoam face dialed in to look right seems a bit daunting. One year I will get around to it though! This is a quick and easy alternative in comparison.
I had the same thought! I found a video of someone showing how they made a madam leota and even a video of the Original actress' performance! Maybe you'll find it as useful as I did ua-cam.com/video/cpK1sFqHodk/v-deo.html
Me too lol
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5th 50th p0tltl5l5 t yyt@@ToilandTroublesDIY ⁵5tm8yl)
Andrew is 100% going to be in that crystal ball
Best one I have seen Yet thank you
Thank you and thanks for watching!
If you don’t happen to have scrap AtmosFX hollusion material laying around my understanding is that grey chiffon is a good substitute.
Yep, that should work just fine!
I’m doing this I’m in love! Thank you!
Best of luck and enjoy! Thanks for watching!
This is amazing! I am totally saving this video so I can try to use it next year
Awesome! Thank you for watching!
Nice approach. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
great work and very good DIY tips 😀
Thank you! 😊
Great how to! Clear and precise. Im struggling with two things which don’t appear to happen on your video: 1) the image of the fortune teller is projecting on the crystal ball mesh and also the wall behind. It’s like the mesh isn’t absorbing all the light. And 2) I get a little dot on my crystal ball which is the light of the projector bulb. Did you face either of these issues? Again, thanks for a great video!
Amazing 👍🏻👍🏽👍
Great idea. Are you projecting it from the front or the back?
Thanks for watching! The example in the video is rear projected.
Nice.
Thanks!
Great video
Thank you for watching!
I want this set up and use it as a monitor for my pc so I can catch up on all my favorite shows while I'm dressed up to look like one of the gray beards, then when my roommate walks into into my room to ask what I'm doing I'll just say "Silence, bother me not for I'm pondering my order"
😂
I’m having trouble attaching the fabric to the wire. Did as you described but it came off. Any suggestions?
Hey Mark! Thanks for watching and sorry to hear your first attempt was not successful. Do you think the fabric may have been too taut so that when you removed the thumbtacks, the fabric ripped off the wire to return to slack? If I were to do it again, I would place the fabric down on a non-stick surface, apply superglue to the wire, place the wire down onto the fabric, apply a weight to the wire to press down onto the fabric, and then allow the glue to dry. Hope that helps!
Zach, I did this this year exactly as you showed and even took your advice about gluing the diffuser wire and placing it down on the fabric and then I weighed that down with a board with some additional weights, using plates, and let it dry for 24 hours. The effect was amazing and it was a huge hit and I will be using it every year.
And some of your videos you show your outside scrim that you use for your archway. Do you have a video that shows how you put that together?
Thank you, Steve
Amazing! I’m glad it worked well for you! I don’t have any videos showing how I built the scrim but it’s quite simple - I used 1x2s to create a rectangular frame using L straps, cut it in the middle, added hinges and lock clasp buckle latches so the scrim could fold in half for easy storage, then stapled on the hollusion fabric while it was stretched taught. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
The projector is no longer available on Amazon.
Unfortunately, it’s no longer being produced by Aaxa Tech 😞. I spoke with them last week to see if it would be coming back into production but they currently do not have any plans to do so.
But is the alternative material good or is there a difference from the original one? Is the original one worth it?
Thanks!
Absolutely. Thank you!
If the projector is behind the crystal ball does that mean the image would be flipped? I’m asking because the project I want to do has messages on the screen as-well as the head
Hey Charlotte! Yes, when you choose the hollusion mode with this particular projection, the image is already flipped so the viewer is seeing it correctly.
Can u use any fabric or does it have to be the exact fabric used for the illusion effect? I’m new to all of this but obsessed with this idea. 🖤🙏 thank you for sharing
Thanks for watching! There are a few fabrics you can use but they should be similar to what is used in the video for the best effect. I have linked an alternative to what was used in the video below. Additionally, you could use grey chiffon from a fabric store which should work fine; there may just be some visible wrinkles on the fabric once inserted into the crystal ball.
amzn.to/3R7xQ3C
A silvery reflective material that's see thru would work best. If you can find that in a craft store by the yard then you'll probably save some money.
I see in the comments that the projector was behind the ball, which suggests the audience would see the light. Can you expand on projector placement, insert angle, and viewing angle? ( It would be incredible if the projector was in the base)
Absolutely. For my actual set up during Halloween, I placed the crystal ball + stand onto a black cake stand which elevated the ball about 8 or so inches above the table that the projector was sitting on. The was projector placed pretty far back into the set-up and angled upward to project onto the ball. Additionally, I placed a seat in-front of the ball for the viewer to sit at which made the viewer eye-level with the ball. All of these things together made the light of the projection pretty unnoticeable and created a very convincing hollusion. Hope that helps!
I can't help but wonder if you could make a mirror work for you here... I'm not sure how you'd set it up but using a little mirror to project into and bounce that into the screen might get your effect.
Could you paint the back of the globe to block the through projection? Then project from the front?
An interesting thought but I’m not sure. If you did, it would have to be black. Any lighter color would likely produce a double image. You would also likely have to paint the outside of the globe so with the acrylic being fairly glossy, you would likely get some reflection on the backside of the globe. I could see this working well if you could paint the interior of the globe. May be worth trying out!
Are you just projecting from behind, through the back glass of the globe?
Yes!
great idea though
Thank you!
Would this projector only for for small areas like this, or could you project from a front window also ? Thanks it was very cool and I’m hooked !!!
I can’t recommend this projector for larger surfaces as it’s not all that bright. It would do the trick in a pinch but I would only plan to use this one for smaller projections.
Hi. Excellent effect! How did you deal with the projection light being larger than your 12 inch globe? Not sure what it’s called but I’m guessing there was a lot of excess light being projected past the edge of the 12 inch cloth?
Hey and thanks for watching! This particular decoration is formatted as a circle so the edge of the decoration fit perfectly inside of the globe. Everything outside of the circle is projected as black which isn't really visible.
Wait maybe I’m confused , did you say where you got the projection of the fortune teller ? Or was it apart of the package on the projector?
Thanks for watching! The fortune teller digital decoration is from AtmosFX and the mini projector is from Aaxa. They do not come as a package but here are the links for each:
bit.ly/3vDU3gN
amzn.to/3nsiee6
@@ToilandTroublesDIY thank you so much !!
Hi, what is the best material to use beside Atmosfx? as i don't have that. I'm in the UK, this looks fantastic by the way.
Thank you! This is likely the most popular alternative that can be found on Amazon - amzn.to/3S1lIT2
This is brilliant. Do you think it would be as cool if I use a bigger ball and project a snow globe from AtmosFX?
There's no reason that wouldn't work, go for it!
As long as you find all of the parts necessary I think you could go as big as you wanted!
So I looking to make an interactive crystal ball using this method by getting the image from a video feed and using a mic near by so the actor can interact with the person any suggestions
Sounds like an amazing idea! Unfortunately, I do not have any experience with interactive displays so my best advice would be to join the AtmosFX Decorating Community group on Facebook and field your question there. I have seen several people there create interactive digital decorations.
Do you have a different recommendation for the projector? this one is no longer sold on Amazon
Yes! I would recommend the Aaxa BP1! Great bang for your buck pico projector.
Could you apply material front and back of hoop to capture more light if using high lumen projector?
Im not certain but there’s a chance that may create more issues, namely, a double image being projected.
Tried it double image
@@4602118 well at least you know now!
Does your projector have to have a small radius to play the crystal ball illusion?
The projector I have is 50" to 120" in video radians.
If 50” is the minimum your projector can project a focused image, your crystal ball will need to be around that same size which, i imagine, would be pretty difficult to source. The Aaxa HP2 that i used in this video has a minimum projection distance of 10” so it works very well for this illusion.
@@ToilandTroublesDIY thank you, I have that one as well, maybe I will change the two around. Thanks for the feedback!
@@yokitchentoddalston3329 anytime!
it appears the link to the projector is not valid any more--do you have another recommendation?
Looks like Aaxa has discontinued that model unfortunately. For the size and price range, I would recommend the Aaxa BP1 which a great bang for your buck!
amzn.to/3V16C2G
@@ToilandTroublesDIY THANK YOU!
@@MattCardiff you got it!
What did you use for the base?
The base is from the candle section at Hobby Lobby!
Hi. So i have this all put together but I’m having issues making the projection the size of the 12 inch ball. Right now the image is really small. Maybe a half the size. How do i get the image bigger?
Hey Tiffany. You will likely just need to place the crystal ball farther away from the projector to enlarge the image. In this video, the projector is about 4.5 feet away from the ball. Hope that helps!
Amazing tutorial! Thank you so much! Looking to replicate this with ability to stream video... It says on the link for the projector it is not compatible with a pc/laptop. Was hoping to use a raspberry pi or arduino or mini pc so would need this feature. Other projectors are listing minimum distance needed as 7 feet but my setup would be more like a foot away from the crystal ball. Any suggested options for projectors for me? Thank you so much in advance for any help! Amazing video!
Hey Cailey! Thank you and thanks for watching. I would check out the Aaxa P400. I will be getting my hands on this one very soon to test out but it may fit the bill of what you are looking for. amzn.to/3abAeHh
@@ToilandTroublesDIY Fantastic! If you do test and give it a review, I will be sure to check it out! Thank you so much again! Incredible video, love your work!
Review will be posted on August 3rd!
@@ToilandTroublesDIY yas!! Can’t wait! Thank you so much!!
what keeps the projector light from reflecting off the glass globe are you aiming projector straight on or from the back?
Thanks for watching. The projector is placed behind the globe so you do not automatically see any reflection on the front of the globe. However, the reflections you see will depend on your viewing angle. If you look at the globe straight on, you will see some reflection. You can see this around the 4:13 mark in the video. Just keep in mind that digital decorating is all about getting creative with the angle at which you place your projector to minimize giving away the illusion!
@@ToilandTroublesDIY thanks, you are clearly very creative!
Hi, sorry to be a pain. Can you tell me what scene from Halloween hosts are you using? is there a scene that just shows the head? thank you.
No problem! It’s the decorating disc mode.
@@ToilandTroublesDIY Thank you.
Gray fabric isn't available, does the color matter too much? The only option is "nude" color.
The color does matter in both how the image appears on the material and how noticeable it is. I don't have experience projecting onto a nude colored fabric but I can't imagine the results would be great. I would try for white if grey is not an option.
hey, how the crescent moon on the table is called? where did you get it from?
The crescent moon is from Spirit Halloween. I picked it up in store last year.
@@ToilandTroublesDIY ok thanks!
Where did you get the video you used in this video tutorial?
It’s from AtmosFX. I have a link to it in the description.
hello i will like to know if u sell ur product u make
if so are u will to sell this . I can't find the projector for this .
I'm getting a triple image effect on my crystal ball. One on the back of the globe, one on the material, and one on the front part of the globe. How do I fix that?
I would try turning down the brightness if you can and see if that helps at all.
@@ToilandTroublesDIY thank you so much for the quick response I will try that and is there a recommended angle for the projector meaning should I project from a lower angle or a higher angle or directly from behind?
For best results, try to have the projector sit lower than the globe base and project upward into to globe from behind.
@@ToilandTroublesDIY Thank you 🙏
How do i make one too
Where did you get the base? Thanks!
Hey Hillary! I found the base at Hobby Lobby in the candle section and painted it.
Can you post a picture can’t see it very well in video
Also the size please
How much would you charge to sell me the whole system made?
Please send me an email at toilandtroublesdiy@gmail.com if you are still interested!
not a good start looking at the amazon reviews
I read the recent reviews but I don't have any issues with the copy they sent me and Aaxa's customer service is great regarding issues and returns. I would not personally use it for anything large scale but it is great for this 12" effect.
Wow you need a box cutter sponsor to send you a sharp knife.
😂
The hardest part you don't show which is you putting the fabric ring back into the globe. Sheesh it's difficult
Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it turned out well for you!