In addition to Scott's comments...
>I am fairly new at this and I am starting a project in which I will be
>projecting my lifeforms animation with a videobeam. Can I do this directly
>from lifeforms or do I have to export to another format or program? What
>are your experiences using lifeforms animation with a beam projector?
I've never projected directly from lifeforms itself, althought this isn't
necessarily a problem. The projector will show the same as your computer
monitor. So if you project directly from lifeforms you'll have the
lifeforms windows, menus, desktop etc. visible (unless there's now a way
to turn this off, I have an old version of the software). If you want a
clean image, then you could export the lifeforms animation as a quicktime
movie (animation compression is usually best) and use "present movie"
from the quicktime player application to play the movie full screen or
with a black border - no windows/menus/desktop etc. This may also give
you a better frame rate for the animation. For ultimate frame rate &
reliability, but lower resolution, turn the animation into a quicktime
movie and transfer this to videotape. The framerate will be a reliable
25(PAL) or 30(NTSC) frames per second, but the resolution will be the
same as television - 768x576(PAL) or 640x480(NTSC).
>Also are there any words of wisdom concerning the best resolution for a
>beam projector for projecting an image several meters square. Is 800X600
>enough or are higher resolutions recommended?
Higher resolution will give you better image quality, but don't
compromise the frame rate - when viewing movement a fast, stable frame
rate is vital (24fps is good, the same as film). If your computer can
produce the higher resolution at a fast frame rate then do it.
Richard
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Richard Lord richard@bigroom.co.uk
Big Room http://www.bigroom.co.uk/
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