Looking for a search term

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

My local woodturning group are thinking about updating their video projection equipment for demonstrations. I would be interested to hear from members of different clubs what systems they use, and what search terms I would use in Google to find them. I thought we were being a bit modern by projecting colour images but apparently the systems can sing and dance these days!!
So ideally looking for cameras,projectors or projectin equipment, it would be nice to have a control panel that will allow an operator to zoom in on an object (the lathe or work piece).We have been thinking, with the advent of all the zooming events that have been going on that we might explore booking an online demonstration so that we can see international turners and those from this country that live to far away to offer us a demo. We would also need to know what internet access we would need.
So not a lot then, any offers?

[Bill21]

I can’t help but would be interested in what others think. I’m not sure what system my club uses but it’s not that good in my opinion. Part of the problem is the lighting at our venue. If we turn down the lights for a good image on the screen it’s too dark for the demonstrators. The other problem is the signal regularly drops out between the camera and projector. I’m guessing the camera we have isn’t designed to drive a projector full time? Any insights into this particular problem would be appreciated.

[Bryan Milham]

I grabbed this from somewhere, no idea how many questions it will answer for you but is is a start.

[Paul Hannaby]

I would look for digital projectors and go for one with HDMI and you may also need 15pin VGA for compatibility with older equipment but that depends what you are planning to plug in to the projector. Pretty much all projectors should have composite video as well, which you may need for some of the older non-HDMI video cameras.

For internet access, you would need a service that would deliver at least 3Mb/s so ADSL2, ADSL2+, VDSL or 4/5G if using a mobile broadband from a phone or mifi device.

We have five sets of the cameras we used at the last Seminar if you want to borrow some of those to try but those don't come with a projector.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Thanks all. Early days yet.We have to get in touch with the hall committee to find out the internet access etc. before we commit to anything.

[David Buskell]

John,

I may be able to add some meat to this as we (Cheam) have been there, done that etc.

We updated our video kit in 2013 and our PA stuff in 2019.  That article is from the AAW Journal and was written by our last Wednesday's demonstrator, Emiliano Achaval. There's an update on it in YouTube BTW.

We decided to upgrade so we could get IRD's in our venue, so the following notes might help.

First thing we found is check when your wireless mic for the demonstrator was brought. Some frequencies are now banned.

Secondly we upgraded our PA to enable it to make all the connections needed. Venue PA and also wireless mic for the members to speak with the demonstrators.

Third -you'll need a laptop with at least 3 USB ports and HDMI out.

Fourth - Get a good mic for the "roving mic". I suggest a Samson XPD2 handheld which is about $120 from B & H Video in New York - excellent service from them btw.

Fifth -We beam the video feed from the demonstrator - usually in HD- through the laptop to a projector. Our projector does not beam out HD so we only get SD. Just as well, because Zoom are only beaming SD at the moment

Sixth - Join the Lucid Woodturners group - This is information central on all things IRD. Alan Zenreich is the guru and he or one of our 550 plus members will always have the answer to your question, as Paul and Phil can verify.

Seventh - we had the same issue with download speeds and broadband. Our first IRD was back in 2017 with Lyle Jamieson and we had to use outside facilities -a FE College- to get the demo. We then had a couple of years negotiating with our venue to get access and a faster  speed broadband into the venue. This all done, we had Alan & Lauren Zenreich as our first remote in 2019 followed by Cindy Drozda. These last two demos were beamed to our venue. Emiliano's one last week was direct to home.

Eighth - I haven't touched video but we have a Canon  HFG 25 Legria, on a pan/tilt head and 3 metre boom arm on wheels.This camera was state of the art back in 2013 when we bought it for the Jimmy Clewes demo, but I am sure there are more improved ones available now.

Try cybermarket.co.uk for quotes on kit - they were the only ones I found that understood what we needed.

There are plenty of control units to switch with - you really should ask that question in Lucid as I'm not sure which is best. I think Phil uses the Elgato one so might be worth talking to him.

Assuming you get a good wifi signal, a new PA, camera and viewing kit will enable you to better present any in-person demos you  have and also give you the capability to receive and send IRD's.

Happy to chat through this lot and/or our experiences with you. If our venue was open, I'd offer a Zoom tour of our set-up.

David

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Dave thanks for this, email sent

[seventhdevil]

i have a digital projector i will sell if you want it. i also have a screen as i used to watch movies in my room but can no longer do this.

[The Bowler Hatted Turner]

Thanks for the offer Steve but we have to wait until we can have a committee meeting before deciding what to do or the direction to go. I was just trying to find options for now.