Tools You Need on Projection Gigs

Projection mapping isn’t just about the content; it’s also about how you get there. From calculations on light to angles and distance, if you make one wrong assumption or show up with the wrong gear, it’s all over. Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of strategies and tools to help get a projection mapping project going smoothly, and I’d love to share it to help make your project go smoothly as well.

1) Measurements and Models

To reduce uncertainty about geometry, brightness, and access before you spend money or resources, it’s best to obtain measurements and models that help solidify your strategy. 

For this, I often use a 3D scan software like Polycam to grab quick scans of the room or the structure I’m mapping. This, along with a laser measure, is very helpful for locking in distances and angles. 

Getting ambient light measurements and knowing the brightness of the projectors is super helpful. Using a lux meter allows you to do this, and they’re fairly cheap. Getting measurements for different times of the day for a permanent installation or taking measurements during your event time is great, especially if it’s partially during the day or exists near other lights (streetlights, concert lighting, etc.). Knowing when the sun is setting and from what angle can also be handy!

Knowing these can help you start to spec the projector and the number of them you will need for your project. Many companies have software on their websites to perform this function, known as projector calculators. You can take into account your distance, brightness, projector angle, and image size requirements, and use this information to specify your projector needs. I usually use Mapping Matters to get these measurements down, and this goes into the next segment: previsualization.

2) Pre-visualization

Now that you have a scan, measurements, and a possible projector type, you can start seeing how it will look by using a pre-visualization software. As mentioned, I use Mapping Matter, but you can use any 3D software you’d like (Unreal, MadMapper, Cinema4D, and TouchDesigner are just a few). You can bring your scan into these and use that, or use your scan and measurements to create your own model.

Using this will allow you to see where your shadows are, mounting positions, and see how your content will look from the various perspectives of your audience. Setting a camera up from close, medium, and far away to identify the problematic positions is extremely helpful before you finalize your strategy. Additionally, identifying where you may need to blend projectors will help you prepare ahead of time, considering the time it will take to get to show-ready. It’s also great to start to think in pixels per square inch if people will be close to the projections for any text legibility or mapping accuracy.

Having a pre-visualization also allows you to build confidence in your strategy and effectively communicate it to your team and the client. It also prepares you for creating content with your team (locally or remotely).

3) Content & Concept Tools

If you are flying by the seat of your pants, you may not storyboard. But drafting up a journey and timeline early on can help a ton with how you are going to captivate and wow your audience.

This can be as simple as mood boarding and then setting those on a timeline, or you can start creating looks and placing them within the timeframe before animating them in more detail.

Using these as your bases, you can start to bring them into your previsualization as you iterate on them with your team.

Once you’ve figured out how your story goes from A to Z, you can also start to consider how you may want to layer your content. I often draw out my mapping ahead of time, which helps me think of different layers I may want to use for various parts of the show.

For instance, perhaps the windows are one layer and the columns are another, and there’s a moment when I focus on the windows, then move to the columns, and then it builds up to both at the end. Creating a template for your mapping also allows you to pre-strategize your mapping, enabling other content creators to work within your template.

4) Computers, Mobility, and Control

There are a few things I bring with me to help me on-site and make the actual mapping process easier. Below are my must-haves:

• Laptop stand/tripod: This is great when you need to move around a space quickly and see from different angles.
  
• Wireless trackball: Super helpful for allowing you to move close to your canvas and make fine-tune adjustments.
  
• (Optional) Remote-in (tested before load-in): control the playback machine from the roaming laptop, saving hundreds of steps and keeping the rack tidy.
  
• Setting your EDID or using an EDID spoofer/doctor ensures that if the signal to your projectors is lost, the computer remains unchanged and continues to act as though it still sees the signal.
  
• Decimator or similar: This is a nice-to-have, but it helps isolate any weird signal issues with video cables/formats.
  
• Phone with slow-motion recording: I often use my phone to record slow-motion footage across projectors to check for any frame drops or syncing issues.
  
• UPS for the show PC/projectors, where feasible: These are backup batteries that help ensure your PC and projectors don’t suffer any downtime in the event of a power outage.
  

5) Mapping Software

Now to the meat of things, the mapping! The mapping can be done in many different software, but below are a few I prefer and have used in the past. Much of my software stack depends on the project’s duration and whether it’s an event-based or ongoing project. 

TouchDesigner

• Long-term installs, custom control, generative content, and monitoring.
  
• Kantan Mapper for fast warps; custom TOP/CHOP chains for fancy blends.
  
• Great when the content pipeline already lives in TD.
  

Resolume

• Clip-driven shows, fast operator iteration, and team familiarity.
  
• Superb hands-on control and last-minute shuffles.
  
• Battle-tested to rarely crash.
  

MadMapper

• Quick to first pixel; strong, clean warping & blending.
  
• Excellent when speed + simplicity beats custom logic.
  

Optional Glue: Spout/Syphon for sharing content between machines or software. This enables parallelism: teammates map sub-zones and publish into a master canvas without stepping on each other.

6) Test Patterns

Test Patterns are like a compass that guides you to where you want to go and serves as a great source of truth for you and your team.

I use several tools to help guide my mapping: A Grid (with and without color ramps), a Frame counter, Directional Sweeps, and High-bit noise to gauge any chopping or pipeline bottlenecks. If you customize your own with your logo, it’s also a great way to advertise yourself!

Pixel-accurate master plate:
Include a square grid, labeled corners (A1/B2…), architectural outlines, centerlines, and blend ramps. This is your north star for setup and for drift checks after someone bumps a mount.

Frame-drop counter:
A 60 fps numerical counter that updates every frame across the entire canvas. Record slow-motion on your phone. If numbers skip or wrap inconsistently, you can identify exactly which output path causes the frames to drop.

Directional sweeps:
High-contrast vertical and horizontal line scrolls. Problems in only one axis suggest refresh mismatches or scalers. It’s also great to include color sweeps to see if colors are different across projectors.

Bitrate/bit-depth stress:
32-bit “TV snow” plate that helps identify if there are choking or bottlenecking issues. It’s also good to make sure you aren’t dropping frames in your signal path.

Once you have dialled in these settings, having photos of the best version to reference any changes over time, and being able to turn these on and off quickly, are great to have ready. For instance, the next day, I’ll output the template or a test grid and see if things have shifted from the day before, and then adjust the calibration accordingly.

Once you feel pretty locked in, though, it’s a great time to send any updates to your team and test your content before going live!

Wrap Up

Great projection mapping looks inevitable when it’s on, but it’s the result of disciplined thinking: truthful models, clear tradeoffs, smart tool choice, and ruthless testing. Use scans for fast truth, meters for real brightness, pre-visualize to pick battles, and patterns to inconsistencies. Do that, and your first pixels will be the right pixels with no heroics required.