Projector location help

[Mac34]

Hello all,
I'm in the process of building a golf sim in my shop. I have a 16' retractable impact screen and smaller side curtains that are retractable as well. I plan to have my hitting mat 10' from ball to screen. The height of the screen will be approximately 8 '7" (Could go a few inches higher if I change the brackets around). I have a vaulted ceiling to deal with, which is 17' at the peak. Other pertinent info, I'm 5' 8" and will have some taller friends playing that are 6' 7" at the max and all right handed. Will be using Skytrak.

So I'm trying to determine the best location to hang the projector and have a few questions related to Height, Depth and Width locations.

1) When positioning the projector should it be directly over the ball line or off set to the left or right of the ball line. So, if I have the ball line centered on the middle of the 16' screen, should the projector be on the same line or off set from it?
2) What would be the ideal depth location be? In other words, how close or far away to/from the screen should it be.
3) Last question is about the height. How far from the floor should it be located.

Let me know if I missed any info that would help in the discussion.
I appreciate the help!

[MongoOnlyPawn]

Go here: https://www.projectorcentral.com/pro...ulator-pro.cfm

You can run the calculator by settings your dimensions and then find a projector that will do what you need it to, or you can select a projector you want to purchase and it will show you the information you are looking for.

#1, #2 & #3) Don't worry about the projector position relative to the ball, worry about it getting smacked by a club or blocked from the screen by the players position on the mat. You'll need to position it so that it's not near the full swing plane/path of anyone who will use the Sim. A number of projectors have the ability to be offset to either side of the centerline and also below or above the vertical midpoint. My initial setup had my projector on the floor. It was directly in the middle of the room but we hit from a position offset to the right. My current one is 11'8' away from the screen, down 14"' from a 10' ceiling, but 40" offset to the right, nobody gets close to that. And the offset allows no shadows on the screen when swinging. So find a projector that will allow players to not worry about hitting the projector during any part of their swing, even the follow through, and has enough offset to avoid shadows.

Figure out where you're going to be swinging the club. It's gonna take some work with a 6'7" player. When he's standing on the mat ready to hit, he's gonna need at least 10'( maybe more?) of clearance about 2' behind his head.

Maybe start here: https://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-GT1080HDR-projection-calculator-pro.htm?td_=-1&id_=210%2E092072702&l_=0

[Mac34]

Thanks for the info and links. I’ll check them out.

[WoodlandHills]

I agree that you need the calculator to understand distance the projector sits from the screen. I believe that ideally you want the golf ball and projector in the center of the screen (left vs. right). Unfortunatly my room isn't wide enough for both left and right handed golfers so the screen, ball and projector are all closer to the right wall than the left so that I'm still on a straight line for it all. I have the projector sitting directly over the golf ball and there's certainly no way I can hit it with my club or a ball even though the projector is only a few inches over 7 ft above the ball. Regarding the smaller side curtains: I hate to mention this but some people have been known to shank a ball so consider what's off to the side.

[Brettster]

Mac34 - regarding where the projector goes.... this really depends on whether you are short-throw projector, or long-throw as that makes a big difference. With Short-Throw you are likely going to be directly overhead of the golfer (really, not much to worry about there anyway, as the club peaks behind the heels of the golfer standing on the mat. With Long-Throw, you are so far behind where the golfer stands it's not even an issue - here the issue is height, you want it hung as high as possible (and therefore have a good 'keystone' adjustable projector to straighten the angle out you will have from being that far above the floor and projecting down.

So, to answer your questions:

1) When positioning the projector should it be directly over the ball line or off set to the left or right of the ball line. So, if I have the ball line centered on the middle of the 16' screen, should the projector be on the same line or off set from it?
2) What would be the ideal depth location be? In other words, how close or far away to/from the screen should it be.
3) Last question is about the height. How far from the floor should it be located.

1.) Centered in the building is best, or centered on the center line of the screen - it doesn't matter what your offset is, I'm offset a good 20"-24" from center but my projector is centered - all that matters here is that your software has an adjustment so that your aiming point on the screen appears 'straight-on' from your hitting area. Some software does do that, some do not. Also, some even have multiple 'off-center' settings so you can putt for example from a different offset than you hit from. (I think Creative Golf is the one that does that and has 3 off-center alignment settings, Driver, Irons, Putter).

2.) As MongoOnlyPawn says, use the projector, you will get a good enough idea, but sometimes you just hang it as far back as it will go, if you cannot match what Projector Central calculator says and try to adjust to make it work. You need a good 'adjustable' projector for that, or you have to make adjustments in software (again some allow this, some don't) on size of projected image.

3.) This again does not matter if you're projector handles keystone adjustment properly and you are in a reasonable height. I am around 9' on mine. Keep in mind that the higher you go with hanging, the less shadow you will have on the screen, so it makes it worth it to hang as high as you can, within reason (10' or so would be a maximum).

You can see my projected image (and the projector) on my completed Sim Shed post here:

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/golf-simulator-forum/simulator-builds/348365-golf-sim-shed-build-finally?p=364653#post364653

Here's the projector I have:

https://tinyurl.com/4k-mini-projector-dolby

Good luck, let us know how it turned out,
-Brett

[ShooterMcGav]

Ideally, it should be placed above so that it won't be easily broken as the game gets intense.

I used The SportScreen Golf Studio. Easy to install and not to mention it's retractable.

[Brettster]

Above is better in my opinion.

How far behind makes a huge difference depending on the projector you are using. The SportScreen Golf Studio seems capable, but probably at a higher cost than DIY. All depends on how much of your own work you want to do.

My post in this thread - 2 back, is more of a DIY option.