I'd like to get a cheap mini projector around $300 Canadian. Use a mic stand to raise the projector high enough off the table and project maps on the table in a dim lighted room. Was thinking the Nexigo P20 or Vigmo P10. Has anyone tried this style? I want portability so don't want to lug a TV around. Plus I make my own maps with dungeondraft and store on my phone to screenshare. Thoughts?
I have not used one for D&D, but have seen them used elsewhere. Or at least attempted to be used. Most of these are very weak and require quite a dark room - in my view too dark to comfortably read your character sheets and reference books. Also, you will be projecting on top of your miniatures/tags etc which further makes it difficult to see them. Finally, battery life tends to not be great on these, so you end up having to bring not just the stand for it but also a charger and wire the whole setup.
As an alternative, for your $300 budget you buy a license of e.g. Dungeon Alchemist and pay a print-shop to print and laminate quite a few large format battle-maps to simply place on the table in a brightly lit room.
Unfortunately where I live it's not easy to get large copies printed. We don't require absolute crisp perfection. I've just printed sheets off myself and taped them together. But I want live maps to be used as well. We don't require perfect crisp quality. Just something enough to get the job done. I was considering the Vimgo p10 after lots of research. I may go this route and post my experience and examples for future dm's. I noticed there isn't alot on this topic. I want to break that barrier and revolutionize this idea.
Certainly a worthwhile experiment, and I'd love to hear your thoughts once you've tried it. It would certainly be cheaper and more portable than using a massive touchscreen as a gaming table.
Just one more thought before you go and buy one: if you have a decent flashlight, you can get a feeling for the 300 lumen you'll get from the projector you selected. If you don't have a torch of that brightness yourself maybe a friend has one you can borrow for 5 mins. Using a torch of the same brightness should give you an idea of the brightness an all-white map would appear as
So, I would take a different approach. Projectors, especially small ones are a dreadful way of displaying darn near everything without environment control. Unless you can control glare, and lighting levels they really aren't great. But that said from teachers I know who've used the Nexigo they do say its servicable.
My solution to the portability issue would actually be to use a VTT like Owlbear (which is good for both mouse and touch screen...and works pretty nicely on even a phone) and ask each player to bring with them a tablet or laptop to use. Personally, I've come down to that solution in person sessions and for online. It works pretty well in truth. For a small group, heck a single chromebook for the players to gather around and my laptop and it also works well.
Actually the projector is a great success, I just downloaded a bunch of videos of live maps off youtube and play them on mx player on loop. I have them all in categorized folders for quick access. Really creates a great atmosphere. And I have all the main maps of toril and the cities and towns as jpegs. Here is a link to what it looks like on my channel. https://youtube.com/shorts/Upo1dTQ93Ps?feature=share
I gotta give this a try. My daughter got an el cheapo projector for selling girl scout cookies. It's been sitting unused for a few years now. I'll try to rig it up from the basement ceiling.
Thanks for the videos! Seems like what I can use as well, could you by any chance list the parts as links? Struggling to find a mic arm that is as high as yours.
I'd like to get a cheap mini projector around $300 Canadian. Use a mic stand to raise the projector high enough off the table and project maps on the table in a dim lighted room. Was thinking the Nexigo P20 or Vigmo P10. Has anyone tried this style? I want portability so don't want to lug a TV around. Plus I make my own maps with dungeondraft and store on my phone to screenshare. Thoughts?
I have not used one for D&D, but have seen them used elsewhere. Or at least attempted to be used. Most of these are very weak and require quite a dark room - in my view too dark to comfortably read your character sheets and reference books. Also, you will be projecting on top of your miniatures/tags etc which further makes it difficult to see them. Finally, battery life tends to not be great on these, so you end up having to bring not just the stand for it but also a charger and wire the whole setup.
As an alternative, for your $300 budget you buy a license of e.g. Dungeon Alchemist and pay a print-shop to print and laminate quite a few large format battle-maps to simply place on the table in a brightly lit room.
Unfortunately where I live it's not easy to get large copies printed. We don't require absolute crisp perfection. I've just printed sheets off myself and taped them together. But I want live maps to be used as well. We don't require perfect crisp quality. Just something enough to get the job done. I was considering the Vimgo p10 after lots of research. I may go this route and post my experience and examples for future dm's. I noticed there isn't alot on this topic. I want to break that barrier and revolutionize this idea.
Certainly a worthwhile experiment, and I'd love to hear your thoughts once you've tried it. It would certainly be cheaper and more portable than using a massive touchscreen as a gaming table.
Just one more thought before you go and buy one: if you have a decent flashlight, you can get a feeling for the 300 lumen you'll get from the projector you selected. If you don't have a torch of that brightness yourself maybe a friend has one you can borrow for 5 mins. Using a torch of the same brightness should give you an idea of the brightness an all-white map would appear as
Well I got the Vimgo p10, and it works amazing! Can't wait to try it with my group and wow them!
So, I would take a different approach. Projectors, especially small ones are a dreadful way of displaying darn near everything without environment control. Unless you can control glare, and lighting levels they really aren't great. But that said from teachers I know who've used the Nexigo they do say its servicable.
My solution to the portability issue would actually be to use a VTT like Owlbear (which is good for both mouse and touch screen...and works pretty nicely on even a phone) and ask each player to bring with them a tablet or laptop to use. Personally, I've come down to that solution in person sessions and for online. It works pretty well in truth. For a small group, heck a single chromebook for the players to gather around and my laptop and it also works well.
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Actually the projector is a great success, I just downloaded a bunch of videos of live maps off youtube and play them on mx player on loop. I have them all in categorized folders for quick access. Really creates a great atmosphere. And I have all the main maps of toril and the cities and towns as jpegs. Here is a link to what it looks like on my channel. https://youtube.com/shorts/Upo1dTQ93Ps?feature=share
How did you end up suspending it over the table? Did the mic stand idea work for you?
Kevin Mc
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Yes it did! If ya look up my channel on YouTube I have it showed there. Super DM Dave
I gotta give this a try. My daughter got an el cheapo projector for selling girl scout cookies. It's been sitting unused for a few years now. I'll try to rig it up from the basement ceiling.
In my experience (class-room based training), cheap projectors are noisy. Even expensive projectors have a lot of fan noise.
I would be inclined to get a flat screen TV and put it on the table, with the figures on top of it.
If you do have a projector attached to the celing, make sure you get up on a stepladder and clear its dust filter regularly.
Let me know how it goes
I just wanted portability. Easier to lug a 4lb projector vs a 50"tv
Hey Dave!
is that projector still working for you? I’m considering a similar setup with a mic stand. Although my playing area may have too much daylight. 🙂
Sure is. You can check out my setup on my channel
https://youtube.com/shorts/UBvX_AAKo6g?feature=share
Thanks for the videos! Seems like what I can use as well, could you by any chance list the parts as links? Struggling to find a mic arm that is as high as yours.
I used a 5/8 to 1/4 adapter on the mic stand, then a 1/4 " swivel head.
https://amzn.to/48OfhuY
https://amzn.to/47Z7Eka
https://amzn.to/3vTLzGt
I admit the mic stand is a bit janky,but it works as long as ya use it carefully lol. But it does make for easy portability.
Sweet as that is very nice! Thank you for the help, and a little bit of yank is A okay. Portability is key since I gotta bring it on a bike haha
Would you share a Pic of how you have it connected to the mic stand.
I am using Samsung Freestyle Gen 2 for the campaign I am running, and it works like a charm :).