Who should own this checklist?

One person on your side and one on the production side. Shared ownership of a pre-show checklist is how items quietly go unconfirmed — assign it to a named individual with authority to escalate.

When should each item be confirmed?

Equipment and crew at booking, power and rigging after the recce, timings two weeks out, and content 72 hours before. Anything still open 48 hours out should be treated as a risk, not an action.

How many lumens does my building need?

It depends on surface area, material reflectance and ambient light, not on size alone. As a planning figure we budget roughly 250 to 400 lumens per square metre of lit surface for a reasonably dark site on light stone, which puts a 400 square metre façade at 100,000 lumens or more. Dark granite and nearby street lighting both push that figure up sharply.

How long does the content take to produce?

Five to seven weeks for a three to five minute façade show, from storyboard through animatic to final render with sound design. The clock cannot start until the projector study is signed off, because the animation is authored onto the specific geometry and camera positions, so an early survey is what protects the schedule.

Can you map onto a heritage monument?

Technically yes, and we do. Practically it requires permission from the site authority, a no-touch approach where nothing is fixed to the structure, projectors positioned on ballasted free-standing towers, and usually restrictions on show hours and sound level. That permission file is the long lead item, not the content.

Why does alignment have to happen at night?

Because you cannot see the projected image well enough to warp it in daylight. A multi-projector façade takes four to eight hours of night work to warp, blend and mask properly, which is why we ask for two nights before the technical rehearsal rather than one.

3D Projection Mapping Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day

Category: Checklists
Read time: 7 min
Sections: 3
Updated: Jun 2026

Key takeaway

Before show day, confirm the 3D projection mapping equipment list with exact model numbers, the spares that travel with it, sanctioned power and generator changeover, rigging sign-off, named crew, the load-in and rehearsal slots, final content files and a single named show-caller. Missing any one of these causes most event AV failures.

Key takeaways

Exact models, not categories, on the equipment list
Spares for anything that would stop the show
Power sanction plus generator changeover confirmed
One named show-caller holding the cue sheet

3D Projection Mapping: pre-show checklist

Equipment & specification

Projector class confirmed: 20,000 – 40,000 ANSI lumens, laser phosphor or RGB laser, 3-chip DLP
Surface reflectance assumption confirmed: 20 – 35 per cent for stone and painted plaster, lower for dark granite
Typical façade budget confirmed: Approximately 250 – 400 lumens per square metre of lit surface, ambient dependent
Blend overlap confirmed: 10 – 20 per cent soft-edge between adjacent projectors
Media servers confirmed: disguise gx/vx, AV Stumpfl Pixera, Dataton Watchout
Itemised list naming exact models, not categories
Spares for mics, cables, processors and any single point of failure

Power & safety

Venue sanctioned load confirmed in writing against the rig's draw
Silent generator sized with automatic changeover
Earthing check completed and logged
Rigging certification and load calculations signed off
Cable covers on every walkway and crowd line

People

Mapping technician named and briefed
Media server operator named and briefed
Content artist named and briefed
Projector technician named and briefed
Rigger named and briefed

Timings

Load-in slot agreed with the venue in writing
Sound check and line check scheduled
Full technical rehearsal booked with real presenters and real content
Venue curfew and strike window confirmed

Content & handover

3D geometry model of the mapped surface with the UV layout
Projector placement study with throw, brightness and coverage calculations
Master render of the show content at delivery resolution
Media server show file with timecode cues and a mirrored backup
All video, audio and slides delivered 72 hours ahead in the agreed format

What this checklist is protecting you from

What can go wrong

How we prevent it

What can go wrong
Street lighting or a neighbouring building's floodlights wash the façade and the show looks grey.
How we prevent it
Ambient readings are taken at the show hour during the survey, and the blackout of specific street and site lights is negotiated and written into the permission before content is budgeted.
What can go wrong
Content is authored before projector positions are fixed, so the animation does not sit on the geometry.
How we prevent it
Content production does not begin until the projector study is signed off, because the mapping is authored against those exact camera positions.
What can go wrong
A projector tower settles overnight in soft ground and the whole blend is out by morning.
How we prevent it
Towers are built on load-spreading base plates, ballasted, and positions are physically marked so a realignment check before each show takes minutes.
What can go wrong
Dust and heat in an outdoor enclosure cause thermal shutdown mid-show.
How we prevent it
IP-rated enclosures with filtered forced-air cooling, filters changed daily on a multi-night run, and internal temperature logged during rehearsal.
What can go wrong
Brightness is calculated from lumens alone and the dark stone façade swallows the image.
How we prevent it
The calculation includes measured surface reflectance, not an assumed figure, and a test projection on the actual material is done at survey wherever access allows.
What can go wrong
The audience ends up standing off the designed viewing axis and the 3D illusion collapses.
How we prevent it
The viewing position is part of the design and is barricaded or seated on site, with content checked from the extreme left and right of the intended crowd area.

Want this tailored to your event?

Get an itemised quote from Prime AV Solutions within 24 hours — call +91 93093 80958 or WhatsApp our producers.

Published 20 June 2026 by the Prime AV Solutions production team.

FAQ

3D Projection Mapping Checklist: What to Confirm Before Show Day: FAQs

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