Crystal Ball

[spookhaven]

I am not good with electronic stuff, can anyone tell me how to do a crystal ball with fog around it and the talking head to appear inside tripped by a sensor? Kinda like the bust they have been selling only I want to use a clear ball. I assume a projector or something similiar.

Sorta like this photo from the haunted mansion movie. Any suggestions?

[Raycliff Manor]

This might be something you'd be interested in...

http://lightformproductions.com/storebstvvol3.html

Hope this helps!

Kel

[Scareside]

The disney Haunted Masion ride has 2 ways of doing the effects.

#1: Having a projector project onto a static face in a crystal ball using a special video to allow for the image distortion on the molded face.

#2: (This one is much more expenisve) Disney uses a special 180 degrees projector in the ball and it works the same way as a if it was a miniature rear projection screen tv. In this manner it projects onto the inside of a "screen" face.
-----------------------------
That is how the ride version works. One last version is simple but has a limited FOV (Field of View). It involves putting the crystal ball infront of a mirror and putting a tv so that when you look through the ball, you see the tv's reflection.

For more detailed information on how the effects is done go to
http://www.doombuggies.com/secrets_seance.php

[Allen H]

You could set it up as a peppers ghost effect. have a monitor triggered underneath that is reflected in the ball. There are lots of ways to skin a cat. When an electronics project is beyond me I call a few vendors and see who has the simplest solution. could be DSL, could be Frightprops, could be EFX tech call them,tell them your desired effect and they will help you get there. I normally go for simplicity over price because the fewer things in the chain to go bad the better.
Before you call have a plan, how you want it triggered, how long the image needs to stay there, does it need sound, ya da ya da.