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The installation of the Panasonic FW100NT allowed the students
to work on a 1:1 scale,
creating a design experience that mirrored that of a professional design studio.
creating a design experience that mirrored that of a professional design studio.
"By having a dedicated projector in the studio
and a large screen, that the students can use
any time, it's really transformed our ability to
quickly realize full-scale design."Institutions that teach design are always looking for
ways to recreate the real-world working environment
that students will encounter when they actually enter
the workforce. When designing large-scale products,
such as an automobile, the use of projection in a design
lab greatly simulates the actual design experience
by showing the subject's actual size, and in its natural
environment. This is something that cannot be
accomplished with a computer screen.
Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, offers a forward-thinking curriculum that prepares its students for a wide array of careers including fine arts, electronic media and product design. When the school partnered with Panasonic projectors, it quickly realized the opportunities for students were endless. Transportation Design students at the Art Center use a Panasonic PT-FW100NT digital projector to bring their creations to life-size perspective. Professor Stewart Reed explains, "Seeing this thing nearly full-size, projected here; certain things, relationships, feel different to you. If you take something from your expectation of what it will be as a full-size property to actual full size, either in projection techniques or in full models, you always find there are differences in proportion and scale."
Students' designs start out as scaled-down renderings on laptop computers. "When you're looking at it small, you see the whole thing. But that's not how you build a car. A car is big - the car's bigger than you. So it's really important that you can walk up to it," says Art Center student Gary Shiu. Students can do exactly that because the versatile Panasonic projector easily connects to any video source, including their laptops.
Professor Reed says, "You get a feeling now that the relative mass of the front to the mass of the rear is what you were after. By having a dedicated projector in the studio and a large screen that the students can use any time, it's really transformed our ability to quickly realize full-scale design."
The FW100NT projects sharp, accurate images with an enhanced
perception of brightness and contrast, even in harsh ambient light,
with a nearly infinite range of colors, greatly enhancing the design
process for Art Center students.
Further describing this phenomenon, Shiu says, "You can walk up to it and experience it, like if you're walking towards a car in a parking lot. You know what I mean? You can't do that - you can't walk up to a computer - it's not the same. That's really the power of the projector." Students and professors alike find that the projectors blow them away with their power and clarity performance. Reed says, "In an environment that we're in, in the studio, where there's a fair amount of ambient light, it still manages to give us the result, even with some light interference around it."
Working with Hoffman Video, Art Center College of Design decided to install Panasonic PT-FW100NT projectors throughout its hillside campus. With 3,000 ANSI lumens and Daylight View Technology, the FW100NT is an advanced projector that maintains high brightness. What's more, the Horizontal/Vertical Lens Shift and the 2X zoom also make the unit easy to use when mounted to a ceiling or on a shelf. The seamless connection of a video source and the 1280 x 800 XGA display are more than adequate to emulate full scale of design projects.
The Horizontal/Vertical Lens Shift and the 2x zoom also make the FW100NT easy to use when mounted to a ceiling or on a shelf. The seamless connection of a video source and the 1280 x 800 XGA
display is more than adequate to emulate full scale of design projects.
Art Center's management was impressed by the Panasonic projectors' ability to accurately recreate an almost infinite range of colors. The AV staff appreciates the projectors' auto-rolling filters, and their extended lamp life. Martinez explains, "Some of the other projectors will typically last anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 hours. The FW100NT has a new lamp technology that allows the lamp life to be extended an additional 1,000 hours. You can see it's definitely cost-effective." Panasonic projectors also help students prepare for real-world careers by exposing them to the latest methods used by professional design companies.
Overall, Art Center College of Design's deployment of Panasonic digital projectors has resulted in significant bottom-line benefits. Art Center student Gary Shiu describes it best, "Like the next-best thing from an actual, full-scale model. It's a pretty amazing feeling."
Hoffman Video Systems
Al Martinez, Sales Engineer, Hoffman Video Systems
"You can see how excited they get about something that really works within their environment. Panasonic has really provided them with the right tool to fulfill their needs in the classroom."
Al Martinez, Sales Engineer, Hoffman Video Systems
"You can see how excited they get about something that really works within their environment. Panasonic has really provided them with the right tool to fulfill their needs in the classroom."
