Is this possible - huge text projection?

[Expo86]

I have been asked to provide a quote for an unusual, (for me at least) use of a laser projector. A global ship manufacturer has a massive ship coming into drydock for an extensive refit and what they need is the name of the vessel projected onto each side of the ship while their welders use hammers and punches to trace the outline of the letters.
Once they have the outlined letters punched marked they will then use welding torches to build up the raised welding beads to form the letters and finally painted. Since this ship will be working in the arctic they cannot use just painted or vinyl letters as these would be scraped off by the ice buildup very quickly.
The problem is that the name of the vessel needs to be 20 feet high by 200 feet long (so each letter would be 20 feet tall). I initially thought it would make the most sense to project all 200 feet of the name in one shot as this would provide better chances of having everything perfectly level. They are pretty sure they can outline one side of the ship in a 10 hour shift.
The only concern they had was what would the beam diameter be in order to get all 200'x20' in one shot from a far enough distance back to achieve that?
I have not been able to find a suitable building to test this out on but in my underground parking lot I was able to produce 7' tall letters from approx 110 feet away and the beam diameter was approx 2" so I'm thinking that is not going to be a big problem.
The vessels name was custom drawn on "Autocad" so there is no actual font to use and I have been trying to use "Quick Trace" in Beyond which does an ok job when projected from 30 feet away but it was pretty fuzzy/blurry with lots of "hotspots" when I projected from 110 feet away.

One thing I noticed is that at a distance of 110 feet the green, blue and Red lasers are not superimposed so as to produce white. I think I should be able to change that with some dichro adjustments.

The projector I planned on using is a 7 watt RGB with DT40K Pro wide Move scanners.
Any advice appreciated;

Is this doable?

Is it reasonable to potentially have a projector running for a 10 hour shift?

Is there a better way to come up with a cleaner image trace? The Quick Trace tool seems to be having the scanners retrace each letter on the inside of the letter "O" for example and also on the outside so instead of a 3/8" wide beam at 110 feet I have a 3" wide beam.

Thanks for listening,

Peter

[dsli_jon]

..Yes, 100% 'doable'...

This was for a 'similar concept', for a Client to 'visualise' various sizes of a large neon / metal signage of thier logo, before they spend ~$5M / side on it (!) This shot:



..was from over 700' away, (.which is why the shot is a 'tad-blurry', from the 'zoom'..) and the letters were something on the order of about 20'.. I'd have to check notes, but.. no-problem to get 'large'.. And, if the 'dock', there, does not have a '700' throw', no-prob, I have to dig-up the pic (will do-so in an hour or so.. have to run out to the pharm for a 'scrip..) the other shot was from about 230' away, and the letters had to be 'just as large', so.. No-prob..

..The 'secret to success' is going to be the beam-quality / scanners... These were done with pretty-high-qual RGBs (7 and 9W, respectively..) and this:



..was with a really-tight / hi-qual 5W Green.. So, perhaps we can be of some help.. we can discuss..

..Oh, ps - Yes, you can expect to 'run for awhile outside', BUT.. your pj will-want to have both active heating / cooling, to accomplish-such.. Again, I'll chat with ya in a while, when I get back... but.. 'chin-up', it can be done, and-well..

cheers..
j

[Expo86]

Hi Jon, thanks for the shot in the arm of confidence....I needed to hear that.
My Jaw dropped and my eyes lit up when I saw the second pic of the ship projection, as that's exactly what Im trying to do.....Do you remember if that was an actual text font or some type of image file?

Pete

[masterpj]

Those projections look really crisp dsli loving the specs of those beams.
Especially the green you got there. Do you have any pictures or things you can share about the projector used for the curious minds out here?

Regarding getting the logo done (at a possible cost)
Contact dsli or me. Seeing dsli was first: contact him

[dsli_jon]

Hey Pete -

...Do you remember if that was an actual text font or some type of image file?

...it was a custom-designed graphic, converted to BMP, then 'auto-traced' / vectored / optimized / projected, etc.. Essentially the same thing you're looking to do...

vBS-search sux, so.. had to abandon the search for previously-posted snaps, but.. Here's the other side of that 'Barc's shoot..

..this was about 235' away, and-yet, the txt had to be the 'same-size', as the long-throw one.. IIRC, it was only-about 85' wide, or-so, but.. there was *tons* of room for more 'scale', even at this distance.. And, unlike this-situ, where the billionaire-Clients were analyzing various 'sign-sizes' from 36-stories below (..so, 'flicker' was a super no-no.. I'd venture that, if You needed to 'suffer a bit of flicker' to get a full-width scan, they'd prolly be 'ok' with that, ya?

...Point-being, I think with the 'right projector' (one with really-good beam-qual, external convergence-control (..so you can 'spank it back in-place', in the cold-op..) and both heat/cool cap's, for managing the enviro..) you could make a real-success of this..

:hint hint:

Obviously, there will have to be 'discussions' / training-session with the welders on 'eye-safety', but.. since they'll already be wearing, prolly like, 'OD-200' face-masks.. it will likely be more of a session about 'behavior-protocol'.. (ie: 'putting head-down', when masks are flipped-up / turning-toward the laser-projections, to move to another section, etc, etc...)

..And, you may also need to 'file this' with Transport Canada, relative to the fact that - although 'terminated', this is still - technically - an 'Outdoor show', and, at-least it would be prudent to advise-them, so - just in-case of a 'spurious reflection' / beam, during set-up, etc, well you've adequately 'CYA'd.. Not-sure of the most-current Regs, up-there (..haven't done any Outdoor-gigs in CN-airspace in several-years.. ), but this - http://www.photonlexicon.com/wiki/in...Regs_in_Canada ..should at least get you started.. (see the end of that-section for the TC-links..)

PM-me if ya wanna chat.. I'm *stupidly* busy starting this weekend / month, but.. always happy to-chat, as-able.

cheers..
j

Ps - Hey Pj -

..Especially the green you got there. Do you have any pictures or things you can share...

..Laser Quantum 'Elite'..
..kinda 'pricey', but... bought 'em in, shoot.. 2003, I think, and.. *still* doing over-spec power, hundreds of gigs-later... PJ-used was a DSLS-rig, with EMS 4K galvos...

..fun-nite!