Jump to content

PRINTING ON A MASSIVE SCALE (53 FEET)


Recommended Posts

On 7/17/2018 at 12:16 AM, Damien Symonds said:

Don't keep me in suspense, @Jamie Brown!  How did the sample print turn out?

I just got the call!! I go in the morning to view the 2ft by 2ft strike off... ahhhahahhahaha!

Stay tuned.... If you need me, I'll be by my bedside praying that it looks spectacular. I don't think my heart can take any other outcome. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Jamie Brown said:

I just got the call!! I go in the morning to view the 2ft by 2ft strike off... ahhhahahhahaha!

Stay tuned.... If you need me, I'll be by my bedside praying that it looks spectacular. I don't think my heart can take any other outcome. 

 

Gib Sample 2.jpg

Gib Sample.jpg

Gib Sample 3.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have written out an entire synopsis twice and both times something has glitched erasing everything I have written... each time I have to regurgitate what i had written previously I get more direct and more frustrated.  lol

So. I will try a third time and this time will attempt to copy the text before pressing post so I am able to paste it. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When looking at this at first glance it looks quite blurry- but NOT pixelated at all, very smooth.  Of course holding it a foot from your face it looks terrible. But when standing in the middle of the commons area 16 feet up onto the wall it looks fairly clear and sharp. You can see the outline of each tree along ridge and the individual "beards" (what I think of as whiskers) on wheat. 

I have some concerns about the color, wondering if it's too dark and dull and not bright and saturated in regards to the blues and greens. But perhaps the section they chose to print just lacks those colors anyways? They decided to split the sample into 2 sections, one of the foreground wheat and one of the background mountains.  The wheat looks spot on, in color/tone and will match fairly well to the wood paneling that will be installed below the fabric down to the floor. I found out that at no place will the fabric panels be eye level or touchable. It will always be 8 feet off the ground, even along the staircase. That's a relief. You can see the line on the wall approximately where the bottom of it will sit.

There was a 1 hour deliberation yesterday with all the parties involved from school to contractors when the sample arrived. At first, there was much concern about the blur of the mountains, as they wanted it to be sharper. But when they realized even to the naked eye looking off at the mountains that there is a level of softness to things off in the distance whether it's just air density or fog/mist or heat radiating off the ground that creates a bit of a mirage effect they decided that this looks "natural and real" and would only add to the painterly effect we were hoping for. We want people to almost not know whether it is a real photograph or a painting.  

So, unless I put a halt to production for artistic reasons and make any changes everyone else has approved this sample and will be happy with the results after installation. That is a relief. That, I am not the only one making decisions, that it is a team of people and to be "done". haha But, of course, I want it to be done right. I am so thankful for your input and to have had a professional sounding board and trouble shooter to help me get this to production... prior to reaching out to you I was making myself crazy trying to go at this alone. 

What are your thoughts on this? Would you agree this is as good as it can get, given the size and photo submitted?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Jamie Brown said:

When looking at this at first glance it looks quite blurry- but NOT pixelated at all, very smooth.

Yes, blurry (when viewed up close) is exactly what we were hoping for.  If it was a highway billboard, either pixelated or blurry would have been sufficient, because nobody gets out of their car to look at a highway billboard closely.  But people are going to be closer to this, so I think blurry is better than pixelated.  This is excellent news.

12 minutes ago, Jamie Brown said:

Of course holding it a foot from your face it looks terrible. But when standing in the middle of the commons area 16 feet up onto the wall it looks fairly clear and sharp. You can see the outline of each tree along ridge and the individual "beards" (what I think of as whiskers) on wheat.

Wonderful!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Jamie Brown said:

I have some concerns about the color, wondering if it's too dark and dull and not bright and saturated in regards to the blues and greens.

This was always the concern.  Not knowing which CMYK to convert to meant that it was extremely likely there'd be some colour problems.  I'm glad the wheat looks good.

Are you able to talk to them about your colour concerns?

24 minutes ago, Jamie Brown said:

There was a 1 hour deliberation yesterday with all the parties involved from school to contractors when the sample arrived. At first, there was much concern about the blur of the mountains, as they wanted it to be sharper. But when they realized even to the naked eye looking off at the mountains that there is a level of softness to things off in the distance whether it's just air density or fog/mist or heat radiating off the ground that creates a bit of a mirage effect they decided that this looks "natural and real" and would only add to the painterly effect we were hoping for. We want people to almost not know whether it is a real photograph or a painting. 

Gosh this must have been a frustrating hour for you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

25 minutes ago, Jamie Brown said:

What are your thoughts on this? Would you agree this is as good as it can get, given the size and photo submitted?

I'm relatively relieved.  It sounds like it's a fairly good result.

But if you have the means to do so, it would be great to talk to them about the blues and greens, and see what they suggest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the quick response, yes I'm relatively relieved and happy with the results as well.

Since I do not have experience with printing on this large scale the blurry factor was off putting at first glance, but if it is par for the course and looks good from afar, then I am fine with it. 

Here is a screen shot of the original photo (where the sample sections were taken from on left) with the printed sample on right... I believe the entire photo is in our (long) thread. ? 

Even in this small section in the original there was more green, so this may need to be addressed.

Screenshot 2018-07-27 13.44.30.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/27/2018 at 2:30 PM, Damien Symonds said:

It would be useful if you could provide them with a normal print (eg 8x10 lustre) from your regular lab, and say "I want it to look like this".

Hmmm this is a great idea, I didn't see this until now. No, nothing more to report. At this point installation is rescheduled for October. I may see if there's a way I can send a hard copy for them to use as a reference for printing. Like a reverse calibration. :) I will keep you posted, once I see the print in it's entirety.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, I heard on Saturday that Architexture's crew were at the new school installing the panels so I drove over as they were just finishing up and got to preview it!

I think it looks amazing!! I'm so impressed with the over all color, it's brighter than I thought. (Based on the sample print I saw it looked like it would be darker and drab, pleased to see its actually brighter and more colorful in person!) The wheat actually matches really well with the paint color on walls as you can see!  I think the effect they were going for, which is a window through the wall to the view of our Blue Mountains behind the school really came through.

I'm so relieved and everyone at the school is happy with it as well! We all need to be reminded of ideal viewing distance, but even up close along the stairs it looks quite clear and not overly pixelated! Thank you, thank you for all your help during this process I hate to say I'm "surprised" that it looks good, but I know I had my doubts along the way and I'm happy to report that all those self doubts and fears of inadequacy were not necessary! :D  Between your expert file prep advice and their team working on the production side I feel like it came together beautifully. ♥

Sincerely grateful,

Jamie

Mural front.jpg

Mural pic.jpg

Mural profile.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is one slight "seam" in the middle between panels 3 and 4, but the rest is "seamless" they butted up the panels and overlapped them perfectly to make it look like one solid piece.. except that one section is slightly misaligned and you can see an obvious vertical line. Not sure if the installers will attempt to correct or if that's as good as it can be. I'll let the school deal with that, as it's not my call. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Merry Christmas!!  Yes, actually, I hear quite often how amazing it turned out and how it nearly captures the breath of people as they walk into the school to see. Many of the teachers say, out of the entire new school, this mural is their favorite part of it! Humbling to hear, but makes my heart so happy to know it turned out and brings joy to others to see! Thanks for checking in and for holding my hand during the process. Wishing you & yours happy holidays! 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...