Outdoor Projection Mapping Built for Brightness, Weather and Distance

Outdoors, there’s no ceiling to rig from, no dimmer switch and no guarantee about the weather. But there’s also no limit on the size of the canvas or the crowd that can see it.

We take projection outside for brands, cities, universities, venues and private events, lighting up buildings, landmarks, walls and gardens. If your show belongs under the night sky, tell us where and when.

Outdoor projection mapping puts light onto surfaces that were never built to be screens, in conditions nobody can switch off. Three things decide whether it works: how dark it is, how bright the projectors are, and how well the gear survives the night.

Darkness comes first. Even a 50,000-lumen projector will struggle outdoors during the day. High-brightness projectors and weatherproofing can handle dusk-to-dark events, though direct sunlight will wash out projections, so outdoor shows are scheduled from dusk onward. If a site needs visuals in daylight, a facade could integrate LED panels into windows for dynamic brightness during daylight, with projection taking over after sunset.

Brightness comes second. Outdoors and on buildings, it is common to use multiple 20,000 to 50,000 lumen projectors and often stacked for brightness to achieve vivid results across huge surfaces. The surface matters too: dark paint, uncoated concrete or bright ambient light all increase the lumens required for a clear image.

• The right projector class. Large venues and outdoor projects often require native 4K or high-end WUXGA laser projectors in the 20,000 to 50,000 lumen class, long-throw lenses, weatherized mounts and camera-based auto-calibration.
• Weather protection. Projectors need ventilation, precise mounting and protection from dust and weather, so every outdoor rig is planned with housings, cooling and secure mounts.
• Long throws from high places. Architectural mapping often needs long throws from rooftops, balconies or towers, and high-lumen projectors with sturdy mounts and weather protection.
• Power, rigging and network. We plan sightlines, available rigging, power and network paths as early as possible, because outdoor sites rarely have them where a show needs them.
• Stacked and blended projectors. Multiple projectors working together deliver bold visuals that cut through ambient light. Our guide to blending multiple projectors explains how the overlaps are hidden.
• Content built for distance. Our animation and visual storytelling team designs content that reads from across a street or a park, not just from the front row.

Outdoor shows usually involve land, buildings or streets that someone else controls. Many cities and municipalities have specific regulations governing outdoor advertising, including projection mapping, and projecting in public spaces without proper permits can result in fines or disruptions. Plan for the property owner's permission and the city's rules early, alongside the technical plan. Our guide to projection mapping and the law covers what advertisers should know.

Each outdoor surface has its own page. Facades on towers, hotels and venues are covered by building projection mapping, civic icons by landmark projection mapping, and spans over water by bridge projection mapping. Natural canvases have tree and landscape projection and mountain and cliff projection. For formats, see large scale projection mapping, temporary and event projection, water screen projection, tent projection mapping, projection advertising campaigns and light festivals. When the conditions are under your control, indoor projection mapping is the other route.

• Nike Air Jordan, 2023 NBA All-Star Game, Salt Lake City. With Elite Media Inc., we put a 40,000 sq ft display on the Radisson Hotel. In preparation for Salt Lake City's cold and windy weather, we custom-manufactured four weather enclosures equipped with climate control technology. The projectors were mounted on 40ft of scaffolding.
• Hollywood Sign for the Dodgers, Los Angeles. Using two Panasonic projectors, we turned the sign's "D" into a blue tribute, planning for a long throw to the elevated position and the environmental factors affecting brightness and clarity.
• Texas Tech centennial. For the university's 100th anniversary in February 2023, seven 4K Barco projectors mounted on custom truss structures ran a 5-minute show on the Administration Building.
• Picnic in the Alley, Las Vegas. For a Dress for Success fundraiser, we installed 13 projectors powered by four media servers to cover thousands of square feet of walls and foliage.

See all our projects.

Send us the location, photos of the surface, where the audience will stand and your dates. We will come back with a projector plan, a power and rigging list, and the questions to settle with the site. To see everything we do, visit our projection mapping services page, or talk to our team.