After presenting my zoetrope toy idea to class last Tuesday, I realized that I had completely forgot to add a lens to the design. A lens would be necessary for the projection, so that the image on the wall is bigger than 2″ wide. I ran some quick tests today to see what sort of setup is possible.
I had many lenses to try: an acrylic half-sphere from Canal Plastics and a bunch of lenses Matt pulled off a projector. 
 
 
I made a tube out of sheet metal and placed a piece of acetate with a drawing on it between two pieces of acrylic at one end. I attached a super-bright LED to the end of a wooden stick, which I put in the tube from the other end. Using the stick, I could move the light back and forth to see what  distance would work best. 
 
 
 
 
Only one lens worked properly, but my whole setup was a bit too loose to calculate any distances. I’ll have to build a second prototype where the lens, drawing, and light are all mobile to get more concrete results.
 
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