This year was our first Halloween in a new house. A few of our neighbors were going all out decorating their yards with some elaborate props so I wanted to join in the fun with some techy flair. Impressed by the digital decorations from AtmosFX seen in YouTube videos, I decided to let my geek side show by creating my own special effects show for trick or treaters.
First, I created a space to stage my AtmosFX digital decorations in the front yard. Some old fencing and Styrofoam tombstone transformed the spot into a cemetery. The tombstones and fencing were also nice for camouflaging the extension cords and AtmosFX projector that were needed to power up the digital decorations which I downloaded from atmosfx.com. These images stored on a USB thumb drive that plugged into my projector.
Of course, you need something to project your special effects on. So I staked in two seven foot high garden fence posts from Lowes and covered them with corn stalks to make them less obvious. Then I stretched AtmosFX Hollusion Material between the two posts. This created a 6' x 9' screen for projecting my digital decorations.
AtmosFX has a variety of digital decorations you can purchase to make decorating your home for Halloween spooky fun. Instead of going scary, I decided to have goofy monsters dance around in the cemetery. So we had a Halloween Monster Bash in our front yard!
I set the projector so that it was rotating among a number of images that included movie shorts and holographic images. In the movies the characters looked cartoonish and had a grave yard looking background to their scenes. While the holographic images were a bit more realistic and made it look as if monsters were walking across my backyard with the screen they were being projected on seemed almost invisible.
Trick or treaters were serenaded by these goofy hologram monsters playing instruments on our front yard. You could see the trees and night sky in the background behind them as they walked back and forth between the corn stalks. It was a spook-tacular performance!
Unfortunately, the week leading up to the big night as well as Halloween itself was filled with dreary weather. temperatures were frigid, it was raining and sleeting, and the wind was gusting. So I didn't have much of an opportunity for my first time using an AtmosFX projector to play around with its setting and perfect my setup because it was miserable to be outside. Sorry too that my camera doesn't take the best pictures in the dark. So there are a few things I need to work on for next year mostly to do with lighting. That being said this digital decoration display looked great to anyone who was able to get a firsthand look.
I was really geeked about my Atmos Fx Halloween display and am excited about different things to do next year to improve upon it. Not only did it look great but there weren't a whole lot of things I had to physically take down and store someplace until next Halloween. Plus because AtmosFX has digital decorations with a variety of holiday themes, I'm beginning to brainstorm some ways to also geek out by incorporating special effects into my Christmas decorations.
Find out how you can make your own home stand out for the holidays by using digital decorations by going to atmosfx.com. I think AtmosFX special effects are AWESOMEand am looking forward to creating even better holiday displays as I get some more experience using these products and ideas from other AtmosFX product users. So I am absolutely giving AtmosFX a geek daddy nod of approval. You are sure to have yourself some spooky Halloween fun with AtmosFX digital decorations!
Sci-Fi fans can add some special effects magic to provide a Star Trek theme to special occasions thanks to AtmosFX. A new licensing partnership with CBS Consumer Products has allowed AtmosFX which specializes in providing consumers with easy to use digital decorations to create a fantastic collection of Star Trek special effects. Beam in your favorite Star Trek characters to make guests at your party or event starry eyed.
"The Star Trek: Beam Me Up Digital Decorations allow fans to go where no one has gone before and feature the images and voices of their favorite Star Trek characters as digital projections that beam into their parties and special events,” AtmosFX Co-Founder, Pete Reichert communicated to ageekdaddy.com. “In addition to their favorite characters, these decorations include multiple backgrounds and transporter effects that, when combined with a projector, will allow one, three, or even five fans to pretend they are being beamed in or out by a transporter like the ones used on Star Trek spacecraft. This adds a whole new level of interaction when it comes to enjoying digital decorations."
The collection features seven decorations displayable on a TV or monitor, or on windows and walls using a projector. Decorations are also available in AtmosFX’s Hollusion™ mode which, when used with Hollusion Projection Material, creates the illusion of holographic projections of your favorite Star Trek characters in thin air. In addition, the collection comes with a variety of transporter effects that let people immerse themselves in a Ster Trek experience.
Star Trek characters and backgrounds available as digital decorations are based upon the original series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and Discovery as well as the movie Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn. This Star Trek: Beam Me Up AtmosFX Digital Decoration collection is available as a high-definition digital download exclusively at atmosfx.com/collections/decorations/products/star-trek-beam-me-up. Anyone planning a Star Trek party needs to check this out!
AtmosFX was founded in 2007 by Reichert, a former MTV producer, and Pete Williams, an animator, and TV show creator. They wanted to provide everyone the chance to have fun with digital special effects similar to the high-end video installations they’d produced for amusement parks and museums. From decorating homes for Halloween to helping make science fictions events at schools, libraries and community centers stellar, people are sure to be wowed when they see AtmosFX Star Trek: Beam Me Up Digital Decorations.
My kids had a day off school and instead of going on a road trip we decided to have a stay-cation adventure without leaving the house. We had a day of fun playing around with games, toys and some special effects that transported us back to the Mesozoic Era. The twins donned some masks that wholesalehalloweencostumes.com sent our way and wore their favorite dinosaur t-shirts to put them in the spirit to have a roaring good time.
DINOSAUR DECORATIONS
We decorated our place to look like Jurassic Park with some help from ATMOS FX. Utilizing their digital special effects, you can display images on your television, project them on walls or hang see-through sheets of material to create holograms in entryways and windows. Their dinosaur encounter collection allows Brontosaurus, Raptors, Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus Rex to tromp around a space.
As the family competed in a game of Jurassic World: Volcano Escape, engaged in a match of the dinosaur edition of Top Trumps, and played around with Fingerlings Untamed Raptors from WowWee, we had an impressive backdrop of rotating dinosaur scenes being shown on our tv screen. These dinosaurs moved about within a landscape meant to seem as if you are viewing them while taking a trek through a prehistoric wilderness. They also bark, chirp and roar adding sound to the visual imagery.
Show dinosaur encounter images on television screens through a DVD player or by inserting a USB drive into the TV. Or you can also use the ATMOS FX projector to display these images on a wall. A great way to add some temporary decorations to a room for a themed get together. We had raptors all over the place during our dinosaur fun day!
You can also cover your windows with plastic screening to display ATMOS FX images on them. How amazing would it be to look out the window and see a dinosaur walking by? Place the project outside your home and you can make it look like dinosaurs are roaming around outside your house. Another great way to do some interior decorating with ATMOS FX special effects.
The dinosaur encounter collection also has images with the landscape backdrops cut out that just show the dinosaurs with a transparent background. Why would they do that? Because by placing a clear coating over a door or a window you can create holograms of the dinosaurs. Project the images from inside onto your windows and your neighbors will think dinosaurs are inside your house. Place some screening across your porch and guests can be greeted by a T-Rex at your front door.
Hey look at this! Using the ATMOS FX hologram feature you can also make it look like dinosaurs are stomping around your house with you too. Another great way to decorate your place.
In addition to dinosaurs there are also ATMOS FX digital decorations with Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's and Valentine's Day themes. ATMOS FX special effects are a great way to transform anyplace into an impressive space for having a fantastic time in. For more information about ATMOS FX digital decorations and gear head over to atmosfx.com.
VOLCANO ESCAPE
Ever played Parcheesi? Volcano Escape is a dinosaur themed variation of the classic Parker Brothers board game, which itself is an adaption of the game Pachisi which originates from medieval India. Volcano Escape is based upon the 2018 blockbuster film Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom. In this game, just like in the movie, players need to rescue dinosaurs from Isla Nublar, home of the Jurassic World theme park, before the island is decimated by a volcanic eruption.
The goal of the game is to be the first player to evacuate four dinosaurs onto a boat that will whisk them off the island to safety. A custom die is used to determine how players' dinosaurs move around the game board. It has individually numbered sides from 1-5 with a sixth side featuring a picture of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
During a player's turn, he or she rolls the die. If the die lands on a numbered side, a player either moves the amount of spaces shown on the die or can instead choose to use the turn to roll out that number of lava balls from the volcano. The volcano has a slide mechanism that randomly shoots balls to different parts of the game board. If one of a player's dinosaurs are hit by a lava ball it must return to its starting point on the game board.
If a player rolls a T-Rex they can place that non-player dinosaur someplace on the game board. No one can move past the T-Rex without rolling that dinosaur's image on the die. A player approaching the dinosaur has two turns to try and roll a T-Rex. If they don't their dinosaur moves back to Start. If they do they pass the T-Rex with their dinosaur. They can then choose to leave the T-Rex in the same spot, switch its position to another spot, or remove it from the Jurassic World: Volcano Escape game board.
The game involves some strategy but isn't too complicated to play. Plus spinning the lava balls through the volcano hoping to hit your opponents' dinosaurs is a blast. An entertaining game for all ages to play makes Jurassic World: Volcano Escape enjoyable for spending family time together.
TOP TRUMPS
Next we played the dinosaur edition of TOP TRUMPS. In this card game a themed deck is shuffled out to players. Themes range from animals and dinosaurs to popular television shows and movies. Each card has unique illustrations, trivia and statistics imprinted on it. The statistics on Top Trumps' cards are used to play out each round of the game.
The player to the left of the dealer picks one of his or her cards that has a statistic with a high number. Each player must toss a card into the middle of the group with the best number in that statistic category they can muster. Whoever has the highest number wins the round and adds all the cards from the middle into their own hand. The person who wins the cards then selects a new one for other players to try and trump. Rounds continue until only one person is left with all the cards.
TOP TRUMPS is both an entertaining card game and an educational tool. The illustrations, trivia and statistics all get kids learning while having fun. As children read through their cards they start thinking about the content contained upon them.
For example, each card in this deck has a different dinosaur shown on it with a description of the creature. From Brachiosaurus to Triceratops the Top Trumps deck contains 30 cards each highlighting a unique dinosaur. Every card though has the same five categories listed on it: height; weight; length; killer rating; intelligence and age. Cards have different numbers assigned to the various statistical categories. So players peruse their cards looking for the best numbers to beat the competition.
Let's play through a round with myself and the kids! I deal out ten cards to each player. So my daughter sitting to the left of me gets to toss out the first Trump card. She plays a Giganotosaurus calling out the category of WEIGHT which her card shows as 17,636 pounds. So my son and I need to try and trump her card with one that has a higher weight.
My son tossed out a Barosaurus with a weight stat of 88,819 pounds. He trumps her card so now the question is can I beat his? The highest weight any of the dinosaurs in my hand has is the 17,636 Pentaceratops. That won't beat my son's card so I toss in a Hypsilophodon that has all low stats including a weight of 110 pounds. The boy wins the round and adds all three cards that were played to his hand.
Winning the round, he then picks a new trump card and selects the category the rest of us need to trump. He selects Coelophysis and picks the age category that identifies how long ago the dinosaur lived on the Earth which is 225 million years ago. My daughter trumps his card with a Herrerasaurus that has an age of 230. Once again I don't have a card in my hand that trumps either if their cards. So I discard another one of my cards that has low scores throughout all the stat categories. The Protoceratops is only 72 million years old and its other stats are on the low side too.
My daughter wins Round 2! The twins now each have 11 cards and I have 8. The game continues until only one person is left holding all the cards. After about a half hour of playing, my son ended up as the TOP TRUMP winning the card game. After he finished his victory dance, the cards were reshuffled and we played a new game.
Beyond the statistics used to play the game, the cards on the dinosaur edition of Top Trump are filled with lots of other interesting information. Each card identifies either the country where a dinosaur's fossils were found or the museum where it is on display. There is a graphic that shows the height of a dinosaur versus that of a human adult and child.
My kids also really liked the Meat-O-Meter at the bottom of each card which identifies the dinosaur as a meat-eater, plant-eater or omnivore (eats both). Combine these features with the dinosaur trivia and illustrations also included upon the cards and you will have kids wanting to flip through the cards just to read them in addition to wanting to play the game.
Top Trumps is a wonderful game to play while spending family time together or for children to play with their friends. Along with Dinosaurs, other Top Trumps decks include Ancient Egypt, Bugs, Countries of the World, DC Comics, Harry Potter, Marvel's Avengers, Shopkins, Star Wars and World Soccer Stars. Overall there are more than 60 themed decks to choose from! Stop by toptrumps.us to check them all out for yourself.
UNTAMED RAPTOR
The kids also had a lot of fun playing with Fingerling UNTAMED toys from WowWee. These finger puppets are designed in the image of Raptor dinosaurs and will interact with you. These animatronic dinosaur toys will react when they are touched.
These UNTAMED raptors have swiveling heads, chomping jaws, and eyes that move giving the appearance that they are alive. Tapping your Raptor's nose or petting the back of its head will cause the dinosaur to give out a warning call, hiss or growl. Sometimes it will even roar!
Shake your Raptor up and down to get it to take a bite at you. Or lay your UNTAMED Raptor in the palm of your hands to get it to fall asleep. It may even start snoring.
Blow a breath of air into its face and you will make it sneeze. Beware though because if you place your hands on the dinosaur's head and butt it will also give out a toot. Dino fart!
If you have multiple Fingerling UNTAMED Raptors together, clap your hands. They will squawk a tune out for you in unison. There are seventeen UNTAMED Raptors to choose from. Take a trek over to untamed.wowwee.com to check out which ones you'd like to have your own dinosaur adventures with.
SNACKING ON DINOSAURS
After trying to rescue dinosaurs from an erupting volcano, trying to be Top Trump in a card game, and trying to tame some Fingerling Raptors, it was time for a snack. Sticking with our theme of the day, I heated up some Yummy Dino Buddies Chicken Breast Nuggets for the kids to fuel up on. It really was a day full of dinosaur fun!
What did you think of our Dinosaur Fun Day? Stay connected with my family's ageekdaddy.com adventures and experiences by following the blog's social media accounts. Give us a LIKE over at our A GEEK DADDY Facebook page. Plus make sure to follow @Geekdad248 on Instagram and Twitter to stay tuned in to everything going on over at ageekdaddy.com
RELATED POSTS
If you enjoyed this post check out these related topics on ageekdaddy.com:
You can have dinosaurs stomping around your house with the Dinosaur Encounter set of digital decorations from AtmosFX. Project life-like images of Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, Brontosaurus, and Velociraptors onto television screens, walls and windows. You can also create holographic displays that make it appear as if one of these dinosaurs is roaming in a doorway or standing on a porch. Transform your home into a Jurassic Park with Dinosaur Encounter digital decorations from Atmos FX.
WALL PROJECTIONS
With an ATMOS FX projector to you can decorate the walls of a room. Show images of just the dinosaurs themselves or add some depth to your digital decorations with imagery that includes a Jurassic landscape around the creatures. Instead of posters or cardboard cutouts create an immersive experience with dinosaur digital decorations.
WINDOW VIEWS
How amazing would it be to look out a window and see a dinosaur looking back at you? Place an Atmos FX projecter outside your home, cover a window with hollusion screening and voila you will have a view of dinosaurs roaming outdoors from inside your house.
Place the projector inside with the image shining out to reverse the imagery. People passing by will think you have a dinosaur for a family pet as it moves about in a window. A great way to welcome guests to a party or decorate your home for Halloween.
HOLOGRAMS
Another great way to welcome guests inside or outside of your home is to create a hologram display. Tape up some hollusion screening in a doorway or built a wood framed display to place outdoors. You can make it look like a dinosaur is moving about inside your house or across your yard.
TELEVISION SCREENS
Instead of utilizing an ATMOS FX projector, show digital decorations on a television screen. Dinosaur Encounter images can be shown through a DVD player or by inserting a USB drive into the TV. These dinosaurs moved about within a landscape so it seems as if you are viewing them while taking a trek through a prehistoric wilderness. They also bark, chirp and roar adding sound to the visual imagery.
Find out more about Dinosaur Encounter digital decorations at atmosfx.com
