Digital Decorating 101: The Decorating Disc XL

Astounding audiences in the round is not just the sole province of Neil Diamond and Yanni! Many AtmosFX Decorations also look brilliant when showcased in a circular format – thanks to the innovative AtmosFX Decorating Disc XL.

As part of an ongoing series, Digital Decorating 101, we’d like to show you some of the best ways to add this clever decorating tool to your decoration display, no matter what time of year it is, or what you are celebrating – Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween and more.

First, we start with the basics. The Decorating Disc XL is a 43-inch in diameter circular projection screen. Lightweight and easy-to-use, it is made from woven polyester and is designed to crisply hold the image from the projector. It even comes with its own storage case, and folds down to just 14.5 inches in diameter.

For a list of other articles in the Digital Decorating 101 series, scroll down to the bottom of this article.

Or, here’s another way to think about it. Consider the Decorating Disc XL as a portable circular window with Window Projection Material permanently attached. Because it is lightweight, it can be placed anywhere and set-up in mere seconds – simply point the projector at it and you are ready to go.

The Decorating Disc XL is also now equipped with two extra hanging grommets at the base of the disc. This allows you to anchor the disc firmly in any free-hanging display.

AtmosFX Decorations Optimized for the Decorating Disc XL

Because the Decorating Disc XL is a circle, you also will want your decorations optimized that they, too, are a circle. After all, if you are projecting a rectangular image onto a circular screen, you are going to have what is called “light spill” – the remaining light that doesn’t fit on the disc. This will show up on whatever is behind the Decorating Disc XL, ruining the effect.

There’s another reason you want your decorations optimized as a circle. In addition to light spill, if your decorations have not been modified as a circle, then some of the action in the decoration might take place off-screen. And nobody wants that!

Of course, for the AtmosFANs who are savvy with video-editing software, it is possible to modify any AtmosFX Decoration to make it a circle. But for many of us, we don’t have the time nor expertise to do so. For this reason, AtmosFX animators have taken some of our most popular decorations and optimized them for the Decorating Disc XL. They are:

Christmas and Other Holiday Collections

Halloween Collections

If you are searching AtmosFX.com and would like to know if a decoration is optimized for the Decorating Disc XL, you can always click on “Display Modes Included” to see for sure. Please note that AtmosFX animators are continuing to modify more decorations for the Decorating Disc XL, too!

Where are Good Places to Hang the Decorating Disc XL?

How best to use the Decorating Disc XL? You are only limited by your imagination. Because the screen is both lightweight and portable, it is easy to set up anywhere, inside or out.

It is important to remember that, unlike Hollusion Projection Material (or even Window Projection Material, for that matter), the Decorating Disc XL isn’t designed to go unnoticed. Instead, think of it more like a dynamic ornament onto which people will focus their attention.

For instance, many decorators hang the Decorating Disc XL in their window. This allows them to celebrate a holiday with a visually engaging decoration in the window without having to cover the entire window with projection material. The colorful Yuletide Window and Halloween Window decorations, when displayed in this way, are particularly captivating.

Another great option is to place it outdoors, up high, like at the top of your roofline. Here, a great choice is the Halloween Moon Decoration. Like all AtmosFX Decorations, it can be displayed in many formats. But Halloween Moon was designed as a circular format, first and foremost. When up high, it will appear to those down below that a full moon has risen above your house – and that’s only the beginning.

That same rooftop display, during Christmas, can make it appear that Santa Claus is guiding his sleigh in front of a full moon with the help of Santa’s Sleigh Ride Decoration Collection.

Turn the Decorating Disc XL Into a Centerpiece

Earlier, we suggested that you can think of the Decorating Disc XL not as a projection screen, but rather as an ornament. That is, turn the Decorating Disc XL into a centerpiece of a display. Many AtmosFANs have done exactly that.

A great example would be how clever decorators have turned the Decorating Disc XL into a giant “snowglobe,” by propping it up and back-projecting the Enchanted Snowman Decoration Collection onto it. Look for the phrase “Snowglobe Mode” with that decoration – it is a wintertime showstopper!

And while we are talking about ornaments, we of course think of trees. Many decorators have hung one, and sometimes many, Decorating Disc XLs from the tree branches. This is particularly effective for Halloween displays, as there are few things more mesmerizing than a disembodied head (as is the case with Halloween Hosts Decoration Collection) looking and speaking with you.

This is also true with one our favorites – Eerie Eyes Decoration Collection. While technically not designed for the Decorating Disc XL, it is worth noting that eyes are largely round. (See where we are going with this?) You can display a singular dragon, alien or humanoid eye onto the disc. What’s more eerie than that looking down on you from high up in a tree? Well, only multiple eyes looking down on you from high up in a tree! And you can do that, too!

How have you used the AtmosFX Decorating Disc XL in your decoration displays? We want to see it! Send us your photos and videos using this simple online submission form!