102 Days to Halloween — Build Season Starts Now

Issue #2 — and we appreciate the great response to the first one. New faces in the community, new houses in the showcase queue, and gear talk already heating up. Thank you.

This issue is all about one thing: build season starts now. It’s July 21st, which sounds early — until you count the days. So this week we’ve got a killer featured house, a 102-day game plan, and the tools to work it. Let’s go.

Geno produced this full house-facade show for Memorial Day — fighter jets, stealth bombers, saluting soldiers, and real aircraft footage rolling across the entire home, roofline to garage door. “Some Gave Some. Others Gave All.” It’s a reminder that projection mapping isn’t just for October — this hobby runs year-round.

The teardown:

💡 The trick worth stealing: Geno broadcasts his soundtrack over FM radio, so neighbors tune in from their cars — full audio experience, zero blasting speakers, zero annoyed neighbors. A cheap FM transmitter is all it takes.

🔧 The rig: custom-built weatherproof outdoor enclosure with an autonomous mini PC inside — the show runs itself. He shares a free DIY rig-build guide.

📺 The projector: Optoma GT2100HDR (short throw, 1080p, bright enough to own the whole facade).

🤖 The content: AI-generated projection themes built from a photo of his house — more on that below.

Want your house in this spot? Submit it at holidayprojectionhub.com/showcase.

Every year somebody’s out there October 25th with an unopened projector box and big dreams. Don’t be that guy. Here’s the timeline that gets you to showtime without the panic:

NOW – July: Plan & measure. Pick your projection surfaces, look at your house at night, and measure your throw distances. Our free Projector Calculator at holidayprojectionhub.com/calculator gets throw distance, lumens, and surface size right the first time.

August: Lock in your gear. Buying your first projector? Run your numbers through the calculator before you spend a dime — lumens and throw ratio matter more than the spec-sheet buzzwords. Then hit the vendor directory at holidayprojectionhub.com/vendors for shows, enclosures, and rigs. August buying beats October panic-pricing.

September: Content & first light. Buy or build your show content, map your surfaces, and get light on the house at least once. The tutorial library in our Skool classroom walks you through mapping step by step.

October: Refine & showtime. Weatherproof everything, set your schedule, and run a full dress rehearsal by the 24th. Then enjoy being THAT house.

Stuck on any step? That’s literally what the community is for.

Geno’s featured show wasn’t hand-animated frame by frame — the content was AI-generated from a photo of his house. That’s where this hobby is heading: tools that take a snapshot of your facade and build mapped themes around your actual windows, rooflines, and doors. What used to take weeks in After Effects is becoming a weekend project.

Hand-built content still has its place — Simon’s “Thriller” from Issue #1 was 100% After Effects and it showed. But if the content step is what’s been holding you back, AI tools just lowered the bar to entry. You’ll find content & effects creators — both kinds — in the vendor directory at holidayprojectionhub.com/vendors.

Vendors: listings are free and live all week. Submit on the same page — and include a video link, it stands out much better.

So — what’s YOUR 2026 show? A Halloween classic like Thriller? Something original? First-timer just trying to get one window mapped? Tell us in the community at skool.com/holidayprojectionhub — the best ideas in this hobby get stolen and improved, and that’s exactly how it should work.

And it’s gear-cleanout season — upgrading this year? Someone in the community wants your old projector. Post it in the For Sale forum under the Skool community tab.