How to project the bat signal onto clouds with a 100,000 Lumen light and a DIY projector

We like bright continuous lights here at DIYP. We’ve featured a bunch of them over the years – including this 1,000W 90,00 Lumens DIY monster. We’ve also shown off a few DIY solutions that aren’t quite that bright, but still a little above average. This one, though, really needs a trophy or something.

In this video, YouTuber NightHawkInLight (otherwise known as Ben), put together a ridiculous 100,000-lumen flashlight with a DIY projector to shoot a bat signal up onto the clouds. It’s a fascinating look at how simple projectors work, even if you’re not trying to request the services of a superhero.

Ben covers the project in two separate videos. The video at the top of this post goes through the ridiculously bright light setup Ben created to project the bat signal onto the clouds. Unfortunately, when he went out to test it, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. So, he made a second video where not only are there clouds, but it’s actually snowing, too!

In the second video, Ben also shows us how we can replicate the same effect at home using items we may already own. Items like a regular normal-person flashlight, a magnifying glass, and an empty Pringles tube. Yup, that’s all you need to make a simple DIY projector.

Projectors like these can be extremely useful in photography and video. You can use them to project whole backgrounds onto your scene if you’re using slide transparencies, for example (as many people do with tools like the Light Blaster), simulate daylight streaming through a window due to the columnation of light, or project light and patterns right onto your subject.

And they’re easy enough to make yourself, too.

Even if you don’t need one, they’re a pair of pretty cool videos to watch. I mean, how many of us haven’t wanted to be able to do this?