150dpi too much for 13' x 30' mural?

[nairb]

Last summer I was asked to provide a quote to produce an image for a forest mural. They were delayed in decision making until now so I wasn't able to produce a larger stitch, and they want to use one of my scouting images from last summer which is a 3 image stitch from a Nikon D3 with a 24mm T/S, producing an image with the following size:

5407 x 2795 pixel

36" x 18.6" @150 pixels/inch (18x9.3 @ 300pixel/inch)

The designer has been insistent that they want the image to be:

330" x 150" @150 dpi

So my image resized to this (part of the height needing to be cropped off) would be

49500 x 25500 pixel

It seems to me that this might be a bit excessive resolution wise for such a large wall mural. Not to mention the fact that resizing this is considerably taxing my 5 yr old desktop, and seriously pushing the limits of this 15 megapixel file.

Does anyone have experience producing murals like this? Is this a pretty standard resolution for something like this or would something like 80 dpi be better?

Thanks

[JohnHeerema]

That's some serious resizing you're contemplating.

I'd ask the obvious questions, like:
How are you going to print this thing? Solvent printer?
How close are people going to be to it?
What does it look like after your resizing program has had a crack at it?

My personal experience has been that stuff where the resizing program can see vectors (like buildings or airplanes) works a lot better than a lot of fine detail, like your forest. But you're the one in a position to see what it looks like. Me, I'd say print out a representative little bit of it at the target size, tape it up, and trust your own judgement.

[JohnHeerema]

My uninformed prediction is that you will end up going back to the location you scouted, and shooting a bunch more images for a high-resolution stitch. Unless people aren't going to ever get particularly close to the mural.

Again, it's just my guess, but having worked with resizing programs a bit, I don't think that there will be much visible difference between 150 ppi and 75 ppi - they're just not that great at resizing complex foliage (of course, your mileage may vary). But it should be interesting to see how the RIP handles a 150ppi file.

By comparison I just printed a forest pano a mere eight feet wide - it was a 24 image stitch from a D800E, although I overdid it - it would have been fine as maybe an 8 image stitch. People seem to walk right up to it to look for detail.

Good luck.

[nairb]

It was my intention to produce this with my d800e, but it didn't arrive until late august. I also wasn't going to invest $800 in a pano head until they approved the quote and I knew I was getting paid. I eventually bought one in October as I had the funds, but I never heard back from them until now.

The project was to be under construction last November, but was delayed due to funding and is now to start in the next little while.

Its for a local museum display. I suspect people will be looking close. Unfortunately there is no time to re shoot it. Unless they want to change it to a winter scene.

[nairb]

I'd be interested to hear from any who have done these before. Particularly if you've done a lot. If what they're asking for is too many ppi, then I could go back to them and suggest less. If on the other hand this is a common or standard resolution to print these at, I'll just go ahead with what they asked for and hope they're happy with it.

[enduser]

If I were asked to do this I would use a good signage company and have it done on their machinery.  At that size it really is a sign anyway, sort of.

[nairb]

That's what's happening. Printing is being contracted out by a local sign company that will then install it.

Anyone have thoughts/experience on the necessary resolution for a piece this size?

[Wayne Fox]

depends on what it is being used for.  I was asked to do a mural once for the background of a stage presentation for a convention.  It was a 4 or 5 shot stitch but ended up being 70 or 80 feet long, and was equivalent to printing it out at around 10DPI.  Printed on a solvent printer on vinyl, up close wasn't much to look at but from where the audience was sitting was surprisingly good.

Obviously a temporary need.  If this is being used as more of a permanent mural in a hallway, maybe not good enough.  So I guess find out what their expectations and usage is. If they are using a sign company for output, better off letting their RIP do the resizing.

[gigdagefg]

If you print it that big, it isn't going to look good

Stanley

[enduser]

If you make personal contact with the sign printing business, they will (or should) know exactly what resolution to use in a particular display circumstance.  And yes, let them handle the resolution using their rips. They should be able to show you examples of their printed work.