Understanding Your ProjectionCraft Pack: What Every File Is & How to Build Your Show

Just downloaded a pack and not sure what all the files are for? This is the one to read. In five minutes, you'll know exactly what each clip does and how to put them together into a show.

Time: ~5–15 min · Difficulty: Easy · Read this first after buying

The two ways to run your pack

Every ProjectionCraft pack is designed to work in two ways: use the ready-made Full Loop, or build your own sequence from the individual clips:

• The easy way - use the Full Loop. One ready-made ~3-minute video with everything already sequenced. Skip the rest of this guide, drop it on a stick, and play. Done.

• The custom way - build your own show from the individual files. A little more effort, total control over what plays and in what order. That's what the rest of this guide covers.

  
  

What's Inside Your ProjectionCraft Pack

When you open your pack, you'll see a few types of file. Here's what each one is for:

• Effect clips - the stars. Each is a single effect (a ghost, a creature, a scene), usually 5–30 seconds, often with a range of variations so you can pick your favorites or rotate them.

• Connector clips - short black or white spacer clips designed to sit between effects, smoothing the join from one to the next. Some carry window frames or backgrounds so you can shape the look of your show, not just pad the gaps.

• Fade-to-black and fade-from-black - a matching pair that eases a clip down to black and back up again, so a transition glides through black instead of hard-cutting.

• The Full Loop - the whole show pre-built into one file, for when you don't want to assemble anything.

  
  

  

  
  

Method A - Build a playlist on a USB stick (no computer editing)

The simplest way to make your own sequence. Most USB projectors and media players play files in name order, then loop back to the start.

1. Copy the clips you want onto the stick.

2. Rename them in the order you want them to play - 001, 002, 003, and so on.

3. Slot a connector clip between effects to smooth the joins (e.g. 001 effect, 002 connector, 003 effect…).

4. Set the player to repeat, and the whole sequence loops all night.

This is the quickest custom route - but if your projector flashes menu text between files, see the Playback & Looping Guide for the fixes (or just use Method B).

Method B - Build one long video in an editor (the smoothest result)

For a seamless, text-free show, stitch your clips into a single long video. Any free video editor works.

1. Drop your chosen effect clips onto the timeline in the order you like.

2. Place a connector clip or a fade between each one so the joins are clean.

3. Start and end on black (use a fade) so the loop point is invisible when it repeats.

4. Export as one MP4, put it on a stick, and set it to repeat.

Because it's a single file, there are no file-changes for a projector to interrupt - the smoothest possible result, and the cure for a stubborn on-screen menu.

How to think about your sequence

A few simple ideas that make a show feel designed rather than random:

• Vary the order so the same effect isn't always following the same one - the eye spots patterns quickly.

• Use connectors as breathing room - a short black pause between effects makes each one land, rather than one blurring into the next.

• Mix your variations so a recurring effect never looks like a hard repeat.

• Bookend with fades so the very start and very end melt into black, hiding the loop seam.

  
  

  [IMG: example running order]

Doing a jump scare instead?

If you're building a motion-triggered scare, you don't sequence these into a loop - you keep a loop file and a trigger file separate so the player can fire the scare on cue. See the Motion-Triggered Jump Scare guide.

Still stuck on a file?

Not sure what something in your pack is for? Check our FAQ, or get in touch through the contact form and we'll point you to the right one.

Get a pack to play with

Every pack includes the effect clips, connectors, fades and a ready-made Full Loop - everything in this guide, in one download. Shop Projection Effects