screens

[dbini]

I'm technical manager for a 3-screen video work that is touring later this year. it'll be going to theatres, and its my first job to source the kit to make the tour as easy and foolproof as possible.

 

we made the piece last year, and I ran the 3 projectors from Qlab through a Matrox TH2G - which worked great, so I'm happy to keep that system.

 

the screens were custom built timber frames 4m x 2.25m, with some proper front-projection screen material stapled to the edges, then suspended from the grid. they looked great, and Qlab allowed me to tweak the image to fit perfectly.

 

now we're setting up the tour, we could use the existing frames, maybe with some adjustment in the way they bolt together, and sew velcro to the projection material, and hire a van to get the 4m lengths in.

 

or: remake the frames so that they fold down to 2m and tour in my volvo.

 

or: hire/buy fastfold screens - or similar - that are designed to do the job and will be stress free to tour with.

 

any suggestions?

 

also - any recommendations for projectors. fairly small units, quiet, around 2000 lumens, zoom lens, 16x9, I think the source is 720p and the environment is going to be dark, so its not a difficult setup.

 

and: I'll need to source some projector brackets that can be bolted to hook clamps. any ideas?

 

thanks for reading,

 

john

[David Lee]

Screens - either your custom made ones or Stumpfl screens(I find them more robust than the Fast Fold ones.)TBH your custom made ones sound fine and if you can engineer them to fit in your car than that is the way I would be going.

 

For projectors I would probably be looking at getting some old Sanyos - I.e XP100's or XP57. Reliable and should handle 720p though the caveat is that the panel is only 1024 * 768 4:3. The bonus is that most hire companies will have the Unicol or equivalent flying systems which should allow you to hang them on bars.

[Hilary Watts]

I've made several 8 foot by 4 foot timber framed screens for both front and rear projection using the appropriate Rosco material and have been very happy with the results in a non-professional context. Initially I used eyelets and bungee cord to keep the material taught but it proved surprisingly difficult to get the tension even and required a very wide frame to allow the necessary 'stretch room' for the bungee cord and I've now scrapped this screen.. The most successful was a frame where I attached the screen material with staples on the back of the frame after pulling it 'round the edges' to provide the necessary tension.

 

For the latest model, which was designed to be transportable, I attached strips of 2 inch wide velcro (spaced at 6 inch intervals) to the screen material using heavy duty contact adhesive and again stretched it round the sides and back of the frame to the matching piece of velcro which was stapled to the back of the wooden frame. Using 2 inch wide velcro allows a margin of error in the positioning of the velcro - it's difficult to predict where the velcro will end up after stretching the material. When attaching the material using the velcro I initially attach it in the middle of each end, then in the middle of each side, then work my way out to the corners from the middle of the sides and ends, stretching as I go. It's then best to go round again trying to get a little bit more stretch on the material. Over the course of several weeks the material does seem to 'sag' and needs stretching again. I'm not sure if this is the velcro giving slightly or the glue allowing it to move - for some reason it never occurred to me to get the sewing machine out.

 

I've also made wooden stands and have ended up with something very similar to a Fastfold screen at a total cost of less than £150. In a theatrical or similar environment where the lighting and access can be controlled there's I don't think there's a lot of difference from the commercial equivalent. It's surprising how one or two wrinkles that appear very obvious in daylight disappear once the projector is turned on. In a well lit corporate/conference environment however it might look a bit 'amateurish'.

 

I think it probably comes down to your budget, the number of dates on the tour, the time available for setting up the show, and whether you are likely to be able to re-use any commercial frames which you buy. I'd be inclined to try to adapt one of your existing screens and then re-assemble it a few times in order to get some idea of the time taken and the 'hassle factor'. If you then decide to buy commercial screens you will at least feel that you have given the low cost option a try and the money you will have spent is worth it from the time or stress point of view.

 

Hilary

[dwright2104]

+1 for the Stumpfl screens, reasonable price, good screen gain, and quick to assemble, its a little painful to clip screen on to frame when its new and cold. If you can let the screen surface warm up or keep it warm its not so difficult. Overall good screens.

[the kid]

Once again going from Tested podcasts - double stretch, silvered spandex (iir ) on a frame, if this is with eyelets you can tighten to your hearts content.

 

I did get a price on a frame to be made up that would be reusable (box steel) and came to about £350 all in.

[AHYoung]

how longs your tour? if its a single instal, timber and staples makes sense, but why mess about when if its a short tour you can hire something , or if a long tour buy it, as you wont get a proper screen that you wont curse everytime you rig without spending more than you can buy one for.

 

 

If its a 16/9 ratio, you should look at a proper widescreen projector. nothing wrong with an xp100, but its not that appropriate for this use and a bit big and noisey. Id suggest that if its a sale you look at the Panasonic Vw430 - widescreen, 4000 lumens , 1.2 ~ 1.9:1 ratio on the lens and manual vertical lens shift, if you don't understand why this is important, go on tour with units without lens shift and a really narrow margin on the lens and you will soon understand.

 

For a bracket, look at a vision universal telescopic - 40 - 70cm drop and a m10 hole in the top.

 

 

We { and any number of specialists} would be happy to quote on a sales package, rental package or combination of the two as its really only worth owning kit if it proves more cost effective over the run, and if you rent you should get appropriate equipment with the correct mounts and cables etc which should mean less stress and quicker setups. I don't envey anyone who has to build and rig multiple home brew screens night after night makes sense once or twice, but pretty soon the savings seem less attractive,

[dbini]

thanks to everyone for your advice.

 

the tour is only 7 venues, but spread out over 5 or 6 months, so hire might be awkward.

 

Stumpfl screens look mighty, but in the size we want would be too expensive. it looks like I'm going to go with fixing the existing frames with hinges so they'll fold down to 2m lengths. and a 2m carpet tube to roll the screens into, and velcro on the screen edges. readymade screens all seem to have a black border, and I think the boss wants to avoid that look if possible.

 

I agree with AHYoung that XP100s or similar would be over-spec, heavy and noisy, and I know what you mean about lens shift. I have a couple of sanyo PLV Z series machines and they're awesome. the Z700, although not particularly bright, is almost silent, 16x9, has great contrast and massive physical lens shift. in this situation, where I can control the lighting precisely, even a 4000 lumen projector may be unnecessarily bright (more expensive, plus I may end up turning the brightness right down to avoid bounce from one screen to another)

 

any more suggestions for small projectors?

 

cheers,

 

john

[hollowsphereaudiovisual]

We can supply a universal bracket which incorporates a 50mm beam clamp

 

http://www.naxpro-truss.co.uk/uploads/tx_bauteile/608153380.jpg

 

We also sell Vivitek, Canon and Eiki projectors.

 

If you can PM me with the throw and screen size we can offer a quotation