Printed Cloth

[theatretechie]

Hi All.

 

I'm looking to get a cloth printed instead of painted.

 

Size would be 8mx4.5m.

 

Fabric has been looked at as solid or gauze depending on cost.

Has anyone had this sort of thing done and can recommend someone to do it?

 

Thanks in advance for any information

[timsabre]

Sunbaba are very good

[richb]

Promptside (Peter Baker) or Service Graphics (Roger Southey) would both be able to deal with it.

[Jivemaster]

http://igma-imaging.co.uk/ have done good things for me before, but usually limited to 2m wide. See what they can do now.

[James Remo]

I can highly recommend hangman for printed backdrops, I've also had good results from rockdrops, but hangman would be my first port of call

[Stuart91]

Perhaps a bit on the small side for the OP, but we have had very good results from Pixart in the past. It looks like the maximum width they can do is 295cm.

[Ynot]

Well, it's been a while since I looked at this as an option so out of curiosity I mailed Sunbaba for a quote for our stage - 9 x 5m...

 

Came out at £1260 plus VAT for their standard cloth option printed to artwork supplied by buyer.

 

PVC would come in cheaper at £900, and polyester down to £810. Not really suitable for most theatre shows though.

 

All in all, unless I could see a market in hiring odd cloths at that size (which I can't) these prices are way too high for us still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Stuart91]

All in all, unless I could see a market in hiring odd cloths at that size (which I can't) these prices are way too high for us still.

 

We've come across quite a few venues using projection for certain scenes. Ultrawide projectors mean the cast are less likely to get in the way, especially on a back cloth.

 

A suitable projector isn't cheap, and to go 9m by 5m you'd probably need to blend several machines, but the big advantage is that once they are there the incremental cost for new images is essentially zero.

[Ynot]

We have done this at times, though I'm not a huge fan of using projection for lengthy scenes, more as a scene setter to be honest. We have a pair of 5k projectors which do the job reasonably well.

[kerry davies]

If Jan at Sunbaba or GCB at Rockdrops are too expensive you could do some lateral thinking and call Geoff at Roustabout

Whether he can make something up for you that will work is a guess but he has done some amazing looking tents with his printing work. Check out the Paisley and Forest tents on his gallery.

[top-cat]

We have done this at times, though I'm not a huge fan of using projection for lengthy scenes, more as a scene setter to be honest. We have a pair of 5k projectors which do the job reasonably well.

 

On my show I have 8 projectors doing the back drop, they are all 5500 lumens (apparently, they don't seem it). To be honest by the time you've factored in a heavy-weight projection screen, and then a gauze in front, it is not very bright and I only use it for as you say, basic scene setting with an image; or using it as a cyc with solid colours. Unfortunately it's thus limited to that amount of intensity. The benefit of a cloth is that you can light it to make it brighter, where a projection screen you have to be careful to keep light off it because anything which does light it effectively scrubs the image underneath.

[Ynot]

Interesting.How about posting some photos of the projection states - would be interested to see how they stack up.

 

[top-cat]

Interesting.How about posting some photos of the projection states - would be interested to see how they stack up.

 

 

Not very well, unfortunately. Photos of anything from the show are off limits but I'm sure I can do some test images.

 

The main problems we have are that:

- The distribution to the projectors does not give control-per-projector from the media server. There aren't enough outs - so it's partially split at the media server, and then the projectors have a facility to display part of an image - but it's a pain to set up.

- The projectors are fairly old and weren't great to begin with, so matching their colours is difficult, and they have no lens shift for quick positioning correction.

- Their location is rubbish. The bottom ones are knocked frequently when the up-stage void (between screen and projector) is used as a passage when they're off, or for storage; whilst the top ones are totally inaccessible to focus / maintain. I'm sure you'll appreciate that even at 3m throw, a tiny knock can completely foul it up.

 

 

Basically even if the image is OK, the practicalities can still be difficult.

[Tom]

Another +1 for Prompt Side - or in fact Iamage Fabrication which is the name of their print division.

They only do up to 3m wide but will happily (and relatively invisibly) join stuff.

 

For full size try Rutters - My link

 

The great advantage of both of these companies is they really do understand the vagaries of theatre and will produce something that works. For example you won't have to explain what you mean when you ask for ties and a pocket.

They will also be able to give you realistic advice about what materials to use.

There are probably cheaper options (somewhere on here there is a discussion about getting stuff printed in China) but are they really worth it.

 

T

[Chris.Morris]

Another +1 for Prompt Side - or in fact Iamage Fabrication which is the name of their print division.

They only do up to 3m wide but will happily (and relatively invisibly) join stuff.

 

For full size try Rutters - My link

 

The great advantage of both of these companies is they really do understand the vagaries of theatre and will produce something that works. For example you won't have to explain what you mean when you ask for ties and a pocket.

They will also be able to give you realistic advice about what materials to use.

There are probably cheaper options (somewhere on here there is a discussion about getting stuff printed in China) but are they really worth it.

 

T

 

Image Fabrications did our stuff for plasa very well, and indeed talked me out of eyes \ elastic all round and suggested I go for pockets top and bottom which did indeed look better (and allowed us to use pipe and drape as opposed to truss, when we changed the design of the stand).