Elastic or Strechable Screen

[mediapod]

Hey,

I'm trying to source an ideal material to form the backdrop of a dance show I'm producing.

Ideally, I'd like the material to be quick and easy to setup across a metal framework and not have to worry about folding it up or creasing it!

I've been looking at the Showtex P5 and P8 which look pretty good, but I just wanted to see if anyone had had any success with alternative fabrics.

I also like the idea of it being strong enough for the dancers to interact with - like a lycra.

 

Attached pic illustrates the projection tower in green and the backdrop made of 3 panels.

 

Thanks for any help!

Rob

 

http://s32.postimg.org/gu9tylo5h/Screen_Shot_2016_05_08_at_23_30_48.jpg

 

[Stuart91]

Are you going to be using front or rear projection?

 

Interestingly, some friends of mine got some very good results just projecting onto lycra. Apparently they couldn't find a UK supplier and had to import it from the USA, but despite that it was still startlingly cheap.

[andy_s]

I am surprised that it was difficult to find a supplier in the UK, but it could be a question of the right search term (or maybe even using google.com instead of google.co.uk - I have found the former seems to bring up american references)

Joels and Whaleys both do a lycra, as well as Showtex... this is the best route to go down if you need very wide un-seamed pieces. if you are happy to have seams you can join pieces together there are many UK based suppliers of lycra for dress making and it will be cheaper - I just did this on a very low budget show where we couldn't afford the prices from Joels etcetera, and the seam was not really noticeable, even in a really really tiny theatre. There is a way of sewing it which will still allow the fabric to stretch - this information was easily found on the internet.

Hope this helps

 

PS one thing to look out for is the amount of stretch you can get - this depends on the proportion of elastic used in the weave of the fabric.

[andy_s]

and I've found the place we got ours from...SCUBA KNIT JERSEY SPANDEX

[mediapod]

That's great - thanks guys - I'll have a crack with that eBay stuff and see how it turns out - otherwise I'll be ordering the Showtex P8 material at around 10x the cost!

Thanks again

(And it's front projection)

[Joe Fernand]

Quite a few folk use a double skin of Spandex (1 x black + 1 x white) in DIY Home Cinema systems where they are creating a speaker baffle wall with an AT (Acoustically Transparent) screen in front of the baffle wall.

 

Joe