cheap back projection

[timmiddleton]

hi

is there a cheap way of doing back projection without hiring a special screen? we have loads of projectors at school that I can use, I just need something to shine it on! there is a lighting rig above the stage which I guess I could hang a screen off, but I need a material the projection would work on.

 

any bright ideas? (no puns intended...)

 

tim

[Andrew C]

If you want to watch the video "properly" and you don't want an "arty" look, I think the answer is no. However, if it is an "effect" you want, try some gauze or similar.

[Mr.Si]

We use a bed sheet in a wooden frame! - either hung or sat in a couple of wooden feet.

 

 

It works great!

 

Si

[david.elsbury]

  We use a bed sheet in a wooden frame! - either hung or sat in a couple of wooden feet.

It works great!

Si

Make sure the screen is tight, and not creased- IE give it an iron, before it goes up. It looks pretty naff if there are fold lines on the screen.

 

David

[timmiddleton]

is it gonna look ok though? makes me wonder why proper screens are so expensive to buy/hire if a bed sheet will work. obviously it wont be as good but does anyone have any photos to compare?

[Mr.Si]

  We use a bed sheet in a wooden frame! - either hung or sat in a couple of wooden feet.

It works great!

Si

Make sure the screen is tight, and not creased- IE give it an iron, before it goes up. It looks pretty naff if there are fold lines on the screen.

 

David

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yep absolutely - very important that one!

[CAB]

Screens are expensive..

 

Lets go back a little Dalight or similar screens from Harness Hall are specialist screens designed to provide the most consistient picture possible, and when hiring a £1,650.00 per day projector, £200.00 for a 20ft screen is nothing.

 

However, going back to my youth, I used to do projections in nightclubs where we couldnt risk damaging a 1K screen so we used 180-220 strand cotton. Nothing beats it, but you do need to up the power of the projector, and for |renaissance we died them light grey to reduce the ambient glare.

 

Other than that get in touch with some hire companies Blitz, harkness, CT or SPS and blag blag blag any old screens they may be chucking...

 

 

CAB

[robloxley]

Also remember that you'll need quite a deep stage to get enough throw distance - or a very wide angle lens, or a mirror - if you want a large projection.

[paulears]

A real BP screen has brilliant (joke not intended) light transmission from back to front and the individual tiny elements allow quite sharp focussing. A cotton sheet does work fine - you lose a little light, and any off axis light source also can be seen through it. The image also bleeds a little, making the focus look a little less sharp. Getting the creases out, as others have said, is a pain. Cotton also stretches, and whenyou fireproof it, the damn liquid tends to leave watermarks if you aren't very careful. Flamebar also slightluy shrinks it when it dries, which can help tension it.

[ferretwrangler]

Hi,

Although screens from Harkness and Fastfold may be very expensive the RP fabric isnt! £12 is per linear m at a roll width of 2.4m. Brand Is Translite.

[david.elsbury]

Hi,

Although screens from Harkness and Fastfold may be very expensive the RP fabric isnt! £12 is per linear m at a roll width of 2.4m. Brand Is Translite.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True, however if you want a screen size of more than 2.4 metres in either direction, I can see it being diffucult to make a nice seamless join in the material without it being visible.