Stretch material for projector screen

[justinw]

Hi all,

We are wanting to get some funky looking projector screens made up that are different shapes similar to a piece of material that has been stretched in different directions. This will be used for a week during a teen camp.

What would be the best method?

1. Get some stretch material from the local shop that can be nailed to a wooden frame.
2. Get a large piece of wood and cut it to our shape and then paint.
3. Any other suggestions you may have.

[Gracetech]

Lycra is a great projection material other than that i would suggest paint and surface in order to get the best gain out of your projector. Be sure to add a flat black border to give it that "pro" look.

crt

[acicomp]

I would suggest blackout cloth commonly used for the back of drapes. Most local cloth dealers will sell it in widths about 4.5' wide. You can get it faster online up to 9' widths. We use this material for our outdoor theater at the church for our summer movie nights and it has really great results. I think the material we use has about 1.0 gain. If ordering online, I would look at www.carlofet.com. Again, you may be able to find some local...

[justinw]

Originally Posted by acicomp

I would suggest blackout cloth commonly used for the back of drapes. Most local cloth dealers will sell it in widths about 4.5' wide. You can get it faster online up to 9' widths. We use this material for our outdoor theater at the church for our summer movie nights and it has really great results. I think the material we use has about 1.0 gain. If ordering online, I would look at Carlofet. Again, you may be able to find some local...

OK great so I don't necessarily have to use white cloth?

[acicomp]

No, it is a white material, but it's called blackout material. When used on curtains, it blocks out any light when they are closed. I guess they call it blackout cloth since it keeps a room dark if they need.

Hope that helps,
Chris

[EmilBarnabas]

Spandex works and stretches to odd shapes.

[Brad Weber]

Originally Posted by EmilBarnabas

Spandex works and stretches to odd shapes.

Just keep in mind that different materials have different properties as projection screens including how much of the light hitting the screen is focused at the audience (gain), viewing angle, contrast and color rendition. Just about any material can be projected on and get an image, whether the result is acceptable for the application or could affect other factors such as control of ambient light or the projector brightness is often an unknown.

If you are just creating effects you can often get away with much more than you can if you are trying to create accurate reproduction or legible graphics. A good example here in Atlanta if Coca-Cola, if you are working with them then just seeing red is not enough, it needs to be Coca-Cola red and that is a major factor when they look at projectors and screens.