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BIG screen size material

post #1 of 39
4/28/09 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Hey folks.
So last year I wanted to rebuild my screen to a bigger size. I never got around to it, and am wanting to do this now this year.

My current screen is 16x9 feet, and I think it would be a blast to go with a 23.5 x 10 foot screen....

Any ideas on material to use for a screen that size? If I can, I'd like to avoid sewing two pieces together, a single piece would be preferred.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 39
4/29/09 at 5:51am
You may look into billboard material from a sign shop. Another good place to look for advice for outdoors is BackyardTheaters .com
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post #3 of 39
4/29/09 at 8:10am
I have found that a great screen material is white spandex - it is bright, easy to use and a ever so slight stretch of the material completely eliminates wrinkles. You can get quite large pieces at Spandex World (120" wide).

http://www.spandexworld.com/c3/catalog/product/2195

It also works great as a rear projection material, because it allows light to pass. I use it as front projection material, but to keep light from shining through the back from stray light sources, I use insulation foam board as a substrate painted white, then stretch the spandex over that. I have made a "foldable" screen this way, where the insulation foam panels (4x8) are hinged with tape and once unfolded, the spandex stretches flat and wrinkle-free.

Just a thought - although it is $15/yd. Perhaps you can find a discount somewhere.
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post #4 of 39
4/29/09 at 9:18pm
try home depot for canvas drop cloths. that's what my screen is made out of. they come in different sizes and if they get dirty toss it in the washing machine.
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post #5 of 39
4/30/09 at 1:47pm
Thread Starter 
I've been looking around, and might try going with a white tarp. Of course it isn't the nicest smooth surface, so I'm not so sure yet...
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post #6 of 39
6/4/09 at 9:45pm
warren,

Any luck with screen material? Lately my gears have been turning thinking that I need to setup something in the cul-de-sac here in the warm months. Maybe suspending a screen in the garage door openining and the neighbors and who ever in the court/driveway?
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post #7 of 39
6/5/09 at 9:08am
I still am a big proponent of white matte spandex. I have been scouring the internet trying to find 120" material sold in yards for less than $15/yd, but have been unsuccessful so far. The only place I can find it for that cheap is through spandexworld, and I can't find any coupons that may help, either.

The advantages are that it is very light, easy to work with, and wrinkles pull right out when even barely stretched.

Of course, you can buy 54-60" white spandex anwhere and have it seamed, but I am really, really trying to stay away from seams...

Anyway, I would also be interested in what the OP came up with.
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post #8 of 39
6/5/09 at 10:02am
Thread Starter 
At the moment, I'm working on the frame design.

I'm very much into fast and easy. My current design is a five-minute job to get the screen up or down. (It takes me about as long to get it out of the garage and carry down to the theater site as it does to actually set it up!)

With a screen at 24'x10' (which is my current goal), the frame design has been a problem for me so far. I have a few ideas, and have been drawing them out, but don't have a real good solution yet.

For the material, at the moment, I'm unsure. The tarp is still high on the list because it is a "solid" surface.

Steve, with the spandex, can you estimate how much light output do you lose from the light going through the material? With the screen getting this big, I can't afford to have any light go through the screen at all. The spandex that I've seen so far is listed as good for front or rear projection, which might not work for this...
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post #9 of 39
6/5/09 at 7:36pm
Over on the DIY Screen forum, MississippiMan started a thread that details some fairly inexpensive fabric for very wide dimensions. Hopefully, this link will get you there.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...271&highlight=
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post #10 of 39
6/5/09 at 10:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by warrenP View Post

At the moment, I'm working on the frame design.

I'm very much into fast and easy. My current design is a five-minute job to get the screen up or down. (It takes me about as long to get it out of the garage and carry down to the theater site as it does to actually set it up!)

With a screen at 24'x10' (which is my current goal), the frame design has been a problem for me so far. I have a few ideas, and have been drawing them out, but don't have a real good solution yet.

For the material, at the moment, I'm unsure. The tarp is still high on the list because it is a "solid" surface.

Steve, with the spandex, can you estimate how much light output do you lose from the light going through the material? With the screen getting this big, I can't afford to have any light go through the screen at all. The spandex that I've seen so far is listed as good for front or rear projection, which might not work for this...

why not a canvase drop cloth from either lowes or home depot. i got mine from home depot. it works great. you will have a seam but it is not noticeable during the movie. you will need to pick up a grommet kit from jo-ann and a few refill packets.
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post #11 of 39
6/8/09 at 8:21pm
Thread Starter 
Well I have ordered some sample materials. I'm most interested in a white Poly Crc, used normally in theaters for painting backdrops and that sort of thing. I have some ideas on the frame, but still trying to figure it out. I may not be able to meet my 5 minute setup goal, although I'd rather have the super big screen and a bit longer setup/teardown time, so we'll see how this goes.

As things progress I'll keep posting here...
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post #12 of 39
6/11/09 at 9:40am
Thread Starter 
Material samples arrive today. I'll be checking them out over the weekend.

I think the massive screen is about to begin!
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post #13 of 39
6/11/09 at 5:14pm
guess im the only one who uses off-the-shelf fabric found at hardware stores lol.
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post #14 of 39
6/11/09 at 7:37pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiss_alive View Post

guess im the only one who uses off-the-shelf fabric found at hardware stores lol.


I might still go that way. It isn't easy to find a flat white tarp that is big enough at the big box stores...
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post #15 of 39
6/12/09 at 8:05am
Yesterday, I ordered 6 yards of 120" white spandex from spandexworld.com. I will let you all know how that turns out.
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post #16 of 39
6/12/09 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Scherrer View Post

Yesterday, I ordered 6 yards of 120" white spandex from spandexworld.com. I will let you all know how that turns out.

Nice! So you're going to supersize the screen as well?
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post #17 of 39
6/12/09 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
OK, so the initial test last night leaves me mixed. The material is great, in fact for DIY screens, it seems just fine. However, it does bleed light through. Now I need to decide if I want to use this material and find a backing, or leave it as is.

I guess that first I'll build the frame and test it, however that will be later this month.

BTW, the material is White PolyCRC from Rosebrand.
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post #18 of 39
6/15/09 at 8:32pm
I stuck w/ my handy dandy Joann Fabric's BOC. Had 2 sewn together long ways. Works GREAT. Cannot see seem once it gets completely dark. There's a guy out there on Al Gore's internet here that sells BOC in width's up to 12 feet or something. My are 2 5 foot lengths sewn together. Works GREAT.
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post #19 of 39
6/17/09 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiss_alive View Post

guess im the only one who uses off-the-shelf fabric found at hardware stores lol.

No way! I do the same thing. Awesomely huge screen on the cheap, and it looks pretty good. I draped the whole thing over an extension ladder hung up between two trees in the backyard. bombproof.
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post #20 of 39
6/18/09 at 6:30am
Quote:


I stuck w/ my handy dandy Joann Fabric's BOC. Had 2 sewn together long ways. Works GREAT. Cannot see seem once it gets completely dark.


Same here.
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post #21 of 39
6/18/09 at 6:56am
I just got in the 120" white spandex material from spandexworld.com. I haven't used it for an image yet, but this stuff is great! It is pretty heavy and stretchable both horizontally and vertically. However, it will also bleed through, like the tarp someone mentioned earlier. But I am using 4+ 4x8 panels of heavy duty foam insulation from Home Depot as a backing, painted white.

My previous material was 4 different sections of 54" white spandex, but the seams were a problem - I tried to use white fabric tape to cover the seams, but to my eyes, the seams were pretty apparent. This fabric should do the trick.

We have a movie night this Saturday, so I will let everyone know how it goes...
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post #22 of 39
6/19/09 at 11:21am
Okay, just let us know Steve when you are done.
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post #23 of 39
6/20/09 at 1:32am
Have a look at my screen its 19ft x 11ft (16:9)and one piece.http://backyardtheater.com/forums/in...18972#msg18972
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post #24 of 39
6/20/09 at 6:02am
Steve I would also like to know the results.......
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post #25 of 39
6/22/09 at 2:20pm
Wow - the material worked absolutely great! I had one small issue that I can correct for next time - I have a very small space between the two central 4x8 panels. The space can be seen through the 120" spandex, so I still saw a vertical line running through the image, although it wasn't a stark seam that was there before. I just need to double up across this space, and I should be good to go.

I shot some video the other night which I will post, but here is an image of the screen. I am looking for a better solution, but I am using 1 inch black binder clips to hold the material up on the screen.

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post #26 of 39
6/22/09 at 9:03pm
Here is the video I was talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz1JVMdpHNU
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post #27 of 39
6/23/09 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Looks good Steve. We need to try to get some sort of Chicagoland outdoor meet going with so many of us enjoying the outdoors. Of course, that means trying not to overlap nights!
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post #28 of 39
6/23/09 at 10:22am
Thread Starter 
I think I have the screen design figured out. Still working out some of the details, and I don't think it will be as fast as the current setup, but I think the idea is original and will work out.

I'm also testing a new white tarp. The screen material I had is actually pretty good - I think it would make a good DIY screen. but, I can't afford to have any light bleed through so that is a bummer. The white tarp has some texture to it, but I'm not spending 10K for a perfect outdoor screen, so there have to be tradeoffs - the only one I can't trade off is light.

So we'll see. If all goes well I am hoping to have this up by the July night...
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post #29 of 39
7/13/09 at 8:23am
Thread Starter 
OK, I started the new frame design this last weekend, and I think it will work out pretty nicely. It has a totally new and different element from any of the other screen frames, so I hope to have it ready to test in another week or so (silly real life work getting in the way...) I'll post the pics and diagrams here. Unless of course it is a total failure... then I'll bribe the mods to delete any reference to this thread ever having existed. :-)
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post #30 of 39
7/28/09 at 7:31pm
Any updates on the new frame design? A totally new and different element from any of the other screen frames has me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting. I have the material (not as big as what you're dealing with), and looking for ideas on a easy way to setup and tear down. Looking forward to pic's as well. Thanks
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