Rear Projection

March 8, 2005 1:02 PM

I am doing visuals for a concert. I want to project the visuals using rear-projection but I am not sure what material will work. Money is an issue, as I have not budget to speak of. Is there fabric that I could get for pennies anywhere?

I've seen people use frosted plexiglass and really light lacy-type material. But I'm worried about the light being to harsh if it hits the audience. The visuals art abstract but they have to come-out clear.

posted by Napierzaza to media & arts (10 comments total)

Bedsheets from a thrift store like Value Village, Goodwill, or the Salvation Army are great for this kind of thing.
posted by syscom at 1:12 PM on March 8, 2005

Frosted plexiglass is a rip-off. If budget counts, its better to buy clear plexi and sand it with an orbital sander. This looks super cool when rear-projected-on. Even clear plexi is really expensive, though. A good cheap alternative is a white bedsheet. Both of these will give the projected image a slightly fuzzy appearance, but will be clear enough that if you projected say...a movie, you'd still be able to recognize all the faces and facial expressions, but it's definitely not going to look perfectly clear.

Either 1/8" sanded plexi or a white bedsheet will absorb/reflect plenty of light to remove the harshness issue. Staring straight at a wall of plexi or a sheet with an image projected on it from the rear in a dark room won't give you that eye-glare feeling at all, at least from a 1k lumen projector.

You could also check dazian.com. They sell a bunch of specialized projection fabrics in large sizes. Some are pretty cheap.
posted by jeb at 1:16 PM on March 8, 2005

Thirding the cheap bedsheets - they'll do fine, so long as you stretch 'em tight.

Semi-related question for you: if left/right alignment matters in the projection of these images, do you have the proper lens for rear projection? I used to do this all the time with 16mm, and the weirdo lens attachment we had was rare, expensive, and sort of a pain in the ass. If it's abstract patterns you're projecting, this may not matter too much.
posted by Dr. Wu at 1:45 PM on March 8, 2005

(Most video projectors have a rear-projection mode that flips the image horizontally.)
posted by nobody at 2:02 PM on March 8, 2005

I figgered as much, nobody, and also figgered that Napierzaza would probably be using video, but wasn't totally sure. Thanks for the info.
Alas, no one but dinosaurs like me thinks about the poor, neglected 16mm projectors anymore. *snf*
posted by Dr. Wu at 2:06 PM on March 8, 2005

The "really light lacy-type material" you're mentioning is probably scrim. It can produce various effects, being transparent or opaque, depending on how it is lit. I have also projected slides onto muslin which works as well. I know they can both be rented for backdrops. Price really depends on the size of what you are projecting, and how long you need it for. But I can't think of any way it would be inexpensive.
posted by scazza at 2:29 PM on March 8, 2005

Scrim is not what you want, it comes in very wide seamless sizes but is transparent enough that you will see the projector itself and anything behind it that is light colored.

The way scrim works is that when you light it from the front with no light behind, it appears opaque, when you light anything behind it it becomes transparent. Using it for rear projections, no light on the front and some light reflecting off of the back, it tends to transparent.

Unbleached muslin is also available in wide, unseamed sizes and will work for rear projection, but not for pennies. Try Norcosco in Dallas (they have an 800 number and ship pretty quickly, I am not affiliated but spent thousands a year there for over a decade.)
posted by leafwoman at 3:19 PM on March 8, 2005

When I was a theatre major, we used Muslin with weights on the bottom to keep it taut. I also recommend Norcostco. They're good guys and if you call, they should be able to help you out.
posted by amandaudoff at 3:41 PM on March 8, 2005

You might call or email Rose Brand (Biggest US distributor for theater textiles), and ask if they have something in the scrap piles to sell you. It's going to be more expensive than a bedsheet, granted, but I've been by their office when they had rolls sitting in the lobby with $5 signs on them. It's probably easier to shop local, but ya never know.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 6:54 PM on March 8, 2005

If a seam isn't a big deal, or it only has to be 3' wide, you can get muslin for about a dollar a yard at most fabric stores.
posted by Kellydamnit at 5:57 AM on March 9, 2005