Projecting onto a flat

[theatrefreak05]

I am currently designing a set where projection will be used almost throughout the entire show to serve as backgrounds and video clips. I have a couple questions:

First of all, I will be projecting onto the back wall of the set (basically a series of flats). Would it be best to cover the flats with some sort of fabric? If so, the fabric would have to be cheep because of our budget.

Also, it would be ideal if the wall could be black. Will projection show up on a black surface?

As you can tell, I have never designed a set using projection so I am a little new to this. Thanks for any input!

[seanandkate]

Projection on a black surface is, as you might guess, less than ideal. Do a quick search on projection material and you'll probably get some helpful hits. I think (if memory serves) someone just recently talked about a material you could use. Good luck!

[Footer]

You can project onto a black surface. However, if you don't have a beefy enough projector its not going to work all that well. If you are projecting and the only thing you have on is the projector (No Lights), it will work OK. I did this for a show last year and it worked pretty well. We only ran the projections during transitions and intermission. You do need to keep in mind what the black will do to colors when you design your content.

As far as the fabric goes... on the cheap... tricot.

[themuzicman]

Just to make a seamless surface, I would recommend covering it in fabric.

Now, here's the deal with projecting on to a black surface, you need a very high power projector to do it.

To get a "black" look, you can use White RP screen, with a black scrim in front of it, which gives you the projections, with a semi-black surface.
I have seen this used for a few productions I worked on, all of which were media-intensive, and it proved to be a workable solution.

--They make gray RP and other colored RP, but the white tends to spread the hot spot of the projector out a bit more, but whatever floats your boat in terms of color.

[museav]

Were you thinking front or rear projection? For some reason I interpreted it to be front projection, although that would be unusual for background projection, but obviously others interpreted it as rear projection so it may help to establish which it is.

Another factor could be the size of the image required and the space available. Also what equipment you have available and what budget you have for any materials and/or rentals.

In addition, the content and perception can be a factor. Dealing with graphics created for the application would likely be quite different than dealing with stock graphics or video clips. And whether the idea is to get an impression of the content or to actually read it or see details could affect the options.

[theatrefreak05]

I was talking about front projection (sorry if I wasn't being clear). It has to be front because it is being projected onto the back wall of the set, which has three doors. The projections would mainly be used during the overature and scene transitions so it wouldn't really be a problem during the scenes.

It isn't even crucial that the the background be black. I just thought it would look a little better.