Projection Screen Material - On a budget

[lightingguy1]

Hi Guys,


I'm looking to bring home the projector from work and put together a small outdoor movie theater.

Sound and projection aspects are already taken care of, but I can't seem to find a cheap alternative for a screen.

Now, In a couple of google searches I've seen spandex and like painters drop cloth for materials. Not sure if cheap bed sheets sewn together would cut it.

I was wondering what you would suggest for a cheap material.

I'm going to have truss for the frame work.

Thanks!

[emac]

What screen size are you looking to get?

I have totally used a white sheet for a screen before. Worked well for backyard movies.

Else wise unprinted tyvek could also be used, but that is more expensive.

Another option might be renting if this is just a infrequent thing... Or you could see if your local theatre supplier has some remnant projection material laying around they could let go for cheap. I have had luck before....

[Les]

Back when I built a little home theatre in my bedroom, I just got on eBay and bought some PVC fabric labeled as projection material. I think I got about 100" (diagonal) for like $65. It probably wasn't the best in the world, but I was happy with the results.

I just took the material and stretched it over a flat-like structure I had built, and added a 2x2 matte black "picture frame" around the perimeter. Worked wonders and was under $100, but I guess if you need an enormous screen, you might run in to cost issues.

[ruinexplorer]

The beauty of projection is that you can have it on any surface. That being said, depending on your equipment and how you want it to look, many factors will come in to play. You can absolutely use bed sheets or pretty much any light colored material. Your image will look ok. If you want it to look great, then you will want a screen material. I would check on eBay or some of the used AV sites as they often will sell off just the screen surface (from the damaged frame or unpopular screen size).

Obviously you want to go cheap, but what kind of budget are you looking at staying within?

[museav]

A different direction, but what about something like Find the 12' Outdoor Inflatable Movie Screen for an everyday low price at Walmart.com
?

[Amishplumber]

Don't know how far reaching the Jo-Ann's fabric store chain is, but they sell muslin in widths up to 120". I've built a few screens out of 1x framing and fabric store muslin with great success.

[Lyons]

I used bed sheets (kings size) with my 1989 Sony CRT freebee projector back in High School.

Speaking of which that thing is still up in storage. Anyone want it?

[LavaASU]

We have a much larger one of these that occasionally gets used for projection and doesn't look too bad. It's an option if you need something that won't catch the wind as much as a normal screen material. You loose some intensity though as thats a 60% mesh.

[stagemanager1]

For home movie stuff - anything will work. I put a sheet on the inside of the garage door for the kids. With some good speakers - it is very cool. At the church where I work, we just painted the walls the same as the rest of the walls. Color correct the projectors for the walls - and voila - a great looking image, in HD. And when the projectors are off, it just looks like walls, not like screens. (3 screens wide HD. Pro Presenter does edge blending very nicely.)

[len]

We just shoot it against the side of the house. We have siding, and you really don't see the slats at all. Just get a couple good fires going to keep the bugs away.

[rochem]

About a year ago, a local theatre made an enormous projection screen for some musical, about 30' wide by 30' tall, that flew in during the show. They made the entire thing from translucent shower curtains, with narrow wood supports making a 3' by 5' (roughly) frame, then projected on it. The supports were quite visible, but they weren't a problem as that fit in with the concept of the show. I don't have any photos of it being projected on, but here's the best shot I can find showing the construction. It's certainly not a great solution, but it was far, far less expensive than obtaining a real RP screen of anywhere near that size.