Panels flying in and out individually on same flybar?

Hi everyone, I have a set which comprise of 9 fabric panels which ideally should be aligned in a line horizontally, and grouped into 3 groups, so that these fabric panels can have different levels for different scenes.

My initial idea was to have the panels of each group tied to one batten, and these battens are then rigged to the same flybar, and raised or dropped to required height via ropes and pulleys, but my regular set contractor told me this method is hard to achieve, and suggested me to use 3 flybars instead, but I am not exactly keen, because that would mean my frontmost panel and the backmost panel will be 1/2 a metre apart (each flybar is spaced at 25cm apart from each other), and to me that is quite ugly. Moreover, I have a row of raised platform that needs to be flushed as close to the back of the panels as possible, so this method is not within my consideration. What other alternatives do you guys have?

I have 2 other ideas, which I am not sure which is better, or how feasible they are:
1. Using 2 adjacent flybars, with one of them brailed to as close to the other one as possible, the center stage group will rig directly to one of these flybars and flown it and out the "regular" way, while the other 2 groups will be rigged to the other flybar and manually raised and dropped via rope and pulley.
2. Using 3 adjacent flybars, the center stage group will be rigged directly to the middle flybar, whereas the other 2 groups will be rigged to the flybars in front and behind respectively, but the rigging rope will pass through eyelets rigged onto the middle flybar, so when the front and back flybars fly in or out, the battens of these 2 groups will still be flying up and down in the same horizontal position as the center stage group. (I have attached a very rough sketch of the mechanism here as well).

Any thoughts about these 2 ideas?

I feel like the key question is what are the weights of each panel and what are they made of.

Assuming these are just fabric panels, my thought is to go with a set of three roll drops hung on a single batten. As you detailed above, hanging the panels on separate fly lines would mean that they would not line up with each other, and I think that if you tried using pulleys to hang the three sets of panels from one central batten and moving them with the others, that would cause the main batten to swing around in a way you wouldn't want. By using roll drops, you could locate the three sets of panels on a single batten and have separate control of each.

Depending on your budget and resources, you could purchase a ready-made motorized solution (in the US, there are a number of specific theatrical suppliers that sell/rent these systems, or you may be able to use the motor and hardware from a motorized projector screen). If that's not a possibility, you can also fabricate a manual system. If you or your contractor have the Technical Design Solutions for Theatre Volume 1, there is a set of instructions on page 96 titled "Flying Drops in Limited Space". I haven't built or used a manual roll-drop like this, so I can't speak to the particular challenges involved, but someone else on the board with specific experience may be able to chime in about any tricks they've found or things to watch out for.

I've found the three Technical Design Solutions for Theatre books to be indispensable both as for the specific solutions listed, but also as a starting-off point to solve other problems. If you or your set contractor don't have them on your shelf yet, I would wholeheartedly recommend buying them.

I've built fabric rollers using these motors, but it was kind of an advanced project: DMX controlled, variable speed, and with absolute position encoders. That level of complexity is needed if you want consistent results that can be programmed into a cue. A much simpler alternative would be a set of 3-position switches (up/off/down) for each motor wired in series with a master "go" button. Preset which motors you want to move in which direction using the switches, then hold "go" until they get about where you want them to be. Might be good enough with an attentive operator, and a lot cheaper/simpler than most other motorized options.

I do like the idea of making them all olio drops so the printing lines up regardless of their height, but that's obviously a bit complicated...

what's the weight of each panel? I have a simple solution if they are light enough.

As John said in post 2 above, what do these panels weigh? Are they rigid panels (I.e., plywood or other rigid material? B'way flats? Or hanging cloth daapes?) How fast must the changes be between the scenes shown in your photos? I.e., closed-curtain scene changes or open-curtain, 3-second moves from one to the next? Your proposed system of breastng a pair of battens toward a third batten between them with loops on the lift lines for the panels might work in the former case but I'm afraid you'll have things swinging all over if the latter. More info needed!

How much is getting rid of the ugly worth to you? The free solution would be to kick the blocks on the grid around a little to get the linesets closer to each other. Just keep an eye on the fleet angles.

If that isn't an option you could rent some multi line winches and sections of ladder beam.

I think the other problem with your proposed solution is that the breasted lines will cause the flybar with the "loops" to twist - pulling one side US and the other DS. The fleet angles of all those lines want to even out. You could conceivably use a fourth flybar that has guy lines holding it statically in place, and run all three moving lines through loops/guides in the static one. Lots of implementation details to make it work well and safely.