Changing sign effect. Thinking of using a scrim.

[Morte615]

Hey everyone I am wanting to do an outdoor effect, during the day (while the sun is front lighting it) I want a sign to say one thing (gray-scale lettering with no real artwork) then at night I want it to say something completely different (full color with graphics.) The sign is already there but I am wanting to modify it to use this effect. We have about a 4 to 6 inch gap between the current sign and the edge of the frame (which is where I was thinking of hanging a scrim).

I was thinking of using a scrim for the sign, the front being the first item, and behind the scrim being the second and lighting it with lights from behind the scrim. So a couple of questions; First, this will be a permanent instillation outdoors so what kind of material would be best for this application? Second, is Scrim the best use for this (budget is not really an issue for this but I would like to keep it realistic so thinking under $500 for materials?) Third, the lights we are considering on using are Philips Color Grazers we already have the physical location and only about 4 to 6 inches deep so thinking these would work to light the inside (plus they are RGB), any other ideas for lights that would work?

 

[Chris Chapman]

Hey everyone I am wanting to do an outdoor effect, during the day (while the sun is front lighting it) I want a sign to say one thing (gray-scale lettering with no real artwork) then at night I want it to say something completely different (full color with graphics.) The sign is already there but I am wanting to modify it to use this effect. We have about a 4 to 6 inch gap between the current sign and the edge of the frame (which is where I was thinking of hanging a scrim).

I was thinking of using a scrim for the sign, the front being the first item, and behind the scrim being the second and lighting it with lights from behind the scrim. So a couple of questions; First, this will be a permanent instillation outdoors so what kind of material would be best for this application? Second, is Scrim the best use for this (budget is not really an issue for this but I would like to keep it realistic so thinking under $500 for materials?) Third, the lights we are considering on using are Philips Color Grazers we already have the physical location and only about 4 to 6 inches deep so thinking these would work to light the inside (plus they are RGB), any other ideas for lights that would work?

For a permanent outdoor installation, I don't know if sharkstooth scrim is the best material. Humidity will cause it to shrink and expand so keeping a clean surface may be a trick. Normal daylight will probably be strong enough to bleed light right through it to see your evening image as well.

 

[MarshallPope]

Is the evening sign lit from the front or the interior? If the interior, would it be possible to have that image printed in reverse on the inside and the daytime image "shuttered" (for lack of a better word) on the outside? I know that I have seen channel letters before that appear gray-to-black during the day and are lit white at night, and I assume that they use this basic principle.

 

[Morte615]

Thanks everyone! If sharkstooth won't work any ideas on what could?
Also the two signs are completely different, we currently have a sign that is somewhere around 8 feet long and 4 feet tall. I am looking for a way to have the one image visible during the day and at night have it change to the inside one (by lights inside the 4" gap)

 

[kiwitechgirl]

I did a production of The Glass Menagerie where we needed a fabric which could act like a scrim in terms of bleed-through, but hold a projected image without a double image (which of course a scrim won't). We ended up with a Lycra-like fabric - it was silver-grey and had a lot of stretch to it. It held the projected image beautifully but worked as a bleed-through as well. I reckon that because it is synthetic, if you stretch it tightly to start off with, it might not stretch and shrink like a sharkstooth and therefore work better for you.

 

[BillESC]

How about a different approach.

Do your gray scale daytime sign as desired. Use invisible UV paint for your night time sign and blast the sign with a UV source.

Seems easier and would have less maintenance.

 

[sk8rsdad]

Another option, if you can live with a silver or gold background might be one-way mirror film sandwiched between some lexan panels. No guarantees it would work.

 

[kicknargel]

A lot of outdoor signage uses a nylon mesh material. Think of banners attached to chain link fences at construction sites. They're made to let wind through, but appear to have about the same density of weave as sharkstooth. May be worth a test.

Large scale printers will have something. Rosebrand also has a version:


54" Textilene®, NFR from Rose Brand

 

[65535]

Most outdoor signs that have multiple designs on them behave much like color scrollers with an indexable scroll and signs printed on UV stabilized plastic rolls. Unless you need a fast "magical"transition it may be the way to go.

 

[johnspence]

Hey everyone I am wanting to do an outdoor effect, during the day (while the sun is front lighting it) I want a sign to say one thing (gray-scale lettering with no real artwork) then at night I want it to say something completely different (full color with graphics.) The sign is already there but I am wanting to modify it to use this effect. We have about a 4 to 6 inch gap between the current sign and the edge of the frame (which is where I was thinking of hanging a scrim).

I was thinking of using a scrim for the sign, the front being the first item, and behind the scrim being the second and lighting it with lights from behind the scrim. So a couple of questions; First, this will be a permanent instillation outdoors so what kind of material would be best for this application? Second, is Scrim the best use for this (budget is not really an issue for this but I would like to keep it realistic so thinking under $500 for materials?) Third, the lights we are considering on using are Philips Color Grazers we already have the physical location and only about 4 to 6 inches deep so thinking these would work to light the inside (plus they are RGB), any other ideas for lights that would work?

Why dont you go forLCD displays. There are varieties of them which have a perfect display in daylight and night as well and for the advertising point of view they are perfect.

 

[Morte615]

This is a non issue now since they decided to do something else, but we were wanting to use existing structures and signs which is why the scrim idea sounded so good.