wire rigging up a scrim

My director just asked me the best way to rig up a wire just below our teaser for a scrim. We don't have the space to make it a drop, so it needs to be pulled across like any other curtain, which is easy enough. I just have little to no experience with rigging, so before just making something up, which I'm sure I could do, I figured I'd ask for a more professional opinion.

The length would be about 33' and it is dropped about 3' below the proscenium arch. Am I putting holes in my wall? How much do I have to worry about tension? We will be using probably four panels of muslin across the thing.
 
...what?

are you saying you want to string a tension line upstage of your teaser/border (running L/R) and run a scrim along it like a shower curtain? How does muslin factor into this? Why not use proper track/carriers/operating line if you want to make a traveler?

On a more important note, forum guidelines prohibit specific instructions on how to rig something. Given that you don't have experience rigging, the answer will be, "hire a pro". So while you're confident that you could "make something up", you won't get much support for that endeavor from other members here.
 
Is there a reason that wire rather than traveler track is your go-to solution? Track is safer and more functional for a whole bunch of reasons. I wouldn't personally want to be in the room when you try to anchor and tension the sag out of that cable. The "little to no experience with rigging" part means you probably shouldn't do this all by yourself, but the standard solutions are pretty simple if you ask your local experts to help. You can rent track if it's not a permanent install situation.
 
Hey, man. No reason to be mean about it. My improvised solution is to hang a pipe. I know better than to torque wire without a pro. I'm asking what is the easiest solution for this temp install. Running a track seems simple, but not sure I can rent one way out here in the rurals.

Torquing the line is dangerous business and I'm worried about doing it on a temp install.
 
Does the scrim just go away - as in preset it and rig it to drop on cue? If it has to come back without an intermission to reset, that won't work.

How big does scrim has to be and how long would a track have to be? That's kind of key. A not tall scrim or similar gauze is maybe the only thing I'd try on a stretched wire rope, and have. Even with grad school and structure classes not long before doing it, it wasn't simple. Not sure if the effect could tolerate much sag, some of which is inevitable. But 20' X 10 ' and a 25' "track" is not so tough. Very little budget probably?

Are you rural enough that you could get a piece of aluminum irrigation pipe and make a roll drop? Possibly less expensive than buying a track.
 
Hey, man. No reason to be mean about it. My improvised solution is to hang a pipe. I know better than to torque wire without a pro. I'm asking what is the easiest solution for this temp install. Running a track seems simple, but not sure I can rent one way out here in the rurals.

Torquing the line is dangerous business and I'm worried about doing it on a temp install.

I don't see anyone being mean here. Tensioning a cable across that span is an undesirable solution. There are other options. Those coming to my mind all involve a rigid batten/track suspended at appropriate intervals from structure with known, compatible load capacity (the existence of which I'm assuming-- you could enlighten us). You can get rented track shipped anywhere at a cost if the traveling action is important, but if not then you could build a more affordable roll/olio drop or Austrian. Plenty of instructions online and in books for that.
 
It drops on cue and then we roll out muslin as a projection surface in about four panels. I can't imagine we will have more than a thirty pound load on it. Thanks. These are terms I don't know. I'll look em up.
Also, I'm absolutely rural enough to get irrigation pipe. In rural enough to be set design, light design, sound design, and tech for every production in our one theater for 200 miles in any direction. Thankfully there are a lot of rigging companies out here if my director insists on his design. It's a mining town.
 
Unistrut can make a reasonable curtain track. The carriers are pretty serious stuff for a scrim, but it's really available, and maybe even borrow-able. The joints might not be super smooth but for a one shot it'll be great.

FYI: No amount of tension will take the sag out of your cable. Gravity just won't quit. The best possibility is to limit the sag, so account for it. Tension the cyc from both sides to keep it in place and to make it smooth.
 
I'm not fully clear on the end result here; we're a little muddled in terms. Are we talking about a scrim, or a muslin drop, or several individual muslin panels, or some combination? Do they come and go during the show? Sketches of the desired outcome(s) and photos of the venue's rigging will help you get better help.
 
Just for what it's worth, I have rigged a roughly 30'x16' painted drop on tensioned cable (that traveled up and down vertical pipes for a rising-from-behind-the-groundrow effect). In our case, it had about somewhere around a foot of sag in the middle, and that was with a huge amount of tension. So, in theory, your idea is possible, but you would want someone who could look at your space to ascertain what forces you would be applying and if the structure could support that.
 

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