Need a little help

[SaCaChAu]

I am part of a local theater group and my director wants to start printing drops (scenery for the back of the stage) himself; to even rent them out later if he could. We want to print on cloth that is about 45 feet long and 5 feet wide and then sew them together to get the average drop size of roughly 15'X45'. This is pretty much all we would need to do and would print a bunch for a few days then put the printer away for a month or so. He is willing to spen up to $8000 on a printer if it is really good but has found a Sino 750 online from China that is around $1500 that he thinks might work but there is little info on it (some places have said it is like a Novajet 750).

I guess I am asking what type of printer and set up would be best and what about inks that would not fade under intense lighting? Is this the wrong place to ask lol?! These cheaper printers seem a simpler choice as we will not be printing alot but do need it to print 45' in one run. Thanks in advance for any help from anyone willing to give the time!

 

[gps-hi]

I think it's the cloth requirement that will be your sticking point, that takes you into the fabric and/or textile printing realm and $8,000 probably would get you in there. If you can stick with a matte vinyl or canvas material then you can stick with more standard solvent or inkjet based system. You could probably find a decent older 360 dpi machine well under budget. Realistically your resolution doesn't have to be high, as drops are viewed from a considerable distance. You could print at 72 dpi imo.

 

[Shovelhead]

It's cheaper to have your local sign professional produce them.
You don't see me jumping around on a stage.

 

[MVIP]

 

[SignosaurusRex]

.....so...your theater group has an in house stage graphics department? Are you an actor...... or prop Artist?.......or........an actor that plays a prop artist?

 

[BadAss]

Theater backdrops also have to be treated to be fire retardent by law.

 

[SaCaChAu]

I think it's the cloth requirement that will be your sticking point, that takes you into the fabric and/or textile printing realm and $8,000 probably would get you in there. If you can stick with a matte vinyl or canvas material then you can stick with more standard solvent or inkjet based system. You could probably find a decent older 360 dpi machine well under budget. Realistically your resolution doesn't have to be high, as drops are viewed from a considerable distance. You could print at 72 dpi imo.

The material doesn't really matter that much as long as it holds up well, isn't too heavy and can be sewn and hung ok. Yes we were also thinking that the 300dpi of the Sino 750 inkjet was more than enough. Thank you for responding!

 

[SaCaChAu]

It's cheaper to have your local sign professional produce them.
You don't see me jumping around on a stage.

Well he wants to rent them out afterward...and who knows we could get you up on stage...

 

[SaCaChAu]

.....so...your theater group has an in house stage graphics department? Are you an actor...... or prop Artist?.......or........an actor that plays a prop artist?

We are very small and he wants to offset costs by printing our own and then renting out them later. The big guys use 15' printers and do it all in one shot. This director gets things in his head and well it's up to us to interpret it, life reflects the stage and here I am. Right now he was using a 30" printer and printing on paper 2'X3' and gluing them up.

 

[SaCaChAu]

Theater backdrops also have to be treated to be fire retardent by law.

Will this interfere with the ink?

 

[SignosaurusRex]

It's cheaper to have your local sign professional produce them.
You don't see me jumping around on a stage.

Yep, Like the man said!.......then....rent them. Your bosses $$ will then be better spent.

 

[zmatalucci]

he's an idiot. period

 

[BadAss]

Depends on the ink.. Usually with the retardent you take the completed project and soak it ia a barrel of the retardent mixture. Then hang out and let it dry. We have had to do this with many rock band backdrops.

 

[SaCaChAu]

he's an idiot. period

Thanks.

 

[SaCaChAu]

Depends on the ink.. Usually with the retardent you take the completed project and soak it ia a barrel of the retardent mixture. Then hang out and let it dry. We have had to do this with many rock band backdrops.

Ok thank you!

 

[zmatalucci]

I'm in the process of putting together a play, but I'm hiring a bunch of robots so I don't have to pay any actors.
Do you know of any sources?

 

[SaCaChAu]

I'm in the process of putting together a play, but I'm hiring a bunch of robots so I don't have to pay any actors.
Do you know of any sources?

Um...yeah... you don't do any local theater do you lol. :ROFLMAO: