View Full Version : Best Portable Greenscreen Option? Wrinkle Free Cloth??


Silas Barker
February 13th, 2017, 12:27 PM
Okay so I have done quite a bit of greenscreen with Paper rolls and its beautiful.......no wrinkles, keys out like nothing was there, etc. Downside is that its a pain to set up, and a pain to take down because its a 9" roll.

I got a frame system that could hold up paper or cloth........anyone have a good cloth option that does not wrinkle? Or.....something else.....? I am a one man band and trying to make things easy.

Thanks!

Roger Van Duyn
February 13th, 2017, 12:58 PM
Some people use a portable steamer to take the wrinkles out of muslin backdrops.

Pete Cofrancesco
February 13th, 2017, 01:25 PM
Collapsible background in green screen color

Edward Carlson
February 13th, 2017, 01:53 PM
I've seen it done three ways. The first way is a very thick fabric with a soft surface, almost velvet-like. It was so heavy and thick that it kept itself from wrinkling.

The second is a stretchy screen, like a reflector, but with chroma green instead of foil or white. https://www.amazon.com/Impact-Super-Collapsible-Background-Chroma/dp/B0053EBFRU The stretch of the frame pulls out all the wrinkles.

The third way is to use a steamer to get out the wrinkles.

Silas Barker
February 13th, 2017, 02:09 PM
What about these vinyl ones?

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/588512-REG/Savage_V46_0910_Infinity_Vinyl_Background.html

They look pretty good, they roll up still, but at least when you roll them you don't have to worry about it like paper which will crease up if you do anything wrong.

Thanks!

Oren Arieli
February 13th, 2017, 03:31 PM
For single person medium shots (no lateral movement), I find this pop-up 5x7 to be handy, portable and versatile. The fact that you have a blue-screen on the reverse side gives you a bit more flexibility and safety when your talent shows up in a green shirt.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838264-REG/Digital_Juice_CHROMA_POP_SCREEN_WC_5_x_7_Chroma.html

Silas Barker
February 13th, 2017, 03:58 PM
I find that one to be just a little bit too small sometimes...............anyone tried those Vinyl ones from Savage at BH video?

Silas Barker
February 13th, 2017, 04:00 PM
I've seen it done three ways. The first way is a very thick fabric with a soft surface, almost velvet-like. It was so heavy and thick that it kept itself from wrinkling.

The second is a stretchy screen, like a reflector, but with chroma green instead of foil or white. https://www.amazon.com/Impact-Super-Collapsible-Background-Chroma/dp/B0053EBFRU The stretch of the frame pulls out all the wrinkles.

The third way is to use a steamer to get out the wrinkles.


I like the thick fabric idea......any suggestions where to buy?

Edward Carlson
February 13th, 2017, 04:05 PM
Matthews makes blue, green, and double-sided overheads in a variety of sizes, here it is in 8x8: https://www.adorama.com/mt319437.html

They also sell raw textiles, but you have to go through a dealer, they don't do direct sales.

Steven Digges
March 5th, 2017, 12:34 PM
Deleted. Read more reviews, did not sound good.

John Nantz
March 5th, 2017, 10:02 PM
Silas - While my experience with backdrops is very limited I’d like to throw a few comments in. While back I picked up a few muslin backdrops for a project and in the “package” was a chroma green one from eefx.com. More on that later.

Wound up using some of the muslin ones (hand painted) and as Roger pointed out, “some people use a portable steamer to take the wrinkles out” which is what I did. Well, er, … tried to do. Had a steamer that was used in a retail store for clothing and have to say that while it worked it wasn’t a five-minute job. However, these were 12-ft wide backdrops and they had been folded for storage. End result looked okay, though.

Now for the eefx chroma-key green screen. This was a very interesting fabric (10 x 10-ft with rod pocket). Even though it had been folded the fold “creases” popped out really good “out of the box”, not perfect but pretty darn good. The fabric is a foam kind of laminated product with the chroma green fabric on one side. Went to find the web site eefx.com and found they are no longer in business but the same product is sold now by chroma-key.com .

Foam-backed Green: 10 Foot Wide Chroma-Key Green Backrop - Chroma-Key.com (http://chroma-key.com/29-10-foot-wide-green-foam-backed-backdrops)
At the bottom of the page I see that they sell clamps but after dealing with one of the muslin backdrops that didn’t have a rod pocket, clamps would not be my first choice. However, given the stiffness of the foam backed fabric it wouldn’t wrinkle nearly as bad as muslin. I really liked the way it flattened out.

Might be worth checking out. Noticed (bottom of page) that they’re located in Irvine … anywhere near you?

Jan Klier
March 6th, 2017, 05:36 AM
I have one of the Lastolite collapsible (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/216013-REG/Lastolite_LL_LC6981_6x9_Chromakey_Green_Collapsible.html).

It does work for headshots or other smaller projects and the tension ring does keep it reasonably wrinkle free. It does collapse like a regular reflector for transport, but still is quite heavy and awkward to collapse.

So I would consider it a decent backup plan. A lot depends on your needs.

Dan Gunn
March 10th, 2017, 12:58 PM
Take a look at "Reflecmedia" on B&H. You can see how it works on the Reflecmedia website. It is a miracle!

I have one. Never used because I don't shoot setups but I saw it demonstrated at the convention where I won mine. People were wide eyed.

Paul R Johnson
March 10th, 2017, 02:32 PM
The cheap, but thin, Chinese green screens are what I use, and when they eventually get grubby and ripped, they are cheap enough to simply throw away. They do, being light, wrinkle - but all our work takes place in theatres and these clamps are very popular for all kinds of things.

https://shop.flints.co.uk/Products/pg_Holdons?catdesc=Holdons

Holdons - amazingly simple, and you simply use some light elastic to tension the cloth. I tend to hang mine from a horizontal tube, supported on lightweight stands - and I just use these clamps going to the stand vertical, with light elastic, and same again to the bottom. They simply clip on and being a wedge, the pulling strengthens the joint.