Cheaper alternative to Full Grid Cloth

Garland Greene · January 1

Does anyone know of a cheaper material alternative to Full Grid Cloth that does just about the the thing Grid Cloth does?

Any help is appreciated 🙏

Phil Rhodes · January 1

White ripstop nylon. You can get it in various grades to suit various diffusion. It's sold to make kites, sails, and so on.

The degree of diffusion may not exactly match dedicated film industry textiles, but I've always taken the position it's possible to overthink these things.

Garland Greene · January 2

11 hours ago, Phil Rhodes said:

White ripstop nylon. You can get it in various grades to suit various diffusion. It's sold to make kites, sails, and so on.

The degree of diffusion may not exactly match dedicated film industry textiles, but I've always taken the position it's possible to overthink these things.

Thanks a lot, Phil. I was actually looking at sailcloth just before I decide to ask the board here. Figured I couldn't wrong with throwing a line out there and see if anyone with much more experience had any ideas. Much appreciated.

Eric Eader · January 13

Garland,

The cheapest product I've seen, while not exactly Grid cloth, is a White Plastic Table Cover 54"x108" (40.5 sq.ft) for a WHOPPING $1.25 plus tax at Dollar General. It even comes in circular for round tables!!

Wait, there's more: it's also sold in black, red, and blue!!

Find it in the party favors section.

Not a Motion Picture Fabric, but cheap, and it will diffuse your light.

Test for color shift/rendition before using on a project.

Fabric stores can also be a quick and not as cheap anymore, (but what is?), source of "git'er done now," diffusion fabrics.

Hope this helps.

Karim D. Ghantous · January 15

I've heard of DPs using shower curtains. FWIW. But I don't think you'll find anything cheaper than $1.25!

Eric Eader · January 19

Hello,

First off, I have no connection whatsoever with Dollar Tree, except to occasionally shop there for cheap snacks, or drinking glasses, etc.

On the wall I saw several more colored table cloths, to wit:

Eric Eader · January 19

Sorry, I hit a wrong key.

Found: Purple/Violet

Green

Pink

Magenta

Yellow/Gold

Yellow Green (Bright)

All in Rectangular and Circular Table sizes.

These are not Motion Picture fabrics, but if you are on a budget and need softlight or color accents and haven't the proper gel color on hand, but you need something quick, and there is a Dollar Tree close by, then these will work.

Each is made of plastic and is six or eight feet in longest dimension and is only $1.25 per item.

Only thing better is free but how often does that happen?

Phil Rhodes · January 20

The only issue with this is fire protection.

Anything you're using for this should be fire protected, even if you're not pointing giant tungsten lights at it.

You can get spray bottles full of fire retardant which might help - naturally, perform your own tests. Still, they only really work on fabrics. Plastics may be tricky from this perspective.

Nicolas POISSON · January 20

Also those spray bottles may need some practice to spread in an even manner. Lighting may increase the visibility of uneven coverage. And those I know are not cheap.