In your experience, what is the ideal cloth material for a black art backdrop?

[A Black One! - Just thought, I'd beat the wiseguys to the punch.]

Now, seriously, what is the ideal cloth material for a black art backdrop? Velvet, velour, cotton, felt...?

I use two layers of Lycra. Works like a charm. Velvet is fine, also, but I like the stretchy qualities of Lycra.

Well what d'ya know? There's a Black Art Section I've never noticed before! My, this Café has its twists and turns!

Thanks, Fabio. I would never have thought of trying a matte Lycra - interesting possibilities there.

Triple velvet

I've been using heavy black velveteen for almost a decade now. I built my own backdrop system out of PVC, so for my backdrops, we simply sewed a piece of black felt to one end of the heavy black velveteen that is the same size (mine are cut to 9'). When it's time to set up, we simply throw the felt end over our PVC crossbar, and we have velcro tabs to connect the sections of velveteen together. It was incredibly inexpensive. The PVC for my 9'x20' backdrop was less than $50, and each section of black Velveteen was around $50 (I got a big batch of it on sale at Hancock Fabrics). I can set up this backdrop in just a few minutes,and I've even created 2 side scrims that can be up to 10' wide. Back in Wisconsin, we even had a front curtain made our of heavy red felt.

I love the look of the heavy black velveteen, and I like the versatility of the PVC, both in how adaptable it is for each performing environment, and in how easy it is to use with BA panels. )

I bought a bolt of Triple Velvet. It's the best ever!