Fibre Optic Star Cloth.

Out fibre optic star cloths and star curtains are manufactured to professional standards and exported worldwide.

Fibre optic star cloths have several advantages over alternative forms which use pea lights or LEDs. You get the option of increasing the brightness (if necessary) by using a more powerful lightsource; you can have colour change effects via colour and twinkle wheels and there's only ever the one bulb to change. There's no electricity in the cloth itself, and this is a safety advantage.

Look after your star cloth and it should last years. The chief thing to take into consideration is that you need to avoid damaging the special coating on the fibres which gives them their property of "total internal reflectivity". If the coating is damaged light will leak out of the side of the fibre, with the result that less light is delivered to create the "star" in the face of the cloth.

Our cloths are lined to protect the fibres from being snagged or scratched, but you should also avoid stacking heavy objects on the folded cloth, or folding it too tightly. The fibres have to bend through 90 degrees as they pass through the cloth and this bending inevitably stresses the fibre. The more it's stressed, the more light will leak and the greater the chance is of the fibre snapping.

We use 1mm fibre as the best compromise between 0.75mm - likely to dim over time through wear and tear to the fibre - and 1.5 mm - bright but less flexible and more likely to snap.

So, handle your cloth with respect and you'll increase its service life. We've recently had a customer come back to us with a request that we fit a new fibre optic harness to his star cloth to bring it back to "as new" brightness, but since he has used the cloth in around 300 gigs over two years, he's very happy with the investment he made in his Starscape star cloth.

A "tail" of fibres runs from the corner or centre of the curtain's bottom hem to a 100 watt tungsten halogen light source. The fibres are protected within the black sleeve.

Many of our cloths are ordered for specific events - pantomimes and other theatrical productions for instance - but others are in constant use. Our customers include a number of theatrical hire companies.

One customer tells us that he uses his cloth three times a week as part of a travelling tribute act, which testifies to the durability of the product.

Technical information

Fibre Optic Star Cloths

Star Cloths designed and manufactured by Starscape are used as stage backdrops in theatres, at rock concerts, in discos and special events such as weddings and parties, home theatre or in retail settings. A starcloth (or star curtain) is a piece of heavy black fabric studded with endglow optical fibres. The glowing fibre points are evenly distributed across the surface of the star cloth and change colour or twinkle according to the set-up of the light source which provides the illumination.

Typical star cloth density is around 10 points per square metre but can be more or less depending on customers' budgets and preferences. Our most complicated project to-date involved cloths with star densities of 40 per square metre and with six separate fibre circuits. The use of separate circuits makes it possible to show several different colours simultaneously.

Star cloths are always made to order (we should be able to turn most orders around in about 3 weeks).

One of our customers during 2008 was GM Promotions' production of the musical "My Boy Elvis". Written by George Twamley, this Irish show tells the story of Elvis and his legendary manager Colonel Tom Parker. The production features the Spirit of Elvis and Colonel Tom Parker in the afterlife contemplating how his legacy on earth will be remembered and reminiscing and pondering on how things could have been different.

Starscape produced a matched pair of fibre optic star cloths to form the backdrop to the set. The cloths were supplied with our 150 watt DMX metal halide light sources, with a slow colour change selected, apparently to a very satisfactory effect.

Apart from being considerably brighter than our standard halogen light sources, the metal halide light sources offer a greater degree of control over colour changes, including strobing effects and a sound-activated mode. An important advantage of the DMX light sources is that two or more can be linked and synchronised, which is vital if you want to use colour change effects on a multi-part backdrop.

More recently George used his matched pair of Starscape star cloths at the Irish Book Awards ( see below). The DMX metal halide light sources were connected to an external lighting desk for maximum controllability.

Starscape star cloths form a backdrop to the Irish Book Awards staged at the Mansion House in Dublin.

Illusions Roadshow of West London include a Starscape star cloth among the services offered to clients. Here a star cloth forms a backdrop at a wedding reception. Illusion's website

Two 20 ft by 18 ft (6 metre by 5.5 metre) Starscape Star Cloths made an effective backdrop to this very impressive set for Bedford Modern School's colourful production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat".

The same star cloths in action (above and below), but with the light sources fitted with colour wheels, rather than twinkle wheels.

20 foot star cloth under test in the workshop. This has a drop of 10 ft and is probably our most frequently requested size. As a general rule we'd suggest a modular approach to covering large areas - in other words go for two medium-sized cloths rather than a single large one. Large cloths are quite heavy and unwieldy, so for ease of handling we'd recommend keeping individual cloth sizes below 25 square metres, where possible.

A modular approach will add slightly to the cost, but we believe the additional cost is easily justified in terms of the ease of handling and the consequent increase in the likely service life of the cloth. Having a matched pair also offers benefits in terms of flexibility of use.

Normally we would supply a 100 watt light source with the star cloth, although we're happy to change the specification to meet your particular requirements. Brighter light sources and light sources with DMX functionality are available.

A "harness" of fibres runs from the corner or centre of the curtain's bottom hem to a 100 watt tungsten halogen light source. The fibres are protected within the black sleeve.