My rather HUGE theater project (1 Viewer)

[Rhatphlegm]

Hmm, well, the local Circuit City is going under. I got it all at "40% off". I compared the prices to the net and they were indeed a lot cheaper at their price. Was there a better route I could go? I know you hi-fidelity types are much more critical about your sound systems then I'll ever be (not that is a bad thing), the Monster cable seemed quite sufficient to me (12G) ...

 

[Kevin Stewart]

Well, I don't know what you paid, but you could have bought 100' of 12g from monoprice for under $30 (for example). Performance wise, Monster works fine, it's just a ripoff in most cases.

 

[Rhatphlegm]

here's a question for you: would regular 12g 2 wire Romex work as well? The only difference I see is stranded verses solid...

the Monster stuff I bought was $37 for 100'...

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Here are some current pictures that I posted today to the site: Current shots as of Feb 16

The latest is the new chairs and tables. They are solid maple and stained to match the bar. Oak would have been nice, but these sets were very inexpensive and will fit the ticket perfectly. We plan on getting one more set in to allow for our 12 max occupancy. It will be summer before I can get a screen in from the way things are looking... :frowning:

 

[sestamuch]

LOL

If you can have one you can have two.

 

[Leo Kerr]

A word of advice on Kevin's suggestion of smoke machines:

be cautious.

On casual use, one might not notice it, but over the long term, think about it: where does the smoke go?

It settles out on things. The crud that settles onto hot lenses (light fixtures) is nasty, disgusting crap. Do you want that in your projector?! Eew.. plus, you get this interesting brown-shift in the color, and a general loss of brightness...

Now, if you put the projector in a filtered "hush-box"...

 

[Rhatphlegm]

hmmm, is a smoke machine like a fog machine? if not - a fog machine seems harmless enough...

 

[Swanny]

Dude off the hook! When can I come over?

 

[Leo Kerr]

regarding smoke, fog, haze, and other atmospherics,

smoke machines generally vaporize a water/glycerin mixture that floats/rises. Older ones, and large area ones may use ethylene glycol and/or propylene glycol for a much heavier smoke that "volumizes" better, and lasts longer.

fog machines create fog by mixing boiling water and dry ice or liquid nitrogen that hugs the floor. Optic safe, but depending, you can make wet floors and/or choke people if you don't have enough ventilation. May also help cool the room. Or warm it, for that matter, depending on where you have the hot water supply.

haze machines -- at least the early ones -- atomized very pure oils in small quantities so that they would linger in the air for hours. It eventually settles, but on what? Not sure.

Snow machines and bubble machines are very similar; it's just the size of the bubbles where they really differ. They're generally optical safe, but may make the floor slippery if you're running them too hard. (The caveat about the general optic safe is, well, if soap bubbles land on the lens directly, that's probably not real good.)

That's probably more than you really wanted to know, anyway...

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Great info - thanx!

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Bring it!

 

[Kevin Campbell]

when can i move in?

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Just an update. I've installed another table set with chairs, some neon (we bought previously), walkway lighting and wall mounted some older Infinity's I had laying around (they sound GREAT!). Also started populating the bar with some booze. Pics:











It's looking like I'll be able to order the screen in May! Woohoo! Can't wait! Then I'll just be one step away from fully functional - nice!

CURRENT PICS LINK

 

[RayJr]

This is FRIGGIN amazing........Like having your own bar hangout at home....AWESOME.

RayJr

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Got the screen in:



Custom mount welded:



Installed:



Some specs:

Focupix Flexio 16:9 Electric Projector Screen
Two remotes: IR and RF (both work great!)
205" diagonally (17 feet)
1.3 gain (good for lower lumen projectors on really large screens)
Price: $1,199.99 + $126.78 shipping - cheap!. It was delivered 7 days after the order - fast!
Weighs less then 90lbs (a huge consideration when having to mount this sucker!)
Web LINK

I set up my temp projector on a table:





Just a 4:3 aspect until we get a better projector (I want the JVC DLA-HD350 personally)

Nice!

Today I finished and installed a custom rail system:













A walk thru vid

More at: The Partybarn

Look under "Current" and "Audio Visual"

 

[chuckg]

LOVE your project. That video rail gives me an idea on how to install a video projector in our movie theater here at work....It will be above the audience and tough to get to for routine cleaning, bulb changes and so on. I was going to make it lower on cables, but thought it would be too wobbly. Having it on a track solves the whole problem!!

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Cool - I'm glad the idea can be used again! For my situation, I wanted to have the weight distributed on the main supports (rather then the ceiling purlins). I also figure this design will help reinforce the strength of the building at least to a small extent. The rail is needed because the projector I'm currently using and the one I plan on buying have different optimum focal lengths. This way I can make easy adjustments for different projectors.

I now have the cables installed - I'll have to get more pictures posted!

 

[Rhatphlegm]

Here's a shot:



The power runs down one support and two video cables run down the other (I kept the vid away from the power). The vid cables: Monitor and HDMI.

 

[Rhatphlegm]

I haven't updated this in a while. We've had a couple parties - and everything has been great! Another one tomorrow. The biggest upgrade I've made since I last posted is the AV machine I built. It's a coreI7 running Vista (for now), 6gb ddr3 ram, 1gb ddr3 video, dual raptors in a raid 0, tied into the AV server( the other computer in the rack) via ethernet. What's cool with the server, is I'm loading all my DVD's on to it (using DVD Shrink - free), and any computer on the network can pull up any DVD anytime (I leave the server on all the time - running XP). It works really well! The server currently has 2 1tb drives. I calculate I can put about 200 dvd's on each drive. If I fill them up, I've got room for 3 more! Some pics:

The right hand monitor mirrors whatever is on the screen - makes navigation a lot easier when in the control loft!


Edited by Rhatphlegm - 8/1/2009 at 12:15 am GMT

 

[Leo Kerr]

Oh, my, things have taken a life of their own, haven't they?

A side question, on top of your AV rack, are those Nixie tubes?

That, and I feel like I should recognize the projector you're using now; it's sort of a distinctive shape, but I'm drawing a blank on it.

Leo