"THX", "Dolby Digital" and "HTF" plaques (1 Viewer)

[MikeWh]

Brian, how about this...Instead of printing my signs on paper, print them on the clear sheets teachers use for overhead projectors.

heh heh.... funny how a long thread gets convoluted. We talked about this over a month ago, when you and I were bantering about logo fonts.
I still haven't done anything with backlighting, as I've got three other woodworking priorities. I was considering using a piece of x-mas lights, mounted inside a shadowbox-style frame, with a thin sheet of opaque plexiglass behind the transparency. Should cost no more than $10.

 

[Tim K]

Mike:
What's really funny is I never even read that last line of your post where you said you printed it on a transparency....I was so busy worrying about getting the fonts right I didn't even read the whole post!

What's even funnier is that the Dolmen font for the DTS was not as perfect as I had thought and I ended up creating the letters myself from scratch. It was time consuming but much more accurate. I tried using a large DTS logo and swapping out colors but the edges ended up too jagged.

Brian:
I think I could. Let me see what it would entail.

 

[MikeWh]

but the edges ended up too jagged.

I'm assuming you're talking about rasterizing and/or anti-aliasing problems. I noted that you said you were using Illustrator (which is inherently a vector-based tool), but your graphics you shared were bitmaps. Are you familiar with the differences between vector and raster graphics and the conversion problems between them? If you keep the format in Adobe's native format (.ai), or save as another vector format (e.g., .eps), you might be able to fix the problems.

Just a thought.

 

[Tim K]

Well, the actual problem was that the DTS logo I had was red and white, but the red was comprised of a number of shades which blended into the white text, so there was no "clear" transition point when I went to replace colors.

On another note...I finished my Dolby Digital Surround EX sign. However, I have to go to lunch right this second so it won't get posted til later!

 

[Tim K]

OK, all of my signs are done...though I'll probably get some more requests. I've now got Dolby Digital, Dolby EX, DTS, DTS ES, and THX signs. Check them out:
Click here to see and download my DIY theater signs!

 

[MikeWh]

Nice job, Tim.

 

[Pam W]

Thank you, Tim!

pam

 

[JeffHayes]

Very cool, Tim. THANKS!

Regs,
Jeff

 

[ChadLB]

Tim,
You don't do this at work do you? Just curious..I won't tell.
I need to get to a store to look to see if I can get something black with glass. or some other frame style.
Need my dad to print out the picture since he has a EPSON Stylus Photo 1280 which is the best printer I have seen around so far for printing in color.
Once I get around to this I will post a picture of one of the signs.

 

[Tim K]

No, I wish I was getting paid while I do this. I've just been pretty bored lately around the house. I've been doing alot of painting, but the only painting left is exterior and the weather here has been pretty crappy for the last few days.
Anyway...I've utilized some other web space I have access to, and now I have THIRTEEN different varieties of signs available for download. I think that should cover everyone!
Click here for the signs!!!

 

[BrianEK]

WOW!!! great job on those signs Tim K. you da man!

does anyone know if you can put those transperancies through a laser printer?

 

[T r o y]

Very nice Tim! I'd be interested also in some sort of lighted box for the dts and dd logo signs. If anyone can come up with a design and put it together, take a picture of it for viewing, I might want to buy one from you.

Thanks!

 

[Pam W]

Troy,
Get a shadow box from a frame shop the size you want (8 1/2 x 11 ?), add Christmas tree lights, white plexiglas(home depot or Lowes), put it all together (transparency in front of white plexiglas), and voila! Instant light box!
PS there are a lot of "how to's " sprinkled throughout the forum - just do a search for a more detailed approach than I took!
pam

 

[MikeWh]

does anyone know if you can put those transperancies through a laser printer?

Yes. I did it. Works fine. You just have to make sure you buy ones rated for laser printing. Avery makes them, as do others... and they are readily available at any office supply store.
I have no idea if the "old overhead projector" kind would work or not, but I would not take a risk gumming up an expensive fuser with melted plastic. I have personally pulled out a gummed up fuser after someone tried to use a transparency that was for INKJETS (and was not rated for laserjets).
Avery: http://www.avery.com/products/select...Transparencies
**ALSO: I should note that the print quality may not be what you expect-- the black may not be totally opaque and some uneven blackness may occur with this technique. I haven't actually done the backlighting yet, but I'm guessing from the way it printed on the transparency, that I'll probably sandwich two transparent printouts together (to make the black a little blacker) or maybe just cutout a mask from some black paper.

 

[MikeWh]

Thought I'd throw out a suggestion for people looking for cheap plexiglas-- If you can't find small pieces at HDepot or Lowes and don't want to spend $$$ for a bigger sheet, look in your yellow pages for plastic retailers. A few in my area always have scrap bins out front.... pieces of various sizes, colors, and shapes. Usually very cheap or even free. (Sometimes HDepot and Lowes have scraps, too).

 

[BrianEK]

I have heard about the black not being totally opaque from print outs and that the light may show through. My father used to own a signage business so naturally i went to him for answers. if the transperancy doesn't work he said those small sign shops you see in strip malls can cut the design out of black vinyl. don't know what it costs but he said probably no more then $20 or so. may end up being cheaper than trying to buy transperancies to find out it doesn't work, if you're low on ink your dishing out even more $$. He also said to use some sort of frosted paper or plastic behind it and mount it on the glass from any frame. I forgot what he called the frosted paper stuff but said it would look cool. if you wanna little more prestige look to it.

today i'm searching stores for good frame/lights and checking out sign shops. i'll post again when i find out more info/prices.

 

[MikeWh]

Was the "frosted paper" vellum?

 

[BrianEK]

ok went out to check stuff. found a 9x20" shadow box frame for $20 at Michael's. went to a sign shop (sign-o-rama)where they said it would cost about $40 to cut letters from black vinyl and to mount onto a frosted acrylic. so they are going to replace the glass from frame with acrylic with the words on them. so total cost about $60. haven't yet checked other sign stores to see if $40 is an average price. but the way i'm doing it is i'm using a long and narrow frame so i can fit all three logos(dd,dts,and thx) onto one frame. so when you look at it $60 isn't bad considering you'll pay a good $50 or more per sign and that isn't even backlit, backlit sign more around $150 for just 1!!! also need to buy floresent lights but i'm using the ones you put into those gaming pc's that are cheap. going to check those prices.

if anyone is interested in the design of my sign let me know and i'll e-mail you a pic. i don't have a web site so i can't upload any pics for you guys. sorry

 

[Mark Barnhill]

Hey guys, I have a sign vinyl cutter and do signs on the side. If anyone is interested, I can cut the lettering for you, and premask it, for you to transfer to whatever surface you want to put it on. I have many colors of vinyl in stock. pricing would depend on sizes. I think you'll find that regular inkjet ink will soon fade with exposure to light.
Edit: Here's a 8 1/2" x 11" reverse weeded in black vinyl. which could be installed on a piece of translucent acrylic and backlit. (caution: large photo) picture here

 

[Dan Keliikoa]

Hey everyone.
Here's one example of how you can easily and cheaply mount Tim's signs. A good friend of mine did this with $10.00 document frames from Wal-Mart for his theater.

Cheers!
Dan